Living the Dream.Well Part of it anyways!

November and December were filled with training on the trails with my girls,photography shoots, a trip to Vegas and of course the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays!

Now it's January 2010. This month has been amazing already and it's only half way through! I shot an ACTHA ride in MS on the 2nd. Met some amazing folks! Just returned from the Annual ALQHA Banquet last night and although I couldn't stay for it's entirety, it was a lot of fun too! Of course I met even more amazing folks there as well!

For a moment, let's flashback to 1985 when I lived in California from the ages of 10-18,my bedroom was covered in horse pictures from the AQHA Journal,and other stock horse publications. I hung out with Quarter Horse owners and finally bought my own AQHA gelding,a red dun by the name of Mateo Buck.I never showed in the registered shows. I was lucky enough to show in 4-H and a few Open shows in the timed events, but it was difficult to do much at all without the support of show parents. So I quietly worked in the background and soaked up all I could from the people I looked up to.They were quite a handy bunch for the most part too! But the point is, I have always loved the AQHA. The history, the grit,the versatility and the people. Sure I owned and showed Arabs a little bit as well but the AQHA was still near and dear to my heart.

Fast forward to the year 2000. I found myself working for Bartlett Ranch fitting sale fillies and halter breaking. I LOVED it! I was in heaven! Even managed to get a mention and picture in the 2001 May issue of America's Horse,AQHA's exclusive member magazine! I though I had hit The Big Time!

Present Day: I have married my sweet heart and gave birth to 2 boys. I have joined ALQHA to log my hours in the saddle,ridden on a few AQHA rides,ring stewarded under 6 AQHA judges at 3 AQHA shows,ridden with an AQHA Professional Horseman a few times,and have set goals to eventually compete in AQHA's VRH classes. Whew! And now ladies and gentleman, I am officially doing something I never dreamed would have happened: I AM ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS for ALQHA!

It's strange! I didn't want this position but have been asked for over a year to do it by officers and other board members. On the way home last night I had 2 hours in the truck by myself to think about this.What was I scared of? FAILURE! I hate failing and so many times I just refuse to try. I don't like this characteristic in others so why was I willing to accept it in myself? Time for me to BUCK UP!

My grandparents were great at serving! I always admired this trait in them and so did many others. They were passionately involved in a few organizations and made a difference. I always wanted to emulate that! It's such a great example to my boys and maybe,just maybe I CAN make a difference!

To the ladies who PUSHED me into this position I am grateful for the opportunity to TRY! To the others on the board and members of the ALQHA I hope I do not let you down.To my hubby and boys,thanks for understanding why I may be gone a little bit more often...and to the 10yr.old me: LOOK what we're doing!!

So I will end this entry with this: In 2010 if you hear the sound of opportunity knocking or feel that nudge from God,JUST DO IT!


PS-I also have been published for the first time! My picture "Fancy Cowgirl" starring Miss Lena Hernig is on page 140 of the Jan/Feb issue of the Palomino Horse Breeders of America magazine! She's also Miss August in their calendar! Go 2010!

Getting and Staying Motivated

I hear banjos! Oh wait. Hubby is watching Hee Haw on RFD! Whew! I was worried there for a minute!

So it's been raining...deja vu? No. Alabama! Hopefully the rainy season is about over! Of course it's now deer season so that means limited trail riding. With all the rain, my lessons have been more of a miss than a hit and therefore my extra funds are non existent. Hydrabull practice on Wednesday nights is a distant memory! I miss it too!

With the rain,economy,lack of funds,and other life things that take a priority over riding,it's difficult to stay motivated to ride let alone focus on a goal! But there's hope!

I am fortunate to have 2 boarders that ride and want to better their horses. They don't know it but they keep me motivated to ride. It's nice to have folks to ride with! We have decided (although poor Jane hasn't been informed yet!) that we are going to try and keep each motivated through the fall and winter to not only ride but to make our horse better each time we ride. How are planning on doing this? We have a list and a chart! Lists/charts make the world go round right? Ours is a list on the dry erase board located in the hall way of my barn. On it we have obstacles,listed and 4 horses listed. (Hayden,Scout,Pari and Bullseye) After each obstacle is safely completed and the horse and rider feel super confident on it we can check it off!

