REIGNITING THE PASSION FOR EVENTING

 My blog name has changed over the years, but my goal always remained the same, to be in eventing! I had goals, but never knowing how to attain them, or have any formal training, or access to training in central Maine really stunted my growth in that dream. Now at 53 I am facing the reality of that coming to fruition. 2008 trip to the Rolex ignited the dream. Inspired by Bruce Davidson at 68 riding his 21 year old
gelding he retired that year. It made me think at 38 yrs old I would still be able to get there! That false hope, and unforseen life changes like divorce, moving or selling my eventing horses, getting remarried and following my husbands passion barrel racing for 10 years let that inspiration slip away like vapor.

As my LIFE itself is ever evolving and changing, who knew I would be able to actually return to that aspiration of eventing. A slew of events chronologically panned out resulting in a new vision and realistic goals. Interestingly my last appy bred hopeful was the one responsible for this opportunity. Who knew it would be Charlie that would make a way for me to return to my love of eventing over the course of 6 years through connections. Short story version: Wapschocolatemousse aka Charlie, Moose went on lease to St Andrews college for 2 yrs. A graduate reached out to me to continue a private lease for 2 yrs, who then purchased to continue eventing under the 4* Training guidance of Mckenzie Cumbea, owner of Morning Line Farm. After I restarted jumping lessons with another trainer before turning 50, I decided to purchase Bristol Indian, a proven 2* 3DE gelding I had hoped to show me the ropes of upper levels. Maintaining connection with Charlies owner who was then barn manager for Mckenzie, allowed me to realize a better opportunity to materialize my showing potential with Bristol would be at her show training facility. Thankful I made that decision in that moment, but it still took 2 yrs to come into being where I am today mentally. Through life changing state of affairs to take care of my mother, then loosing my mother during that 3 year time period had only prolonged the inevitable. 

Everything happens at the right time and for the right reason. My experience in Southern Stockhorse, NBHA, website building, marketing, showing weekends for 10yrs has prepared me to be where I am, at the right time. Mckenzie's expanding training/boarding business needed her website to reflect the professionalism and highly qualified level of horses she was showing. I offered to update her website and branding for her sale flyers. My photography, videography, graphic design degree and 50 years of horse life forged our business relationship. An unexpected opportunity to groom for her at Chattahoochee Hills Event solidified my "personal groom" job title during the week & for her 2024 show season!

To say that I am excited for this chance to change future sequence of events, is an understatement. What the future holds for me to attain any personal goals have better odds if you are connected with people that have the drive you once had and actually desire to motivate you to do better every day!

What more can 2024 offer me to get back to my goals? 

Thank you Jesus for Charlie!

TIME FLIES ~ THE GOOD & THE BAD

 

TIME FLIES ...  NOT NEW NEWS RIGHT!?

Sometimes mistakes turn into beautiful moments, for me or others, which reminds me it wasnt actually a mistake at all ... 

Started jumping lessons at nice facility on thier lesson horse, it only took 3 lessons to know this wasnt for ME. I need a REAL horse, something that I can work with, know and understand. So I brought a stunning, fit and already jumped a 4' pasture fence named Sunny. After the lesson which went great giving it was Sunnys first lesson jumping, I was feeling optimistic! Trainer advised it would be too much work to actually start this horse and get to the levels I was aspiring to. Hindsight 20/20. She was wrong. I sold sold Sunny and took a loan to acquire "experienced  2* horse" to learn on. 3 years later and I have wasted time never getting any further along if I had just kept Sunny! I have trained, jumped and shown him. Acquired life long friends in this process which is why I say it wasnt a mistake. Bristol doesnt have to bite, kick, be hateful, rear, strike, buck or refuse to jump or load in trailer with me! YAY! He has learned to bow and humble himself for kisses on his eyes. He is in a happy place being tended to as KING. That is a huge accomplishment! Again I say he wasnt a mistake. He has learned it is a partnership. I have also learned that it all takes TIME! Beware of RED FLAGs, like if a horse bites in the pre purchase.... ABORT ABORT! 

