baby it's cold outside !

Old man winter has been giving my furnace a work out this winter. It has really been quite cold. When I went out to do morning chores it was 8 degree F.

We had a wonderful time with Al and Ruth last night. The beer cans were stacking up and the Margarita's were flowing . Al is a great story teller and always good for lot's of laughs.

Got the pups out. Today I got them up into the main hay field. More room for walk abouts . Rush did well. She is one fast little bitch but thankfully has decent brakes on her. She is listening well for her stops and we were able to do some little outruns because she will stay put so I can collect her and walk away from the sheep and send her. She is still a bit zoomy on the walk about , so adding many turns so to keep her right. It still is pretty cold, hovering in the high teens to low twenties. The wind is blowing good up here "on the hill " as the locals comment about our farm . At this stage I really am allowing them to be natural and feel the sheep. I ask for a lie down or stop on balance and am saying the flank commands as I turn. That is about all they have on them

Flint did well and he was laying down on balance most every time today. I still can not walk to him and collect him to practise little out runs from my side. He just can't stay for me.  I was able to send him out in a way that while he was running to balance I gave ground and walked back . He hit the right spot and came on the sheep so nice and fetched them straight . I tried to work on him staying so I could collect him off the sheep but after a while I knew it was not happening today. I just had him bring the sheep back down and put them away. This time while he was intent on looking at them I worked on him laying down and staying as I walked straight to him. He got up several times and I made it as clear as I could I wanted him to stay .

 It will sink in sooner or later. I am taking Spirit, Dream and Bracken out for a long walk . I have to leave Deigh again as she is still limping too much on that front paw. I feel bad, but she just can't go. I have made a huge dent in our hay so far. We got 2500 bales off this past season.I have sold around 550 bales and have seriously chipped away at what we have left. Although it was hard work and cost me going to a few trials this summer it was well worth the peace of mind and relief of stress bringing in hay from some place else. The hay crop was really nice. No garbage in it. No waste. That's pretty much it . Getting ready to bundle up and go for a walk. Even though it is cold and windy it is bright and sunny. Dressed well and moving it really is not too bad out there.

I want to fly like an eagle, to the sea. Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me...

Today I had the wonderful pleasure of three Bald Eagles soaring over our farm. I have been seeing them around the past month or so. I don't know what it is about them but seeing them just makes me feel good. A gift from Mother Nature to me. Thanks Mom.

Worked the pups today and nothing really to report. Just seeing them a little better each go. The only thing different today was while wearing the sheep around the field with Rush I managed to step directly into a Ground Hog hole. Half way up my shin. It was covered with just enough snow that I did not see it. Down I went and thought to myself ..."In a two acre field what are the chances of me stepping straight into this damn hole?" My leg is sore and has a nice welt on it but I'll manage.

Having my neighbor Al and his wife Ruth up for drinks and supper tonight.It's the least I can do for Al helping me get Badger buried. Oh well that's it...gotta go straighten up the house a bit.

closure

Badger was finally laid to rest today. My neighbor and good friend Al Johnson was able to get a hole dug with his backhoe and he and Paul buried my faithful friend of 30 years.This past month had been hard for me since after Badger had left us New Years Eve we had been unable to give him a proper burial. Each day was a heartbreak to look at his form under that cursed blue tarp. I am glad he had this last year up here. He really was very happy. I am also greatful he is buried here and not dragged off to some undisclosed location by a horse carter. I don't feel like doing much as I feel like a deep scab that was just about healed was ripped open and, though the wound is not as big or deep hurts just the same.

I will try to remember the sweet wonderful time we had together.
Rest in peace Badger, I sure do miss you.
I am always touched by the kindness of people ( there are not many of them out there ! ). In the mail yesterday was a note from K.S.U Veterinary college indicating a donation was made by Dr. Michele Zajac of Bunker Hill Veterinary Hospital in memory of my Badger. This is the small animal practice I am using as my primary health care "go to" place. They also care for equines. Even though they had never met Badger they were compassionate to understanding my loss. I also got a note from a horse rescue in my area letting me know a donation in Badger's name was made by my good friend from Long Island, Anne Marie Weis. Thank you Anne Marie. Friends like you are far and few.

I am not doing anything with the dogs today, maybe a walk with the older dogs. Just don't feel my head is right for the pups.

Got the chicken coop stripped and new shavings in there for them. Chicken crap stinks ! Today was a good day for this task because it was a bit warmer, but cold enough that the chicken poop was frozen and hard . Easier to clean this way. That's about it. Heading out to do evening chores and a quick walk with the four girls.

