It sure has been busy for late January. Today- last day of the month- it is supposed to be in the low 50's!! Hard to believe but easy to enjoy. We sure get a lot done every day.

The gang has been working hard on getting ready for the upcoming demos at the Harrisburg Horse Expo. We will have a flag being carried around ( and going over jumps and being passed from rider to rider ) the soccer ball will get kicked around, one rider dressed in costume and much more- it's been great that we've been able to to coordinate some group practices.

This past Sunday Rob worked on getting the sink put in downstairs. I've some new cabinets and counter space, and soon a nice double stainless steel sink. I've had more inquiries on shipped breedings, so we will be all set for it.

Yesterday I worked at the house in the morning, doing some web site updates, work on finishing some spreadsheets and a bunch of paperwork, including working on sending out my Florida notices ( my Florida trip is booked for March 8-16th ). I then set off with truck and trailer to pick up grain and a load of sawdust, got home and got all that unloaded, worked three horses then hit the road again to do teeth. I was glad to get home, even though I did have to get back on the computer for a bit.

This morning I'll do a bit more 'office' work, put a roast in the crock pot, drop the baby at the sitters, pick up some round bales then get to work. Should get a lot of riding done today. :)


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It's a productive day. We did have two RNRS calls last night, so I took care of finishing that work this morning, then after taking the truck and trailer to the car wash I headed to Hamlin for a couple of round bales, then hit the bank and grocery store. Got back to the ranch and the gals had all the stalls done, so we worked on filling tanks and Julie hooked up to the 2-Horse to get some loading training in on her Paso gelding Cowboy. He did pretty good, and we'll do a bit more with him later. Barn isles are swept, Julie is working Sneak, Erin is finishing up lunch hay and water, and it's just barely noon. Good morning!

This afternoon we will have a full house, Nic, Alaina, Robbie and I will practice with the four horses going to the expo, and Conni is coming to ride Jet. Then I've a scrumptious dinner planned. Not a bad day.

This pic is the ad going onto the PFHA e-news, Catherine King did a great job on it.

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40 degrees at 5:30 in the morning in late January! Hope to make it a good, productive day. Should be picking up some counter tops and a stainless steel double sink today for the basement project, had another inquiry on a breeding to Calif so I need to be sure to have my 'lab' up and running so that we have no issues come breeding season.
Had good rides on JQ and Pastor yesterday, Erin got Al ridden and Achilles worked. Julie has lesson today, and I hope to get several ridden this afternoon after my work/errands are all completed. Yesterday was a lot of running, round bales, bank, grain, library and so on, and Rob and I had to go on a Removal Service call in the evening. Makes for an long day, but at least the Hubby and I got some time to sit and chat.
I've faxes to send for the Horse Expo, so I am off to get that done before the monster..er..Hunter wakes up!


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We got home just in time. Drove through the snow all day on Thursday, wasn't too awful bad until it started to get dark, then the roads really slicked up. We were close to where Shanna goes to college, so we ended up staying at her apartment for the night. ( though we first hung out with a few of her friends, college guys who happened to be brewing beer that evening- they and Hunter got along great! :) ) Left the next morning, drove 3 1/2 hours to a barn near Sunbury to do teeth, and made it home by around 5 or so. I was exhausted!! It was a very long but productive trip. Woke up on Saturday to a good amount of fresh snow, was very glad we didn't have to drive in it.
Spent all of Saturday morning helping Rob with snow removal, then helped Julie finish stalls. Fit in working a horse or two, and then went to the house to collapse! I was very much in need of a day off.
Today ( my day off ) Rob and I went for a nice breakfast out, spent some time ( and Money ) at Sams Club, came home to unload groceries and started cleaning house. I've just finished unpacking my suitcase, and now I am done ( other than making dinner ) I'm planning on relaxing for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow will be nice out, a high near 50 ( so they say ) and we will get plenty of horses worked. I'll make a feed run, maybe get some round bales too, and go from there. Looks like a nice week ahead.


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One good thing about being on the road is that it gives me a bit of extra time to think. ( Though I suppose that can be a bad thing as well! ) Had a great talk with Rick Shaffer while working at his place on my way to Illinois, and what he had to say really encouraged me to get back into hosting some Gaited Horse Clinics, so here is what I have planned;

RO-NO
Ranch Spring Clinic Series: The Gaited Horse. February 18,
start
time 9:00 a.m.

3-24-12 and 4-28-12 are the dates for the 2nd
and 3rd clinics.

Gaited Horse Trainer Nola Haupert-Keill will
work one-on-one with horse/rider teams on a variety of topics/issues. Group work
at the end of the day. Please RSVP to reserve your spot. More info to follow.
Please contact us if you have any questions. Coffee and donuts will be provided.
Bring a packed lunch and a chair. $50 for horse/handler team, $20 for
auditors.

570-351-7966
www.ro-noranch.com

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It's 7:30 a.m. and Shanna, Hunter and I are in a hotel room in Indiana. We hit the road just before noon on Wednesday, headed for Somerset PA to work at Rick Shaffers doing some horses teeth. Spent the night in Somerset, as I had more work at a neighboring farm on Thursday. Left there around noon and headed towards Chicago, directly into a snow storm. We made it all the way into Indiana before the roads got too bad to continue. We're only about 150 miles away from my sisters, and I hated stopping when we were so close, but it would have been insane to try to continue. It is still snowing, but we will probably try to hit the road in an hour or so. Trucks are moving on the highway, so we'll see how it looks in a bit.

I've work to do outside of Chicago today, and fortunately they do not mind that I'll be behind schedule. Tomorrow is a super busy day, Sunday is busy, but I will cut it a bit short as my brother and his girlfriend will be coming to my sisters for dinner. Monday I will take one of my nephews along for a bit while I work, and Tuesday the other nephew will join me.

Gotta run, Hunter knows that there is a waffle machine in the breakfast room, so we need to go feed him!


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After a few hours of work on Sunday at Liberty Reins Ranch, Rob, Robbie, Jim, Jeff and I successfully got fencing fixed and horses moved to a different pasture; Jim got a good part of her turnout scraped; the guys fixed some lighting issues; and two stalls were put in. Felt very good to help gather this group and help out a friend. We will hopefully find another Sunday in the upcoming months to do more for her. Deb has done so much for us here at RO-NO, it's nice to be able to reciprocate and help her further her plans in her outreach towards our Veterans.

Yesterday I was running-running-running all day. Started out getting a ton of paperwork done and bills paid. I'll be gone so I have to make sure all is in order her at the ranch before I go. Then I hooked up the dump trailer, dropped it at the feed mill so that I could more easily get all of my errands and work done. Went on a dentistry call, hit the library, gas station, bank and grocery store. Then back to the feed store to load up on grain, hooked up trailer and went for a load of sawdust. Home to unload groceries, grain and sawdust, then back to the house to do more paperwork- and poof! the day was gone. Never enough time to get everything done!

Today will be more of the same- perhaps a little less hectic. ( or perhaps not- now that I think of the long 'to-do' list sitting on my kitchen counter!)


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