Guns And White Roses

CHRISTMAS. . . . the second time around!

2011-12-18T02:45:00.000-08:00

My does time fly! I had to wipe the cobwebs off this page before I could even begin to type but I'm sure as everyone knows, life always gets in the way. It's hard nowadays to keep up with stuff and finding the time to sit down and write is just one of those things that always gets put off on the back burner. I had even let Rose's FaceBook page gather a few cobwebs of it's own.

But I woke up early this morning because I definitely had a blog worthy day with Ms. Guns And White Roses yesterday down at Sunny Pines Farm and I'm positive many Rose followers are looking forward to it.

I'm sure many remember Rose was originally a Christmas gift. It seemed back then, she was the Christmas gift that had gone horribly wrong. Now, several years later, with Christmas upon us once again, for me, Rose has "re-gifted" herself and I consider yesterday's visit, the greatest Christmas gift of all.

We arrived early as we usually do, "we" being the party of myself, Halie my daughter and Heather, a dear family friend. Sunny Pines was not yet quite awake. Rose now stays in the outside barn which I love for it's well ventilated (and having an old horse at home with heaves, I'm a stickler for fresh air all the time). It's been nearly three months since my last visit. It's hard to describe Rose's reaction when she knows it's me. It's nearly like a little chihuahua trying to explode out from underneath a horsey body. I held both my hands out to her and she inhales the smell of my each of my hands repeatedly then goes to my face and inhales the smell of my neck, then she goes back to the hands. You can just sense her filling with excitement, almost like the good cow horse, who love his job, eager to get into that arena and start cutting his cow.

One of the Sunny Pines interns let TBG know we we had arrived so the girls and I left Rose's stall and returned to the car. Every year I take Sunny Pines a Christmas gift basket filled to the rim with fresh baked cookies, pumpkin bread and enough candy and chocolate to feed the entire crew til the end of the year. We gave TBG the goodies and helped carry it into the office whereas we saw TBG's gift I presented to him last year hanging on the wall (you know I had to get a picture of that!)

I asked FG if he felt like riding Rose for me a little bit and he replied with a smug "sure" so as he went to get his boots I went to get the little white pony that could.

Brought her up to the big barn for TBG to saddle her up and then it was time to hit the arena!

TBG jogged her around a little, then loped her around both directions. It was a brisk morning and it was evident she was definitely feeling a little fresh!

So, TBG stops her in front of us and dismounts. "Oh boy" I was thinking in my head, "it's MY turn!". For those who don't know I have never been on this horse as of yet. I sucked in as much confidence as I could in one breath and walked toward the little white pony. FG adjusted my stirrups and instructed me to "climb up". I inhaled one more breath of confidence, stuck my foot in the stirrup and climbed aboard Rose for the first time ever.

The rush was so tremendous I thought I was going to pass out at first. All I could do is look between those two white ears and grin. My teeth could probably be seen by folks the next county over. "Alright" I thought to myself. "Let's see if I can drive this pony by myself!"

I've spent the past few years learning to do this, now was my moment. I pushed in the hip, leaned forward (remember, she is deaf so I certainly can't kiss to get her going) and she stepped off into the lope on the lead I asked for.

We loped circles to the left all the while I couldn't stop looking down. You're not supposed to look down. I know this. You're supposed to look where you're going and I know our circle was all over the place but I couldn't help myself. I couldn't stop looking down at the white mane, I couldn't stop looking at the white ears, I couldn't believe I was was actually loping around on this incredible animal. Halie (who was taking pictures for me) and Heather said I had the cheesiest grin on my face the whole time. Oh well. I wasn't there to look like Miss America.

So then I took her in the other direction for awhile, stopped in the middle and back to left. I felt her incredible power and I heard FG hollar "put your hand forward". . and I did. . and we went into 3rd gear. HOLY COW does this little horse have speed! OK, I really don't wanna go that fast just yet so as we hit the middle and I did the unthinkable and sat deep and took my legs off and we did a nice stop in the middle. I heard TBG say "very good" and then he followed that remark with "next time say WHOA". It took me a few minutes and I noticed Heather and Halie rolling with laughter behind TBG before I got it. OHHHH. Funny. Hardy Har Har. Say whoa to the deaf horse. Comedians.

We loped off again because I wanted to get a few more circles in and as I was coming towards the middle I noticed TBG walking into the middle of my circle. I thought he was coming in to give me a few pointers. It was then I saw that he wasn't coming in to give me direction. . . he was coming in to video me! I forgot all about driving and Rose felt this too for she broke gait big time. Oops. Distraction kills. It was funny though. All this time I made videos and pictures of TBG riding Rose he turned the tail on me. As long as he doesn't post it anywhere! :o)
I walked Rose toward TBG and dismounted. I felt like I was a five year old kid that had just stepped off the Peter Pan ride at Disney World. I had been flying and looking below at all the wonderful things.

It was an euphoria that last me all the way home..................UNTIL 30 minutes away from the house I noticed the blue lights behind me. I guess the officer didn't understand the kind of high I was on to of even kept my attention on the speedometer.

A horse person would have understood. ;o)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

2011-04-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

The tornadoes that came through last night fell hard on NC. Misty Creek Ranch in Sanford, NC was leveled by the storm. The covered arena is gone, the barn damaged, many horses are dead or injured, and their homeplace is completely vacant. The good new is that Tania, Dany, and their 2 little boys are safe.

Everything they had is gone. Their clothes, their memories, the childrens toys, its all gone. Imagine waking up tomorrow to realize that all you owned was the clothes on your back from the night before.

All money contributed to this chip-in will assist Tania and Dany to rebuild their lives.

2010-12-16T10:24:00.001-08:00

I ended up going a day earlier to pick up Rose. I had originally planned on this morning but due to the winter weather that had been forecast for today, I called TBG and asked him if we could come Wednesday morning (yesterday) instead.

So yesterday morning was the bittersweet/swemisweet day. I say semi sweet for Rose is now part of a "blended" family and bittersweet for I know TBG and his crew will miss her being there. His granddaughter absolutely adores her and calls Rose "her horse". I know she'll be heartbroken when she discovers Rose gone.

Halie and I arrived at the farm with our basket of Christmas goods that I bake every year (Mental Note To Self: quadruple the amount of chocolate chip cookies next year!). We all chatted a bit then TBG went to change his boots and Halie and I headed out to the barn for Rose.

We unblanketed her for TBG as he came through the barn doors. As he brought her out of her stall, he left her in the aisle to grab her saddle pads. He showed Halie how he arranged them and made sure to point out where points of the pads should land to help take the pressure off. As he saddled her, it was then I asked him a HUGE question.

I'll go back a bit to the beginning. Returning to the month of October. The kids and I volunteer for our local Relay For Life team every year. During one of those nights of volunteering, I suffered an anaphalyactic reaction (I have severe allergies). I've had a few throughout the years but as you grow older, the mortality reality really sets in. After this last trip in the ambulance I knew I had to finally make a decision about what is to happen to my horses in the case I'm no longer here for them.

Rose's placement was a no brainer for me. Even though Halie would love to have her, being a young adult, she faces an uncertain future and already has her own horse to worry about caring for. After making my decision, I was just waiting for the chance to talk to TBG face to face to ask him.

As TBG saddled Rose, I asked him if in the event of my death, I could leave Rose to he and his farm and if so, I'd like it so Halie could be able to visit her. He quickly responded he'd have no problem with it. I told him I'd make it so on paper and informed Halie that she will be responsible for making it happen and getting her back to TBG.

With that taken care of, TBG handed the reins to Halie and we all set out to the arena.

He instructed Halie to get on and jog her around. Halie had to have been a nervous wreck being as this was her very first time on Rose. They jogged around a bit then Halie tried to get a feel of Rose loping. Rose was feeling very fresh as she kicked out several times. I immediately thought Halie was being a tad bit to heavy with the spur but Halie stopped and walked towards us flabbergasted about what Rose was doing. She insisted she didn't touch Rose with her spurs whatsoever and TBG grinned and said she's just really fresh. He then got on and loped Rose around a while. After stopping, we threw Halie back on and had her try it again. This time was much better and they looked great loping around that arena. Halie brought her to a walk and walked up to us. She wanted Rose to walk forward but Rose wouldn't move. Halie asked TBG "how do I get her to walk forward?" TBG chuckled and said "use your legs and keep on clucking." I had to laugh at that joke (mind you Rose is deaf and cannot hear any verbal cues).

Halie definitely has her work cut out for her. She says Rose is unlike any horse she's ever rode. She rides different, she responds different and she feels different and to quote Halie "she's strong as crap". There's alot of little horse under that saddle. I told TBG that for the time Rose is home, I'll have to haul the both of them down to him to watch her ride and see how they continue to get along.

We walked back to the barn and unsaddled her, TBG handed us her saddle pad concoction (he insisted we keep it with her since it was just for her), handed me the bit that Halie's to keep using, we sheeted her up and it was time to load.

She wouldn't load.

Obviously she was quite content with where she was and she flat out refused to get on the trailer. It took Halie at her head and myself and two of TBG's riders to convince her she had to get up in that trailer. Didn't take but a couple of minutes til she finally hopped in but it was long enough for me to feel bad about "taking her away".

We met TBG back up at the office and talked a bit more with his family and crew, wished them Merry Christmas and headed home.

We arrived home at 2p.m. and I put another blanket on her and turned her loose in a field to stretch her legs. She jogged around a bit, loped a circle, kicked out once then just stood and looked around. Halie and I had to leave to rush to the tack store to pick up her heavy blankets to bundle her up and get a few more errands done then I was able to get back home and spend a few moments with her. We brought the horses in for the night and as I led her into her old stall, I wondered how much she remembered of the old place. She nickered to all the other horses and turned around to dig into her hay.