I just felt that turning 50 the clock starts ticking. If I didnt commit, it would never happen, so I forced it! That same year, I lost my barrel horse Sally after double colic surgery. 

ONE DOOR OPENS, ANOTHER DOOR CLOSES...

Jeff retired as state director for NBHA and we traded the 44' 4HLQ for a 44' Camper/Toy hauler as life with his now 3 grands was taking priority. Sold the poultry farm to have more time to do these things. Invested in beach rentals to subsidize income, and unfortunately whether it is hurricane IAN, doubled taxes, doubled insurance rates or immoral property management companies stealing from out of state owners, makes us think we are always making the wrong decisions... but GOD WILL PROVIDE!

So so much to be thankful for. Just moving here with horses, finding new friends and job. Getting married, accumulating 13 horses for training/selling. Moving Dad and then his travel friend buddy to NC. Building 2 on property venues: Barrel Racing Arena & Go Cart Racing Track. Assisted my husband as NBHA District Director and then years after taking the job for State Director and overseeing all  shows within NC. Learned a lot about people/organizations with horse showing. Championships held 2X a year in Perry GA was always fun with our group. Relocated Jeffs Aunt & Uncle from Utah back to east coast of NC for family to visit and enjoy. Then, FINALLY convinced MOM to move down from Maine. I have to remind myself how BLESSED I was to have all of the moments I gained with her in the 2.5 yrs she was here. ALSO, Blessed she unexpectedly passed peacefully during her afternoon nap. Mom is why horses are in my blood! My first pony at 3 and riding with her off and on my whole life. What a Blessing to have shared horses with her, and her legacy lives on, as a part of my life.

Now 2024 and it is time to implement the BLOG title: BEGIN ANEW!

Hoping to share the materializing sale of Bristol to his future young hopeful! 

Share about my part time job with 5* rider as Groom, Marketing & Web Manager!

Ready to stamp my NC realtor license also as a SC realtor this year.

Next time I will share most recent trip with a friend from elementary school!

Lastly, get back to HORSES! My blogging training sarcasms of oversized sorrel horse that would remind you of Clifford the Red Dog. Started as a barrel racer, got over 17h and I decided to keep him for eventing. 

Never a dull moment here.... just living life and feeling BLESSED!

Oh ya.... almost forgot my yearly post! LOL

Just kidding, I dont actually have a yearly post ... I post whenever I remember I have a blog.... and that seems to be once a year as I reflect back over my posts, but this one has been LONGER. After I explain why it will make sense. So last post was my heart, breaking and bleeding out figuratively speaking but it felt literal. The Chloe 2.0 showed up in our lives just before we took our last shallow breath and breathed life back into our day and sunshine has been shining since. Not without our teary moments when our eyes may fall upon our treasured photos or keepsakes, but somehow it fades away as quick as it comes when you have a life that loves you so much every day like its brand new. What shall we name her? Something dashing? Something whitty? Sweet or salty perhaps? Some thought and more thought until it came to me. She is the remedy for my loss and anquish. She is the cure to my despair and depression. Where there is light darkness cannot enter, thank you Jesus! Her name is;
Ignatia Amara Darling and it fits quite perfectly I dare say. Ignatia Amara is the plant harvested for the Homeopathic Remedy for loss and sorrow. Of course a dash of Chloe is the Darling at the end, and though she is black and smaller and a personality all her own, God Blessed her with an essence of Chloe we are thankful for each day. She fits perfectly into our lives like she has always been there. Blessing both of us daily and everyone in our lives she has contact with. Though not as outgoing as Chloe and more reserved to strangers she is the sweetest most loving affectionate dog I know. Truely a Blessing straight from God into our lives and we thank Him!
Amara now over a 1.5 she continues to bring us joy daily with her outspoken opinions and playful gestures making sure everyone interacts with her instead of those damn phones or that TV she says!
Horsing is taking center stage as usual, Jeff going from District Director for NBHA for 4 yrs to State Director for North Carolina. What a change this will be in 2020. Though we still are 4 barrel horses strong with Big Red still at Justin Hills for training until otherwise, I have decided to step back at this juncture and test the 3DE waters again. Looking forward to my first lesson in two days, but after taking inventory of my attire, dry rot in elastic in unused breeches has me scurring to order new. I hope this will finally set me on the fervent path I was supposed to be on 9 yrs ago. MY GOD MY GOD you are so right!

