The countdown is on.

The countdown to my first show is on. February 20th will be my debut in the showring. I am nervous and anxious. I picked a show that is 2 1/2 hours from home, where I don't know anyone. Shouldn't know anyone, hoping to not know anyone. I did this for a reason. There is a show series at my barn and all my peers will be there. That is alot of pressure to have it be my first time out. So this show away from home is 2 weeks before the first show of the series at home. It will help me get my feet wet, see what I need to work on and hopefully let me gain a little confidence. I am entering two classes - the green as grass (dumb as dirt) and the green reiner class. The entry fee is small, the biggest expense will be the gas to drive down. I have a month to prepare and to get my head right.





It will probably take me a month to get Semper clean. I have never had this much trouble keeping him clean. At the new facility they don't use shavings, they use the wood pellets and for the life of me I can not keep this horse clean. In hind sight buying a white horse was not the smartest thing I have ever done. I wouldn't trade him for the world, but life would be easier if he were a bay or sorrel or chestnut or .... anything but white. I have always been kind of nutty about keeping him clean, it is a pride thing I guess. I used to get a lot of comments on how clean he is and what it must take to keep him that way and up until now I never found it that difficult. Boy, that has all changed. He wears a blanket 24-7 and underneath he is clean, but his head, neck and legs are a mess. His long white mane is stained and we won't even talk about his tail. Yuck. If my old barn mgmr saw him he would surely give me a ration of crap about it. He used to give me a ration of crap for keeping him so clean, now he would be ribbing me for just the opposite.





We are back to our Wednesday night lessons. I worked on circles last Wednesday and Semper just floated around. He did really well. Then we worked counter canter. He is so sensitive that if I barely touch him he changes leads. Sometimes if he thinks I am going to ask for a lead change he just does it. BAD. The change is good the behavior is bad. So my homework this week was to "ride crazy" to try and get his mind waiting for me. We worked on it on Sunday. He really doesn't like it when I don't ride right. He just goes faster and faster the more I goof off. I lean from side to side, bounce, swing my arms around, bump him with my legs etc. He just hates it, his tail is swishing and his ears are cocked back as if he is asking "What the heck are you doing?". But when I go back to riding right, he really gets down to the business of paying attention. I am going to do a little more crazy riding tonight so that he is ready for our lesson tomorrow.



I picked up my filly from the trainer on Saturday. I will get some pictures of Ms Lilly and try to do her bio next. She is a bay roan, very small and stylish. I rode her for about 1/2 hour on Saturday in the indoor arena. Her first time in the indoor and she wasn't quite sure if she liked it. I let her walk around a few times and then she got right down to work. Her jog is just darn near perfect and the lope is just as smooth as silk. She collects up nicely and is really willing. She was at the trainer for 4 months and I am pretty pleased with where she is. I would like to board her at the same place as Semper but they don't have any available stalls right now. I am on a waiting list so hopefully something will open up soon.

I Gotta Lotta Pep aka Scooter

I Gotta Lotta Pep

aka Scooter

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/i+gotta+lotta+pep

This is Scooter as a yearling, he is officially a 2 year old now. Not a great picture of him. He was going through that gangily stage, little butt high and the halter makes his head look horrible. He has nice legs and good feet. His parts flow together pretty nicely. He does have a really cute head with little foxy ears and a soft eye. If I could change one thing it would be his neck. It just is a litte thicker than I like but I think that when he goes into training that may resolve itself some.

He was born in late May 2008 so he really isn't quite a 2 year old yet. He is one of the boys that had brain surgery over the holidays. His dam is a bay and his sire is a palomino. His dam's first foal was a buckskin and her second foal was a bay roan. Both of them were by the same sire. Scooter was her 3rd foal by a different sire and I was hoping to get another baby with some color. As you can see, I got red. All red. This poor boy doesn't have a white hair anywhere! Good news is that he doesn't show the dirt. He is quiet and a real thinker. If you show him something one time chances are that he will remember it the next time and be more than willing to comply. My only complaint about him so far is that his feet tend to get stuck to the ground. If he gets confused or ? his feet don't move. He usually jumps right in the trailer and the other day he started to get right in, put the two front feet in. Horses in a pasture behind him started running and bucking and he stopped and wouldn't move. Front feet in, hind feet on solid ground. Stuck. Wouldn't go forward, wouldn't go back. Just froze. This is probably a good thing, he doesn't get stupid and try to run or jump around but it is very frustrating. I am not going to take him to the trainer until next winter. I don't have the money to play in the futurity shows and I see no reason to start them until they are at least two and a half to three years old. I have even thought about starting him myself. He may be a good one for me to test my skills on. I will have to see where I am at with a place to ride before I make that a final decision.

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2010 is here.

Dec. 20, 2010 I will have been married 30 years! I know that is looking ahead a bit, but I think it is a wonderful benchmark, especially these days. I got married when I was 19 so I have been married more than half of my existence! My husband and I have made a good life. Our kids are good people with sensible heads on their shoulders. I am proud of my husband and myself of where we are today and looking forward to another 30 years.

I am going to be 49 years old in 2010. At least it isn't 50. One thing that I have to look forward to in 2011 and turning 50 is that I can show in the Prime Time Rookie classes.

This month is the 16 anniversary with my current employer. I have a good job, but it does get in the way of my horse life. I would love to retire and ride every day, all day, but alas, I don't see that happening any time soon.

2010 marks my year to get back into the show ring. I have been looking forward and preparing for the last 3 or 4 years. I can't believe that in a month or two I will be doing it. I just hope that I don't make a complete fool of myself. I showed for years and was always very comfortable in the show ring, something tells me this time around may not bring about the same feelings. Whatever the feelings it brings about, I am going to do my best, stay on task and focused.

All my horses are in good health, fat and happy. I am not going to do any breeding this year. I am very happy with what I have and will just leave well enough along. I had my two stud colts gelded last week and they are healing very nicely. Semper is back to his happy social old self. He was getting a little burned out and giving him some time off did the trick. That and the enormous amount of treats I have been giving to him. The last few rides have been exceptional.

In 2010 I am going to make my weight loss goal. I am 6 lbs from goal. I think that it is safe to say that I will make my goal by the mid February. I have some concerns about being able to maintain my weight. It has been weighing on my mind a lot. I am satisfied with my current diet and to maintain I am going to have to make some changes. I don't want to make any mistakes and I want to stay healthy. Figuring out this step is my goal for the next few months. I am going to see the nutritionist to get started.

My brother is very ill. He has stage 4 lung cancer. He is alive and doing pretty good in 2010 and I am very happy about that. I am not going to dwell on the negative aspects of what is going to happen. I am going to enjoy his company for as long as it lasts.

My mother in law is turning 80 this year and we are already planning a 80th birthday party for her. She is a wonderful person and has so many people that love her. She was an only child growing up and always wanted a big family. Now she has a huge family and loves seeing us all together. Our guest lists is rapidly approaching 300 friends and family. That is pretty amazing in itself.

I have two nieces that are pregnant and due in June and August. Counting both sides of my family, that will make 20 great nieces and nephews for me.

Trying to see the positive things in the negative things makes them less daunting. Making a list of all the positive things in my life is helping me realize just how damn lucky that I am.