Diamond in the rough

Here are a few pictures of Diamond , our new addition to Swift Star Farm. That would be the theme for the day. I have three Diamonds in the rough that I hope to have polished to brilliance by the close of this year if not sooner. Diamond herself should be well on her way by summer. The other two, my pups are looking to be  on their way as well.
Today was spectacular. Bright blue , clear skys. Clean cold air to fill your lungs with. Sun shining with all it's got. Started the day ( after morning chores and coffee of course ) getting the two pups out on the sheep. We are now out of the round pen  and working in a bigger area roughly 2 acres. Both looked good. Rush is calming down and not so jazzed up as she had been. Was taking most all of her stops and lie downs. She as well as Flint are a little tight to the come bye direction (or is it they are a little wide on the away direction ? ) but again see nothing horrible for the amount of times they have worked sheep. Rush was a little tougher to call off today , but did finally agree to it. She was quite pleased with herself. I was too.
 Flint did much better today as well.He was lying down when asked on balance and even on wears ! He was staying focused and not blowing out  on a wide away flank. I had just been calling his name yesterday when he looked like he may do it. It would pull him in and he would then correct his mistake. He still does have a tendency to over run the balance point on an away flank. But again, I am doing my best to not make a big deal out of it and using his name and my body to show him how out of position he has gotten himself.  I did not attempt to call him directly off the sheep again and opted to just have him put them in the round pen. I then worked on him coming off the sheep , to me while he is looking and focused on the sheep while in they were in the pen. I hope it works !
Then I took the four adult dogs for a walk around the large hay field. Takes about 25 minutes to walk it. I need it, the dogs need it. No pups with us for now. It was enjoyable to not be worried about them taking off.

Then down to Nola's to work with Diamond. She was good today. Not too much shenanagins on the lunge line. I rode her for 20 minutes to a half hour. Still have not cantered her, but I will. Just want my seat and hands better. I did some bending and lateral work with her. She really needs to be more supple and is a little dead sided. When you press on her she pushes her side back at your leg instead of bending around it and giving to it. I was able to get her rounding well into her corners and some shoulder in's at the walk. I really like her so far.
Then back to do evening chores and over to my parents ( they live on our property in a mobile home ) for dinner. Leftovers. But I'm not complaining (okay, maybe just a little ). A quick trip to FB to put pictures of Diamond up and now the blog. I am looking forward to my few comedy shows and The Fringe tonight. I am tired though, Flint had to go out a few times last night to poop. I told him it was from eating that horse crap that I had scolded him about earlier in the day. Let's hope he does not repeat it again tonight.

6 more weeks?

Yesterday the PA groundhog was said to have seen it's shadow. Now I don't know WHERE in PA this animal is living but I can tell you the sun never showed it's face around here yesterday. Overcast morning followed by a steady snow in mid afternoon. I was able to get down to Nola's and mess around with Diamond. Lunged her a bit and rode some. It really is frustrating to me to not be able to ride for more than 15 minutes if I want to walk without looking like John Wayne the next day. She bucked like a banshee on the lunge line and I had reservations about taking her on. Thankfully she must have gotten it all out of her system before I climbed (and I do mean climbed, it really is pathetic ) up on her for a little walking and trotting.

Woke this morning to just enough snow to cover the ground. Super dry , sugar fine snow . I got my grocery shopping done early. I took Spirit, Dream, and Bracken for a walk in the lower pastures and around the hay field. Deigh was limping a little so I did not take her. She was not pleased. I had missed the walks. I stopped going because the two hellions Rush and Flint had taken to running off chasing after deer. It just was too stressful for me to see them running off screeching like banshees into the woods. "Would they come back, would they chase them across a road, would a car be coming by ??? ". It was nice out there in the snow, just at about freezing and no wind. I really enjoyed it and missed it. I am sure my three girls will second this. After the walk I worked five dogs. I'll admit I was lasy and used the " puppy " sheep for the three trained dogs. I wanted to work on specific things and these sheep would be okay for what I wanted to do.
I worked on clean flanks and stops as well as some splits and sheds. Spirit really has a good grasp of splits, but still needs work on a single. She was lining sheep out well and coming through nice. Holding the sheep off the others with determination. I did not attempt to shed off a single sheep as she was looking tired and getting jazzed at the same time. Quit on a high note.
Dream is not really grasping the concept of seperating sheep from each other. I have found with her that she struggles quite a bit at learning something new. In the end because she tries very hard and is a nice biddable dog that once she gets past her block and learns something she is quite good at the task. This part is frustrating for me, and I have to really concentrate on not getting impatient with how she learns. She managed several good splits and held two of them fairly well.
Bracken was pretty good today as well. Stopping better. She had really been fighting me last fall on stopping. Push, Push, Push. Seems we have reached an understanding. She was brilliant on shedding , called her in on a tough single and she held that sheep off the others as if her life depended on it. These sheep are tough because they do not string out as " normal " sheep should. They huddle close with heads down. So for a dog to come in and through takes force. This helps in some ways but not in others as I can't say I have ever had sheep react as this bunch does while I am in the shedding ring at a sheepdog trial. Still they are valuable in getting a dog to come in a tough situation or when there is not gap to call them through.

