The Plans We Made

I gave you a teaser post last fall about mounted archery but never gave you the full story.  I had taken a community ed class winter/13, then over the summer was given a bow to play with from a family friend. I got myself a target, some arrows and a hip quiver.

My plan was to get good enough to post some video of our attempts.  Sadly, I got to shoot off of Junior only once.  There was SO much potential there.  He wasn't bothered even a tiny bit by the sound of the bow or the arrow hitting the target.  In fact, on our first day I started by shooting just standing, holding his rope.... he didn't even seem to notice, even though the bow made noise and it made many of the other horses alert to the sound of the arrow hitting the target. I mounted up bareback in a halter (yes, and a helmet, thank you, I'm not a complete fool) in the round pen just to see what would happen.  What happened is that we walked around and I shot a few dozen arrows, hitting the target nicely.  I kept the quiver on the gate and took three arrows at a time, shooting as I passed the target and reloaded.  I had been doing research on how to train for this so I was starting slow just to get the motions of loading and shooting down before attempting any sort of speed. I wasn't really interested in competing, and I haven't heard of any troupes nearby anyway, but I have a group of acquaintances who were getting together to shoot with their horses.
My bow was too long or my target was too low, or both, but we were going to work with what we had.  I have more interest in the plains tribes style rather than the Mongolian style you see in most of the competitions.

Junior was great.  I could maneuver him easily with my legs and he wasn't bothered a bit by any part of it. I had big plans for us.

We gathered a bit of a crowd that day, with a lot of strange looks, and I'm pretty sure some random lesson parent was taking cell photos.... I wonder where those ended up... and when the BO came by I made her take our picture, just for proof.

I sure wish it wasn't the only time we got to do this. :(  This would have been so much fun.

I know I may have an opportunity to get back to this goal, but like many so many other things it was something I wanted to do with Junior. He was so wonderful.

2013 Show Season Recap

We've had a great season.  We hauled to four shows and did three in-barn shows.  This is the most we've  done in a season.  We had some really great moments and now I'm ready to put all the show stuff away for the winter!  We're going to keep focusing on our Equitation in our lessons.  BO said "lead changes and jumping" is what's next on our list.  We'll see about the jumping part. LOL!

Some of our highlights from this year include:

• Placing well in trail classes at two hauled shows and two barn shows.
• Riding two Western Pleasure walk/jog classes back-to-back in a relaxed frame
• Winning Circuit Champion in the Adult division for the Franklin County Open Shows.
• Getting to show with adult friends!

And now a photo-dump: 

May Franklin County Show

May Franklin County Show

May Franklin County Show - Equitation

Warm-up before Horsemanship

May Franklin County Show

September Barn Show - 1st in Timed Trail Class

New pad with glittery letters!

A full rainbow of ribbons at the Sizzlin' Summer Circuit Show.

Adult W/T Equitation/Horsemanship, June Barn Show

Junior and his best turnout buddy, Mystic in the barn-show warmup pen.  They have a special bromance.

There Was a Horse Show.

I think I'm too old for this.  I seem to say that after every horse show, and then manage to forget about it as I get excited for the next show.  Horse shows are exhausting.  They are fun... still... I think... but mostly exhausting.  I'm starting to wonder how much longer I'll want to do it.  Definitely still planning on at least one more show this year.

Anyway so yeah, there was a horse show.  We showed.  We survived.

Overall it was a good show.  Not our best show, but it was good. I managed to remember all my patterns!  I'm very pleased with our placings considering the rough day and how unprepared I was coming right off of the busiest part of my work year. I apologize for failing to actually write down the number of people in each class and even writing which ribbon was for which class. I'm usually really good at that. I had four 2nds, a 3rd and a 4th.  We did get High Point Adult so we're well positioned to be in the running for the Circuit High Point Adult at the June show.

The Day:
I arrived at the show grounds before 7am. I claimed the only open stall in the barn, moved my stuff in, signed up for my classes, then received a stream of apologetic and frantic texts about how BODH (Barn Owner's Dear Husband) was responsible for a dead truck battery and AAA would be there in 30 minutes.  Show started at 8am.  I was in class 6. Allright, things could be worse...