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.   James 4 - 14

... so true isnt it! That is why we should make haste toward all that is good in life to enjoy and enjoy each and every day before we vanish.

 

 

 

SHE IS GOING TO BE A SUPER STAR SOME DAY!

... ANOTHER SEASON

Seasons are good to have weather wise... but not necessarily in life seasons. 

Things must change, enevitably so, for life must go on. 

Humans and animals alike get old and time takes its toll. We hate to witness it or be a part of it. 

The loss can be heart wrenching, life changing, physically can take a toll that may take a long time to recover from.We ALL will have to go through it, some more often than others, and it affects everyone differently. Life can be so GOOD, and then WAM, it can just disassemble your day to day. Recovery is a journey. Hoping to gain some coping mechanisms for the future as more of this loss is sure to come. Not that I havent had loss, my grandmother in my teens, grandfather in my twenties, my cat and horse in my thirties. Losing a life that you nourtured from a baby, and was a significant part of your daily life, that brought you happiness in so many ways for 10 years, sadly gone in an instant for no reason at all is hard to comprehend. HONESTLY, I had no idea how to relate to people that lose their loved ones and leave flowers year after year, and constantly bring it back to rememberance. 

I just couldnt get why people would hang onto their loved one in such a way that was so detrimental to their own lives and progress of healing. Seriously, I had no idea how they felt or why they couldnt cope until it happened to me. I now understand, but it pales in comparison

 as I only have my sweet Chloe Sophia Darling to understand their pain.

One way to heal is REPLACE that void as soon as possible. Harder to do with humans than pets for sure, but it does help to nurture and be nurtured, though knowing that you will have to endure it again in a decade does deter some as the older you get the harder it is to actually endure the loss. Hoping I will be Blessed with more than just 10 years. Jealous actually of the large dog owners that share the geriatric ages of their teen dogs! Painfully discusted actually that as much as I loved her and took care of her she couldnt make that additional 5-7 year journey. Making me feel that the poisons I forced her to ingest for her own good was actually the shortened lifespan she received. GUILT is my main burden when recalling moments of "I should have known" or "why didnt I do this or that instead" or my all time regret is that last moment of her when "why couldnt I have sucked it up and been there for her" instead of being so self absorbed with grief that I couldnt cope enough for her last breath. Pitiful actually, I hate myself for it. Instead of recalling great and happy moments, my brain goes back to those very few horrible moments and tortures me. 

I have to learn to say, 

NOT TODAY SATAN ... NOT TODAY ... IN JESUS NAME. 

I have to learn to release that seed of black thought and receive the GRACE & MERCY and His Blessed Assurance that she is up there at Jesus feet being his daily blessing now. 

He is saving all my animals for me. All our favorites are his favorites. Our loves are His loves. 

Why wouldnt he have them bundles of love with him? They are his creations as we are.

I have seen a sign.... and I feel this way more than you know. It applies to all our furry favs.

"IF THER ARE NO HORSES IN HEAVEN... I AIN'T GOIN'!

and I would just add our pet babies too

I purchased a necklass that said it all,

"IF LOVE COULD HAVE SAVED YOU,

YOU WOULD HAVE LIVED FOREVER"

So true, so true.....

Forever Loved & Missed Dearly.

Chloe Sophia Darling

2008 - 2018

LIFE HAS ITS SEASONS

Time.... ever changing.

Seasons change.... life changes... and in it new beginnings...

And here we are... caught in the cycle of life, and how we handle the seasons of life.

Im going to be 48 this year.... well at the end of this year but still... OMG 48!

