What Next?

One thing after another yesterday. No such things as plans for yesterday. Everything I had to do got put aside for things that kept cropping up. Spirit needed a vet for her belly, which turned out to be nothing major thank goodness. Not sure the cause, but she should be fine. Cherokee has a cut on her ankle that needed tending, plus she got sprayed by a skunk. Lady came in with an eye problem - appears she got stung by something - she's fine too. The pool creepy thing won't work and Tango escaped from the paddock again. Boy I hope today goes better!

We had a new rider out yesterday morning as well. Welcome Faith! She had a good ride on Timer. Lindsay was out to ride last night aswell.

So here I sit, rushing through this blog, then garbage out, then bank, store and more, back before 10 for Chelsea's lesson and then help with the clinic some friends are giving to my students today. So much for swimming after - yucky pool. Well - it's not that bad. The water is clear, just junk on the bottom. Mind you it's not all that hot out anyway....

Chelsea is excited for the show tomorrow. The girls are excited for the clinic. Oh and more hay arriving today. Fun wow! At least there are people here to help with the hay. LOL.

What a week. So busy, busy, off I go to accomplish this day...

Show Days

The weather couldn't have been nicer for the PCSC western show yesterday. Sunny, warm with a nice breeze to keep us from swealtering in the heat. Two trailers and 5 horses off we went - Bella, Charisse, Kira and Mikinna. The fifth horse - Tony brought Timer so he would have a roaming chair all day.

First the halter classes and showmanship - no ribbons in halter due to the leads being set up wrong - my fault -sorry guys. Showmanship, the girls all got a ribbon, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Bella got a second in the youth showmanship with Rascal.

Next Mikinna in the walk/jog western pleasure - she did well even after Spirit tried to canter as the mother of the miniature ponies was clucking to get her ponies to move, Spirit decided that meant canter. Mikinna stopped her in one move, but it was enough to put her to 4th place. The pattern class she didn't do.

Next up barrels, polebending and the fearful flag race. All did well - Maxx and Maple were flying. Charisse had her hands full with Maple all day. Kira and Charisse got too many ribbons all day to count or even keep track of. Of course Charisse won all the pony classes with Maple. The pole bending class, Mikinna also entered. She walked Spirit in and was doing well until Spirit spooked at the trees blowing in the wind. She jumped sideways and turned to go back to the gate. Mikinna handled it very well - stopped her pony and put her back in line to finish the pattern. Only when Spirit gave her trouble a second time, did she call it quits in the ring. She handled it so well though.... that was the end of Mikinna for the day.

Bella and Kira were up next in western pleasure. Maxx did better than usual in that class, but bucked because another horse ran up his butt. Rascal started out well, but then had baby moments and stopped dead and wouldn't move.

More games, again getting lots of ribbons. Bella was up again on Rascal for the Novice Western Rider class. By this time, she had Rascal working and paying attention better. She won the class.

A friend gave Kira a new bridle/bit combination to try on Maxx - it helped dramatically.

The funniest thing was Charisse doing the novelty class. The boot race. All the boots were taken down to the end of the ring, tossed around and separated. She had to ride down get off her horse, find her boots, put them on and race back to the finish. She got 2nd.

All in all a good day for everyone. I laughed at Kira - she wasn't too sure what to think of all this western stuff thinking Maxx was going to kill her. She did well considering she hasn't ridden western before.

Congratulations to everyone. Next week we do it again for the English show. And possibly on Wednesday for Chelsea. Busy season....

Today - chores, office work and house cleaning. Tomorrow the western clinic here. Fun wow!

So off I go for another day....

Rainy Days, Lazy Days

I had so many plans for yesterday - clean the pool area, wash and clean the trucks, yard work, lessons, show prep. All out the door, in the wind with the morning storm yesterday. By the time the storm eased off and the rain stopped I was in snooze zone. No longer having the energy, nor the inclination to do much of anything. Heck I even went back to bed yesterday morning after getting Daniel off to his show. That's rare for me. I never go back to bed. Once I'm up, I'm up.

So the only one thing I did get done was getting the creepy working in the pool. That's always a chore and a half. But, maybe the pool will be clean by Tuesday for the clinic.

Oh well, today we're off to the PCSC show. Bella and Rascal, Mikinna and Spirit, Charisse and Maple, Kira and Maxx. Should be an interesting day - Maxx in western pleasure - interesting. And Rascal - I wonder how he'll do? He's been great for everything else. Bella's first time showing and Kira's first time showing western. Should be a day of surprises. Hope the weather is good for the day and not too sloppy from all the rain yesterday.

Well 5:13 am and a ton to do this morning so I better get at 'er....

Just another day with the Cows according to Rascal

Another hectic day yesterday after what I thought would be a day of getting things accomplished around the farm. Not so - a phone call in the morning changed the plans for the day pretty quickly. A friend called to ask if I could bring Streaker to be shown up to Ridgeway. Oh what a time I had trying to get things done in order to do that. With my 11 o'clock lessons not finishing up until 1, and still having to run into town to get Daniel's jacket from the dry cleaners, by the time I got back it was time to leave.

I didn't think I would have time to come back home before heading sorting at Fox Lair so I brought Rascal with me as well. Got there, showed the guy Streaker - he really likes him but has to think about it and talk to his wife - so loaded him up and headed out again. At least he's loading easier again. I decided I had time to bring him back home before heading to Kevin's, so I did. I didn't think having him stand in the trailer while I was sorting was a good idea in the heat of yesterday.

