So here's a few pics from our Extreme Cowboy Race. Looking forward to the next one!

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I was going to let the pictures speak today but blogspot isn't letting me load them.- I'll try to post pics later. Julie put up over 100 pics of our Extreme Cowboy Race up onto facebook- there are some really good ones.

Picked up a new training horse yesterday, lovely QH gelding that needs work on loading, and picking up his leads. Nick, the newest training Paso, is coming on nicely- had a saddle on him yesterday and did a lot of ground work again with him, hope to be riding him by this time next week. Tappy is coming on strong, as are all of the show Paso's.

Rob hopes to have the hay bine up and running later today- we need to get more hay in!

Well, Hunter is up, I need to get moving and get some house stuff done. Have to send mailings to my Illinois clients with dentistry trip dates, and have to dig some holes in the yard for some of the plants that Angie brought me yesterday. One is a beautiful ornamental tree that I love!

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With any luck ( and a little sunshine ) we will put in a small amount of hay today. Rob had cut some on Saturday, he'd planned on dropping a whole field but had some equipment problems. Hopefully that will all be fixed later and he'll drop a bunch more today/tomorrow. With all the rain we have had it's been tough for us to get the hay baled and in the barn. This week is looking good though, so fingers crossed!

My yearly summer trip to Illinois is scheduled for July 20th through the 28th. I'll be making stops along the way in south-western PA and in Ohio. I can be available to transport horses on this trip as well.

Before heading west we will be headed north. The Schoharie Valley Paso Serenade in Cobleskill NY is being held on July 16th and 17th. We've a whole load of horses headed there, and we've been busy getting them ready. Only 90 days until Nationals!!



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The Extreme Cowboy Race last night at RO-NO was a hit. We will definitely be doing this again soon. We had over 10 riders, ( more if you count the ones who rode more than one horse) Obstacles ranged from rope gates, water hazards, pushing a huge soccer ball, jumps, jousting and more. We all had a great time and some great food!! Thanks to everyone who participated- lets plan to do this again!

Jeff took a ton of pictures, so keep an eye on facebook for them. I'll put one or two up on the blog when I get them. Oscar even participated, as did Georgie the Pony and Buttons the goat. The only ones to accidentally part ways with their horses were...myself and Robbie! :)

It's a hectic week ahead. I've teeth to do nearly every day, and a new training horse to pick up. Nick, our newest training Paso, is a super smart little guy, I'm having fun working with him.

For now I am off to the barn, I want to practice the CMSA with Cardillo.

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Thought for a bit yesterday that I'd have to bring all the critters up the hill to the house! The rain was coming down so hard that water was flowing through the barnyard as quick and heavy as if it were part of a river. It flowed away pretty much just as quickly thank goodness.

John, our farrier, was here for most of the day. We had quite the list for him, and fortunately everyone behaved.

Nick is our newest training horse. He is an absolutely adorable Paso Fino gelding that is here to be trained, broken in to ride. I'm itching to get on him, he just has something about him that's telling me he is going to be a really good ride. Had quite the time getting him here. I had to run my brother to the Syracuse train station, so took the trailer along as Nick was about an hour east of there. It would have been an easy three hour drive, getting Nick and then heading home. Ended up not getting home until nearly three in the morning! Fog was so heavy the whole way there and home that it took forever. I was a tired pup, especially as I had to be on the road by 5:45 to pick up a load of hay.

Today we have lessons to give, horses to work and mud to deal with. I've a back section of the arena wall dug up, we've a few spots that need to be repaired and hopefully we can get that section done tonight.

We are hosting an Extreme Cowboy Race on Saturday evening here, along with a pot-luck cookout. Everyone is welcome- just bring a covered dish to share, and bring chairs.

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Here are a couple of saddles that I have for sale. They are very good quality gaited horse saddle, and are in excellent condidtion. Priced at $550 each

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Long hot day yesterday.Felt like I was chasing my own tail for half of the day. On a good note, we had plenty of help, lots of horses got worked, and I got in a lovely load of shavings for here and at Maribelles. Today will be a lot of the same, work horses,, give lessons, move some hay...

Tonight I will be driving my brother Dave back up to Syracuse to catch the train to Chicago. He has been visiting here for a few weeks. We've had a great time catching up with each other, and Robbie has really enjoyed getting to go fishing with his Uncle Dave. I'll have the trailer in tow, as once I've dropped Dave off at the station I'll be headed east to pick up a new training Paso.