So I prepped everything I could prep sans horse, chatted with some old friends and sat down to memorize my 4 patterns.  As time ticked by I wondered if I might miss one or two of my English classes.  I thought, oh well, it's only $5 per class and at least I can show the western classes.... FRAK.... I forgot my western hat.  I could see it in my mind's eye on the shelf in the closet, just as it looked on Friday when I saw it and thought "yup, I need to grab that" ... but didn't.

At 9:45am the trailer arrived, we were still only on class 3, and the BO brought me 2 hats to try.  We moved in (all my tack was in the trailer) got a tail attached, got dressed, and got to the arena in PLENTY of time for my first class:

Open English Halter, in which we did not place out of about 12. Junior was very vocal during the class but he stayed put really well.

Adult Hunter Showmanship was pretty good.  We got second out of about 5?  The winner was a guy who has won the class all but once against me.  I only beat him one year he had a super-greenie in the ring who was not having it.  Junior was good and it was a pattern I've done several times.

Adult Hunter Under Saddle went well.  I think I got 2nd? Maybe 3rd out of 6?  I was able to warm up outside for a good while, thankfully those youth classes are LARGE.  They were having classes with 2, 3, or 4 splits of 12-16 each.

Open Walk-Trot Hunter Under Saddle was huge.  There were 40 in the class so we had 3 splits.  We made it to the final round but did not place.

Adult Equitation was kind of a hot mess.  The pattern seemed fairly straight forward and I thought we did fair. We were 2nd? of 3?.

We had a decent break before my western showmanship class, but I didn't have the energy to go ride and wearing him down sometimes makes him angry instead of relaxed.  So we rested, but Junior did not pee so I knew the afternoon would be a ticking time bomb of naughty-horse.

Adult Western Showmanship was pretty good.  I think 3 in the class and I was 2nd. There was an "N" shape and I turned the inside turn too tight, plus I was insufferably tired by this point and there was a brief moment I completely forgot how to quarter.

Adult Western Pleasure was funny.  There were actually some really nice moments where I was getting a great little jog and even a decent loose-rein lope but we were DREADFULLY inconsistent.  Thankfully there were worse train wrecks than us and I think we got 4th?  out of 7?

Open Walk-Trot Pleasure was good but we didn't place in a class of I think 20.

Adult Horsemanship started bad and ended worse.  I stayed in the ring after walk/trot and Junior wasn't enjoying the mass exodus of the herd so we were already arguing before the class even started.  There were only two of us and the other girl was on a somewhat unfamiliar horse and she didn't seem confident about the pattern so I volunteered to go first. The pattern seemed to be going as well as could be expected until the "halt" quickly escalated into a sidepass-to-turn-on-the-forehand-to-halt. Apparently there are no extra points awarded for creativity and we were DFL. Oh well.  I was just glad it was over with. Honestly, I was ready to drop and I still had to load everything up and get back to the barn to take out braids and then back to my house.

I got home at 9:30 and went straight to bed.  I didn't unload the car until Tuesday and I haven't been out to the barn since Sunday.  All my show stuff is still in a pile in the spare room and my back seat has a pile that goes back to the barn.

Sadly NONE of my show clothes sold at the tack swap, so at least I had something to wear for Showmanship.  :)  I obeyed the unanimous vote and wore the black shirt outfit for the riding classes.  I'm still hoping to get my 2 new pieces done for the June show, as well as trying out my new Hobby Horse EZ Rider show pants which I was too lazy to hem before this show!  

Trash the Dress - Cowgirl Style!

I only just now realized I never posted this!  Sorry it's a few months late!

My friend TJ (code name, of course) got married this past summer.  You may remember her from one of the times she helped me out as an awesome groom or when she used JR as her Equine Nutrition course project, etc. 

Since moving to Kentucky, she still comes back for our annual weekend at Congress.  This year she requested the use of my pony for a trash the dress photo session.  Of course I agreed!  It was a bit chilly that morning, but we still had some fall color and the sun was lovely.  Junior was a very good model and he did everything TJ asked of him.  It's a good thing he loves wearing his blankets because the dress was down to his hocks!

