Fake Friends, Parent Hacks, and BIG Surprises!

What this episode is about

The discussion introduces Buck Morgan, a new member of the team who specializes in photography, and shares insights into his transition from real estate to capturing the podcast's activities, particularly during the foal watch season. The conversation highlights the team's camaraderie, the challenges of keeping busy during foal season, and the excitement surrounding the arrival of new foals.

Key takeaways

• New hires are like surprises—some are better than others, but all come with potential! Welcome, Buck!
• Foal watch: the ultimate test of patience and sleep deprivation—because waiting is an art form.
• Forget growing pains; D&D and foal delays prove team dynamics thrive on nerdy creativity!
• Chess to D&D: A post-foaling survival strategy. Who knew gaming could ease the pressure of parenting animals?
• In the game of life—much like Dungeons and Dragons—rolling with the punches is often the best strategy!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Katie Van Slyke (Host) · 21 min speaking
• Buck Morgan (Guest) · 11 min speaking
• Rebecca (Guest) · 4 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Buck Morgan, Big Farm: Homestead, Katching Up With Katie, Dungeons and Dragons
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Dungeons and Dragons, Katching Up With Katie
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Blackberry Farm, Sarah Elder Shabo

Notable quotes from "Fake Friends, Parent Hacks, and BIG Surprises!"

• Yeah, and I was so grateful for it as well. So now I get lucky enough to come out here and shoot the podcast, shoot all the animals, do the days and the lives with y’all, foal…

  about Buck Morgan · at 0:53

• Last year we learned how to play chess, and this year we’ve been playing Big Farm: Homestead—especially during foaling season, as it can be so busy. It’s great to be able to…

  about Big Farm: Homestead · at 1:42

• The family. We got families that matter. No, but no. We’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons on live while we wait on this foal. So we got through a whole campaign because it’s…

  about Dungeons and Dragons · at 4:16

• I think we should go to Blackberry Farm. I have an in there at Blackberry Farm.

  about Blackberry Farm · at 10:45

• Thank you for last-minute jumping out of the shower and coming over to be on this, because we’re struggling this week. And hopefully Raven has her baby before this airs.

  about Katching Up With Katie · at 34:48

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Buck Morgan — Person · New team member / behind-the-scenes crew (photography/video) · 3 mentions · first at 0:16
  Introduced as a new part of the team who will shoot the podcast, animals, and foal-watch coverage; background in photography (real estate originally).
• Sarah Elder Shabo — Person · Referenced industry contact (marketing) tied to a desired trip destination · 2 mentions · first at 11:08
  Mentioned as the main marketing contact at Blackberry Farm and as someone the speaker knows through AQHA showing and a shared trainer; invoked as a potential connection to visit Blackberry Farm.
  Sarah Elder Shabo. She’s their main marketing gal. At one point, I don’t know what she does now, but I’ve talked with her all the time because she shows AQHA. We were with the same trainer forever.

Products & tech

• Big Farm: Homestead — Product · Recommendation · 2 mentions · first at 1:42
  Recommended as a calming game played during foaling season, emphasizing its therapeutic benefits.

Concepts & topics

• Dungeons and Dragons — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 4:16
  Discussed as a game played by the team during foal watch, highlighting its role in team bonding.

Places & events

• Blackberry Farm — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 10:45
  Mentioned as a dream vacation destination, highlighting its luxury and exclusivity.

Media & podcasts

• Katching Up With Katie — Media · Host · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  The podcast where the discussion takes place, hosted by Katie.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Welcome back to Katching Up With Katie. So, we are all really tired, and I am smiling through it. It’s fine. And we have a new face. Well, actually, a couple of new faces. You’re not new. You’re an old face, but we do have a new face behind the scenes here. So, Buck. Hi. This is Buck Morgan. He is a new part of the team. He’s actually part of Matt and Nate’s team, so he’s just going to be here hopefully all the time. Now, give us a little backstory on what you’re going to be doing, and just like the ladies on Snapchat like you, so we also need a bio for that as well. Yeah, my name is Buck. I’m from Mississippi. I’ve been in photography for seven or eight years now. I was doing a lot of real estate photography originally, and then I was actually shooting his house whenever he kind of told me about this job with y’all and was like, “Would you be interested in that?” I’m like, “Oh, that sounds

