I haven't been updating this blog whatsoever. Mostly because life has bitten me in the bum. I finally made the move to Idaho, the move I've been wanting to make for a couple of years..minus one husband. But this blog isn't about my personal life, its about the goats, the horses and the part of my life that belongs to farming and country life. And I have to say that being in Idaho is making that infinitely more possible. I'm going to gather cattle tomorrow in the middle of nowhere, for the third time in the past month. Its a blast!
That being said, I had to sell all of my goats. It made me very sad, because I had become attached to a few and had worked hard to build a better program and have quality animals. I'd even managed a grand championship with one of my does. The good news is that I've found a pasture for Nigerians here that is almost completely prepared. I also got my nicest buck back and a stellar doe kid I had born earlier this year. And....
This girl! (Photo by October Road) ... She will be in milk, a first freshening doe heavy on the Rosaharn lines, with some Odeon and Sandy Hollow thrown in. She has one of the most level toplines I've ever seen on a Nigerian and great length and depth of body. She also has wattles, which I love. AND she's friendly! I'll have two friendly does to breed for 2015 kids. In the past I've purchased some wild ones for the quality, so it'll be nice to have entirely sweet girls. I have a feeling this farm would never let go of this girl if they didn't own her full sister, so I'm quite delighted with the opportunity! If I'm not too late by the time I pick her up I might try and hit a show late this summer. :)
And because I was able to get my yearling buck back when I last visited Oregon and give him a shave, his newest photo! Although he isn't very cooperative at all and kept wanting to either hunker down or over-stretch:
Even though he's a bratt, I love stinky little "Jareth". His full name is Firelight FW Goblin King so hopefully someone gets The Labyrinth references. (1980s Jim Henson fantasy film featuring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly)
AND, since I started this entry a day before I went to push cattle over about 50 acres of mountain...and am now finishing it a few weeks later sitting in Southern Oregon... I am at the point where I am bringing two of my three horses to Idaho in a few days! The fence is fully prepared for horses and only needs more electric tape put up and tested to be ready for the does. :) Little Panda (who is still little, honestly a pony) will be coming with me to be trained on cattle and sold, and her dam to be my cow pony. By fall I plan to have her sold and bring up my big half Arabian mare and have my buck pen set up for Jareth to come be with his ladies.
And because its all goats, goats, goats on here, some photos from my ranch work. This is what happens when you run haphazardly through willow brush after wayward bulls:
Your clothes don't survive too well! And..after all the hard work we came back with only seven sale cows. Keeping them on the road and going the right direction was much more relaxing than collecting and driving the 50 something cows my partner and I had to grab on the way up:
Have a great rest of the summer!
