As fellow equestrians I'm sure you will understand my excitement in this.  I got to go shopping... for my HORSE today!  It wasn't a big deal, I purchased a pair of black SSG gloves (very nice by the way, I rode with them this afternoon), a nice leather halter (I thought Buck would like to look handsome when he goes for trips off the farm), and a new set of stirrup leathers for my jumping saddle (let's just say the others were not jumping safe anymore).

The one purchase which REALLY excited me was this:

A Charles Owen JR8 helmet!!!!  Ok, maybe not a big deal to anyone else, but to me, after using the same helmet I've had since I was I dunno... 10 years old, it's a HUGE deal!  I've always had this paranoia in the back of my mind about my current helmet not being able to hold up to a fall anymore, because of it's age.  I'm not really sure what the life expectance is for a riding helmet, it's never been dropped or anything, but it is 17 years old.  I'm thinking if nothing else, this new helmet will have the "modern" technology my current helmet lacks and, hopefully, will put my mind at ease.  Plus, it was specifically fitted to me (I have a huge head, 7 1/4!!!).  My current helmet was fitted to my 10 year old head and therefore, is a little bit TOO small and feels like it's squeezing my brain!

Rode my pony boy tonight, he was perfect.  I can't wait until we get our arena finished so I have a flat place to work.  I've decided currently there is not a single flat stop on my property for us to work.  It's awesome for hill work (Buck has a weak right stifle) but makes flatwork or anything else virtually impossible.  My husband got a phone number for a guy who does work with a bulldozer so I'm hoping he gets ahold of the guy and he can help us out, for a reasonable price of course!

I've pretty much decided I'm terrible at blogging.  It's fun, I like writing... when I remember (or have the time for that matter)!  I'm sorry for those who were actually nice enough to follow my blog, and also for those who occasionally take the time to actually look at it, I'm a slacker!

It's been over a month since my last post and since then I've gotten a job, started training with a different trainer (still at Cheryl's facility but with her assistant trainer Emily), and oh there was that big deal... the Olympics!

Photo from NBCOlympics.com

If you have been paying attention at all you already know the results and a big Congratulation goes out to all who medaled in the 2012 Olympics.  Obviously eventing was what I watched the most of and really, I'm proud of our US team, even though they didn't place they still came in 7th which isn't bad at all considering some of the things that happened to them (poor Boyd and Otis having to scratch due to injury in their first Olympic Games).

For those of you who haven't been able to watch any of the equestrian portion you can go on NBCOlympics.com and watch entire event replays (so long as you have a television subscription which shows their channels) and I won't spoil the rest since those who watch know what happened and those who haven't should DEFINITELY watch!

Back to me (ha I'm sure you'd rather hear more Olympic talk!), I FINALLY got a full time job (after a couple of months of panic because I wasn't sure we'd be able to pay our bills at the end of the month!).  Hopefully now my husband and I can pay all our bills AND we'll have some money left for fun stuff (which for me is always horse stuff).  It's with the Missouri Department of Social Services and I'm not really sure what else I can say about it since there's some confidentiality paperwork I had to sign but I'll just tell you I'm pretty excited.  It's in the evenings from 4PM to midnight which gives me plenty of time to still work with my horse and hopefully go to some different events!  The unfortunate side, however, is my husband does not get off work until 4:30 in the afternoon which means he doesn't get home until around 5:30.  I'll already be at work every day before he gets home except for the one day a week I work 9AM to 5PM and the two days I have off :-(

Also, started riding with Emily, Cheryl's assistant trainer.  It's been fun, she's very talented and makes everything so easy for me to understand and Buck is doing pretty great already.  We're still in the process of building an arena at home so there is not a whole lot of great places to ride.  We're doing a lot of hill work though which is great because Buck has got pretty weak stifles, more specifically the right one.  I'm hoping we get to go to Queeny Park in St. Louis at the beginning of September for their one day mini event (all three phases wrapped up in one day) and test the waters a bit...

