Visitors from Kansas

This week my mom, step dad, step sister and niece are visiting from Kansas. It is a sad situation that has brought them here to Kentucky but we love it when they come and are super excited that Ashely and Katelyn got to come with them. After meeting for breakfast yesterday morning they paid a visit to the farm and we spent the afternoon riding horses. It was a lot of fun. I hadn't seen my mom on a horse in years....many years. My neice Katelyn loved riding! She and Madison rode Missy, my 27 yr old former western pleasure horse.

John and Smokey Chase and Flame

Ashley (step sister) and Keith (step dad) My mom riding a horse again!

And then there was this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At first glance yes this is a nice picture...3 generations of horsewomen. But all I can see is just how much weight I have gained! About 3 yrs ago I was a size 6. Yes I had a baby 3 months ago and I attribute it to being so happy and content with my life. BUT I hate the way happy and content is making me look. So I promise I am going to work on it. I am not committing to any sort of diet. I am going to eat a lot of cereal with low fat milk, cut down on the Pepsi consumption and ride more, it is great exercise.

Sunday

I hope everyone has had a great weekend. Ours has been eventful to say the least. We didn't make it to the Tennessee IBRA State Show as we had hoped but we did purchase a new horse trailer so that was exciting. We also dealt with a leaky hot water heater that flooded the laundry room TWICE! John ran over our Jack Russell Terrier, Macy for the second time (thank God she lived). And today we got to visit with my mom, stepdad, step sister and niece from Kansas. They are all coming up to ride horses today hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of our afternoon tomorrow.
Just want to give a shout out to McDonalds for the Angus Burger. I had my first one yesterday and they are really great. Mind you they are 1/3 lb of beef so I can only eat half of one but they taste like a burger from a steakhouse or a sit down restaurant. Next time you visit the golden arches try one for yourself!
Dont forget to check out my barrel racing blog http://www.barrelracerinfo.blogspot.com/... great article tomorrow that will feature advice from world champions Jennifer Butcher and Janis Wagner. There are some exciting changes coming to the Barrel Racer Info site so check in often.
You can also find me on Facebook!
Have a great rest of your weekend!

TGIF

Happy Friday to all! Good luck to all my Tennessee barrel racing friends who are attending the Tennessee State IBRA show this weekend. Hope you all do well and have a safe trip! Lots of exciting things going on here...hopefully all will go well and Iwill have good news next week.

Thanks to all my Facebook friends for coming over to my blog and following me!

What is really important

So often we get caught up in the things to do, places to be of the world that we really do take what is important for granted. At the end of the day when there is nothing or everything to do, nowhere or everywhere to go...your family is the constant. Our family suffered the loss of my father-in-law just a couple months ago. The loss of such a special man really puts life into prospective. It is such a cliche but it is so true...live each day to the fullest no one knows what tomorrow brings.

Billy Hatzman a talented barrel racer from central Ky. lost his father in a car accident on Sunday. Please keep his family in your prayers as they go through this most difficult time.

Cory Lampkin a young barrel racer from Tennessee re-broke his leg yesterday. He was recovering from a serious break just a few weeks ago while running barrels at the Fortune Five race. Cory was well on his way to recovery and had made 2 exhibition runs on Saturday. I spoke to his mother Connie tonight and she said that Cory was going through a difficult time. Though they know there are much worse things that could happen it is difficult. Please keep Cory in your prayers as he undergoes surgery tomorrow morning.

Arena nerves

Yes...they got the best of me. ARENA NERVES... I had so much anticipation going into the barrel race on Saturday. Story has been running faster and turning harder since beginning his Lubrisyn regmine. We made a spectacular practice run during the week...the pressure was on to make a great run. And I BLEW it! I knocked down 2 barrels. I was so disappointed. I just knew as long as I could remember to breathe through my run, push all the way to the barrel and keep my hands down I would be in great shape. I didnt do any of those things. I am now DETERMINED to become a better rider. I am determined to mentally get prepared and overcome "arena nerves". On my barrel racing blog http://www.barrelracerinfo.blogspot.com/ next week I will be posting tips from accomplished barrel racers on how to over come arena nerves. Stay tuned to see if I can take their advice and over come my nervousness as I prepare for my first IPRA rodeo in two weeks.