Enjoy the photos!  

New Tack Locker Sign

It's a "thing" at my new barn to have a wooden plaque on your tack locker with your name and your horse's name.  The barn is nice enough to provide the plaque, we just need to provide a little craftivity.

I FINALLY got mine finished and hung today.

Ta da! 

A row of signs!

There is only a LITTLE bit of glitter on those pink letters.  :)

I chose black and silver with pink as the accent color - big surprise, right?  Not trusting I could free-hand it without messing it up, I used photoshop to create the layout and choose the fonts.  I used the pen tool to create the WP and HUS line drawings.  I then printed the whole image (backwards) on an overhead transparency sheet, you know, the clear plastic sheets we used before we had computer projectors in classrooms?  The  transfer sheet works like a rub-on transfer but comes out super light so I then painted over the lettering and the line drawings.  Lastly it got a solid, glossy coating of Polyurethane and took a good long day to dry.

So what do you think?

What The Friday?!? #4

Sometimes the research I have to do for my job leads me to strange things...

Wordless Wednesday

Photos courtesy of Chloe Faure Photography.

Is Thin In?

Does my horse look skinny to you? He's the one on the right, in case you're just joining us.  The other one is the Mustang who thinks Junior belongs to her. Photos courtesy of Max's Chloe.

I look forward to quizzing TJ on her BCS skills on Saturday morning before we spend the day at QH Congress. 

Knowing the BCS needs to consider the whole horse, I cannot see the ribs, can you? I can certainly feel them, but not see them and if the second photo with the awesome sunset lighting didn't pick them up more than a hint then they're not too bad. I think the topline is obviously bony with the hip points and the sacrum being most evident.  He still has a fatty spot behind the shoulder, though. 

Poor guy is built funny.  He's got a big strong chest but such a wussy hip.  He's missing balance between those bone structures.  It was pretty well masked when he was Fatty Boombatty, but not so much anymore.  

I'm also a terrible muther for the lack of real muscle building exercise he's been receiving.  

Anyway, plans are underway to fix it, I'm just looking for opinions on the visual.

I showed my mom the same pictures and her immediate response was "He's so skinny!!!"  Now, keep in mind that my Dear Mother had QH's in the 60's when horses like Wimpy were king.  BULK! So she can't be my only source of outside opinion.  She thought Junior looked good when he was an 8.5 on the BCS.  Eeew. Sorry, Mom, done picking on you now. :)

Cowboy Challenge #2

The equine gods were smiling on us Sunday and B and I were able to head up to the Cowboy Challenge at the Knox County Horse Park.  We had some trouble getting him into the trailer again, but I managed to stay calm and intent enough on getting him in so we managed.  It was a gorgeous day, weather could not have been better.  You may remember that we went to our first challenge last year at this time and we had so much fun.  We failed a few of the obstacles and Junior got about 3 feet into the little wooded part and spun around and ran out and I could not get him back in.  I was pleased with that first time but made it one of my Equilutions to place in a Cowboy Challenge...

This time we were able to enter a Novice division so there were only 7 competing as opposed to the 25 that were entered into the open division.  The course was the same.  

Junior was a such a good boy.  We had some issues getting lined up for the gate and he wasn't sure he wanted to stand still by the barrel with the water bucket when he could see his two favorite girls and his buddy Zip up in the arena.  We're still working on the separation anxiety, but he was great on the course.  He was calm and brave and I got lots of compliments on the ride and on how pretty he is.

After we competed we went on a nice trail at the Park.  Junior was really awesome.  He took the hills and the tight spaces and the deer all in stride.  Who knew he'd turn into a decent trail mount??!?

One of our friends won the Open on her mare, Rio, who Junior is very much in love with.  Ivy, a new red roan in the barn was there too and he couldn't decide who he was more in love with.  Adorable.

JR: "Hey, how YOU doin?"
Rio: "Whatever."

Rather than give a play by play I'll just show you.  It's a big course so it's hard to get a clear shot of it all, especially the parts behind the trees.  Back there we had to stop at a mailbox and raise and lower the mail flag, then we had to go through a round-bale feeder that's on it's side and buried.  It's a tight squeeze for us so it's a good thing he's not at all worried about it.

