Happiness Is.........

Hi all, still on the road..... now we are in sunny Miami, Florida.

Happiness Is.....

Sun instead of Snow (which it is doing at my house right now)

Having my family together for Thanksgiving dinner!

Watching my kids play with my brother in the pool last evening

Not having to cook a damn thing in over a week!

Not having to do the dishes!

High speed internet at this hotel! (it rocks!)

Reading all your blogs and smiling

Warm sticky cinnimon buns here at the holiday inn express

80 degree weather in the middle of November (why did I move away?)

The ability to share my life and travels with all of you!

Stay safe and wish us luck traveling home tomorrow, it is supposed to snow from Ky northward. I will be back soon with travel pictures!

hey from the road

I am able to post tonight thanks to my father in-laws computer but must keep it short.

We are here in Florida and it is warm at least compared to what it is at home. Sunny and 70 here today. The kidlets are mad we can't swim in the ocean but maybe toward the middle of the week. It is stressful here but thanks to mass quantities of rum I am surviving.

I got a call from Mike yesterday and Harley sold. The young lady of fourteen bought him. Her name is Abby. She is going to keep him at the Craig's through winter and let Cory put some more training on him. I am so pleased that she bought him I think it will be a good fit. I stopped and saw Frankie on the way out of town on Friday, mostly to let Carson meet him. Frankie was having breakfast when we came in the barn but came right over and sniffed Carson's head and checked him out. Carson said he was strange looking but seemed happy that he took such an interest in him.

Just three more nights of semi hell and then I am Miami bound to see my family.
I am sure that is going to be a little stressful as well but I am missing them.

I will try to check in as often as I can and read what you are all up to, for now
I leave you with a big sunny hug!

Got that lovin feeling

Whoops, I meant to post this in my last post so as not to be thought an ingrate.

My lovely southern friend ,Mrs Mom down yonder at Oh Horse Feathers bestowed upon me this wonderful award



Mrs Mom you are a gem! Thank you, Thank you , Thank you! Your friendship means alot to me. Nice to feel loved!

Girl in a whirlwind

Where has this week gone?? I know where it has gone, out the window. I am truly a girl in a whirlwind right now. It started last Friday evening when hubby returned from the road and pronounced "We are going to Florida for Thanksgiving". What????
We decided no Florida trip this year , remember?? Sigh.....

For those of you who don't know, that is my hometown. Both of our families all live there. It has been a year since I have seen any of my siblings. We did see hub's family in July on that fabulous cruise. So, although I am rushed I am looking forward to seeing sisters and brothers for the holiday.

But, I made a promise to the local historical museum that I would put our house on the Christmas home tour this year. It is to be done on the 5th of December. We are leaving tomorrow and will not return until the 30th. Yes, that is rushing. So this week I have been the decorating diva. I have four of the five trees up and decorated and all the outside stuff is up also. I am sitting pretty well. Still I am stressed.

On top of this I volunteered to make the patterns for our next ranch horse show which is December 6-7 . Yep it is going to be a real busy weekend. I did the showmanship, horsemanship and trail patterns for the show. I need the practice if I hope to get that judge's card in February.

Mike called and both people who tried Harley last weekend are coming again on Saturday to see him again. Hopefully he will make a good impression on one of them.
I haven't been to see Frankie but Mike reports he is coming along good. Tiffany snapped some pictures last weekend while we were there and unfortunately did not have a big enough flash for the indoor so most are to dark to see. Here is a head shot of him though.






Turns out his eyes are blue after all not green as I thought.


I will try to blog from the road but who knows what the trip will hold? I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy trails....

On to the next big thing

I survived. It wasn't all that bad to tell you the truth. Except for the weather, it was 40 and raining/snowing windy and down right disgusting. Harley traveled well all bundled up in his hood and blanket, the people probably thought he was a pampered show horse. There were actually two people there to try him. The first was a young lady of 14 years of age that rode him positively wonderfully. Mike had Frankie tied up waiting for me, he was covered in mud! Just a little preview of what life was to be for me and keeping him clean. Cory had great fun telling me "who in their right mind would buy a white horse." all in jest of course. I reminded him that Frankie is NOT white, but a beautiful creme or pearl color. I also told him I could not wait to bathe him and discover truly what color he really is! The young lady riding Harley was just aglow in the arena. When I entered riding Frankie she remarked at how fast Harley was and how sensitive his ques were. She then told me she had to pound on her horse to get him to go. I thought they looked marvelous together and I sincerely hope she buys him. The other buyer was a middle aged man, rather quiet and reserved, he did not ride Harley but watched the girl. He asked me some questions about Harley and that was that. I was surprised later when Mike told me he really liked Harley.

Mike rode Frankie after I did and it was then that I could see all the progress he had made in just two weeks. I was riding him rather timid and Mike was really getting him to do so much more than me. Mike said it was all normal and that it was going to take me awhile to adjust to a new horse again. Sigh..... believe it or not this is my least favorite part. I am impatient in nature and I really do not relish the starting over part. Frankie is a good sport though and I truly enjoy riding him he is such a peach. Don't we look happy?








