Wow!

Charisma and I out in the pasture this afternoon - she's relaxing and having a well deserved day off.

We competed Saturday at the Wisconsin State Horse Council Championship Challenge Show, and received Grand Champion in Western Pleasure, 3rd in open walk/trot pleasure, and 6th in Trail.

Past Due News!!!!!!

Hi All!

Much is happening around the farm! Murph has started the excavating for the indoor arena. We had several contractors out to give estimates as this one of the most important parts of putting up the new building. Most told us they would have to bring in more dirt to make it work - which was additional cost. Murph was the only one that told us that he felt we had enough there and could make it work. BOY WAS HE Right! The dirt pile in the back of the property would make the most incredible sledding hill. They had to keep going and going to level and the hillside is now a 8 foot embankment (which creates a new set of problems). It looks so completely different. I have taken pictures which once I get them off the camera I will share.

Randy & Curtis are building the retaining wall - which also includes the footings/beams for the building. We were thankfully allowed to borrow Jessica Cole's post hole attachment for her tractor. Well - the rocks were big and plentiful....Murph, the excavator, felt sorry for us and came out with his skidsteer & post hole digger... Well, THAT didn't work either, and they still had the CAT there and dug a few,,,ummmm, BOULDERS out with that! So thankfully all the holes are dug, and Randy has most of the posts in the holes - but they all have to be filled and packed to finish - then he has to put up the wall part. Randy thought he could get this done in a couple of days....and yeah, though he doesn't drink - he sure was delusional in regards to THAT!

So, we have piles of dirt which we have to find a home for - so the outdoor arena is going to get an overhaul - as this dirt has a lot of regular dirt/clay texture - and we will scrape of a few inches of the broken down sand on top of the arena - and bring in this dirt and level it out more. I've been blessed to be able to keep riding even with diluges of rain - and the goal is to keep that as best we can.... my fingers are crossed!

The builder is scheduled to start October 8 - and he states he should have it all up in only 2 weeks. So the end of October is going to be very busy for us - we will be putting in the back wall, stalls, shavings storage room, and a new tack room.

Charisma is riding extremely well - I've very proud of her - we have several "bigger" shows to go to yet. Tomorrow we are heading to Elkhorn to show at a WQHA sponsored open show. Then on the 29th is the Wisc State Horse Council Championship Challenge show. Charisma is qualified for the Western Pleasure class - which is grouped by rider's age - so I will be in the Sr Sr age division. We will also be doing the Trail classes at these 2 shows. I'm also considering taking Charisma to Crown Point, IN on October 13 & 14 for a AQHA sanctioned show. I have a few weeks to decide though.

Gus is still having continued lameness and hoof problems. I tried a new farrier yesterday who is a "natural" hoof trimmer - and he pointed out that my on-going problems with thrush in Gus's front feet have to be addressed 1st and foremost before anything else can occur. Poor Gus. His heels have contracted alot over the summer and I have just not been able to get the thrush totally cured. So we have pulled Gus's shoes, and have packed his feet with medication and vetwrapped and he is wearing easy boots. This new guy stated to me that it could take 3 to 4 months of daily medicating and wrapping to cure it up - then another 6-12 months for the heels to come back to where they belong. He honestly told me that he felt Gus should be completely UNRIDDEN for at least a year..... (Ummm, that will be hard)..... He also suggested that we x-ray his fronts for navicular changes - as he is showing "slight symptons" of navicular. But it could also be soreness from thrush/contracted heels ...SO - will do that this Tuesday ( cuz at this point what's more vet bills???)....... And will keep you posted....

So, anyway, with the saga of poor Gus - Could this explain his poor performance this summer and his "attitude" problems etc? I'm thinking so...... So, if this works, and then maybe I'll have my horse back......

Sammy left Wednesday for his new home with Susan LeMay. I got teary putting him in the trailer, but I was happy with Suzan and she was very comfortable on him, and he was LAZY for her - so time will tell, but all indicators of a good match and great home for him. She has promised to keep me posted.

Ace has been sold to Jessica Julson and she will be boarding him with us. Jessica already loves him and has been out several times to brush and play with him, and she is intending on showing him next season. Many thanks to Kathy C who spend time with Ace over the summer so he wasn't a wild mustang....