Schooled two horses with the mounted shooting yesterday. Michelle has expressed some interest in participating in this sport, so yesterday her horse Dodge got his first lesson in dealing with shooting. He was a super-star, and next time that we work with him she will most likely ride him in the round pen while I shoot while standing in the center of the ring. Cardillo did well also, started out a bit rough, but was working well for me by the time we were done.






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Four weeks from now we will be on our way home from the ( hopefully very successful ) Cobleskill show. Everyone is already raring to go, the horses are doing well and we're all working hard.

It was a good weekend. All the horses got worked, we had lots of help and lots of fun. Sonata and her foal are also doing very well, and Desi is thinking about bagging up. We have a full crop of foals this year, and so far each one is as nice as the last. One downside is that little Charlie, Londons foal, got hurt. He somehow managed to slice open the front of his fetlock, so now he is on antibiotics, which means he also has to be on Pepto and anti-ulcer meds. We did find out last week that he likes to drink Scratchy's formula, so giving him the pink stuff and the ulcer meds is now easy, we just mix them into a quart of formula and he drinks it right up! Scratchy continues to do well, he is growing like a weed and is very hearty and healthy. With Charlie on stall rest for awhile, looks like we may have to halter break Scratchy so we can get him out for some exercise. It will be interesting to see if London throws a fit or not when we take him out for exercise. They are still stalled separately, but are basically together all the time- so this may be an interesting exercise.

Cardillo is doing well, we were able to work him twice this week on the mounted shooting. I hope to school him at least twice more this week, and if all goes well we will be at another competition on Saturday. Jim has continued to work Jose with this as well, and even shot off of him a few times earlier this week. Cardillo is going to have a busy time at PFHA Nationals. He will be shown in Versatility and Trail, and he will compete in Mounted Shooting, a Trail Trial and will try out for the Soccer Tournament!




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Boy does time fly! Between the show, coming home and trying to catch up on things, and trying to get my laptop back into working order I simply have not made the time to get on my blog.


We had a great show. It was hot, there were some ups and downs, but all in all everyone had a great time and the horses did very well. Amazingly enough the horses survived the heat well and all performed beautifully, as did their riders. Good job everyone!!

We hit a snag on the way home from the show. After a hectic day of showing, we all worked hard to load up and head for home. We left for the 7 hour drive at about 2:30, and got home at midnight!! One broke down diesel slowed us down, but we finally made it safely home. Now we have a month to gear up for the next show, it will be here before we know it!

Scratchy continues to thrive. He is eating well, and seems to be keeping up growth wise with the other foals. Sonata had a lovely bay colt on Tuesday morning. I had headed to the barn at 1:00 a.m. to check on her, and when I went back at 6 she had him up and standing and nursing. He is super gaited, and already shows signs of graying out. We've just one baby to go, Desi is due in about 3 or so more weeks.

This week flew by. Monday passed in a haze, just wiped out from the heat and the show. Tuesday I had to take a very cranky three year old boy to the Dr.'s ( ear infection) Wednesday I got lots of critters worked, Thursday was Robbie's 14th B-Day, and today was working horses pretty much all day long- didn't get in until late. Tomorrow we do it again! :)

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Hello from Virginia! We've had a super busy time here at the show. All is well- everyone is working hard and having a good time. I'm too tired to think of what else to write tonight- have to be back up and at the show grounds in 6 1/2 hours!

Do have to add that Rose won A/O Fino Championship!!

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Hopefully we've remembered everything for the show. All the critters are bedded down for the night- and soon we will be bedded down as well. I've a very full house tonight, Rose, Madison, Willow, Nicole, Dave, Julie and the four of us. Made for a fun household but everyone is ready to crash for the evening.Early tomorrow Lori and Megan will be headed here, we want to be on the road with all four trailers by 7. I'll try to post from the show to let you all know how we're doing!

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June 6 and Rob cut hay! That's early for us and I'm loving it. Putting hay in does add to the hecticness ( if that is a word ) of these next 2 days, what with getting ready for Lexington- but it's worth it.





Scratchy is still doing well. I'm waiting for the shipment of formula for him ( love how I received the receipt for it before I received the product!) Robbie and Julie will be in charge of him while I'm gone, as Erin will be away as well. All in all things are progressing nicely. He will be a month old on Thursday.

Today my brother Dave and I will run errands, get feed, go do teeth in Clark Summit then return here so I can give lessons and help put in hay.








