I'm so thankful that we never lost power here with Irene. I was on facebook earlier, read a lot of posts from folks who do not have power. ( Thank goodness for cell phones and car chargers!) It's hard enough dealing with ab house with no power, add to that a barnful of horses really makes it a challenge. Hope everyone gets power back soon.

Our day trip to Rose's yesterday with Tappy, Pastor and JQ went smoothly. They loaded right up, Rose had stalls waiting, we schooled and then headed home. Next week it will be a trip to Malibu Dude Ranch, and I'll be able to get some mounted shooting practice in on Cardillo. They are talking about having some evening practices this fall, I'm all for it.

Today I hit the road for New Milford. Have horse dentistry to do there, then back home to try to get some hay moved. Robbie starts High School today!!!

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Goodbye Irene. Some rain started here on Saturday afternoon. We did make it to the benefit show at Aberdeen ( it went great, there was a fantastic turnout. ) We got sandbags set out, stuff tied down, horses put away and then we prayed. The rain really got going at about 3 Sunday morning, and tapered off around 12:30 that afternoon. The wind pretty much went on all day long. We watched the water rise, and then thankfully watched as it stalled and started to go down. All in all, we did not get hit badly at RO-NO.

Julie left early on Saturday morning with her horse Mambo for the Aberdeen Show. She was very pleased with how he behaved and performed for her. This was her first trip by herself with the horse to a show, and I'm so very pleased that she had a good time. Erin, Robbie, Nicole M, Hunter and myself set off for the show with 5 horses at around 11. We hit a little rain on the way, but it settled and we got started without a hitch. Erins Mom Peg was along as well ( thank goodness, as she watched Hunter a good bit for me) About halfway through the Western Show I noticed some pretty nasty looking black clouds rolling in. I hollered to my crew that we needed to scratch our horses and leave. We didn't even make it to the trailer when the rain hit. It poured! We loaded up as quickly as we could to bet out of there. They had us parked in a grass field and we were way at the bottom of a big hill. I knew it would be tough getting out of there. ( They had already had someone else get stuck in the driveway!) Off we went, me in the lead. I made it up to the road and went back on foot to see how Erin was making out ( she was driving Maribelle's truck and trailer) She was stuck, but after a little help from Glen ( the hubs hadn't locked in all the way- so he did that) she backed up and tried again and pulled out onto the road. Phew...

We got back to the ranch and started getting things settled for the storm. The rain started for real early the next morning, and all we could do was wait to see how bad it would get. The creeks started rising late in the morning, but fortunately never got really bad. The wind was pretty significant, but again, at the Ranch it didn't seem to do to much damage. We kept power the whole time ( lots of folks around us did not, so we were fortunate with that as well) and things are pretty much back to normal here.

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day on the road in NJ doing teeth. Lots of damage there, had to keep re-routing, as my GPS tried to get me where I needed to go. Trees down, rocks and debris across roads, or simply no road at all everywhere I turned. Today I'll be bringing a load of horses to Rose's to school, tomorrow doing teeth up in New Milford.

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A few more hours of calm before Irene hits PA. We'll probably spend too many hours playing today, and not enough prepping things for the storm, but we hate to not go to Aberdeen to support Over the Hill Farm. So, today I'll feel a bit more like the grasshopper and less like an ant. Since this will be an exception and not the norm, I'll try to not feel guilty about it. :)

We are taking four Pasos and one Quarter Horse to the gaming part of the Aberdeen show. A slightly nervous Julie left a little while ago with Mambo in tow, headed out to the earlier English classes. This is the first time that she has taken off on her own to a horse show. Go Julie! We will meet up with her near noon time, with Pastor, Tappy, JQ, Cardillo and Scotch.

Once we return to RO-NO however, the fun and games end. We'll be getting horses in, setting out some sandbags, putting away anything that could blow away, latching all the barn doors and so on. I'm really hoping that it wont be too bad, and that it leaves as quickly as they say it will

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Good Grief, 4 months until Christmas!!

