GonsoirQuarterHorses

Sparky, Labor, and Blizzards

2011-02-20T22:50:00.005-06:00

Should I go to bed and get up in a few hours, or just stay up and head out to the barn again in two hours? Sparky is finally in labor. It's a blizzard outside. I have to walk through snow past my knees most of the way to the barn. She started waxing heavily this afternoon and at my last check moments ago she had started to leak milk on one side. She was also having mild contractions you could see that were occasionally interrupting her hay munching. Sparky has had many foals, all without any complications, however, Sparky's advancing age (she is 19 this year) does have me a bit worried.

The Gonsoir's have owned Sparky since she was a weanling. I vowed that I would buy a horse with my first paycheck following college graduation. Sparky is that horse. I graduated from college in May of 1992, started my first teaching job in August, got my first paycheck on September 20th, and bought Sparky at Ray and Georga Sutton's production sale on September 21st. I figured living like a college student for one more month wouldn't hurt. Over the years Sparky proved herself as a top horse mentally and physically. Soon after coming to our barn she changed ownership- my husband Tim claimed her as his horse. Tim rode her to check cows, rode her on trail rides, and even was able to shoot a gun from her back. Tim could ride her hard getting a sick cow in at the pasture and then throw two year old Joellen up on her back to ride around the pasture while he treated the sick cow. As soon as Joellen was aboard, it was like a switch clicked in Sparky's brain and she was a quiet plodding along lead line horse without the lead line. She would take Joellen in circles around where we were treating the cow, oblivious to everything around her, but her young rider.

Stan soon outgrew his mount, Lucky, and wanted to find a horse with a bit faster gear. Sparky was just the option. For two years Stan and Sparky went to AQHA shows competing in barrels and poles earning their AQHA youth Register of Merit. I even ran Sparky a few times in NBHA barrel racing. In Sparky's last barrel run with me she fell on the first barrel, hitting her shoulder on the steel barrel top. We finished the pattern, but Sparky never moved quite the same after that. It was believed she probably had a bone chip in her shoulder. A few years later, the sequestered bone finally made its way out opening a terrible would on her shoulder.

After Sparky's barrel career ended Sparky went on to raise some very nice babies that we have sold over the years. She has always been a good mother and good producer. I almost lost her two years ago in an accident. I am not sure what happened one night while she and her foal rested in a pen, but the morning found her on one side of the woven wire fence that was completely laid down- posts too, broken at their bases- and her foal still inside the pen. Sparky's right front leg was cut to the bone nearly completely around her forearm. We caught her foal and put him in the barn, and loaded Sparky to take to the vet, fully expecting to put her down. She could not use the right foreleg at all. It drug along as she hopped. Our vet worked for hours stitching her leg and chest up. He said he had seen horses live good lives as broodmares with a bum leg before. He figured she would never use that leg as the nerves were severed. I spent weeks treating her wounds and hand walking her with a rope on her bum leg. I would pull the leg as we walked trying to get it to be as natural as possible. About two weeks into treatment she started to use the leg herself and about a month later she was walking fully using the leg. Today she moves as well as most 19 year old horses. Her old bone chipped shoulder gives her more of a gimp than the leg.

Well tonight, or maybe early tomorrow morning, Sparky should have a foal. Since she is over due I am betting it is a colt. She is pretty much like clock work in that she foals two weeks before her due date with fillies, and usually goes over or at least up to 342 days of gestation with a colt. Since 342 days was three days ago I am putting my money on a gray colt, no socks, and a star.

The Blog is Back

2011-01-24T17:03:00.005-06:00

I am back to blogging. I know, an over one year break seems a little excessive. I have been kind of wallowing in self pity regarding the horse segment of my life. Sorry Amy, I know I have been kind of despondent regarding horses the past year and probably not a great traveling partner. This is not a new year's resolution, I really am not into those and it is a bit late, but I have decided that things are what they are and I really can't do anything with the things out of my control. This is really hard for my type of personality that likes everything to be planned out. The 11th year anniversary of my dad's death is coming up shortly and I know he would want me to get back in the saddle and start enjoying my horses again rather than just going through the motions of horse ownership. Dad was often my horse adventure partner.