You can see from these photos how nice and dirty he is. A bath will have to wait since the weather has turned suddenly winter here and I do not want to risk getting him a chill. I guess spring will bring a new horse again when he is clean. Check out those horrendously muddy legs!




Thanks for all your sweet comments on the goodbye with Harley. I feel good in my decision and I think it is probably best for all of us. For now I am on to the next big thing...... Frankie.. and boy you should see me struggle to climb on up there!

The long goodbye

Well, the day has come for the goodbye. Tomorrow I will load Harley for the last time and say my goodbye's. I am taking him to the Craig's barn tomorrow for the official swap. They have some folks coming to try him tomorrow and more later this week if tomorrow guy doesn't take him. My feelings are mixed of course. Today a rainy and dreary day set the mood. He was his usual little scampish self doing his best to aggravate me. Some things I will miss about the little devil; his baby style whinny whenever he hears or sees me, the neatness he keeps his stall, that beautiful long black mane. Things I will not miss; lunging at my kids, being a pain in the ass to catch most days. I hope someone gets him and takes him all the way, I know he is a great little horse with a great future ahead. I learned a lot from this little guy in the two years I owned him. He was/is probably the most athletic and talented horse I have owned as of yet. Good friend Tiffany is riding with me tomorrow for support, yeah right she just wants to see and ride Frankie! Yes it is gonna be a long goodbye........

Let's make a deal

I'm back! Actually I got back Monday night but yesterday I just could not get out of my own way to post. I have lots to tell you and some pictures to show you if I ever get them downloaded to my computer. Am I that busy? No, just in the dumps....
Still....... no particular reason just lots of little annoyances and such.

The North American expo was fun. There was plenty to look at and the kids had a blast. I am sorry to report that I did not buy one stinking thing. What? I know, I know I let you all down. Really I couldn't find a hat I liked or a belt that would do either and those are the two things I really wanted. Hubby made up for my loss, he bought a new pair of boots, cell phone holster, socks and toys for the kiddos.

I did get to watch Corey ride and some of the non pro friends from his barn compete also. Corey won the open class on a client's paint horse and looked beautiful doing it. Someday......sigh.

Enough of that I know the news you are all waiting for.......

Frankie!

Here is my let's make a deal proposal to Mike the other day.
"I really like Frankie but am concerned about him not being finished, how long do you estimate before he is finished" Mike replies "He is about 120 days from finished." Well then I propose " I am willing to trade Harley for Frankie and the 120 days training to finish him". Mike pauses a long moment and says " I will propose it to his owners and see what we come up with."

Two long days later........
Mike calls and says "His owners are willing to do the trade, but only half the training time." This meaning they will pay thru the end of the year on Frankie than it is my bill. After much thinking and consideration to the horse market right now and the aggravation factor of selling a horse I decided it was a good plan.

So folks, YES the Frankie boy is mine! We haven't worked out when Harley will go down to Mike and Cory's but Frankie will stay until March. They have a few different leads for Harley so hopefully he will find someone fit for him soon.
Thus my news for the day... I am crawling back in my hole for awhile wake me when winter is over!

Gone

Here I am walking around my house way..... to early this am. My kids are up before the dawn or even the crack of it. They are excited. We are leaving today to go to the North American Expo and Horse Show. A big quarter horse show and shopping venue in Louisville. They think it is another horse show I am sure, which means to them camping and friends and running amuck. Sigh..... they will be disappointed when we get there.

Not me, I am going shopping! Well, actually I don't need anything but hubby does need a new pair of boots. Me, a new straw hat with stampede string is about all I really need. But..... let's just see what I can find.

Really I am going mostly to watch Cory show. Monday he is showing two open horses and one of the non pro's in his barn that I ride with sometimes is showing her new horse as well.

The weather has turned cold and I guess winter is officially arriving. The horses will get their pajamas on before I leave and the feeder stuffed with hay.

I have news on the Frankie front, but..... you will have to wait until Tuesday for that post.

Happy trails.......

Dream land

How many of you believe your dreams hold clues to the future? I am I know a sort of different type of person. I believe strongly in my "gut" feelings and I can read people better than most. I have what most my friends call a "spidey sense", I just seem to know when things are not quite right with someone or something. Intuition?
Who knows, I do not ponder it that much, it just is .......

My dreams, well they sometimes frighten me with the truths they hold. I sometimes dream the same thing for days in a row and then it happens. This has happened my whole life. I used to frequent a woman who read your Aura, she was amazing and some might call it quackery but it truly helped me with loads of baggage from my childhood. She felt that I had the gift also. I am not pursuing it , I just know that I have another sense as I call it.

My Mom has been gone for twenty years now, but she still frequents my dreams every week. The dreams with her in them are especially special since I feel like she is guiding me in her own way. For the past three nights I have dreamed and she has been in each one. Last night she came to me riding Frankie! She is always in white when I dream about her and to see her riding this cream horse was strange. We had a conversation about Frankie and she loved him. Not sure if this is my sub conscious playing tricks on me or what.

This morning I pitched an offer to Mike on Frankie and we shall see if it flys.
If it is meant to be than so be it.