Spent the last two days on the road alot, doing teeth up in New York and in Equinunk. Enjoying the weather before the hurricane brings rain our way. Rob has spent this week finishing up the haying at the neighbors farm. We got it all in yesterday, 6 wagons or so of gorgeous hay. Glad to have that done. Now we just need another nice stretch of weather so that we can tackle our own second cutting. I'd love it if we could fill the left side of the loft with sweet second cutting, we use that to keep the stallions happy all winter.

Today I get to stay home ( at least that is the plan right now) We had the farrier here all day on Monday, I managed to bring home a load of sawdust on Tuesday, so hopefully today I'll stay here and get some extra horses worked.Nicole schooled Pastor and Tappy yesterday, I did get to work JQ on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and will get to him and Cardillo today. I've a few trips planned over the next couple weeks to get the horses that we are taking to Nationals out to different rings to school.

We are hoping to take about 7 horses to the Over The Hill Benefit Show at Aberdeen on Saturday- let's hope it doesn't rain!

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Whew...it's been busy here. We've all been working hard and playing hard too. :) Nicole M has been riding away on her Scotch, and she did very well at 4-H Districts yesterday, placing well in 3 of her 4 classes. Erin took three days off to head out for some R & R with her boyfriend, Amy did the same, Rose has been working, riding here, coordinating horse soccer games at home and so on. Rachel has been riding her horse Yorkie, Jenna is enjoying the freedom of having her licence, Pam has been here riding, Forrest, Jim and Shanna and Alaina, everyone has been able to come enjoy the good weather we've had. Julie's been keeping busy giving lessons and working horses, Kerry has been enjoying her driving freedom as well-

The township has been working on our bridges, so we never know what road will be open and what one will be closed. We'll see how things go with that this week. Keep this in mind when coming out here. The workers couldn't let me know just when they would be out again to work, so just watch for the road signs ( if they put them out- apparently that was not mandatory last week!)

Spent the day on Long Island yesterday. Took Cardillo and Calif. For once, Cardillo outshined his older brother. Calif was good, but seemed to get a bit fed up with the shooting and didn't always run as straight as he could have ( but his rider handled it very well and she shot great!) Cardillo really came on, getting better and better throughout the day. We had 5 runs, and ended up second in our division! Then the highlight of the day for me, the Cowboy Challenge. This was a timed shooting and obstacle event, kind of a combination Mounted Shooting and Extreme Cowboy Race. Cardillo rocked!!! He was super settled for the two shooting runs, and he flew thru the obstacles, never even hesitating at obstacles other horses wouldn't even attempt. He was great. Our end time was about 1/2 half of what the second place riders was, and there were 10 entries in the Challenge. It was a great end to a very fun and challenging day. I'll post pics when I get some.

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Here's just a few photos from our fun evening on Sat. Jim, Pam and Erin are displaying some of the 'Extreme' part of the evening!! Thanks again to everyone for such a great day! ( We're still eating Erin's cupcakes!)

Monday was spent on the road for me, working on horses ( and mules ) teeth all over the Montrose, New Milford areas. Came home whooped and was very glad that there were plenty of leftovers. We had tons of help here yesterday, started getting things put back together here. I'd moved all of our trailers up to Maribelle's to make room here, so with Kerry's help we have them back in our own barnyard. The girls got all the garbage cleaned out of here on Sunday, so things are pretty ship shape now. I'm actually here all day today, a rare thing anymore. Rose plans on being around tomorrow to school, only 5 weeks till we are on the road to Memphis!

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Thank you, thank you to everyone who attended our fundraiser event for Over the Hill Farm. We had a fantastic turnout for the Extreme Cowboy Race. 17 riders and over 50 spectators joined us in our effort to raise money and collect donated items. All in all, we were able to collect over $500 and the amount of donated items more than fill the back of my pick up truck! Rachel brought T-Shirts and bracelets and sold all that she had. Everyone was so very generous, so again, thank you for your help and support. It has been wonderful to see how our Equine Community has come together to help fellow horse owners in their time of need.

Our indoor obstacles ranged from pushing a 3' soccer ball through a chute, going through a water obstacle, a teeter-totter, a bridge ( sounding board ), an archway hung with ribbons and more. Outdoors riders had to ride through an upright round bale feeder, go through two creeks, over logs and through an archway with pool noodles sticking out of it. Everyone had a great time and we had fantastic food. All in all it was a great big barn party. ( we should have some good pictures soon).

