National Show!!!

The National Show is now over! We had a great time with many successes as you can see! I am so proud of everyone! We are truely blessed with our students! There are 2 missing from the photo, Pam & Morriah! One of these days we will get a full group shot! :)

With the National Show being over, it means that show season is winding down and fall leaves will start to fall then snow will follow. Come Jan. we will start working again toward the 2010 show season! Let's give thanks for a wonderful show season that was safe and fun! The ribbons were just icing on the cake, definately not the most important thing. But I'm not going to complain :)

Still Showin'!

We have had a packed summer with Haflinger and open shows! We have been to Ashland, Ohio, Horseheads, NY and a lot of places in between! It has been a VERY successful season and we will be ending the Haflinger shows with the National Show in a week and a half in Springfield, Ohio. We have some other open shows after, but that will be the end of the Haflinger show season! We should find out at the beginning of Oct. how we ended up with the Tri State Challenge. With the way this entire season has gone, we could tank the rest of the season and still be totally happy!!! :) I am so proud of all our riders and horses! We could not ask for a better group of people! Can't wait for the end of the season party when we can all kick back and relax!!! More details later!

Picture posted is from the NY show with some of the ribbons won by TLC Stables! We were only 1/2 way through Sunday's english show! Ignore the date stamp! I have to figure out how to get rid of the wrong date on my camera!!! This photo was taken 8/16/09!

Things at home are going well! All doggies and horsies are doing fine! No added infirmiries for the dogs! :) Praise the Lord! We have a training horse in and she is just a doll, her name is Serena and they call her Reeny! I was a little concerned at first as to how stubborn she was being. You had to kick her hard and smack her with the reins to even get her to move forward at a walk, but she is now walking and trotting off light leg pressure, leg yielding, backing and is just a gem! Will start cantering her very soon! Once she leaves after Nationals have another horse (non-haflinger) coming in for a month! It is one of my former students (from MANY years ago) horses that she just wants some buttons put on! I'm looking forward to it!!!

Better run! Need to get home to work horses!

Buckeye Haflinger Show Photos

Here is a photo of most of the group that showed at the Buckeye Show. L to R. Rachel & Dutch, Madalyn & Wrangler, Olivia & Alex, Will & me, Kaylee & Zac, Abbey & Caba, Katina & Trigger. These are students of mine that all showed at the Buckeye. Dutch also was with me for 60 days of training (30 last year and 30 this March). We are so proud of each and every one of these riders. Missing are Morriah who showed Zac in W/T on Sunday and Erin (Katina's daughter) who was either out grabbing a bite to eat or running on the bleachers with her brother! Erin is 6 and showed in leadline! See their photos below! Check out our website for more information on the show! I am still waiting for the results to be posted on the Buckeye's site to put that info on our site. I can't remember how everyone did! I just know they all did great! :)

Much More Upbeat!!! :)

We are home from the Buckeye Haflinger Show and everything went GREAT!!!!! It is almost impossible to improve on how we did and how our students and clients did! I can't even begin to write all our placings on one post! We were truly blessed this past weekend! Everyone did well, but there were no injuries, no horse problems etc. So God truly blessed our little farm! Praise be to Him!!

You can check out our website for a photo slide show (right on the home page). And as soon as the official results are printed I will be posting those also as I can't even begin to remember everyone's placings. But just taste: there were 4 $100 prize money classes for riding, a western horsemanship, western pleasure, english pleasure and english equitation. I won BOTH western classes and Olivia won the english equitation. And in the western pleasure $100 class there were 24 entries and we had 4 of the top 6 places from our farm! There were 22 in the horsemanship and 22 in Olivia's equitation class! Those are just a few highlights!!

I just want to thank all of our clients and students and their families for the support and hard work that they have put in this year! We are very blessed to have you all in our lives! You are not just clients and students, you are truly family!

Don't forget to check out the website! The photos are awesome! www.tlchaflingers.com .