What do we win? Well we haven't decided on a prize but we know for sure that our horses will be more broke for it and our confidence levels will have greatly risen as well! I think that's prize enough!

Today Lisa and I got SERIOUS! Even before "THE CHART" was made! She had a see-saw and brought it out to add to our bridge, back through L, serpentine, side pass log, drag, gate, car wash, and water/tarp obstacles. We also added a big scary tarp on the fence with (Carson behind it), a feed bag full of AIR to be drug, and a baseball on top of the cone, as well as a rain slicker to be taken off the post, put on and place back on post. In all we had a total of 11 obstacles to work!

We decided to start slow and go back to basics first. We started on the ground and instilled into the horses the WHOA!(Thanks KJ!)We introduced all the obstacles while on the ground first and really worked on them reacting in place! Seemed to work well! After 20-30 minutes of that we mounted up (Lisa even did it from the off side for the first time!) and started with the familiar obstacles first. All went great!

Hayden and I did have a tap or 2 on the back though L but we tried to make up for it by at least doing a decent turn on the haunches out of it! Other highlights for Hayden and I included walking though the serpentine without reins and using seat and leg cues only,successfully putting on and taking off the slicker for the first time, successfully picking up and placing ball on cone for the first time (Hayden is 15.2 so I though this was going to be difficult),traveling over the see-saw no problem! We did drag the log with no problem but Hayden still doesn't like the rope! So our home work is to do more rope work! (YAY!) Our other new obstacle, the "Bag Drag" is scary to Hayden so we will also be having play dates with it!

Lisa and Scout had a great day too! They're planning on competing in the ACTHA Competition at Blakeley in Nov. so I am trying to help her get ready for it. Scout did great on everything but just need more practice in side passing over a log and dragging the log. He did great with the "Bag Drag" but I think the weight of the log and the rope he's not real fond of.

After we rode and had the horses put up, Lisa and I went over "The Chart"! It was fun to check off some of the obstacles and make notes on the ones we need to work on. We also have a list of obstacles we need to make and some that we'll have to travel to a few different facilities to accomplish! Jane is going to be shocked when she sees "The Chart" tomorrow!("The Chart" is pictured below)



Speaking of tomorrow-I am finally going to be able to ride with my BFF! First time in FOREVER! We are going to Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve with a few others. I really want to ride Mr. Perfect aka Hayden but after looking at my logged hours and knowing that Bullseye has some wet blankets waiting with his name on them, I will probably take Bully. He has issues with entering creeks, and hills with erosion! He balks,refuses and turns for the hills! It's not fun to ride him when he's like that and I don't feel safe letting 6 yr. old Carson ride him on the trails with holes like that in his training. Of course I did actually look at my logged hours on him and Hayden and WOW what a difference! Hayden has 315 since 10/07 and Bullseye has maybe 100! Hmmm...who's my favorite? So it's not a wonder Bully has some holes in his training! I have been taking advantage of his good nature and expecting too much out of him when he hasn't had the same amount of time under saddle. Not fair of me at all! One of my goals for this fall and winter is to get more hours on him. That's not going to be easy since I so very much LOVE riding handsome Hayden but it's got to be done! I will have to think of it as a journey inside The Journey!

~Get that pony rode and I'll write again soon!~

PS-
Yesterday,Lisa,Jane and I rode at Historic Blakeley State Park. We saw this and had a good laugh.Bullseye was severely disappointed though as he was really hoping to finally get some privacy while going to the bathroom.

Yeah I know...

It's been forever long since my last blog but WOW I have been busy with this "journey". Well sort of with this journey....
3 weeks ago we took the boys to the beach for the weekend. Sounds fun huh? Well it's fun but to go on vacation around here is NOT fun! First you have to find someone who will come in and feed the horses.That's the easy part! We also have 2 English Bulldogs so that means we have to have someone come in and let them outside,feed,and water them,etc. The horses are actually less of a handle! But it was the beach and the boys had a great time!I worked on my journey by catching up on all my horse magazines and studied intently on different training points! That's my kind of vacation!


