I Can FLY!!

Had an absolute BLAST at the Coulter Parade today. A few different people asked us if we'd been in the parade before. I told them .... yep, we've been here before a couple years ago. They all said -- I thought so! We remember you!! :o) That felt good.

I was a little disappointed this trip ..... we usually have a full parade team with us everywhere we go. Complete with riders, paparrazi (photographer), truck driver, and sometimes pooper scooper (we like to call these guys 'security' :o) ....but lately it's been hard to put our 'parade team' together each weekend. We had to cancel the Sturgis parade because we couldn't get all the people together that we needed. .... but that was ok because we got to lead the Ellsworth Parade instead last weekend. This weekend we took off without a truck driver or a photographer. We had three riders ...... no picture taker ...... no truck with flags. No truck is ok. Especially in a small parade like this one. but no picture taker really sucks. I love pictures. ....and this time we had some really neat outfits. We decided to do our best and try to get as many pictures before and after the parade that we could. Plus Dani and Krystle had their cell phones on them and they clicked some pics with their phones -- the one above was taken with Dani's phone. :o)

Well, we didn't lead this parade like the Ellsworth Parade last weekend. We brought up the very end. Last. I almost like that better than first. Then all the people are warmed up for you. Plus you kind of get to see the rest of the parade that way. I wore my new Isis wings that i got on ebay. Cost me $11. with shipping. :o) I love them!! The girls have decided that they each need some and we need more colors. :o) I just love dressing up. :o)

...but the bad news -- no photographer. Great outfits and no photographer. Crap. but what started out as a negative turned out very positive. It, once again, showed me that we can do this. We can't get discouraged .... we just need to keep moving forward. I keep forgetting that we live in the Midwest .... where people are always ready to help you no matter what. Just when the girls and I gave up hope that we would get a group picture together without a photographer ...... here walks over the Meyer family. We've never met them before. They saw us in the parade and their two daughters wanted to come and pet the horses before we left. I asked them if they might do us a HUGE favor and maybe grab my camera out of the front seat of my truck and take our picture together?? She laughed and said, "I was going to ask you if you'd mind if I took your picture with my daughters!! Well, it turns out that their girls just got back from a horse camp in southern Iowa where they took riding lessons. I told them that I was going to be starting riding lessons at the farm. :o) How convenient!! They said they had driven by our place many times. So ....yeah ..... we ended up getting a bunch of group pictures AND met a great new family who doesn't live far from us. I learned from this that you may start out alone but there is always someone around who can help. People are great. I need to have more confidence that if I do get out there by myself somewhere and needed a helping hand to do something -- I can find one. I need to be brave and when I'm too scared to go somewhere ..... I need to suck it up and just GO. I need to remember that it's always better to TRY rather than sit at home and keep going over all the reasons why you CAN'T do something ..... It's better to get out there and DO whatever you can. Just Go. Everything will work out and you will meet more people and even more doors will open up for you.

Wednesday (the 4th of July) we've been invited to ride in the Humboldt 4th of July Parade at 7pm. Krystle and Danielle Lease are going with me to ride Huck and Tess. I have a photographer -- just no truck driver yet. This is a big parade so I really would like the truck leading us with the flags out the back. ....but if we can't find anyone, it's ok. We'll just go without the truck. The Humboldt Chamber and Fair Board have shown an interest in having Gato and I do something at their fair the end of July so we're going so they can see us. Then, if nobody asks us to go anywhere else, we may just travel to the big town of Buckeye on the 7th and ride through their little town parade. Krystle, Dani, and I rode in their parade years and years and YEARS ago. I think Dani was like 10 or something. She rode Ebony. Krystle was on Starfire and I was on Lacey. That was seriously a lifetime ago if seems. Not sure who all is going with me to that one but I'm not going to worry about it --- it'll all work itself out and it'll be a fun day no matter what happens.

Other than the parade, I'm afraid not much work got done today. It was SOOOOO hot outside!! I feel like I was incredibly lazy. I made lunch for the girls after we got all unloaded. Then they took off to go take care of things they needed to do. I downloaded all the parade pics then laid down and took a nap. Got up and headed outside in the heat. Let Gato out for a little while. Went to get a round bale in Aredale. Got home and got all the minis and llama in the top pasture and locked them in there while I dropped the bale in their bottom pasture. Then let them all back out in there once I got the duelly out of there. Worked on cleaning up the barn (looked like a tornado went through there after getting ready for the parade :o), then gave Gato, Huck, Tess, and Reymond their supper and now I'm back inside. The puppies are all out cold laying on the floor all around me. They can't take this heat either.

I'm lined up to go get square bales tomorrow morning early and then i have the nasty job of unloading. I'm getting used to doing it all myself. I'm actually getting into pretty good shape doing all this farm work myself. I usually only get a few bales so I don't completely kill myself but I think I'm gonna go for a full truckload tomorrow. I have all day to unload them. I think I might attempt to build a gate for the little run off the top barn. Never done that before but I have all the stuff I need to make one ...... just gotta try. If I don't at least TRY to make one, I'll never know if I could.