This morning however, I turned her out before the snow and she tore the field up! She ran and ran and bucked and kicked out her heels then raced herself back across the field again. I would have loved to have run for the camera but I was in a rush to get the stalls cleaned and and a few more errands done before the winter weather hit.

With this weather, Halie's going to be hard pressed to find a minute to try riding her new project all over again. This will definitely be an interesting chapter.

2010-12-05T01:45:00.000-08:00

The Futurity is over. Congratulations to Jordan Larson and Spooks Gotta Whiz and owner Michelle Kimball of CA. Rose's run earned a score of 204 which was good, but not good enough to make it through to the 2nd Go.

Thus begins the next chapter in Rose's life.

Rose gets to come home! I'm sure the trailer will be back at TBG's Sunny Pines Farm in North Carolina at least by Tuesday. As much as I'd love to go pick her up as soon as the trailer pulls in, I'm going to wait til the following week. She's already been through the stress of a Futurity, I'm sure she needs a breather before being loaded up again. This week I can get her stall ready for her homecoming. I did want to give her the entire foaling stall when she came home but unfortunately for her, she gets her old stall back. The foaling stall was needed for extra hay storage. I'm so excited. She'll be home for Christmas!

Plans for her now are for her to get some well deserved rest and relaxation. I can already envision the mole hunting/digging she'll be doing when she gets here. I always hit the huge crater she last dug with the four wheeler while checking fences at 5a.m., a daily reminder of how she hated to be bored and would find anything to entertain herself, including deer chasing and mole digging. As soon as we are able, she goes back to TBG for finishing.

As soon as I see that photo proofs from the Futurity are up, I'll post the link. I did have some friends that were there for the Futurity and took photos of Rose's run. All of those are posted in her FB album HERE.

2010-11-27T02:52:00.000-08:00

THIS. . . IS. . . IT!
As of today, the beginning chapter of Rose's life will close. For me however, it is an event of mixed emotions. When you're swirling joy and apprehension all around in the same pot, it's bound to make for an interesting result WHICH means I'll be keeping myself very busy up until the last minute. I haven't even decided if I really want to watch the run. Half of me of course wants to but the other half is scared to death. I really have never been much of a gambler and the one thing you can relate horse showing to is gambling. There are just so many variables that can project different outcomes. Then again, I tell myself to let it all go and just let what may happen, happen. It's completely out of my hands whether it's up to a higher authority in the cosmos or just complete luck, I cannot decide the outcome. I know what I'd like it to be, but we all know you can't always get what you want (thank you Mick Jagger for enlightening a generation).

For some, Rose is the Dancing With The Stars equivalent of Bristol Palin, just an annoying reminder in the equine industry of what can go wrong with horse selling/buying (although she has proven she can move). For others, she is proof what can happen if you just continue to work hard and believe.

Then again, upon saying that statement, maybe I just figured out the emotions I'm going through. When you raise children, you do the best you can throughout their lives. You worry about the days that go by when you cannot be there for them. They have to survive the daily pressures of today's society and all you can do is help guide them the best you can in what's right and wrong. I think the biggest crush of a parent's heart is having to be there to watch your child fall, forget their lines, or watch them make the wrong choice. You want everything to be perfect for them but we know there is no perfect in this world.

Maybe this all boils down to faith?

I have put tons of faith in TBG. Maybe that's another reason I'm tempted not to watch. Here's this trainer who too took a huge risk and a giant leap of faith. He accepted her when many others wouldn't. It only took him 30 days to see that she was worth putting even more of his faith into her. I wish so much good for he and his farm it's not even funny. If I was Oprah, his crew would have a new indoor riding arena with heat AND air conditioning with the finest of footing. That's how appreciative I am of these people. I want to see TBG come out on top not just Rose. I would like to see just rewards for someone who has invested just as much faith, care and hard work.

In retropect, this dynamic duo has put faith in each other. Rose instilled faith in TBG as her rider to teach and guide her and he had enough faith in her to carry him true to the end.

And still now I am udecided. I think it still will come down to a last minute decision of whether to look at the computer screen or not.

In this huge event, I wish Rose and TBG the best of luck and send them all my blessings. I've got alot of faith invested in these two and it's only grown in multitudes over their time together and mostly within these early morning hours of their biggest day together this year.

I could sit here and go on and on but I've got a barnful of hungry equines that need tending to so I'll leave this post with the words of Katy Perry:
Rosie,
"You've just gotta ignite the light and let it shine!"

"Come on show 'em what you're worth"

2010-11-25T12:41:00.000-08:00

The 2010 NRHA Futurity has begun!

Live Video Feed HERE: http://nrhavideos.com/

Live Scoring HERE: http://nrha.com/livescore/livescore.htm#anchorhere

Rose's first Go will be Saturday estimated time @ 10-10:30 Central Standard Time. They are Draw #275 (BackNumber #375). Wishing her and TBG the best of luck!

2010-11-18T04:45:00.000-08:00

After a horrendous start to my week beginning with the euthanasia of a rescue horse Sunday night, I received a text from the equine chiropractor before the sun came up Monday morning to let me know she was sick and had to reschedule Rose's appointment for later in the week. She was to call TBG and inform him later on that morning. I didn't go in to work that morning and while waiting on the backhoe to show up to bury my boy, I called TBG. Told him my luck wasn't running so good once again and I was calling to let him know the chiro has to reschedule and of course I had to throw in the question, "how was Rose feeling". Surprisingly he answered she's doing much, much better. He had jogged and loped her around a bit and she felt 200% better. Of course he did remind me that if she was feeling good enough to load up in the trailer and they did show their first go, if she felt any out of the ordinary before her 2nd go he was not going to show her in that 2nd go round. I told him I completely understand and I was behind him 100%. Even though she's on that trailer heading to OKC now, anything can happen. I've done all can medically it's now up to the roll of the dice of life.

I was supposed to hear back from the chiro last night but will have to call her this morning to hear her findings on Rose. I did talk with TBG and he told me Rose enjoyed her workup thoroughly (I can imagine she did!) and that they were leaving out that night for OKC. Again he reminded me she's feeling good now and she's 100% normal and sound but if he feels that anything is wrong he's not showing her. Again I reassured him that I understand completely. I'd rather her sit in the stall at OKC than being shown and something be bothering her. All I can do now is leave this in the hands of fate. I told TBG we won't be able to make it to OKC to watch. It would be too much out of the family budget for the travels and I've got the farm at home to take care of. I wished TBG the safest of travels and we'll stay in touch throughout next week.

I'll have to go back and recheck but I do believe I saw that on the 1st Go in the Open will be next Saturday, November 27th and they are draw #275. Again, I'll be going back and double checking and making sure I have the complete schedule right.

2010-11-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

(Rose and Halie)
Halie and I loaded my arsenal of grooming supplies, cookies and camera parts into the car and headed out to visit Rose early in the morning. We arrived around 8:30 a.m. and headed straight to the stall. I went in with a pocket full of cookies and scratched all her favorite spots then went to doing her old stretches with her neck from side to side but this time she wasn't as flexible as she normally would be. I pulled out the cheesy ten dollar massage thing (somewhat like a curry comb but with rounded "fingers" and I do have to say it felt good on myself in the tack store) and got to work "massaging" Rose. I'd have to say she really enjoyed that little tool. Especially around the shoulders, withers and neck. It seemed to me she was a little sore in the right shoulder, more so than the left and when TBG came in and we started talking (while Halie finished out the "massage") he confirmed she'd been acting sore in that shoulder. As we continued to talk I also told him I've got the number to an animal communicator (or animal physic) and I'd resort to calling this person if I had to (at this point TBG had to be thinking I'd gone absolutely batshit crazy) but he grinned and humored me and said "whatever works".

He led her out to lunge her for me and you could see what he was talking about. She wasn't "right". She was tracking unevenly and short but she wasn't moving with any obvious head bobbing lameness. I'd already gone over her with a fine tooth comb and couldn't find anything obvious. Halie and I messed with her a bit more trotting straight lines but then I gave her to Halie and went to my car to hunt down where I had written that lady's number. It was then I did the most ludicrous thing I think I'd ever done in my life. I called the "animal communicator/physic" person. Mind you at this point I even had Halie laughing at me calling me "the crazy lady". I looked at her and growled "at this point what the hell, IF it actually works, it's worth a shot". We both got into the car, parked it further away from the barn for full cellphone reception and then I dialed and she answered.

She gave a brief description about "how she works" and I agreed so we proceeded. She simply asked for barn name, breed, color and age. (I gave her absolutel no history of the horse) I told her Rose was a white 3yo quarter horse mare. She then told me she would take a "moment to channel her" (here's the part where Halie rolled her eyes at me). She then proceeded to ask me what color were her eyes so she could make sure she had the right horse and I told her blue. She then said, "OK, what is your question for Rose." I told her my only question was "where does it hurt." The communicator then proceeded to tell me (and I'm going to try to remember the most I can without my list) that "she's out at the TMJ, out on the left side of her poll, her shoulders are out of alignment, the right being in front of the left, she's got ulcers but her biggest issue was her pelvis is torqued/twisted and the way she has to move now to alleviate some pain her left hock is taking a beating. It was at this point that Halie and I felt really creeped out cause we knew her right shoulder was sore and when she stepped out of the stall she was stiff on that shoulder. Her hock did flex positive as being sore when we trotted straight lines. Pretty much everything this woman said seemed to help explain the way Rose was moving. Creepy. BUT to put her to the test I asked about another mare of mine I had at home that hadn't been acting right and she told me something that can easily be proved with a culture swab so I'm having that done asap and if it comes back with what this lady says that's just going to freak me out even more. She then proceeded to tell me I needed to find a good and she emphasized "good" certified equine chiropractor to work on her.

After thanking the lady for her time I grabbed my list and went to face the music with TBG, praying he wasn't going to fall out of his chair rolling when I told him what I just did.