WARNING....Not very upbeat.

This has not been my year so far. Thought everything was going well, but guess I was wrong. I have not had any horse related injuries in a LONG time, but this year, Julie decided to launch herself off my foot, then I was on a hunter pace with Jacque having a great time when another rider's horse decided it needed to act up and while I was trying to get Will out of there, it kicked me in the shin (while on was on horseback). Also, had 2 mishaps with jumping students (have not had one in years!!!). Now we have a horse to work we were not supposed to have, and have no signs of moving him out anytime soon. Horses are not moving as we only have young unbroke ones, and no time to break them! I think I may be on the verge of a nervous breakdown as I am also having issues at work (I shouldn't say issues, as I really HATE my job and my co-workers are a pain in the rear) not just at home. I'm ready to just pack up and go. Wish this was more upbeat and pleasant, but that's not me right now. I can cry at the drop of a hat, lash out at anyone and crumble at someone's comments. Sorry all. Hopefully better news soon.

Just needed to vent.

Almost a month again! :)

We have been very busy with work and the horses! Everything seems to be coming together well for show season this year. Entries have been sent for the Buckeye Haflinger Show in July. We have had students hit their first shows of the season and did VERY well! Very proud of them both!!! Way to go Jacque & Madalyn!

Just went to a hunter pace yesterday with Jacque had a great time until another rider's horse decided it didn't like Will (when it was acting up, not Will) and kicked at him, but instead kicked me in the shin!!! Youch! So as of today, I am hobbling around. This has not been a good year for me as one of our 2 year olds decided to act a fool and launch herself into the field off my right foot a few weeks ago! I haven't had this many mishaps with the horses in a LONG time! So I have spent a couple Sunday nights sitting on the couch with ice on my leg or foot! :) Hope this is not an indication of how this year is going to go. If it is, I may postpone Yager's training, as I don't even want to think about what could happen there! :)

Lessons are going well and I have more students this year than I have had in a long time! I am having a blast!

Reining lessons are going great! Will is really coming into his own and starting to click! Yeah!!! We are hoping to have our first reining show this season maybe next Sunday. Will have to see how the weekend shapes up! ;) The reining show would be in Findlay!

Better get back to work. I will try better to update more often!

Wow, has it been over a month?

Time does fly doesn't it? I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. Things have been BUSY BUSY around here with finally moving Will home, rearranging stalls as we purchased yet another horse at the Mt. Hope sale in March and now do not have room to bring Wally home. Not sure what we are going to do! We'll have to see.........

Well Friday brings a rareity to our lives. Terry and I are off 2 days in a row together and will be leaving the farm in very capable hands, Abbey! Abbey is one of my students and will be graduating from high school soon and is a great hand with a horse. So she is coming in Friday afternoon and staying with the brood until we return on Sat. Where are we going you may ask...... The Indiana Haflinger Sale! Big surprise! We are going to stay in the trailer on Friday night since we will have Tess (the spoiled corgi) with us! At least we will have a couple of days together and away from the hustle and bustle of home. But I will be ready to get home come Sat.as I don't like to be away too long. Being away for 3 days for Nationals just about does me in! I am such a homebody!

As an update on things going on in our lives.....everything is normal, lessons going well, jobs are a pain (for both of us) but someday that will change. Hopefully sooner than later ;) Arena is getting back into shape and horses are starting to get worked more. We are really looking forward to getting the young ones started. Libby will be started under saddle and in harness this year while we may start Jack with driving this year also. We are still trying to decide who else besides Will, will be going to the shows with us as halter horses.

Well better get back to work! I'll try to do better with my updates!

It's Over!!