That's all that's happening around here today. I'll be back tomorrow. Hopefully with a picture of a brand new gate hanging on my pen. ?? We'll see ........

Coulter Parade Tomorrow!!

Big News of the Day!! I caught my pony!! ...well, really Krystle caught my pony. She came over last night to help me round her up because the farrier is coming today. She ran a little bit then gave up pretty quick once she realized both of us were after her. Just like Tina. She does the same thing. I put her in a stall overnight so I wouldn't have to worry about catching her again when the farrier gets here this afternoon.

I'll be getting ready today for the big COULTER PARADE tomorrow. We didn't ride in this parade last year but we did two years ago. I rode Gato and the kids (Breanna and Brandon) rode Huck and Tess while Dani led them and Lexi walked throwing candy. I remember this was the first parade I actually rode Gato in back in 2010. I had ridden him at the Iowa Horse Fair in April 2010 and carrying the flag at the Spring Show in Cedar Rapids in May 2010 ...... but hadn't ridden him since then. I remember we couldn't get him loaded into the trailer with Huck and Tess because he was screaming and kicking so badly..... so we made two trips. Gato was still a stallion back then. We took Huck and Tess over then went home and got Gato and brought Gato over. Coulter is only 5 miles from the farm so it's not a big trip. Funny how many things change in two years. Two years ago at this time I was still scared to death of that horse not knowing him very well. I had a blast at that parade. He did great that day. We made two trips home I remember so we didn't have to put him in the trailer with the other horses. Man, how time changes things.

Coulter is about as big as Ellsworth so I'm guessing the whole parade ride through town will be about 10 minutes long. ....kinda like Ellsworth's. It should be a fun morning out. Not sure what we'll be wearing. I'm sort of leaning toward trying out my new pink, metallic isis wings ?? Haven't worn them on Gato yet since I got them. Not really sure if they'll work or not? I should really probably try them out first but what the heck ...... theyll be fine. I'll just put them on tomorrow and wing it. Hahahaha! Get it?? 'wing it' ..... with my isis wings. ok ... yeah, I'm tired.

So if there's anybody out there reading this that isn't doing anything tomorrow (Saturday June 30th) around 10:30ish to about 11:30ish, wanna come over to Coulter and drive the duelly and ride in the back of the truck and take pics ? I have no driver or photographer. Figured we'd just go without if nobody popped up. .... Even though I hate to do ANYTHING without paparrazi. I'm a picture fanatic. I figure when I'm old and grey, sitting in a nursing home all by myself someday I'll have my ipad in front of me looking at all my pictures reliving all the great times I had thoughout my life. The pictures in this blog are from the 2010 Coulter Parade which seems like a lifetime ago. Things were so much simpler then. If anybody's interested in a 'blast from the past' here's a link to the 2010 Coulter Parade photo gallery -- Gato's very first parade with me on board. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1503351301622.2067303.1169403749&type=3

Right? Wrong? ...or just DIFFERENT...

A friend of mine asked me a question yesterday about something her riding instructor told her. It was sort of off the wall and my first response was to tell her ….. yeah, she’s nuts. That’s not anywhere near right. …but I stopped and changed my thought process a bit. ….and I thought my answer to her would be a good subject for the blog today. :o)

As I sat here thinking how wrong that instructor was, I reflected back to when my daughters were taking riding lessons. …from the many, MANY different trainers we had our horses with over time. I remember Krystle telling me – "But Mom, Carol said to do it this way but Abbie says to do it this way and then Deb told me something totally different. Which way is right?" Dani had the same problem …. Stephie told her one thing and Sheena told her another. How are they going to know who is right and who is wrong?? Who do they follow?

I learned a loooong time ago in dealing with horses that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way. There is just ‘different’. ….and no two people teach or train the same way. No two people ride the same way. Like no two people think the same way. That’s what makes trainers lives so hard. They have to try to teach that horse to respond to different people the same way….. and everybody is different.

We took our horses to lots of different trainers over the last 20 years and I learned real fast that I need to just sit back, shut up, and watch. There weren’t too many times that I was disappointed with what resulted but there were a lot of times I was very confused by the ‘process’ and wondered what the heck they were doing to my horse. Very few times did we actually pull a horse out because the trainer was nuts. Almost always the horse came out very well after a few months with that person. …. But everybody approached training that horse differently. …and by standing back and watching I have learned a lot. I have also learned that every horse is different and there’s no manual that gives you all the answers so the more knowledge you gather over your journey working with these animals, the more effective you are.

SO ….. going back to my friend’s question and Krystle and Dani’s question … how do you know what is right? Who do you listen to? I told them all …. When you are with a trainer or any teacher, you need to do what they tell you to do. Cut and dry. The person you are with at the time is absolutely right. That's who you listen to. Try to understand as much as they’re telling you. Try to absorb all the information they give you. Ask question but NEVER question their knowledge or insinuate that they aren’t doing something right. NEVER say to a trainer that another trainer told you to do it another way. When you are with someone and have asked them to teach you what they know ….. shut up and listen to what they are telling you and do what they say the best way you can. This is what they’ve learned in their lifetime. It may not be what your other teacher learned in his or her lifetime. This one had different experiences and has learned to do things differently. You continue to learn as much as you can from that person and whenever possible you go out and find other clinics or instructors to learn from them as well.