You can watch the video with the sound ON if you want to hear the wind, the commentator, and B and B.  I captioned the obstacles so you can watch in silence if you want.  Ignore the camera shaking due to Zip, the video I took of B and Zip while sitting on Junior was way worse.

And the outcome?  We got a 106 out of 120 and placed second!  He went right into the trailer for the way home so maybe we crossed back into the dimension where my horse trailers like a good boy and not like an idiot.  We shall see because...

The best part is that we get to do it again next week because it's a makeup date for the one in May that was rained out!  It's only Open, though so we have to compete with the big boys and girls, but it'll still be fun!

Your Anniversary Giveaways are FINALLY in the mail and on their way to you.  Thanks for entering!!!

Leather Anniversary Part II

Aw come on, did you really think I was going to let Junebug have all the "Leather Anniversary" fun?!?! Did you?!?!  I'll be breaking these in for our upcoming Cowboy Challenge!  I needed some modern western boots I could ride in and wear to events without worrying about hurting my show boots or looking like a newb in my lacers.  I finally found exactly what I was looking for.

I LOVE square toes!

Yes, I do love my Ariats.  I seem to have better luck with them than many.  I now have 4 pair of western (two are the old-school lacers), a pair of brown RT paddocks, and some Crown field boots.  I love them all.  I've been hunting for a pair in this style for a while and I LOVE the subtle pink/purple stitching and the brown distressed leather is lovely.

I highly recommend OnlineBootStore.com. Their prices are the lowest I've found and I've always gotten free shipping.  If you use "topten" in the coupon code you can get $10 off your order.  Only weird thing with them is that the "check order status" on their website never seems to work, but the shipping time isn't bad - took 8 business days to get from WI to OH with the free shipping. This is my second order from OnlineBootStore and I will be back... but hopefully I can hold off for a while!!!

Dr. J was out again this morning to check on the Thrush I thought we had, and again I fail at diagnosing my horse's issues.  He has no thrush, but he did have some sole cracks that were letting in enough poo/mud/bedding/etc. to make them goopy and yucky. Possible he HAD thrush in there but keeping him in and dry for a week was enough to get rid of it.  So all that is cut away and he can go back to his regular turnout schedule, a fact he was QUITE happy about today.

Don't forget to enter our Anniversary Give Away!!!!  Details Here.  I'll be cutting it off at 7pm Saturday September 17th, so you've got TWO DAYS left!  Thanks to all who have already entered!

Trail Ride!

** Pictures have been reposted.  Comment if there are more viewing problems.  Not sure why that happened. **

Quick Updates:

1. Thrush is essentially gone.  Some lingering moments of it in the rear, but I think we're out of that danger zone we were in with the RF. **I spoke too soon.  Another cavern in his RH.**
2. The grain transition went smoothly.  Thankfully that horse has proven to be pretty sturdy of gut, limb, and wind.  Knock on wood...  And I no longer have to haul my own grain so that's a nice bonus.  I'll keep you posted of any noticeable long-term effects of the change.
3. The mold has stayed off of the tack I treated with Leather Therapy Wash (WIN) but the box is showing signs of it again (FAIL) so another round of bleach-water will be happening today.  The humidity is going down so hopefully we'll be done with it soon. Hope.
4. My camera is malfunctioning.  I don't recommend dropping it lens first into the arena footing.  I do recommend the "accidental damage" warranty on anything you'll be using around horses.  So you must settle for iphone pictures until Best Buy makes good on that warranty.

And now we return to your regularly scheduled post:

On Tuesday we checked off one of our Equilutions for 2011.  We trailered to a local park and did our very first "real" trail riding!  Brenda and her horse Zip trailered us and Steve (another boarder) brought his adorable paint gelding, Skip.

Thankfully we have no fun stories to tell as everything went relatively smooth.  The only minor mishaps were caused by me.  Surprise.  I tried to use a head bumper on my rope halter but it was hard to get it to fit correctly and Junior managed to slip the halter while he was in the trailer.  I had to unload him with just a rope around his neck since I couldn't get it back on inside the trailer from his off side.  It took me a bit of maneuvering to put it back on while he nervously attacked the grass, but we managed.

