Marana, AZ Show

This was awhile ago now, but still sits in my mind as one of my most favourite days ever.

The first time I showed, I sort of lost my mind, forgot what a cow was & marked a 63. Which was a gift. 

So the second time I showed I went into the show pen with a specific goal, "I want to have clean herdwork." I felt that if I centered myself around one goal, it would help me focus on that, and remember... ya know.. how to ride.

I decided to enter a herdwork jackpot class, the objective of this class is to cleanly cut a cow from the herd and drive it up into the chalked square in the centre of the pen. I went out there on our cow-ey, but certainly not a cutting trained, turn back horse and marked a 72 to place second in the class. I was happy, and it was a good way to head into my next class of the day.

& the best part about our turn back horse? His registered name is "Chicks Dig Yellow" - how great is that!

Herdwork Jackpot

Video isn't the best quality, enlarge it to see better.

My next class of the day was the 2000 Limit Rider on one of our client's horses, Tulip. I've ridden Tulip a lot to get her ready to show, and at home before the client, or my boss has ridden it. However, i'd barely ridden her on cows at home. Despite that, I felt comfortable, and a lot more centered than the first time I showed.

2000 Limited Rider

There was just something about this run, Tulip worked amazing for me, I felt like I was riding better than I ever had before (... and some days it feels like better than I have since haha) & it all just fell into place. I ended up winning the class with a 74. I was beaming ear-to-ear.

Me, Tulip & her owner, Diane.

Marana was such a special day for me because it really reaffirmed for me that I love cutting, I want to show more and I only want to work more and more to get better. It also reaffirmed that I am working where I should be, who I should be working for, and surrounded by people that will only lift me up. It was a great feeling.

& getting my first two cheques wasn't so bad either!

=)

The Southern: Jackson, Mississippi (In Words)

Okay, so I've finally come down off the mental and physical obliteration that was Jackson and can finally actually talk about it. Also, I'm box-dyeing my hair and have nothing better to do :) Ghetto Texas Cowgirl Princess ya'll.

I am going to piece together how the show went with some of my overall thoughts which I tried to scribble down in a hurry while it was all going on. Overall, we had a very good show. (I know this because other lopers constantly remarked that to us, apparently we were kickin' some real ass).

First up was the 5/6 Open, with boss man riding 5 of our 5 and 6 year olds. 3 of our crew made it through and one that I warmed up in both the first go and the finals placed third overall, so that was pretty exciting and a good way to start off the show. Our 4 year olds also did pretty good in the 4 year old open with 3/5 making it through there as well. The two others that unfortunately didn't make it through also had respectable showings though, one was a 0.5 point away from making it in and the other was new to showing and had a respectable score. We didn't show any three year olds in the open, and so from there we went into non-pros and then from there the novice/amateur classes for the rest of the week.

We also showed three nights in the added championship classes, and a lot of our horses picked up cheques there. Let me tell ya - I was VERY happy that none of our clients or boss man showed in the Novice/Amateur added classes... rumour has it some of those ran until 2 am a couple nights. My boss had us up at 5 and meeting him at the flag by 6 every morning so he could work whatever horses were showing that day. Then our days ran until about 7 or 8 pm, any later than that and I would have surely died.

Out of the 18 we brought to Jackson, 15 made it into atleast one finals whether that be the open/non pro or amateur, if not more than one. That's over 15 cheques. Some of our horses are owned by husband-wife teams, where the husbands will show the horse in the non-pro, and the wife shows the horse in the amateur, so many of our horses showed in all three different categories. I think out of the horses we had showing only one or two didn't have owners come to show them, as well as have my boss show them in the open. I ended up loping primarily for one couple and the horses I warmed up picked up over $10,000. Don't all those zeroes hurt your eyes? They sure hurt mine... that would be nice to have in the pocket right about now.

So... my thoughts on my first big cutting show... (as written by me the day of)

This is me, covered in poultice and clearly being a grumplepuss as you will read below

Day One:
I am tired. I do not understand how to perfectly warm up a horse and it makes me want to punch a baby. That's how frustrating it is. My feet hurt, a lot. Did I mention I was tired? I hate blankets, sheets and slinkies and putting all three on every night. Screw how long that takes and how slinkies dry out my hands. Ain't nobody got time for horses rearing in an outdoor pen and trying to throw you off into a semi. Nobody. I am tired and my feet hurt. I don't want to talk to anyone anymore, I'd actually rather just curl in a ball of silence anger.