So just to catch you all up,the last few times I have ridden Hayden on the Hydrabull he has done AMAZING! He's stopping hard on his own,starting to want to turn over and thru his hocks on his own (which we are correcting until he listens to my cue) and even starting to get after the bull QUICKLY on his own! YAY! He's felt really good and it's amazing!

But now I have several new questions since we've reached this level: When do we start on REAL cows? And when do I start another discipline? Remember-I am not on a ranch! I am a stay at home mom! My horse is not exposed to ropes,cows,chutes,gates,etc. on a daily basis!

I did take the opportunity to visit a certain other cutting trainer that I KNOW can help me but have not heard back from him yet....I have not resorted to stalker stage yet but believe me-for this trainer I might just have to! I am blessed to have this caliber of a trainer in the area and I would be STUPID to not ride with him if given the opportunity!

It's been raining like we're in the South or something here...hahaha and riding has been a hit-and-miss thing.Really more of a miss thing,actually.I know there are things I could and SHOULD work on even when it's muddy but it's difficult to convince myself of that! Things like roping the dummy,walking,side-passing,doing the gate,ground-tying,etc. But no,I've been taking care of things in the house.(Sure I have!)

I was appointed to be in charge of gathering items for a silent auction benefiting Storybook Farm in Auburn,AL. for the ALQHA. Little did I know that this was actually going to be a very fun and rewarding experience! Here's a link that tells a little bit about that:http://americashorsedaily.com/twy-this-twail-ride/
That's right! Yours truly was in Americas Horse Daily! I was so flattered and honored and excited! I was even more excited that my donors were able to get so much free advertising! Cool huh!?

So the AQHA Ride/Silent Auction is this weekend! I have been finishing up last minute details for it,packing and trying to convince Hayden that the 7 hour trip up there really won't be that bad! Nor will all the hills and creeks we have to climb and swim through...I guess I need to convince myself first huh!? It won't be that bad and it's all for such a great cause!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to ring steward a 3 day AQHA/PHBA show with some awesome women judges!I love meeting cool,strong women like that! They were a lot of fun and of course I learned more than I thought ever possible! Considering going to a ring steward seminar if it would help my chances of "going pro"! I need the money! This is one expensive dream! Maybe I need to look into getting some sponsors!Hmmm...
Here's me with the fun judges:




So you see? I have been busy! I haven't had the chance to ride as much as I would have liked but I have been filling my head with plans and strategies and trying to meet the right people to help along the way.

I did receive some great words of encouragement from my sweet friend Tena Bastian today! She told me:"It's not the results that measures the success but rather the effort you put forth." I really liked that! I think it might make a good tattoo! :) Maybe...

Until I write again-stay motivated and "get that pony rode" as Templeton Thompson's song goes...

Mean Girls and Fractured Toes

Remember my last blog entry on "Balance"? Well that also means balancing the good with the bad! Since my last entry I have worked the Hydra Bull twice with Hayden and have managed to ride him a only handful of times in between.

On the night of the second I was starting to feel "blah" with a sinus infection.By the following Wednesday night I was on a Z-Pack that made feel even sicker.Plus the night before,Hayden decided to spook and do the splits on to my toes in the concrete hallway! My toes were so pretty! I might add that you don't know how much you use your toes while riding (especially in the stops)until it hurts very much badly when you do! WOW! But all is well and I think my toes are maybe only fractured. But enough negativity!

So let me tell you about our Hydrabull runs! The week before last (sorry no pics!) we managed to do 4 runs. He got better and better each time and the 4th go I even went to one hand for the last couple of turns! It felt great! Just before we went in for that last go I had been loping him around working on trying to get comfortable riding him in one hand. He did awesome! Head was down, and he was relaxed and stopping nicely on his hind end. Probably the best he's felt at the lope to me!I think I was more excited about the loping in one hand than I was with his Hydrabull work!