0:51 so much better than shooting houses.” Such a Matt move. Yeah, and I was so grateful for it as well. So now I get lucky enough to come out here and shoot the podcast, shoot all the animals, do the days and the lives with y’all, foal watch, all that good stuff. What’s your thoughts been on foal watch so far? There’s been no foal, by the way. At this point in time, there’s been no foal. I really hope that we prepped him the way that we did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I really hope by the time this airs, he was under no misconceptions about foal season. Yeah. Yeah.

1:20 He let me know. It was like, “It’ll be a lot of nights, a lot of days,” and I was like, “I’m up for it, man. I’m good to go. I’m ready for it.” And I think it’s become a trend where the first foal of the year, I jumped the gun. Yeah. As you know, I can barely leave the farm because I have so many foals being born, and I can get a little stir-crazy. Each year, the crew and I try to find ways to keep busy. Last year we learned how to play chess, and this year we’ve been playing Big Farm: Homestead—especially during foaling season, as it can be so busy. It’s great to be able to have a game I can play to wind down at the end of the day. Some games hype you up, but this one really calms you down. I’ve been playing Big Farm: Homestead in the evenings when I want to switch off during this foaling season. It shows open fields, warm sunsets, cute cows, and you’re just restoring this beautiful countryside farm at your own pace. It’s so fun being able to build and

2:15 design a farm and help make it thrive every day, just like my own. Big Farm: Homestead is like being on my own farm, but without the stress. You can download it for free now on iOS and Android. Last year, it was like weeks. Hey, now it was. Hey, now. No. Kennedy was 10 days. Kennedy was 10 days. We were on day—tonight will be night seven. Okay, so we’re not there yet. They say it was weeks because of Karen, when Squirt was born. By the way, she owns Squirt now. And so, because Karen went to day 355. But it was different then, though, because we didn’t have this finished in here, and they were staying in the Airbnb, so it didn’t feel quite the same. But they were still away from home.

3:01 So yeah, it was foal watch. But yeah, we’re on night seven. I really hope by the time this airs, we have a baby. Or, I mean, we could have a couple at this point. We have like four mares after 320, right? Like today’s Coco’s 320. So, the minis, we could have two or three other mares before Raven at this point. So she’s overdue at this point. That’s the other thing. Last year, we didn’t have a single mare make it to this point in their pregnancy. So, I don’t know. There’s Karen. That was two years ago. Squirt’s about to be two.

3:32 Oh, he’s about to be two. I know. That’s what I’m saying. It’s been so long. We haven’t had any mares make it to their due date. Anyway, so Buck’s a new part of the team. That’s going to be super exciting. But what a Matt move to, in the middle of having his house pictures taken, be like, “Hey, hey man, you want a job?” Pretty sure I just got off the phone with Nate. We decided that we needed another guy, and he just fit the bill. He was young enough, tall enough, handsome enough, black hair. We had an idea of what we were looking for physically. So he also—okay, if y’all haven’t been tuning in for the lives, you came for 10 minutes of a live and were like, “I’m out.” I mean, I’m ready to go. I have a foal. Not that Matt and Nate do not, but I had to get home to the family. We got families that matter. No, but no. We’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons on live while we wait on this foal. So we got through a

4:28 whole campaign because it’s been that long. And that was another big win on your part, that he came in already being a Dungeons and Dragons nerd. Yeah. And he jumped in mid-campaign and took over one of the villain arcs. So my character doesn’t like his character, but it’s fine. Like, I keep having to get out of Shadowheart because I keep being mean to him, and then I’m like, “It’s just Shadowheart. I’m sorry. It’s not me.” Every time I say something catty, that was Shadowheart. Yeah. Wasn’t me. It’s your default now. Yeah.