It's a bummer to not have reached the goal I had aimed for with my horse. I know 11th out of 26 at the world show is still great, but I was so close to my top ten dream. It's disappointing to have lost three horses over the course of two years that were to be my new show horse. Flipper shattered his hock some how in his stall, Dusty broke his neck in some freak accident with the hay feeder, and Elmo twisted his small intestine in one of the worst knots our vet has ever seen. Flipper and Dusty were subjects of earlier blogs, but I just couldn't write about Elmo last summer. I didn't even ever get a picture of him before I lost him at 2 months. He just floated when he moved on his long legs, even while in pain at the end. Right now I was supposed to be preparing a four year old to show this summer, not anxiously waiting the birth of my new show horse (Elmo's full sibling is scheduled to arrive February 17th).

But this blog is marking a declaration of a change in my internal attitude towards my horse life. While I didn't reach all my goals, I should celebrate the ones I did attain. I did breed, raise, train, and show an AQHA Champion. I do have a special once in a lifetime horse I love. I do have the financial ability and time to attend some horse shows. Of course, like nearly every horse owner, winning the lottery would greatly enhance my horse experience! I have a family that shares my love of horses. Okay, love of horses might be stretching it for the husband. It might be more accurate to say he 'likes' the horses because he loves me.

The recent roadblocks I have hit in my horse journey are maybe just what I need to get me traveling down a new road towards some of my other horse goals and dreams I have put on the back burner. As a teenager I always dreamed of becoming an AQHA judge. I had, and still do, an admiration for the men and woman standing in the middle of the show pen. I have been judging open shows, some other breed's shows, and 4-H shows for the past few years. Maybe it is time to pursue the AQHA judge dream? I have the time as I wait for my new show horse to be born and grow up. I have also dreamed of trying some other horse show events. Maybe it is time for my AQHA champion to come out of his semi-retirement and let me try ranch sorting and team penning, after all he does have points in heading and barrel racing, and he has won a ranch cutting or two with my son. It is also probably time for me to sit back and enjoy watching my daughter show her horse. I am excited to be a part of her dreams and goals. Maybe she will even let me take her horse for a class or two just to give me that show ring high. The arrival of foals still gets me excited to run out to the barn at all hours of the night. I would have to love it to do so in our chilly South Dakota winters. I love to write. I love horses. I will have to blog more often.

Good Bye Dusty

2009-12-30T12:08:00.003-06:00

I think I am not supposed to have a new show horse. Last year my yearling gelding I had kept to be my new show horse broke his leg at his hock and I had to put him down. I then showed "the old man" (Daddys Legacy) another year. It was a good year, but I was looking so forward to showing my new two-year-old. This summer I kept a different yearling to be my 2-year-old project to start and show this fall, Dusty. Well, yesterday he broke his neck in a freak accident in a hay feeder. Seemes he stepped into the feeder, reached his head around the next bar, went into a panic, and broke his neck. At least this is the scenario we are thinking happened as all we found was a dead horse draped around a hay feeder. He was fine at morning chores, but dead as a door nail when Stan went to blow snow out of the bull yard after lunch. I was so looking forward to showing him this summer. I had been taking my time letting him grow. Every time I would try to push him a little more with grain, hoping to show him at halter as a yearling, he would grow taller. This fall I decided that was fine as he was going to be big enough for a riding horse for me. He was already 16 hands when he died. Of course it had to be him that decided to be stupid. The one I had picked to be mine rather than sell. I guess if I decided to show this year it will have to be the "old man" again this year. Maybe I will just be a horse show mom this year with Joellen and her horse. I really like to ride her horse. Maybe she will share Uno with me and we can show some trail too. I guess it will be two more years now before I have a two-year-old to show. I better make sure not to doom them and pick them to be mine!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T14:50:00.004-06:00

The weather outside is frightful this Christmas Day. A blizzard has swept accross much of our state and neighboring states. As the rest of my family watches movies, I have spent much of the day catching up on websites and blogs. If you haven't seen our world show pictures online at http://www.gonsoirquarterhorses.com/ I will share them with you here. Looking at these pictures help me remember that winter will not last forever! In a few hours I will have to bundle up once again to go outside and do chores. The snowbanks continue to form between here and the barn. When I went out this morning, they were knee deep. My poor rat terrier, Trigger, felt the need to accompany me to the barn. The snow was over his back, yet he kept leaping along side. He was ready to go inside by the time we were done. As I have gone to walk him periodically this afternoon, he looks at me like you have got to be kidding? You want me to "go" (either since of the word) out there? Well it is nearly time to trade snow storm activites- the kids want to have a competitive game of Wii golf.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Home Again