Then onto the young dogs. Eight months old...I have to keep reminding myself. Had them out in the smaller hay field. Third time out of the round pen and maybe the tenth time on sheep.

Rush worked quite well. Getting a little better at feeling her sheep on walk abouts. She gave me some very nice stops on balance, even laying down. The thing I was most pleased about was when her session was over and I asked her to lie down , she stayed put and I was able to collect her long line and give her a  "that'll do" .

Flint worked quite well too ! Still giving me some away flanks that are too big, but he was checking in better and correcting himself for getting too wide and over running balance. He really has a good wear on him and I was able to do quite a bit of walk abouts in the field having him hold the sheep to me. What I was most thrilled about today was that he finally hit the deck when on balance and I asked him to lie down. Not once but on several requests. I did not want to push my luck with him, so had him wear the sheep to the round pen and let them go in. He stood and I was able to collect the long line and give him the official end of session "That'll do ' He followed right with me.

I wish I could have had time to go work with Diamond but just ran out of day. A good day, I might add !

never enough time in the day

Yesterday was spent driving for the most part. Dropped off Thai for his neuter in the morning, then back to pick up my now de balled kitty in the late afternoon.

I was able to work both young dogs in between. I worked out in the 2 acre field yesterday . Both looked good and there were no wrecks . There must be some pressure to this field that I don't see or feel. I noticed both wanted to cast away more than come bye.

Flint really does have a nice way / feel for the sheep. We were doing little wears around the field and he kept just the right distance from them and we were able to go good distance on a straight away with him holding them well to me before turning direction. He still had his moments of casting off too wide and wanting to orbit on the away direction, but yesterday he was more willing to turn back and cast come bye or just correct himself and line out the sheep. I was able to get him to stop on his feet several times. I am leaving a lie down for the moment as I suspect that caused the wide away avoidance the other time I had him out there. All in all he looked pretty good.

Again, though I CAN'T seem to figure out how to get them off the sheep! After five minutes of trying to end his session and feeling my temper starting thankfully I had common sense creep into the back of the mind. I just had the dog bring the sheep over to the round pen and put them in, leaving the dog out. Stopped everything and was able to get the dog. Now I know this is not ideal but since they are not 9 months old yet I just don't want to be too hard on them .

Rush came out full of herself as always. Both have a nice cast around the sheep and have never gone straight at them like bowling balls to pins. She did quite well out there, though she is very keen and wants things moving at a fast pace. Wearing the sheep with the clunkers was too slow for her. On several occassion she bore into the rear to bop them forward. Just not moving fast enough for her. I made no comment to her because at this stage I sure do not want to make her think coming forward is a BAD thing. I was able to get her to lie down several times on balance or for a few she would sit. Had some nice  moments of straight line wearing as well, though I need to turn more with her to keep it active. I just don't see her relaxed enough as Flint to ask her to wear a  straight line for more than a  few yards at a time... It is interesting to me in that while Rush is more fast and a bit less focused , she is more biddable. Flint is more relaxed and natural but is less able to take a lie down command or if set to go his comfortable direction more likely to attempt to beat me  than to change direction. I feel he is not as interested in me other than moving off me to the correct position across the sheep. Again this is just my initial feeling to them and surely will not be any indication of the finished dog . Just things to keep an eye on.

I had to bring the sheep back to the round pen to end Rush's session as well . From an early get go with these two I have found them to be horrible about recalls in any situation with outside distraction.  Is it Nature or Nurture ? My guess a little of both, yet it really does piss me off. I have not had dogs who do not come when asked reliably before these two.  I will keep at the basic training of manners off sheep and hope at some point it clicks , though I just think it will be something that may always be an issue .