Depending on who is reading this ... some will say OH A BABE in the woods, and yet others... HOLY CRAP thats old! ... BUT SERIOUSLY... it happens so fast! 

One day you are the "Bag O' Chips" and the next day 

you are the broken lil pieces at the bottom of the bag!

Wanting to be healthy and youthful forever is unattainable usually, but I think it is time to take hold of the most important element in that which is EATING GOOD FOOD! Not processed, not fake, not sugar, NOT bread.... but healthy greens & meats. I KNOW... that can even be hard to decipher as our greens are mass produced and sprayed and GMO and all that jazz and our meats are much of the same. THERE IS SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR A GARDEN and HOME GROWN grass fed!

Why we are so sick, and dumbfounded is the choices of what we put in our mouths! IMAGINE THAT!... OUR pets are dying and getting cancers and diabetes and we dont grasp the concept of its the same shit we put in our bodies or feed them from the table our food which is still POISON!

REALLY thinking about this lately and how we are all connected and going through the same process year after year in ALL AGES .... this sickness and dying from the inside is not just for the 60 plus group! OUR GUTS are the reason we get sick, and not just a common cold, its where we can get cancers and all kinds of crap.... so why not help ourselves and this beautifully built body that 

GOD created and feed it GOOD stuff so it can help us be a blessing for at least 100 years?

I am ready for the next step.... HEALTH, loving myself, accepting I am older and being happy where I am at.... I am just waiting for my brain to catch up and give up the vanity! Lets just enjoy every day and help people in our daily lives that need our love and support.

... AND LOVE OUR PETS AS THEY ARE NOT HERE LONG ENOUGH :(

WE ARE BLESSED TO BE THAT BLESSING EVERY DAY!

SADDLE FIT SADDLE FIT SADDLE FIT

IF I ONLY KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW!

No really!... because I would have put more value on finding the BEST saddle fit for my horse, which improves performance which in turn helps me not develop bad habits that inhibit my riding!

PERIOD!

You are fooling yourselves if you think you can do anything other. 

First off, we need to stop listening to our "friends" and seek out professional opinions. Because opinions are like A@@holes.. and everyone has them. Before you know which end is up, someone has talked you into a bad deal for you and your horse. You may at the time think WOW great deal, I didnt know that ... and look I found a great price on this saddle that they said would work!

NOT! NOT! NOT!

You may be able to get away with that a lower levels of your chosen discepline but if you want to really perform well and want to exceed, anti up and buy tack that will last you a lifetime and fit well!

If you dont know, ASK! Ask only qualified persons what would work best for you and your horse.

DONT CHEAP OUT ~ it will cost you... eventually!

HERES YOUR SIGN 

NOT EVERYONE FITS INTO A 15" SADDLE DAMMIT!

I know I come from English background, lessons and showing... I have done it all from Western Pleasure to Team Penning to Bridless riding and I know me and what I need, so why would I just take someones word that a 15" PRO RIDER (P.O.S.) would get me to where I was going?

I KNEW BETTER

... yet I still conceeded .... and here I am ... back at the drawing board and years behind schedule trying to undo all the bad habits from bad balance, not to mention gaining weight and getting more out of shape every year.... I am tired of eating dirt in the back forty!

The questions you need to ask yourself is what position does my body need to be in to get the job done. Does this tack pitch me forward, restrict my leg movement, bruise my thighs or legs, does horn jab my guts out when my horse makes her move. Where should my stirrup legnth be for this sport, shorter to keep my ass in saddle or longer for me to leverage my backside? How do I ride my horse? Horses are different too in how they work! MOST by how they were taught, some due to confirmation, others due to unknown chronic issues never addressed!

I like being free in the tack. I love riding bareback, always have. Running a set of barrels bareback I have not.... I dont plan to this late in the game either BUT I still would like to have space to work, or so I think. I may be thinking all wrong due to this particular dicepline of BARREL RACING! 