2009-11-22T20:23:00.003-06:00

Wow, what can I say about my AQHA World Show experience. It was a great five days and it will be hard to return to work tomorow. At first I was a little disappointed to not make the top ten in open performance stallions. 11th out of 26 was close and really great considering the super nice horses that were in the class and the world class exhibitors of those horses. I think I did fine. The nerves seemed to disappear as we walked into the ring. Bud seemed to really be on his game. As I stood at the gate, I took a deep breath and said enjoy this. And I did. It was such a thrill to hear my friends and family cheer as my horse and I were announced. They were a small but mighty cheering section. It was so neat to see my name on the big screen as exhibitor, owner, and breeder. I was the only one in the class to have my name in all three spots. People noticed that too and commented from the side lines to me that it was neat that I owned and bred Daddys Legacy. As the class went on, my cheering section seemed to sound louder. When I asked my kids about it after the class, they said everyone in the section they were sitting at had joined them in cheering for us. It was cool to hear them all clap, whoop and holler when we were placed in a line up. I was only left "at the wall" under one judge. Being left at "the wall" did have one postive aspect- I got to hear from people in the stands that they really loved my horse. Too bad they hadn't been doing the judging. As I look at the results online at home I realize that 11th was darn good for an unknown person with an unknown horse at their first world show. One person told me my 11th was really first of the "no names". A different perspective to consider. I plan to be back someday.

8th Place AQHA World Show Amateur Aged Stallions

2009-11-14T18:15:00.002-06:00

Daddys Legacy and Amy made the top ten! I didn't get to watch in person, but I did catch most of it on the live webcast. Timing worked out great. The class started just as the students were dismissed for the Veteran's Day program. It certainly wasn't as cool as being there in person, but it was neat to see my horse live on the Internet. I can't wait to leave for the world show myself Tuesday. I still can't believe it will be me in the show ring on Thursday living my dream. I hope we can do as well in Open Performance Stallions.

Amateur Aged Stallions- 1 Day to Go!

2009-11-10T18:30:00.002-06:00

Daddys Legacy made the trip well. He is looking nice, but we know the competition is very tough. He is by far the oldest stallion showing in this class tomorrow. Amy is keeping me posted via cell phone and I think she is very nervous. I can't wait to watch tomorrow on the live webcast at www.aqha.com. My students will have to understand. It is probably good she doesn't have my nerves there too! Amy was going to go out for a short practice tonight. Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes here and on facebook.

On The Road

2009-11-08T08:51:00.003-06:00

The plan is my horse should be on the road some time this morning! The "jam" came out of the quarter crack, the draining stopped, and a shoe got put back on Friday. Yesterday (Saturday) he got worked with no problem! This is great news. He is normally very good at trailer rides, so I don't anticipate any problem with the 8 hour trailer trip. I on the other hand, may not handle it so well as I would like to be going with him. Amy will leave tomorrow to get to Oklahoma to show on Wednesday. I hope I can talk our school into unblocking the AQHA website so I can watch her show from school. She has promised to call as soon as she is done.

World Show Problems

2009-11-05T22:13:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Daddys Legacy opened up a quarter crack. It is small. It does not go all the way through to the bottom, but does go all the way up to the top. It does not spread, but he is a little sore. It has bled a little at the coronet band. What rotten timing. Only two days until he travels to Oklahoma City and only five days until he shows isn't a lot of time for a quarter crack to stop hurting in the coronet band. While I know his care is in capable hands, I really wanted to hop in my car today and drive to Yankton to see him in person. Tonight's report was better as he was not sore at all at a walk. Didn't want to trot him until he gets a better shoe on to support. Everyone cross there fingers and send good vibes that the new shoes tomorrow work out well for him!

16 Days and Counting

2009-11-03T20:06:00.000-06:00

Next Sunday my horse is off to Oklahoma while I will prepare to teach young minds the intricacies of chemistry. Monday I will guide kids as they make their first polymer of nylon in our Chemistry II lab and then I will review with my Chemistry I kids for their test over the quantum mechanical model. Will the kids be able to tell my mind keeps wandering to a barn in Oklahoma City? Did Daddys Legacy trailer well? Is he eating and drinking like he should? What was running through peoples' minds as they saw him come off the trailer. Did people stop and stare at the big grand white horse? Did he do his usual announcement whinny as he backed off the trailer? I have had horses hauled by others before, but just not to the World Show. I don't have any reservations about the capable hands I have left my horse in, John Kabiesman of Yankton, SD. I do have some horsey withdrawl going on as I am used to be very hands on with my own horses.