I was thrilled the waterline was not frozen out at the barn so only had to bring one length of hose out for watering . Paul helped with chores last night and we must have mis communicated with the tank heaters. Neither was plugged in overnight so there was a good layer of ice on the tubs this morning. Other than that all went without event. This is good. 

Seems I got my toes exposed to the cold this last snap so and dealing with some issues. A few years ago I had some minor frostbite to them and if I am not careful I have issues with them. I looked at them last night and a few are a little white  and purple at the ends. They were very sore yesterday to even my socks touching, let alone my shoes touching them.To add insult to injury I stubbed my pinky toe on the recliner last night . OUCH !  

Not much planned for today. I hope to get down to Nola's and do something with Diamond. Maybe work the older dogs a bit if I can. I just don't have any real good sorting system and now have sheep getting heavy with lambs that I don't want to train dogs with. Of course they always seem to be the first ones to the gate when wanting to do training. Then moving them off and sorting out ends up being more work than training. Stop that initial flow out the gate and then NO ONE wants to go through. By the time I get them sorted off and have used up one dog to do it I usually am so discusted with the annoyance of the situation I don''t feel like training. I just have to make a sorting area and also need to have an area for bred sheep and another seperate one for open ewes / wethers. It will come in time. We have only been here a year and eventually it will be set up correctly. But right now what a pain in the ass. This spring it hopefully will be addressed. Why oh why can't I seem to hit those perfect numbers when the state lottery is drawn. My life would be so much more simple for it with a few extra 000's in the "kitty" !

It's a beautiful day

Another pretty day here in NE PA . Early morning chores done and then off to Bunker Hill Vet Hosp. My young buck ( cat ) needed to um well...get de-bucked. Long over due as he is about one year  four months old. I am always sick about anesthesia...Phobic, really.  I also brought Deigh in because I noticed some edema under the base of her tail and along the mammery glands on the side where her tumor was removed. Better safe than sorry and unfortunatly with this type of Cancer it is not a matter of " if " but " when ". She also had been straining a bit when pooping. I guess I would too if something the size of a small orange was removed next to my lower  bowel / rectum. A rectal exam showed there was no new mass so just keeping an eye on things for now. A stool softener to make it a little easier for her to poop.

 I brought Paul down to Ro-No- Ranch yesterday to meet our new addition Diamond. He liked her very much and agreed she looked a lot like a little mare we had years ago name Sweet Basil. We really like the comfortable way Nola and Rachel run the barn. I will board Diamond there for a month or two to get back in riding shape ( there is a terrific covered riding arena ) and wait for the weather to start behaving it's self. I am excited about getting active in riding again. I knew something was missing, and that I was missing something. I think she will be okay for Paul to ride in time as well, so it will be nice to be able to hack together again

Paul stayed up today to help with chores today. It takes a good 45 minutes drive  to and then back from the Vet Hospital and always seems I have to go around feedings. I have to pick Thai up around four so this would not have me back at a reasonable hour for evening chores.

Planning on taking pups out into the small hay field for some sheep work. I have been doing most all foundation work in the small round pen but for one other time to see how they go in a bigger area. Since it is not fenced in more than barbed wire I don't want to do it unless I have backup. Pups have no real commands on them so if it breaks bad, nice to know there is someone else around to help if needed. First go was okay and the sheep I am using are really dependable level headed "been there , done that " types. I will continue with the round pen work until I see some real understanding of commands..Meaning stops  and call offs. The bitch pup is showing to be more reliable in this area for right now. The dog pup has more natural control and is more relaxed about his work but is not wanting to stop or quit when in the control pen ( or when he was out in the bigger field, for that matter ).  Given that they have had maybe ten goes on the sheep I am not expecting complete obedience , but I sure don't want them beating me out in a bigger area and learning they can.

Hoping the water line to barn is not frozen solid again. I need to fill all the water tubs today. The last cold snap it did not thaw for two + weeks and I had to rig several hoses up from the faucet at the house out to the barn, drain them, coil them up and back into the basement. P.I.A but better than lugging jugs I guess.
I had fitful sleep last night. Twice had a nightmare that my dad had passed away.  I woke up with a headache that is hanging tough, damn it. It's not a Migraine and I get headaches often so will just plug through it. Well that's it for now and I have been munching away on Cheeze-it's while blogging . I feel full and have nothing much else to say.