In the end you put everything you’ve learned together and you now have even MORE information than they individually each have. You put it all together and do what works for you. If you close your mind to different ways to doing things then you get stuck in your riding ability, and in life in general. If you open yourself up to other ideas then you become even more powerful and are able to store that information in your memory until you may need it someday. It may not be something you use right now today – but someday you may come across a horse that isn’t responding to anything you try …. And you pull out this tactic you learned years before at a clinic somewhere that at the time you thought was pretty off the wall…… and you find that it works.

So my advice to my friend and my advice at all times to my daughters was -- You always, ALWAYS respect your teacher/trainer/or judge. No matter how nuts their instructions or decisions are. You learn as much as you can from them, be grateful that they are kind enough to tell you what they know, and when it’s time and you’re ready …..thank them and move onto the next teacher so you can continue to learn even more.

I still think the things that instructor told my friend were a little ‘wacky’ …but you know what – if the end result after a few months of riding is that my friend can stay on that horse and make it walk, trot, and canter on cue and not jerk the horse or herself around …. Then she did it. It wasn’t how I would have gone about teaching someone, but if the end result is the same then who am I to say that her technique isn’t ‘right’.

I think in this life if more people would realize that there are a lot of things out there where there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ …. there’s just ‘different’. Then everyone would get along a lot better.

Hot, Hot, HOT!

Got an early start to the day this morning. I heard it's supposed to be over 105 heat index this afternoon with livestock warnings so I figured I'd better get my outside work done early. I started at 6am in the barn this morning. It was GORGEOUS out there. Nice breeze blowing through the barn. I just finished up at 10 ..... yup, it's getting hot out there. Good thing I got the hard stuff done early. :o)

I've got Tina and her daughter, Riviera, coming over this afternoon to talk about the Pony Party they've booked in July. This will be our first one here on the farm. I'm really excited! I'm trying to figure out how to seat 30 people out there. Thinking about hay bales with 2 x 10's on top making long benches ..... kinda like we did for seating during the Wild Wild West show when we had so many parties going on for that. We needed efficient seating that could be broken down and moved quickly and easily from one location to another. The bales and boards worked well.

...still can't catch my new pony. She still hates me. She is getting a little more curious, though. She's wondering how come everyone else comes up to me to get treats. Today at least she started coming closer to me. When she started coming to me, I turned around and walked away. We'll see what happens this afternoon when I try again.

Ok .... not much more to report. Things are going ok so far. I'm trying to get some boarders and some lessons set up to get a little more cash flowing through here. I think I'll spend the hot afternoon inside until Tina and Riviera get here and work on marketing, making up some fliers, and just general networking. I forgot how long it takes to get the word out online going through all the websites to network. I used to do that when we were breeding to get Shahn's name out there and when I was running the show and the haunted barn. I remember sitting here at this computer for HOURS sending out mass emails and linking to people's sites and putting free ads up EVERYWHERE and not even realize how long I'd been working until my leg went numb. :o) I always said that was half the battle ..... getting people to know about you. Marketing and promo is the hardest part of a business .... the trick is to get people to know who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. You'll be successful if you can master that part. If not, you can be the best at what you do but if nobody knows you're there ..... you're sunk.

Ok friends .... I'm off. Lots to do today and the day is burning away. I'm never going to be rich and famous sitting here blogging ..... :o)

Evolution

I've spent the morning reflecting on the past 21 years. So much has happened out here on this old farm. So many horses have passed through here. So many memories. I had gone through a few years ago and recorded who I remembered coming in and going out through all those years. Yep -- That's Krystle and me in 1991 with her new little pony "Maggie". Gosh, that was SOOOOO long ago!!

I went back through this morning and updated that page with what has happened the last three years out here. Never in a million years ago in 2009 when I last updated that page did I think things would turn out the way they have today. I guess it's true what they say -- you never know what's in store for you in the future. You have to just live today and not worry about the past or what's to come. If you live your life right then things will work out the way they're supposed to be.

If you'd like to look at what I'm talking about, click on the link I've placed below. It will take you through the years from the time we moved out here to today. Over the years over 100 horses have passed through here and we've brought over 40 new horses into the world. Wow. Sort of humbling when it's laid out in front of you like that. Some of you may recognize some of these horses because you own them now or you know people who own them. If you know of any listed here or have more pics of anyone, I'd love to add them to the page.

http://www.knrarabians.com/knr_horses.htm

What a Weekend!!

Wow ... where do I start!!?? This was for sure a whirlwind weekend packed full of fun. Stacey decided to come and stay for the weekend. She's from outside of Chicago and has never been on a farm before. She left after she got off work Friday and arrived here (in the middle of nowhere - rural Hampton, Iowa) six hours later. She brought her little pug dog, Paisley, with her so when she got here at 1:30am (wee hours of the morning .... :o), it took us a little over an hour to introduce Paisley to all 11 dogs. At first she was a bit overwhelmed (like most dogs are when they meet my pack :o) .... but by around 2:30ish she was starting to fit in.

