Weekend fun on holidays

Saturday was of course Derby Day. We were up at 6:30 as Louisville (they pronounce it down here Lew-vul) is an hour and a bit away from Lexington.  Was a sunny morning in Lexington.  The closer we got to Louisville, the blacker it got and by the time we parked (about a mile away), it was starting to rain.  But we walked (I had 3" heels on) instead of taking the $30 tram ride.  It's more expensive than Disney!

Got to the gates and wandered around in the rain.  It is a huge complex and never having been before, we weren't sure where to be when.  We found on the whole thT Churchill Downs is quite a dated facility and not nearly as classy as Keeneland - in fact, the bathrooms were quite gross for the derby being such a huge event.  Anyhow, our seats were perfect. 3 rows back from the track not far from the finish line.  Only, we weren't under cover, so we had to sit in the rain (are you sensing a theme?).  Anyhow, it was a great experience and I would totally love to go back someday when the sun is shining because it is an incredible spectacle.  The munchkins, oops, I mean jockeys, were so tiny, and the horses were tall and thin, but not as lanky as I expected.  There was a lot of hullabaloo everywhere you went. The pre-poncho fashion was truly amazing. Kentucky Derby is a people watchers dream!!! Unfortunately we missed breakfast at the hotel and all I really wanted was coffee and a sandwich and all we could find we're ice cold drinks and $9 roast beef sandwiches, lol.  I was glad for Pizza Hut and coffee after we left!!

Yesterday was a bummer to wake up to more pouring rain.  So, we discussed where we could go and come back, but it seems it was raining everywhere nearby. So we decided to check out Nashville and split up our ride to Memphis.  Got in about 4 ish. Checked into a downtown hotel and went out and checked out some stores and bars. Came back and got ready for dinner.  Then we went to another bar for a few hours as both bands were good and came back to hotel where I crashed hard and Josh watched TV for awhile.

Today, well, I am not sure what's on the schedule.  The rain has followed us to Nashville, so I don't know if we will head to Memphis or check something out here.  The river is swelling something fierce and there are big concerns about flooding both here and in Memphis.

Anyhow, that's it for us for now.  Love and hugs to all.

Kentucky Horse Park

So, today was super! We spent a few hours at the Kentucky Horse Park! Highly recommended for anyone who is familiar with famous thoroughbreds at all. Secretariat and Man O' War are both buried there under statues.  Saw a horse that was 19.2hh!!! He was a shire sport horse. Wow.  The horse museum was also terrific.

From there we hit downtown Lexington for lunch at the Cheapside Bar and Grill. First we went to Mccarty's Irish bar and it was full of Irish Americans.  Lol, couldn't understand anything they said but the eff word.  After that we headed out to Woodford Reserve Bourbon distillery.  We were too late for a tour, but got to try some bourbon (yuck).  Then we did a driving tour in our little ford escape through some of the horse farms. It is so pretty.

Stopped at a town called Midway that is super picturesque. Found my hat in a neat little shop there.  You should see Josh's outfit 😉. Bowtie, suspenders and all, lmao.  He is rocking the derby and all for me, which makes him a rock star! Tonight just hanging at the hotel.  Tomorrow we have to be up by 6:30 and out the door by 8 to get to Louisville for the Derby day. The actual derby race doesn't run til 6:30pm. And it's supposed to be 17 degrees and raining. Just what everyone woman in a dress wants to hear.

That's about as exciting as we are today 😊

Here's my picks for the Derby:
Verrazano
Mylute (woman jockey)
Overanalyzed

We will see how my $2 bet pays off, lol

Anniversary Trip Update 1

Thought it would be fun to do a little posting while we are away.  No pictures today as I didn't take my iPad.