While it wasn't a hard decision that someone else would have to help me fit my horse for the World Show, it does seem out of character for me. I have been Daddys Legacy's handler and trainer all the nine years of his life except for a short interval while he was being trained for roping. I have always traveled with him. I have always been a part of getting him ready to show. I seem a bit lost not being actively involved in his preparation right now. As I said before, I have no reservations about his care. I just miss being involved in it. I faced reality right away after I decided to take him to the World Show. I am a high school teacher and coach. Once school is going I don't have time to keep a horse in a full time conditioning program, let alone a conditioning program for the World Show. I also don't have the facilities to keep a horse in South Dakota in tip top hair coat condition in November. While our temperatures haven't been too bad, we have had one of the wettest falls on record so mud is the most common form of soil one can find. Maybe working in mud would have provided some excellent muscle work?

I couldn't go completely cold turkey from my horse. I have made several 4 hour drives to visit my horse in the past month. I always secretly hope he will lift his head out of his feed and whinny in recognition for his long lost owner, but no such luck. I should be glad my arrival finds him contently munching on feed with alert eyes and ears. He is a pampered horse living in a heated barn, eating top of the line feed, getting daily brushing. He is being treated like a king. His white coat glistens. His long mane however, is soon to be short. Silly horse had to rub a 4 inch section out in August. What was he thinking? He knew I had entered him in the World Show! At least the bald spot has grown to at least four inches so the whole mane can be shortened to look good. I am secretly glad I am not having to deal with the new mane look. I can keep my focus on chemistry, at least until my mind wanders.

16 Days and counting until he and I walk through the gateway.

The AQHA World Show Countdown!

2009-10-31T20:31:00.001-05:00

Nineteen days until I step foot, for the first time, into the AQHA World Show arena. I am so excited, yet nervous at the same time. Don't tell my husband, but I think I am nearly as excited for this day as I was for our wedding. I think I have done as much planning about what to wear as my wedding and between the boots and hat I have probably spent nearly as much. I do plan to wear the hat and boots again, unlike my wedding dress. Sometimes, like right now, I wish I had my horse in my barn so I could go and burn off my nervous energy giving him a good brushing, but I know the reality is that with work and all our mud I wouldn't be able to keep him in proper condition for the World. So instead, what do I do? Watch World Show clips on youtube. I think I have watched every AQHA world show halter clip I can find on youtube. I have read the World Show Program at least ten times.

Competing in the AQHA World Show has always been a dream of mine. I knew I had qualfied for the world show in open aged stallions early in the spring, but had put it out of my mind because A. my horse is a bit old for a World Show halter debut B. I am a high school teacher and November isn't a good time to take a week off C. High school teachers in South Dakota are not high on the pay scale D. I have never gone before. In June my mind set started to change. First I finished my open performance ROM which meant that I could potentially show in performance halter where my horse may still be one of the oldest, but he isn't as much older as the others. Then I decided, if the June show got posted in time, I would try to qualify in performance halter. Show got posted. I got qualified. As an added bonus to the show where I qualfied for performance halter, I also finished up Daddys Legacy's Open AQHA Championship which was another item on my bucket list. Speaking of bucket lists, as I was still torn in my own head about going to the World Show, my Horse and Rider magazine arrived and low and behold, what was one of the main articles about? Horsey bucket lists! I read it and cried and knew I had to go to the World Show. I also knew it was sign when one of the editorials was about fathers (another story as how Daddys Legacy got his name). So 2009 has given me the opportunity to cross two things off of my bucket list- raise, train, and show an AQHA Champion and show at the AQHA World Show. My Dad would be so proud!

