Even though 'Is that a mare?' seemed to be the foremost thought on Cardillos mind the entire weekend- he did perform extremely well for me at the Mounted Shooting competition. There were 35 competitors  on both of the very hot days that we were at the Round Tuit Ranch in Enfield CT. We had 14 riders in my division and Cardillo ended the day in 4th place. If my aim had been a bit better our placing would have been better as well. Any and all mistakes made in my runs were mine- not Cardillos- he really did his job well. There were 22 entries for the Cowboy Challenge. In this we had to shoot 5 balloons, re-holster and negotiate 5 obstacles, then shoot another 5 balloons. We took 6th in this event- the 2nd through 6th placements were all within a second or two of each other- it was a blast.
Even with the heat we had a good time, and it makes me really look forward to competing in KY this fall at the Paso Fino Nationals.

It was in the low 90's here yesterday- and looks like today will be the same. Got plenty of horses ridden/worked, and Jim brought his tractor over to help work on sinking fenceposts and cleaning out run in sheds. Rose came and rode, as did Nicole and Deb L. Today we will try to get the chores done early before the wort of the heat hits- and will go easy on how hard we work the training horses. I'll be on the road a bit this afternoon doing teeth, then home to the ac. Guess I'll have to make a feed run as well today- We've one mare due to foal this spring, she is due June 1st, but so far she's not bagging up all that much- so it may be awhile.

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Long day at the barn yesterday. Once chores were thru, we started working horses and taking turns hauling in horses for the farrier. He had a pretty extensive list yesterday and we sure kept him busy. He ended up not finishing until nearly 9 last night.

Laid three horses down yesterday. The practice of lying a horse down is very popular at some training barns, more so out west than in this area. I've done it in the past here and there, and thought that I may get a bit more into the practice of it now. The first horse I worked is a mare who is very sweet, but very pushy and 'mare-ish'. She really was not happy about my taking her legs away and laying her down, and it took awhile for her to relax and not wrinkle her muzzle at me once she was down. She seemed much more respectful of my space afterwords, and stood very nicely for the farrier. The second horse, not sure how much he got out of the experience. This one was a stallion who has a few issues under saddle. He pretty much put up no fuss about being laid down, and lay there as tho it was his idea to be trussed up on the ground. Pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. The third horse was Cardillo, the palomino stallion that we are taking shooting this weekend. Really not having any problems with him at all, did this pretty much to remind him that people are in charge ( he's gotten a wee bit rammy with it being spring- and we did breed him for the first time not long ago ) Thought it a good idea to refresh his memory on the whole 'respecting people thing' before heading out for the weekend. He's pretty laid back, and will bow for us, has even laid down during bowing practice before, so I thought he'd be pretty easy to lay down.Wrong! He really did not like the idea of having his freedom taken away and put up a bit of a fuss. When he did go down though, he relaxed right away and was quiet.

Packing today to be ready to hit the road this afternoon with 4 horses in tow. We are off to Conn. for a weekend Mounted Shooting event!

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The Syracuse show went very well. We left here around 5:45 in the morning, and made it to the showgrounds by 9. Off loaded everything, and hung out waiting for the Stallions class. This show has a variety of breeds going, Morgans, Saddlebreds, Half-Arabians, Hackneys and more, so he wait was not boring. It's always enjoyable getting to see other breeds strut their stuff in the ring. The Stallion class for us went very well, he behaved, and we left the ring with the blue ribbon. Then we were in for a long wait. I really wanted to enter him into the Performance Championship, and that was not going to happen until pretty late in the day. Finally, at 9:30 that night, they called us in. We had some great competition and JQ was 'on', and we came home with a Championship ribbon, a NYS Horse Breeders Assoc. cooler, and the title of 2012 NYSHBA Performance Champion. It was around 1:30 in the morning before I got to my house that night, but it was well worth it.

The weekend flew by. While I was off showing JQ, Julie was spending a nice day off with her parents who had come to visit. While they were in town, Jeff proposed, so Julie is a happy camper. :)  They have started house hunting.