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Drove to Syracuse yesterday morning, accompanied by Hunter, to pick up my brother Dave who came in by train from the Chicago area. He'll be here for a few weeks and I'm looking forward to getting to spend some time with him. Got a call on the way north that my lap top was ready to pick up, they had gotten the data transfer done. So now we have to go thru setting this new pc up to run ( hopefully ) like the old one. I think I will save my pennies and send the old one off to Compac to have them install a new screen, seeing as Robbie will be in High School next year and he will probably need a laptop.

Got my garden put in yesterday evening! I'm so pleased. Jim took the time to bring his tractor back over from Lake Ariel to move the top soil for me, and Angie was here with tomato, pepper, squash, pumpkin and cucumber plants. It looks great. Now I just have to keep critters out of it.

Today will be hectic, have to drop off sawdust trailer on the way to do teeth up in Montrose, have horses to work, have feed to pick up, hopefully today the next order of foal formula will arrive. Nicole got the trailers cleaned out and organized yesterday- and made up a list for me of what I need to get before we leave for the show. Only 3 more days and we hit the road!


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Another long day at the ranch. My morning started out poorly- when I went to boot up my laptop, I discovered that a spoon had been laid on the keyboard, and the lid slammed down on it. Bye-bye screen. The warrantee just ran out ( of course ) and to just replace the screen would cost anywhere between $300-$600 plus 5-8 weeks of waiting. Sigh....So at 6:30 after chores were done I ran off to town to shop for a new one. Ended up spending more that I wanted to ( of course- I didn't want to spend anything-) got a new Compaq and have left the old and the new ones at Staples to have the data transfered. I hate-hate-hate having to learn to use a new system- I'm simply not adept at technical stuff. Now give me a new horse to figure out, that I can deal with!

Scratchy is still doing well, as are the other babies.We have Bristol ( lovely Morgan filly ) back for a months tune up, and Mayo is here as well. Just a few more days and we will be off to Lexington. Only 12 head going this time. Today Erin cantered Starfire for the first time and the mare did very well. She's coming right along and I think she is going to be a very nice trail mare. ( she did try to kick me today while she was in the cross-ties- rotten filly! :) ) Rachels lessons went well today, as did mine. I was also able to run to pick up a load of top soil for my garden. ( I'm hoping that my very good- tractor owning friend will put a bunch of it in the garden tomorrow- hint-hint :) )

RO-NO Removal Service had to pick up two horses last night. The first was a very well cared for TB cross that had to be euthanized. He was no longer comfortable in his own skin and his very wise owner knew it was time to let him go. The second was a 23 year old mare who fell asleep and that was that. Her poor owners were so distraught, they had owned her nearly her entire life. We do meet some very interesting people doing this. Sad to say, but this was the longest time I got to spend with my hubby in over a week. It's pretty bad when 'date night' is going out on RNRS calls!

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Here is Margaurite de Calif, pinto filly. Sandy wanted a filly and she wanted color- it's fantastic!!

I got to take a quick peek at her yesterday morning. Ginger is being a great mare and Sandy and Evy are already totally enthralled with their new little girl.

Good day but long day yesterday. I ended up staying down at the barn until 10:00 with the farrier. We simply had a long list of horses to get done, and all got done at Maribelles as well. Today may not be much better- have to go on a removal service call this evening- and I'll be a bit short handed at chore time. Not a big deal- we'll get it all done one way or another. Robbie has been a huge help, coming down to the barn every day after school to pitch in. We've lots to do to get ready for the Lexington show next week. We'll have 12 horses going-

Have to bundle up a saddle and pair of chaps to run to Ralph R this morning- and probably need to hit the bank and run some errands too. Toby, the paint gelding that I mentioned in a post earlier this week, has a new mom- and he will most likely be headed t his new home today. They had him shod all the way around yesterday- I think he is going to work perfectly for them. He's been a joy to have here.

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Gorgeous morning! It's 58 degrees here. So much nicer than the humid 70+ we had yesterday morning. All the horses will be feeling much better as well.

Calif has sired another gorgeous pinto- a filly this time. Sandy B's mare Ginger foaled last night- can't wait to go see this new arrival.

John will be here today and we have a rather daunting list for him. So glad that it is cooler out. Later today we will get momma and babies out- let them frolic in the sunshine. We've someone coming back out to try Toby again- they really liked him when they rode yesterday- so he may have a new mom soon. He sure is a sweetie.

Yesterday was quite the whirlwind day. I headed out on the early side to go south to Tannersville to do teeth, then headed home to hook up to the big trailer- took it along to do a few more horses teeth on my way to pick up Jackie's mare Bristol for a spring tune-up. Then home with her- and lessons to give, plus Toby to show. Certainly made the day fly by.

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