I have horse dentistry to do near New Milford tomorrow, so I hope to stop by at Over the Hill Farm in the morning to drop off the items that are here still.

Next Sunday brings another mounted shooting competition. This one is on Long Island. We'll bring Calif again, as he seems to be a good influence on Cardillo. After that we will have one last month to have the horses ready to go to Nationals.

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Kerry and Erin- the mighty hunters!

One day left to have everything ready for the Extreme Cowboy Race! I've had so many people tell us that they will be here, it's going to be a great day.

I've the obstacles nearly all set and ready to go. We've a few odds and ends to finish up, but so far all looks to be in pretty good shape for us for tomorrow.

Yesterday was just beautiful. The weather couldn't have been nicer, and we got so much accomplished. Tons of horses got worked, we got in a load of hay, we did some more clean up for tomorrows festivities. Ended the day with a nice trail ride- it doesn't get any better.

Today we'll get a few horses worked and start marking trails and such- get stuff all set for tomorrow. It's an awesome day!

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Good, long day. Robbie had an early orthodontist appointment, so we hit the road, got that done, then got a haircut for Robbie, glasses picked out and ordered for both Robbie and myself, some grocery shopping done, new chainsaw blade for my chainsaw, some other odds and ends of shopping done, and we were back at the farm by noon. Rose was here with Madison and Brooke, both girls got to ride, and Rose got in good rides on both Pastor, JQ and Azura. Robbie schooled someone for me, and ended up hitting the dirt! An uncommon occurrence to be sure. I got several good training rides in, Tappy, Jose and Scotch were at the top of their game! And then....

I was made very proud by my two studs. It was getting late and I really wanted to get both Calif and Cardillo schooled, at least get them some good exercise. So... I decided to work them both at the same time. Got them both tacked up, left a halter on under Calif's bridle with chain attached, and left him in the cross ties. Took Cardillo into the arena and warmed him up a little, then rode into the barn and popped Calif out of the cross ties while still mounted on Cardillo. Un-looped the lead from the saddle and ponied Calif into the arena. It took a bit for Calif to catch on that I needed him to follow/keep up with Cardillo. I think at first he was a bit leery of being asked to keep so close to another horse when in the past this has always pretty much been taboo. After a bit though he was following quite well, good enough that we could gait and canter!! I was so pleased with both of them, especially Cardillo- he never hesitated- he was great. Not studdy- not annoyed that Calif was right at his side, he just worked. I was so very pleased. We even grabbed the flag from Jim and carried it around the arena, neither of them minded at all. Then went up to the pedestal, which both will step up onto, and I managed to get both of them up side by side on the pedestal, twice! We also went side by side down the board. It is so nice to have such good boys!

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Wow, time is flying by! I still don't totally feel like I'm 'home' as it seems every day I'm off and running on one errand or another. But, all is well at RO-NO, we're keeping busy and are looking forward to this weekends event.

Took Nicole M and Scotch to their 4-H County show on Saturday. They did well, and we now know just what we need to work on to be ready for Districts! Unfortunately, I wont be here for that show, as it falls on the same day as my next mounted shooting event. But, we'll have her all ready to go and she will do well.

Took Robbie and Hunter fishing yesterday morning. Had a blast, Hunter got to reel in a number of blue gills and sunny's, and we brought them home to release into our pond. Robbie found a couple of snakes as well, but seeing as we both thought they were water moccasins we left them their space. Came home from fishing to find Jim out in the outdoor riding arena weed whacking, so I grabbed my gloves and went to work clearing brush and branches, we'll hopefully have it better then ever back there soon. Went to work then on my landscaping at the house. I'd picked up a load of mulch last week, and yesterday ( with Robbies help) I got my entire project completed ( for now) Everything is mulched, and I think it looks great. It felt great to get that job completed.

Today I'm off this morning to do teeth at Happy Trails in Mt. Pocono, from there I will go pick up feed and then head for home to work some horses. We've plenty to do here, day to day work of chores and training, and ad to that getting the place prepped for Saturdays Extreme Cowboy Race, gonna be a fun week!

