Rosey ***Chapter VI***

Stardate 06/07-08/08




Rosey says Hi!

She wants you to know that today is her "birthday".

Rosey is now six weeks old as I type this week's blog tonight. It is quite remarkable to see how much she has grown since her actual Birthday of April 27.

YouTube connection to Rosey's 6 weeks old "birthday" video.

In just six short weeks she has grown from a leggy German Shepard size foal into the small horse, that we have running around the ranch today. Rosey loves to run, she is eating some solid foal food, and grazing a little on grass now.






It is hard to believe that a creature can grow this fast, on their way to being 900+ pounds.








Saturday morning we had a new pasture boarder to come on board. This is Duke, and he comes with Leila and her other gelding Calvin which came to McKuster Ranch the 10th of May.
While Leila was getting Duke settled into pasture, I went out and mowed the west side driveway back to the CTUIR fish lab. While back on the river, which has been too high of water to fish this season, I check out the fish structure we/the CTUIR/BPA placed in the river last August.

All looks like it is holding well, with a few more pieces of trees debris hanging in the structures placed by the CTUIR.
I am now looking forward to the end of spring runoff and having the opportunity to jump into the river and see what will be holding in all the new fish structures we have at the ranch this year. Anyone there that wants to go fly fishing with me?

Saturday we also went upriver to visit Rosey's "grandpa", Dale Cosper to see the 6 or 7 new foals he has for this year's crop. One of his foals is a double first cousin of Rosey, and looks much the same but with a darker coat. We had a very good visit discussing horses, Rosey's pedigree, breeding Shaiela again to Eagle asap, and the race at Belmont Stakes.

After getting back from Dale's we made some nice action videos of Rosey that will be placed on YouTube in the very near future. We hope you will return here soon to connect with them, as I shall link them into this week's blog.

In looking at the video clips made this weekend we can see where Rosey might very well develop into a Country English Pleasure horse with her ability to move in a prancing/show out trot (from her Simeon Shai background), and also made some nice athletic running/spin turns (from her Desperado V background). We feel that we might have a very precious gem developing right before our eyes. Also as she is beginning to shed her foal coat, it appears that she may be a bay. A healthy, strong bay Arabian filly... that is what we were hoping to get from our breeding program.

Petting Rosey's ears- 3:10 min

Ooopps, in the process of making these videos on Saturday we had a little accident here at the ranch.
Kittee was in the saddle on Shaiela (first time in almost a year), and they were chasing Rosey around the pasture. Rosey went into a canter, Kittee let Shai slip into somewhat of a canter and immediately Kittee found herself dismounted, and spitting out grass and clover greens. Thank goodness she/we do wear our riding helmets while on horseback.
The rest of the afternoon Kittee spent sitting in one place, very still and medicating her pain with whiskey and aspirins. ;>)
We have learned that this home remedy beats the aches and pains of a quick horse dismount; much better than running to see a doctor for pills that will make one numb and dumb.
Anyway, all of this is just a part of equestrian ranch life. When all was said and done it led to a smile on Kittee's face .

Back to today, it was quite another busy Sunday here at the ranch. Kittee and I started the day out with coffee and breakfast, petting (see above pictures), feeding, grooming our horses. Misty went into the pasture with Rosey and Shai. Otherthan ponies and goats, Misty is Rosey's first real pasture mate. We did talk with Dale about bringing down one of his mares and foal to keep Rosey company with her own kind.

We are beginning to believe/hoping that Misty may now be pregnant by our stallion Rusty. YouTube connection of Rusty and Misty running around together. We have now put Goldie in a pasture with Nugget to have him tease her into heat/breeding, so that she may be breed by Rusty. We are already looking forward to having our 2009 foal crop.

Mid-morning Don and Arlene came out to do some work with their horses. Don made his first/quick ride up into the wheat fields with Marque, while we sit around and chatted with Arlene. Shortly thereafter Jennifer came to work with her horses until mid-afternoon. I mowed the house lawn, and the arena. During this time Leila and her dad Gary dropped by to visit her Duke and Calvin. They stayed for awhile to sit, chat, have a taste of our McKuster Ranch Cider, and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Leila drove home since Gary had more than one glass of cider ;>). Almost right on the dot Travis showed up at 5:00 and we had our training session with Rusty for about an hour. Before Travis and I were finished our friends Marilyn and Gene from Pendleton dropped by with several pizzas in hand for our dinner. This was their first time to come out and sit with us at the ranch and it was so nice to have them here. We had a good evening of chatting, watching horses play, having a glass of cider, and munching on pizzas.
It turned out to be a very full and busy day, as we watched Gene and Marilyn head off to PDT just before dark. Thereafter Kittee and I cleaned up for the night, she hit the sack, and I am up getting this blog underway. Getting weary, gotta go soon.

another day in the life at McKuster Ranch --- Dale