It's not easy being green.........

We could use more rain - soon - but for the moment everything is still looking pretty green.   The herd is sure enjoying the green stuff in the meadow and access to the trees during the heat of the day.  We hope the moisture continues to arrive all summer long. The  hail and winds that have visited with the rain the last few times can stay away.  We're still waiting for the adjuster to come look at our roof from the blasted wind a few weeks ago.  Shingles were flying everywhere!

And to make things just a bit more challenging around here, we now have a new friend (or two).  Yes, we have a busy beaver who just loves to dam up the creek.  Last night was the third time Chris has torn out the dam.  We even saw the little rodent swimming in the water nearby and I just wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a picture. 

Chris got most of this dam broken up and now the water is flowing freely again.  Until we get the dam builder, we'll be doing this again and again......

We've had a few more births since we've been back from the AGM.  Rain Dance is a gorgeous little red heifer.  She was born in the rain, so naming her wasn't a problem!  That's Rominy Raya's new polled bull calf, "Curly," in the picture above.  He's awfully nice looking right now, so he doesn't get a steer tag quite yet.  He's polled and carries red, so we'll let him grow up a bit before making a decision about his future. 

Happy almost 4th of July!  We are looking forward to the barbeque and fireworks in Lusk tomorrow night.  The Friends of the Fireworks does an amazing job raising funds for this annual event.  This year Moosters helped a bit by donating Dexter burger for the fundraiser dinner and auction in April.  The least we could do because without private donations and fundraising, there are no fireworks - and that would be a shame! 

Home Again.....

........and darned glad to be here.  We love going to the AGM, but we sure love getting back home to our comfort zone and sweet four legged friends. 

 

Callie and Kylee, all ready to go for the day!  They entertained us all the way to Springfield and back with games and giggles.  These two young ladies have incredible work ethics and we are so fortunate that they are allowed to travel and show with us. 

It's Show Time!  Kylee with DancinQueen and Calli with Gypsy Dance.  The giggles are gone and the show seriousness is on --

 

Waiting to enter the show ring with Wild Child, my favorite girl.  Neither of us thinks that waiting is much fun, and I'm wilting in the heat and the Missouri humidity! 

 

That kind of focus on the judge might just get you a ribbon or two.  That's Calli in the Junior Showmanship competition.......

 

The result of all that focus.... Junior Showmanship winner!

 

Kylee is the recipient of the 2013 Chris Odom Memorial Award for Junior Exhibitor of the Year.  She worked very hard on her application, testing and is a tireless young promoter of the Dexter breed. 

 

How lucky can we get?  We are so honored to have them along with us for the trip.  The smiles and pride exhibited by those two girls make it all worthwhile!  Congratulations!

 

 

And all too soon, it was time to take DancinQueen to the sale ring.  We were really sad to see her go, but she went to the most fantastic home we could ever imagine (thanks, Louise!) and we know that she's going to be cared for and well appreciated. 

 

We may have purchased one or two ourselves - more on that later.........  The genetic diversity is one of the reasons that we love to attend the sale at the AGM.  Genetics from all over the country centralized in one place.  Dexters truly do have something for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Time Sure Flies....

It's just a busy time here at Moosters.  The girls are now "visiting" 'Dance, who is a very happy camper now.  The show girls are about as ready as they get for the Show and Sale.  The grass is so green that it makes you want to cry.  There's a beaver in our creek - and he/it doesn't stay in the creek.  I never seem to have the camera when it's out zooming around though....

That's our Dance Machine, destined to be one of our next herd sires (yes, we are probably going to  back to two provided we find just the right one).  Mach is a sweetheart.  Last night in the pasture he came right over to visit and nearly licked the skin right off my arms.  We are really pleased with him.

Yodel and a few of the girls know that we keep apple treats in the back of the ATV.  They are not polite......

How can you not love that face?  Behind Luna, you can barely see a red bull across the county road.  Those are Salers - can you say huge?  Fortunately, they are behind buffalo fence (really - the ranch across from us used to be a buffalo ranch!) and don't appear to eager to escape.  They do pace the fence a lot and they have occasional stare downs with 'Dance.....  Soon they will be moved to "their" girls and we won't be worrying again for a while. 

One of my favorite shots from last evening.  Lush green grass, trees and healthy cattle.  Who could ask for more?!

She's a DancinQueen

And I can't get that silly Abba song out of my head now....

This is Moosters DancinQueen.  She's going to be our only heifer for sale at the AGM this year.  Photos needed to be submitted pretty early, so we didn't have any green grass backgrounds to show off her pretty red.  It was also a bit early for her to shed out completely and even a bit early to clip her, so these are the best we could do at the time (including the little poops that I didn't catch the first time through!).

Here she is last fall with her parents.  A total chance "family photo," but it gives a great look at her genetics.  Mom, Seana,  is a beautiful dehorned red with black muzzle.  She is tested PHA and chondro free.  Dad, 'Dance, is also tested PHA and chondro free.  Queenie is parentage verified, so she's free of both by obligation.  Oh, and she is polled, sweet as sugar and halter trained! 

She is for sale only because Chris continues to remind me that we can't keep 'em all -- and I keep trying.......

Happy Mother's Day

Miss Mulgwen and her new little golden boy.  After losing her calf last year, we worried about her since she was a bit late delivering again.  He's a healthy young bull, so we needn't have worried.

He's really good at hiding and disappears easily between two tumbleweeds --

And, although Luna's little Tooie (for "he's a Stewie too" that got shortened to Tooie) is almost a week old, today was his first real adventure outside the corral.  We put them out a few days ago, but he apparently liked the cushy life so well that he came back in under the gate.  This time he's enjoying the adventure!

And here's Dance Partner - certainly a momma's boy.  Resta is such a good mom!

Gypsy's Day of Beauty

 

We're getting close to that time where we have to make our final decisions on who is going to the AGM with us this year.  The show girls have been looked over from every angle and I think we are down to the final few. 

 

Since the weekend weather was beyond gorgeous, all the girls had a shampoo and blow dry on Friday.  Saturday was Gypsy's day of beauty since she had the thickest coat we've ever seen - and it was high time to find out what was underneath.

 

 

Her tail head made the most amazing mohawk with golden tips. 

 

 

She's really well behaved in the grooming chute.  Love that calm Dexter acceptance.  No kicking, no fuss....

 

 

It's too bad that the picture can't do justice to the depth of the coat here, but you get the idea.  There is a beautiful shiny black coat under all that winter baby fur!  The clippers clogged so often that it took a while to get the first rough cut.  I'll share after she's had her next one.  Love, love, love her!  She's definitely headed to the AGM and a summer of showing.

 



 

 









April Showers? Not Quite!

So, that's three Mondays in a row in April for snow.  Fortunately, this week was a bit lighter than the last two, so we didn't bring the girls up into the yard this time.  We'll still be hopping over cow pies for years to come.....  The good news is that we'll be warming up soon - a typical skip spring and go directly to summer kind of year again. 

Our Cinder was due last week, so we put her in the stalls as the snow started.  Fortunately, she waited until the snow stopped before giving birth to a lovely little (are you ready?) red, polled heifer!  Meet Moosters Salsa:



 

 

Once the snow started to melt, we opened the gate so that Salsa could explore a bit.  She zipped along like she knew exactly was she was doing.  Eventually, we moved them both back to the pasture with the herd:

 



Neither of them were too excited.

 

 

 

More calves to come.  Luna looks like she's ready to explode any minute, so we're thinking somewhere in the next few days.  And we still won't be done!