Another Equine Affaire has come and gone! This was to be my last year for a couple of years but I have having mixed feelings about turning it over to someone else, after all the sweat, blood (ha ha) and tears I have put into it for the past 3 years. I tried my best to elevate the Haflinger status at the event but putting on (hopefully) better demonstrations, including great music and asking for more from our Haflinger participants as in better presented horses. This year we did something new by combining forces with the Haflinger H.O.P.E. organization to have 2 Haflinger booths in the Breed Pavilion. It seems to have worked well, but I am afraid that those that are slotted to take over the coordination of the breed, will not be so willing to work with Hope. :( Don't you just hate politics! We'll have to see. I'm going to talk to Terry about it tonight and get his feelings on it. We'll have to wait and see......

Not much happening on the home front, as I have been down in Columbus and back home each night since last Wed. After we tore down on Sun evening, I headed home, but then had to head over to the barn where Will & Chip are to take care of them then back home to grab a bite to eat around 9:00pm. Ugh!

Keep your fingers crossed that the weather breaks and it dries out some and I can start working with Yager! Getting kind of excited for that! Also, need to work a little harder with Will to get him ready for hopefully, his first NRHA show this year at the end of May!

Better get back to work!

Not much new!

Nothing much happening around here, except the same busy schedules! :) Should alleviate soon as Equine Affaire is next week (hard to believe) and hopefully after that it settles down a little. One training horse will be leaving April 1st so that will help too! Hoping to show Will at a reining show at the end of May, but that is still up in the air depending on how he keeps progressing! Had a call last evening about a new student so we'll see if they call back. Hopefully I didn't scare them off with what I expect! :)

We did add a new addition to the barn (horse not actual barn addition even though that is a dream of mine) :) She is a 2 year old filly names Jackies Jullie (think that spelling is correct), we are calling her Jules. She is supposedly trained to drive, so Terry will find that out as soon as there is time and the rain stops and the ground dries up! :) She is not going to get above pony size and she is just a little doll! Bossy to the yearlings she is turned out with, but a baby doll to us! She will eventually be for sale, but if she doesn't sell (by the time she is 4), once her training is complete, if her personality stays like it is, she may end up a lesson pony! We'll just have to see! She is related to Terry's beloved Janie who is now in CT and he misses greatly. That is also why we have Gaby! I hope people quit consigning these mares/fillies to sales so Terry won't want to bring them home! We are running out of room! :)

Other than that, it's pretty much same old same old! :)

I wonder.....

Another CRAZY weekend! Still trying to catch up on laundry! Ugh! Terry is on vacation this week and I will be taking Friday off so we can spend Friday and Sat. together before he goes back to work on Sunday. But guess what? We will be spending it with horses! Funny Huh? Those of you who are into the horses know what this is like! All your vacations are spent around a horse show or something horse related! It makes me sometimes wonder how the "other" side lives. I know my life would be empty with out a horse, but I do wonder and think.....I think about how much money we would have if we didn't have the big truck, trailer, show clothes, tack and just the cost of having horses in general. I wonder what we would do? Travel maybe, probably not as neither Terry nor I are big into being away from hom too long. A couple days and I'm ready to go home! Entertain more as we would probably have a nicer home? I enjoy entertaining, but our home is far from big enough to hold large parties. So maybe that would be something that we would do. I do know I would read more, exercise more (even though working with the horses is excercise) and probably do more with the dogs. Not really sure!

This post seems to be turning into kind of a downer. But that is my mood right at the moment. I am VERY tired after this past weekend of lessons and training horses and a tack swap with Nichole. We also fed horses and watched a friend's dog while they were gone for the weekend. I am at work right now, during a slight lull and decided to post. It is 4:00 ET right now and 1 hour to go here and several hours to go as I head straight to the barn. I know my mood will pick up as I enter and see the 3 Haflinger heads over their doors greeting me when I walk into the barn! Hopefully they all are good tonight and we can get things done and get home before 8:30 or 9 tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for us! :)

Just for Fun!!

Varied musings!