Lubrisyn testimony

As I sit here feeding Reese I am already anticipating my run today. We run IBRA sanctioned races and I run in the open. I am too old for the youth, obviously and havent quite hit the mark for the masters class. Each show it is a one chance deal for me. My horse, Darn Good Story, is....well...seasoned doesnt do justice to describe him. He is a 20 year old former futurity winner, AQHA point earner, rodeo winner...what hasn't this horse done in his lifetime. We have owned him for almost 2 years. The years of running have taken their toll and his has some arthritis in his joints. We work hard and maintain him through joint injections, Adequon, ice wraps and our newest aid is the supplement Lubrisyn. Wow what a difference this product has made. Story has been taking it for almost a month now. Our first run after he started it I could see a big difference in him. He felt better and we ran about .3 faster. I moved from the bottom of the third division to the top an won second place that night. We took a couple weekends off as the horses hadnt missed a weekend since May. Today will be our second show since using Lubrisyn. I am excited! We practiced on the pattern one day this week, mostly for me I am still learning about barrel racing. His run was amazing. He is wrapping barrels, using his hind quarters and he is so full of energy. Today will be be a test of my riding skills. I am just returning from having a baby on June 4th and getting with this horse with his "new legs" will be a challenge for me. As my friend Tanya says "ride em like you stole em and whip to the trailer" I dont know about all that but we will see how it all turns out.......

aka....Junior

There is a lot of excitement building in this small Kentucky farm about a horse we are simply calling....Junior. That is him pictured above at 4 months old. The name is very humble but the pedigree and the hopes we have for this horse are anything but... Junior's sire is Frenchman's Fly pictured below...

Check out Fly's pedigree at the link below. He is an own son of Frenchmans Guy and out of De Streaker...yes he is a half brother to the great Mulberry Canyon Moon.

http://www.rockbottomquarterhorses.com/FlyStud.html

Juniors dam is Ms Do Da Lady.

Check out her pedigree at the link below. She has Dash For Cash, Streakin Six, Easy Jet and Easily Smasshed on her papers!
http://www.rockbottomquarterhorses.com/MsDoDaLadyPedigree.html

Both sire and dam of Junior are owned by Jessica Young Gilbert and husband Ben, Rock Bottom Quarter Horses, of Morristown Tn. visit their website, www.rockbottomquarterhorses.com, and check out their great remuda of horses. Jessica and Ben are not only great horse people but wonderful friends who love their horses and barrel racing.

Be sure to check back and follow Junior's progress as we prepare him to be a GREAT....GREAT horse.

In the beginning.....

Social media is truly changing life as we all know it. I know it surely has changed my life. I discovered MySpace quite sometime ago due to having teenagers. I created, or had my son Chase, create a MySpace page for me. The absolute intent of this page was and is to keep an eye on who and what our kids talk about. I just don't think you can ever be too careful especially when some members of the crew are a little naive. Then a few months ago while pregnant and on bed rest I discovered Facebook. Life has never been the same. I was introduced to it by my step dad who lives miles away in Kansas. He uses it to stay in touch with family around the country. I thought what a great idea so I created a Facebook page. I loved the fact I could update it right from bed on my cell phone. I quickly realized just how many friends were currently using it and how I could reconnect with people who had moved away. I was addicted. Next came my husband. He made fun of me for awhile but I discovered it was all just a show when after stepping away from the computer briefly I caught him reading and commenting on my page. It became a constant thing that he wanted to read what was going on so I insisted he get off my page and make his own....what was I thinking? He now has over 100 friends and has become some kind of expert farmer on Farmville. He is addicted. We also got Chase on board and my step daughter Lauren has a page, though she doesnt use hers quite as much as she does MySpace. Next I found Twitter. The really cool think about Twitter is the ability to follow famous people. How cool is it to know that Taylor Swift is baking cookies or that Miley Cyrus just ate at Ben and Jerrys? I also love the updates from companies about new products they are about to release. So you can see I am truly a Social Mediaite...is that a word? The only unturned social media page that I hadn't jumped into was a blog....and here I am. I am not an expert on anything except life and will share the crazy, busy, happy, sad and real events of life. I someone out there reads and follows my reflections and shares their take on what is happening.