That's awfully late for me to be up and about. I usually go to bed around 9 since I get up so early in the morning. I was beat ..... and didn't have too much trouble going to sleep once I got Stacey and Paisley settled in. 5am came WAY too early the next morning .....

But by 5am I was WIDE AWAKE and ready to go. Stacey ...... not so much. :o) We had some breakfast and coffee and by 6 we were outside doing chores and getting ready to wash Huck to get ready for the big Ellsworth Extravaganza parade. I think it goes without saying that Stacey has never washed a horse before. I had her hold Huck while I washed. Yep .... she got wet. :o) After Huck was fixed up we took him inside and let him dry a little bit ....... by that time it was getting time to get dressed and ready to go so we tied him in a stall to finish drying and hurried inside.

Dani got there around 8ish ...... we got our red, white, and blue outfits on and headed out the door. We were running a little late but finally pulled out of the driveway to head south to the parade a little before 9. Parade starts at 10 ....... we're leading the whole thing. We've gotta HURRY!!!

I remember Ellsworth being a lot closer than it actually is. Of course when you're in a hurry nothing is ever close. :o) We finally got there around 9:30 .... pouring rain...... found Heidi (the girl who invited us :o) ..... and found out where to go tack up. We pulled the boys off the trailer and saddled up in the rain ...... we were soaking wet. At one point I looked up from wrapping legs and noticed there was a big group of people in the little antique store across the way standing in the doorway watching us get ready in the pouring rain. Dani said -- Are we still going to ride in this? I told her ..... well, nobody has come to tell us it's cancelled so let's keep going. I missed riding last weekend in Cumming because of rain -- I'm not getting rained out two weekends in a row -- we're doing this come hell or high water!!! I though .... we won't melt. ...but actually our feathers and hair did melt. We looked like drowned rats. I tried to find some paper towels to wipe my saddle off before I got on but right after I wiped it down, it was soaking wet again ....... :o)

After we were mounted the rain finally slowed down to a soft sprinkle. We were told to move up to the front up by the fire trucks and ambulances because we were going to be first. I asked the kid on the four wheeler directing us if there would be a cop car or something in front of us ...... nope ..... it was just us. We were seriously the first thing out there.

At 10am the kid on the four wheeler pulled up and said -- You're ON!! Head out!! He said we needed to go straight down their Main Street about 4 blocks north .... then we'd see a little park on the right side of the road ..... go around the block there and then we're done. I looked at him ... 5 blocks? That's it? Yup, he says ..... just five blocks. That's the whole town. Hahahahaha!! .....so Dani and I said All righty then .... we're heading out!!!

We got 1/2 a block down the road and i looked at Dani ..... is there anybody behind us? She said nope. People were standing and taking their hats off for the flag i was carrying. They were all clapping .....It was cool. .....but nobody was behind us. We kept looking back wondering how come nobody was following us .... then found out that the grand marshall lost his sign or something and they had to scramble to put another one on so they were delayed behind us ..... they said to just keep going ...... so we did. All by ourselves. It was awesome. Eventually when we got to the park there was someone behind us .... they had caught up. So anyway ..... whole parade took about 10 minutes. ...but we went around and stood on the horses and watched the rest of the parade go by then we went and visited with people aferwards so we didn't actually leave until around noonish.

We got home and Stacey and Dani were tired. So Dani went home to take a nap. I got Gato back in his stall. ....and Stacey and I went in to rest a little bit. We had to go to Pamida to pick a couple things up that she forgot. Went back home and did chores, cleaned stalls, and she wanted to ride so I tacked Mr Gato up again and he took her for a ride around the ring. That was so much fun ..... until we realized it was after 6 and we were supposed to go to my sister's for supper that night!! Yikes! We're late!! We hurried up and put Gato away and got him his supper and took off. I think we finally got home around 11ish that night. What a great Saturday it was!!!

Sunday was another early start ...... I was up at 5 ..... ate breakfast and did chores. Dani was here by 6ish. We were on the road at 7:03 with Shahnel on board heading to Bloomfield to do a horse trade. 3 1/2 hour drive south. We had a great time visiting on the way down. Nothing too terrible happened on the trip down -- we did get turned around and lost one time at the very end when we were actually about 1/2 mile from their house. :o) We made it all in one peice .... got Shahnel off and traded her for Candee the pony ..... loaded Candee up and were on our way north again about 10 minutes later! (**THANK YOU to Hope and Katie for doing that trade with me. I hope you enjoy Shahnel as much as I'm going to enjoy Candee!! I can't wait to teach her some tricks!! :o)

On the way home, Dani got a text from Erin who was supposed to be at our place around 4ish to pick up Diamond. As we were going through Ames, Erin said she was just leaving Ames and had just gotten on the interstate ...... as luck would have it we were one mile apart!! We caught up to them and they followed us the rest of the way home. When we got there I unloaded Candee and stuck her in a stall ...... then greeted Erin and her gang. Got Gato out to show them some of his tricks ...... Dani caught Diamond up for them ..... and they loaded her up and took off about half an hour later. PHEW! What a whirlwind weekend!!!