5:01 We are being such nerds, though, because within the game, if you want to do an action, you have to roll for it. And so now every time we’re like, “Hey y’all, want to do this?” we’re like, “You want to roll for it?” Like, it’s so dumb. But anyway, that’s just what we’ve been doing. We’ve been up all night playing Dungeons and Dragons and getting our work done during the day. Not sleeping a whole lot. So, with that being said, we didn’t have a whole lot of brain power coming into this episode, and I relied on y’all’s brains. Then I called in Rebecca and said, “Hey, how quickly could you get over here to do Katching Up With Katie?” And she was like, “I literally just got out of the shower, and I’m going to pull up this picture. I’m going to pull up this picture that was sent to me.” Because this was 30 minutes ago.

5:47 I was sent the before, but you’re seeing the lovely after. You pulled it together so quickly. It’s a little better. So, we are so grateful that you were able to pop over here. That is the good thing about you living five minutes away. A lot of people had some questions for you. We have some other things coming as well within this episode, some news, but just a couple questions to satiate your fans. Yes, you have fans. Okay, so I guess maybe it’s because you’re best friends with an only child, but you were giving only-child energy. I do.

6:23 And then people were shocked that you have a brother. Yeah. People have said that before, that they’re shocked I have a brother. I think part of it is I don’t put anybody on my social media that’s not me or Evan, I feel like. So, I do have a full family. I have parents, friends, siblings, all of that. They just aren’t part of what I do. So yes, I have an older brother. Big Dungeons and Dragons guy. Like, literally goes to a weekly meeting. So he tried to teach me like 10 years ago, but it was on paper, so I wasn’t into it.

6:56 Well, also, I think it’s more of a shock to give you a sibling when you’re not the older sister. That’s shocking. I do tell my brother that I am our father’s strongest son. So she knows my brother and knows that’s factual. He’s like 6’4”, this big burly man, but it’s still factual. Yeah, he’s a big teddy bear. And so if he needs anybody to come in and fight his battles, he calls in the big guns. But yes, I do have an older brother. He is four years older than me, and yeah, like I said, he’s 6’4”. He has bright red hair. We look nothing alike.

7:29 I wanted you to have a redheaded baby so bad. Not that there’s anything wrong with having red hair, but our whole life she’s been mean to him about it. His whole life. He would pick on me, and then I’d just be like, “Well, you have red hair.” So that was my last comment. So as soon as he found out I was having children, he was like, “They’re both gonna be redheaded.” And actually, I would have loved that. Can you imagine them with red hair? I could so imagine Kinsley being just so beautiful. Yes. But yes, older brother. But I am the biggest, oldest sibling.

7:59 Okay. They want to know our dream vacation. Our dream vacation. No men. No men. I don’t know. This could go multiple ways because we’ve been on multiple vacations together. You know what vacation we haven’t been on together? A tropical one. We’ve done the trail ride in Colorado. We’ve done the fishing, mountains, cabin-type things. We’re going to go to Vegas this year. Yeah, we’re going to Vegas this year. That’s our trip this year because we were like, “Hey, we can’t do a freaking week. We can’t do a long thing. We just gotta get away quick, somewhere we can get away with little to no planning.” Yeah. Vegas. Vegas, baby. No planning. So, we’re gonna go to Vegas. And the thing is, neither one of us is a partier, gambler, drinker, but still, I think we could go see some shows. I think just walking around, it’ll be something different.

8:49 Have you been? Yeah. Okay. I went to Vegas when I was pregnant. So she told me, because she’s fertile Myrtle, so Kinsley, they had planned. She was like, “Hey, I think I’m going to plan to get pregnant in May because we’re going to Vegas in April, and I don’t want to be sick.” Because she gets deathly ill when she’s pregnant. And I was like, “Okay.” Well, two weeks before her trip, I just get an “I’m pregnant…” text. Yeah. It was not a fun Vegas trip. I would not recommend going to Vegas pregnant ever. The smells alone will take you out.

