Its been a while....

Well I guess I should first start off with, it has been way to long. Leigh and I both apologize for taking such a long break with our blog. Sometimes we don’t really know what to write about and others we just get busy. We have full time jobs, plus another website and of course this blog. So it is hard to keep up with everything sometimes but we are going to try harder! So lets catch everyone up on what we have been doing!

Last year we finished off the barrel season really well. Our friend Colleen came in for a while and we ventured up to Circle G arena in OH, and had a wonderful time. Leigh and Dually did really well, with picking up two checks. I took Roanie, but he came up sore, and I didn’t want to push him, so I just hung out and enjoyed the weekend. We had a wonderful time.

I lost my precious Dodge last fall, which was very hard to go through. However, I have since gotten a new Australian Shepherd named Rusty! I rescued him for the Aussie Rescue and he is just a real sweetie! He is a red merle and has fit right into our household!

We also went to Vegas in December for the National Finals Rodeo. That was an absolute blast, and I hope we can go back next year. We were there promoting our other website, http://www.ontherodeoroad.com/, it was a great opprotunity!

We have also built on to our barn, and now have 4 stalls, which has been great, since we have had some bad weather this winter.

So on to 2010! This year we have many great plans and lots of goals and are pumped about the year. We are working hard to get our horses and ourselves fit for this season. Many great things to come and we will keep you updated on our progress. We hope to start hauling the horses in February to get ready for the new season.

Here are some pics to catch you up on what our lives have been about!

What a Summer!!

Well it has certainly been a while!!! Anne and have had the most incredible summer of hauling our horses and barrel racing. We have loved every second of it! This past Tuesday marked the beginning of Fall and as much as I love the Fall season, I will truely miss this summer! Lets see...what has been going on?? Well, since the last entry, Roanie has settled in very well. Anne and him are already the best of friends and they are working on getting things together in the arena. Since he is the new horsey on the block at TwinBay Farm he is the low horse on the totem pole. That spot was originally Drifter's but now Drifter has Roanie to pick on. Rebo is still head honcho with Dually following in right behind him. Drifter is NOT a fan of Roanie's but they have finally gotten to a point where they can play nice. :) Anne and I have hauled to the Shepardsville Buckle Series twice since our last entry and that is always fun. Our bestest bud Colleen has come in for a 3 week visit and we have loved getting to ride and compete with her. She went with us to the buckle series and then we all ran barrels at the IBRA Hodge Show this past weekend. It was such a GREAT day for barrel racing. Our friend Amanda ran her mare too and we just had so much fun catching up and hanging out. Our mom and her boyfriend Bob came and it was just great to have them there!! Of course Hilori came too, she never misses a barrel race, and we love having her there!

The past week has brought a LOT of rain to the Bluegrass area and I can honestly say that we are very SICK of it. This coming weekend we have a lot of fun stuff planned with friends coming over, lots of cooking, some beer drinking and possibly some barrel racing if the rain holds off. Next weekend we are hauling to Ohio for a 3 day barrel race with Colleen and Mark and we can't wait!! Then Keeneland opens for the Fall race meet the next weekend and after that we have a barrel race in Indiana. Sooooooo, things are still just as hectic as ever as we move in to the Fall. I hope everyone has had a fantastic summer and gets to enjoy the brisk coolnees and the colorful leaves of the fall season.

The New Man In My Life…

Meet.. Heza Chexy Docs Hick! He is my new barrel horse, and couldn’t be happier with him. He arrived on Sunday from Colorado and he has every quality I look for in a horse. Debbie, the woman that owned him, did a wonderful job on his training! He has cattle experience, has been heeled off of many times, and has been on the barrels for a while and is high loping the pattern! I am ready for our career as partners to start!! Check back for updates on how Roanie and I are getting a long and how Leigh and Dually are doing as well!

My gosh... how long has it been??

Well once again, it has been awhile! This summer has just be CRAZY! Leigh and I have been running around so much it is hard to keep up with our blog, but we are going to try to get better. We have been going to a lot of barrel races and just really enjoying our time with our horses! We went to the Richmond show a few weeks ago, and that was a lot of fun. Leigh and Dually improved on their time in that pen, and our good buddy Amanda got a check, so it was a good day all the way around. It was Drifters first exhibition at a lope and he handled it like a champ and I was real proud of him.

We also ventured down to Shepherdsville 2 weeks ago, for their Tuesday night buckle series, and that was a lot of fun. It is a little further drive than we thought, but we really enjoyed it, because it is an outdoor pen and that was nice. We didn’t get there in time for Drifter to exhibition, but it was a great experience for him, just getting in the pen and warm up with everyone, he did real well. Leigh and Amanda both entered, and they both did great! Leigh won the 3D in the women’s class. We were both real proud of Dually since he didn’t get in the pen first, and he went in and ran a real nice pattern, in his first big outdoor pen. Amanda’s horse did real well too! They both decided to stay and enter the open! I knew they would, they were both having so much fun! It was a great night! We got home late, but well worth it.