And yes, if you've paid attention - I am down to only having 2 horses, Gus and Charisma. I'm tentatively shopping for a horse for Randy. Though he hasn't shown much interest as of late, so I'm not sure how hard I will be shopping, but it's ALWAYS fun to look.... the catalog has been posted for the Sept 30th Cannon Falls MN QH sale, and there are several good ones listed....so I might make a trip to that sale or hold off to the October cataloged sale too. Or who knows!!! ha ha....

Until later!

Chicago Vacation

Some snapshots from our 1st family vacation. Many thanks to Carol & Cindy for holding down the fort!

News

We are currently waiting to hear back from the bank on exact amount we can finance for the new building. Once we get those numbers - we hope to start on that project. We will be putting up some "temporary" fencing and moving horses around to accomodate to excavator and building the retaining wall - so bear with us in these next months of construction.

There is current openings for rough boarding and I'm taking reservations for stalls that should be ready in November this year.

I'm personally cutting back just a little to make room for new horses - So Sammy and Ace are for sale. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Ace is at Kathy Cummings house - getting excellent care and pasture and looks really good.

I'm also selling a couple of my saddles - a 16" Billy Royal Pleasure saddle and my 15" Janet Stover barrel saddle - if interested, please let me know.

We will be showing (depending on weather) at Red Ridge on Sunday - for the 4th show in the 5 show series. Hopefully we dont get rained out.

Until later!

New Addition...........

Kara has been asking for a puppy for MONTHS.....

And the Winner is.......

Charisma & I won the DCHA riding futurity this past Sunday. She gave me an excellent ride. The arena had standing water and mud - and she was a trooper through it all.

2nd Annual High Pines Farm trail ride & picnic is set for October 6th! Please plan on attend - we had a bunch of fun last year!

Wow!

I spent the this past weekend at a barrel clinic being taught by Ed Wright. It was a tiring weekend, full of drills, individual works and a total change of riding style "vs" the old way of doing things. I have to be honest and say I struggled with it on Saturday. But on Sunday, really got it and really drastically improved my turn on the barrels. It will, of course, take practice, and I'm sure slips of doing it the "old" way, but hopefully the changes will show their results on the time clock.

Randy & Gus went to Red Ridge pleasure show with out me & Charisma. They did quite well in the English - winning the Sr Hunter Under Saddle Class. But the western classes didn't go as well, as Gus & Randy are still having "show nerves" to work through together. They did however, remain consistent and win the High Point of the day.

Kara's first solo ride

Kara & I went on our first little trail ride together on Sunday. This is Kara's first solo trip without "mom" having a grip on whatever horse she is riding. Kara is riding Red, my old barrel horse from when I was a teenager. It was very neat to watch Kara ride him and brought back all those memories of our times together. It was also a bit sad, as Red is 26 years old now, and no longer has the "shape & pep" as the old days. Which, fortunately, enables Kara to ride him with no trouble by herself. In the days of old, Red was a handful for anyone, but was a fast one doing the speed events. We are planting the seed for "grandpa" that Red should come live with us for Kara to ride and take care of...

Other news:

Showing is going good - Randy is qualifed with Gus to go to the Wis State Horse Council Championship Challenge Show. Though Randy & Gus have had some "partnership" issues, I think they are starting to figure each other out.

Charisma and I are not qualified yet - though I've had some great rides on her. We were 2nd place at July 1st Portage show in Jr Horse Western Pleasure in a very large (and somewhat scary) class, but that is not a qualifying class for the championship show. I've had some really nice rides and have put her away on those notes - vs continuing to show her and having a problem crop up. I have until Sept 9th to get her qualified and about 5 shows left to go to that I can compete at with her. She has made great progress in the last 4 weeks in her training and is really coming into being a "show" horse.

The Horse Show

I want to thank the following for all their help at the pleasure show. Without them - we couldn't have got it done - and we had many compliments on how well the show was run and organized. So hat's off to all of you!

Carol - our awesome announcer!
Cindy - "announcing assitant"
Tracy - Ring"woman"
Kathy - announcing & entry stand
Dee - awards presentation
Darcy & Mark - Gate handlers
Shyla - Gate handler
Tom - announcing assistant and clean up.
Jackie - my mom - entry stand
Shelley - entry stand & trail class
Paul - trail class
Chuck - trail class

We ended with 347 entries. Our cost to put on the show was $1,255.00 We made $987.00 - so the farm is in the hole $268.00 to put on the show.