I held out my list and told him I actually made the call to this animal communicator and this is what she told me. We went through the list and he nodded and agreed that it too (if it's all correct) would explain alot of the things that she's doing. We're still having the sports med vet out to thoroughly check out things we can't see such as suspensories and such (TBG's fear is having a small tear somewhere that we can't see from the outside yet if it continues to be stressed and get worse, then it could really do some damage). That will be either today or tomorrow but I'll know something right afterwards if he finds anything. I spent the entire ride home on the phone leaving messages for chiropractors.

If however Rose is as bad off as the animal communicator says, I fear chiro care is going to take much longer than the three weeks there is before Rose is set to show at the Futurity. In reality, I don't see her getting chiropractically "fixed" before then. We're still waiting to see what sports med vet says and then trying to get a chiro to get out there and see what they say from first visit but TBG and I both agree, it's not the end of the world. So if Rose is to miss her Futurity debut, she comes home to rest for awhile and then will go back to TBG to get finished out later on down the road.

2010-11-04T04:17:00.000-07:00

Some disheartening news. Received a call from TBG earlier this week to let me know how Rose's weekend went. Usually TBG is good at breaking everything down and giving me a play by play of how their run went. I could tell he wasn't too happy by the way he was describing maneuvers. He went on to explain Rosie wasn't being herself this weekend. She was spooking at things she shouldn't have been including the in gate and other horses during warm ups and her spins (which are not her completely strongest point at this time) were really rough and he could tell something was bothering her. She's not exhibiting obvious lameness, there's nothing to see with the naked eye but he said she's hurting somewhere, somethings not right. He's got his Sports Medicine vet coming in from Georgia Sunday or Monday for full diagnostics. I'm going to see if we can't get the chiropractor in as well. Halie and I are traveling down Saturday morning to visit and to see what I can see or do for her.
I told TBG guy I hate that this is happening when we've all come so far but I'm completely ready to scratch her from the Futurity without a doubt.

2010-10-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

Every October, The kids and I volunteer with our local Relay For Life team in a Halloween themed fundraiser that lasts throughout the entire month. Yesterday evening before the event started I got the call from TBG that Rose was doing exceptionally well and he's planning on showing her this afternoon/evening at the Carolina Fall Classic in Williamston. He did tell me it was being webcast but unfortunately I won't be able to watch. I'll be in full makeup and on horseback as "the ghostly lady", a costume I decided to try this year in anticipation of Rose's future participation with this fundraising event.
At this time the draw isn't known and I'm not sure when they'll show but I do know it'll be this afternoon into the evening and I won't be able to watch. I wished TBG my best. They'll be showing against some nice teams including the likes of Shawn Flarida so Rosie needs to have her game face on today. All I know as I'm riding through the "Haunted Forest" on my old cremello mare, I'll have my fingers crossed for TBG and the little white pony who could.

http://new.teamextrememedia.net/webcast-viewer-backup/

Guns And White Roses

2010-08-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

2010-08-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

Photos from Rose's first show:

2010 SERHA / MorningStar Futurity in Williamston, N.C.
July 10, 2010

2010-08-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

Quick but completely late update for those folks who don't FaceBook, Rose showed at her first show last month. I'm still waiting on the pictures I ordered and the video of her run and as soon as I have them I'll get them up. She had a few bobbles but did manage to score a 140. Just the fact that she was actually there and showing was enough to make me happy. Her run was beautiful and she made us so proud. If everything continues to go well she will be showing later on this month too. I'm pretty sure that will be webcast and I'll post the link (as I do on FB) for those who don't do the FB scene.

2010-07-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

So Friday, Halie and I had off from work. There had been only one thing on my mind all week and that was visiting Rose and taking her a little gift.

I'd been rolling it around in my mind for the past month and I thought it would be a very good idea to go ahead and take her down a box of Adequan. I wanted to do the main loading dose and then the maintenance dose once a month. The more and more I thought about, I thought to myself how crazy I'd be if I did NOT do it. It's a great product and Rose has made it this far, I would hate to think I could have done something as a preventative rather than do nothing and have something happen. Thus I packed up my box of Adequan in the cooler and headed down to visit.

It was a quick visit. Halie and I only took a handful of phone pictures. TBG wasn't even expecting us so I didn't expect him to ride. Didn't even take the camera.

She's doing wonderful. Whatever The Big Guy is doing, it's working. She's so content and peaceful at his farm it just makes it all worthwhile knowing she's still happy with living the "horse in training" life. I ran my hand down all her legs, clean as a whistle. Halie checked her back and didn't find any soreness. She got her cookies and scratches and then we headed off.

If TBG feels she's ready, he told us he's going to haul her to her first show next weekend. I don't want to jinx it and she may or may not show but we shall see and I'll update as soon as I know for certain.

2010-05-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

An completely inspirational visit today that actually brought me on the brink of tears. Oh hell, what am I talking about. I DID cry. Here I am with the weight of the world on my shoulders and it all just fell away today. There has been so much going on in our lives these past couple of months. My husband's job future has been uncertain. I've taken a job to help keep things going, life has been just absolutely insane. In fact I was in that "life's unfair" mode . . . this visit was very much needed and absolutely gave me the forward motion I was looking for.

I first arrived of course with pockets full of cookies. Went to her stall and walked on in, wondering what she'd think after not seeing me since January. She stuck her nose straight in my face and hair and sniffed and blew and sniff and blew then dove straight for the pocket with the cookies. I scratched all over, walked around and marveled at how well kept she's been in my absence. She looked absolutely amazing. She must have had a bath the day before but wouldn't you know out of all the places to lay in her stall, she apparently decided to use a pile of poop for her pillow. So here was this gorgeous white animal until she turned her head to the right and and you could see her poopy face.

Looking at her back, it's remained unchanged. As I later explained to TBG, I've been gone for quite some time. If anything dramatic has changed and her back seemed worse, I would have noticed. To me, nothing has changed. She's not better but it's not worse and that's the one thing we've kept an eye on.

We ran to check on some things real quick while Rosie was saddled in our absence. TBG was there when we returned and we started catching up on how Rose was doing. I cannot stress enough how great TBG and his staff are. If I had to describe them with one word, I'd simply say "amazing". I have basically given TBG "guardianship" of Rose and he puts her best interests right up front. He's told me to contact him before every futurity payment is due so he could let me know yay or nay. She did come up a little back sore last month and I was fully prepared for him to tell me that we'd have to back off on her training and take it slow and to not worry about the futurity (which it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if it was in her best interest to tone her training down a few notches) but that's not what I heard today. The care she receives under TBG, shoot, I don't even think I could take any better care of her myself.

He led her to the arena, mounted and began their warm ups and then we watched as the team of man and horse started their circles. The fast ones were fast and when TBG asked for that slow circle, Rosie broke down so fast into that slow circle that I know if I'd been on that horse, I would've been launched. Her lead changes was so fast you had to stare at her legs to see it happen. I missed the first one it was so fast.

Small break as TBG rode up to talk to us a bit. As he slowly walked her up it was then it hit me. All the emotion and all the stress that had been building for many weeks. I bit my lip cause I surely didn't want TBG to see me cry. Watching those two in action was absolutely mesmerizing. What I was seeing was just unbelievable that this little white pony held so much hope on her shoulders and showed such heart. Definitely inspiring. As TBG knelt down to put on her skidboots I felt another round of awe as Rose stood completely still for him to boot her and he did not hold her at all. I think if that man were to walk across the entire arena and left her to stay in one spot, she'd stay put until his return.

Next it was time for the stops. I quit taking pictures after I captured the first two. I was too busy watching. I think the two photos I did manage to get wrap it all up in a nutshell.

2010-01-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

Wonderful visit with Rosie yesterday. It has been so long since I'd been able to see her. Halie has been able to visit but I've had too many obligations to make to the trip.

I almost didn't make it though. Sunday night, I had snacked on a handful of granola that was doused in Sunflower oil. Usually I'm good at reading labels but it didn't dawn on me that sunflower oil would be used for natural granola. Unfortunately I'm allergic to sunflower so after downing the allergy pills I had to wait out the stomach punishment that was to follow and it was a doozie. I was up nearly all night sick as you can imagine. Food allergies are no fun. At 2 a.m. I thought to myself I'd have to call the farm when the sun comes up and let them know I wouldn't be able to make it at all. Four a.m. rolled around and the stomach pains had subsided, I rolled out of bed determined to see that little white pony after all. I HAD to go. I woke up Halie, we turned out the horses, got ready and headed out on the long trip.

We pulled up and parked outside the barn Rose calls home. Got out and suited up in our coats and gloves, I loaded up my right pocket with a handful of Rounders cookies and headed in to see my girl. Slipped through the door and her feed window was open. She of course was eating breakfast, head buried deep in her feeder trying to round up the bits of grain hidden in the hay. I stuck my head over through the open window and watched as she kept on rooting through her hay. She finally felt my presence and quickly raised her head, eyeballing me for a quick second. I could see the startled look in her eye which quickly fell away as she plunged her head through the window and nearly inhaled my head. She'd place her nose on one of my face and quickly sniff and blow, sniff and blow. Went to the other side, sniff and blow, sniff and blow, went back to the other side, sniff and blow, sniff and blow.

I quickly removed my glove an offered her the back of my hand to smell. You could almost feel her excitement (more so cause I think she knew I came with cookies). Anyway, I opened her stall door and went inside.

She was clean, clipped and content looking. Legs were clean, no sign of stress or damage, which is part of things that I look for especially when your horse is going through the rigorous routines of training even though I think Rose makes her training very easy. You eventually figure out the difference when you've gone through so many horses in training over the years. All in all, I was completely happy with the way she looked.

I loved on her a little bit then before I forgot, I had to run back to the car for my Ziploc baggie and pliers. I had promised someone at Cornell University some tail hairs from Rose. They're working on the splash gene project and requested Rose's involvement in the program. Not a problem for me, I'm happy to help where and when I can.