 Yesterday was long.  Everything went without a hitch, just long day.  Considering we were flying United, it was a pleasant surprise :). We didn't get to our hotel in Lexington until 1:45am, so getting up at 6:30 was tough.  We had a lovely surprise of a bottle of wine and a card from our friend, Michelle who booked this lovely trip for us.  it was too late to crack it last night, but today will do just as well! The horse farm tour that we took to kick off our trip was awesome.  Lots of info to be absorbed, lots of great sites including Keeneland.  What a beautiful track and area.  Everything is so green down here.  Seems that horse farms are very much for the rich folks that are self made in business or own sport teams or are Saudi sheiks, etc.  And all these places have miles of fences and only one or two horses to be seen.  One farm we drove by had 600 acres and 60 horses. Crazy.  Once our tour wrapped up, we found some lunch and decided to crash after our 4 1/2 hour tour.  Our hour nap turned into 3, but I finally feel human again. Josh is still snoozing, but I am hoping to wake him up and go shopping for a bit.  Time to find the perfect decoration for my hat!

Tomorrow we are going to do the Kentucky Horse Park and a bourbon distillery.  Should be fun.

Tees 4-H Wranglers Clinic with Flattop Horsemanship At Vic Almond's Arena

Well, to say that this weather we have been having is annoying is likely a pretty big understatement.  However, we didn't let the weather deter us from having a great clinic with the kids this weekend.  Marty and Yvonne trekked up from Stavely with 3 horses and we rolled out the Wrangler Red Carpet for them.  The weather was absolutely awful on Saturday, so Vic generously offered to fill up his stalls with our horses so that none of us were risking life and limb or that of the horses on the way home.  So, we had 2 great days of learning about pressure and the release of pressure and how that applies to everything we do with our horse!  It was a great reminder from the clinic we had in the fall and the kids and adults alike got a lot out of it.  Marty and Yvonne are terrific to work with and a good time was had by all!

Ranch Horse Versatility Clinic - Cochrane April 2013

April 6 & 7 - Diary of our journey

In March, I made a selfish life choice and bought myself a new horse.  Lucky for me, my husband is one of those patient, supportive, good guys that believes in happy wife, happy life.  Yes, I know what you may be thinking, we do have horses, LOTS of them.  However, in my whole entire 35 and a half years, I have never owned a broke horse.  I am not talking about a horse that has had some training and needs miles and work, I am talking about a broke horse.  A horse that knows what the job is, knows how to do all kinds of things, a horse that knows more than I do and can teach me.  A horse that would allow me to learn ways to teach our young horses the finer points and to teach my kids and 4-H members easier way to do things.  So, that's the kind of horse I bought. 

Lucky for me, we have made some great connections in the past year that allowed me to have some terrific people come into our world, which in turn brought Nevada in.  So, our adventure begins.  Josh's one and only stipulation to our making the decision to purchase another horse was that I had to have some specific goals with him.  So, my goal for the year is to try to get out and try some showing with the Alberta Ranch Horse Versatility Association and maybe a few fun light horse shows as well. 

This past weekend, Nevada and I loaded up and headed down to Cochrane for a 2 day clinic that was part introduction to the sport, part skill enhancement and part fun.  I had only ridden Nevada 5 times before this clinic, so it also served as large part "get to know you"! 

 

 Mom and Rylee met us in Cochrane on Friday night and we had some pool time and a good visit.  Then Saturday morning it was time to get our game face on.  First up was Ranch Trail. 

We had no troubles with the bridge, trot poles, sidepass, etc.  We learned that Nevada is a bit oversized to go through a 5 foot wide gate, lol.  But we did it.  My ability to rope air is phenomenal! 

After that we worked through the transitions that make up the Ranch Riding pattern.  After lunch we had some more fan support show up when Josh and Jordynn got there as well as Wardley's and Morgan!  We worked on some reining pieces after lunch.  It was a great chance to work through some of the paces and really pick up on each others quirks and jerks and perks :)

After dinner, I was so happy to be enjoying the weekend that Josh, the kids and I went back to the arena and I rode bareback for another 45 minutes.  Addicted???

Sunday we got to play with the cows.  FUN!!!  We worked on Ranch Cutting and boxing, etc.  My horse may or may not have tried to eat a couple cows, lol.  If they got too close to his mouth, he thought they would make a good afternoon snack.  A person could get easily addicted to that part of it!  We had a lot of fun sorting, boxing and tracking.  Fun, Fun, Fun! 

