No Ride Specialties 12-27-14

Sorry it has taken so long to get this post out. I've been sleeping a lot to recover from having my tonsils removed. But anyway on Saturday`almost all blue specialties and some whtite were cancelled. For me White Ropes, Blue Liberty 2, and Blue Batons were cancelled. But Blue Vaulting was still riding but in the evening. I wasn't riding but I still went out to watch my parnter. She rode Larry and then switched partners due to height and rode Cruiser. The learned so many new tricks! It was really hard not riding but it was also really nice to watch the tricks to see how to do them. So the tricks were kneel, stand, sit sideways (feet towards the rail for saftey), sit backwards, lay out on your tummy, and lay out over the croup. I can not wait until I can try the tricks. We did have an injury. While sitting backwards Rock bucked and the girl fell. She is okay. She broke her arm and got the wind knocked out of her. It was handled very well. The rest of the team went to the other side of the arena to give her space and first aid was there right away. Then there were some birthdays. In vauting instead of singing happy birthday the trick rider stands and they do the chicken dance. It was funny. Then they unsaddled. I talked with WesternaireForever and her family and got to use my pad carrier. OMG it is so nice. It has a strap inside to keep the pad upright and not pushing on the bottom. It's hard to describe. It makes it so much easier to carry. Overall it was a good night and I can't wait until I am able to ride again.

Westernaires Christmas Haul!!!

Wow! This Christmas has been great!!!! I got a lot of stuff that I can use at Westernaires so I figured let's make a post!!! 

Show Straps!!!

I am going to buy another pair of Spurs to complete these. 

Riding Socks!!!

White Sweathshirt! - Great for Roping

Saddle Pad Carrier - All my Vaulting Equipment 

Features a handle and shoulder strap. Zips closed and has vented sides :) 

I also got a new bag with my name on it for ropes and my carhartt embroidered with my teams but it's not done yet :) hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!!!

Colorado Stampede 12/20/14

So yesterday was fun but it could have gone better :(
So Stampede groomed and saddled again. I got my first AAA+ horse, Squirt #120. He is AAA+ for a good reason. I caught him no problem. He wouldn't go under the shelter for grooming so I just tied him to the pole outside. He was fine for grooming he just moved around a lot. He is also REALLY tall. So mounting was interesting. I had to jump and he wouldn't stand still. So our ride was okay. We trotted the whole time which seemed really boring after the last ride. Squirt is good he just has a lot of energy. His trot isn't terrible but it takes effort to sit it. His strides are also twice the size of everyone else. He responds great to leg cues. I had to check and release almost the whole time. He didn't want to slow down. I was double checking my feet the whole time to make sure I wasn't spurring him. We built 8's and practiced circling there. I think everyone was just having an off day and the outside riders wouldn't speed up. Squirt was fine when he was on the outside but he didn't want to pivot when he was on the inside. Then we built a one sided propeller and we had to turn it a couple times at a walk. That was basically our ride :( Then it was time for diagramming. I turned in my diagrams and waited while everyone else took sequence. Then we went over a couple charts that a lot of people had corrections on. Stampede scores 4,3,2,1. If you get a 2 or a 1 you have to correct them. 3's are optional, but 4's are required for officer ship. I got four 4's, nine 3's, and four 2's. I'm going to re do my 3's to get 4's. So I have 13 corrections and then we finished our drill so I have 10 more diagrams. 23 total. Not too bad :) As I'm writing this I already have them all done. So then my day was done :( I'm not going to be at specialties while I recover from having my tonsils removed. I could possibly ride with Stampede on Jan. 3 but we will see. At the least I will be present for the ride and diagramming.