We also went back to Shepherdsville this past weekend, for their big show. There were A LOT of people there, and it was a LONG day. The show was supposed to start at 2:00 and didn’t start until almost 4:00. Leigh and Amanda both entered the Adult class, and they didn’t even get to saddle their horses, to get ready until around 12:30 in the morning. They didn’t run until around1:30 and of course it started POURING at that point! So they both made their runs in the rain! We were all drenched, and then they called the show after that class, because of the weather. Which was totally fine, because we were leaving anyway. Leigh got a check, so it was nice she got to run. We didn’t walk in our front door until 4:00 in the morning. It was a LONG day, but we had a blast with all of our friends. We met some new people and just so enjoyed being with all of our friends.

We have some exciting things coming up in the next few weeks, so check back……

*The pic is Leigh and I, at the Richmond show.

Checking in again...

Leigh and I have been busy as usual, but have also been having a blast!! This summer has been wonderful so far! Leigh and I have been riding a lot and keeping our horses in great shape. We have tried to make 2 shows a month and so far, have been doing really well at that. Leigh pulled her first check on Dually 2 weeks ago, at Hodge arena! She won the 3D! It was a wonderful day. Our great friend Hilori was there to share it with us!! We really enjoy having her a long with us. Our friend Amanda was also at the show and she did great by placing 3rd in the 3D, which was wonderful. I loped Drifter thru for the first time and he handled it very well. I was pleased with how he performed and he is improving every week.

This past weekend, we had company in from out of town and enjoyed our weekend entertaining. We had beers on the deck on Friday night and Saturday, we were very disappointed with the rain!! However we made the best of it and still had a wonderful meal. We had corn in the husk on the grill, pork chops on the grill, green beans and Hilor’s amazing potato salad!! We also had pecan pie and ice cream for dessert but we were all to stuffed to have any. Even though the rain put a damper on our evening, we still had a wonderful time.

We have a show this weekend, and then Quarter Horse Racing the next weekend. The state fair is also coming up and Leigh may enter Dually. Lots of exciting things going on!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!

Leigh and Dually’s run to win the 3D

We are still around...

Sorry for the delay in entries....like we said before...we have been mowing! Seriously, things have been busy here as always. We have been riding the horses and hauling to Masterson. The last show that Anne and I went to was at Richmond and that was before we went to Colorado. Both boys did great. When we got back we heard that the arena we normally practice in had been quarantined for Strangles so that put a bit of a damper on our practice. Drifter is just learning barrels so he definitley needs the practice. Dually is pretty set as far as the pattern is concerned but he does need to be on the barrels some as well so we haven't hauled to any shows since Colorado. We have been going to Masterson and doing conditioning work as well as continue to sharpen them both up on flexion and making sure they both remain supple. Tomorrow we will head back to the arena and then hopefully hit a barrel race next weekend. Other than riding we have gotten to spend quite a bit of time with our family and friends. We celebrated our nephew's birthday on June 6th and it was so great for the family to be together. We had company come in this past weekend and we have a busy week this week with friends coming over to hang on the deck and catch up. Always something going on out at the farm. Summer is definitely here and we are busy as ever, of course we love it!! Okay, we will check back in soon!

Here is a video of me and Dually loping the pattern at Richmond:

Colorado Trip

Well Leigh and I are back from our trip to Colorado and we had an amazing time, as always! Our trip was jam packed with all kinds of fun stuff, mostly revolving around horses, but is there any better vacation? Wednesday we got into Denver early and Colleen picked us up and we started our trip to Yuma, but we had a few stops along the way. The main stop was the Greeley Hat Works, so that Leigh and I could finally get a nice cowboy hat, that fits our pea sized heads! We both got what we wanted, I went with the French tan color and Leigh decided on Silver Mist! They both look great, and I couldn’t have been happier with the customer service. Trent Johnson does an amazing job and is very professional and a great hatter!

On Thursday, we woke up to the WIND BLOWING! This seems to be a regular occurrence when we go to Yuma! Mark and Colleen seem to act as if we bring the wind when we come, which isn’t the case! Hahah! So we hung around the house on Thursday and got some stuff done, and just enjoyed being together. That afternoon, we loaded up 4 of their horses, and headed to a local jackpot that evening. It was just a way for Colleen to get her horses in an outdoor pen before her big race this weekend. Leigh and I exercised her other horses on the track around the arena and then watched her SMOKE the pattern! Her and Fancy did a great job, as did her horse George! It was a great night and we met some great people, and the wind stopped blowing when we got there.

Friday, the wind was still blowing so we decided to take some of the mares to the indoor and get some riding time. We took 2 of her young ones, Harper and Chanel, and they did amazing! Leigh rode Harper (the horse is named after Leigh, hehe) and they were a great match. She hasn’t been ridden much, but she was a superstar! I rode Fancy, and she is just an amazing mare. She is Colleens finished mare, that she trained and she has done an amazing job with her. I got to take her through the barrels and it was awesome!

Saturday, the wind finally died down enough for us to ride at their place, and Leigh rode Harper again and I exercised Fancy and took her through the pattern a few times. It was nice for me to be on a finished horse. I seem to always be training on one, so it was nice to just get t ride! Leigh got to help Harper along, and just did really well with her! That evening Colleen and Mark had some rodeo friends laying over, and we had a wonderful time meeting them and drinking beer and just talking! It was a great way to end our wonderful vacation!

As always we hated to leave! Mark and Colleen are so dear to us, but we know we will see them again soon. Thanks guys, for a great trip! (the pic is of the sunrise the morning we left)