Rode Buck this afternoon and he was great, a little distracted since I do not have a structured place to work him, but we walked and trotted some hills and that really helped him to focus a little more.. or maybe it just made him tired and he didn't care what else was going on anymore haha!  He's so dull to my leg I really think I need to start doing some sort of exercises to build up the strength in my leg.  He doesn't hardly pay any attention to me until I get my leg out of position and goose him with my heel... bad for me because I already have a poor leg position as it is!  I was playing with fate after a bit, a friend of my husband's showed up, started up a chainsaw and proceeded to cut down the huge trees in behind my house (the area we've designated for the new arena)... I decided he had been good for the 30 minutes I was on him and it would probably be best if we quit while we were ahead and before I ended up on my head!

From now on I promise to TRY and keep up with this blog!  What's the point in having it if you don't write!!  Oh and I'll try and remember to get some pictures at the horse show to post, since any other time I'm riding Buck there's no one around with a camera (or my husband is too busy doing other things haha!).

Oh and I almost forgot, I was looking at a pair of tall dress boots and I was wondering if anyone who reads this has used TuffRider Ladies Baroque Dress Boots?  They're not too expensive and they look pretty decent but I am having a difficult time finding any consumer reviews about them.  If you've had them please, let me know what you thought!

Happy Hunting... My Rear!

I was so excited the day I graduated from Stephens.  I thought, "now I will finally be able to ride more, I'll get a full time 8 to 5 Monday through Friday job and have the entire weekends to myself!"  WRONG!!!!

Now it's almost July, I've had one interview and never got a return phone call from it and I just found out today I didn't even get an interview for a position change in a department I've worked in for the last two years!

I've applied for probably ten State jobs and haven't heard anything back from any of them and I'm going in two days to sit down for like five hours to take some crazy required written exams for three of those jobs.

If you can't tell by now I'm REALLY frustrated.  I guess if I wasn't tied to this area it would be easier to find a job but we've bought a house and my husband already has a career which he can't just pick up and leave from.

So now I'm stuck working full time hours for part time pay at a department that doesn't even want to give me a chance to change positions because I apparently had a bad interview over a year ago as well as working part time at another department but only being able to work the hours no one else wants or when someone calls in sick or wants a vacation day.  Which includes working over nights, working double shifts (both jobs in the same day), and working almost every weekend.

I guess the only upside to the situation is I don't have to go back to class, downside... I'm afraid we're going to lose everything!  Obviously these part time jobs do not pay enough to cover everything and with buying a new house and what not the extra bills are really starting to freak me out.  The stress is mounting and I'm just not sure what to do about all of it now....  HELP!!!

Remember

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!  I would just like to say thank you to all the men and women who have served in our armed forces and remind everyone to think a soldier... Today is not just about BBQs and partying!

Kinda disappointed myself today.  I have a tendency to be a slacker when it comes to getting show/clinic entries sent in early, typically I wait until the last day I can send them off... bad habit.  It finally caught up with me today when I emailed about the Greg Best clinic which is coming to my area in a couple of weeks and found out it was full already :-(  Sad day, him and Gem Twist were one of my favorite pairs when I was growing up, I even have the Gem Twist Bryer horse still somewhere!!

Lesson learned, today I filled out all the entry blanks for shows and clinics I wanted to go to in the near future so I would make sure and have them done and ready to go.

On another note, we're finally getting some rain in the area.  I don't think it's rained here for almost a month now!  This beautiful view of the clouds as I went home from work tonight just gave me this feeling of how thankful I really am for the freedoms we all take for granted every day which are defended by those who serve in our military...

 

 

Recreational Riding

Some times I forget how much fun it can be just to get on your horse and go ride with no real intention of accomplishing something.  We've recently moved, bought a new house, etc., and I have not really had a lot of time to ride Buck since we moved just because I have been so busy (moving, graduating college, work, etc.).  Today I decided it would be a good idea to go out and just ride around a bit to check things out.  I haven't found a place to actually school him but it was fun to just go on a mini trail ride.  He was a little confused I think with the lack of structure and was distracted by all the new things.