Specailties Can Be Rodeo 12/13/14

Ow!!!!! That's the first thing i thought this morning hahaha. So yesterday was super suoer fun. So my ropes instructor let me go to Vaulting because I had a conflict with White Ropes and Blue Vaulting. White Over Blue. So I was super happy. My partner and I got Shoshone for class, and Sue was our second horse we had to groom. Grooming takes forvever because we don't get our horses until 7:30 cause we are at the way back. Plus when we get down to the arena's we have to unsaddle and tack up in our vaulting equipment. Once I was done grooming I checked out my Liberty Horse (Chili #96) So I started out as the trick rider. I am always so close to vaulting up. So we went out on the rail. They let us try kneeling if we were comfortable. I had done it last time so I popped up pretty easily. It's always a little scary haha. So then we tried standing if we were comfortable. I tried. Now that is really scary hahaha. I'm proud of myself for trying it though. We attempted an Arabesque but i wasn't quite confident enough to lift my leg. So then we sat down. They told us to hook our feet under our base riders and lay back. This is called Lay Out over the Croup. I like this trick a lot. It's fun but kind of scary cause all you can see is the sky and you know you are moving but you can't see where lol. It takes a lot of core to hold your head up. You also out your hands over your head too. I was excited to finally be trying tricks. Then we trotted a little and we were out of time. We didn't get to change partners. I felt really bad since I am missing the next specialties class so my partner won't have a partner. So we were dismissed and I found Chili on the rail. One of my friends had unsaddled him for me. I took him to class and I was even closer to mounting up this time but I still needed a boost. BONY!!!!! Ouch. So today was a good class we worked on wire work and lifting. We did a column split and circle, and a pass through. Then they set a pole in the middle of the arena and we practiced lifting and cueing. Judging the space and trying to get our buts of the horse. It is way harder than it looks, OMG. So chili was doing good he just didn't like to go very fast but his gates weren't aweful. I was getting used to his bony back. So after we did the pole at a walk and a trot they took it away and we went into troopers. Time to lope. So I kicked Chili up into a lope and he bucked took a few strides at a lope and bucked again. I was a little unbalanced but I kept pushing. So he slowed down again and I tried to kiss him up nope still bucked and bucked. This time I came down on his withers. I had to pull in for a second and catch my breath. Then out I went again and kicked him up. I anticipated the buck this time and rode it out. His lope is hard to sit ugh he has some bad withers there. So we reversed and Loped the other direction. So I kicked him into his buck lope again and was coming around the corner when he bucked another time it threw me forward and I was slipping as he's bucking and loping again but I pulled back up and pushed him on. They called a walk and we made a line facing the gate. I slid/fell off of Chili hahaha. Then one of my instructors and gave me a high five! He said he was impressed that I stayed on. He thought I was going down when I slipped at the corner. Then another one of my instructors said Chili just doesn't like Liberty and I did really well with him. So overall I was impressed with myself. I just got to work on lifting. Chili is amazing when it's not bareback so if i ever get him for team I know he won't buck. So I limped around for the rest of the day and I helped Blue Ropes at 11. They are looking really good. A lot of them can switch hands already. They played the jump rope game and I got to help spin the rope. It was quite entertaining. Then I worked on some homework and watch a couple teams while I waited for Batons at 3. We made a circle and practiced 4 finger twirls. Then she taught us 8 finger twirls or continuous. I already knew them from my friend in white so I got to come help teach. Then the same story with vamps and pancake switches. So I did a lot of teaching. Then we got to play with the hoop batons and that was really fun!!! They feel really different. Since I knew Thumb tosses as well I got to throw them too. After class was over I stayed and our instructor taught me some more stuff with Flash Twirls and Fish Tails. Then I went home. I went to bed at 6pm so I guess you can say I was exhausted. I am so sore today I can barely move.

Guess The Horse #22

Last week's answer was Sunday #8

This weeks riddle is I am a dark gray, mare, quarter horse. I am only 6 years old so I've got a lot of energy. I have a tail that goes from gray to blonde and a star on my face. My number is between 40 and 45. Who am I?

Stampede Oh Yeah!!!!!!!