It was alot of fun to do, and I glad of the experience - but until BHSA will let the clubs/individuals raise the entry fees - we will not do it again.

We're Parents!

Aren't they cute! Thanks to Kathy for gettina great shot!

Bo made the improvement honor roll for the 4th quarter. YEAH!
His reward is to get up at 4 am and go fishing with Grandpa this weekend.

Randy was high point at Red Ridge last weekend with Gus - there is improvement there and he's starting to ride a little more during the week. I usually groom, and saddle Gus and hand him the reins!

Charisma received a 2nd place at Red Ridge in her 1st ever 3 Gait class. Even though she'd had a "learning" set-back this past couple of weeks, we seem to have gotten over the hump, and made it through the show. She doesn't go out again until July 1 - at Portage.

We got a swimming pool for Kara last week - she seems to be enjoying that! Myself, I need it to be warmer water and hotter days!

Waiting to work

Charisma & Sammy - waiting their turns today.

And Griffin - catching some shade!

Tack Room Pictures

Here are some pics of the new tack room - it has a full sized door so I can keep the kitties OUT!

And here is the bridle rack Randy built - it's cool and probably so much better than the one in the catalog!

I think I FORGOT I had one of these!!! Oooops!

Ok - so I've pretty much ignored blogging/writing anything of late. Shame Shame Shame!

Newsworthy items:

Charisma won her 1st class Memorial Weekend - class size of 12, and though only a walk/jog - it was impressive to me - as it was only her 2nd time in the show arena. Lots of buzz about her after her win - so as I've "matured", the decision to take her and hide at the trailer until next time - was a wise one... it's best to go slowly with these young horses, and have LOW expectations! So when something really GREAT happens - don't try to do it again in the same day YET!

At the same show, Gus & Randy won their showmanship class, and he took 3rd with Gus behind "me"...(evil laugh he he....) in one class, and then things fell apart rapidly, and I ended up "schooling" Gus in a few classes, then competing again to win 1st in a class (I also won the trail class), and we put Gus away after all that too.

Gus is very upset to have Charisma leave him at any time during our stay at the show. This has perplexed me on his attitude until I realized that this is the first year that we have had TWO horses to take to shows....so will have to work through this, just like anything else.

Though Gus has also come up lame since before the show - with a tentative diagnosis of a hoof bruise of some type. It's not gushing Blood - so who the hell knows! That's my take... ANYWAY - he's been resting after having a series of 5 days of bute and foot soaking. He seems better these last couple of days - but will give him the remainder of this week on vacation and bring him out to see if he's going to stay sound to show on the 17th.

Sammy has been running barrels fairly decent this year - this past weekend we won $85 at the NBHA District show - and have even picked up a few points at the BHSA shows we've went to. This might seem funny - but I took him all last year, and never placed at a show.... So we've made improvements - and hope to continue.

Kara won her 1st leadline class of the year - and also took Gus in showmanship - it was very cute, and Mom & Dad were proud. The next show, I think she spent too much time talking to daddy and not being serious enough, but she still received 4th - and Mom really has to chill about these things- as she is only 6.....I will expect more out of my 7 yr old next year...ha ha...

Bo has managed to at least get a C or above in all his classes this quarter! This is a VERY big accomplishment and helpful heading into high school next year. Bo has also been helping do barn chores everynight - and has been a HUGE help to me every night. Why didn't I think of this sooner???? Bo leaves this weekend for his dad's for the summer, and will be missed (and not just cuz of chores).

Randy got his newer and bigger skid steer this past weekend. He's happy with his new toy. So I figure, that frees up about a $4,000 spending allowance for me next year....so I can be happy too!

Unlike my photographer friend, Kathy, I have no pictures to share at this time - I will work on that - and promise to post more often!

Also - remember our show on June 24 at the fairgrounds in Portage - your volunteer help will be MUCH appreciated!

Until next time!

Life Lessons......

Bo was to turn in the money for the school fundraiser on Monday. Well, apparantly he is short $8.25 Bo states to me that "I" must have underpaid, and would I give him the money. I had wrote a check, and I knew that I had paid the correct total. Apparently he can not have his award or pizza party with being short on funds.