9:31 Yeah, you can’t do anything. I can imagine it was pretty rough. And we stayed on Fremont Street, which I think is a little bit stinkier than the rest. We were in a non-smoking room, which just meant they hadn’t smoked in it that day. It was so smoky. It was brutal. It was a rough trip. Have you been to Vegas? Yeah, I went two years ago. Were you pregnant? No. Okay. It does have a lot of smells, though. And when you’re pregnant, everything smells really weird. I remember I used to open my fridge every morning. The fridge smelled fine, but I made so many people smell my fridge. Everybody said there was no smell. I could smell it.

10:14 It smelled like an old lunchbox. And my wife, yeah, it was bad. So Vegas just smelled like sweaty people and cigarettes. Well, we want to go back. All there is. Smell it. Let’s go, baby. But dream trip, I don’t know. We’re not super tropical gals, though. I do love a do-nothing day, though. And I feel like every trip we’ve ever gone on, we’re itinerary people. What are we doing? Where are we going? What are we booking?

10:45 I think we should go to Blackberry Farm. I have an in there at Blackberry Farm. Yeah. Me and their main marketing gal are this. That’s like my dream trip for like 20 years. Why haven’t you been to Blackberry Farm? It’s expensive. I know. That’s why it’s a dream trip. It’s not a casual trip. Sarah Elder Shabo. She’s their main marketing gal. At one point, I don’t know what she does now, but I’ve talked with her all the time because she shows AQHA. We were with the same trainer forever. So me and her have been on weekly meetings right now setting up for the English versatility stuff. I have not been using our friendship to my fullest advantage.

11:27 She’s all in on Blackberry Farm. She’s been there forever. Oh my gosh. I’ve wanted to go to Blackberry Farm literally for 10 years, and I would just never pay for it. But for a fun girls trip, we want to go to Blackberry Farm. This is our ask to be invited. Sarah, just saying. I won’t say the prices on here, but it’s luxury. It’s lux. Like, you could probably purchase a car. She always told me all of the famous people that would come there over the weekend and whatnot. But because I knew the prices, I didn’t really look into what you can do there.

12:05 I’ve been at the point where you check out a hundred times. What do you do there? Nothing. You do a spa, walk around, and everybody just caters to you. Just a mom’s dream. So I do think a do-nothing trip is something we haven’t done. And it’s not far. It’s in Georgia. Or like south. It’s near the North Georgia line, I believe. I think we should do the Vegas trip with the boys. I would never go without them, honestly. Not to Vegas. They both enjoy Vegas. I don’t enjoy Vegas. Jonathan loves pulling a little slot machine, loves getting a little prize.

12:49 So both of the things you arguably lose the most money on, probably. That’s why we’re there, to keep that from happening. Yes. But we’ll be shopping. Okay, so the only time I’ve been to Vegas, I’ve been twice. When I was 13. Why? Because my dad. SEMA is a huge convention there, and he works in auto parts. They went to Vegas every year for this work trip, and he took me one year with my mom and my nana. So we went and saw Phantom of the Opera, we saw Cirque, and we went to the Grand Canyon because you can take a really quick trip on a small plane. So we went to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, everything like that. And that was very family-trip Vegas.

13:43 Then I went to SHOT Show one year, in like 2017 or 2018, and I had no money to spend in Vegas. We were there for work, and it was still on my dime. I remember the first day we got there, Jonathan got sick, and I ordered chicken tenders to the room. It was $27 for some chicken tenders, and I was like, “Okay, we can’t come back.” So we haven’t been back since. But yeah, I think going just for a couple shows, hanging out, a little shopping, and not in the dead of summer when it’s so hot and sticky. Late spring or something would be nice.

14:30 So, yeah. Blackberry Farm. I think a do-nothing trip would be great. Yeah. Blackberry Farm is the dream trip. We want to preface that. I don’t know if that’s going to happen. No. No. That’s why it’s called—you said a dream. You said the dream trip. That’s the dream trip. They want to know how Evan is. How’s Evan? Evan’s doing good. He broke his neck, for those that don’t know. Yeah. If you don’t know, my husband fractured his C7 in May of 2025. It was a big deal. He could do nothing for a long time. Like, literally nothing.