Wow so yesterday was AMAZING!!!!! Stampede groomed and saddled again and I started making a couple new friends on my team :) then I got Rock #31   My first thought was oh boy. Cause anyone who know rock know he has terrible ground manners and I had him my tenderfoot year as well. It was so weird because I grabbed him from the pasture and he was being a totally grump and pinning his ears at everything but I had to groom outside and he was eating the hay on the ground. He was staying calm so I let him and he didn't fuss AT ALL for grooming. I physically grabbed his head and made sure I had the right horse. He was an angel. The worst I got was two head tosses for bridling. But the weird part was anytime someone else came over he started being a grump again. But when it was just me I was fine it was so sweet! The ride was even better! We trotted and warmed up. Anyone who forgot their name tags had to stand without stirrups again. Thank goodness I remembered mine. Rock has a really nice slow trot. His fast one can be a little bumpy. So then we talked in the middle and went back out. Then we picked up the lope. We built pairs to fours and practiced circling the whole team at a lope. The first couple were aweful and really scary. But after a few more we got it and kept the pace consistent. It was a great feeling. So then we played the Catch Up game. It's done in troopers,pairs,fours,eights. Whatever the instructor wants. So I was one away from the rail in my four. The goal of the game is to go as fast as you can in control without leaving your group behind and catch up to the back of the team who is at a slow lope. So my group had a really slow owner horse on the rail. Two laps around and she just couldn't keep up. We tried to stay with her and encourage her horse. Finally my instructor said. She's not tryingb anymore (the rider gave up) leave her behind. So that left me on the rail and I booked it! Rock wanted to run so bad and I let him. My 2 other riders kept up with me and we caught up in less than half an arena. Man going that fast was great. We never stopped loping as the rest of the teams went. Then still loping we built 8's and did it again. Still never breaking the lope. 8's was really hard cause our inside had to stop on the corners for us to fit. We got it at the end but it wasn't as smooth. The pint of the game was for the instructors to see who was comfortable at what speeds. Then we walked the last 10 minutes to cool the horses down. We had to ride with someone we didn't know and get to know them. I walked rock around to the water. Man he was drenched in sweat. Poor baby. He did everything I asked of him the whole time. Stopped and turned on a dime. It was an amZing little connection. So then I had a little time to eat before classroom and then in we went. We started with sequence and turned in diagrams. I have 3 corrections and we diagrammed 15 more charts today. So 18 total. I passed all 3 sequences!!!!! I am done :) yay!!!!!! I'm super happy :) we are supposed to finish diagramming our drill next time so that's exciting. I hope we start riding it soon. I feel behind cause a lot of other teams are. But we are really focusing on basics which is good too. Overall it was a great day! 

First Specialties Practice!!!! 11/29

Ok I finally was able to roll out of bed and function enough to post! Man am I sore or what!!!! So my day was insane yesterday! Holy Cow! So I had grooming at 7 and my partner and I each received a horse but only one was for Vaulting and it was Rebel #52. At least it was the 1st ride so I knew we wouldn't trot much. I was able to groom pretty quick and then carried at least 4 more saddles and bridles out to my teammates. Since I had liberty right after my ride I went into the Tack room and checked out my horse for liberty. I had JERICHO #107!!!! I was sooooo excited! He is like one of the best Liberty horses out there. Then we mounted and rode them down to the arenas and dismounted and took of the saddles again for our Vaulting horse. My partner put our vaulting equipment on while I put Rebel's saddle away. Then we headed into the arena after we changed into our tennis shoes. I gave my partner a leg up and then our instructor showed us how to help the second rider up. I was in the back. It feels really weird riding with a second person but it was super fun too! I saw a bunch of girls, new and old trying to kneel so I did and I did it! But then they said only returning Blue Vaulters should be trying tricks. Oops haha at least I wasn't the only one. It was super fun though! Then we circled and trotted a little. Our class started by 8:30 so we only had about a 20 minute ride but we will get faster so we will get to ride more. Luckily for me, Jericho was already in vaulting with no equipment on so I just took him out of there, gave him water and put my wire on his neck. I was so glad I didn't have to unsaddle another horse haha. Then I had one of my teammates hold him while I checked in. Then we headed into the arena. I tried to vault up and Jericho bit my butt. OW! That really hurt so I had a teammate hold his head while I tried again. Nope. So then I had her give me a leg up. Then I was watching WestiesGirl get a leg up and she got too much momentum and went all the way over! It was so funny and her horse looked soooo bored hahaha. So we headed out on the rail and warmed up a little bit then they called us into the middle. We discussed wire work, lifting, and how the class would work. Lifting for jumps is really hard! Plus they want to see air under our buts. Oh man. So we trotted and circled then tried a Thread so they could watch us individually Jericho was prancing and rearing in the corner waiting to go. Man he is AMAZING!!! He is a fox trotter so he is gaited so he is SO SMOOTH! Every gate just floats into the next one. He also responds better to the wire than he does to the bridle. If only we were jumping cause he charges the jumps. He is one of the few horses who loves liberty. Then they split the class in two so we could lope. Jericho's lope is like flying but I had to make sure I wasn't leading or he would take off. I barely used the reins minus stopping LOL. It was an amazing ride and I never wanted it to end. We were dismissed early to unsaddle and when I was done I had to run to batons! 3 back to back classes is a lot of work. Batons was fun but kind of boring because I have a friend in White who had been coaching me haha. But it was still a great class and I learned a few new tricks. We did Pancake, Figure 8, Finger twirls + tosses, Dead stick toss, dead stick turn around, and partner tosses. It was super fun. Then I finally had an hour break and got some food and water. Then I went up to the Auditorium and had my Colorado Stampede instructor look over a few diagrams that had been giving me fits and I had 5 to fix. Not bad. Then I watched my sister's BL4 ride. White Ropes practiced at 12 so I ran over there after. I got to call one of the flat loop routines!!! Then we just practiced Specialties. I worked on Texas skip and drag hop. After ropes I helped my friend with some diagramming and headed to help Blue Ropes at 3. It was super fun being the older roper. A lot of them can spin the loop really well and I see a lot of good ropers coming along. WesternaireForever is finally keeping her thumb down ;) So while I was helping Danielle yelled,"Really!" I was like what!? I had no clue what she was yelling at me about! Then she said pointing to my vaulting partner she already has toe dances! Then I just start laughing. She was like I get you've been giving her pointers but come on! LOL she was totally being silly and joking with me. It was great. So then she called a couple ropers over and had them try out for big ropes. They Passed!!! So I began teaching them how to spin the 15 and 20ft ropes. They both got it!!!!! I was kind of sad I didn't get to help the other kids but I like teaching how to do the big ropes. It's a lot harder than it looks :) So overall it was a really good practice and then I got to go home :) I'm SO SORE but it was totally worth it :)