By that time it was after 4 and Stacey had to get going. She packed up ..... and after a lot of sad goodbyes, she was on her way around 5:30ish. I was so tired but I managed to get Gato's stall cleaned, night chores done ..... came inside and downloaded all the pictures we had taken in the last couple days ..... and then I fell into bed.

This morning I was up at 5 again and reflected on everything that happened the past couple days. Boy! Did we ever pack a ton of stuff into those two days!! :o) ....but now back to reality. I fell way behind on work around here and have spent all morning mowing and getting caught back up. I finally had a minute to sit down and type up this post. Someone posted on my wall or on one of my pics somewhere that I must have lots of help to get everything done around here. Nope ..... it's just me now. It seems like I'm busy all the time even when I really have nothing formally 'planned' .... the days seem to pack up with work and before i know it, it's time for bed. I guess that's typical life on a farm. There's no end to things that need to be done.

Ok .... well, I'd better get back at it. I'm still not caught back up yet. Gotta go get a round bale for the back pasture this afternoon. I'll say it one more time -- THANK YOU to Stacey who came to stay with me this weekend and who was a GREAT helper at the parade and THANK YOU to Heidi and the rest of the Ellsworth Town Crew who were so nice to us at the Ellsworth Extravaganza parade on Saturday and THANK YOU to Hope and her daughter Katie who traded their beloved pony, Candee Cane, for my mare, Shahnel No Five, so I can now expand my pony party and pony ride business. ....oh, and I almost forgot! THANK YOU to Dani for putting up with my craziness another weekend. :o) This has been a wonderful weekend. :o)

Ellsworth EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Hey Guys .... busy day today. Spent most of the day cleaning. Took a short break to load up the mower and take it over to Kerry and Keith's to mow their yard for them. Then back home to clean again. Stacey is coming to stay with me for the weekend. I haven't had an overnight visitor since Lauren used to come and stay with me during the summer! I thought I'd better try to get this place cleaned up a little so she doesn't run away screaming. :o)

Been working on my parade attire for the Ellsworth Extravaganza tomorrow. Gato and I will be carrying the flag for them at 10am. If anybody's in the area, you'll have to buzz over and say HI. :o) Here's a shot of the finished blue sequined bridle, the blue sequined matching saddle pad and the blue outfit that I'll be wearing. Dani will be in all red. Luckily I already have the bridle and pad made in red so I didn't have to make that up tonight.

Well, Stacey is due to arrive sometime around midnight tonight ..... so I'm going to go take a quick nap before she gets here. We have to get up early tomorrow and wash Huck before we go. Gato is already done. OH ..... and Stacey has never been around horses before. This should be a GOOD weekend for stories. Stay tuned for pics and my description of how Stacey handles the farm!! :o)

Here .... or OUT HERE

So I got up at 5am like normal this morning and decided I would go to Mason City early and get to Walmart before all the nut jobs wake up and go shopping. What am I talking about ..... I am probably the biggest nut job in the store.

I never went anywhere yesterday. Didn't need to. It was a pretty uneventful day. Very relaxing. If I had my way, I'd never leave this farm. I could spend FOREVER out here with my animals. I hate shopping and I hate people. .....but wait a minute, no ..... I LOVE shopping and I LOVE people. I don't want to talk to anyone but then when the Schwann man stops, I talk his leg off. When the Jehovah Witness people stop, they have to tell ME they have to go now because I won't shut up and they can't get away from me.

Russ used to tell me I am a 'Bipolar Attention Freak'. Yep. I dye my hair platinum blonde (not a normal color found in nature), I spray myself with glitter so I 'sparkle', I love feathers and sequins ..... so everybody will look at me ........but then I won't go in the store because everybody's looking at me. He used to get so mad at me. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! IF YOU DON"T WANT EVERYBODY TO LOOK AT YOU THEN WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?!?!!! I never understood his frustration ..... I just thought that he's the weirdo .... he just doesn't 'get me'.

My boss said to me one time ..... Kelly, you're a bit of an anomaly. You don't live 'here' like most people do (and he makes a fist with his hand and holds it in front of him) .... You live "OUT HERE" (and he waves his arms in a big circle in the air). He says .... Why is that Kelly? Why can you not just be happy and live 'here' (making a little fist) like everybody else? I had no answer to that. ....but he's kind of right.

I can't seem to just go to a horse show and compete. I have to RUN the show. ....and then I have to make it the BIGGEST show ever. I can't just go to a haunted house one weekend and have fun. I have to RUN a haunted house. ....and then make it the BIGGEST one around. I can't just own a horse and ride it like normal people do. I have to make my horse into the most FAMOUS and BEST dancing horse EVER. What is wrong with me? I'm starting to think Russ was right ....maybe the wiring in my brain is crossed and I don't think like everybody else does.

I spent the drive home from Walmart today wondering why I can't just be normal and have a normal job ..... a normal life ..... and not be such an anal, competitive, bipolar freak? How come I can't just live 'here'.

