Winter Fun

Uh, what was I thinking?  There is no winter fun.  In Wyoming, if the temperatures are above normal for the winter, then our trade off is wind.  It has been milder than usual, even with the wind, so every now and then it IS fun to get out and visit with the herd.



Sonny, out with the big herd to breed our fall calvers, is such a mooch.  He knows that my pockets are full of treats (both cake and alfalfa cubes) and he's not picky as long as a few of them land in his mouth.  He's not pushy, but he sure has a great begging face.



Even more fun was watching Amanda, the ultimate treat hound, try to steal the treats right out of Sonny's mouth.  She would love up against him like his favorite girlfriend, then lick his face and try to jerk the treat away from him.  What a prankster!



So many of the cows are really starting to show their pregnancies -- Rosaleen looks ready to go now and we still have at least 6 or 7 weeks to go!  Her 2015 calf was one of my favorites, so I'm hoping she does it again this year (think heifer!).



Then we have our first time heifers who are definitely starting to show.  Our little Gidget is giving us all the signs of having a very nice udder.  She was our Grand Champion at Wyoming last year and we hope that her calf is everything that she is and more!!  Such a scruffy look compared to all of her finery in the summer show.



Love watching those fall babies growing up.  This is Peaches 'n Cream with her momma Yanni.  At four months, she's doing us, and her sire and dam, quite proud!

Can't wait for the new ones!  That will help make the rest of the winter really fun (did I mention that Winter in Wyoming can last through May?)!!

Happy New Year! 2015 in Review

Happy 2016!  Time for a quick review of Moosters highlights for 2015 before we get too far into our wonderful New Year.



Calves.  We had calves.  Spring of 2015 was so much fun.  There were babies everywhere.  In the end, we had 37 calves for the year.  18 heifers and 19 bull calves.  Mother Nature was pretty fair for a change!  16 red and 21 black.  Nearly all were sired by either Hondo or Machine.  What a great crop.  The heifers have great homes all over the country.  We kept a small handful for ourselves and sadly waved goodbye to the rest.



We had snow in May and 60 degrees in December.  Lots of rain in the spring so our pastures held up very well until the August when someone shut off the spigot and we didn't see rain again for a long time.  100 year flooding in the town of Lusk.  Devastation beyond description.  The view above is from the back door of our vet's office.  That's his horse trailer up the telephone pole waaay down the road.  The folks in our little town picked themselves back up and kept right on going.  A true testament to the spirit and hardiness of the people who live here in Wyoming.




We drove to Harrisonburg, Virginia to attend the 2015 ADCA Annual General Meeting, Show and Sale.  Beautiful facilities, lots of fun sights (Harrisonburg or Bust was not us, but we wished we'd though of it!), trees and more trees along the way and two new heifers managed to follow us home from Kansas.  Thanks to the Hoovers, Gale and Aileen are now full fledged Moosters.  They joined their half sister Rosaleen who has been with us for two years.  We love our Hoover heifers.



Shows!  Seems like we spent most of the summer at shows.  The highlight, of course, was winning Grand Champion Female at the Wyoming State Fair with our  Moosters Gidget.  She was shown by our amazing showwoman, Ms. Calli Klein.  We are so very proud of both of them.

Nebraska State Fair is always a good time with great friends.  Another beautiful facility with an air conditioned show ring.  What more could you ask for?!

Utah State Fair is a favorite and was the 2nd largest Dexter show in the country this year.  There are pictures somewhere, but it was a busy show and there aren't too many.  Our highlight was Ms. Calli Klein bringing home the senior showmanship buckle showing Moosters Snappy Dresser.  She just takes our breath away each and every year.  This was the first show where she proudly showed every single Mooster in the show ring.  Chris and I were the runners and groomers this show.  She was also the senior herdsman award winner - quite the honor as it's voted on by all the members of the Rocky Mountain Dexter Association.  Not only does she show, but she teaches others about our breed and helps not only us, but others in so many many ways.  We couldn't be more proud of her.

And lastly, the Missouri Dexter Breeders Show and Sale (yes, we practically lived in the truck).  We delivered several Moosters to new homes along the way and once again, enjoyed seeing good friends and beautiful animals at the largest Dexter show this year.  Ridings Farm Gertrude followed us home to join her half sister Ridings Farm Kristi Ann.  They are genuinely the two most people oriented females in our herd.

Gertrude

And the icing on our cake was the arrival of Sonny.  Along with our wonderful Hondo, we have the two bulls that will take us into our Dexter future for some years.  So much to look forward to in 2016!