No Pain, No Gain 11/22

Today was awesome! So I'm starting to make some new friends on my team so that's great! I got A. C. Some traumatic memories coming back. I'm proud to say I groomed him and saddled him all by myself. It took a lot of patience but I got him done :) bridling was a piece of cake. The ride was very productive even though we didn't do much. We worked on leg cues with some column movements. A lot of our team isn't very good at them so we pulled into the middle. They has us stand up in the stirrups and worked on rotating our hips in order to improve our foot position. It really hurts. Then keeping standing we had to drop our stirrups and keep ourselves up with our thighs core and knees. OMG owww! So then we had to go to the rail at a trot like this and AC does not have the smoothest trot ever. We had to go around like 8 times before they let us pick up our stirrups and sit down. Then we lopes in 8/4/2 then the ride was over. We literally stood for 30 minutes of it but it was really educational and is gonna improve our riding. Diagramming went well. We took a sequence test and turned in our diagram. Ten headed right into sloppy copies. Man they push us. We got 17 done in like 20 minutes. Then they went over some no no's for diagramming. Every team is a little different. Stampede doesn't let you trace over the pencil arrows with color they want the arrows to be just plain color. Oops I'm going to have to redo the three it just turned in. Lol so then I hung out with Westernaires forever trick roped with her a little and worked on my diagrams. I headed home and did diagrams for five hours and they are all done!!!! I will check them tomorrow because I probably made a mistake but that was my day :)

Guess The Horse #21

So nobody guessed on last week :(  But it was Jericho #107

So your riddle for this week is I am a quarter horse mare. I am 8 years old and have a brand on my left flank. I am a "chocolate" palomino (darker face). My number is between 5 - 10. Who am I?

BRRR!!!!!!! New Specialties 2014

Oh my goodness was it COLD today or what!!!! BRRRRRRRR!!!! I'm still frozen I think. I arrived at 7 to help the Tenderfeet catch and groom. I didn't get to stay long because I had a meeting for Liberty. I am on Blue Liberty 2!!!! Our abbreviation is BL2. So basically

BL1 - Red Division (Rides on Base Saturday)
BL2 - Returning Blue Liberty and AAA
BL3 - AA