So, with Halie at her head supplying the cookies, I went to the rear to pluck tail hairs. Every time she started munching away with the cookie in her mouth, I plucked and unchewed cookie bits came tumbling out to the ground. She went through three cookies on the ground before I was finished. I scratched her tail head which seemed to make her quickly forget what had just happened in the back end. As I scratched, she kept attempting to groom Halie's shoulder. I zipped up the hair collection and took everything back to the car.

The Big Guy pulled up. I was a tad bit earlier than he was expecting but he was completely happy to saddle her up to show her progress. We watched him tack her up and as he threw the pads on, he showed me what areas he wanted filled and her exact pressure points he wanted to completely cover and what shape of pad he felt would do the trick. I think he's pretty close of having her whole saddle pad issues figured out.

He continued to saddle and I watched as she stood there so compliant, so steady and content. He unsnapped her from the ties and I made the comment of how content and compliant she looked and he went on to tell me that she's not completely innocent and can certainly have her tantrums. I'm sure Miss Princess does have her moments.

As we were walking out the door, The Big Guy started to lead Rosie and I was standing by her side but she planted her feet and wouldn't move her shoulder past me. The Big Guy turned around to see what was going on and I thought to myself "uh oh, I better start walking!" so I moved forward and Rosie started walking too. After we went through the door I slipped around behind her and she continued to follow The Big Guy to the arena.

Halie and I walked to our usual spot to watch. There were a few riders and horses already riding around and as Rosie and The Big Guy rode in, her ears were perked forward and she walked with the grace of a princess with a haughty air around her. It almost seemed as she was telling everyone "Hey.. .. . . . Howya doin. . . . I'm taking over now".

They started their warm ups then went to loping around. Lead changes were on next in which I watched her swap several times with effortless ease. A few fast circles which quickly transitioned into slow when requested. Then stop and rest. After the break, spins were in order. While Rosie was turning and placing her feet correctly and adding some speed, the super duo is still learning to communicate on asking for speed in the turnarounds. I whispered to Halie, "remember, her clicker is broken." Usually in the turnarounds the rider will cluck or kiss to ask for speed. Well, Rosie is at a slight disadvantage but I'm 100% confident that under The Big Guy's guidance, she'll figure it out in no time.

Then came a few rundowns and stops. Her rundowns were so controlled it was beautiful. Just calm and controlled, not too fast and not in full blown reining horse motions like you'd see in finished horse of course. I don't expect much, she's still young and she's still learning, however once his legs were off she'd slide to the most beautiful position, butt tucked, head down and just rolled her body into the letter C. There was so much smoothness and grace in her movements. The Big Guy looked like he was floating as he rode.

After their last stop, she licked her lips and they rested for a few moments and then walked around a bit. When they were done, they walked over to us and The Big Guy dismounted. Rosie stood calmly by his side, her head by his hip and I could just see how much those two have bonded and how much respect they have for each other.

The Big Guy and I talked about her futurity progress. I told him that if she doesn't go to the Futurity it is not the end of the world for me and it was not our goal. The only reason we are paying into it now is she is looking to be a good candidate. I told him to let us know at any time if things for her change so I can call NRHA and cancel her entry and payments. He responded with as long as she continues what she's doing as well as she's doing it and stays sound and healthy, her future at the 2010 Futurity is completely promising. I myself think it would be an amazing feat considering she's roughly 7 months behind in training than most futurity prospects anyway.

We continued to chat about her for a few then Halie and I had to be on our way. We shook hands with The Big Guy, thanked him for his time and all of his help and walked to the car for the long ride home.

2009-11-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

I'm so far behind on writing. I didn't realize it has been since August since my last post. I've visited Rose many times since that last post but my time is simply consumed by other things and by the time I try to get around to sit down and write about my last visit, something else comes up. This evening since my youngest has let me off the hook from tonight's karate class, I'm trying to squeeze in sitting down and writing in between making sure homework is getting done and whipping together dinner.

I'm trying to remember everything from our visit this past Saturday but I'm sure I'll leave out a few things. THEN I'll have to find a minute to sit down and write about this morning's visit. They're using a new machine on Rose's back and today I got to watch the first session. But for now I'll just have to write about Saturday.

We get to the farm and I head straight to Rose's stall. Lo and behold, she's been moved. Her old stall was deep into the show barn just past the tack room but now, she's up front right by the door! She's the first horse you see when you walk in. I was pretty tickled. Not that she's up front but that she has a better view of everything. Now she can look out her front grill and see other horses working in the arena. This is good for her.

I slide the door open and immediately Miss Poopie Face hits me up for a treat (seems she couldn't resist laying her head in the only pile of manure in the stall). Of course I had a pocket full of treats so we went straight to our little neck stretches to each side. After the cookies were gone I went to the scratching. Her favorite spot is her chest. She makes the goofiest camel face when she's getting her chest scratched. So fingers cold and dirty I leave the stall. I was told by the coach that The Big Guy ran up to the hardware store but when he got back, he'd ride Rose for me.

While waiting on The Big Guy, I heard bits and pieces of how he and Rose are working beautifully together and how much he seems to really like this little swayback white pony. Apparently he is the only one that actually trains on Rosie. An assistant can get on and lope her around but only in his presence. I hear he will sit there and watch the entire ride. He rides her the most though. He checks her personally after each ride to make sure there's no signs of soreness nor injury.

The Big Guy pulled up and headed to the barn. I waited by the arena as he led her in and legged up. They started with their warm ups and then began loping around. I noticed the funniest looking menagerie of saddle pads hanging out from under his saddle. As the two loped their circles I could hear his assistants and family members teasing about his saddle pad contraption and all he did was grin. I couldn't keep from chuckling myself.

I did break out the camera to try to document her ride however I feel that The Big Guy was a little uncomfortable in front of the camera. I snapped one picture and then just put it away. I was planning on cropping him out anyway but figured I'd be better off to leave well enough alone. One day there will be a HUGE picture of The Big Guy on Rose for all to see. I can wait.

It was also then I noticed those floppy ears. The same floppy ears her sire is well known for. Each ear was out to the side and had that little flop motion with each stride. She had let her rider have complete control and she just oozed confidence. She was confident in herself and confident in her pilot. It was that moment I wondered if I'd ever be able to live up to the riding abilities of The Big Guy. I was watching a true team work together.

As they went into their turnarounds, I couldn't believe my eyes. Each step Rosie took was correct and precise. She never faltered and they were adding speed to boot. I couldn't believe it. Rosie was already spinning. She is quickly surpassing the expectations under saddle AND she was started 8 months later than her futurity peers. Everyone there already believes she's a Futurity contender. Call me superstitious but you won't hear me say that nor will you see me get excited until she's actually in OKC in 2010.

The arena was full and I don't think The Big Guy was intent on working on any stops which was just fine by me. I was happy with what I saw. After sitting in the middle he and Rose came riding over to the rail where Halie and I stood. While Rose rested, he explained his saddle pad concoction. He'd been trying to experiment with all her pressure points along the back and once he feels he's got the right formula for her he'll contact a manufacturer to put his design into action. This will be a HUGE plus for all those horses with lordosis out there. I'm excited about that.

As he explained his techniques for training on her I couldn't help but carry a smug grin on my face. I couldn't have picked a better match than The Big Guy for her. I was so happy with her situation and so happy that he was taking such good care of her. He told me she gets plenty of turn out time, she's better with her turn out time. That doesn't surprise me. She's the kind of horse if you keep happy, she'll give you 110% every time. I also told him the stories of how she'd dig craters in the field on her mole hunting escapades, how she'd chase deer and race me in the four wheeler up and down the fields. He smiled a huge smile and nodded and said "Yep, she's not like any other horse".

I second that.

2009-08-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

So, I think by now with today's visit, writing about the first visit is completely obsolete. I had a hunch this would happen, that I'd never get around to writing about the first time around. I'll have to go on however because after today, my last visit with Rose two weeks ago IS obsolete.

Of course the day started out late. I had the alarm set for 4:00a.m. so I could get the horses here out, stalls cleaned and get the farm ready so I wouldn't have to work when I got back home, but things didn't work out and I ended up oversleeping by an hour. I ran to the kitchen, hit the on button on the coffee pot, scared the piss out of Halie when I woke her up by flinging on the light, threw the clothes on and hustled off to the barn to get the horses out. Thankfully everyone was polite enough to poop in one place so I just left the chores for us to do when we got back.

With all horses out, I loaded up Poison and drove up to the house to get the last of the things, down another swig of my coffee and we hit the road.

Two and a half hours later, we reach our destination. I pull up and park, unload Poison, rig up her water bucket to the trailer and then went to see Halie's mare. She had nicked herself and had been gimpy so Halie, trainer and I took her out to lunge her around a bit to see if she was still gimpy in which she wasn't, so good news for Halie, she was able to get a lesson in.

We put her mare back in her stall so Halie could come with me to visit Rose. From across the farm I could see her looking through her stall watching us walk towards her. Of course my left pocket was plumb full of cookies and I had her box of supplements in hand to take to the girl who is riding her. I could barely get the door open before her nose was right on me, sniffing out her treats. I immediately handed her one and proceeded to scratch all her favorite spots. After scratching, I'd stand near her hip and offer another cookie which would make her reach all the way towards the hip, stretching the muscles. Went around to the other side and did the same. Her rider came around the corner to let us know how Rose had been doing. She proceeded to tell me she could feel Rose getting stronger, her back is still holding up and they just put shoes on her. Oh wow! I was so excited! My baby had her first pair of baby sliders on.

After a great welcome, I went up to the office to discuss a few things with the gal who works there and it just so happened the Big Guy was in there. So, I started a conversation with him regarding another horse. Then he asks "where would you like your white filly to be." I told him I merely wanted for her to be the best she could be and that I didn't think she was futurity material due to her being so far behind any other futurity horses and of course the obvious, her back.