I have ridden in crappy saddles that have me all hemmed up and jacking me around at MACH10... but I have never tried a quality saddle that fits me and my horse... and the fact of the matter is it MAY just keep me from coming up out of the saddle, falling behind and grabbing a hold to catch up!

HELLO BRENDA ~ Here is YOUR SIGN!

sigh.... the vote is still out.... 

because they DO NOT MAKE BARREL SADDLES BIGGER THAN 15"!!!!

... apparently fat gurls ~ or J-Lo gurlz dont ride barrel horses?

THEY DO... I have seen it...AND THEY RIDE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM

... in their poor lil ol 15" saddles

THIS SADDLE was my first barrel racing saddle.... tho I didnt know it yet!

ACTUALLY a pretty decent saddle for the brand name (no name basically)

DC WESTERN of GREENSBORO NC

When I sat in it I felt the quality of the saddle

THO a 16" I could ride in it ok... except the stirrups werent free and I got pitched forward

Saddle leather great, fleece great but TREE created issues eventually and caused white spots to appear on my mares whither/shoulder area ~ NOT GOOD!

Sold it for a lil less than I paid for it ~ paid $525

HILSASON TREELESS saddle shown above. GREAT fit on mutton whithered horses that only a custom 10" gullet would fit. PRICING new $425 but basically only last about a year or two tops!
Stirrup leathers broke thru and had to replace and actually cause horses back to be sore after awhile.

 I started doing Southern Stockhorse and figured I needed a saddle for that too... and though I couldnt afford the one I really would want which was a WADE style at a whopping $3500 I figured it would be ok to get a Wade look alike for $325 on ebay. Leather quality was thick and gross. Stain color orange-ee... worksmanship was bad... look at the stirrups hung way too far back from center and though turned wasnt able to work well while on cows. NOT TO MENTION the tree wasnt right and the whole saddle pitched to and fro and felt like it was sitting on top of the world... NO FEEL of your horse what so ever!








Then I upgraded my horse from a ranch style to a cutting style and had to have a cutting saddle!
I went all in!
I got a Calvin Allen and thought well FINALLY I got it right! $1300

            BUT after a year trying to get my seat right, I just couldnt get my ass to stay down in the saddle while my horse cut a cow.... and I paid dearly one day... she cut left... I fell right... OFF!
At a show... in front of a crowd.... and then I was like that is it! What is the deal!????
so I decided to get a deeper seat ~ a JEFF SMITH close contact... and it made all the difference in the world. MIND YOU I was lucky to have found someone who wanted my Calvin Allen and traded even for this trophy saddle Jeff Smith. A Jeff Smith cutter NEW is $3600-$4500 so I thought I got a deal! Well it was an older model but had great bones! High rise to the Pommel... low cantel, cut out under fenders.... I did well in that slick seat and learned alot!

  

Meanwhile ... back to barrel racing tack connundrum... I thought well that Hillason is kinda working but being that its a glorified saddle pad with a pommel and a cantel mounted to it.... I need something with gullet for my high whithered runaway pegasus I was trying to tame and retrain at the time. I thought well I dont know how long I will have him but this cheap treeless nightmare is causing my proven 1D champion twitching at the whither and dry scabbing soon prevailed... and for $250 

 this saddle was NOT the answer... PERIOD! P.O.S. for sure!

Then I finally decided to order this TREELESS saddle made by Circle Y Saddlery called 

JUST BE NATURAL saddle. Custom ordered the 16.5 to make sure I would have enough room and was so excited to choose my chocolate on chocolate and bling and stirrup choice.... yippee!

3 months later it shows up... and I saddle up... SAME ISSUE with his Whither! Well I ride in it... and Im being pitched forward, the billets are faux leather which will last what ... a year or two? 

Soooooooo dissappointed after the first few rides, wanting it to work so bad... and waiting so long for it to show up so I can ride a nice light weight wonderful special ordered saddle for $2400!!!!!

I couldnt ... so I shipped it back... and still awaiting it to sell on consignment where I purchased it from! UGHHHH! Cuz remember.... NOBODY rides in anything but a 15" saddle and this is a 16.5!