Orphan Flipper Update

2008-10-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

Daddy Dun Flipped- January 25, 2007 to October 18, 2008

Daddy Dun Flipped aka "Flipper" was put down on October 18, 2008 for a broken tibia. I will greatly miss this lanky and loving horse. While I was only able to enjoy him for a year and a half, he was a lot of fun. Flipper was orphaned at 2 weeks old and I became his surrogate dam. He grew up to be a great yearling. During his short life he did earn a few honors in the show pen. He was the CONQHA stallion stakes futurity reserve champion lounge liner. He also was the SDQHA 2008 reserve high point lounge line horse. But best of all he was my silly horse that always made me laugh like the time I was lounging him and he tripped and fell down. Rather than jump back up, he proceeded to take a nice roll and then sit up like a dog. Instead of then getting up, he proceeded to tip back over on his side and take a siesta. He was going to enoy a nap in the black dirt under the warm spring sun. I have so many stories of Flipper. Thank you Flipper for letting me learn to braid on your long neck. You were such a patient yearling and you had such a long neck. I wish I could have taken you for a hunt seat ride. I wish I could have seen your full potential.

Proudest Moments

2008-10-21T21:19:00.000-05:00

If you are a parent you probably can relate that your proudest moments involve your children. Things your children do greatly out shadow anything you may have done in your glory days, like throwing the winning touch down, placing at the AJQHA (American Junior Quarter Horse Association- the name AQHYA used to be called, I still have the coat with the old acronym) World Show, going to the National High School Rodeo. None of these things can compare to the pride that wells inside us from the actions of our children. It isn’t that their feats are so much greater than ours, but viewed through the rose colored glasses of parenthood, nothing can compare to what they do. The proud parents’ buttons burst at the first steps, the first words, the first games, the first prom, the first grandchild. Our hearts swell in pride at the smallest things our children do. On the flip side, yes, our children do embarrass us too and when they become teenagers we suddenly embarrass them beyond belief, and our intelligence greatly decreases, but that is another story.

The proudest memories I have of my children did not occur in public events, however. My proudest moments are quiet events that few people know about. These moments are often shared only between a few people, but that doesn’t make them any less memorable, rather they are even more memorable. The proudest moments are not winning rides in the show pen, graceful dance performances, or breathtaking bull rides, even though I must say I have swelled with pride watching my kids do these things. My proudest moments with my children have been watching them interact with others showing the utmost compassion and empathy. Finding out that my college age son took the time to call and visit with a family friend whose father had just died. As he told me, “I didn’t really know what to say, but knew I should call and say something.” Welcome to adulthood. As he learned, it is not what you say, but the fact that you took the time to show you care. Finding out your preteen daughter offered to help someone that looked like they needed help. While it wasn’t building a house for Habitat For Humanity, it was the recognition of a fellow human being in need of a helping hand and doing something about it. It certainly would have been easy to just walk on by, but she took the initiative to see if help was needed. Her heart was certainly in the right place. These are not just isolated examples, but two that really made me proud. Only a handful of people know about these events. Nobody won a belt buckle, a state champion trophy, or a full ride scholarship, but they still top my proudest moments. These are the kind of actions that go unseen most of the time, yet are the source of my greatest pride in my children.

While we should feel proud of our children’s and our own special accomplishments, we should remember that how we interact with each other, whether winning or losing, is what is really important. Twenty years from now very few people will remember who won the class, the state championship, or even the world championship, but people will remember how you treated other people. People will remember the phone call, or the offer of help. That is why I am a proud parent.

The Wind Down

2008-10-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

For most of South Dakota, our "regular season" games have come to an end. The kids are back in school, the days are getting shorter, and the broodmares are getting fatter. The pastures are starting to show their wear and the insects are holding out for their last hurrah until the frost will officially shift us into another season. The end of horse show season finds me thankful for the break and yet a bit restless for more. Ready to pack away the show stuff, yet itching to have just one more ride in the show pen. When you take a break from an activity tired, but thirsting for more, you know you have hit the right blend of still loving what you are doing, but being comfortable sitting out some games.

Normally I don't pack away the show season quite so soon, but surgery put a little hitch in my plans for this year. Now I have just been searching October, like an addict, for maybe one more show in a neighboring state because I have been given the go ahead to resume riding the middle of October. For me the horse show "post season" is a great time to reflect on the year by identifying the areas of weakness of my riding, my horse, and my training plan, celebrating the accomplishments of the season, and setting my goals for the next year. Fall is also the time where I like to hit the wet saddle blankets the hardest in trying to work on something new like adding a new class or maybe even starting to learn new riding style such as dressage. In the fall it is easier for me to focus on the training. No worries about keeping horsy coats ready for the weekend (folks I have that especially tough showing the nearly white horse), cleaning the chaps, shaping the hat, packing the trailer. With none of those things to worry about I can concentrate on the training and my riding. I love going out to ride in the fall when the air is just starting to become crisp and the insects have gone away. It is only sad that in South Dakota those conditions for riding sometimes don't last very long until the snow falls and we are forced back into our four walled artificially lit riding spaces.