Well this has been a crazy time of the year for me for the past 3 years. I have been the Ohio Haflinger Assoc. Equine Affaire coordinator for the past 3 years. At times I have loved it and at times I was ready to throw in the towel. For those not familiar with Equine Affaire it is a huge horse expo at the Ohio State Fairgrounds that hosts over 105,000 (yes thousand) attendees a year. They offer clinics by top clinicians, TONS of shopping for anything and everything horsey on the planet! The OHA (Ohio Haflinger Assoc) that Terry is President of, has taken horses down for breed demos and a booth to introduce all the attendees to our wonderful breed. We normally have 2-3 15 minute demos, have to man the booth while the expo is open and also do a youth demo with a q&a session after the presentation. I have to work as coordinator between our members that are taking horses and the Equine Affaire. I coordinate all of the demos by writing the 15 minute scripts and putting the music together. Praise God for Bonnie VanWinkle who stepped in last year to help me and took over the coordination of the booth and breed stall! Bonnie, if you are reading this.....THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU etc. a hundred times over! I couldn't do this without you my friend! I don't say all this for the atta girl or praise, just trying to clarify why my life gets so crazy at times. Add into this having Will at the indoor to work so that we can hopefully participate in our first reining show since 2007 in May! Plus 2 training horses. Plus all the dogs and horses at home to take care of! But do you know what?....God has blessed us with this life, He has given us these opportunities and through these he has brought so many blessings and special friends into our lives. For this we are forever thankful!

Ok brag time! I am so proud of my husband. He really did not know what he was getting into when he married me..... :) He has always been around livestock, mainly cattle and sheep and dabbled in horses a little when his daughter Nichole was showing (that is how we met, at a barn where Nic boarded her horse and I boarded mine). He jumped into this horse thing with both feet and is now our main rider for starting our young horses and training horses. He is usually the first one on then as they progress, I take over to put finishing touches on them! But he is getting to the point where he is starting to put some of those finishing touches on them too! You would think it would be hard for a guy to take direction from his wife on how to do something, but he is normally very easy to work with and listens well! (only with the horses though mind you!) :) Here is a video of his first unattended ride on Chip, one of our training horses in to be broke. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NBbnvT1Vzw . I am so proud of Terry and Chip! Chip is a 3 year old Haflinger owned by our friends the LaRoe Family from Michigan! They purchased Chip from us last year and we can't wait to see them in the show ring this year!!!

I think that is enough for today as my script deadline is tomorrow and I need to finish up the last one!

Need to Vent!

Ok here goes!

What is it with riding instructors who think they are all that and a bag of chips and think it is appropriate to yell at young riders and tell them their horses are worthless and they need something new!!! I understand that if a horse is not appropriate then yes the issue must be raised.......but not to the child!!!! Talk to their parents and NEVER say anything detrimental about their current horse in front of the child. I don't care if it is the ugliest, nastiest buck toothed, knocked kneed horse you ever saw, it is still that child's pride and joy!!!!!

I really don't want to go into the details of what brought this up at this time, but I just had to vent a little!

Need Help!

Ok, I finally have narrowed Yager's show name down to 2 choices! I need you all to help with this..... (this has been so hard with so MANY good choices) but these are the 2 that just seem to stick.

Thirty Days

or

Zion

Thoughts?


Prayers would be appreciated as the weather breaks and I start working with Yager more (probably a couple of months). He is boss in the field and is starting back into some bad habits on the ground. With me at the other barn so much and not in the home barn much, he is getting a little bossy with everyone, Terry and I included. He is in for a big surprise in the next couple of months. Hopefully, I'm not the one in for the big surprise! :)

It is amazing how each one of our horses & dogs have their own personalities. Wally is the stud (he is at his spring home where he is having fun breeding mares) he normally has a super sweet temperment, but wants people to think he's a big bad stud! Will is my boy! He has really blossomed into a gentle soul with a slight edge to him! Libby is our 3 year old filly who is the sweetest horse anyone would ever want to meet! What a doll! She will leave the herd in the field just to come visit with you! Jack is our Bubba and just 2 years old! (thanks for the reference Jacque!) He is super sweet but just a little dense. As long as he is treated well and fed, he is a happy boy! I could continue on with each one, but I'm sure you all get the picture.