Anyhow, it was a super fun weekend for me because I got to forget the world for a couple of days.  Just me, my pony, some like minded individuals and a lot of fun getting to know the horse and some more ins and outs of this discipline.  Took me back to my youth when all that mattered in the world was the next time I could get my butt in the saddle and ride!  And the plus is, after 2 full days of riding new horse in new saddle, I am not even sore!  God Bless Billy Cook for that!  Can't wait to see what the summer brings!

Looking forward... What's next?

We are so excited for this Spring/Summer here at the ranch!  Babies coming (not me, the horses), kids are gearing up for 4-H Showing, 4-H Rodeoing, Rodeoing, Showing and more.  We are all just ready for the snow to be gone!  Our crazy schedule begins Easter weekend with a trip to ma & pa's for some turkey bird and visiting and then on to Stavely to Flattop Horsemanship to pick up my new horse, Nevada! 

I am SOOOOOOOO excited about this new adventure I am about to embark on!  I bought an awesome coming 8 year old, Bay Roan Gelding that has spent his life with a trainer whom we have come to respect and admire, Marty Gardner.  My plan with Nevada is to participate in Alberta Ranch Horse Versatility Association shows if I can gather up my guts. We are also hoping to attend 4 or 5 light horse shows this summer with Jordynn and some of our friends.  I haven't shown competitively since 4-H, so I am scared SPITLESS, but with an amazingly supportive husband, some experienced show friends, some brave friends that are also jumping in this year and my new trusty steed, I expect that it will turn out just fine.  It's not about winning this year, it's about the experience, learning and fun, but boy oh boy would some ribbons, buckles and bux be nice! 

Here's a couple not so great pictures of Nevada...  They totally don't do his 16.2hh, stocky confirmation any justice.  Will post more once he arrives at Rydyn High!

 

 

 

Jordynn and I are so excited about Nevada that we picked up some Nevada themed accessories to take on the show trail with us!

 



Slacking... Why do I even try to blog?

Well, every time that I swear I will do better, I think I do worse on keeping this up.  I see friends of ours updating their posts all the time.  Me?  I think, oh, that's great, I should update ours and then... Well, as you can see, I haven't blogged since June last year, so I am clearly not doing it!

What to talk about today?  Well, in 9 months, Lord knows there must be lots to share?  There is, but where to start.  I think maybe with the most recent stuff.  Let's talk about 4-H Public Speaking.  This is an amazing phenomen.  In our 3 years of being the Tees 4-H Wranglers leaders, we have seen our original kids in the club grow SO much in their abilities.  I love listening to the speeches and the topics and just marveling that we are assisting this generation with such an important skill.

Now, we have no idea where our kids get their awesome speaking skills from ;), but I have to say, they have blown us away this year.  Okay, maybe I do, as Josh and I were both Regional Level Public Speakers back in our day.  We also both have to do it every day at our jobs in Management, so the kids have picked up on some of those skills.

Jordynn did her Presentation on Crystals & Energy Healing - titled "Not Just a Rock".  She did a 7 minute presentation on crystals and their ability to help with natural healing.  We were so proud of her advancing to Regional Level where she placed 2nd!!!

 

 

Rylee did his Speech on the pros and cons of being vertically challenged.  His speech was titled "Just Call Me Fun Sized".  He also went on to speak at Regional Level, where he was told by one of the judges that he had given the best 4-H Speech she had ever heard!  Wow!  High Praise :)

 





Long Time No BLOG!!!

Wow, what a slacker, I am!  A whole year has passed since the last time I blogged?  Can it be true? One would wonder what the heck we have been doing that we were too busy to get on here and say hi!