15:04 So yeah, you were the man of the house. I was the man of the house for quite a while. Your man-of-the-house videos were funny. Yeah, I did a lot of videos doing “husband jobs,” and I cannot lie, I got in really good shape. You built a table. Yeah. That was pretty—those mash barrels are like 200 pounds. I was moving them. That was impressive. I took everything I had, and then I was down for like two days, but I got them moved. But yes, he is doing great. He’s done a lot of PT, and I think we’ve accepted that Evan’s neck will never be what it was. I think he’ll always have some chronic pain, which is a bummer.

15:38 But he’s back to working out and building strength, which is helping. And yeah, he’s back to full duty at work. So all the things—he was on the job when he got hurt. He is a lineman. So, dangerous job, right? This weekend, snow coming in. Keep all the linemen in your thoughts, because he was actually working a storm when he got hurt. A tree fell on him while he was driving. Like, he was going 40 miles an hour, the tree fell at the same time, and it smashed into him. It’s actually a miracle that he’s alive. The photos are horrific. When I saw the truck in person, I was traumatized.

16:13 But then it’s so funny—your kids have your same dark humor. So the other night, and this was months ago, your kid was five—she’s six now, she just turned six—but she was five at the time. I think y’all—he came and ate dinner with us and then was going back out. He got called out. So they were at my house, and we were just sitting around, lounging and eating. And as he’s leaving, Kinsley goes, “Don’t break your neck again, Dad.” He’s just like, “Why would you say that?” She does have my dark humor. Yeah, he’s doing good. He can work again, which is ideal. Like, work around the farm. I don’t have to do everything. Why is everyone in here asking about slime?

17:00 Oh, because I posted about slime earlier. So, if you didn’t know, slime is a parent’s—Matt, you’ll come to learn this—slime is a parent’s worst nightmare. If you are a parent sending slime home with other children, like you’re gifting slime, I have no words for you. It is the worst. It is the absolute worst. Do you know how many kids I’ve seen get their hair chopped off? Girls with hair chopped up to here because slime touched it one time and then it adheres to it. Anyway, my daughter had some slime in her playroom. Hidden slime, in a little container.

17:35 Has slime been a banned substance in your home? Slime and kinetic sand are not welcome in our home. Never will be welcome. So she had the slime. I opened the playroom door, and she went with the slime because she was busted, and she dropped it onto her Barefoot Dreams shawl that you bought her. It just stuck to it. So she’s trying to pull it off, and it’s just stuck. There’s this bright green blob. Of course, she starts crying. She’s like, “I can never have slime again.” I was like, “True. You were never supposed to have the slime.” So the slime went to the trash. But I found a solution.

18:08 If your kid gets into slime, white vinegar. I soaked it in white vinegar, then got boiling hot water and just poured it over it and over it, and it disintegrated instantly. You’re such a mom for that, because I would never. I’d be like, “Well, your favorite thing is in the trash now.” You’re such a mom for being like, “Here’s this remedy I found.” I don’t think I’m a remedy finder. What’s their favorite if they were crying? I don’t know. I think I’d be like, “Well, that’s what you get for slime.” So yeah, that works. White vinegar, hot water. Just douse your kid’s head and boil—no, I’m just kidding. And then the slime will come out.

18:48 It is stained. It has a green stain on it, but she can live with that. That’ll be her reminder forever of her crimes. Yeah. It came home from school. Another family sent slime home with all the kids. Secretly. It’s so funny that we’re best friends because we’re so opposite in so many ways. One of the ways we’re opposite is that you’re such a good cook, and I’m not. So what made you want to be a good cook? Have you always just known what works? I think being—what do they call them? What’s our generation called? Latchkey kids. So basically, I got off the school bus—he’s younger than I am. He’s 28. I’m thinking of Nate being older.

