The job on the ranch that takes the most of my time is manure vacuuming! I'm the only one who seems to enjoy it. It gives me a chance to spend time with the horses, and leaves them a spotless pasture...If you've never seen a poop vac, here's a picture of me. The manufacturer is Greystone. We throw the manure in a dumpster that's picked up every 2 weeks and recycled. We empty our 'fly catcher bottles' on the dumpster between pick ups, so we have minimal fly problems in the summer. Yes, people make fun of me when they hear that I spend the time doing this. But, it doesn't take much more time than dragging the fields and it makes a huge difference in the fly population...just nicer all the way around. Now the small, little mower I drive to pull the vac gives me a back ache if I'm on it for too long...That's only if I miss 2-3 days...then it's 4 hours on the vac to catch up...or, if it's below freezing thru the day...then the vac can't pick it up....I know there have been mixed reviews on the manure vac. I don't use it for the stalls...too loud and it gets clogged too easily with shavings. But, for the pastures, it's great! I only wear the face mask when it's dry...the dust can irritate your lungs and the ear protection is a must...

I've just returned from CSU's foaling class. The part of the class I wanted most (since I've foaled many horses already) is the wet lab on what to do if the foal is 'stuck'! This has been a big fear of mine. The 'uterus' was a specially made bag, which held an unborn foal...which was really a stillborn calf. This is the 3rd class I've taken at CSU...AI and cooled semen (including collection) were the first two. I highly recommend their courses. It's great to be back home, as always. While we were in Colorado, we stopped to visit the owner of 2 of my foals. It was great to see them...they are super beautiful and bring the owner much joy. She's a new horse person who is doing super, and she has a trainer helping her. I keep in touch with most people who buy horses from me. It's great to see the horses and their people really enjoying each other. Well, time to get out there and spend some time with the 'children'. Just one thought about today....the inauguration was so heart warming. Hopefully, we are all up to the challange and take this opportunity to share and care.

Maybe it was the super beautiful weather, but lots of the horses were kicking and bucking today...just having a great time. I have the honor of vaccuming the pastures...I have a manure vacuum that works great, as long as the poop isn't too frozen. We have too many horses to drag the fields all the time....we do after a snow but that's about it. I love seeing the pastures so clean and I stop and spend time with all of the horses! Strangely, I don't have too many people fighting me over who gets the vacuuming job ;-) Since I didn't take any photos today, I'm attaching a great video of our fillie, Crystal, going out after being at stall rest for 8 weeks after hernia surgery, along with one of my 'artsy' shots.

I promised myself I would start a MFR blog this year, so here I am! You can read a little about me and our ranch in 'about us' on our website. There is something happening every day here. Horses, and IMO Friesians in particular, are so loving, curious and beautiful. I have sold all but 1 of my babies. We're keeping Biscuit to see if he can get approved on offspring as a stallion. The odds are very slim, but he got almost perfect scores as a baby, so we're going to try. He'll still make a sweet, georgeous horse, stallion or gelding. The new show season starts in March and the foaling season starts in April. We're expecting 8 new babies this year! I hope everyone enjoys sharing life on a Friesian breeding ranch with me.