While I continue to contemplate this sitting all alone on the farm this afternoon, perfectly happy by myself .... I will be sewing royal blue sequins onto my blanket to get ready to carry the flag at the Ellsworth Extravaganza this weekend where everybody will be looking at us. Then we might do a little meet and greet in their park afterward where we'll be surrounded by people. ....oh, and we got invited to go the Humboldt 4th of July parade yesterday, too. So I have to start working on our outfits for that ...... as I go back to living in my fantasy world .....
OUT HERE.

Terrible Tuesday ... No so Terrible After All

The day started out very slow. I knew it was going to be hard to keep going since I had nothing planned and nowhere to go. I need to keep it together and just keep going. I made breakfast and did chores. Sat down at the computer and got depressed then went and laid on the couch again.

The couch is my enemy right now. I want to go lay there and never get back up. I keep thinking if I just lay down for a little while and sleep, when I wake up things will be better. ...but they never are. I finally got back up because the stupid puppies wouldn't quit licking me and jumping all over my face. Thank God I have them to snap me back into reality. They are my little angels ....every last one of them .... trying to help me through this mess that has become my life. So...I got up since they would not let me lay there ....and decided to make an apple crisp. It was Russ's birthday .... and it's his favorite. I thought maybe if he stopped after work then I'd give him apple crisp and everything would magically go away and things would go back to the way they were. Yeah, you all probably know what happened there. He never did come home .... I have no idea what I was thinking. Now I sit here with a big stupid apple crisp. I don't even like apple crisp.

I forced myself to go outside after lunch. I've got too much to do to sit around here moping all day. I've got to take care of my farm. ....so I worked outside moving the crap pile behind the barn .....played with Gato ... cleaned the barn up again .... and while cleaning I realized I have TEN freaking saddles. ...between what I have and what the girls have. How in the world do we have TEN saddles with only three people riding?! Then I started to look around a little more..... there is so much STUFF everywhere. Things we don't use anymore that has just been hanging in the barn or sitting in the garage for years and years. So I went in the house and got my camera and started snapping pictures. I wonder if I can sell it? So I put some prices on things and uploaded the pics and BAM! Messages started to come in instantly.

I sold the old show bosal that Krystle used on Starfire in 5 minutes. Wow .... this is cool. ...then i sold the old air compressor that's been sitting in the barn for years. .....and a saddle and some reins. Then as I sat at the computer an email came in ..... I had made an offer to trade Shahnel (the last of our broodmares that we have for sale...... I mean I have for sale) I offered to trade her for a broke pony this lady had thinking she would work really well for my pony parties and pony rides. The email said she'd do the trade!

Then as I'm sitting here answering emails and all the facebook messages coming in on the things I just posted..... I see a post from a girl wondering if there's anyone out there that might be interested in carrying the flag at the Ellsworth Extravaganza this weekend. Hmmmm ...... well, we were supposed to go to Sturgis Falls to that big parade in Waterloo but I've been having trouble finding helpers to go with us to drive the truck, pooper scoop, be the photographer, ride, ...... the whole nine yards. The Sturgis Falls parade is a HUGE parade ..... we are listed as number 105 and we're not the last ones. It's a big deal. They have a lot of requirements and I was depressed that I wasn't able to get people lined up to go ...... but then this popped up out of nowhere. .....so I wrote to the girl listed and said .... do you think they would want a dancing horse to carry the flag?

BINGO! She wrote back immediately. YES! YES!! She said 'do you have a flag?' Hahahaha! Do I have a flag?! what kind of question is that for a dancing horse rider? I have three flags in the back of my trailer right now ready to go ...... just tell me how to dress and when you want me there and I'm there. :o) I think about 10 minutes passed after I sent my message out saying I'd be there that my phone rang ...... it was a friend of mine that lives outside of Ellsworth. WHAT?! Are you riding in our parade on Saturday?? Everybody's talking about it!! Hahahaaha!! Ok ..... this is too funny. I just told the girl I'd do it 10 minutes ago. Yep, like they say -- when one door closes ....... I think this little parade in this tiny town of 400 people is going to be so much more fun that Sturgis was going to be. Now I can't wait. Dani is going with me.

So yeah .... all in all what started out as a 'Terrible Tuesday' turned out to be not so bad. Another day in my life successfully completed. Will today be a 'Wonderful Wednesday'?? I don't know .... the day is just starting. I wonder what is in store for me and the animals today. :o)

Another Day On A Mission To Get By

Well, Monday was somewhat uneventful as far as bad things go.   Nobody got out.   Nobody got hurt or was bleeding.   It looks like we all made it through another day.   I felt like laying on the couch all day feeling sorry for myself but I didn't.   I went and got a round bale for Huck's pasture and dumped it.   I'm getting really good at doing that myself now.   Had to dump another mouse out of the mousetrap.   I hate that.  That's one job a guy should always do.   It's plain disgusting.   I was just throwing out the mouse, trap and all, but I was going through too many traps.    I live in the country -- there's a lot of mice in this house.   So I have again, sucked it up .... and I get my fingers really close to the mouse, close my eyes, pull on the wire thingy, and drop him out of the trap into the garbage.   Eeewww.   So far ..... the absolute WORST job I've had to take over with Russ being gone.