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OK, so when I wrote the blog yesterday I thought the new steer was in the corral still with Lars. I was wrong. Looked out the window to see how Lars and the new steer were doing, saw Lars pacing the corral and then saw the herd running. Dang it that steer hadn't scaled the wall and had gotten loose. Jack, Robbies 17 year old mule, believes that the pasture is his domain and does not care for intruders. He'd chased the steer, who jumped out of the pasture and into our hayfield. So much for getting a new steer to help make things less complicated ( we got him in hopes that he would settle Lars down and stop Lars from going to visit the neighbors cows.) Robbie headed down to try to get the steer back up towards the barn while I called Terry ( he's an neighbor- he sold us the steer) to see if he could come and help. I'm at the house with Hunter, watching Robbie slowly maneuver the steer closer to the barn. Just as they got out of sight, I heard a horrible commotion, metal panels banging and clanging! I though, 'why would the steer jump into the panels?' then realized that it wasn't the steer, but two horses that were turned out in those panels and the steer must have spooked them. Yikes!! I left Julie in charge of Hunter and I went racing down to the barn. Fortunately the horses were fine. Long story short, both Terry and Rob had to come to get this guy caught. We tried for awhile, but he kept running back into the grove of hemlocks next to our outdoor riding arena. We opened up some panels on a corral nearby, and finally got him chased in there. Then Terry and I both got a lasso on him, made a headstall and frog marched him to the old barn, where he is now residing in a set of stanchions. Hopefully after a week or two we can turn him out with Lars again, and when they go to pasture Jack will have to wear hobbles for awhile.

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After lots of time and ink and copying and sorting ( most of which was done by Maribelle) all the paperwork for the Paso Fino National Show has been completed and sent in. Also completed and sent in yesterday was all of our stallion write ups for the Breeders Sweepstakes Catalog. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to spend time at the barn today!

The countdown is pretty much on for our National Show in Memphis. We will hit the road early ( very early!) on the 23rd of Sept. Yikes, that's just over 7 weeks from now! I remember at this time last year I was doubly busy, as I was also prepping Calif for his performances at the World Equestrian Games.

We had a new steer delivered here yesterday. Lars, the steer we already have here, was really getting a bit lonely being the only bovine on the farm, and had gotten into the bad habit of going walk-about and visiting the neighbors Holsteins. Hopefully he will settle down and both of them will stay in the fencing. We have both corraled next to the indoor right now.

Here is the list of items that Over the Hill Farm could use. Gift cards for Lowes,
Home Depot, Agway, TSC, Dover Saddlery, Stateline Tack. English saddles, bridles,
grooming and first aid supplies, IHR helmets, half chaps, boots etc in junior
and adult sizes. They do plan to re-build, but in the meantime the donation of these items will help them to continue with their lesson program and help get them through this very hard time. Anyone wanting to drop off items to be donated may drop them here, either myself or Rachel will take them to Over the Hill. I will also make another run out to them after our Extreme Cowboy Race on Aug. 13th.

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Happy August! I'm so happy to be home again, with no plans of going anywhere for awhile. Traveling is enjoyable, but being on the road for so long gets tiresome. It's great to be home.

This weekends CMSA Match went very well. Joe and the Island Long Riders hosted a wonderful match at the Malibu Dude Ranch in Milford Pa. I competed with both Cardillo and Calif and both stallions did very well. Calif hasn't been shot off of in a very long time, and he took it all in stride. Cardillo and I ended up winning the Ladies Level 1 Division in the 2 Stage Match! Cardillo has really come a long way, and we're looking forward to our next match on Aug. 21st.

Rob managed to get all the cut hay baled up before yesterdays rain. We were busy unloading it while keeping an eye on the sky. Dark clouds came rolling in when we were nearly done, and we managed to get the last wagon pulled into the hayloft shortly before the rain hit. Wont be long and we'll start putting in some second cutting.

As a reminder, we will be hosting an Extreme Cowboy Race here on Aug. 13th. Start time will be 4:30. No entry fee, but please bring along a donation for Over the Hill Farm. Either monetary or donations of needed items (b we'll post a list soon of stuff that they are in need of) lease bring a covered dish to share, as we will have a pot luck meal. Bring your neg. coggins papers too, and chairs. This is a very fun event, for both riders and spectators, so come join the fun.

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