Last year I did a “Year in Review” blog post (you can see it here) and it was a nice way to recap a whole year’s worth of life in one place, so I’m doing it again!
January
We started our year in Montana, dropping Steele off at training with Notorious Horsemanship. We got to spend a few days and, of course, I have to include a photo of Piper being a happy little vacation kitty.
We also ended January with another trip to Montana to see Steele’s progress AND I finally got to meet my Australian friend, Jodie!
February
In February we added Timber to our broodmare band and then we actually got some snow to play in!
In the midst of the uncharacteristically snowy weather, we were talked into bringing home a bottle calf who needed our help to survive… we brought her home on Valentine’s Day, so naturally we call her “Val”. Val was only a little bigger than my goats when we brought her home so she easily fit in the goat houses and it was the cutest thing ever.
March
March found us heading back to Montana to spend a few days with Notorious Horsemanship and Steele and bring him home at the end of his 60 days of training. It was super impressive to see everything he had been learning and Kelly and I both got to spend some time riding him as well.
Honestly, looking back, this may have been my favorite month of 2021 just because of this trip. We got to spend so much time together, with Steele, and with family and it was just an all-around good time.
And unrelated to the Montana trip, but Val was doing a lot of growing. Ha!
April
April started with a visit from my Mom, Uncle Mike and brother for Easter, I turned 32 and enjoyed some nice weather with my boys, Spur, Wrangler and Ronnie. Then foaling season was upon us!
Dwight was born on April 12th and Buck followed a day later on the 13th. It was so fun having two on the ground at the same time!
In the middle of foal fun, I took Spur and Steele on a fun little outing.
And we finally closed on our Montana property!
May
May started with a bang when Holly entered the world on the 3rd and we had three little whipper snappers to keep track of.
I got to spend some time horseback with the beautiful weather and unknowingly brought a tick infestation home with me. Those were the worst few days of 2021, I think. Thinking about it still gives me the heebie jeebies.
Val continued to grow and thrive.
And then we rounded out the month with the arrival of Elvis (born the 23rd) and Charlie (born the 29th). Foaling season was officially over!
On the very last day of the month, Kelly sat on his filly, Trisha, for the first time.
June
In June we hung out with baby horses, Val continued to grow and thrive and think she was a dog, and I did quite a bit of traveling for photo work. I got to spend some quality time with my Mom’s side of the family during one of my trips for photo work (during an intense heat wave).
We purchased a flatbed trailer which made getting feed for our horses SO much easier.
One other big thing ‘happened’ in June – I finished paying off my lingering debt!
July
We spent the 4th of July in Kelly’s hometown of Ione, Oregon with his family. A couple days later, Kelly’s brother-in-law (Luca, from Italy), was kind enough to spend a day with us putting up a load of alfalfa for the horses.
We spent a lot of time in June and July trying to breed back our mares, but God told us it would be easier for us to move with less babies to worry about – so He only blessed us with three pregnancies.
July was also when we started halter breaking the babies – including Val. If anyone wants to come finish her halter breaking, that would be great! Ha!
And I spent almost a week in Montana for photo work, getting a taste of what the title “full-time photographer” would feel like – spoiler alert: I loved it!
August
As I go through all of the months and my photos… I realize that we basically just spend all of our time, money and effort on our horses.
So, in August, we hung out with horses. I went on my first little outing of the year, up to Spokane to ride with a couple of friends.
And then we had a monumental day where we got to put our brand new brand on our horses!
I talked Kelly into taking some photos with me, using Steele as a bribe.
September
September started with a bang, Kelly and I each took off in opposite directions the very first weekend – him to way Eastern Montana to bring home our new broodmare, Birdie, and me to Idaho to purchase our new (to us) horse trailer.
We went on our only ride together of the year – taking Trisha and Ronnie at a nearby riding spot. This was Ronnie’s first outing.
In mid-September, I met up with my friend Brie for what was supposed to be an overnight ride but turned into a very cold and snowy day ride.
Kelly turned 35.
And then we weaned babies.
October
To start the month, Brie and I did a re-ride hoping for better weather – and found it! We had a great time with the two of us, four horses and five dogs on an overnight adventure in some beautiful country.
Then it was time to start sending babies to their new homes, so Kelly and I took our last group photo with all 5 of them. Buck and Dwight went to their new homes.
Val continued to grow and thrive and Jessa modeled our new ranch hats for me.
November
In November I had the opportunity to work with Muck Boot Company and I had some great help from the critters.
Charlie and Elvis went to their new homes. Holly was our only baby left so she got turned out with her big sister, Trisha.
Sandra injured herself and moved into the shop to keep her wound clean and dry… and one of the feral kitties, LB, decided to permanently move into the shop and turn into a complete love bug.
Kelly’s Dad and brother helped us get another load of hay.
I enjoyed a chilly ride with a new friend.
We spent Thanksgiving with Kelly’s family and then I spent a couple of days with my Mom’s side of the family.
December
In December Holly headed to her new home, we took our Christmas card photos and enjoyed a day of sunshine right off the bat.
For Christmas, we headed to Montana and Kelly’s Dad came with us! It was really neat to have him meet some of my family and see where we’ll be moving to. (And I made friends with some deer at Dad and Heather’s house.)
Overall… quite the year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Piper’s Zoo!