 So while at the Worlds this year ... I spent time asking questions sitting in saddles, soaking up all the information I could about this saddle and how it is... what it is... who makes it and what it was designed for and to do or what it would do...

I brought both my horses to the woman to saddle fit several different types of saddles. I sat in almost every saddle... well she had me sit in almost every saddle she had... asking me what I felt and what I thought about it. That helped .... and then it didnt... because I seemed to get more confused... .I think I know what would work and what I need... and then I look at what styles of saddle I am drawn to and think I know why.

The Charmayne James C13 has been the apple of my eye for at least 5 years.... $3500 seemed outrageous and I still think so.... but after all that I have been through with trying to save a buck... what have I gained besides frustration and dissappointement? I like the C13 becuase of the close contact cut, the drop riggin and high rise and the seat pocket....

Now the new barrel saddle by JEFF SMITH just came out called the C3 ... ????? hmmmmmmmmmmm similar isnt it? Same price ... or there about. A little more refined than that of the C13 .... deeper seat (higher cantel) doesnt necessarily work for me... I do appreciate with as much leather skirting that has been cut away they do offer the rear cinch rigging to compensate for any movement that may or may not jack around back there.... but again... here we are... they dont make anythign bigger in either saddle than a 15" dammit! soooooooooooo why would I even bother? Maybe Jeff Smith would consider custom size but I know the other C13 most likely would not!
I have thrown in the towel on both styles ... unfortunately!

Below are two saddles that are similar and have pros and cons that we went over during saddle fit!

The top one is the chosen saddle by the vendor claiming it fits MOST horses and rides similar to the bottom one which I PREFERED.... $1999 for top and $2600 for bottom. Notice why I prefer the bottom? Because MY BOTTOM fits in the pocket! Close contact and high rise to the pommel keeps me sitting up and back and doesnt allow for me being pitched forward. Guess what size the bottom is that I rode in and actually rode ok in it... 14.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know right! LIKE WHAAAT!

Its by JEFF SMITH.... I am starting to see the light here folks! Its taken me this long!???? 

Well the story is I wanted to order that saddle... BUT it has a Buster Welch tree... and may not feel the same as that one... they are all different... and so she discouraged me from wanting it... or tried to. she really wanted me to want the top one... that I just didnt ride as well in... it was a 15.5 and it felt smaller... and yes it fit my horse better... BUT ... I have to have it fit me to or what is the point?

IS THERE NOT A DANG SADDLE OUT THERE THAT WILL WORK FOR ME? 

I AM ABOUT READY TO QUIT AND START A NEW THING ... BAREBACK BARRELs!!!!

At this point I am beyond frustrated and dissappointed and refuse to do anything about it right now.
I am still riding in my P.O.S. Hilason Treeless saddle(s) I ordered a second one for my second barrel horse. But my older one is the one making my horses back sore... and have made an offer on a treeless saddle by Circle Y called the Tammy Fisher ... its a lil too blingy for me... but rides ok... and its $1699.... but see ... here I go again trying to save a buck! It is a 16.5 which is only 1/2" difference than the two hilasons I am currently ridding in that are a 17"! 

Tune in next time for the continuing saga of "How The Barrel Turns"

NBHA 2017 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Well, we have returned home from our 

National Barrel Horse Association World Qualifying Championships

..... now that is a mouthful. That is why they just say "WORLDS" in the barrel racing circles! 

I qualified in 2015 to run 2016 and again to run this year which happened to be their 

25th Anniversary. 

I felt that if Jeff couldnt represent us, I should since I did qualify

 ... AND it is the 3rd anniversary of his proposal AT THE WORLDS! 

They always recognize us ... well him and then they remember me! He is that memorable! 

Soooooo off we went to Perry GA from Oct 27th - Nov 4th. 

We got the perfect RV site ... FINALLY! 

After years of dealing with dogs dogs dogs DANG DOGS barking, pissing an shitting at our site... 