Well, first there was this: 

The house!  Took a lot of time, but it is SO close to being finito (that's Spanish for FINISHED :))!!!  Just a vertical siding on two more gable ends, eavestroughs, 4 more closet doors and that's it!  We moved the mobile May 15 last year, so we are 13 months out with Josh doing 80% of the work himself with a few subtrades and a lot of cheap labour hours from Me and Terry as well as help from a few friends.  We are thrilled with the results.  Stop by for coffee :)

Then there was this:

Which was a fabulous 4-H year with the Tees 4-H Wranglers.  We are 21 kids strong and pretty well capped as we have limited space and limited time to meet and ride, so we are busy, busy!  The kids did great this year despite being their own worst enemies at times.  Public Speaking went great for both of them.  They both placed 1st in their levels at Club, then 1st for Jordynn and 3rd for Rylee at Zones, then two seconds at Districts.  We were on holidays for regionals, so Rylee didn't get to progress on.  They both did well at Achievement Day and Regionals, especially considering their horse projects both foaled and they had to get on new horses about a month before the shows! To the farm's benefit though, as they took on two of our home raised Quarter Horses, CS Wright On Knight and CS Ebony Pal and they did us proud.


Then there was this:

The four of us at the Grand Canyon in December - a day trip we took from Vegas with Terry

The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 2011

Us at the Famous Las Vegas Sign

My friend, Janett, and I out on our Pink Jeep tour while in Sedona, Arizona

Kids with Mickey on our first day in Florida in March

The whole Florida gang on Jordynn's 10th birthday.

So, that about sums it up in quick pics :)  I am going to try to do a better job of keeping caught up.  Hope you enjoyed the short version of the past 365 days in pictures :)

Oh and mixed in there was the farm!  So, stay tuned for a blog update on that :)
Till next time,
PS

Jewels of 2011

Well, it has been a very tough month with foaling this year, but we are done. We lost two babies, both of whom the vet had to pull as they were backwards. Thankfully we were able to save both of the mares. So, we pick up and carry on. We have 8 babies this year. 1 that was an oops, 1 that survived despite the odds and 1 that we had given up on as mom had lost a little wait, so we assumed she hadn't caught. So, it has definitely been an odd year. Here's hoping it's out of our system and we are good for now.

Jordynn got to pick our theme this year and she picked gemstones/crystals. Kind of a neat theme as I had just finished my Reiki Level II Practioner, so it was a good fit with that. So, they got their names by either having the same colour or some of the traits of the gemstones themselves.

So, here they are in no particular order :) Our 7 fillies and one colt. All are for sale. Pictures were taken on my cell, so not greatest quality.

Citrine, or "Rina" for short. She is double bred Dash for Cash.

Citrine energises every level of life. It cleanses the chakras and opens the intuition. Citrine attracts wealth, prosperity and success. It imparts joy, wonder, delight and enthusiasm. Raises self-esteem and self-confidence. Stimulates the brain, strengthening the intellect. Citrine promotes motivation, activates creativity and encourages self-expression. Enhances concentration and revitalises the mind. It releases negative traits, depression, fears and phobias. Emotionally balancing.

Ruby is a little sorrel filly - she is also Dash for Cash bred.

Ruby encourages passion and a zest for life. It improves motivation and setting of realistic goals. Balances the heart and instills confidence. Ruby encourages joy, spontaneity, laughter and courage. It promotes positive dreams and stimulates the pineal gland. Aids in retaining wealth and passion. Ruby encourages removal of negative energies from your path. It overcomes exhaustion and lethargy and imparts potency and vigor. Calms hyperactivity.

This lovely little lady is double bred King Fritz. She is looking sorrel, but coming from a red and a blue roan, we are watching for signs of roaning. Amber is a real card.

Amber is a powerful healer and cleanser of the body, mind and spirit. It also cleanses the environment. Amber draws disease from the body, healing and renewing the nervous system and balancing the right and left parts of the brain. It absorbs pain and negative energy, helping to alleviate stress. Amber clears depression, stimulates the intellect and promotes self-confidence and creative self-expression. It encourages decision-making, spontaneity and brings wisdom, balance and patience.

This little survivor comes to us from a beautiful mare who had an accident last year and severely damaged her knee. We have been waiting and hoping that she would heal and it hasn't been looking good. We could not believe when we found this little darling out in the field. Rosie is a real sweetheart as mama couldn't keep up with her the first day, so she adopted Jordynn as her mom.

