Shiner and Twister made their runs, as you know, this past weekend. Below are the links to view the videos. I hope they work as I am trying something new. Blogger doesn't let me upload video anymore so I had to find an outside resource. This is a more private video website and so I hope it works correctly!
I can also upload video's from my phone from this website. So, it will be interesting to see what I come up with! HA! The website is www.motionbox.com incase you are interested in checking it out. Of course it is free!
Shiner did well on Saturday. As you'll see from the video, we have a ways to go, but he's just getting started. So, I can't complain. (Besides, he won a paycheck!) Sometimes his legs take over his mind and he moves along too quickly. But, once it all starts falling into place I think he'll be a really nice barrel horse. He can run on a lot of different ground, which is nice for rodeos....which is my eventual goal. Shiner's Video
Twister is doing well coming out of hiatus. I'm very proud of him! He is a bit fat and out of shape, but he always pulls through and tries his very best. Twister's Video
I got this from a friend and I liked what it said so I thought I'd share with you....
Carrots, Eggs & Coffee
A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.'
'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water.
Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
Shelby and I are home and chillin' on a Friday. So nice...she's eating so I thought I'd write something.
I can't wait til tomorrow. The boys did well on Wednesday so I am hoping they will do well tomorrow. I hope to win a couple of checks. We got our electricity bill from the holidays and...gulp...is all I can say. I never would've thought it would be that high!!!
We are also strugglingto get the rent from our renter. Such a pain!
The good news is we sold the white car to my hairdresser. We also bought tickets to go to Greg and Zoe's wedding in Santa Cruz, CA in May! I am sooooo excited! I am looking forward to seeing the beutiful beaches and red woods!
Life sure seems tough until you open your eyes and learn about someone else. A teacher I work with just had her daughter come back from a mission trip in Haiti. I thought I'd share the blog of the family she stayed with. Wow does it bring you back into reality! http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/
I would also like to say I'm so proud of the Americans who jump in and do their part. Whether it is the military, the mission workers, the doctors/nurses, or those who donated via their cell phone. What an amazing country we will live in! We not only help our own, but we reach out and help those outside of our country.
I added a bunch more pics to Christmas 2009 and San Antonio. Be sure to check them out. Here are a few of my favs...
Grandma and Shelby in San Antonio. I LOVE this pic!
Left to Right - Dad, Charlene, Grandma, Shelby, me, Ryan, Dick, Nancy
Grandma in the dog trot house at the George Ranch (where Ryan works)
Boys will be boys...Ryan and Benny having fun together!
Barrel Racing Updates:
I got the results from GCBRA. Shiner ran a 16.727 and Twister ran a 16.780. (Don't tell Twister Shiner out ran him, or he might get his feelings hurt! :) ) I was in the middle of the 3D with both of them. Shiner also placed 5th in the Novice. That was real tight too....There was a 16.0, 16.4 and four 16.7s....so not bad for him! It is awesome to do so well already and know there is a WHOLE LOT more to tap out of a horse!
Today I have off for MLK day. I kept forgetting this wknd so it was like a little present every time I remembered.
I took shiner and twister to the barrel race. They were both pretty squirrely do to the cool weather and having been stalled all nite cAuse of the rain. But, luckily, they are both out of shape so they wore down fairly quickly.
I exhibitioned shiner just to be sure since he's still pretty new at this. It was worth the investment because he acted a little goofy at first but ran with confidence the third exhibition.
I was #8 on Shiner in the open and made a decent run. There are a few things I need to work on, but overall it was a nice run. He ran with his mind and not his legs. That is what I am working on right now. That horse has PLENTY of gas. I just need to work on getting his brain to slow down and the speed will come naturally later. He ended up with a 16.7 which is an improvement from last year. I think he was a 17.4 or something like that last year in this arena.
I ran #37 on old faithful, I mean Twister. I haven't ran him in a few years and felt he needed a job. So here we are. :-) I decided not to run in the adult class, but instead run two horses in just the open. It has better pay out and pays better prizes. (I also nominated shiner for the novice.) Anyhow, Twister has A LOT of heart and desire to make me happy. So he tries too hard sometimes. That is why I love him so much. I practiced him on Wednesday and he acted really stupid and beat the heck out of me so I didn't know what to expect. Of course, being Twister hr went in and did his job. He couldn't be out done so he ran a 16.718 which I believe was a tad bit faster than Shiner! Ha! He did really well and I look forward to runnning him this season.
