Finally Foal Pictures

I promised to post the baby pictures of Queenie's foal right after she had him, but haven't gotten to it before today. These are his "day after" pictures. I haven't emptied the phone yet for the still-wet newborn pictures. Also not sure how fair it is to Queenie to show her while she was still delivering after birth. Personally I felt very honored that she didn't freak out about having me come in to visit so soon after her delivery.

So Blaze (not sure if that is really his name, but it is what I call him) was born the evening on the 19th of April. She didn't manage to hold onto him long enough to give DH another birthday present, which is probably a good thing since he's a colt so we can't keep him. Although he is so adorable  and friendly that I am very tempted...

Queenie's tail was braided to keep it from getting all messy but her legs still show signs of the birthing fluids.

His funny expression is happiness from the good scratch DH was giving him. Isn't the pink on his nose just irresistable?

Baby horses need lots of sleep...

As of today, Queenie and Blaze are still in the box. Our weather has conitnued to be cold and nasty, so we just aren't quite ready to make the little fellow brave the elements. He has tried wearing a halter and learning slowly to be led and tied, but it is off again now to keep it from wearing too much on his nose. Plus he is growing so fast that we'd have to keep adjusting it all the time.

Most likely we will move them out to the pasture this weekend, weather permitting. Queenie really isn't happy being in the box and hasn't been eating or drinking as well as we like. Today I gave her access to the large-horse part of the shed (with the horses shut out and a gate to keep her and Blaze IN the shed), so that should help. She was happy rolling in some of the dust when I left them and the large horses were standing there looking in the door at them.

Last Weekend's Ride

I've been meaning to get these pics posted for several days, but things have been hectic here (DH home with a sprained ankle, gorgeous weather keeping me busy outside, etc.), so I'm a little slow.

Last weekend we took a really nice ride into the dune plantation across the road. We started out with DH on Ria and me on Quintas. With all her pain issues involved, Ria has been a lot more energetic and eager on rides. Unfortunately she also has been acting up some the couple times I've ridden her alone. We additionally want to get her trained for one-handed riding, which DH is more experienced with doing. So I asked DH to ride her some to do the training and see how she behaved. She behaved fine and is making good progress on the training.

For once I actually remembered to get the camera out of my pocket and take pics on the trail. Unfortunately, not all of them came out very well (as in most of those I took of DH).

We rode through the woods and out to the road that headed to the "stenslet" (I don't know how to translate slet. It is an open area that has a combination of stone and sand on the bottom. Very desert-like in some ways). I'd been out the road to the stenslet but hadn't ridden into it before. It is gorgeous out there!

You see that sandy area out in front of us in that last picture? When we got there, Quintas suddenly shook herself really hard. Just as I was recovering from that (I've never had a horse shake when I was riding before), she started getting down on her knees to roll in the sand! We got her up again and nothing happened, but it sure did freak me out plenty.

So we hurried to swap horses back because I was somewhat disturbed by that one. Of course she didn't do any of it for DH. But it did give us something to laugh about once I was over being freaked out.

Ria sure does shine really pretty in the sun! I am riding in my roping saddle, by the way. The first one I bought for it that ended up not fitting and the seller refused to take it back despite her promise to do so if it ended up not fitting after she was trained. But since I sit way better in it than in the second one I bought, I guess I ended up a little lucky anyway.

I had some trouble that day because we had to take my stirrup turners off temporarily. To make the long explanation short and understandable to non-horse people, Ria is being retrained from having a very stiff right side using the CorrecTOR so I need to adjust my stirrups crooked for the process to work. I am pretty short so already needed my stirrups close to the last hole to have the right length with the turners in, making it impossible to adjust them properly for this. So we took the turners off so the length was right. This is painful for my knees. Since then, we've soaked the fenders in water and twisted them hard with a stick in them, so they should be more comfortable next time even without the turners. But I am looking forward to getting her retrained so I can have them back.

Back to the story of the ride...

From the stenslet, we rode back towards home along the stream (Knasborg Å).

It was really a great ride and I think all four of us enjoyed it. I was very happy to see that Ria's hooves are enough improved for her to be comfortable walking and even JOGGING on gravel. This is great progress and proof that our do-it-ourselves farrier project was a good idea.

Recent Leather Projects

I keep forgetting to post pictures of some of our recent leather projects. These are for our own use (and good practice for the intention of later selling some things).

DH wanted to make some hair-on spur straps. We lined these with pig skin. We actually managed the stitching with my regular machine, but it isn't as nice looking as I would like. In the future, we need to get a stitching pony and sew things like this by hand properly. They might be a little on the thin side, but the pig skin inside gives them strength. He bought the buckles in the US on eBay specifically for this project.