BL4 - AA renters and A owners

That's for this year at least anyway :) So we turned in forms, and talked about the goals of the class, details for move ups, wires, signing out horses, and how unsaddling works and such. It was a lot of really good information. Then I watched Varsity at 9 and headed to my batons meeting at 10. We turned in forms and got measured for batons. I'm about 28 inches so I'm gonna try and buy that as soon as possible. Then I headed over to my Blue Vaulting meeting. There are 106 of us so we had to stand in the Blue. That was SO COLD. At least at my other meetings we had been in the classrooms so it was nice and warm. Basically it re stated everything I had already learned in my other meetings. Plus I also have a ton of friends on White Vaulting so I knew most of it. I already have my pads and stuff too. That one took the longest by far. Then it was time to wait around till 4 for ropes. So I headed to the volunteer. The snow was really starting to fall harder and it was getting even colder. My friends and I huddled under a blanket and watched Nighthorse. Then my friend came and told me White Ropes was cancelled. :( I was so upset. My ONLY class for the day and it was cancelled. But honestly it would have been miserable to rope in. It was now a full blizzard white out and all. I stayed and watched Crimson and am now at home thawing out my frozen body hahaha. It was soooooo cold. I can't wait to actually have my first practices with my new teams. Gonna be fun!!!

Friday Night Grooming 11/14

Tonight was awesome!!!! I finally got to do something at grooming. So my friend and I went and got jade and then socialized with the tenderfeet. Then they lined up. I had signed out Nugget #39. A nice gentle sweet horse. So I got two kids!!!! Finally!! Then another rider didn't get one so I let her take one of mine so I got to do one on one. That was amazing :) it was amazing finally getting to teach and show some tendertfeet the ways of a Westernaire. She picked everything up so quick and was amazing with the feet. Nugget cooperated so well!!!!! Overall it was a good night. Then the wranglers got hot cocoa and cookies. Yum!!!

First Ride with COLORADO STAMPEDE!!!

Holy crap is all I have to say. What a day. So it started out kind of rough with two injuries which I'm not going to describe for privacy but anyway I had to check in at 7 to groom and started to socialize with my new team. They all seem pretty nice and friendly. So I got Patches #104 yay!!! I was super happy cause she was great at show. So I had to have help taking her fly mask off but after that she was great. I was done on time but definitely slower than my normal and my team got in trouble for taking so long. We will work on it. So we rode down and checked tack and got started right away. Bandit ended up throwing a girl in my class but she got back on after my instructor worked with Bandit for a little. He was amazing after that. All the horses were super hyped up today. We mostly worked on drill work so our instructors could get a feel for where we were at. We have a lot of work to do but it wasn't terrible as far as team work. We seemed to work really well together so I am super stoked about that. As far as my personal ride that's another story so we lope A LOT! Which I loved just not with Patches, she pop - tarted me the entire ride making it super hard to keep my butt in the saddle and I almost fell twice. I lost my stirrups a ton too. I am SO SORE today from it. Especially my back. Otherwise I LOVED my first ride with Stampede and can't wait till next week. We had diagramming directly after our ride so I had to nearly run over there to make it. We just sat down and started a sequence test. I finished but barely cause I got there a little late. Then we were all given 3 packets, one was our drill notes (we are gonna have 45 total diagrams), one was a grading rubric, and the other was a timeline for the year. Then we had to grade a diagram provided to us by our instructors so that we got a feel for how they graded. Then we started sloppy copies and we got 3 done in 7 minutes. That was it for the class. The announced who passed the 1st sequence and 8 did the first try. 1 was me!!!! I'm starting the year out good! one of our teammates was nice enough to make us bracelets and we went into the fort to take photos for the monitors so they could learn our names. My classes for the day were done but I stayed anyway. I finished my diagrams, bought a new flag boot that is bejeweled from someone who makes them, and 2 liberty wires. I also watched Nighthorse for as long as I could without crying and then the New White Star team, man that was weird. I also saw WesternairesForever in Legionnaires on A.C. she looked good. My day ended with watching Glory Riders, Blue Rangers, and Mustangs. Pretty good day but I am exhausted!!!!! I can't wait till next ride when we move up to 15 - 20 diagrams. I also start Blue Vaulting, Batons, and Liberty next weekend. I don't know if White Ropes is practicing or not. Sorry it took so long to get this post out I was just soooooooo tired.