What a blessing each and every one of our animals are to us! The task that God has blessed us with in caring for them is at times taxing, but oh so worth it, when one of the dogs does something silly or just lays next to you and nuzzles in for some cuddle time. Or when one of the horses comes up and blows on your face to say hi!

In the past few days, after Kit's loss, I have been thinking of Lucky my old TB that I evented before meeting Terry who I unexpectedly lost 7/7/99. It's amazing how it can still hurt after almost 10 years. He was my Bubby (my nickname for him). He was gorgeous, copper red (million dollar red as one lady called him) and he would do anything for me. Not much for anyone else, but anything for me! He and Terry had a love hate relationship. They both loved to hate the other one! :) Years ago I had written a story for a contest about how I came to get Lucky from his point of view. I may try to dig that out and share it sometime, but I know when I read it again I will probably cry!

Ok, time to sign off for now, before I get to caught up in all of this. Sorry for all the rambling, but that is just how I am right now. Can't seem to keep things straight, as you can all tell by these past couple of posts!

Goodbye Kit

It has been a pretty sad couple of days here. The only other horse, Kit (owned by the barn's owner), at the indoor where Will and Chip are has not been good for a long time. She was pretty well crippled with arthritis in the front and was starting to lose control of her back end too. Well Tues night when Terry and I went out to the barn we walked in and went to turn on lights. When I walked in though I noticed a large mass in front of Will's stall. When we turned on the lights we saw it was Kit and she couldn't get up. Terry ran to the house to get the owner, but he was at a meeting. So Terry and I manuevered her around and did get her up. With Terry supporting her left hip (so she wouldn't fall again) and I leading her, we did get her to the indoor arena. While just standing there, she went down again. This whole time I knew it is time for something to be done for this poor mare. I love this little mare just like she was one of our own. I spoiled her rotten when we are at the barn. She always gets a couple of handfuls of Will's grain when I feed him plus cookies plus she always gets a bite of hay as we walk by her stall. I killed me to leave her in the arena as we hurried around to feed Will and Chip. And as I was getting their grain together she nickered for me to not forget her. I finished up then took some grain in to her. I held her head up and gave her, her handfuls of grain. I didn't want to leave her, but Terry thought it best as her owner would be home shortly and she was trying to get up to be with us and Terry thought it best if she just stay down so she didn't hurt herself more.

I had Terry call Wed. to see if she had been put down or what was going on, as I didn't want to go to the barn and see her suffering. According to her owner he did not do anything Tues. evening because she had managed to get up. When he went out to check her Wed. AM and feed everyone, she had managed to get outside and was there eating grass! So he left it as a wait and see again.

Last night when we went to the barn the owner was there and said she had gone back down and that they had put her down. It really hurts but I am so thankful that she is not in pain and she can run and play like she couldn't here on earth. I know God is enjoying this little bay mare with her wiggly lip. RIP Kit, we love you and you are greatly missed little mare!

Wow!

What a crazy weekend! It started Friday night when I left work and went straight to the barn to give a lesson. After giving the lesson and taking care of Will and Chip (horse in for training) headed home around 8, we had invited our friends who were at the barn with us over for dinner as we had PLENTY! LOVE having friends over even though my cooking is not very fancy! :) Anyone that knows me well, knows I am not very domestic! :)

Sat. dawned early (6:00) as Terry had to be at work by 7 and I had to take care of the home horses and our "special needs" dog Tess, run to the bank and be at the barn for another lesson at 10. Ran back home for a short period to grad a quick bite then back to the barn for a lesson at 1 and another at 2:30. Poor Will was a tired boy. Praise God that they are mostly beginners and only walk and some trot work! :) Worked Chip, who is doing great!!! Then got everybody put away and fed for the night then headed home.

