Miniature Horse Competition: Montana Mondays

Mini Horse Competition Jumping

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Western Montana Fair starts Tuesday, but the youth 4-H competition is the weekend before the big fair. These little guys are spectacular fun and very, very intelligent animals. The young people working the horses were learning confidence, courage, and dedication.

Below is the 2 person cart. A mini can pull 4-5 times their weight. I can't wait to train my mini, Spanky, to cart :-) See the building behind? It's been a mainstay at the Fairgrounds here in Missoula for years. Our fairgrounds has been swallowed by the city. It's now middle of the city. Any move of the fairgrounds has been blocked because we all just like our fair where it is! And, by the way, the buildings are used year round for a ton of social activities. But today, it was minis and 4-H to my heart's content.

Mini Horse Carting Competition

Montana Mondays: Law of the Land

Living in Montana means learning how to protect the land and animals from a young age. Okay, this little guy thinks it's play! Caring for the land is an innate Montanan value taught to our very young. People here are strong stewards of the beauty that surrounds us. You'll find entire communities pitching in to weed the Bob Marshall Wilderness, build playgrounds with green products, and protect/recycle all over Montana. People here are huge volunteers for community and family. In the city, people have the standard 1/4 acre lots. But a little ways out from our four main cities you'll still find large ranches, farms, and homesteads.

There are a lot of laws put in place to protect the land, wildlife, and forestry. One unusual law that surprises people is called Fence Out. Fence Out means that if you don't want other people's livestock, pets, vehicles on your land it's up to you to put up a fence. If your neighbor doesn't mind a wandering herd, then it's tough when all the cows surround your car and it's time to go to work! (Yep, that happens to my friend often!)

 -Helping Grandpa do yard work with Louie, the dog.

Then there's Free Range. That means that if your dog bothers someone else's cattle, they have the right to shoot. Ack! Do I understand it? Absolutely! I don't want a strange dog harassing our animals. It causes dangerous injuries. Ranchers can't lose a cow or horses for a badly behaved dog. It's their livelihood. But if your dog accidentally gets out, it can be very sad. Most folks will call and warn you first though.

Then there's my dog. sigh. He has proven that more than cats have nine lives according to our vet. (See photo above.) He's managed to get out and help a few vehicles park when they didn't expect to be stopping. He happens to be an Olympic fence leaper! He's taken on a coyote and a white tail buck. In his mind, they were intruding in his territory. Let's say it was 1-1 since the buck sent us to the puppy E.R. but the coyote never came back, at least not while Louie is on duty. Of course when someone's sheep end up in our pasture, well, Louie gets to herd them back home. That's if our horse, Chief, doesn't take them out first. (He hates sheep!) But loves his mini buddy, Spanky. Spanky should have been named Napoleon for his "little man's" attitude. He thinks he should get all the attention!

Are the laws in Montana different than in your area?

Do you agree or disagree with them? Why?

Angela Breidenbach
http://www.MyGemOfWisdom.com

Montana Mondays: What's the Speed Limit Anyway?

Downtown Missoula at twilight

It depends on the year. Seriously, we've gone back and forth for decades having no highway speed to having 75 miles an hour. The most recent back and forth removed the speed limit to replace it with 75 mph on highways unless going through certain towns. Then it's 65mph. You really need to watch for the signs and pay attention. (You might want to pay attention for deer, skunk, coyote, antelope, elk...)

Then again, some of our highways go through the tiniest of towns. I'm not kidding when I say the highway speed limit is 25mph. If you get caught going over that for the one block or less in the posted area, you will pay a hefty sum to keep the town in finances ;-)

 Belfry, MT

I drove through the town of Belfry, MT. The speed limit was 35 at the edge and 25 through the main stretch. The main stretch wove down little tiny roads the size of alleys past several antique churches and the high school, home of the Bats!

 Yellowstone River

It's just across the border from Cody, Wyoming area heading in the direction of Billings, MT. The country is gorgeous there. The Yellowstone River flows through and dares you to stop and stare. The landscape is dramatically different within a few miles. Anything from forest to desert to farmlands.

Angie

Take Me Out To The Ball Game-The Missoula Osprey

Another great place to visit on our virtual tour of Montana. The Missoula Osprey Base Ball Team.


Our semi-pro baseball team is a wonderful, fun attraction for locals and tourists:-D This is our mascot (he's an osprey.)

Some of the folks at our church decided it would be fun to do a barbecue and baseball game. They were right!

This is Don having a great time with Steve and Steve!



Then we all danced to YMCA, lol, led by the Osprey mascot.

Oh yes, we do have fun in Missoula:-D


Three of our younger members were invited to lead the singing of the traditional, Take Me Out To The Ball Game!


What is there to do in this town? Visit the Osprey and see a real osprey nest (lived in too.) This pole was installed to lure the river hawk to the stadium. The osprey is a bird that lives near rivers, fishes, and builds nests all over the area on tall poles like the one in the distance here. We watched them fly around the park throughout the game as if they were rooting for the home team.

Hey, thanks for visiting today. Come back soon:-D
Angie

Montana Mondays: Young Drivers?

New! I'm going to start a Monday series today on Montana. Every Monday from now on you'll get something about Montana. If you have a special request, please feel free to send it in through the comments or email. I will do everything in my power to satisfy your curiosity about my great state :-)

First question: Don't people in Montana get to drive early?

Answer: We used to ;-) But the law changed on my 6th kid. Five of our kids could legally drive at 14 1/2 because of the farming and ranching. In fact, many kids here grew up driving a truck from elementary age for haying.

However as of a couple years ago, it's standardized with most of the rest of the country at 16. Driver's Ed is 15, but we have the graduated license program that includes parental supervision and a quite intense schedule of practice hours including rules for how many people can be in the car with the newbie driver.

This little guy? He's just wishing. Jude won't be able to drive for a long time :-) He's pure Montana though with his eye out for deer!

Montana Mondays: Five Valleys

Our town, Missoula, is surrounded by mountains and fed by several valleys. It's often called Five Valleys and several of our local businesses sport the name such as Five Valleys Bowling.

No one knows exactly how to count a valley though and some heated arguments can happen over it, lol. On the radio one day, they held a contest to try and figure out what the main valleys were surrounding us and why it's called Five Valleys. By the end, they had so many callers with so many valley names that they all laughed and gave up. I lost track at 16. There are large valleys and small finger valleys. People live all throughout them. They mystery of the name Five Valleys has never been solved :-)

This is one of the valleys in Western Montana up on the hills a bit back from the main highway. You can see the edge of town in the far background. It's one of our kids with one of our dogs.






Here she is again with her horse and dog, Kasey. The photo was taken for a competition, and she finaled :-) She didn't win, but it was a great moment caught on film. This is very much the look of Western Montana.





I'll take you to some spots in Eastern and mid-Montana too. They look so different from my neck of the woods.


Angie