Well, I told him the fundraiser money was his responsibility and that if he was short, that HE would have to dig in his own pockets for it. I told him that I was sorry that he must have made an adding error or didn't collect from someone, and did he double check his math and keep track of who paid what. Of course not.....

So, again, I am not winning the "mother of the year" award, but is there a better way to learn how to be responsible than paying out of your own pocket for mistakes??

T.

The Clinic was Great!

The clinic was great and I learned alot of different ways to actually USE the crap floating around in my head. Taking the sidepass and pivot and making lots of different manuevers and excercises out of them to get more out of the performance of our horses. It was definitely worth going to.

Even with the weather crap, and nothing is dry - except the riding arena (thank god), we've been busy riding as much as possible. Charisma came home from Jessica Cole's on Saturday. She's very fit and ready to go. I'm very happy with the work that was done with her, and she's in a great place to continue her education.

Gus is riding awesome. His lope has improved at least 25% since the clinic. I'm very excited about this year with him. Randy will keep some serious "butt", including mine I'm sure.

Kara had her first "official" riding lesson at Jessica Coles on Saturday. Within 10 minutes she was posting on the lunge line. What a hoot! The plan is to continue having her go to Jessica's to ride at least 1x per week until our schedules get too crazy. She only rode for about 15 mins on Saturday, but she is only 6! Kara is already starting to practice for Showmanship fo rthis year, and was leading Gus around yesterday. Nervous Nelly Mom was right alongside her to watch out for her feet - which look alot smaller than Gus's shod hooves. I had been working with Gus all winter to teach him to lead with his head "low" to accomodate Kara's height, and it really worked, and I my heart flutters to watch.

Randy has been busy building the new tackroom in the barn. And getting estimates from excavators for doing the site for the indoor arena. The stump (ha ha) in the plan is all the trees that will have to be removed....sigh.... Even though I KNOW my dad planted all those when he was young, there isn't much options. We can't exactly leave one in the middle....

News

Hi All!

Been fairly quiet around here, well, except for the slopping noises of marching thru spring mud & guck! All the horses have started to shed, and that's such a beautiful thing!

We have a new addition to our horse family. A yearling paint gelding named Ace joined us last Sunday. He was a freebie, and supposedly has a sore rear foot, but we really haven't seen much signs of it. The owner stated that she, her vet, and her farrier all felt that he would come out of it. He's a nice boy, but right now he is a little "shy" around us humans. Randy has been working with him almost daily since Sunday to bring him around.

I brought Gus home from Kari's yesterday. I do believe that he's happy to be home....or it could just be me...ha ha....

I'm off to the clinic tomorrow - 2 full days of many hours of instruction....I'm so looking forward to it. Though Gus & I probably aren't in as good as shape as we could be, I think we are as ready as we were going to get for only the end of March. I really wish I could video tape most of it.

I'll post after the clinic, and hopefully have some cool stuff to talk about, otherwise, why did I pay that $400????

I Didn't Ride.....

Sunday was beautiful - and though hard to swallow, I spent most of it at CHURCH...lol... My niece, Heather was baptized at the River of Life Church in Portage on Sunday. If I was to be a firm believer and go to Church regularly, I think it was fun and "modern" service....though as the hours drug on, I couldn't quite control my restlessness, and fidget....I think alot of the kids were probably more contained than I was.

We got home around 2ish, and I told Kara that we had to go over and visit Gus, and Kara said she wanted to ride (wow)....so packed up her little saddle and helmut and off we went. So, I was in the rare position with my child, where I was the observer and not the participant.....it feels strange, but I was very pleased to be there. Gus was very well behaved and packed her around like a trooper...in fact she had a hard time getting him to move! There was a neighbor shooting "guns", and though I was a little nervous, Gus handled it all well.

As by looking at the pictures, it's time to move her stirrups DOWN...she hasn't ridden since last fall in her saddle, and her legs have grown considerably!

Kara even jogged Gus. This is really the first time that she's been on the length of the lungeline. And steering mostly on her own. Kara will start riding lessons at Jessica Cole's soon. Where she will learn how to ride English style first. I firmly believe that learning to post and ride in that discipline - teaches more balance and leg position and strength, than in a western saddle. Too many kids just grab the saddle horn when things are not going "right", instead of learning to use their legs and bodies, and THINK!