Sunday was ANOTHER early day starting at 5:15 as I was heading up to Findlay to meet Terry's daughter Nichole for the annual Findlay Tack Swap! Jacque was going to come up to our place Sat. to stay and go with me but their mare Luna decided Sat. was the night to have her foal after being VERY overdue! Left our house a little after 7 to head north! I have never been to that tack swap before and there were a TON of people! Didn't sell too much, but also I had not taken too much with me! :) Nic did ok but her friend Carol probably made as much as Nic and I combined! :) Bad thing is though that I spent more than I made! :( Bought 2 pairs of jump blocks for easier jump setting! Yeah!!! I have been wanting some of these for a LONG time! Finally made it home around 5, helped Terry finish in our barn then we headed over to the other barn. Will and Chip got Sunday off (both were quite pleased with this) and we ended up home around 6:30 or 7 for a quiet night at home (doesn't happen too often). I even made some rice pudding! YUMMY!!!!! It has been a long time since I have had that and saw a mix in the store a couple weeks ago and finally got around to making it! So, I highly recommend Uncle Ben's French Vanilla Rice Pudding! !!!!

Well back to work!

Thankful!

I just needed to post today as I am still feeling pretty punk from this cold I am fighting, but that's not what this post is about. I had 3 days (Sat. Sun. and Mon.) to sit at home and nurse this cold and it has made me think. (Dangerous I know!.....) :)

I am so thankful for every blessing God has given me! It amazes me the amount of blessings that have been bestowed on me. First and foremost I am thankful for my salvation!

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

I know that is one of the first bible verses that kids learn in Sunday School, but read it again. It's absolutely amazing!!! If you do not know what that verse means, please let me know! I would LOVE to explain it to you!

Next I am thankful for a Bible believing, God loving & fearing husband! What would I do without him? I know we all have our times when we want to just scream because of something that they do that annoys us, but when we really sit back and think about it....Wow! How lucky am I!

I am also thankful to have fairly good health and that Terry has good health. We have a roof over our heads, we can pay our bills and enjoy our passion for horses and our dogs! Praise God for his faithfulness! He has also blessed me with wonderful friends, students and clients (who usually end up friends) and a wonderful Bible believing church.

Finally, Praise Him for his forgiveness when I stray from my prayer life and Bible study. It amazes me how He forgives so easily when I continue to mess up.

I would LOVE to hear how you are blessed today!

Monday again!

Here we go again! Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for my job, but today, I feel I could REALLY go postal and do in my co-workers. They have been doing nothing but griping and complaining and moaning all day! I keep hearing "Lisa, why is the computer doing this" "Why can't I find this" etc. and I have no clue what they are looking at or talking about! I can't get any of my work completed because they keep bugging me with their work! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

I've also had a run in with our new dish provider Direct TV last night over RFD TV not being on our plan! Turns out the channel our handy dandy little sheet that tells us where everything is was wrong and their customer service rep was trying to tell me we had to pay an additional $1.50 per month to get it!!!!! Then the manager I asked to speak with was probably some little pimply faced punk who also had an attitue! I almost told them where they could put there equipment and that I was going back to Dish Network!!!

Also, (yeah there's even more!) I had to drive Terry's Ranger today and I don't like it, it's like driving a tin can on wheels and the brakes are weird in it, one time they work normally then the next they are ultra sensitive and you end up eating the steering wheel! GRRRRR!

On the brighter side, I get to go ride tonight! Hopefully this crappy day trend does not follow! I need to make sure Will gets the memo he better behave! :)

Here's hoping you all are having a much better day than I!

Blessings to all!!!

Hopefully my next post will be better!