Rose Quartz is the stone of universal love. It restores trust and harmony in relationships, encouraging unconditional love. Rose Quartz purifies and opens the heart at all levels to promote love, self-love, friendship, deep inner healing and feelings of peace. Calming and reassuring, it helps to comfort in times of grief. Rose Quartz dispels negativity and protects against environmental pollution, replacing it with loving vibes. It encourages self-forgiveness and acceptance invoking self-trust and self-worth.

We had given up on Sassy because she had lost a lot of her pot belly when Jordynn started using her for 4-H. So, much to our surprise, the day after we thought we were done foaling, here is our little Opal, named for the Fire Opal. Mom's registered name is CS Ebony Pal, so it fits. She is Hancock/King Fritz bred. She is sorrel, but again, we are watching for roaning.

Fire Opal is an excellent crystal for business. It is said to draw in money, smooth the path of change and to encourage progress. Fire Opal is also said to enhance personal power, to awaken your inner fire and to revitalize and reenergize your mind and body. It is believed to protect against danger and to be an energy amplifier. Fire Opal can be a good stone for helping you to let go of the past, but take care as it may release bottled-up emotions in a rush. In healing Fire Opal is thought to balance the adrenal glands and to be beneficial for female hormones, PMS and the menopause. It is also believed to help heal the intestines and the kidneys.

Onyx is our lone colt this year in a year of fillies. He is a firecracker. Mom is a little on the aloof side, so baby is picking it up and how. All the rest don't mind us, but this little blue roan heads for the hills when we come out. He is double bred King Fritz. Just look at the muscle in that hind end! He's going to be a big, muscled up horse.

Onyx gives strength. It promotes vigor, steadfastness and stamina. Imparts self-confidence, helping you to be at ease in your surroundings. Onyx banishes grief, enhances self-control and stimulates the power of wise decision-making. It encourages happiness and good fortune.
Onyx treats disorders of the bones, bone marrow and blood. It is beneficial for teeth and the feet.

Had there been a gemstone called OopsaDaisy, thats who this little miss would have been. She is out of our 4 year old Smart Little Lena bred mare. She is a gorgeous, sweet natured little bay that we are calling Emerald or Emmy for short. We are going to be doing DNA testing to ensure she is from our registered stud.

Emerald is known as the “stone of successful love”. It brings loyalty and provides for domestic bliss. It enhances unconditional love, unity and promotes friendship. Keeps partnerships in balance and can signal unfaithfulness if it changes colour. Emerald stimulates the heart chakra, having a healing effect on the emotions as well as the physical heart. It ensures physical, emotional and mental equilibrium, bringing harmony to all areas of ones life. Focusing intention and raising consciousness, it brings in positive actions, eliminating negativity and enhancing the ability to enjoy life to the fullest.

Last but not least is Bunny's Diamond. She is a pretty little thing. A bit of a trouble maker as she fell into a trench in her first 3 days of life and had to be rescued by Josh and Terry. She seems none the worse for wear. She is a very big baby and was born that way. Another lovely blue roan. She is out of CS Chocolate Bunny and our stud, Chex Joe Dees RX. Doc Bar both sides, she will be built to work.

A symbol of purity, the Diamond’s pure white light helps to bring our lives into a cohesive whole. It brings love and clarity into partnerships, bonding relationships. Diamond is a sign of commitment and fidelity, and instills trust to relationships and situations. It inspires the forces of accumulation, attracting the manifestation of abundance. Diamond is an energy amplifier. It is a stone that never requires recharging. It will bring strength and endurance to all energies and will enhance the power of other crystals. However, beware, as this means it will increase negative energy as well as positive! Excellent for blocking electromagnetic stress and for protection against cell phone emanations. Diamond imparts fearlessness, invincibility and fortitude. It clears emotional and mental pain, reducing fear and bringing about new beginnings. Stimulates creativity, inventiveness, imagination and ingenuity. It brings clarity of mind and aids enlightenment. Diamond allows the soul light to shine out. It aids spiritual evolution and reminds you of your soul’s aspirations.

So much to do, so little time to blog

Wowsers have we been busy! Life is just so darn crazy lately. We have had a fun/exciting/exhausting month. So much going on with new house, new job, 4-H, 4-H, 4-H and rodeo! It's a busy time of life, nothing to do but enjoy the roller coaster ride!