I hope everyone in South Dakota enjoys their wind down to fall. Good luck to all the area horseman competing in the "post season" events and I hope to see you all at the various association banquets this fall and winter.

Mac's New Foal

2008-01-25T16:09:00.000-06:00

Our broodmare Mac foaled early in the morning on January 18th during one of the harshest cold snaps of South Dakota. She had a beautiful filly with cute head markings. You can see her pictures at our website. She is red dun right now but has a lot of white hairs around her eyes so she is destined to turn gray. During the first two days of her life she refused to lay down. She would only stand. I could see she was getting very tired so on day three I made her lay down. At first she fought it but after I stroked her shoulder for a bit she fell soundly asleep. It took a few more laying down lessons but now she seems willing to lay down on her own. I have never had a foal refuse to lay down. Hopefully another mare will foal soon so she can have foal company.

Horse Owners Must Be Crazy

2008-01-25T16:08:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine sent me a quote she found on the Internet-"Surgeon General’s Warning: Horses have been found to be expensive and addictive and have further been shown to impair the use of common sense in humans." I found the timing of this email to be rather ironic as I opened it while yawning after night three of broodmare checks. It is only my precious horses that I will wake up for and check in the middle of a night of blissful slumber. Okay, that is not entirely true. I have also been known to wake up when my kids or husband are sick during the night or when our cat proceeds to knock something down as he does whatever it is cats do at night besides sleep.
The past three nights have found me waking up at 2:00 AM to put on my stinky barn coveralls, wool socks, stocking cap, and gloves, all over my very attractive Pj's of a t-shirt and long johns, grabbing a flashlight as to not disturb the horses by turning on the barn lights, walking to the barn in the negative temperatures of a South Dakota winter, quietly opening the barn door (only to step on a sleeping barn cat that shrieks in terror defeating my sneaking), carefully shining the flashlight on the mares to find them still in blissful slumber able to ignore the shriek from the cat as it climbed my leg like a tree (thank God I had on coveralls), and finally then going in each mare's stall to feel their udder to check for waxing. A form of a horsey grope that only a horse lover and breeder can appreciate because we have carefully monitored our mares through the years and have recorded the length of time we have noticed between when the wax first appears and the mare foals. My kid's baby book may still be unassembled in a box, but meticulous records can be found on a spreadsheet noting the foaling histories of each mare.
Horses are associated with addictive behavior? Nah! It is amazing how the uneventful checks that take only about fifteen minutes can leave me yawning, but the nights I lose hours of sleep watching a foal be born, watching it try to stand, and then watching it successfully nurse I can rise and face the day with vigor and excitement.
I wish to add a line to the fictitious Surgeon General warning, "Horses have also been know to make one feel incredible and alive!" Happy foaling to everyone making those checks to the broodmare barn in the months to come. Watch out for those barn cats!