The way we've been working with 8-10 riders is everyone works the Hydrabull 5-10 minutes each time and going 3-5 times.We all go in the same order each time.I wish I could watch all the gos of everybody but even standing on the fence off of Hayden's back, he would get stiff before my go.So I try and watch at least one of everybody's just to be supportive and try and learn new things.

There were no pictures taken of my practice session from the 2nd but this last Wednesday night my dear (non horsey) hubby joined Miss Dee,Miss Lisa and I for the evening and took pics. He did a heck of a job!

This week I tried a new strategy. I warmed him up longer before our first go which Steve lets us go slow for. He was more settled and his stops were great! After Steve told us to quit,I would get off of him (which I have been doing all along) and watch the person who goes after me. Then I would get back on him and walk him out then work him on bending and flexing,stops,90 degree and 180 degree turns. When the person that goes just before me is starting their go,I lope and add a few stops.My new strategy seemed to work well! We had a pretty decent 2nd run but our 3rd run was super fantastic! Hayden was stopping so hard he was throwing dirt onto Steve in the Hydrabull! He was doing most of it himself and the most I had to do was lift his inside shoulder up to remind him he had to back up first before turning.Even that only had to be done a few times and when Steve bumped the speed up a notch, Hayden was more ready than I was! He felt awesome! When Steve said that was good and probably the best he's seen Hayden do,we stopped for the night on 3 runs! Made hubby happy since that meant leaving an hour earlier (9pm) than I usually did!






Remember I mentioned earlier that you have to balance the good with the bad? Well that translates around here into that I need to ride my other gelding,a 4 yr. old APHA gelding at times. He's really not a bad horse.In fact he's pretty good considering he really doesn't have that many hours under saddle.But he's not as fun to ride as Hayden is,so I don't ride him as much! So when I do ride him,usually just on trail rides,he will resist doing basic things like going down a hill or up a hill or into water.I know with more time and practice he'll be great but I am so focused on Hayden that it's hard for me to switch gears and ride this "other" horse.I know-poor poor pitiful me! I hear you playing your violin!

On Thursday I rode him ("BullsEye" aka Sharp Shootin Peppy) with some wonderful women at the Magnolia Branch Wildlife Reserve in Atmore,AL. I should have ridden Hayden since he's just been schooling and working in the arena but he'll get his trail time next month at an AQHA ride!


So what have I learned these last few weeks?
1.) Work my horse smarter-NOT harder!
2.) Mean girls suck!
3.) A supportive husband is gold!
4.) Not everyone is going to like you or support you but for every person who tries to pull you down,there are at least 2 others who who will lift you up!

This quote came to my attention this week and it seemed fitting although I am not sure who said it:
The road to success is not straight. There's a curve called failure, a loop called confusion, speed bumps called friends, red lights called enemies, caution lights called family. You will have flats called jobs. But if you have a spare called determination, an engine called perseverance, insurance called faith, a driver called Almighty GOD, you will make it to a place called SUCCESS.

Let's Talk About Balance

I'm not talking about balance in the saddle(although that IS important!)I am talking about balance of LIFE!

At one point in time, all I wanted to do was horses! I thought if I could just be around horses day in and day out that life would be perfect!

When I graduated college and finally left the "loveliest village on the plains" aka Auburn University, I went to work for Bartlett Ranch in Montgomery,AL. As a single girl,I absolutely LOVED working there!I got up at the crack of dawn and went out to feed all the horses,cleaned stalls,worked with the weanlings and yearlings,helped with the AI process of breeding mares, and just did general ranch stuff!I got to bed late, was paid nearly nothing but I was in heaven!

The short version of what came next is best described as "fell in love with a non horsey guy and got married and started a family." Suddenly there was more to life than horses! Who knew? There was traveling for a non horsey job,vacations not surrounded by horse activities and hanging out with people that generally didn't know the difference between each end of the horse!

