Horse Breeding 101

There is a stallion/stud here on the ranch named Nick (and yes... he's a horse). Every year, they breed him with several mares, some that belong to the ranch, and some from people who pay a stud fee to breed their mare with him.

Yesterday, Jason and I got a lesson in Horse Breeding 101. There's a mare in heat (a former barrel racing champion with a thoroughbred pedigree) that was delivered here to be bred with Nick (who has a pretty fantastic pedigree of his own).

Jason and I were very curious, and so as J.W. went through the process, he explained the how and why to his interested staff members (Chad, Jason and I). That's about all I'm going to say, but know it will continue for the next few days (every other day while she's in heat).

Anyhow, the mare is just gorgeous, the kind of horse I always dreamed of having.

Other than that, Jason has spent the last few days working outside with the boys, which has made him very, very happy.

Things are looking great in the greenhouse, and I'm just pretty much on hold until we can move everything outside.

Since I have plenty of time on my hands, and our housekeeper Elizabeth is now off the payroll and working on her painting full time, I've taken on the housekeeping duties until our young wrangler/housekeeper arrives in June. No problem. :)

And the food continues to be outstanding.

Here's a couple of photos I've had sitting in my hard drive for a few days!

Buddy waits for Chad to come out of the kitchen.

The hummer in the foreground, while Jason shoots a frozen Yellowstone Lake.

"Mom, that was soooooo fun! Thanks for throwing the tennis ball for me a hundred times!"