Now, the Big Guy can be a very stoic man. When I talk to him, you can see he actually listens to every word and you can nearly see him thinking. When this conversation started, he was very straight faced with a matter of fact voice but when I said "I don't think she's futurity material" he cocked a grin and said "if she's just as good as I think she's going to be, I wouldn't count her out just yet". He went on to say he really didn't want to get hopes up but she showed great talent and that she's strengthened in such a short time and what they're doing to maintain the soundness in her back. He said she's treated special for that since he's never had to deal with a handicap like hers before.

I went on to thank him for all he's done so far and that we really can only take it day by day with her.

After my talk with the Big Guy, Halie and I went to saddle up. I was nearly through my lesson when I spotted Rose and her rider walking up the road towards the arena. Now wouldn't you know I felt like the teenage kid waiting on her prom date to walk up the sidewalk and ring the doorbell and I had to snap back to what I was doing. I mean, Rose IS one of the reasons why I've got to be the best reining rider I can be. So Poison and I continued to lope our circles while I kept trying to "feel" my leads, Rose and her rider loped into our same circles. Another first I noticed. Rose was now sporting a full cheek snaffle! My last visit she was riding in just a side pull, now she was in snaffle and rode like she'd had a bit in her mouth for years. As Rose passed us in a circle, Poison nickered at Rose but Rose never acknowledged her old pal from home. In fact, Rose never acknowledged any other horse in the arena for that matter.

After loping my circles, I had to show my coach what I had been working on at home with my turnarounds and it was about this time I noticed that the Big Guy was in the arena. Rose and her rider were at the other end and her rider was dismounting while the Big Guy stood there and then it happened. The Big Guy legged up and walked off on Rose. As I was putting Poison through her motions I made a crack about how distracting it was and my coach said "well, go ahead and take a break for a minute if you want to watch". I responded, "nah, that's okay, I need to get used to this. I've got to learn and can't just drop everything every time Rose is in the arena." That's when my coach chuckled and said "well, take a break anyway cause I want to watch." I laughed and said "Okay, won't get any arguments out of me!" I trotted Poison to the middle of the circle next to the coach, Halie pulled her mare up beside me and it seemed at that point in time, everyone stopped what they were doing and just watched. The Big Guy loped her around to the right a few times, then took his leg off and she folded in half with her little stop. I know she slid at least five foot (she just got her shoes on a few days prior). As everyone exclaimed some sort of hoot or whistle after her little stop, my coach hollered across to another of the trainers "do you think he likes her". The other trainer looked at me with a huge surprised look on his face and said "he's NEVER gotten on any of the young colts that's only been under saddle three - four weeks. Never."

Then the Big Guy wanted to see what she do with her turnarounds. Each time he asked her to turn, she crossed over correctly with each step. She may have gotten bound up maybe and I mean a huge MAYBE 4 times, but each step was over and correct and she never once gave him a fit. He asked, she gave.

It was right about this time a young colt slip out of his halter at the end of the arena and decided to take off in that run of freedom around the barn, tail up and causing a ruckus among the stalled and pastured horses. My coach and the trainer on my right jogged out of the arena to help along with the rest of the crew that was in the arena. The Big Guy and Rose were at a standstill at the other end and at the opposite end, it was just me and Halie.

The Big Guy started Rose off again at a lope in right circles. As he came through the middle, he asked and my little white pony changed leads and they continued to lope a few left circles. My jaw hit the saddle horn. I looked at Halie and said, "did you see that!" She slowly nodded her head yes without saying a word. I think we were both in disbelief. I quickly said "good, cause nobody is gonna believe what we just saw."

With the runaway captured, everyone returned to the arena. The Big Guy brought Rose to a stop near us, dismounted, handed her reins to her rider, gave her a pat and walked to the rail. I swear I saw him grinning from ear to ear!

I asked him how she felt and he nodded and grinned and said she felt strong. She had a good mind, she didn't get "pissy" with him at anytime and he was happy with her. I could only reply "good".

So as Rose was led away, Halie and I rode for a few minutes longer then it was time for us to hit the road again. I led Poison to the trailer and unsaddled her, grabbed two handfuls of cookies and set off on my trip across the farm to tell my little white pony how much I loved her.

The pictures of her under saddle were from our last visit. The top photo is from today. Halie happened to get a picture on her phone while I was in her stall.

2009-08-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

so. . . two weeks ago, what started out as a day trip for Rose turned into a trial period. I had originally planned to just haul her to the big farm and make her stay tied in the arena while I get my lesson in and while we were there, get a few opinions out of a few of the trainers there. I knew "The Big Guy" was out at a show, but no biggie, I could bring Rose back at a later date for his opinion. Besides, the day trips would be good for her.

So Halie and I loaded up Poison first then tried loading Rose that morning, but she would absolutely not go in the trailer, granted it had been awhile but I was not going to make excuses for her. We finally ended up unloading Poison and then loading Rose up first (still with a little resistance but she eventually walked up in there.) Loaded Poison and we hit the road. A few hours later we arrive at the big farm. Unloaded Poison, then backed out Rose. As I walked Rose towards Trainer to ask where I could tie her, he asked a few questions like how she was bred and all. (Mind you I never once mentioned the story behind her.) He proceeded to say she was cute and built nicely with the exception of her slight swaybacked appearance. He took her for me and tied her to the walker. I thought to myself "this should be interesting. She's never been on one of those". Needless to say, all those tying to the wall sessions absolutely came in handy for she didn't move after he tied her. He walked around her a few times, examining her then walked back to me, bottom lip pooched out nodding all the while with a serious look in his eyes. "I don't see why we couldn't try her out and see what she's got. We'd have to adjust some tack and stuff and probably work around her back, but I'd like to see what she could do".
I bit my lip and nodded and told him let me get Poison saddled up and I'll call my boss man (I always lovingly refer to Mark as my Boss Man) and see what he says.

All this time, Poison is dancing around the trailer, hollering herself into a sweat because Rosie left the vicinity. Again, I thought to myself, "you big dummy, you two fight when you're at home in the field and now you miss her". I proceeded to saddle her as I dialed the boss man from my cellphone. I told him what Trainer had said and asked about leaving her there for 30 days to see what happens. He agreed to the deal so I had that happy yet nervous feeling as I mounted up and rode to the arena.

I told Trainer that the boss man ok'd it and he told me he called his boss man too and that he ok'd it so the deal was set. Rosie was to stay and we'd evaluate her at 30 days.

For the entire hour I rode Poison during my lesson, Rose stayed tied to that walker and never once misbehaved. I don't even remember her calling out to any horse, she stood there as politely as could be. When my lesson was over and I was untacking Poison, one of the young colt riders untied Rose and walked her up to the trailer and handed me her halter and proceeded to walk her down to the two year old barn. Again, Poison starting hollering and dancing around for her as she walked away. I got Poison untacked and watered, then walked up to the show barn to see if Halie was done with her horse. She was still rinsing her down. Already I wanted to go see Rose again and see her stall and give her a last scratch. Trainer offered to drive me down to the other barn so we ran down there real quick, cookies in pocket. He teased me as I jumped out of his truck and quickly fed Rose two cookies, gave her a quick rub and hopped back in to drive back to the show barn. By this time Halie was done with her filly so I coerced her to come with me to the office to inquire about some paperwork. It was also a good excuse to see Rose one last time before we left (mind you I felt like that oddball owner doing all of this stuff). Ran to the office, saw about some paperwork, walked out the door and went straight to Rose's stall, again, with a pocket full of cookies.

I opened her door and scratched her here and there, handing her cookie after cookie. She met her new next door neighbor and pulled her same tricks with the squealing like a pig, ears pinned, tail swish and kick. I looked at Halie and said "oh geez, they're going to get sick of her before she's even here a few hours!" I eventually had to leave the stall. It was the only way to keep her from trying to keep her neighbor away from me and thus keeping everything peaceful and quiet.

After the cookies were gone, I scratched her lovingly one last time through the bars and turned to go. As Halie and I drove away, I never had such a feeling as I did at that moment in time. With all the horses I've hauled off to training or even sold, I never had that feeling. I've always felt a slight bit of relief for that was one less horse I'd have to work with or feed or take care of and hoped it would lighten the load a bit. This time, driving down the interstate, for the first time in years, I felt empty.

Coming up next......my first visit, two weeks after leaving Rose.

2009-07-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

There should be some type of Facebook Users Anonymous group out there somewhere because I'd definitely be a guilty one signing up. If you're a Facebook user and one of Rose's fans, then you've been getting plenty of little blurbs. It's been so long since I posted an update here on Blogspot that this entry probably won't be read by most until next month.

I have plenty to catch up on here soon, but today won't be the day. I have to go back out and get Rose a good bath. I'll be hauling her to one of our trainer's tomorrow. One, she needs the experience (another good 2 1/2 hour haul) but then she'll have to stand tied under the covered arena while I get a reining lesson in on Poison. The Big Guy (we'll just call him Trainer X) won't be in. He's in Kentucky currently but the two guys that have been riding his horses (and one of ours) will be there and I'd like to get their opinion on Rose as well, just by looking at her. When the Big Guy gets back, I'll haul her back down and then get HIS opinion. Let's just say this trip is a small warm up trip.
Now, to get that dirty pony in and get her presentable.

2009-06-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

Since it's hot outside and I'm in cooling off for a few before I head out to round two of working in the great outdoors, I figured it was finally time to sit down a spell and do a blog update on Rose. Her Facebook fan page has become such a help at letting me cheat, if I've only got five minutes on the computer, well, it only takes two seconds to do a quick blurb and go on about my business. Blogging of course, well, it takes a tad bit longer to write. Facebook doesn't help though when I have a million things running through my brain and I want to actually write them out, but those who know me know I rarely sit down. Sitting down is just not in my vocabulary. I'll wind up paying for it one day.