The property has 18.5 acres, most of which is wooded, but there is a field up on the back of the property, which is where I took Buck today.  It kind of blew my mind for a minute to think I actually owned this property (first home purchase!!).  It has great grass, great views, and it is so peaceful and secluded.
There are woods on the side towards the house and along another side, 2 pastures on the other sides, one with cows (Buck was amazed by them by the way... definitely not going to be introducing him to the life of a working cow horse ANY time soon!), and the other had the neighbors 3 horses which Buck liked because they kind of keep him company on the other side of the fence.

We did have a bit of an interesting ride though, pretty scenery aside.  Buck has not been rode in a couple of weeks and he was definitely "feeling his oats".  First there was the failed attempts at rearing and bucking while we were riding (I'm just lucky he hasn't realized he IS capable of bucking while I'm riding), then there were the random unintentional side passes and awkward crooked circles, and it all culminated into him wanting to run back to the barn as fast as he could.  I decided I would get off and walk him down to the barn, but when I got of he jumped backwards away from me, fell down in the process, jumped back up and ran himself back down to the barn.  Interesting is a nice way of putting it I guess.  No injuries to horse or rider... except maybe for both ending up with bruised egos.  Note to self... Buck is no longer allowed to have more than a couple of days off at any time!  Time off = wild mustang!!!

I'll Have Another... Triple Crown Please!!

Can I just say how EXCITED I am about horse racing right now!!!  Not usually a race horse groupie but today I think I've become one... not to mention I'm a sucker for big beautiful chestnuts **cough cough Buck cough cough**

This gorgeous colt was a surprise from the beginning for race fans, with a purchase price of only $35,000 the colt didn't really catch fans attention (Kentucky Derby odds made him the  15-1 long shot) but his new owner thought the colt had amazing potential.  Great judge of horses in my book!!!  After his win today in the Preakness, the colt has a lifetime earning now of $2.6 million dollars, which means he's paid for himself almost 75 times now (not including of course feeding, training, vetting, etc)!!!

So, it has been 34 years now since the last Triple Crown Winner (Affirmed in 1978) and Big Brown was the last one to come as close as I'll Have Another.  This colt ran a spectacular race at the Preakness coming back from about 3.5 lengths off the pace in 4th to over taking Bodemeister in an awesome photo finish (pictured above)!  It was epic, almost as much fun as watching the old Secretariat races (I say almost because let's face it, those are by far the BEST races ever run in the Triple Crown).

I don't know about you guys but I think I'm gonna put my money on this gorgeous colt for the Belmont.  I'm really hoping to see a Triple Crown win in my lifetime!

From Herd Bound to Herd... Less?

After some consideration and flip-flopping back and forth, I decided the only way I'm going to get anything done with Buck is to keep him by himself.  So, I put Sweetie up for sale, expecting to get poor responses.  She's 22 and I didn't really think I would actually get her sold, but surprisingly enough, a family contacted me and basically bought her the day they came and looked at her.  

Now Buck is the only horse I own and I'm feeling kinda guilty for a couple of reasons.  First, because I always feel bad about making a horse live by themselves, but Buck can't seem to keep himself together when there is another horse in the pasture.  Secondly, my mom and I have had Sweetie for over 10 years now.  I've run local barrel shows with her, National Barrel Horse Association shows (including the State and World show), I've run the intercollegiate rodeo circuit and the state rodeo circuit with her.  So now I'm feeling really bad about finding her a new home, even though the people are really nice and their 13-year-old daughter is pretty much in love with her.

Guilt aside though, I think I've solved the majority of my problem with Buck by finding Sweetie a new home.  We recently moved into a new house so the day the new family came to pick up Sweetie we moved Buck at the same time to distract him from his missing pasture mate.  It worked!  When I got him to the new house he hoped out of the trailer, walked beside me like a perfect gentleman, and acted like a complete puppy dog the entire time!  He was the horse I remembered loving when I saw him at the track, completely calm and care free.  Hopefully this new found... um.... old Buck is here to stay, it's been four days so far haha!