In the unloading process he stepped on and pulled out a small chunk of his tail.  Not enough to notice, but enough to make me sad, and I have plans for it.

Once I got him tied to the trailer where the couldn't see the other two horses he started yelling but that's normal for him.

We got tacked up and I worked him for a minute in the little ring they have just to make sure he was listening and that the buttons were sill functioning.

We headed out.

He actually prefers to lead, which I find contradictory to his nervousness but he likes to set the pace and if the horse in front is too slow he'll be in his lap if I'm not constantly pulling him back.  So the lead is actually less stressful for us both.

There was one odd looking brush pile he didn't want to get closer to but it was easy to convince him to keep moving.  Once Steve and Skip got too far ahead and I had to have a bit of an argument about who gets to decide the pace but I won pretty easily.

He took a good long while before he totally relaxed and dropped his head along the grassier area, but I am very pleased with how well he did with the amount of wooded sections.  There were snorts and blows and tension, but such a huge improvement from his complete refusal to go into the woods at last fall's Cowboy Challenge.

It was a wonderful way to spend the last weekday I was on summer break.  Now it's back to teaching and designing and advising and committee meetings and less lazy riding days. :(

We really need to spend a day loading and unloading.  He wasn't great when I got him but KAT had a come-to-jesus moment with him and he was fine up until May when he scared himself by bumping the butt bar on his way in and he's been a turkey ever since.  He was better loading to go home but he was pushing against the butt bar really hard in anticipation of getting out.  He listened to me and quit so I could get the bar undone safely and he came out relatively calmly.  Just like everything else with this boy, we need mileage.

Bugs and a Butt

We're adding Supplements! We need more butt and less bugs!

Once upon a time I had Junior on SmartCalm because I thought he needed it. What he actually needed was more turnout and less grain, but live and learn, right? I've decided to try out a few new things...

For the summer we're going to try SmartPak's Smart Bug-Off. In the summer, Junior gets hives along his neck and back, usually around July. Dr. J (our vet) took a look at them last summer. I'd rather not make him go through that so if this works, then great. Other fly protection we use is a fly mask with nose and ears (also protects his nose and cyst eye from UV) and I purchased an Amigo combo fly sheet for this year to replace the harder mesh one I got for super cheap at a tent sale and Gunner proceeded to tear holes in. He got the hives even with that fly sheet. Since his ears are clipped I feel better with added protection.

I got enough BugOff to last into August so if he still gets hives in July we won't get another bucket next year.

We're also going to try Tri-Amino to add muscle building protein. My reasoning for this? Well, his weight is good right now, but I can't seem to build up his topline enough. It's gotten better since the really pointy time in the winter, but seems to have hit a plateau and I think the photos of when I bought him show a more developed topline even though he was much thinner than he is now and I'm pretty certain we're working harder now then he was just before I bought him. It's hard to know precisely how much protein is in his diet since our hay varies and right now grazing time is inconsistent due to our wettest spring on record, but I know his grain is lower in protein than most, so if the hay isn't making up the difference then that could be a reason. When I did the hay analysis before (See sidebar topic of Equine Nutrition) he was getting enough, but who knows what it is now. I'm starting with a 45 day supply to see how it goes. I know that the supplement won't do any good without proper conditioning exercises, so to give it a fair chance we'll continue working hard on conditioning, which has admittedly slumped in the weeks since my injury the day of the show and it's driving me crazy not to be able to ride along the trails/fields to get some hill work in! The "Backing over Poles" excercise in The Book doesn't work because he will just step ON the pole or push it backwards. Nerd.

Back to the supplements.

My Barn Manager is awesome which means that I don't have to measure my own supplements. Yay! Or my own feed! Yay! But for the sake of having something to blog about I filled the first week's worth.

A How-To guide on our Feeding System:

1) Gather supplements and containers, 7 for once-a-day, 14 for twice-a-day. Having a grey tabby named Brutus nearby is helpful but not necessary. Et tu?