So, I was the proud mama, snapping pictures... ha ha....

Warm Warm Warm

Its supposed to be in the 40's this weekend - what more is there to talk about?????

The Animal Auction

On Saturday I was lucky enough to go to Leudlow's animal auction. Cindy, a current boarder, had heard that there was going to be a paint horse for sale there and wanted to go check it out. Carol who owns Griffin from the barn, and Tanya (Cindy's friend and a past client of mine) also came along.

Too say we had a lot of fun is an understatement, as Cindy was carrying baby goats around and I myself was bidding on Wilbur the pig, and 2 mary "lambs". Of course, I wouldn't go over $5.00 so I did not buy any critters. Though, I was really tempted to buy that darn pig....I could smell the bacon....

On the sad subject of the horses attending the auction....they were a stellar example of why some people should not be able to breed their horses....sigh.....there were 2 registered quarter horse fillies, both coming 3 years old this summer. Neither could lead or tie or were friendly, as they were frightened by the environment they were shuffled in and were more than positive that the human beings staring at them were envisioning the evening meal. They were not horribly thin - they obviously had food, but their hooves showed that it had been some time, if any, that they had been trimmed, and they were definitely showing signs of some serious worms. One filly had serious clouding in one eye, and when I finally could get closer to it - I'm sure there was sight loss. When they came through the auction ring, they didn't even bring a bid of $25.00 And sad to say, they were not worth the $60.00 that the auctioneer bought them for.

Cindy was really eyeing the one filly and when the bidding started, I told her that her hospital bill or deductibles were going to be much higher than $60.00

So the paint gelding that was there was in about the same shape as the 2 fillies (as they came from the same place) - however someone in his short life had spent the time to teach him to lead and tie. And that human's might still be predators - that we were NOT going to really eat him. This gelding is also registered and very colorful. Cindy had named him and kissed him well before the bidding started. Cindy had never been to a "horse" auction (and we'll just call it that loosely"), and I bid on the horse for her. Cindy now owns a 2 yr old registered paint gelding for a mere $95.00 I will have to post some pictures of him here. She has a bit of project for herself, but I think there is some promise here.

We picked up the paint horse on Sunday afternoon and he loaded fine and came off the trailer pretty good. Unfortunately after he got off the trailer, he dragged Cindy to the nearest snow pile and promptly started devouring snow....Cindy took him to the water tank and he submerged his face and didn't come back up for air for some time. It appears that they didn't even bother to give this animal a drink of water, for who knows how long.... We took him a bunch of hay, and I'd have to say the horse hasn't moved from the hay or water tank. There is no other tracks in the snow.....sigh....

On other farm news - it is terribly icy around the barn - so all be careful!

Gus & Charisma are both riding well. Randy came over with me and rode Gus for a little bit too.

Until later!

T.

Yearning for....

I know that I have more than most and less than some....but.....I'm really hoping to get the indoor arena up this summer. We've had business "requests" for boarding that have went elsewhere due to not having an indoor to offer. But most of all, is the fact that I have one horse at a trainer, and now Gus is at Kari's boarded only because of the lack of our own indoor arena. I moved Gus over on Saturday, and went and rode Sunday and today. Though a bit nippy, it was still about 20 degrees inside and it was soooo nice to ride. Even though Gus was more than a bit NAUGHTY...lol.....

So, I'm in the dilemma of having to borrow around $60,000 to make it happen. This would make the mortgage on the farm around $225,000. A hefty sum it feels to me, but darn it, people all over the freaking country are buying $350,000-400,000 homes.....how do they do it? I've explored the business aspect, as in what I would have to have for total number of outside horses to pay for it, the raise of current rates to account for more amenities, and the limitations of only 13 acres....sigh..... My overwhelming fear is A: I dont get the horses/clients here and B: people dont pay their friggin bills....

So, I'm still waffling.... Randy of course says to pull the trigger and just build it....but then he rarely concerns himself with if the bills are paid or paid on time or credit card balances....so he's not much help....sigh..... though, I'm sure if I said I wanted to go buy a $15,000 reining horse, he'd having something to say about THAT!

I know that no one can help me make this decision......I just want my Mom to tell me YES or NO...lol....