Dropped Streaker off and went to Fox Lair with Rascal - who has been in the trailer all this time, patiently waiting for whatever. Tacked him up and took him into sort some cows. Cow - just another day to him it seemed. Rascal didn't even batt an eye at them. He's obviously seen a cow before. He did well at cutting them, pushing them was another story. Rascal just doesn't move fast enough. Eventually, Karen lent me her crop, that helped. My god I had sore legs from trying to get him to move with a little speed. Over all I was quite pleased with how well he did with the cows.

I was on a team with Jim and Mike. They sat at the gate all night telling me where to go. LOL. Basically they let me find out what Rascal could do. Thanks guys. Oh - and miss organized that I'm not, forgot the spurs, crop and the red ribbon for his tail - but he didn't need it the red ribbon. He didn't even threaten to kick - I was concerned about that. All in all a fun night - except for one thing.

Where's Pete? Everyone was asking the same thing. Has anyone heard from Pete? No one had much to report. So Pete - what's up - working too hard again?

Today - lessons at 9, all the girls are out throughout the day for riding and prep for the PCSC show tomorrow. Groceries and relax time tonight before the long show day tomorrow. Daniel is off to his show already this morning getting a couple firsts yesterday or something like that. After the show today he's off to his mom's and then Fern Resort for the week with his Mom.

Well, I'm heading out for another day...

Publication Days - Non-Stop

Another issue of Equine Niagara News out and gone. I swear there is never enough time in the day on publication day. Between finishing stories, the barn, the house, errands, etc., etc., it's always a rush. Why on earth I picked Thursday's to publish I'll never know. Before Daniel started showing, Thursday's were fine. Now that he's showing every weekend, plus lessons are in full swing around here, there is just too much to do on Thursdays. Oh well, suffer through I will.

So on top of getting the newsletter out to all it's fans, I made sure the girls were busy in the barn and enjoying their rides. Steph, Charisse, Bella and Alana were out to ride. Charisse rode Maple and Alana Streaker - Double has a shoe half on. Daniel rode Donny as well. In the evening, Catt had her lesson and Lindsay was out for the first time to ride. Welcome Lindsay! Lindsay will be leasing a horse here now. She rode Timer and did very well. She didn't give herself much credit for her riding ability.

After the lessons, Catt and I packed up and headed for Lil-Bit Ranch with Streaker and Maxx. The whole reason for the trip was to show Streaker to a guy that is considering buying him. However, the guy wasn't there, we arrived too late for Catt to take part in the sorting. She did get to try the one on one and do the barrels with Maxx, so she was happy. Catt finally got the free sorting night that she missed out on at Halloween. She had fun. Sorry Taylor that you didn't get to see your "Catt" last night. All was not lost - we had fun for the short time we were there, talked with a lot of people and Catt impressed herself, running the barrels after losing a stirrup.

Today, lots of errands, cleaning, and chores (no helpers today), lessons for Mikinna and Jade and tonight - yup - you guessed it - sorting again! This time back to Fox Lair. I need to relax and get my fix in. I'm taking Rascal tonight to see how he does with the cows.

Oh and did I mention, I broke a tooth last night too! Not just any tooth - a front tooth. No Otter Creek for me, dentist bill is going to be too high. Now I'll be forced to fix my teeth. Yuck!

Well, another day here we come. It's 4:53 am - off to get Daniel up and down the road for his show. Wow - I get a break next weekend - Daniel's away at Fern Resort with his Mom as of Sunday, no showing for him next weekend.

Another day, here I come....

Yuck

Yuck - that's my word for the day. Why is it that every thing can be going along so nicely and one thing happens that sets off a chain of events that creates a giant mess? And always at the end of the day, so it keeps you awake half the night.

So here I sit - getting up late due to being up late. ENN day is not a day to get up late. Now 7:30 and still nothing accomplished.

Yesterday was a full day in the ring - lessons for Abby and Chelsea at 10, Paul came out at 11 - we went around the block, Judy at 1:30, rode English on Maxx instead of Western, Bella at 3:30. Then in to get cleaned up for the trail club meeting. And wouldn't you know it, the ferrier shows up to do Sophie's, Rascal's and Cherokee's feet. Late I was for the meeting.

Off to the meeting which was very noisy but entertaining, then out for beer and wings after. Arriving home at 11 to company at the house - that was interesting to say the least.

Today - tied to the computer.. and I better get crackin....

Starting the Day with a Bang

Yesterday started fast and furious yesterday with the escape of two horses. I was ready to go back to bed by 7:30 am after catching Tango and taking him away from his new found mares. It was quite the exciting morning. Snickers being in the barn - I've yet to figure out how she got there. The day did quiet down after that. Spent a few hours in the office working on Equine Niagara News, then Steph and I went off to do some errands and visit Lil-Bit Ranch to interview them and take photos for tomorrows issue of the newsletter.

Once home, Bella arrived and Steph and Bella rode. Steph and Joker did well and Bella is finding her western seat on Rascal. Hopefully the ferrier comes out soon to get his feet done. The excitement is mounting for the show on Sunday. So far Bella, Charisse and Kira are showing. Haven't heard from Mikinna yet - don't know if she's back from Cuba.

Today a full day - work on ENN, lessons at 10, 11:30 and 1:30 then off to the UCEA trail club meeting tonight. On my own for that one - Steph is working tonight. She's going to want to go back to school for a vacation. LOL. Hopefully, the rain holds off for all the lessons today. Abby, Chelsea, Paul and Judy are all out today.

Well, I have a busy day, so I best get at 'er.....

Oh - the picture - couldn't resist - love how the sun makes things glow when coming through the clouds in the evening.