Friday Night Grooming 11/7

So I went and helped out with the T10 and T8 grooming class on Friday, well you can't test unless your in Red Division so that was a huge bummer. So my friend and I brought Jade up and gave her the grain. We also filled up the Clorox bottles with 50% bleach and 50% water. Then we helped the kids find their horses. Once they were done with feet there wasn't much for us to do. I was helping with Summer's feet. She puts all her weight on the foot you are trying to pick so I was literally supporting all her weight holding her knee while the tenderfoot picked the foot. When we finished the front I gently released her foot but she wasn't ready for it and freaked out a little. She was just being a bratty mare. So once her feet were finally taken care of I went and helped the girl with Casper. She gets grain before she bridles in the mornings when we ride so now she thinks she always gets grain before bridling so she was not happy. She was thrashing her head around and smacked the poor girl in the nose. She took it so well. So we tried again with me holding her head. I felt her pull back and yelled LET GO! but she wasn't fast enough and I got smacked on the side of my head... OW. So then we gave up and let her bridle Ashley instead. After that excitement Levi look like he could be colicing so we pulled him and gave him a look over. Our caretaker said his sounds were great and his refill time was excellent. He was just kicking at his belly a lot so we decided to keep him up in sick bay. So my friend and I got to help fill up his water and get him settled in. Then Candy looked like her tumor might have come back in her foot so we had to get her stall ready as well. After that we got to go update the white bored in the tack room so that was fun. Then the tenderfeet were done and we swept out the tack room and left. I was SUPER tired.

Guess The Horse #20

So the answer to the last riddle was Dodger #6 

This week's riddle is.... I am a all around great horse. I typically do AAA up to Precisionnettes/Varsity but I've done some Tenderfoot rides and AA shows. I have 4 very tall white stockings and a thick blaze. I am gated horse (fox trotter)  making me very smooth. I also have a "triangle" on my side. I am a 19 year old gelding. My number is between 105 - 110

Promotions 2014!!!

Well today didn't go exactly as planned. But it still was super fun and I am so excited for the new year. I arrived early and helped the tenderfeet groom. I groomed 4 horses in the morning and rode nugget down to the arenas. I was so nervous but 9:45 finally rolled around. I then went down to the livestock building and met with my team. I bumped into Westernairesforever who moved to legionnaires congrats! Then my team dragged me away and we went to the stands. Then we listen to the announcer tell us which numbers went to which rooms. And we were given our numbers. The big red 64 sat in the corner. I looked around and immediately too many people have my number so I knew I had not made Nighthorse. I then went up to the conference room sat down and was with at least four other of my white star teammates. Then my new instructor said welcome to Colorado Stampede!!!!!!! After my moments of depression and grief for not making red division I realize how excited I was to have gotten my second choice team. 5 girls including me went to stampede. Pops WesternaireLover went to Blue Rangers by herself, and WestiesGirl went to Shadow. Then I spent the next two hours riding my friends horses. Man that was amazing. Then I helped with unsaddling. They rolled for the first time so that went well. Now I am home studying my 28 maneuver sequence. Let's Go Stampede!!!!!!

Move Ups are TOMORROW

I can't believe tomorrow is when I get torn from white star and given a new team. I am so nervous!!!!!!!!! All I can say is OMG. If I say anymore I am gonna cry. Good luck tomorrow!!!! All the teams are amazing and you'll have a great year no matter what!

Annual More Pictures!!

Annual Show!!!! 2014

Wow I think I am finally recovered on sleep and energy from this weekend. Which was amazing!!!! So here is the post. 

Day 1 

So I checked in at about 8:30am because I was chosen to sell programs (so excited!) so I found my monitor and two other teammates then we went down to the barn. A little after that we went and got costumed and headed to the paddock. We were given the canvas bags for money and checked out 10 books at a time. They were kind of heavy so it gave us motivation to sell them. It was actually really fun!!! I sold 40 programs so I did really well. If you sell 10 you get the patch, 25 patch and red star, 50 patch and gold star, 75 patch and green star, 100 patch and blue star. So I got a red star and a program sale patch. Then I got to go down to the barn with my team. We played a ton of fun games and laughed so much. Finally we costumed for cavalcade. Then we lined up and got our flags. It was a lot of waiting around. We then went to the paddock and waited to go in. Again more waiting. Finally we got to go in I was on the rail and came in on the right side of the arena. Man it is huge!!! You feel so small!!!!! It was over really fast and we rolled up our flags and changed back into our uniform. We are some food and played more games. I took an hour nap. We also went on a scavenger hunt for alumni with their horse names. It was really fun. Red team helped us and we're so nice and welcoming. Then we repeated again for the evening show. I was paired with a shadow rider for this one. I still came on the right side though. Walk, exit, roll flag, un costume again. Even tough we weren't in it much the bonding hat happened in the barn was amazing. My teammates and I literally laughed the whole day. We put all our chairs in our stall and tidies up and we were free to go. That was my day! It was so much fun!!!