Somewhere in the lifestyle change, horses became almost a challenge to do at all! Not because I didn't have support! On the contrary I had A LOT of support! It came in the form of "Sure! Buy that horse if you think you can make money on it!" At one point in the last 8 years we had at least one child and owned 6-8 horses as well as boarding others! Then soon we had 2 boys and several horses! It was crazy! Not to mention I was spending all my time cleaning stalls and all my money feeding them! Not having any energy to actually ENJOY them! Something had to change! My scale was tilted all the way to one side and I was NOT happy! I had no time for anything and no energy to do anything anyways!My balance of LIFE was WAY off KILTER!

So one day, my dear,sweet husband came to the conclusion that horses,no matter who owned them, were a lot of work! Years later I finally came to that same conclusion!
When I did, I decided it was just as easy to take care of a barn full of horses that I DIDN'T own as it was to own them! Actually it was easier since boarded horses didn't HAVE to be RIDDEN by ME or GROOMED by ME or best yet PAID FOR by ME! And with finally selling all but 3 perfect geldings, I could finally afford to DO things with my own horses as well as have the energy to do them! The scale of LIFE or at least barn life was starting to finally balance out!

With being married to a non horsey husband (NHH) and having two kids,comes activities that DO NOT revolve around horses. There are beach trips,going out to eat,church life,going to concerts,and just general low key everyday family life that take up time.If I CHOSE to not recognize this and instead say:"Ya'll have fun! I have a horse to ride or a show to go to or some other horse thing I have to go to," I would not only be pretty lonely but I'd end up dividing myself away from my family and undoubtedly end up in divorce! Of course the upside (maybe the ONLY upside) to that might be that I would end up being a decent rider and considered the top of my field.

The picture I just painted is scary for me to even think about! I know a few people that their lives DO revolve around the horse business.Their lives were/are lead from the barn or the truck on the way to a horse show.No non-horsey vacations were taken, no lessons were canceled, no horse shows were skipped in hopes to spend quality family time together.Meanwhile they missed out on their kids lives and the life they could have had with their spouse. The marriage,if it's still in tact,is full of resentment,anger, and lost hope.Good times. Of course they ARE at the top of their field. They're looked upon and regarded with the utmost respect by their peers and even some clients.When I think of what these friends have missed out on it makes me sad for them.

By witnessing such imbalanced lives, it has made me strongly focus on the balance of my life! I love God,my family,horses,friends and photography.I love to read,learn,taste and discover new things(especially about myself!)I have goals with my horses but even more so I have a goal to be a huge part of my children's lives and be the spouse my husband deserves and needs!In order to be "ALL THAT" I have to learn how to divide my attention and energy accordingly.When I am with my boys, I give them my full attention. The same goes when I am with my husband, horses, and friends.

I have learned too that LIFE is composed of MOMENTS.Sounds cliche I know but since I have "decided" to truly enjoy each moment, I get out of my comfort zone and try new things,I find JOY in little things like getting my boys dressed or even saddling up my horse.(Still looking for the joy in doing things like unloading the dishwasher!)

So with today's blog-if the only thing you get out of it is:"Emily is more than just a cowgirl", YOU ARE missing it! GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY ALL LIFE HAS TO OFFER! ENJOY THE LITTLE MOMENTS! And yes balance is more than keeping a leg on each side of your horse!

Below are some of the things I am super glad I DIDN'T MISS!

I Have A New Friend!

How many of you know what a Hydrabull is? Don't worry-I didn't know what it was either until yesterday! But OMG! It is my new best friend that is going to help me and Hayden accomplish our goals!

Briefly,a Hydrabull is a 3-wheeled cow simulator that moves like a zero-turn lawn mower! It can go forward and back and move like a cow with great speed and agility! It saves trainers big bucks too as they don't have to spend as much money on fresh cows! Also it helps young and novice riders go slower so they can "get it" faster!

Luckily, Steve Foley has one and was kind enough to suggest a group lesson for all who wanted to better themselves and their horses for cutting,penning and other cow events!We had 5 of us working it one at a time for about 4-6 minutes a piece. For several of us it was the first time our horses had ever seen such a device! But each run we did,our horses got better and better each time! It was fun to watch everyone have a go and to hang out with folks that have similar goals with their horses.I can't wait to do this every week as my lesson! Plus to be able to see other's progress as well is rewarding too!