Time to get a little sappy! :)

Ugh, it's Monday! Back to work! But the weekends are great! Get to spend time at home and with Terry (when he gets off work) and the animals. Also, I get to do one of my favorite things and that is give riding lessons! Madelyn is a relatively new student who shows great potential and is riding english! Never sat a horse except those pony ride types until Oct. when she started lessons. She is progressing great for not having a horse to practice on in between lessons! Will is being wonderful for her too! I think he is kind of enjoying this english riding. He gets to go faster and doesn't have to do his slow little jog! :)

I also have 2 new students who finally had their first lesson yesterday despite the cold temps and snow! They braved the weather and travelled all the way from Warsaw, Ohio, about an hour from us just to take a lesson. Katina is the Mom and Erin is the daughter. Katina has ridden before but is wanting to learn how to ride correctly and not just sit on the horses back! And Erin is all of 5 years old and LOVES horses, she also informed her Mom last week that she wants to jump!!! I think we can help her with that when she is ready! :) Both did really well at their first lesson even though it was cut a little short due to cold temps. But we are going to go for it again next weekend!

As some of you already know, my students are not just customers they are also friends who mean the world to me. I do my very best to keep them safe and to teach them everything that I can. If they do decide to show which most do, the ribbons are just icing on the cake, it's to road to get to that point that means the most. I think I get more nervous when one of them is in the ring than when I actually show myself! :)

I'm am really looking forward to continuing this year with those mentioned above plus Kaylee, Olivia, Abby, Jacque and Eva (when she can make it over here from Indiana!). We also will start having a few training horses arriving in the next couple of months! I am SOOOO excited to see Chip again in Feb. and to start working with him for his new owner, Lisa! Then Rachel is brining Dutch back to us in March and they will be going to Equine Affaire this year! And Eva will be bringing her girl Reba to us starting in April and she will be with us until the Buckeye Show in July! I think that will keep us pretty busy for a while! :) I am so thankful to be able to provide these type of services to such wonderful people! God has definately brought these wonderful people in to our lives and I am honored to be able to call each one, friend.

Back at it!

Well Will and I are back at it! Reining that is! ;) We had our first lesson of the year last night with Patrick and Will was wonderful! His Mom is a little rusty, but it's coming back quickly! Rode again tonight! Could not resist since we are having such great temps compared to last week! BRRRRR! I actually saw a 50 degrees on the truck thermometer today! I have a feeling we won't be seeing that again for a while! :)

Well back to Will....I did not have his sliding plates put on when he had his feet done last on purpose, so that is forces me to work on his turn arounds and his flying changes and his neck reining. The sliding stops are way too much fun!!!! So I opted for no plates so I wouldn't be tempted! (I know myself too well). I am really hoping to work really hard with him this year and show at a few reining shows and move up to an actual NRHA santioned class, Rookie Pro. His first outing will be at Green Horse and if that goes really well, I may take the plunge and do his next show at the Rookie Pro level, which means I have to get Will an NRHA license and pay my membership fees. :( But it will be worth it! We'll see if this is in God's plan for us this year! If it is, I know we will achieve these goals!

Too Cold!!!

Whew! -15 degrees this morning when I got in the truck (and that is actual temp, not wind chill). Thankfully the diesel started as I still do not have my car back! GRRRR!!!! They can't figure out what the problem is and this has been going on since mid November!!!!!

All horsies, doggies and kitties seem to be doing ok since they are all in the barn. House doggies are having a harder time of it though when they go out. Little Tess had to go so she ventured off the deck went potty then stood there and looked at me all the while her front paws off the ground like "I can't make it come get me!" of course you know I did! :) Poor little thing, her paws were cold and she was only out there a few minutes!

Our water pump in the barn is frozen, so we have to haul water from the house for 8 of the horses as Will and Yager are at the indoor (which does have working water!). Ugh! I mentioned before about moving south, but wow, I really wouldn't mind it now!!!!

Looking outside you wouldn't know it was so cold, as it is bright and sunny and looks beautiful! But just step outside and you freeze! I know the horses would LOVE to get out and stretch their legs as they have been in for 2 days, but it is just too cold! Maybe tomorrow....when we have a heat wave and hit in the low 20's! :)

First Ride on Yager!