Day 2 

I checked in down at the barn at about 10. One of my instructors said alright captain what's wrong with 3 of your riders? Their bandannas were rolled on there head. I felt bad correcting them. Then we went and cleaned the stands. The. We had an all rider meeting and discussed ticket sales. A rider from lancers won the saddle and a girl from hoedowner a won the horse. Congrats!!! After my team had a meeting the instructors commented on the year and we presented them with flowers cards and chocolates. We also gave them a laminated poster that we all signed at white show. I was fighting the tears. We took a picture and then back to the barn. We then went up and shopped the booths. I bought 8 more charms for my necklace. I also got horse pins (rocky, cedar, cinder, and Utah girl) I also got tiny team pins. It was great. Then we got to watch the beginning of the show. I kind of miss getting to watch. Then we went to the barn costumed for the last time. Headed out and preformed our last cavalcade. We then rolled up our flags. I held on sooooo tight. I didn't want to let go! We handed them off and took off our costumes for the last time. I seriously was fighting the tears. Don't cry don't cry. Then we cleaned up our area sweed and hen we all started bawling. We realized it was the end and that was our last moment was a team. It was very emotional and we bade farewell until Saturday for move ups. 

Annual was absolutely amazing and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. I made so many memories and got even closer with my team than before. I'm bawling as I wrote this. I know that I will be in full on tears this coming Saturday. White star you were amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better team. I was proud to be your captain. 

Ticket Turn In

Last night was ticket turn in. I arrived pretty early but my monitor was already there. White Division was in the AV room. My monitor counted out the money and checked the ticket counts. It all added up and my grand total was 33 :) not to bad then I stuck around and waited for a friend. When she arrived I got my Texas skip rope from her and headed home. I can't wait to start working on it. I'm pretty sick right now so I'm hoping it's gone by saturday for annual. I was drawn to sell programs for the Saturday morning show. I'm pretty excited :) it will be cool to participate this year. We also got these cool little trick rider pins that say annual show 2014. 

Give Away Horse!

So I thought I would post the amazing picture I took of Ghost the ticket horse a few weeks ago! Wish I could sell enough to try and win her. 

So Much To Do

So this week and weekend are going to be crazy! Here is my to do list. 

- Clean Boots and Spurs

- Clean Blouse/Jeans

- Polish Officer Bars 

- Gather costume pieces 

   - white hat

   - white jeans 

   - white long sleeve

   - white belt

   - t shirt/shorts

   - brain

- Sell Tickets

- Ticket Turn in on Thursday

- Annual on Saturday and Sunday!!!!!!!

Did I miss anything??? 

White Ropes 10/18

So I couldn't make it to ropes today. I did have to go and pick us a few tickets. It was so weird being out of uniform. I wish I could have gone. I'm sick and had t go out of town. Next weekend is ANNUAL!!! I'm so excited!!!!

Guess the Horse #19

Last weeks answer was Maddie #13

This weeks riddle is going to be harder so I'm giving lots of detail! I am a gelding, sorrel, mustang. Half of my face has some paralysis but it doesn't bother me because I am FAST. I only go to AAA and up to Varsity Big Red. I have a big star that narrows to a stripe and there is a frosting effect on my forelock. I also have 3 socks. My number is between 5 and 10. Who am I?