I told Steve before we started that my goal last night was to ride Hayden in the bridle (vs. the snaffle)and to keep him soft and relaxed.If that meant just walking the whole night then so be it. But as it turned out, in our first go he was loping after the Hydrabull and was relaxed and doing great!

By our 4th time he felt so confident and relaxed that I was giddy! He far exceeded my expectations of him especially in the bridle! At one point I felt like I could have ridden in one hand! Not "drop my hand" one hand but still! I tried for a few seconds but had no idea what to do with my free hand! Pushing on the horn didn't feel natural yet either so I just concentrated on keeping my hands together and low on his withers. Seemed to work! He was stopping on his own except for me cuing with my seat and legs. It was an awesome feeling!

Here are some pics that Miss Shannon took! Thanks Shannon!






For more info on the Hydrabull:http://www.hydrabull.com/

It's still pretty hot here in Alabama even in the evenings. We all had small coolers filled with water,sodas and ice.On the way to the arena from the trailer I put my little 6 pack cooler over my horn and Hayden carried it no problem. By 9:30p.m when we were headed back to the trailer I put the cooler back over the horn.Well the ice had somewhat melted and there was more room in the cooler minus 2 waters so it was making a racket as well as dripping water all over Hayden! I am not sure what he hated worse-the water or the noise but he went ballistic on me! He was headed to highway if I had let loose of the reins! I was talking to him,telling him "Easy", but it wasn't until I said,"Hayden-WHOA!" that he stopped and planted his feet! Thank you Karen Jones! I have been working on him with his ground tying a little bit (not like I should mind you) but I have been trying to get in the habit of saying,"Hayden Whoa.Hayden Walk.Hayden Ok.",etc. so that he'll get it. Well last night was a good test!He got it and it saved our tail!

Happy riding everyone! Keep reaching for those goals!

First Ranch Cutting Under Our Belt!

Wow yesterday was a looooooong day! But a fun one!

But first I have to tell you about Friday night and how it effected my Saturday!Friday night Chuck attended a conference in Mobile at Dauphin Way Baptist Church. So I took the boys to a friends house (whose husband was working late) along with another friend whose husband went with Chuck. All 6 kids had fun playing while us moms hung out and talked about girl stuff! The boys and I got home around 10:30 and Chuck arrived home around midnight.Of course I waited up for him,so we didn't get to sleep until 1 am or so.The alarm went off at 5:30am. Some of you are probably thinking something along of the lines that I need to buck up and perform fine on 4.5 hours of sleep.But let me just tell you-this girl needs all the beauty sleep she can get! I need 8 to function normally!(Normally? What's that?)

Being that this was the first time I have shown in a long time, I wanted Chuck to go and watch (and take pics).But he's really not the horse show type."Show hubby/dad"is NOT a title he longs to have.I knew he'd be more comfortable if he had a place to get out of the scene...like a trailer with a living quarters(LQ-for all my non horsey readers)in it.I happened to have a very sweet friend who offered hers to me for the day! (Thanks Lisa G.!)

8:00 a.m.-Luckily Chuck (and the boys) went with me to get this trailer. It's a beautiful 44ft. 3 horse Sundowner,complete with bunk beds,dinette and a queen-size bed. It had all the amenities like fridge,microwave,stove,bathroom,shower,mud room,etc.Even had flat screen TV with DVD player. We packed a cooler,picnic stuff,and DVD's and Playstation for the boys.(Mind you the show was only maybe 4 hours long...)

8:45a.m.-Trailer and truck are hooked up.Lights work but brakes are locking up.Great.
Call numerous neighbors around to find out who has an adapter that works. Decide to just go to parts store in town to get an adapter.

9:15a.m.-First parts store doesn't have the right adapter.Wonderful.

