More scenes from Rolex

Hope you enjoyed the photos from Rolex yesterday, today I will share the rest with you. No, I am not venturing into eventing folks I just love watching anything to do with horses. Think I will stick to riding the trails and chasing an occasional cow or two. Frankie and I worked on backing down the drop off hill yesterday and also on trotting at hand. He got the backing part down but trotting at hand will require some more work. It is necessary if I am to show him in conformation classes at the ranch horse shows. Now onto more Rolex stuff:


After watching several horses go at the head of the lake jump we moved on to view the sunken road jump. This one was actually the jump before the lake one.
Here the rider had to jump a fence constructed of what looked like driftwood then jump down into a sand pit, jump back up out of the sand pit and over another big wood jump. We did see one refusal on this jump at the last element, however in eventing they can just try to complete the portion they refused instead of doing the whole sequence again.





In the picture above the rider has cleared the first fence and is heading to the jump down portion.








Unfortunately my camera has a really long delay so I could not get the gray horse in sequence for you to see. This is the middle part of the "road" the sand pit they jump down into and out of.





Here the rider has jumped back up out of the pit and is approaching the final jump of this sequence. There was not much room between the jump up and this next jump
I would guess maybe three strides for these horses. Just incredible stuff to watch!


We then move on to another jump called the log cabins, yes they were two little log cabins to jump. I could not get a true picture of this layout for you but the line between these jumps is what made it so difficult. They had to jump the first one on a hill then do a sharp 90 degree turn to the left to go up another hill and jump the second one. To make it harder there was a chimney on the second one in the middle of the roof, which meant they could not jump the center of the jump without hitting it.







In the photo above the rider is clearing the first cabin, can you see how she is having to turn the horse for the next jump even before the landing??







Here is the second cabin she did a really nice job on this jump!








This is actually another horse and rider doing the second cabin I just love the sky in this picture.


We did watch some more jumps but I retired my camera and just watched the rest of the day. Unfortunately we did hear of one horse that collapsed on the field and later found out he hit a jump and broke a leg, he was euthanized on the spot.
Sad news and it did dampen the spirits, but as with any sporting event accidents are inevitable.

Later that evening us girls convened on my new little farmhouse and proceeded to get happy with cocktails and reminiscing. We stayed up til midnight and laughed until we cried. All in all a great weekend that I will remember for a long time to come.

Hope you enjoyed the ride!

Trail riding cowgirl went to........

Sorry to have kept you in suspense all day but I had acres upon acres of mean green grass to mow all day. This mowing two places is really starting to suck. I am not complaining ....honest, I would much rather it be warm and have to mow than that winter crap any day.

No Luanne I did not make Keenland, Not Louisville either folks.... but a few of you guessed right!



Drum roll please.........


Cowgirl went to:







Yeah, ROLEX kids!!


For those of you unfamiliar, it is a three day event of international level.
We are talking the best of the best here, some serious riding for sure.




You see it pays to have friends in high places. :-)
BFF Susan works at USHJ at the horse park and was able to score us passes to the event. I called Tiffany who is still here in Indiana thanks to a big problem with the purchase of her new house in Detroit, she rides three day event so she was more than siked to come down and attend. I am so glad she did, she really was able to explain the jumps and how it all came together.

Here she is at the Head of the Lake jump








Here is the sequence of the jumps at this particular jump. It involved five different jumps right there in front of us. Incredible stuff!














If you look to the far right of the picture above you will see the first jump a huge log jump then they are on to the brush jump down into the water.














Then they go on to jump this wood bottomed brush jump in the water, they then must make a sharp 90 degree turn and jump up out of the water and over this next jump.














This is of course timed and if you think they are just cantering along slowly you are mistaken. Can you tell how this horse is moving out here?












Awesome athletes I tell you, both horses and riders. I have lots more to share but must get a run on. I will share more tomorrow including the after party!

Weekend recap

I am back here in Indiana after a weekend in Ky again. It was quite the weekend folks! I left on Thursday afternoon with YES! a trailer load of furniture finally!
The sun was a shining and it was just perfect all weekend! We actually hit 86 degrees today!!

I spent Thursday afternoon unloading the trailer with hubby and Friday morning unpacking boxes. Some quick errands on Friday afternoon and a stop at the playground for the kiddies, then we grilled and ate outdoors on the patio, how nice!

There were lots of new foal babies to view this weekend and my kids affectionately named them all including black beauty and brownie!

On Saturday I had the best time with girlfriends Susan and Tiffany! Gonna keep you in suspense as to where we went but I will give you hints.....
It is a world class event that takes place at the horse park once a year.....
I took lots of pictures and IF..... my camera cooperates I will post them tomorrow.