2)Insert properly measured supplements and label. The BugOff is pellets, and the Tri-Amino is sort of a granulated powder.

3)Load each meal's supplements into appropriate bucket in the same order as the horses are stalled/fed, which is why Junior's is buried closer to the bottom since he's about a dozen stalls in.

4)At mealtime, each horse on the "Barn Grain" (currently Strategy Healthy Edge), is fed out of a bin on the feed cart. Each horse on a different feed (these include Strategy, Kalm N EZ, Equine Senior, and others) has their own labeled container. There is a chart on the cart listing which horse get supplements, which have their own bucket, and how much barn grain they get. After each meal the feeder re-fills all the buckets and swaps the empty supplement bucket out for the next full one. This is part of my morning feeding duties on Sundays and Mondays. I really enjoy the organization of it. :)

He'll be getting his supplements in the AM feeding but I wanted to give it to him tonight to see how he'd take it....

All seemed well until....

I left him alone for a while and came back to find this:

SOOOOOO unlike this horse to leave ANYTHING in his feed bin and clearly he tried very hard to avoid the Tri-Amino and actually left grain. Crap. I didn't see any of the BugsOff left. I left the feed tub in the stall for the night, hoping he gets bored enough to eat it, otherwise we're in trouble....

Tomorrow I have a lesson with the clinician from the last show clinic. We'll be working on Equitation and Showmanship. While my back was bad I did more showmanship practice than riding and tried to work on getting a speedier cadence. We'll see how it goes!

Momma's Special Boy

After a second day with the bit I think it's actually a no-go. I was able to see his shadow today so I could see that he was gaping more than I initially thought. I also took some video and didn't like what I saw. He tossed his head up several times. I also don't like the look of the long shanks. The bit itself is pretty, but it's not a pretty picture on his head. The cosmetics are the last of my concerns, but I do show so the overall picture needs to be considered.

So I'm back to shopping. Big thanks to Nicole and eventer79 for telling me about the Myler bit trials. I have already found a few sources so I'll be considering that service in my search.

After watching the Versatile Horse and Rider Competition at Equine Affaire on Friday, we started to get itching for obstacles. We have a ton of stuff at the barn but dragging it all out and putting it all away by yourself sucks, So today, along with a barn mate and another friend, we set up a bunch of obstacle stuff to play around with. He is soooo not afraid of things. He doesn't always understand what I'm asking for and sometimes doesn't want to do things exactly how I want him to, but he pretty much "does" everything. Not always pretty, but done. He's getting a lot better at moving one foot at a time to get closer to something or to maneuver around something like the rope gate.

Our one real goal for today (other than giving the bit a second go) was side passing over a barrel. He doesn't love side passing over objects, and large objects are the hardest, so it took a good while and many attempts to get him to do it. Then it wasn't a big deal. I cannot wait for the first Cowboy Challenge!!!

From our bath yesterday, taken by Max's Chloe: I call it "Momma's Special Boy..."

Saddle Search - Part V - The Order

I ordered a saddle today. In true Overanxious form, I will spend from now until it arrives freaking out that I have made a horrible, horrible mistake. A horrible, horrible custom-ordered mistake. The guy at Rod's was extremely helpful and even shaved a bit off the price for me. He was very helpful, even calling back to confirm the details a second time to make sure.

I ordered the 2736 in a 15" seat. When I rode in the Border Reiner I seemed to have to put the stirrups almost all the way up and couldn't really get the hobbles on. I gave them my inseam measurement and they are giving me the "Youth" fenders instead of the regular ones. Golly I hope they are right about that! I just hope the fender bump isn't at my knee!!!

Color? OH, well I think it's best if I keep that part a secret since it's been the topic of debate. :) You can't wait 8 weeks, can't you?

I will tell you that I consulted a local judge who generously provided me with honest professional advice on the matter. I think I have made the right decision, but I'm still a bit freaked out.

The question is... CAN I keep it a secret?

I doubt Junior can.....

"Hey Chevy, guess what?!?!"

Update and Award

First the update...