Little Miss Princess is doing wonderfully with her own little herd consisting of Nim and Dollar. She likes pushing her weight around then using them as scratching posts, they on the other hand think she's the neatest thing since spring grass. I think we know all the naive......horse AND human go through a learning process.

The bugs are so bad in the evenings she is stalled at night. She loves it. I go out late afternoon when the gnats get bad and she races to the gate anxious to be led to her room under the ceiling fan. Since I bathed and clipped her last week, she wears her Crusader mask with ears so the bugs don't chew her ears off. They're doing a good number on the horses WITH hairy ears here so I cannot let Miss Princess's bare ears left as a bug buffet.

She's still taping at 14.1 at the wither and 14.2 at the hip. I'm hoping soon she'll hit a growth spurt to at least push her past pony size. She's growing outward not upward but has been placed on a strict managed grazing schedule (and I've even got a grazing muzzle in the tack room for backup). She still gets only a handful of Purina Ultium but that's only to get her scoop of Recovery EQ down. I've sidelined the ponying off the four wheeler for now but that's only because I don't feel like detaching the huge sprayer off the back. I've still got to spray the fields for weeds one last time for the season. Other than that, she's living it up out here at the farm. Then again, what horse doesn't think they're living it up out here.

2009-05-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

Boy have I ever been cheating! Once Rose got her Facebook Fan page up and running I have found it ever so easy to just blurb a line then keep running about my business. Basically, I've been cheating on her blog. Since I couldn't sleep this evening however, I decided to try and catch up a little.

First of all, Rose is doing exceptionally well. Enjoying her life as the equine equivalent of Miley Cyrus with her two "tween" buddies Nim and Dollar. In fact, I've even caught Rose and Nim grooming each other. I never thought I was going to be able to get pictures of the grooming extravaganza for every time I went by, they'd act like nothing ever happened but finally I was able to out wait them and when they couldn't resist the pleasure of scratching each other's itches, I was able to get a few pictures.

As you can tell, it doesn't seem like Rose has grown a whole bunch at all. Nim officially turned a year April 3oth. Rose, well, she hit 2 the end of March. I haven't measured her lately however. I did try to get on a schedule of ponying her around again with the four wheeler, again, that didn't last long. My schedule just stays too busy and seems to burst on a daily basis with spontaneous happenings (lucky me). On a good note though (and I meant to mention it last month on Rose's birthday), the bank loan for Rose was paid in full last month which is a very good thing in this day and age. Now we can focus on saving for her training. We have one more year to go before that happens. I've still got a few trainers in mind that I've spoken with and a few more to still talk to........when I can squeeze it into my schedule!

Rose's dam made news recently. I posted the link to her Facebook awhile back with full intentions of doing the same to her blog, the blog update just came a tad bit later. You can read about her recent accomplishment here (Snip O Chex) that includes a photo of Rick Ford. For those that don't know, he's the son of Kathy Beetham of the Oregon location. She was deleted from the website when all the DEQ stuff hit the fan up at the Oregon ranch.

Back to Rose. As I mentioned, she's doing well and loving life, except for the bugs. Seems that during the summer months I should change her name to "Lumpy" because after the mosquitoes and ticks get ahold of her, she just looks awful. I'm fighting back with homemade mixes of tea tree oils and alternating with commercial preparations but it seems every year the bugs just keep getting bigger and more immune to whatever we humans can dish out. I'm fighting to keep her lumps down for I'm hoping to have a photo shoot here with her very soon. I've been planning on entering a photo of Rose into the Country Supply catalog's cover photo contest. I just have to set aside a day to get that photo first!

2009-04-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's Easter Sunday now and after a long two weeks of working from sun up til way past sun down, I decided I wasn't going to do absolutely anything today. Rose and her buddies were given full run of the farm for the day to graze a little and so I could keep on the pj's and just take a few photos off the back porch (no stupid bunny ear pictures this year). Thankfully Mark invested in a super zoom lense for my camera this past Christmas.

With all her running around, you'd think she'd drop a few pounds. As of today Rose only gets a handful of her Purina Ultium per day and that's only so I can get the Recovery EQ down. She's allowed grazing for a few hours then put on the crappy field with the crappy hay that is only there to alleviate boredom.

notice the cat taking a nosedive into the barn

2009-03-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Rose is officially a two year old today. Yup, it's the Princess's birthday. I had all intentions on writing on how she's been doing recently, update her stats and get out there and take new photos today, however it's not going to happen as I had originally planned.

Our gelding who was suffering from navicular had finally gotten to the point where I could no longer make him comfortable so after contacting his former owner (who also bred and raised him) we both agreed it was finally time. The Bay Print was euthanized this morning at sunrise. He couldn't have had a happier ending. He was given full run of the farm last night, all the alfalfa he could consume at free will and this morning I fed him the entire bag of his favorite treats, Rounders, until the vet arrived. It may take me a few days or so before I feel like writing again.

2009-03-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

No surprise that I've been crazy busy and on top of everything else, this year, I thought it would be a great idea to plant a little bit of everything in the garden. Just getting the ground ready was enough to make me regret it BUT the rewards of giving away most of what we grow to those who need it will far outweigh the work involved.

I don't have time right now to update about Rose, but I do have this one new photo Anna's mom emailed me last week and I've been dying to get it posted. The photo is just another example of how personable a horse Rose is.
I'll be catching up here very soon. It's almost Rose's 2 year old birthday!

2009-03-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

I do believe I may have found a way to combat my idle time while sitting in the car waiting on my youngest to get through with her tennis practice. We had an old laptop computer buried amidst tons of collected junk in a closet (yeah for spring cleaning!). Although ancient, heavy and not very cooperative, it’ll serve the purpose and allow me to type up entries and download them to the home computer where I can copy and paste to the blog. This routine will definitely take some getting used to for sure.

I had been wanting to update on the story I had planned on telling a few weeks ago regarding Rose’s visitors. Now with all the time that has passed, I just hope I remember most of the details.
Back in January I received an email from a mom who lives approximately a good hour and a half drive away. Her daughter, Anna is an avid 4H’er, very active in the organization showing her miniature horses and completing all required projects. This year, Anna wanted to do something outstanding and work on a 4H report that would help educate others about the equine condition, Lordosis. She wanted to come visit Rose so she would have firsthand experience and photos for her report.

We scheduled a weekend meeting for them to come visit. The original visit had to be postponed due to snow but the following Sunday, the entire family came to visit. As they came into the barn, I had Rose in cross ties trying to clean her up a little for her photos and we all introduced each other. Anna and her family came with treats in hand and while Rose sorted out whether she liked carrots or not, we started the interview. Seconds into the interview, I received a frantic phone call on my cellphone from Mark that our old dog Dobby was having a seizure so I had to leave Rose’s guests for awhile. I could only hope that she would behave herself in my absence.

Dobby’s seizure subsided and I made my way back out to the barn to continue with Anna’s interview. She came prepared with her notebook full of information on the condition already along with a list of questions and her camera (she apparently had already spent a lot of work researching.). I answered the questions she needed then we turned to spend the remainder of the time with Rose. I turned Rose out in the round pen so they could see her movement and Anna and her mom shot photographs of Rose trotting and loping around. Then we had leisure time outside the round pen while Anna played with Rose and I chatted with mom and dad. With our interview over, Anna and her family left for home. Rose was a wonderful hostess for a good two hours and I hope Anna and her family enjoyed their visit to our farm and more importantly, I hope Anna does very well on her report and reaches the recognition she worked hard for in her 4H club and beyond. If memory serves me correct, she was hoping this report would take her to the Regional Finals. Good Luck Anna!!

2009-03-03T08:14:00.001-08:00

Springtime vetting came to the farm and of course, Rose being a two year old got the full Monty including her first float and had her little nubby wolf teeth pulled. Poor thing looked so pathetic after her sedation but she behaved like she's had it done a million times. Of course, having a white coat does not help when it comes to having the teeth pulled and blood gets smeared all over the face. After it was over with, she looked like some battered victim who lost the fight. Overall, she's a picture of perfect health although a tad bit on the rotund side (which I swear, she is and has been on a reduced feed intake but it's going to take a little more exercise to work on that plump body) Seems that it may be time to get back to the four wheeler workouts! This is one of those times when I think I'd give my left arm for one of those super convenient horse exerciser pens. A covered one would be a plus!

2009-02-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

It was inevitable that the day would come when Rumor would leave the farm to follow her destiny into the reining world and that day did come. I wanted to tell the story about Rose's new "herd" eons ago, but I've been finding it hard to find any time for myself lately with all the kids' after school activities and and stuff but thankfully I've got a little time on my hands now before it's off to tennis practice, football and karate!

I'd been dreading this time for months, not really knowing what I'd do with Rose once her best friend left. Usually around here, the coming 2 year olds go straight into the herd and make their place among the old timers. Rosie hasn't made that much of an impression with anyone around here. In fact, the last time I did try to put her in with a grown up, it was my old cancer ridden mare, Lou. Lou has been a gem her entire life. She's nearing 20 something and throughout her life she has been the adoptive "mom" on the farm, adopting all weanlings that either foaled out here or that were brought here. She'd even go as far as to stand still and let them attempt to nurse til they were blue in the face. She was patient to each new baby as if they were her own. Lou was the ideal first candidate when it was time to slowly introduce Rose to the herd. There's just something about Rose, Lou didn't like and Rose managed to get herself a swift kick to the head. Yep, herd introduction just wasn't going to work with this unique white horse. At least not yet. If Lou didn't like her, I just knew the rest would try to kill her so I didn't even go there.