Well it's official! I have FINALLY taken my first ride on Yager last night! I knew when I purchased him that he had only been ridden a handful of times and mainly in a western saddle and side pull with no bit. So getting him to the indoor for a couple of weeks was on my list of things to do, so that I could try him out and see just what he knows. He was not too thrilled about having a bridle with a bit on, especially an english with the tighter caveson! But he adapted well. Then comes the english saddle (a postage stamp compared to what he was used to). I did lunge him the day before with the saddle and last night with the saddle and bridle. Since he was pretty sane during the lunge session I decided it was time to go for it! Terry was there for safety purposes and held him while I mounted. Yager did not want to move at first, after figuring out he was not going to be totally stupid if I thumped his sides a little, he decided it was a good idea to move on when asked! His head was in my face the whole time (I'm figuring since he was not used to a bit) but he was responsive to turning right and left and to stopping (always a good thing!). We definately have a lot of work ahead of us, but he is so sweet and really wants to please. I dismounted last night and patted him and he immediately put his head on my chest and wanted his neck rubbed and ears scratched! I really LOVE my new horsey!

It's funny though, I worked Yager first then Terry was getting cold, so no time to work Will, but when I went in to feed Will he was a little standoffish! I think he was jealous! So I paid some extra attention to my Haffie boy too! He came around. He will get out tonight for a jaunt in the arena to stretch his legs since it will be too cold to ride anyone! BRRRRR! Should be able to start riding again this weekend! (Hopefully sooner if the weathermen are wrong! )

My gripe of the day!

Uhg! How I do hate driving in bad weather!!! Work is normally a 25-30 minute commute but today it was 1 hour! Too many drives of the past couple weeks have been like this, be it ice/rain mix or snow! Plus for this week, I'm having to trek over to the indoor where Will and Yager are now since the owner is on vacation and I am taking care of all the horses AM & PM! So I left home this morning at 7, went and fed, headed for work and did not get to work until 8:45.

Moving south is looking mighty nice about now! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the changes of season but I hate having to drive in all of this! If I didn't have to drive in it I would be just fine!Praise God that neither Terry nor I have had any issues and have always made it safely to our destinations, but I still don't have to like it! :(

Show Names for Yager

Ok, I have some new ideas for a show name for Yager! Thanks Barb for 2 of them!!!! (I did shorten them a little though). :)

Bring it On (self explanatory)
Time After Time (like...he will always jump his fences....time after time!) :)

And Terry's favorite: Thirty Days

Any addtional thoughts?

Long time no post!

Has been a LONG time since my last post. The Christmas season and the New Year have come and gone! Both were wonderful but busy times and very Blessed times! Actually got to sit down and relax a little on New Year's! :) Remember in my last post I said I was wanting a new big horse? Well he now stands in our barn! Yeah! His name is Yager (not too fond of it but he responds so I guess it will stay) but I am looking for a fancier show name for him! Any ideas?

Yager (see photo) is a 16 hand tall appy/tb cross! He is such a doll, but Terry and him are not seeing eye to eye! Boy does that remind me of Terry and my old TB, Lucky's relationship! :) Terry thinks I should name him Thirty Days (which I am actually considering) since he gave him 30 days to shape up or he was gone! :) Yeah right!

All the animals are great and trying to keep warm even though it has been not too bad for Ohio! I'll probably regret that statement! :)

Will and Yager move to an indoor arena this week. Will is going to be used for lessons and Yager is just there for a couple of weeks to see just how much he knows! I will start up reining lessons again with Patrick in the next couple weeks and hopefully are going to show some NRHA shows this year in the Green Horse and we are shooting for the Rookie Pro division! Keep you fingers crossed for us!

God has been so gracious to Terry and I with blessing us with a home, plenty of "kids" (the animals) to watch over, great friends, health and a wonderful church family! We are very blessed! It amazes me, how he always provides no matter what!

Hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!