I am sunburned and worn out tonight .... Any guesses where I went????

Checking In

Forgive me fellow bloggers it has been one week since my last posting......

I truly miss you and reading your blogs. It is just so stinking busy right now that I cannot even think straight.

Last week was another packing frenzy and I had to get my stuff together for a ranch horse clinic the club hosted. Saturday it was gorgeous weather and the clinic was great. I enjoyed the day off for a change, but found myself wishing I had brought Frankie every hour. I did not bring him as hubby was busy packing the trailer for the next run to Kentucky. I really could have introduced him to some great things...sigh..... next time.

Sunday I awoke to yet more rain.....ugh! We went to Ky anyway. We did manage to get the trailer unpacked in between downpours. We spent the night and then visited schools for the kiddos on Monday. We drove home in the rain again. Today was more scattered rain but managed to get some more things packed in between showers. The plan is to leave on Thursday this week and get some serious stuff moved. The weather is supposed to be great and I am looking forward to it.

I did sneak in some Frankie time today and he is shedding off nicely. I long to ride him but now the ground is to wet. Happy to report Jane is finely started to shed as well. I know this is short but thought I would at least check in so you know I am still alive. Looking forward to when this is over and I am telling you about my trail rides again.

Happy trails...

April showers bring.......

April showers bring May flowers right? Then hell I should be in a virtual flower patch next month. April showers bring an irritable Carolyn around here. The rain started on Thursday evening and rained all day Friday, making it impossible for me to move furniture this past weekend. I really wanted to move some of the pieces I don't use much because I wanted to unpack some boxes so I could reuse them to pack more stuff. Sigh..... It rained all day yesterday and is still raining today.
Frankie and Jane are in thier stalls and I think they have had enough of that. The pasture is just a big ole mosh pit right now and I can't bear to turn them out there.
Mostly because I have them all groomed up nice and I am afraid they may harm themselves being goofy in all that slick mud.

One good thing about the rain is I got to spend time with them inside more than usual. Frankie has got the shedding machine going and Jane is just starting to shed.
I am using a lava brick on them and Frankie is really starting to glow. He is such a character, while I was grooming him yesterday he picked all through my brush box and carried items around his stall in his mouth. I wish I had my camera! He had a pink hoof pick hanging out of his mouth at one point and it just cracked me up.
The boys groomed Jane and she stood so perfectly while they fussed and tried their best to brush and comb her hair. I noticed a small sore under her jaw and cleaned it up. Wondering if it is an abscess or if she got into something and cut it. It is perfectly round and red so makes me think abscess. Will have to keep my eye on it.

Praying for Sun soon.

Happy trails......

Here comes Peter cottontail

Yep, here comes Peter cottontail hopping down the bunny trail







This is a cake I made for my 5 year olds Kindergarten class today. We are having an Easter theme party for fun.


Unfortunately, the only trail I will hoppin down this weekend will be interstate 75 with another load of stuff to Valkyre house. I am not complaining ....really. Its just the weather is just now starting to get nice and I long to be riding Frankie.
Yesterday the farrier came and he got a pedicure and he commented on how much better he is getting about being handled and with his feet. Yes! the ground work is paying off. Actually it is good that I am spending the only free time I have working with him on the ground. Ray hunt once said to me that you lead a horse from his back just as you lead from the ground. So I figure all our ground work will pay off when I actually do get to start riding.

Next weekend the ranch horse club is putting on a Versatility Clinic with a great clinician Ben Bowman. You may recall I took a clinic with him last year with Harley.
He really does a nice job and I am looking forward to going there. It is limited to ten riders and I have 8 signed up as of now. If it does not fill I may take Frankie just for some experience. He has never seen cows and the hauling would be good for him.

Speaking of hauling. A friend of mine had an idea to try for the woes I am having getting Frankie to back out of my trailer. She suggested working with him on the ground backing down inclines or step downs. Here at this house I have the perfect spot for this, the back lane is lower than the sides so I can step him down from the grass onto the gravel drive. I did not have time to try it yesterday with the rain but next week it is a go. Can't hurt to try it.

I am off to a room of 21 happy, energetic five year olds now wish me luck!

Happy trails.....

Kentucky scenes

I am back!

What a weekend. Wish I had spent it with my horses, but had to get the move on.
We left on Friday afternoon as I had to go and change all the utilities in Ky into my name. I had to do some of them in the flesh and show I.D. and give them a deposit. Details.. details...