The kids have been keeping very busy with 4-H and school. Both of them had PAT tests this year.

End of May we had our 4-H Achievement Day. Both kids did very well and the whole club had a blast! We learned lots this year! I wish that I had videoed our first ride back in September! These kids have come such a long way.

That same weekend we also took Rylee to Alder Flats Cara Rodeo where he tied for second place over the weekend. Way to go! Apparently that Steer Riding School works ;)

Last weekend we had our West Central 4-H Regional horse show in Red Deer. Our whole club went and we had a terrific showing!

Now that Regionals are over, life becomes a "little" less crazy. Just a little as we still have a ranch with 7 new babies and a house to build! Not to mention two full time jobs... Mi vida loca...

Alix Cutter Rally 2011

What a beautiful day for a ride! +4C and sun shining, no wind. Jordynn opted ride the sleigh with Scmidt's, while Rylee, Josh and I rode.

Another Year Already?

Rylee's First Ever Attempt at Curling Jordynn showing just how flexible she is

Josh and Rylee in their "Samey" chore clothes

Our cute little brats at Christmas

Man time flies when you are having fun. So much on the go and so little that I have been blogging. Too bad because the kids actually read this once in awhile at school! So, this is for you guys.

It's Valentine's today and here I sit with Jordynn sick on the couch watching TV and Rylee at school, Josh at work. Thinking maybe I will go shovel the deck as the weather is nice and it would be nice to clear the whole thing off before we get more snow!

Life is rushing along - it's crazy. We are waiting on final plans for our house which we will be building this summer. Fingers crossed that it goes relatively smoothly! Ah, who am I kidding. Fingers crossed that our marriage survives it!

I will try to be a bit better about updating, but no guarantees.

Here's some pictures of the last little while.

Tees 4-H Wranglers

For many moons (like 11 years), I was a Light Horse 4-H Club Member in Hill Spring. Josh was a member of Light Horse & Multi 4-H for 10 years. In the past 10 years we have assisted with Public Speaking Judging, Record Book Judging and Assistant Leading for a number of clubs. It's safe to say, we love 4-H and now that our kids are old enough for 4-H, we decided to start up a club close to home so that we didn't have to do so much traveling and the community could hopefully benefit from some of our knowledge.

So, we started up the Tees 4-H Wranglers Light Horse & Rodeo Club and thusfar it has been a raging success! We have 19 kids - 16 regular members and 3 Cleaver kids (kids under 9) We have a terrific group of kids and a great group of parents. We have already been to one horse show where our club did amazing considering they had only ever been in the arena as a group once before. Then we had a great Halloween party with all kinds of costumes and games and fun! Now we have been riding and Christmas partying and hosting the 1st Annual Tees Family Dance! So great! Life is good!

Here's some pictures of our club!

Road Trip August 2010

Wow, it appears I have been remiss in keeping up with my blog. So, I will apologize to me 3 followers, lol. In honesty the main reason I even remembered to do it is because Jordynn checks it at school and has been harassing me. A lot has happened since July long, but much of it will be in my Christmas letter, so I will try not to duplicate.

I will save our terrific 4-H club for another blog because there is so much to say and update about how great that is going!

Josh and I and the kids did a 10 day road trip through 2 provinces and 4 states. What a great time we had! Mom and Dad joined us for 2 states and a province ;) We had so much fun. We visited historic Deadwood, South Dakota and had a terrific time at the campground there as well as touring town and panning for gold in a gold mine. Our kids love museums so we spent a lot of time at museums as well as seeing Mt. Rushmore which was amazing, Crazy Horse, which was cool. Old Faithful was also terrific. We did some back to school shopping in Cody, Helena and Great Falls. Here are some pics from our trip.

Family Fun Weekend at Rydyn High - July Long Weekend

July long weekend this year brought people and campers and tents and fun by the boatload to our little corner of Alberta. From the VanderMeer's to the Graham's, some Carlson's, Storey's and Henson's thrown in as well as a few others.

Our weekend consisted of some fireworks, a parade, some water fights, some horseback rides and a whole lot of food and fun. Thanks so much to all who came and made it a blast!