I don't have any video as I went by myself cause of the cold, nasty weather.
On to Shelby...she is getting closer to walking. She has taken a few steps but is still very unsteady. She looks top heavy to me (short legs and long upper body) so maybe that is why she is taking so long. The good news is she is a natural equestrian and loves her animals! Ringo our male heeler (dog) loves his Shelby. He sits by her faithfully outside and gives her kisses. She has given him a few in return. They are growing up together and are going to be best of buds.
I guess thar sums up our weekend. I am up and getting ready so Shelby and I can run to town to so some errands.
I have uploaded some pictures from Christmas and San Antonio. I have a lot more to do, but I keep running out of time. Click on the approprate link to your right to view them.
I had sweetheart practice last night and was able to work Shiner, Twister and Cowgirl. I worked Shiner and Twister on the barrels. We have so much work to do this year! I am definately starting all over! It is good and bad. I'm also very out of tune having not run since November! I felt the nerves of the speed sneaking up on me a little bit. I look forward to getting a few runs under my 2010 belt so I can get rid of those nerves and uneasy feelings and get down to business.
Shiner and I did ok last night. We have a lot of work, but that's part of being novice. He will learn fast and will start tearing up the arena within the next month or so. Twister, having been there done that, should be doing better than he is. But, he's been in the pasture for a long time and has some relearning to do. His problem is he gets hung up in the turn....so he'll fly to the barrel and then it feels like slow mo going around the barrel. he needs to be freed up a lot and that will come with time.
Cowgirl is doing awesome and will probably be my Rodeo Sweetheart mount. I'm very proud of her as she is a short 3 (she won't officially be three til March). She is going to be my buddy and running partner! I can see it alraedy! Not only does she go through the pattern which include crossovers, pin wheels and other patterns with 13 other horses, but she is also doing AWESOME on the barrel pattern. She is a natural and I cannot wait to compete on her Jan. 2011. Perhaps I'll take her to Houston Rodeo (AQHA Show) for barrels. :)
The sweethearts are growing as well! This is AWESOME! I'm so excited to see so many girls participating. We have around 14 riders, which is the largest number we've seen in a while. I hope everyone stays and we have a big team this year. It looks so nice when the arena is filled with horses and flags during a performance.
Shelby continues to grow and crawl everywhere. She is getting closer to walking each day. She walks around everything, but has only 'let go' one time that I know of. Like her daddy, she sees no need to hurry into anything. I hear this is good as crawling makes for a smarter child. I guess time will tell!
She says lots of words including please, thank you, daddy, mumma, What's that?, here (and many more that i can't remember a/o don't understand) and understands even more. She loves to sing and dance, especially at church. She's the hit of the sunday morning services at church as she raises her hands in the air, sings (in her own language) and looks around smiling at everyone during our praise and worship. It is the highlight of my week to see her love church so much and worshipping so freely at such a young age. My hope is for her to continue growing in her faith and lead a God filled life! After she sings a few songs then she is ready to move on so I take her to the nursery so she can play with some of the other babies and she seems to like that as well. After church she usually takes a good 2 hour nap cause she is all worn out from the excitement!
Shelby also continues to LOVE on her horses. She loves giving them kisses....even if it is their side....and she also enjoys petting them and, of course, riding them. I can't wait for her to be big enough to ride a pony. Some independence will be nice so I can have some of mine back. I greatly miss riding on a regular basis!
I guess that is it for now. I will try and update a little more regularly. The holiday season and heavy work load has kept me busy!
We are experiencing the coldest weather in south TX in 14 years! It is a high of 35 and lows in the teens. We have frozen water troughs and chilled animals. We also have frozen pipes and a chilly house. We don't have central heat so it is difficult to keep our house warm with these temps and only space heaters.
Hopefully it will warm enough to thaw the pipes. Then we'll leave water running to help it keep from freezing. We are praying for no busted pipes. Ugh!
My barrel race was cancelled cause they turned the water off at the arena. So hopefully my season wil begin next Saturday in Wharton.
I think I might still saddle up later today even tho it is cold. The bright sun is to inviting! I do enjoy riding in the cold. It is refreshing!