Okay, I am a drama queen but the first day WAS the longest day, ever. 18 hours after a previous 18 hour day and I was D-O-N-E. Slinkies do dry my hands out, and I do hate them. (Except that they make horses look like batman esque superheroes... I like that shit). Everyday the horses that didn't show had to be ridden, one of them, Money, was being a right jackass and trying to throw me off every 5 minutes. My body was giving up even trying to pretend I could ride a horse and I ended up handing her off to another loper and slinking home in a depression. Finally, I had warmed up two horses that day (maybe actually three? I can't remember) one had been warmed up well, the other (I thought) was ready to go and everyone assured me he was. Except he got into the pen with my Boss and proceeded to literally just try to run into the walls instead of actually cut the cow... My Boss handed him off to me with the words "Way. Too. Fresh"... woooooopsies.

Day Two:
Everything is fun and happy when your winning, but everything is awful and miserable when your losing. Plan to win.
Efficiency, organization and leadership are key for a smooth show of this size and scale.
I am still tired and my feet might at this point just melt away from my body?
Wanna know how I knew my two finalists were ready to go today? Here's how: Lope until I feel like dying, walk, then lope another 10 minutes, then walk, they do it again until 4 before the horse goes. Lopers that claim that there is a "feel", and a "finesse" to the warm-up are full of crap and don't believe them, they are just saying that because they don't want to admit that they are about to die too.


Day Four:
Do's and Don'ts:
Do: Bob that head all you want at the sitting trot, grab your cantle and bounce your arm - that's what the cool kids are doing and you should do it too.
Don't: Run into the back of a world famous non-pro in the loping pen, she might have you fired on the spot (true story I heard today)
Do: Work your ass off and try not to compare. Comparison, whether it be "I'm not as good as she is", or "I work a thousands times harder than he does", is comparable to evil in my books. Motto: You do you.
Don't: Don't tell a cutting client that reiners are better than cutters because you come from a reining background. Don't say that cutters, essentially, just extended trot with no collection around an area whereas reiners are actually broke and you could easily cut on any of yours. Don't say that reiners are actual horseman and cutters aren't... You are an idiot, a complete and utter idiot. 

Life lessons from the loping pen right here kid, and that last don't? That actually happened, that was a conversation between another of our lopers and a client who was buying us dinner for our hard work. I was absolutely mortified.

Apparently the rest of the days just meshed together and I didn't have time for jotting down any notes. So that's all you get of my tired, grumpy rambling.

Overall, I felt the show was a definite success, and I was pleased with how well it turned out - especially since it was my first. Except for the show laundry, there is nothing nice about show laundry. Ugh. ;)

Resolutions 2013

So, although the "Year in Review" post was a pain in the bum (holy heck, I am long-winded sometimes, why don't you guys tell me to shut up already?) I'm glad I went back and really looked through those posts to see where I was, to where I've come.

& what a year it has been - my mind spins just thinking about it. I've probably never had one single year that had so many milestones, and I think, with years of such big change, you never really notice that you decided to take the road less travelled, or turned left at the fork, until you look back down the road you've travelled on for awhile. When I started this blog I wanted to make a concrete change - I wanted my life to become more centered around the one thing that I've found true passion, happiness, strength, humility, commitment, weakness, and a host of other factors in - horses. So, I think last year I firmly began walking down the "horse centered life" road, and hope to continue in my journey.

Philosophical posts and a new year seem to go hand in hand, and what would a new year be like without some little goal-setting and resolutions, hey?

A friend and I have joked that since everyone starts resolutions right out of the gate January 1st, and so why not sit back, and wait to start a month in - February. So, writing out my goals January 22 seems pretty appropriate for our "February Resolutions" plan.

For 2013, I would like too....

1. Compete.
- This has been a goal for awhile now, and, like many things in my horse-life, it never became possible because I didn't own a horse. Well, now, I own a horse. He may not be going to World's in Western Pleasure, or down to Fort Worth to cut, but he's mine, and god knows I love him. So, I'd like to do some sort of show with him this year - no matter how small. No goals or hopes of ribbons, just show - in something, somewhere. Leaving this one pretty open-ended.

2. Cut.
- It's been a longstanding dream of mind to try cutting, so this year, I would like to dip my toes in this sport, and see if it's the one I actually want to dive into.