Even though it was really hot out, I felt I needed a purpose for the day.   I need to keep going I can't just shut down, the animals here are counting on me to take care of them .... so I decided to mow down the tall weeds in the donkey pasture.   Since I was already outside, I played with Gato for a little while and cleaned his stall.  That made me feel better so I went and got gas, went to the post office and mailed off our Tama Fair fliers and dropped a deposit off at the bank.    So I guess I got a few things done.

I've never lived by myself before.   It's weird knowing that nobody is coming home for supper.    Nobody to clean the house for.   Always used to have something I had to 'hurry up and do' before everyone got home.    It feels like I'm just walking around here in a daze .....waiting for something.   ....but I don't know what.   I sometimes feel like I'm slipping down a big black hole and everyday I keep trying to stay at the top so I can see out but it seems to be getting harder and harder.    People keep telling me it will get easier as time passes.   Maybe that's what I'm waiting for. 
 

I did get a response to my ad for boarders.   She sounds like a really nice girl.   I decided that I am sitting here with a perfectly good barn that only has one horse in it right now.   Why not board?    I can meet some new people ...... have somebody that would come out and can play with the horses with me ..... and I can make a few dollars in the process.   So she's coming to look at the place on Friday.   That was a glimmer of a somewhat brighter future on the horizon ......

...and then something really great happened.   I got a call from a man named Jim Kellner.   He's from Rutland.   He runs a carriage driving business over by Humboldt.   His company is called "Dream Carriage".    He started it up a few years ago and now is overwhelmed with business and does it full time.   I had heard he does a lot of weddings so I sent my flier over to him through my farrier to see if he might refer me to the clients he can't take.   Kenlee (my farrier) trims Jim's horses, too.     He seems like a really high energy guy and he has lots of ideas.   He said he'd be willing to help me break into this whole thing.   He said he's got so many people calling him right now that he can't do it all.    I talked to him three times on the phone yesterday.   He has already called the Humboldt Chamber and is working on getting Gato and I into their Humboldt County Fair the end of July to do something there.   So amidst all the emptiness I am feeling inside there was a bit of hope.  Maybe I can make this dancing horse thing work?   Maybe?   I just know I can't give up yet.

Yup .... everyone out here survived another day.   We all made it through Monday.   It wasn't too awful.  There were ups and downs throughout the day.    It's now Tuesday ...... it looks to be a loooooong day here by myself.   Nowhere to go today.   .....but I have a mission .....I will get through this day.    Everything will be ok.   Who knows .... maybe what I've been waiting for will happen today.   :o) 

The Dancing Horse Story Begins .....

I know there have been a few sporadic posts in the last couple of years on here about Gato and I but nothing regular to keep readers up on what we're doing. I'd like to get back into the swing of posting what is happening more regularly and am making it my personal goal to post a little something about our life together and our adventures at least twice a week, if not more. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to write a book ...... about my life out here on the farm .... and with Gato. So here goes nuthin' ......

We had a 'gig' lined up to go ride down in Cummings, IA (south of Des Moines) at Maffitt Lake Equestrian Center this past Saturday. It was a Dressage Classic show. At first I was a little hesitant. I've always known 'dressage people' to be a little high strung and a bit stuck on themselves. I know that what Gato and I do isn't perfect, by any means. Some of the movements we do are purely by accident but our intent is to get out there and just have fun. I was worried that some of the people there would be really critical of us and not care for our performance at all. Plus I ride in a western saddle. I've been to clinics before where I've gotten made fun of for riding and doing dressage movements in a western saddle. I know, I know .... the whole "western dressage' thing is out there now and people are getting more open to it .... but not the die hard dressage riders. They still think it's not right to ride in a western saddle. and then on top of all of that I got a message telling me that I would have to ride in a helmut because of their USEF rules. NOOOO!!! I wear big feathers and wigs and i can't have an ugly helmut on!! SO ANYWAY ...... I thought long and hard about it and finally decided to get over my fear of people making fun of me and just go. I had nothing else planned for that weekend so it was go there or sit at home feeling sorry for myself. Both my daughters had nothing else planned either so we all decided to take a road trip down to Cumming to the dressage show. :o) I went to work and dolled up one of my old hunt seat helmuts and made it into a showgirl helmut. It turned out pretty good!! :o)

The day started out ok. I got Gato bathed and his feet polished. I wanted to leave here around noon so we could get there around 2ish. We were supposed to ride around 6ish. Well, things went really well and we actually pulled out of the driveway at noon on the dot! YAY! :o) but then things slowly fell apart ....... i had mapquested the directions but put in Maffitt Lake Farm not Maffit Lake Equestrian Center. We got clear down to Cumming and got lost. ....on a small, tight, windy, hilly road. I was going really slow with a whole line of cars behind me and that's when I started to panic.