I pre-registered 6 mths in advance a PRIVATE SPOT, at the far end of no where at the fairgrounds WEST GATE. IT was great.... a view out of the front of our camper of where we proposed across the pond, and clock building and water fountains. 

We will want that spot PERIOD every year.... it was that nice! 

The horses were great, got them out daily, brought them to our campsite to hang with hay bag for the afternoon a few times. Made sure they had their Ulcerguard, Chiropractic and Back On Track treatments as needed and they were happy ladies!

Good runs after I got the butterflies out... unfortunately I didnt qualify back to the finals with either mare after their two runs each soooooooooooooo we just enjoyed the festivities and then loaded up on Sunday and headed home!

It was sooooooooooooooo good to be home

... and nice that we came, we competed and we got our tshirt!

FOREVER ALWAYS CHANGES

One thing you can bank on through time is CHANGE. It is forever and always.... which also is good to keep things fresh and new. Giving you perspective on how far you have come.... and goals to where you want to be. I remember wanting to just be with horses, doing something all the time showing, training, lessons, boarding and sharing my knowledge. I am at a point in my life at 47, now my energy levels dont support my goals. I have to change my perspective and find out what do I really want to do? Wanting to still do 3DE some day at a * or ** star level....would be fufulling life goal. Acquiring my realestate license this year seemed to be a natural process given my background, and utilizing other gifts and talents I have into flipping homes would be a great retirement income advantage. This year (2017) is only half over and I know that once it is ... things wont be the same again. We will look back and call these years the "good Ol' days".
Next month (AUG) Charlie will be going back to St. Andrews for his continuing education, thankfully having a job at least 9 mo out of the year. I have not kept up my end of the deal showing him at even the lowest level this summer. HOW BAD is that? THREE shows, one in JUNE, JULY & AUG! I did go to JUNE show at Heather Ridge Farm for our premier after having not ridden him for a year. He did decent, really did, he could have been awful... well actually he was when we tried to load him on the trailer..... almost kicked me in the face to days before show for our dry run lesson at the facility. My hopes of finding him a new owner this year was a complete FAIL due to my commitment to riding him consistantly.... WHY WHY WHY!!!!!

HONESTLY.... because I just dont like him .... its a JOB and playing russian roulette is not for me.
I have  good horses, ones that dont try to kill me. They just do their job and I enjoy mine, though not my choice discepline in barrel racing, still making progress in getting better is good for me.
Making hard choices to let horses go that dont work for me is tuff. I loved Willy, and after a few lessons with Amanda.... WOW, WHOA... really amazing things were going on! Then.... I fell down on my consistancy job.... WHY WHY WHY.... and he reverted to being ... .Willy. I cant ride that when I have two mares that ride similar and give me 100% every time.... Willy was a project, I wanted to make him better, but I FAILED ....  my issue with consistancy....
SAD STORY!

I have my hand on him still, connected by the riders mom who loves essential oils and we are kindred spirits in some ways ;) hoping I can still get him to where he needs to be ... and have all the love this girl says she has for him. Thank You Jesus!
Jeff will be having hip surgery in the coming month and then 6 weeks recovery and I am sure sooner than later getting back on and riding hard and fast once again. Until then, I am glad I have broad shoulders for whatever may come my way in this time frame!
The new addition, "DALLAS" the miniature pony is out for formal training, or should I say MILES, and whatever they can do with him to make him more bomb proof than he already is. Mom may be driving down in the fall and she said I could have her miniature harness and mini cart.... that needs work but willing to take it, in hopes that Dallas can be utilized until Kensley wants her pony ... he is adorable and we hope to have him for many years!

SOOOOO Forever Changes.... Always....
forever doing something new with horses....
eventing, cutting, barrel racing....
then getting a new career in Real Estate means not always having time to do horse stuff....
.... or getting a hip replacement surgery.... meaning... doing things a little different or to a lesser degree than you are used to. Realizing that your energy levels are not what they were, or your drive to do bigger and better always... is not your main focus anymore.

Just enjoy life every day!