Poop Scoopin' Boogie

2008-01-25T15:59:00.000-06:00

“Here we go, dosey-do, come on baby push that wheel barrow. Cadillac, Black-Jack, baby meet me out back we’re goin’ muckin’. Doin’ the poop scoopin’ boogie.” I have read that the average horse excretes about fifty pounds of waste each and every day. I really think that my horses have found a way to defy the scientific law of conservation of mass. They somehow create matter that I am obligated to scoop up and remove in a timely fashion. Output seems to exceed input, or have I just forgotten all the input? Let’s see, five pounds of oats and corn, twelve pounds of hay, ten gallons of water that is about seven pounds per gallon, half the straw bale I bedded the stall with the night before that it felt compelled to eat during the night, and half a wooden plank (not sure if all of the plank was consumed or if some was destroyed in a tiff with our neighbor during the night) makes up most of the input. Output consists of two wheelbarrows full of muck, one wheelbarrow full of wooden splinters, and half a water bucket of a stinky mixture of water, oats, hay, and a road apple or two.
Input equals output? Either way, it is my and my family’s sweat that has hauled it in, oats, straw, wooden planks, water buckets, water; and it is my sweat along with my two indentured servants (that’s the catchy name my kids like to call themselves in the barn) that have hauled it out. Oh, I can’t forget my husband’s contribution to this endeavor. He drives the tractor baling hay. He uses the loader tractor to scoop up the manure I have hauled out of the barn by hand and dumps it into the manure spreader. And he then has to drive the tractor and spreader across the field. His manual labor consists of running the hydraulic levers and engaging the PTO lever. I worry he may get carpal tunnel.
The poop scoopin boogie requires the right tools- wheel barrow, five tine fork, and rake; the right attitude- just think of the fine workout I am getting without paying the health club price; and the right company- quality time with my friends and family where we talk while scoopin’ muck and pushin’ wheel barrows. Want to get to know your what your teen is thinking? Clean eight stalls regularly with them. They initially protest and decide not to speak to you, but by stall two the silence is broken and you soon learn about their day at school, how things are going with their friends, and what their plans are. It is even okay for a hug because you both smell like horse manure so neither notice.
Sometimes the poop scoopin’ boogie is done as a solo act, usually in the middle of rodeo season or right before the big dance recital. But poop scoopin’ solo is okay too. After a long day at work that is more mind tiring than body tiring, poop scoopin can be therapeutic. You fall into a rhythm of scoopin’, raking, and pushing and soon your mind wanders since not a lot of thinking goes into stall mucking. You have time to reflect and think. You can contemplate what you have done or need to do. If you need to release some anger or frustration you can throw the scoop a little harder on the wheelbarrow. You can practice that tough talk you need to have with your boss out loud. Horses make great listeners. Or you can turn up the radio and sing out loud while you work. The horses won’t mind, but if the dog starts to whine you may need to tone it down a bit.
I guess I should thank my horses for the 50 pounds a day. It allows me to bond with my kids, get a work out, and contemplate life. And my dear husband, thank you too. I know there is far more that you do then just run the tractor. Thank you to my kids, sister-in-law, and brother for all your help doin’ the poop scoopin’ boogie.

Daddys Legacy

2007-06-12T15:53:00.000-05:00

Gonsoir Quarter Horses would love to hear from owners of foals sired by Daddys Legacy. We have some of his offspring we have kept in our barn and are so happy with their dispositions and conformation. Most of his babies have been gray! We would love to hear from you.

Orphan Flipper

2007-06-12T15:39:00.000-05:00

Flipper update- January 2008. Flipper seems to be a well adjusted yearling now. He had an accident soon after being orphaned that the left side of his muzzle paralyzed. That has now almost all gone away. Only if you know something had been wrong do you notice that the left side of his muzzle droops a little more than the right side. In the spring we will introduce him to the lounge line and if everything goes smoothly he will enter the show ring in lounge line this fall. When moving free in his pen he is absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to ride him someday. Right now he is just growing and playing in his turn out pen enjoying our South Dakota winter.

AQHA steel gray colt Daddy Dun Flipped, aka Flipper, seemed doomed upon his entrance into this world. On a Saturday morning I stepped into the barn to check on his dam Roses, who was due in five weeks, to find her trying to foal. Actually she was no longer trying so we loaded her up and off to the vet clinic we went. Her examination at the clinic showed that Flipper needed to be flipped in order to enter this world. With help from others our veternarian got him flipped and very shortly Flipper entered this world. Despite his traumatic entrance, the next few weeks were thankfully uneventful for Flipper. He grew like a typical appendix quarter horse foal. His luck went south again two weeks later. Once again on a Saturday I entered the barn to find Roses in distress. She seemed to be mildly colicy so we began to walk her and administered Banamine. Within about thirty minutes Roses was wild in pain and once again off to the vet clinic we went again. It was soon found that Roses had an inoperable twisted large intestine so we euthanized her as soon as possible leaving poor little Flipper an orphan.

Flipper refused to take a bottle but after a few days finally decided to drink milk from a pail. Upon catching on to the milk pail feeding went smoothly. Flipper is now a very healthy weanling. He seems to have grown height wise very well, however, he is quite lanky. This could be due to his TB blood as well as his orphan status. Because of his "orphaning" we will probablly wait until he is older to begin to market him for sale. By the time he is two I bet no one will be able to guess his rough start in life.

If you have any foal orphan stories please share them with us. We would love to hear from you!

Welcome to Gonsoir Quarter Horses

2007-06-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome AQHA Quarter Horse enthusiasts! At Gonsoir Quarter Horses we pride ourselves in producing high quality registered quarter horses that are often gray in color with exceptional minds and conformation. We hope to share our love of our horses with you through this blog space.