19:45 But me and my brother cooked a lot in the evenings. We got home from school, and it was just us. And in the summers, my parents went to work, and we were just left at home, like everybody was. So I started cooking then and enjoyed it. I’d bake during the day at like seven or eight years old while my mom and dad were gone. But honestly, this is going to sound bad, but Evan’s always liked somebody to cook for him. So I started learning new recipes when we were dating. He traveled for work, so he ate out all the time. When you live in a hotel room, you eat out every meal. I don’t think that sounds bad.

20:22 So he was in a hotel room five days a week, and coming home to real food was a big deal. He didn’t want to eat out. It caused a little tension at some point because on the weekends I’d be like, “I want to go out. I want to eat out.” And he’s like, “I’ve eaten nothing but food out three meals a day for five days.” So I always had a big, nice dinner planned for when he arrived home on Fridays. This was while we were dating. And before he would leave town on Sundays, I’d make him a big, nice meal. Once we were engaged and married, I started cooking all of his food for the week and sending it in coolers so he could reheat food in his room instead of eating out three meals a day. Obviously, to the best you can. Pre-made food doesn’t always work out, but there were certain things that did.

21:06 That’s what really got me into it. His grandmother is an amazing cook, so that was kind of the standard. I had to make up for some true Southern cooking. So I dove into it, and now there’s a lot of heavy cooking going on. I know if I want y’all to eat with us, there’s no last-minute thing because you’ve already been cooking for three hours. Yeah, I would say I cook a minimum of two hours a day. Most meals are planned at least seven to ten days in advance. But you’re also so good at budgeting. You need to start a part of your content around your budgeting hacks because you’re so strict with it too. And I like—there have been times where she sticks to this dollar amount, and if it’s like a dollar over, she puts away her own chapstick or her own whatever. Like, you stick to this specific budget, and you have this map of when the deli is on sale, when the meat is on sale. I don’t know. So you need to make that a part of your thing.

22:14 Yep. I think—I don’t know. I’ve always just liked numbers and budgeting. Is that a part of your thing? Or I just don’t watch your stuff enough. Oh, not really. No, not the budgeting piece, because there are weeks where things happen. Especially now, I feel like, with more responsibility with content and stuff and more animals, where it’s like, “I don’t know what I’m making tonight.” That does happen more often. But for the most part, now I’m pretty strict. If we’re over budget, there’s no fun stuff for the week. Like, I’ll make cookies at home. We’re not getting ice cream, right? Or whatever it is.

22:46 Which y’all are a big ice cream family. We have dessert every single night. Seven days a week, have dessert after dinner. But I feel like the girls eat great. They eat vegetables. They eat better than you do. You know what? Most of everybody eats better than I do. That’s fine. If they were not eating protein and a well-rounded meal three meals a day, I would not let them have dessert every night. But I don’t think a little bowl of ice cream every night hurts. I mean, it’s not like they’re eating a whole cake. No. Yeah. A little sweet zone. That’s probably a better balance, too, than depriving and then getting it one day and having to eat the whole thing. We did “sometimes foods” and “all-the-time foods,” because I feel like when people are restricted growing up—like my parents restricted me on Cokes—and now I’m a fiend. You can’t do that, because I never got to have it.

23:31 So when I was old enough to go buy a Coke, I was like, “By the way, I’m restocking. I promise.” She’s been without Diet Cokes. Have you been feeling it too, Matt? No. He went in there, and there was no Coke Zero. He likes Coke Zero. And there wasn’t one, so he had to drink a Pepsi. I drank a Pepsi yesterday. Full 180 calories, straight down the chute. I do like a lime in my Diet Coke. And the number of times you’ve seen me disappointed because they put a lemon in it—it's not the same. Sonic is Diet Coke with a lime. Yeah. We ordered Sonic, so it’s sitting down there waiting on us right now. Okay. Another thing—have you seen those videos where it’s like, “I don’t know my best friend’s favorite color. I just know her childhood trauma”?