Cavalcade Practice and Stall Cards

So today was really fun minus not having my last white star ride which was SUPER depressing. (I'm not writing more on that because I WILL burst into tears) but I came in the morning and helped S1. Then I met a girl for a Liberty wire for my sister at 9 and watched varsity and precisionettes. Then I bought my 24ft rope and payed the guy for the brass Honda and swivel handle. It should be ready for me next week and I can really start learning Texas skip. So I practiced my ropes a little and it was finally time for cavalcade. Holy Crap! That's a lot of riders. Since everyone else was inside it was basically a swarm of white up to the Western. We lined up in our teams then they put the groups in show order. We walked over to the tack truck and got handed our flags. We stuck them in our flag boots hooked to our belt loops. They seem so big when you are not on a horse. So the way they make us hold them is really good for keeping it straight but is KILLER on the wrists. You have your right hand on top thumb down Palm out with your left hand on the bottom thumb down Palm out. It's hard to explain on here. So we made 4's and then we headed into the arena. Basically we just spilt as soon as we enter so we are in pairs then pass left hand to left hand at the far end then come back out as 4's. The owner horses were freaking out cause of all the flags. They do a thread the needle combination in the center while we walk the perimiter. There was a ton of flags. The star on my flag kept smacking my face. Then on our second round a little single a rider dropped their flag a little, right as we were passing left hand to left hand and it smacked me right in the face. Ow. We walked it 3 times then rolled up our flags and put them away. White star has the best colors. Then my team went to stall card decorating. I colored my horse to match Wyoming since buckskins are my favorite color. But Cedar is still my baby girl. I also colored one for one of our instructors then I left. That was it :) 

As a side note I want to say rest in peace smokey who passed away early September and Guy who was put down today due to twisted colic ;( you two will be dearly missed. You were still apart of our family even if I never rode you guys. 

 

Last White Star Ride CANCELLED!

So my nightmare came true. It rained So much that the outdoor arenas are entirely flooded. Normally this would just move us inside but with the red specialties practicing every weekend for annual and the sophomores (who we normally would have precedence over) have to finish building the skill set theme need for the new year. My equitation test was the last time I would ever ride as a white star :( I'm so freaking sad! I wanted the joys of a last ride where we play games and go FAST and cry and laugh as the family we have become. At least I get to spend annual show with my girls :) I still get to go out there today for Cavalcade practice and to decorate our stall cards (picture to come!) to any white star girls reading this.... I will always be a white star. Who Are We?!?!?!?!

Guess the Horse #18

The answer to last week was Zena #79

I am a tiny brown mare. I have NO white marks what so ever and can be a sweetheart when I want to. I run up to Precisionettes all the way down to tenderfeet. I'm really smooth and my number is between 10 and 15. Who am I?

Awesome Day! 10/4

So today went really well! It wasa specialties weekend so I came out at 6:15. I helped some tenderfeet and then once t1 and t9 were up I got to go out and catch quinnella #32. She did amazing and I finished in no time. So then steps got mounted up and we got the left over horses. I GOT TO RIDE ROCKY DOWN TO THE ARENAS!!!!! It was a dream come true for me. He usually only goes to AAA and up. I got to pony cruiser along with me. I really wished I could have actually ride him more than just walking but I was so happy. He had a really comfy saddle too. So then I got them tied up and got some breakfast. Then I went to meet someone for a Liberty wire. (I am buying 4) so I waited there for an hour. She never showed so then I watched precisionettes and worked on some homework. Then I went to meet my other person for 2 wires. She at least texted me and told me she forgot them. So I finally met with the last person and got my free wire. I decorated it with purple and green bet wrap. I'm so excited for Liberty to start!!! My friend is lending me her baton so I can practice!! I'm ready for the new year!!! So then I watched Crimson and Royal. They are both shaping up nicely for annual. Then ropes came along. I got to call the flat loop routine and then I ran an errand for danielle. We just worked on specialties I practiced jump the Honda and then I was goofing off with my 20ft trying to do Texas skip. I sorta got it! And one of my teammates had a rope with a brass Honda and swivel handle for Texas skip and she let me try. Omg so much better!!! I actually got super close and danielle came and started teaching me!!!!!! I'm so freaking excited!!!!!!!! Then I got to leave 20 minutes early to go talk to someone's dad so he can make me a rope for Texas skip. I have to buy a 25 ft. Next week and pay him for the brass Honda. I can't wait to finish learning it. Then I went home. The end!!!

Guess the Horse #17

The answer to last week was Tailwind #10

Tailwind

This week's riddle is I am a Bay mare with no markings. I am 18 and a mustang. If you say my name in the pasture... Good luck catching me!!!!! My number is between 75 and 80. Who am I?