Let's back up here a minute ...... I have been married for 21 years. I am just now going through a divorce and am trying to learn how to do a lot of things I relied on my husband to do in the past. One of those things is to drive the truck and trailer. If you knew me for the last 20 years, you know that I don't drive. Plain and simple. I just don't. I'm a passenger ..... ALL THE TIME. Well, not anymore. If I'm going to be doing this Dancing Horse thing then I have to get out there and suck it up and learn how to drive my truck and trailer. So I have been. I have now driven to Manitowac, Wisconsin, Belvidere, Illinois, and a few other places. Each time I head out I am always nervous -- because I still haven't mastered the art of backing. ....at all. I will crash and jackknife. So I try to stay in areas where I can drive in and out and not have to back. I have other stories of 'close calls' I've had with the trailer in the last couple months that maybe I'll write about later but let's get back to today. We're heading to Maffit Lake Equestrian Center --- where I've never been -- and we're now lost .... by the lake. I managed to get off on a side road and with the help of the girls I 'whipped a bitch' .... as Dani would call it .... only it took me about 10 minutes of crawling and backing and crawling forward and inching backward .... and taking up the ENTIRE road. Luckily nobody was coming for a long time ....at one point we were completely sideways on the two lane blacktop completely blocking it until we got turned around to go the other way. I hate the GPS lady who calmly states -- 'make a U-turn' ..... 'make a U-turn' ..... 'MAKE A U-TURN' .... well, it isn't that easy lady so BE PATIENT!! After making a U-turn with that truck and trailer we got lost again .... yup ..... again. ....and by that time my nerves were shot.

I tried not to break down in front of the girls but I was so stressed trying to do everything myself that I finally pulled into somebody's driveway and couldn't help it .... I started crying. The girls told me to just calm down and pull it together. They were great. ....but I had gotten to my last nerve and it was all over. I was scared already about riding at the Dressage thing ..... going to a place I didn't know ..... driving the truck and trailer again by myself......just everything piled up on me. Then out of nowhere came this lady driving up on a four wheeler. She was really nice. She said -- "Are you guys bringing me a horse?" ..... I think she saw I was really upset. Dani told her what we were looking for. She said OH! You guys are really close .... it's just a mile that way across the lake. You're almost there! Then she saw my outfit hanging in the back of the truck. What are you girls going to do? ....and I told her what I do on Gato and that I was supposed to ride later there. I started to calm down a little bit talking to her and talking about Gato. That always makes me feel better. I gave her one of our fliers and she said she might come over later. Then I started to panic again and I told her that I couldn't back out of her driveway and that I was stuck. She said -- that's ok! I can't back my trailer either .... I just drive across my yard here and go to that driveway over there -- you can pull straight out onto the road that way. She said you are much braver than I am ..... I only take my horse out once a year. I laughed. That made me feel a little better. Before she drove off on her four wheeler, she looked at me one last time and said .... "You're ok .... everything is ok ... you're just about there." Those words really helped me pull it together. I wonder if she knew how deep that statement really was and if she was referring to us getting to the equestrian center or if she was referring to my life in general. Either way ... we took off again and were once again on our way. Krystle said , "Mom, do you think that lady was an angel? ..... sent here to calm you down and help us?" We all laughed. Yep, she was sure our angel that afternoon.

We got back on the road and finally found the Equestrian Center. I was still worried I would get wedged somewhere and not be able to get back out. ...but apparently there are a lot more people out there that can't back their trailers so the whole place was built so you could pull in and out and never have to back. PHEW!! We found out stalls and found Sherie (the lady that invited us) and unloaded Gato and then the rain started ......

Oh no ...... but it was just a little rain. So we waited to unload the tack and costume until it stopped raining ...... but it didn't stop. It just rained harder and harder. So we pulled up our lawn chairs and tried to get under the barn awning to get out of the rain. Then the lightning started. I will say -- the people were incredibly friendly. Not at all like I had thought. Everyone was helpful and nice to us. After we got there I felt so much more comfortable and really wanted to ride. ....but it just wasn't meant to be. The rain never let up. So we stayed there until around 5ish and decided to scrap it. We thought even if it did clear up, the ring was an outside arena and would be incredibly wet and muddy. Gato would have a hard time dancing in deep mud and I was wearing all white so if anything happened ..... that would be a big mess. So we apologized to everyone and said our goodbyes and headed out. Ironically enough ....... on the way home, the rain did finally stop and the sun came out and the evening turned out very nice. I think it was a sign ....... I really wasn't meant to ride there that day. Someone was trying to tell me to go home. So I took the hint.

Overall, it was a good day though. We met some new friends at the show even though we weren't there very long. I learned that I can make it through getting lost and turned around. I had a complete mental break down and still pulled through. The girls said they had a good time spending the day together and bonding even though we didn't ride. We have this memory now of the Dressage Show trip. Gato, on the other hand, is probably still wondering what the heck we were doing ....... getting him all cleaned up and taking him to another barn just to stand in a strange stall for a couple hours and then drive home again. Oh well, at least he got to get out of the barn and go for a drive. :o)

I would like to thank Sherie for inviting us and also a big thank you to Mona, Heidi, and Tammi for being so friendly to us. Sherie said there is another Dressage Classic show coming up in October at Kirkwood. That's an indoor arena ...... maybe we can do something there and not have to worry about rain this time. I love that arena. So we'll see ...... stay tuned to see what adventures Gato and I will be up to next!!