24:16 That’s us. Yeah. We know each other’s trauma. One of the things is, I know so much about you, and you know so much about me, but I don’t really have faith in how well you know my animals. One thing that was asked was that I quiz you. I’ve already set you up. I do think you’ll be fine with the horses that were not born last year, but that’s not how kind I’m going to be. We’re going to be mean. I don’t think you know my goats. I don’t think you know the mini cows. I think you know the OG horses and the OG horses only. Okay, I’m going to pull up a couple pictures.

25:05 We’re going off pictures. Is that worse? That’s way worse. I thought you were going to say, like, “Who’s so-and-so’s baby.” Oh no. We’re going off pictures. All right. So bad. Okay. I do like her. Who’s this? Yes. Good. I guess you don’t have to write it. You can just say it. Okay. It’s B. You’re right. She gets one. Let me screenshot her. I think it’s going to be the foals that get me. Say less. There were eight of them last year, and there’s going to be a lot this year. They were all red. Does Matt even know who these are? Was that last year?

26:09 It was last year. Who is that? I kept it. You kept it? It’s Ted. I didn’t keep Ted. No. Ted went to Matt. Ruby went to Meline. Okay, I’m getting flustered. It’s not Huckleberry. It’s not Noelle. The last one. It was the last one born. Who is the mom? Happy. I’m just giving you all the freaking—oh, I wanted to name her Bunny. What’s her name? It’s Millie. It is Millie. Millie. You kept Millie? Yes. She’s my favorite one out of the group. They don’t see what I see. Nobody believes me with who’s the nicest. I mean, I’m just nice. Okay. Wasn’t my fave.

27:09 All right, so we’re gonna go to that. That stumped you. That stumped you. You’re not going to get this one. I’m right. Squirt. Who’s this? Starts with a P. Of course it does, because they all start with a P. Don’t even play that. Who’s that? Penelope. No, there’s no cow named Penelope. That was my guess. Get back in your corner. That was my guess. Who did you say? I said that was my guess. It’s not P. No, hang on. It starts with a P. I know. You’re like, “It starts with a P.” We know. I think it’s Peanut. You saw me. No, I thought I said Peanut. You saw me.

28:04 What’s the little brown one’s name? That’s Peanut. I thought the little brown one. The little one. This is Peanut. Why is she that color? Because she grew. I haven’t seen her. She grew up. That was her like last week. I thought she was chocolate-colored. You’re thinking of a different one. What’s the chocolate-colored one? Okay, who’s that? That’s the one I’m talking about. Okay, who is it? Posie. Okay, that’s Posie. You’re right. Just pulled that straight. Like, I knew it wasn’t Poppy or Petunia or Pipa. I know them very well.

28:39 Okay. Oh, who’s this? It’s Kirby. Okay. Yeah, that is Kirby. You don’t have very many bays. Okay, we’re going to get off of those. I think it’s the goats that mostly get you. No, you’re not going to be able to tell between my donkeys. There’s no way. No, there’s no way. I can take Dolly. You give me all three in a row. Who’s that? It’s Blanche. No, look at her eyes. It’s just snowy in this picture. Well, it’s not Dolly, so it’s Dorothy. It is Dorothy. Yeah. Process of elimination. That is true. You can do that with a lot of my stuff. Okay, we’re only going to do one more.

29:26 And you’re just not going to get it. I already know. I know with certainty that you’re not. What year was it born? Last year. Oh. It’s Merida. How did you get that? Look at the screen. It says Merida on the picture. Thanks. That’s how I got it. Okay. Well, you did better than I thought. I was going to say Leona, but Leona’s like her grandma. I’m going to do one more goat just because I want you to fail. Just because I want you to fail. Make sure the name isn’t on there. It’s Blossom or Buttercup. Which one? It’s Blossom.

30:22 It is. I hate you. She thinks I don’t know her at all. I thought for sure, because you like to play this game where you’re like, “I’m too cool. I don’t watch your stuff. I don’t know you.” And it’s just the foals. They all looked the same last year. You have to admit they did not. Noelle and Kirby were the only two that didn’t look the same. Once they got to like two or three months old and shed out a little bit, they all looked so different. Matt, besides Noelle and Kirby, do they not all look red? I’m probably worse off than you. I don’t see horse color. I just see a horse. He’s horse color-blind.