Rosie and Ru were just going to have to stay together until Ru's time came. Yes, I could leave her by herself but I don't like to leave anyone alone out here so option number two..............Rosie would have to get downgraded........... to the yearling herd. In the end, it would probably be a good thing. My favorite, Nim, was highly independent and pushy in her own right. She really needed somebody in charge soon to teach her the ropes of herd behavior. Rose would be my best bet to keep Nim from getting annihilated when it was her turn to go in with the herd down the road.

So one morning, I left Rose's halter on for quick emergency retrieval and unsnapped her lead and crossed my fingers and threw her in with Nim and Dollar (Halie's perlino). At first, they didn't know what to do about the intruder.

Here is Rose in the middle with both yearlings groveling for mercy:

There was no mercy however and Rose proceeded to establish her position within her new tiny herd.

Rose in pure evil form:

Then Rose decided that chasing yearlings was WAY more exciting than she could have ever imagined!

She really did surprise me though. She was all mouth more than anything else. Pinned the ears a few times, chased them around a little (which they could ALL use the exercise) and just pushed them around the field staying behind their shoulders. The fun part (for her) came when she decided to split them up while she stayed in the middle (divide and conquer right?). Any time one of the yearlings tried to cross the middle line, she cut them right back to the side they came from. It was amusing watching the confused yearlings, separated by "The Great White", trying to figure out a way around her so they could reunite. Here she is daring one of them to cross her imaginary middle line:

and returning to post position after mission accomplished:

ABOUT FACE! Next target............

Again.....................mission accomplished.

Eventually Nim managed to cross the line and Rosie took chase.

Game Over.

She eventually lost interest and all else was boring so, my curiosity satisfied, I pulled Rose out of the field that day. She has been doing just fine with the yearlings since Ru left last Friday even though I don't think THEY are too happy with the new arrangements. As it stands, I'm able to trust Rose out there with them full time now, even through the night.

2009-02-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful springlike day today and I couldn't take it any more. After the morning chores were done, Rose got a bath. Spent quite some time on that disgusting little mudball but I finally managed to get her somewhat white again. After she dried, I taped her since it's been awhile since her last full update. She's 14.1 at the wither and 14.2 at the hip and just for kicks I measured inbetween the two points and she's 13.3 inbetween. She's still on Purina Ultium feed and on the supplement Recovery EQ. Though there is no scientific proof that the Recovery EQ is helping for there is no other test subject to compare to, but all I can say is this condition could definitely be worse so I believe in some way it is helping.

We took a few photos while she was clean for she'll only be this way well, til we turned her loose. I'll be loading the photos from today in her album either tomorrow evening or Tuesday. It's been a long weekend!

2009-01-29T04:08:00.000-08:00

A new day, a new round bale, a new play toy for Rose. She couldn't wait for the thing to be rolled off the truck before she started trying to climb it. Unfortunately for her, this one was way taller than she could reach.

2009-01-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

I've got a super cute story from this past Saturday that I need to sit down and write about when I get a generous time limit. Rose had a special visitor and I hope to have photos by the time I write as well.

But since I have a few minutes now, I'll have to mention what I came across last night. Usually I try to sit down and relax in the evenings and flip through the horse magazines that come in the mail. It's my quiet, wind down time. Last night, while flipping through the February's issue of Horse and Rider magazine, it seems that there was a good article back in December's magazine. Whatever happened to my issue I do not know but I'm going to call and see if I can't get a back issue. Apparently the article was called "Short-Sighted Sellouts" and it seems to have been about sellers selling horses with obvious problems and not disclosing the issues or masking the issues. Some of them even passing pre- purchase exams only for the problems to surface once the horse arrives at the buyer's home. There's a few letters in the Mail Call section from readers on the article and also a note from H&R saying they were bombarded with letters on this subject and received many stories of readers who've bought horses with undisclosed problems.

That is my next project on this blog, to find and provide links to as many articles as I can find on the subject.

On that same note (and I know I said I was going to try to quit seeing stuff like this bother me, but this one just blew my mind), I also opened up my January 15th issue of the Quarter Horse News and started thumbing through only to see a particular ad congratulating Rick Ford of Cinder Lakes Ranch on being the highest bidder on a stallion's service for the Horsemen For Christ Stallion Auction. I about fell out of my chair. I never saw that one coming. There was just something about the one name being in the same paragraph with the other name that just, well, it was just odd. It was definitely an uncanny "read" night for me, seeing that same "good 'ole boy" sent us a horse and didn't disclose her conformation issue.

2009-01-22T04:15:00.000-08:00

Hay waste in its finest form. I decided to trade out the fields between Rose and Rumor and our two geldings. Of course the geldings had the hay roll and it proved to be a high form of entertainment for the two girls. As soon as I turned Rose loose, she hit the hay, literally.

She crawled all over it, climbed on top, scratched her butt, dug out holes with both front feet and flipped it into the air with her nose. Of course while she's doing all this, I'm standing at the water troughs breaking ice. I debated running to the house for the camera but it was just too far away I broke out the cellphone once again and captured what I could.

2009-01-15T04:07:00.001-08:00

I have come to learn that cleaning and refilling the water trough while Rose and her partner in crime, Rumor are in that particular field has become quite a challenge.

Since we have so much mud now, I ended up having to move water troughs way up into the high end of the worst fields. I really don't know why I try so hard. Those dingbats would rather drink out of the mud puddles as opposed to walking ALL the way to water troughs, like it's a 12 mile hike or something!

Regardless I did my faithful duty of providing fresh water and Rose provided the entertainment. Any other fields, I can lay in the hose and walk away to do other chores while the tanks fill. Not while Rose is around. I get so far as of out of the field and Rosie has the hose in her mouth, Rumor grabs another end and there they both are "playing tug of war" or "shake each other's face off" with the hose. I turn around and trudge back into the field and they both drop the hose and take off. Rinse mud off hose and continue to fill the tank. Tried walking away again. No sooner than my back was turned, they were both at it again. I turn around and they take off once more. This time I figured it would get done faster if I just stayed there, twiddled my thumbs and wait for the hundred gallon tank to fill. As I stood there, of course they come up to harass me. At one point, it was a stare off between the Aussies and Rose, the Aussies daring her to come any closer to me. Rose barrels on through their protective line, a few swipes at her nose taken by Phoenix, but Rose prevailed only to go for that hose once again. I eventually got the tank filled. Only to walk out of the field with Rose right on my heels. It didn't take but a few minutes to figure out what she was after. One of my gloves was dangling out of my right pocket and she grabbed it and wouldn't you would know she would still have water stored in her mouth so my hands already frozen, I had to wrench a sopping wet glove from those teeth. Little beast.

2009-01-12T04:08:00.000-08:00

There is some strange weather going on these days across the country. Our state being no exception. So far we've had 70 degree weather one day and 30 degree the next and probably the most rain we've seen in several years. The mud out here is endless. I'm so tired of mud but then again, I'd rather be battling a foot of water and mud in the fields rather than eight feet of snow so I'll be quiet before we get blessed with our own snowfall.

This weird weather definitely takes horse keeping to a more challenging level. I left home one day last week to run a few errands, wasn't even gone two hours before the sunny skies turned into an ominous grey and the wind picked up drastically. The bottom fell out as I turned onto our road. You barely see with the wind blowing the rain so hard to the side it was comparable to staring at a wall. It left quite a bit of damage through the county for the whole ten minutes it took it to blow through.

I made it home only to find Rose and Rumor just huddling it out in rain. Rose is not your usual horse in this type of weather. We've noticed over the year she's been with us if she's out in the rain, rather than turn her tail to the wind and torrential downfall, she faces it head on. She will not turn her tail to the weather. I went out to get them so they could dry out in their stalls (the rain was bitter cold) and I pulled out the cellphone and tried to get the image. You can faintly make out Rumor was standing against the weather like normal but Rosie was headfirst, head tucked beside Rumor's rear.

2009-01-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

They say a good breeder is a caring breeder and a caring breeder really cares about what they help bring into this world no matter the time that goes by.

I know I've always tried to remain a small piece in the lives of the horses that have ever hit the ground here. I look forward to emailed updates and phone calls and I absolutely love Christmas time. At Christmas is when I receive the cards with photos of the owners with their beloved horses, I'd have to say it's probably the one time I get the most updates. As a caring breeder, when your horse is settled in a new home, you still want to hear how they're doing and hope owner and horse are getting along well and I do check in especially in the first few weeks.
Course we all know that didn't happen in our case with Rose. We were dropped faster than a hot rock when I addressed her back issues to her breeder.

Yesterday however I got the kind of updates you don't want to hear. The new owner of our buckskin colt from last year had the vets out. He was colicking and upon ultrasound, they found he had twisted. He was humanely euthanized yesterday afternoon. The owner was devastated as she expected such great things with her new partner and it may take her some time to move on. I, being the one who raised him this first year, shed a few tears as well at the end of our phone conversation. It's hard not to get emotional when you actually care.

Helluva Player

2009-01-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

So this is our version of the Rose Bowl. A dirt bowl actually. Nice round dug out divots in the Slade field (the field next door our neighbor lets us use so he can avoid bush hogging.) These beautiful Rose Bowls come in all sizes but the shape and depth is consistent. A nice dug out bowl like hole.

What is even worse is when you look out the window to see Rosie furiously digging at the ground, with such tenacity you can almost see the fervor in her face. Dirt flying everywhere, both front feet digging at the earth, like a dog that is getting close to finding its long time buried bone.

You see, Rosie is mole hunting. Yep, you heard correct. Rose is mole hunting. You'll find these dirt bowls of hers wherever the moles are frequently tunneling. You can tell when she comes across one of the little vermin cause that little nose does a double take close to the ground, her body will circle around her nose and she keeps that nose directly on the target while swishing her tail back and forth real fast. She then dives in the kill with those deadly front feet. Not sure if she ever actually managed to dig one up, but I don't think I want to know!