For myself, I did some drawing, using some Tandy patterns to start but making a lot of changes. My goal was a floral strap with our brand/logo in the middle. They ended up pretty nice, in my opinion, although they are far from perfect. I have learned the following lessons while making these spur straps:

1. Do not expect leather designs made while the drawer has a concussion to work out right. I had mirrored the ENTIRE strap when I made the pair, including ending up with a backwards logo. I had to redraw and redo that strap.
2. There is a reason most leather designs leave a plain border around the outside (not carving all the way to the edges). Things get a little messy when you try to work all the way out and it is much harder to burnish the edges properly. Would be fine if I had laced the edges, but laced edges and buckles don't always go well together.
3. Use heavier leather for spur straps. These are nice, but a little thin. We had to add a second layer under the tips to use the metal ends that came with the buckles.
4. This project is also when I have finally gotten a better feel for how dry the leather needs to have been allowed to get before tooling.

Next we made a simple set of slobber straps. Once again, we should have used heavier leather, but this is what we had on hand and DH wanted to ride with a hair mecate instead of regular reins on the bit of his mare. Next time I make some of these, I am going to make a style that is easier to remove from the bit or switch the bit it is on without taking the mecate out. Getting the mecate through the holes isn't easy and I worry that it will increase the wear or potentially break the hairs on the mecate. Horse hair mecates are NOT cheap.

These are without any fancy tooling. The mark you can see is our new larger makers mark for leather projects. It says "4 BARS RR DENMARK" with our logo in the middle.

It did go very well riding with them, but DH found the horse hair a little annoying at this time of year. The weather is warm enough for riding without gloves, which he prefers, but the prickly hairs are uncomfortable with bare hands. As far as I can learn from reading, the prickliness is part of the advantage of riding with a horsehair mecate. The hairs will "tickle" the horse's neck, making it easier to train neck reining. I've been riding Ria in the bosal when I can for the same reason--there is a horsehair mecate on the bosal. We're not feeling quite ready to try a bosal on Quintas.

The final project is also something started when I had the concussion. I originally intended this business card case to be closed with a magnetic snap, but the snap can't fit! I didn't realize it until after I cut it out. So that got put aside for a while until I realized that a leather button would be an excellent way to close it. So I set to work learning to tie an appropriate knot. So with that worked out, I finished the whole thing. I think it came out really nice.

It is made for hanging on a belt. I think that will make it comfortable to have with, easy to access, and at the same time keep the cards from getting messed up very easily.

The edging on this one is a mexican round or basketweave lacing. It's the first time I've used that lacing style on a project and I like it!

Book Review: "My Brother's Keeper" by Jassy Mackenzie

A friend lent me this South African-set thriller. I'd read another book by the author earlier and also enjoyed it. I definitely enjoyed this one as well, even though thrillers aren't something I would usually select for myself.

Paramedics Nick Kenyon and his partner respond to the report of a car accident in stormy weather in Johannesburg. The passenger is severely injured and the driver nowhere to be found. Nick feels like something is wrong and breaks the rules when the girl pleads with him to take her cell phone and contact a friend of her's.

This minor violation ends Nick up in far more trouble than he expected when he makes contact with the girl's friends and finds himself face-to-face with the nightmares of his own past. Suspicions run high when Nick is forced to fight for his life and that of a woman he cares for.

I had prepared a sheet of paper for notes before I started reading, but I didn't get any made. The book sucked me in and I was too busy following the story and turning pages to scribble anything down in prep for this review.

The characters are fascinating and well-written. Everything they do fits the people we come to know while we read. Although totally unfamiliar with South African culture, I have no problems submersing myself in the book's setting and can easily picture it all but without feeling drowned in unnecessary detail.

I haven't read many thrillers, but I suspect the book has plenty of violence to satisfy the genre's usual readers, but it isn't overwhelming to me. There is no violence that is only there for its own sake--everything is essential to the story and very believable. Nothing seems exaggerated or overdone, which is something I often feel with action movies.

I have tried really hard to find flaws or faults in this book. The closest I can come is the title. This book deserves a better and more original title than it has. While I can see how this one somewhat fits the book, it just doesn't do justice to the book's quality.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers or is just looking for a dose of adrenalin to spice up his own life!

RMR Project: MacPherson's "A Veiled Antiquity"

Published by St. Martin's. Copyright 1998.

Genealogy and murder are entwined in this mystery by Rett MacPherson.


Tense

Past.

POV

First person. Woman. Victory, called Torie. Two daughters. Tour guide for historical buildings in town.

Deaths

Page 6. Marie Dijon. Appears to be a fall-down-the-steps accident.
Page 34. Newspaper accusations of a 70-year-old murder. Page 39. Accused was 19 at the time of the suicide, now alleged to be murder.
Page 99. Ambulance needed for someone known by the narrator.
Page 128. The truth about the death from page 34 is revealed.

Suspects

The out-of-town mourners.
Yvonne Mezalaine, who claim to be victims half-sister wasn't on family tree

Other

Feels like too much back story, but the narrator is into history/genealogy.