My next trip is to Conn. We've a mounted shooting competition to attend, and will be at it for the entire weekend. Cardillo has been working well, and Calif is doing good too. We may be taking a couple other horses along as well to help get them acclimated to the shooting. After that we have two weeks until the Lexington show, then right on from there to the PFHA youth camp in KY.


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It's been a crazy busy month. We have fantastic horses in for training, a great crew at the barn, and a schedule that is keeping us all on our toes. Yesterday we had the owners of the Rocky Mountain Horses that are here for training here for a visit. Both horses have been working wonderfully and we had a good time showing off what they have learned. I also was able to show them a few of our stallions. Speaking of stallions, Cardillo has been a happy boy this week. My mare London had come into heat and she was slated to be covered by him this year. This is his first season for breeding.



JQ and I are slated to show at the Syracuse Show this Friday. I've ( almost ) all my paperwork in order and we'll be hitting the road early that day. Maribelle will be joining us, and we will enjoy getting to see our Paso friends from the North East.



The latest edition of the Paso Fino Horse World is out, and it has the article I submitted about Richard Gregory and his Paso mare Nina. The editor, Catherine King, did a lovely job presenting it, and she very kindly forwarded me a letter she received from one of the magazines subscribers, I've posted it below;

"As a new member of the Paso Fino Assoc. I always look forward to the monthly magazine. Mays' edition is my absolute favorite thus far. Letters from a traveling man actually made me a bit teary eyed. How lucky is Nola Haupert-Keill to have placed one of her horses with such a fabulous person? I wish I were his grand daughter or at least one of his riding buddies! And the letters and pictures are such a priceless keepsake. Really such a wonderful story. I also enjoyed reading about El Pastor, what a character. Thanks so much for such a great, shareable, readable magazine! Beth from  NC"

If you go to www.pfha.org you can located the magazine to view the article and see the pictures.

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Long week! Our show went very well, we got loaded up and on the road w/out incident. The show ran surprisingly smoothly and everyone did very well. It was great getting to use the new trailer! The horses all loaded up on it well, and traveled quietly. Our Extreme Cowboy Race on Saturday evening at the show was a hit, tons of people entered and it was great entertainment.

Monday was spent running. I ran to town for groceries, grain and sawdust, then ran to the dentist for me, and then ran for a load of hay. That took up most of my day. Kudos to Julie and the crew, as the barn work all got done and all the horses on the work list were schooled.

Tuesday..long but productive day. I did paperwork in the morning, then went to the barn to meet with some folks who trailered in their Paso gelding for me to evaluate. He is a 12 year old bay/black gelding who is very well gaited, and he was lovely. They will most likely be selling him, so if you know of anyone looking for a nice, small gaited gelding with some pep let me know. Then I did get a few horses worked before I had to hit the road. Went and got new tires put on the maroon trailer, then met up with Jim to go pick up a horse. Folks had called me about a Percheron mare that they needed to have euthanized. She had become very aggressive and it had been recommended to them that they had her put down. They did not want to do it at home, so they asked that we pick her up and take care of it from there. Jim helped me get her loaded and we headed home.

Once all was taken care of with that, I stayed at the house ( chores were done as it was already early evening ) and started dinner. Had a relatively quiet evening and was thinking about hitting the hay when I got a phone call. Our friend Michele up the road needed help with a lambing.She's been trying for quite awhile to get a breech lamb turned in a ewe, but was having no luck and was getting tired from her efforts. I tossed on some old clothes and headed over to help. sad to say though, after we tried for another 1 1/2 hours we lost both ewe and lambs. Poor Michele has had a long week, rough lambing season this year.

On a happier note, got word from Erin last night that she was n the hospital and would most likely be staying, time for her baby to greet the world!


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Today will be a whirlwind day! I have to hit the road early to go to the neighbors for a sheep feeding lesson ( Have to feed for her for a day or so this week while she is out of town ) Then am running to Abbey Glen- a horse crematorium in NJ ( am dropping off a horse from our RO-NO Removal Service ) Then race back home to pick up Robbie from school ( he gets his braces off today) then after that I have an appointment to make- all this and I'll have Hunter along for the ride- with any luck I'll fit in working a horse or two when I get back before heading to the house to make supper- not even enough time this morning to put something into the crockpot...


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