Halie and I did manage to get better videos today of Rose running through the field. Halie drove the four wheeler while I played camera man off the back. Our crude attempt was actually quite fun and Rose and Rumor had a ball as well.

2009-01-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a safe and uneventful New Years celebration. In tradition, on New Years Day, there's the Rose Bowl for those college football fans. We're hauling a horse to the trainer and will be gone all day but I'm hoping before the weekend is out, I'll be able to sit down and write about OUR version of the Rose Bowl.

2008-12-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Rose and our family to you and yours and best wishes for the coming New Year

Rose giving me Christmas kisses

there's a comedian in every family!

2008-12-24T01:45:00.000-08:00

Destructive little creature isn't she? This is what is left of Rose's feed bucket. It was pretty darn cold the night before so I decided to just leave the young horses up for the night.

THIS is what I walked out to yesterday morning.

I have no idea what she did. There's not any new marks on the walls nor any marks whatsoever on her. First thought was this was stuck on either a leg or a head and she annihilated it in her attempt to remove it, but I can't find any evidence of bucket attack so I can only conclude that it was a planned assault on Rosie's part. I think she got it off it's hanger and just played with it and stomped at it until finally it resulted in the bucket's death. This is definitely the worst case of bucket abuse I have seen around here.

This bucket's untimely demise also resulted in my doing something I had never done before. I bought actual Christmas gifts for a horse. I've always given extra hay or treats or a little extra attention for Christmas. Never have I actually gone out to buy "gifts" for any of my equine pals. Halie and I have exchanged personalized halters or blankets for certain horses, but never have they gotten their own presents. This year, Rose changed that. Tomorrow, these will be installed in Rosie's stall as her Christmas gifts. Maybe this will keep that mind of hers busy?(course the Rounders cookies are for all of them).I tried loading another small video short overnight but I woke up to the lovely "upload failed" so I'll try once again today.

2008-12-22T01:56:00.000-08:00

Previously when I wiped out this blog, it was for several reasons. A few of them being disappointed in myself for not being able to keep up with it diligently (which I've found doesn't matter to those who keep up with it), we've had a few instances of avoidance among people in the industry (in which I won't get into detail) and deleting the blog, to me, would have broken what seemed to be a burden and would in my mind help terminate "their" existence. Alot of times if you try to move on, you make an effort to wipe the slate clean sort of speak. That's a little bit of what I attempted to do, wipe the slate clean and start over with a new sketch. No, "they" didn't make me take it down. They couldn't have if they had tried. There are no untruths to this story whatsoever. It had just gotten to the point where there are countless reminders of them everywhere. They now classify themselves as a repro center and are lining up their barn in Texas with client's stallions. Haven't heard anything else on the incident going on at the Oregon location but I'm sure someone can google it if they want to learn what's up. To add insult to injury was when we learned they were doing a benefit to raise money for breast cancer research. Okay, for one, that's a sore subject for Mark. He lost his first wife to breast cancer and for them to use that as the subject to save grace among the masses and make them look empathetic, well, it's enough to make our stomachs turn. Still makes me want to puke whenever I see them using the pink ribbon in all their new ads. Then again, they must save grace with the public and rub elbows with the prevalent people in the industry in order to survive at all. And what better way to do that than to contribute publicly to good causes. It's almost like standing at the Salvation Army bucket with a dollar and waving it around and announcing "HEY look at me! I'm about to contribute to a good cause. Give me a pat on the back, I'm a good person." No, you're not a good person when the good is not in your heart and your public deeds are only financially motivated.
We can only have faith that they will get theirs in the end.

But then again, this is really not what I want this new blog to be about. I can still try to forget they exist, though the reminders will always be there.

2008-12-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

I would like to think that if this much trouble can ever get under saddle, it may be a very good thing. If I am ever able to get this horse a job, I think she'd be pretty good at holding that job and probably loving every minute of it.

There's not a minute goes by that Rose doesn't go looking for something to get into. She's just HAS to be a ferret in a horse's body.

Granted, it's the holidays. I'm still busy as usual. She doesn't get to see to much of me these days and probably won't until after Christmas. As to the herd, I'm just the good food fairy and they look forward to the times when I come out of my castle and wave my fairy wand and produce those scrumptious meals. However, there's not a single horse out there that will look for me as Rosie does. I watch her through the windows while getting house things done or while I'm getting the baking out of the way and wrapping gifts and she will stand in one corner of the field what seems to be forever and she'll stare, directly at the back porch, like she's waiting for the magic back door to open. The others, they'll only acknowledge my existence when they actually SEE me step off the back porch. Rosie will just stand there and stare and stare then she'll finally get ticked off, chase Rumor for a few strides, grab a few bites off the hay pile then go back to that same corner and fix her eyes on the back of the house again.

I must be some good food fairy!

Yesterday afternoon, while throwing out hay, I was steering the four wheeler out of the gate, lifted the bed to dump any remaining hay and Rosie stuck her head through the U shape in the dump bed. I immediately thought "awww, photo moment", whipped out the 'ole cellphone camera and managed to capture a moment of Rosie pretending the seat was the layout of an all you can eat buffet!

2008-12-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

I've added a new link list to the blog and have started featuring Rose videos on YouTube. So far there's only one short I uploaded and I hope to have another one loaded in a few days. We're still on outdated dial up and when I load a short video, even a 40 second one, well, it could take an hour or two to load. The longer ones, an all nighter. This video is of Rosie playing with the leaf blower.

Several months ago, Halie and I noticed that when we blew out the barn aisle with the battery powered leaf blower, Rose was fascinated with it. Phoenix, our red Aussie, would jump around and try to bite the end of it and when we'd hold it up in the air, she'd wrap her lips around it and hang on. We noticed Rose would try to grab it with her lips while reaching as far as she could underneath the web gate when we'd blow by. Finally one afternoon, Halie just went ahead and stuck it up in the air in front of Rose so she could finally get her lips around the thing she's watched the dog play with, and she's been doing it for fun ever since.

2008-12-10T09:41:00.000-08:00

I guess I should start out the first of many stories with the story of "The Kick". Yes, you heard correctly, I said the K word. Keep it in mind that I wasn't the unfortunate soul who received this blow, however dear Halie will forever have a reminder of Rose implanted on the outside of her left thigh.

This happened the weekend just before Thanksgiving when my son, Andrew and I were traveling back from grocery shopping at WalMart. Mind you I was not in the drivers seat and was forced to be the unfortunate participant in the first of many student driver sessions. (Want to appreciate life? Ride one time with a teenage student driver!)

Rather than take up smoking again during these lessons, I either white knuckle the emergency brake or hold my cell phone very tightly with both hands. I have also found it helps divert my attention when I send or receive texts via phone. With this said I sent Halie a text and asked her to turn Rose and Rumor out as the weather was nasty earlier that day and it seemed to be clearing up. As I was gripping my phone tightly awaiting my fate at my student driver's hands, I received a text from Halie's boyfriend (WHO by the way is highly ALLERGIC to horses and has to remain inside the house when Halie goes outside to do horsey type things....yeah, did HE pick the wrong family). Apparently he had looked out the window to check on Halie and saw that she was limping. As I dialed Halie's cellphone number to see what was going on, I had Mark (the husband) call in to let me know Rose was running loose around the farm and he didn't see what happened but he saw Halie on the ground (which Halie denied that part later on).

According to Halie's story, she had first turned out Rose (wait, stop right there......M I S T A K E!) Yes, Halie didn't have to tell me anymore. I figured out by her first sentence how the entire story played out. Rule number one, don't EVER turn Rosie out first. Remember, Rosie gets a wild hair and gets real aggressive towards Rumor and as much as Ru pesters Rose, you'd understand why Rosie harbors so much hostility.

Unfortunately in this episode, Rose was turned out first. Halie, who must have been working away from home for way too long and forgot the "law of order" around here, proceeded to turn Rumor out in the field with Rose. Well, as soon as Rumor was in the field, Halie turns her around to face the gate to take the halter off and Rose came up from the left corner of Halie and went to take a swing at Rumor but got Halie instead. Rosie then turned it into a free for all for while Halie was evidently groveling around on the ground, hanging on to Rumor's lead and trying to keep her from freaking out over being attacked, Rose noticed the gate was wide open and took it as her chance for freedom, in which she celebrated with enthusiasm, or so I heard. When Halie was able to get her legs working together again, she was able to track down Rose and swing a rope around her neck so she could get her back in the field. With the turnout of the yearlings finally accomplished, Halie limped her way to the house.

When I got home, I immediately inspected the damage left on Halie's leg. Oh yeah, it was a doozie! I'm sure all of us at one point in time have suffered the humility of having that beautiful black, blue and green hoof print imprinted somewhere on our lower extremities. I certainly remember mine. I also remember still getting the chores done immediately afterwards with a bag of ice vet wrapped to my right thigh. Halie on the other hand milked her injury to the hilt.

Now, what made me think of posting this story first was last night Halie came to me to show me the indention left in the muscle of her leg. Seems like Halie now has something similar to what the old time horse people call a "devil's thumbprint". She will walk around with the memory of Rose long after Rose is gone. It'll definitely be a memory that lasts with me for just as long.

* * * Coming Soon * * *

2008-12-08T04:41:00.001-08:00

Due to the overwhelming requests, I'll be working on putting together Rose's blog again here soon. It will be very slowly for my time hasn't changed, but little did I realize how much this little white horse affected people across the nation (and overseas). The first week I had yanked the blog I had two, maybe three emails inquiring what happened to it so I really didn't think anything of it. I thought that was all I'd get until the second and third week I was bombarded by people who enjoyed hearing about and watching this filly's progress. Not only has this little challenged filly touched my heart, she's touched the heart of many. Therefore I felt it would only be fair to keep her stories going.

Again, this will be a slow process getting this thing back together so bear with me, but in the end you can look forward to hearing about this comical little white filly with the heart of gold.