9:30a.m-Second parts store doesn't have the right adapter either.Call the neighbor who we think has the right adapter that we can borrow.Wait in parking lot.....tick,tock,tick,tock. My grand plan was to have everything loaded by 10:30 so I could start to load the horses up a few minutes early since this trailer had a ramp they had never seen.Not looking good,but we kept the faith!

10:10a.m.-The neighbor with right adapter shows up! Yay! We now have lights and brakes!

10:30a.m.-Arrive home.Load up stuff for 2 horses.(saddles,pads,bridles,brushes,buckets,hay bags,leg wraps,etc)RUN in and take the fastest shower known to this cowgirl! Run back out with show clothes,make-up and camera! Load up horses! Neither of them thought twice about the ramp! I love horses that load!

11:15a.m.-Down the road!:) This would have been a great time to take a nap but it didn't happen.

11:45a.m.- Arrive at show barely missing a power pole with the trailer as we drive in! Whew! Unloaded,went and signed up,paid. Chuck settled into the LQ and made sandwiches! Yum!

12:40p.m.-Tacked up and headed out to arena.Get in the arena that we have had lessons in for the past 3 weeks and there's a new fence with a scary sign and 2 herds of cattle in a holding pen that wasn't there the last time we were there. Hayden wanted nothing to do with that general area! Great.How was I supposed to ride into the herd when he wouldn't go into that scary,horse-eating area? But we loped around and seemed to settle in finally.He had me worried there for a minute!

1:00p.m.-The show started with the Open Class (these are professionals and folks who have won the big $$)There were 12-13 entries.I sat on Hayden and watched and chatted with my new cowgirl friends and of course the friends that rode with me there,Miss Dee and Miss Lisa A.! That was the best part!

3:00-ish:My class started around 3 and there were 12-15 of us I think.I warmed him back up after sitting on him and suddenly he's not stopping great or backing the way he should! OH no! My name is called and we enter the pen.(We start with a score of 70 and one can go up or down) Our goals at this point:"Keep the horse between you and the ground!",BREATHE,Don't embarrass anyone (namely myself!)Thankfully there were 4 sweet guys called "turn back riders" in the arena with me and one of them,"Les" coached me right along.(Thank you sir!) My first cow out ran us and got back to the herd.(Minus 5 points). The second cow quit on me and Les told me to go get another one. I heard the announcer say we had only 30 seconds left. This cow worked well for us!


I ended up with a score of 61.We did let a cow back to the herd and I was having to rein Hayden the entire time since this was our first time and we've had only 3 lessons on the flag.Overall I was happy with our go! (Is it time for a nap yet?)



4:00p.m.At this point I get the motion from Chuck that it's time to GO! We have a birthday party in Bay Minette at 6pm! After untacking,saying good byes,exchanging phone numbers with a few folks,hugging a few necks and loading up the horses it was time to go!


4:45p.m:Arrive home! Unload horses,tack,hay,clothes,picnic stuff,etc.! Rinse and feed horses! Run into house and change into pool clothes for birthday party!

5:15p.m:Stop by McDonald's for dinner to go! Take the trailer back to Lisa G.! (Thanks Lisa!)

6:30p.m: Arrive at party.Nearly fall asleep in lounge chair.



8:30pm: Leave party

9:00p.m. Arrive home.Let dogs out,get boys ready for bed,check email,take shower.

10:00 p.m. In bed and too exhausted to sleep. But finally do dreaming of working cows and continuing the journey.

So I am reflecting today.I have made a list of changes for next time. I think that's the smart thing to do;to look back and see what one can do to make the next time better,smoother,faster!

1.)I may leave the men folk at home.Or maybe they can just drive down for my class!

2.)I will take my own trailer! All my stuff is in it,it's familiar.Of course there's no bathroom or AC but I was on my horse the whole time!

3.)Next time I plan on getting there and letting the horse stand at the trailer! I will stand and watch or get a chair! I think sitting on him got him stale and stiff.Part of this competing thing is figuring out how and when your horse works best.I think Hayden would do better with warming up closer to the class.

4.)Don't schedule something else after the show!

5.)SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE!