Life as a horse trainer

Boy 'o boy...where has all of my free time gone? To the barn, of course!

I'm giving lots of lessons, but also have two horses in training.

The first horse is Sam, who you may remember from 2002-2004. I skipped my senior prom to drive to Nebraska to buy him. He was a skittish, skinny, scary-looking two-year-old who I bought for the 4-H futurity. We did really well at shows, and I sold him in 2004. He is now a really cute, quiet, stout, loving eight-year-old. I'm going to tune him up and sell him for his owner. He hasn't done much in the last four years, but remembers a lot! He's so much fun! I really hope I find a good home for him. So, if you know of anyone looking... ;)

Here's a photo of Sam from the 2003 KS State Fair:
















The other horse I have in training is a four-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter with CURLY hair! He has the curly hair gene! He's sorrel, and his coat is even more curly than my hair! He doesn't have much of a mane or tail, though. He's owned by a lady who adopted him from a horse rescue. Right now, we're working on the basics, like saddling, moving forward when you pull on the lead rope, and not being scared of the world. He also had his first bath last weekend. It was a huge success! And now he doesn't stink! Yay! Note: it is a lot easier to give a horse its first bath when you have access to warm water!

Here is a pic of Cody holding Phoneix after his bath, and another pic with the saddle on! I'll have to take more pics of him with a real camera so you can see his curly hair!

Mailbox wars

When I was little, somebody shot the mailbox at the end of our lane. I remember it was a big deal because the mail lady cut her hand on the sharp edges.

Well, Cody and I have become victim to mailbox vandalism, too. We went to the Wade Bowen concert on Friday night, and came home to a dented mailbox. Cody pounded out most of the dents, but the door doesn't shut very well any more. I'm thankful it wasn't damaged very much and we don't have to buy a new mailbox!

The other mailbox news in Edwardsville is about our neighbors across the street. Their mailbox is on our side of the road, right in front of our house. It was your typical white mailbox when I moved in, but a couple months ago, they painted a confederate flag on it. Now, I can be pretty redneck myself, but a confederate flag mailbox?!? Are you kidding me? If it was on their side of the road, I don't think I'd mind it as much. But it's right in front of our house!

Well, it only took a couple days for that issue to be taken care of. Somebody spray painted the confederate flag mailbox gold. So now, it looks gold, with some red, white, and blue showing underneath. Classy, huh?!

My mom, the olympian!

Me and the Olympian!















My mom went to the National Senior Olympics last year and competed in racquetball. She was 7th in her age group! This year, she competed at the state level to qualify for the 2009 National Games (in San Francisco).

Good news...she qualified in both racquetball and archery for 2009! Here are a few pics from the archery competition.















Bullseye!
















The entire group of archery participants.





















My dad, the coach.






















Gold medal!



Congrats, Mom! Can't wait to cheer you on in San Fran!

Dreams

I rarely remember my dreams. When I do, it's usually a very strange dream. Over the weekend, I dreamed I started a hair cutting business with my long-lost friend from high school, Alicia. It was strange! We cut and styled hair and had a great business! It was very profitable!

When John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, I dreamed we trekked through the Alaska wilderness hunting moose!

I wish I remembered more of them!