3. Work towards Jingle becoming a really nice "All-Around Horse" & maintain patience with him, and myself in this process.
- This is probably the main goal, and the most important. Jingle is on his way to becoming a horse that I can go and "do anything" on, I want to continue on this path and work towards getting him supple, and soft. My goal is to really figure out a cadence and flow with Jingle this year, and as I've learnt, that means I must remain patient, kind, and calm when it comes to him, to me, and to us together. This goal also hints that I'd like to try a bunch of different disciplines, with my wonderful "all-around" horse. ;)

4. Find Work with Horses, or in the Horse Industry
- I'm done University in April (woop woop), and I right now the plan is to take a year off, and then go to an agricultural school in 2015 probably for learning about breeding and bloodlines. However, i'm still not 100% in that, and would like to spend the year learning more about the industry, and the different ways I could go about living with horses, and also being successful in the industry. (Not living on oats myself - haha)

5. Healthier Lifestyle
- I would like to have a healthier lifestyle - right now my eating habits are in the garbage and the word "workout" isn't in my vocabulary - for the year coming up I would really like to stick to a healthier diet, because I think a lot of my lethargy, and issues with winter, come from poor eating habits. I also really need to start working out, and becoming healthier, not just for looks but for my long-term being. This goal is also for Jingle! I'd like to look more into equine nutrition, workout schedules, etc. and figure out how he can be the healthiest he can be!

So, I think those are some pretty solid and (hopefully) easy to achieve goals. Wish me luck!

Equestrian Challenge: Day 6 & 7

Life has popped up and reared it's ugly head, meaning I am very behind on these challenges, so you get two in one day! Yipee!

Day 06- All the tack and riding clothes you have 
(brand/color/other details)

This one is a joke... right? haha. I am obsessed with tack & riding clothes, but here goes, the short list....

This is my Jeff Smith Cowhorse, I am in love with it - it's an awesome saddle. However, lately i've been noticing some dry spots after hard workouts with Jingle, so I think it might have to be traded in. So sad.... I'm crazy enough to want to keep it, just because I love it so much, and buy another saddle for Jingle. But, after an ouchy truck-bill I got from the mechanic today, that's just not happening.

So, anyone looking for a Jeff Smith cowhorse saddle, FQHB? Super nice saddle, would fit any normal QH build (except for my scrawny, awkward withered horse) Bought it in September for $2600, always kept in a heated tack locker, mainly ridden inside, only been outside twice. Comes with Nettles stirrups & i'll throw in a brand new Billy Cook mohair cinch.

Jingle has Red Professional's Choice SMB's, front and backs, aswell as black PC bell-boots.

Here you can see his two bridles, I forget the brand of one, but it's nice, it's my back-up bridle and for quick-change bits. Then second-in from the right is my Weaver headstall that I'm in love with. I have the matching breast collar, and it's my only full tack set. Then his two halters, one is a weaver with rawhide noseband, the second is halter I had made from Chick's saddlery, it has his barn name on the noseband, and his registered name on both cheek pieces. Love it.

Then, as you guys now, Jingle chose to be ridden in a sidepull, so bye bye bits and beautiful headstalls - hello ugly, plain sidepull. This one is a weaver sidepull, it's nice - gets the job done. 

In my tack locker I have a little self container of odds and ends, here you can see my helmet, the aforementioned breast collar, and Jingle's Weatherbeeta cooler, with attached neck piece. He also has a rugged wear medium blanket, a weatherbeeta heavy blanket, and two different rain/summer sheets.

Odds & Ends - notepad and pens to jot things down, extra dewormer, a couple bits, and chin straps.

Extra reins, lunge line, Mane & Tail Shampoo & Conditioner. This is also where his Vetricyn, MTG and miscellaneous oils & potions I have goes.

Tack Box, contains brushes, hoof picks, Riva's remedy salve for inflammation that I sometimes apply to his face after a hard ride, Leave in-conditioner for his mane and tail, braiding elastics, etc.

As for riding clothes.... my favourite riding jeans are Wrangler Sadies, and I have 3 different Lululemon Stride Jackets that I love to ride in. They are pretty much just sweaters, but they are super long, so they don't ride up under my vests, and they have the loops for your thumbs, so they keep my hands warm. I I always ride in a vest, my favourites are the ones from Marks, waterproof and super warm. Finally, my favourite socks are Justin boot socks, super warm, and they go really tall but don't dig into your legs... which a lot of high socks I have do. Finally, I have my go-to Justin's that I ride in, they are pink high tops, and I adore them. I rarely ride in anything else. I also have my pink muck boots, which are essential in keeping my toes warm pre and post ride. :)

Day 07- Your favorite ribbon won at a show and why

Haha, this one is easy to include beeeeecaaaaauuuuussseeeee... I have never won a ribbon before - maybe one day. I sure hope so.

Yum.

This WP outfit/saddle/horse combination, yummy.

I loooove the red.

Such a sucker for Western Pleasure sometimes.

"A Good Intention" in the Senior Western Pleasure @ the APHA World Fall Show

(btw his Barn Name is "Baby Mac, too cute)