I appreciate all your insights and thoughts on this subject and quite frankly I went with my heart last time with Harley and well we know the results. This time I am trying to be more practical and think long term for my family. Who knows maybe if my kids rock out on him I will find another "one" for me. Meanwhile nothing wrong with a well broke nice gelding around here.

Will keep ya posted!

Back on track

I am back, and back on track....well mostly. I still have the head cold and all the lovely stuff that goes along with it, coughing, runny nose and well you know the drill. I survived the teacher conference for my kindergartner without strangling the teacher or losing my cool. I really don't think it will help though, there are just too many kids in one class (21). Really not to many other options for us either, the private schools are way across town and rather expensive, I would spend my days driving about 22 miles each way to drop him off and pick him back up. Sigh....

I went down to the Craig's again yesterday afternoon and tried "Frankie" the Perlino again and another sorrel mare. YES~ I did remember the camera. I only got pictures of Frankie in the pasture not under saddle but it will give you the general idea.

You ready?

Here he is.......














Go ahead and give me your honest first thoughts. Does his color freak you out or catch your interest?



I took Harley down there with me yesterday and had a small lesson on him as well.
He was his usual fired up self. Mike brought out Frankie and rode him a piece, outside. It was a very pleasant and warm sunny day and I wanted to see how Frankie did outside. He did squint somewhat in the sun but it really did not seem to affect him in anyway. I rode him for about a half hour and he was great. I was laughing so much because he is so sensitive that when I would clear my throat or cough he would stop. I guess he could feel my stomach muscles tighten each time I coughed and he took it as the cue to stop. So nice to ride such a tuned machine, but really different from Harley. He stands 15.1 so the whole stride and movement is strange to me. He really drives from the rear also which is great but makes me feel like I am sort of riding a marsh mellow. I felt like I was all over the place but several riders out there commented on how much fun he looked like to ride and that I looked great on him. I took him out back to a small patch of woods and he left the other horses with no problem and just walked along happily. Can't really find a dent in him.

Mike brought out another little mare for me to try , she is very well bred and six years old. She is actually a hare smaller than Harley and very cute in the face. She has had 6 mos cutting training around 2 years ago. I noticed immediately that she is a timid mare when you approach her. Almost fear in her eyes as I talked to her and stroked her face. She rode nicely, great spins and very comfortable. She has a big motor, but... she came right back to my hand and was very controllable.
I bet she is quick on a cow. Her stops were not great and the lead change one direction is sloppy. I only tell you all this because the price on her is $6500.
and when I see that I am thinking I should be able to go show now at that price.
Her major flaw? Oh yes there is usually one in all of them. She is horrible for the farrier, in fact it was put to me as this "she is a bitch to shoe". When I inquired further I was told she needed to be drugged or laid down to shoe! Now I have a great farrier, but he is absolutely not tolerant of that nonsense and rightfully so. Mrs. Mom can she be fixed? I'm told she was not always this way only since this last owner. She kicks and snatches her leg away and scoots or whatever she has to do to get away. Sounds like someone put her rear leg in a cradle and scared the be jeez out of her and now she has figured out how to get away with it. I am thinking if she figured this out, what is to stop her from kicking out at my boys or something. Like her but....... don't think so.

Here are some pictures of her.













And so the search continues....

Haven't ruled out Frankie just not sure since he really still needs another 120 days to finish him.

Here is the thing also. I really like my horse to have a little "fire" however, I just want it to be a controlled fire not wide spread. I just do not know if I would be happy with such a quiet fellow. But, he would probably make the perfect mount for me to learn lots of maneuvers on quietly and correctly first and he is safe for my kids. Such decisions......

Stay tuned and as always your thoughts welcome!

A day in the life...

Sorry, been absent and left you hanging again.....I know. I have been in one of my funk's this week. No special reason just one of those times I battle every once and a while. I have a head cold that dear hubby brought home from the road and that is not helping matters much. The weather has been unseasonably warm and should help right???

I am having some issues with my son Carson's kindergarten teacher and have to have the conference tomorrow about it. He came home crying telling me what a bad day he had last week. After much prying it is because he doesn't finish his work fast enough. Pissed me off! I mean come on, he is five! Tried to let it calm a bit before I go in guns a blazing.... don't think it has settled with me. I know he is a bit slow but I mean we are talking Kindergarten folks. It is not Okay for a child to come home crying for any reason.

Today Harley discovered that the electric fence is not working and pushed on it and snapped a fence post and made more work for me tomorrow. My fault I know but dang I just can't seem to get caught up.

I called Mike at the Craig's and asked when I could come try the horses again. The paint mare is sold already. I am going tomorrow afternoon to ride "Frankie" again, he is the Perlino. I talked to my vet about any known issues with sun burn or cancer or eye site with the color and he said it is all myth. In fact they are really just a double dilute gene, sort of a buckskin without the black. It made me feel somewhat better and I decided that it is definitely worth another ride. I am taking the Harley man to ride also and let Mike ride him as well. Something to look forward to.....

I WILL take the camera this time and snap some photos of "Frankie" for you. Interestingly enough his owner calls him that because of his blue eyes which reminded her of Frank Sinatra. They looked green to me, but I will check again tomorrow. Wish me luck.