How Quickly They Grow Up

JC has now completed his fourth show. The difference in him since May is amazing. At his first show, he was a nervous wreck. Then, again, so was I. He was afraid of everything and acting like a 3 year old. Wow, they are not supposed to act their age. It was very iffy as to whether or not he would even make it in the ring at that show. As you know, if you read the blog JC's 1st show, he made it in and did well.

His second show was at the Midwest Charity Horse Show in Springfield, Illinois. He was even better at that show. He was still nervous, but was vastly improved compared to his first show. He discovered that he liked horse shows. He likes riding in the truck and he especially liked the fact that he got carrots and other treats several times a day. Just like at home, he took his afternoon nap everyday. He didn't fret about anything and got to wear his new show blanket which made him proud.
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The Thrill of Breeding

When we first started riding horses, we never realized what an important part of our lives they would become. We started when my sister was 12 and I was 4. We started spending more time at the barn. We learned to groom horses, clean stalls (not a fun job) and tack the horses. Eventually, we learned to exercise horses, give lessons and take out trail rides. The trail rides were fun to do because we would always have guys come out trying to impress their girlfriends. We asked who were experienced riders so we new which people to put on which horses. Invariably, the young guys would say they were very experienced and there were two horses we knew very well. Each of these horses had their own tricks. One would always stop at the creek and duck his head. Experienced riders would catch him and there wouldn't be a problem. Inexperienced riders would end up in the creek. I can't tell you how many of these "experienced" young men ended up in the creek. It was a hoot. The other horse would turn and go back to the barn. Again, experienced riders had no problem just turning him back and he would continue to follow the group. Most of the girls of these "experienced" guys ended up finishing the trail rides by themselves as their boyfriends were back at the barn.

As time went on, my mother bought us each a horse. Our first horses were killed in a barn fire which destroyed most of the horses. A man started the barn on fire. That is my worst memory of our beginnings. Once the barn was rebuilt, mom again got us horses. Through the years we have had the good, the bad, and the really ugly. But, we have learned from each and every one of them. One horse my mother got my sister was a mare who got hurt at a very young age and was never able to trot sound after that. We didn't know what to do with her. The trainer we were with suggested we breed her as she was a mare out of Status Lovely who was a daughter of Status Symbol. That was the beginning of the rest of our lives.

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