Upon arriving at Valkyre house, (that is what we are calling home #2 right now)we discovered that the key for the front gate did not work. I hiked down the hill to the stud farm office and retrieved one from the receptionist, she was nice enough to drive me back up the hill to the gate. It was windy and cold, not the weather I ordered at all! Karen was kind enough to let me keep the key and go and get copies made. Next came the fun part. The entry to the drive has two concrete pillars, one on each side making getting a trailer in there dicey. Unfortunately there is a fence directly across the street making it difficult to swing out far enough to clear the pillars with the trailer. Let me tell you all it was touch and go. Now I am well versed at driving a trailer but thank goodness hubby is a professional or else it would not have happened. After much maneuvering and getting the truck muddy from the side of the road we did get it in there. We unhooked the trailer and I set off to town to do the switching of utilities and have keys made. Hubby stayed behind with the kidlets and unloaded boxes, God bless him. Friday evening we met Susan in town at a Ruby Tuesday for dinner, how nice to see her more than every once in awhile. Home we went and blew up our airbeds which would serve as our sleeping arrangements for the weekend. The kids thought this was great fun and they made a "fort" in one of the smaller rooms upstairs. We all slept well and woke up happy to be in our "new" house. Saturday it was sunny and really nice! I am going to share some pictures with you.

This is the kitchen, very uh pinky-orange but bright














Here is the view out the back of the kitchen, no horses in the closest pasture today but can you see the newborn foal up on the hill to the left of his momma?







There are so many foals, I think I counted 18 this weekend. They keep them separate for a little bit then turn them out together when they get a little older.

Here is a shot of the detached garage behind the house. My little guy was helping me take some pictures but he did not want to pose for one.










Here is hubby taking a Michelob break on the back deck. We brought down our patio set just for this reason.





Here is the view from the room which will be my office.





If you look closely you can see a black horse challenging the gray horse.
The black horse is a stud, his name is "Lured". I know this because he had a brass plate on his halter that said it. He is very curious as to what is going on in our yard and he agreed to pose for a few pictures before he was led off to the "ladies" barn to perform his duties.







He is huge, the top of this fence is at my neck so I am guessing he stands 17 plus hands.

Here he is looking away at all the foals up on the hill behind him.






This is one of the trees in the side yard, I think it is a flowering crab apple?
This picture does not do it justice it is beautiful!





Sunday we had breakfast and then emptied the rest of the trailer at the storage unit.
Then we headed over to Susan's house and helped her with a few things around the farm. We started back for Indiana and the sky's let loose most of the way. By the time we got home it was 46 and raining, ugh..... Frankie and Jane were wet and happy to see me. Today is catch up on laundry day and start packing again for the weekend.

Hope you all had great weekends!

Too much stuff!

Oh the joys of moving!

I have come to the conclusion that I have way too much stuff. This week has been a true Spring cleaning. If I haven't worn it or used it in a year out it goes. The Goodwill people know me by name now. Seriously, how did I accumulate so much crap in five years since the last time I moved? Well, I know I now have two more little ones and their things to add to the mess but still....

Poor Frankie and Jane just watch me daily making trips to the car with give aways and trips to the horse trailer packing what is going. Yep, true to the hillbilly roots I am using my horse trailer to move most of it. What a sight we will be moving in with a horse trailer, the blue one none the less.

We are making our first run down to the new house this weekend. I have to go and personally change all the utilities to my name. I have nearly emptied both basements and stuffed it into the horse area of the trailer. The dressing room is full of inside things that I do not need for day to day living. The boys are excited to be camping in our new house this weekend. It sort of will be like camping since we will sleep on blow up beds and have no furniture.

Speaking of Frankie, haven't done much with him except shed him of tons of hair.
I have managed a little ground work with him in the areas he lacks, which is most of them. He has gotten very good about picking up his feet now and no longer does a little dance when I move around him. We are still working on trying to trot at hand so I can show him in conformation and my oldest wants to as well. I fear I may need to invest in a little dressage whip to encourage his lazy little butt. When I give him the cue to trot he just looks at me like I am a bit crazy and sort of lengthens
his neck but does not increase his motion. More work but that is OK. When the move is over there will be plenty of time to ride and work on lots of things. I should mention that Frankie celebrated his 4th Birthday on the 27th of March I totally missed it but made it up to him the next day.

BFF Susan tells me there is a place just five miles from the new house that we can ride. It is state land and has trails and a parking area for horse trailers. She thinks you could probably ride about three hours total without doing the same trails over. Sounds good to me! Looking forward to riding with her lots this summer!

In ranch horse news, we are having one of our members display his stallion at the Hoosier Horse Fair this weekend for the club. We also have two members who happen to be ARHA judges that are volunteering their services to judge the top hand/top horse competition. I am running up there this afternoon armed with info and banners to display at the booth and in the arena. Things are starting to take shape for the first show in May. Hoping I have most of the move done by then so I can hold it all together. Well I am off and running, hope you all have great weekends!

Happy trails.....