A New Addition to the Family

I would like to introduce the newest member of our family! Please welcome Bert (Fancy Bar Chex)! His mother's name is Fancy Red Berty...hence "Bert". We bought him from a Swiss fellow who manages a ranch 20 miles this side of Dillon, MT named Urs. Greg and I went to see the horse together about a month ago and really enjoyed our time there. As Dad wanted to ride him, of course, Urs asked if I would also like to ride. After assuring me he had a nice gentle horse that would treat me right, I agreed and had a great time! We were able to help him find a little bunch of heifers and bring them to the corral. I was sore the next day but not too much worse for the wear! We were both so impressed with what a little gentleman Bert is though not quite 4 years old. Urs did an excellent job breaking him. We were invited to dinner before heading for home and what a treat (and I don't just mean the food!) He has the sweetest wife and 4 darling kids. They live in a beautiful little home on the Prairie Horse Ranch...an enviable life in some respects though if you think Park Valley is isolated, you haven't seen anything like this! It is 20 miles from nowhere! There is only one other hired hand that lives on the place. These kids are truly each other's best friends. They are home-schooled out of necessity but the parents take it very seriously, as you would have to in that situation!

Now to update you on Baxter! The poor fellow just can't seem to recover from his leg injury... even after having surgery that the vet was pretty sure would take care of the problem. So we are taking him to Park Valley to run with the mares for the winter. We are hoping he will heal up so we can sell him, but that remains to be seen. It has been heart-breaking for us because we really love this horse...yes, even I love Baxter! But Dad has not been able to ride him since the spring and has been borrowing a horse. Not a good situation! So we are happy to have found a quarter horse with great breeding that fit the pocketbook. Greg has ridden Bert a couple of times and is so pleased with his cow sense. He has much to learn, but Dad loves to train horses and will be able to spend some time riding and working with him this winter. The pictures I have included were taken a couple of weeks ago when Ron and Greg were sorting and weaning heifers for Wayne Christiansen. I LOVE the one of Greg standing in front of Bert. His secretary, Katie Wallace, (Wayne's daughter) took these pictures without their knowledge and surprised Greg with them at work. Since I am never there to take these kind of pictures, we are happy to have them. Isn't Bert a pretty roan?