31:00 They’re all yellow. All of my mares are happy. Go grab the red horse out of the pasture. Okay, that’s all minus three. Last year really got me. I don’t know why. We’ve expanded in color. That is true. We now have some grays and some buckskins, and they all have red babies, so it doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m saying. They were all red. So the baby Raven is carrying could be gray. It’s not going to come out gray, though. No. Next year, we’re going to have possible colored babies. We might have buttercups, buckskins, palominos, maybe a lot more white on them. Okay. Well, you beat it.

31:51 So, I did say there was going to be a little bit of news. We’ll end this out with this. I’m going to be a little vague, but I’m so excited that I want to tell people. I have a lot of people saying, “You have all these horses, and you don’t ride.” It’s not because I don’t want to, trust me. I’ve mentioned that we have an on-site trainer coming. She’s starting in February. We’re going to be breaking Molly, Daphne, and Wally all on property. It’s going to be really cool to see. It’ll be fun to have someone helping keep the riding horses legged up.

32:25 So, riding Kennedy, riding Ethel. Annie is going to have a break and then get back into riding. Gracie, I think, will be fun. With that being said, I’ll have horses to ride at home and get back into the swing of things. I also got the opportunity—I’m not going to say it’s long-term—but I could buy this horse and show it. It’s an older horse. Been there, done that. Knows its job. We know Denver is up and coming, and he’s probably not going to be showing western riding with me this year because he’s being finished. So if I want to dip my toe back into western riding and trail, this would be a really cool horse. And I could train under someone I’ve respected for a really long time. So I said yes.

33:31 I get to go meet this horse and ride it for the first time. If all the mares start cooperating, we’ll ride in February, go back in March, and then show in April. So I’m not just showing Denver. I’m not just watching Penelope and Weezy this year. I’ll be showing a horse in Western Riding and Trail. It’s an older horse, and they don’t want it to be shown to death. It’s not to say it’s going to be easy, because horses are horses. They’re animals, right? But this horse knows its job really well, and it’ll be a way for me to gain confidence back in the arena, get back in there, and have one that isn’t a baby.

34:16 Because while western riding was probably my strength—western riding and equitation were my strengths—I’ve been top ten at the Congress every year I’ve shown in it. Except it’s been ten years. Yeah. Ten years is a long freaking time. So getting back into it before I show Denver is going to be a really cool opportunity. That’s all I’m giving you for right now, but it’s going to be fun. And the horse’s name—I’m really excited—it’s going to be a little bit of a surprise. But yeah, I think that’s it for today. Thank you for last-minute jumping out of the shower and coming over to be on this, because we’re struggling this week. And hopefully Raven has her baby before this airs.

34:58 If not, I don’t even know. She’s at day 341 today, so she’s past that. There’s a storm coming in tonight—not thunder and lightning. She’s going to wait until we have snow. Snow, and it’s miserable. Yes. Absolutely. So I hope y’all enjoyed today’s episode. Buck, welcome to the team. If you have any questions for Buck specifically for next week, let us know. And I hope you all have a great time, and I hope you enjoyed the episode.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Fake Friends, Parent Hacks, and BIG Surprises!"?

Katie Van Slyke (Host), Buck Morgan (Guest), Rebecca (Guest).

What is "Fake Friends, Parent Hacks, and BIG Surprises!" about?

The discussion introduces Buck Morgan, a new member of the team who specializes in photography, and shares insights into his transition from real estate to capturing the podcast's activities, particularly during the foal watch season. The conversation highlights the team's camaraderie, the challenges of keeping busy during foal season, and the excitement surrounding the arrival of new foals.

What is mentioned in this Katie Van Slyke episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Katching Up With Katie, Buck Morgan, Dungeons and Dragons, Big Farm: Homestead, Blackberry Farm, Sarah Elder Shabo. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Fake Friends, Parent Hacks, and BIG Surprises!"?

The episode runs 35 min; the transcript is about 6,007 words in 49 timestamped sections.

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