I got some advice from my wonderful dressage trainer. I sent her the same info I gave you all, and since she's seen him do this in person I figured she's a good place to start. She said he's not using his left hind. She said he needs to get rounder and over his back so he can use his hind end. She told me to slow him down, get him over his back, get his belly swinging and keep him at the trot. I will see her on the 29th and she can do some body work with him then, too. In the mean time I'm going to do exactly what she said. I started tonight.

I did about a 25 minute ride. His neck seemed very stiff, probably from the lunging yesterday and the very damp weather. I tried to massage it and did our carrotless stretches before and after the ride. I only felt his leg go about twice. His attitude, though not excited about the work, was fine. No defiance or arguments. He did what I asked, had a soft wet mouth, and I could see him licking and chewing (in our shadow silhouette) so I don't think he's hurting or anything.

Found out I can do the Alpha Stim with a gel instead of water so we might do some of that, too. Of course the next five weeks is going to be my busiest time of the year at work, so I have some juggling acts to do about going to the barn as often as I feel I should be, even if it's just for stretches and massages.

Anyway, my dear blog-friend In2paints, over at R Lil Bit of Cash has awarded me the "Stylish Blogger Award."

As with all of these little awards, there are 4 duties to perform to receive this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

I'll be honest that I don't even READ 15 blogs! So I'm going to narrow that down to 5. Sorry for breaking the rules, but that's just the way it is.

1. Thank you, In2paints for thinking we are stylish! Your award was a bright spot in my recent overanxious worries! For those of you who do not follow Becca, Lilly, and AJ, you really should. There are great pictures, and though they've been having a bit of a rough year, their journey is fascinating and heart warming.

2. 7 things about myself...

• I just bought what I consider to be my first "grown-up lady" purse and I'm 31 29 years old!
• I almost completely stopped cooking when I began living alone about 4 years ago. I wascooking AND eating for 4 and I couldn't make it stop. So now, sadly, I eat a lot of "food-in-a-box" otherwise I'd weigh 200 lbs. I'm trying to cook more... but there's also that little issue of time...
• When I moved to Ohio there was a washer and dryer in my apartment. It was an old rental unit. The apartment managers clearly did not know it was there so when I moved last September to another unit I took it with me... and they never said a thing about it. WIN!!!
• I have 2 unfinished quilting projects I started in the summer of 2004....
• When I'm stressed and have major work deadlines I will clean and organize my house/tack box/car, anything but actually do the work. This is the worst when I have papers to grade.
• My recyclables really need to be taken out, but they keep moving the drop-off locations and now it's a place I never go.
• This morning I ordered 3 custom-made lime/black zebra print biketards (leotards with bike-short length shorts) for 3 college boys who do not yet know they will be dancing in them in front of the entire campus/community..... bwahaha.... sometimes my job rules.

3. Award 5 great bloggers!

1. Bexley Chickens is a blog about four urban chickens and their family. Since raising chickens was a very big part of my life for a few years, I find their pictures and videos to be a slice of home. It has also been very educational about the increasing trend in "backyard" chickens in urban environments.
2. Welcome to Joshland is a blog by a very active member of the Cystic Fibrosis community. Whether or not you know someone whose life has been affected by CF, Josh's blog is full of honesty, reality, and hope that you won't find very many places. I knew Josh in the 5th grade but my family moved away that summer. We found eachother many years later in the blog-o-sphere. It's a small world.
3. Eventing A GoGo is a blog about a girl and her extremely stylish and beautiful mare, Gogo. They focus on eventing and the barefoot horse which I as a barefoot showing horse person enjoy. And NOTHING is as stylish as Gogo's most recent clip job!
4. Musings From the Judge's Box is a blog by an open horse show judge. She is extremely kind in her answering of questions (including a recent slew of my own!) and gives honest and useful answers. I think I would like to show under her someday!
5. Side Saddle Girl is across the pond! She rides side saddle on EITHER SIDE and has lots of posts about side saddle habits and tack which really appeal to my clothing history addiction.

4. Here I go!!!

And here's some pictures from yesterday of Junior's buddy, Little Red. SOOO FUZZYYYYY! I cannot resist petting him. I want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere with me.