Stevie turned 13 this past week. It seems like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. He was such a tiny thing and now he is as tall as I am and almost ready to shave! Somehow this just seems wrong! lol

We are getting a new horse. His registered name is QAR Mega Clasic, barn name is Sky Dog, or Sky for short. He is such a good boy and I can't wait to get him home. We are going to geld him first and take things slow with him, before we bring him here. I was supposed to ride him yesterday, but things didn't work out. Oh well, maybe soon.

I have been over at the barn every day this past week. I am trying to help a special needs woman get ready for a special olympics event. She does really good with me and I love helping her. Only thing is, after today I am going to have to cut back on going over there. I have to work with my horses and help Beth practice for her horse shows. Once school is out that will help a lot, but right now I just don't have that much time to do it all.

A and I started working with Kelly. Kelly has no clue what to do on the lounge line. She wants to trot and run. She was really confused that we wanted her to walk, but she was geting it pretty quick. I don't know what I am doing and I don't want to confuse her more, so, right now I am not lounging her on my own. She is head shy, so I am working on that with her right now. When she was being lounged she was gimpy on that right left leg at first. After a little while though, it started to losen up. Hopefully exercise will help her out.

Bill's eye is finally healed. I am so glad. Seemed like all I did was wait for the vet for 2 weeks. That bill hurt the bank account too. The really good news is that the eye ball it's self is healthy. The change in color was scarring and not something else going on.

I did ebay yesterday and hopefully I have a show outfit now. I am going to have to go in the ring with Beth when she shows on the 24th. I don't think I am going to be able to run the barrels like her daddy though. I'm too fat and out of shape lol. I'll probably get one of the kids to do it for me.

I think that's all that's going on right now.

Beth learned two really important lessons yesterday. The fist is that not all shows will win her a bribbon. The second was if you fall off your horse, get back up there and go again.

Two weeks ago Beth won 2 ribbons at her first horse show. Yesterday was her second show and she did great! Of course she made a couple mistakes, but that's to be expected. She turned 5 in March, so we are really happy with how good she is doing. She didn't win any ribbons yesterday. We told her she might not, but that it was ok and that she needs to practice and learn so maybe she can win some ribbons the next show. We also keep telling her that the most important thing is to have fun and do her best. We could have entered her into one class so she could have gotten a participation ribbon, but we decided not to. She is competitive enough and this is a lesson she needs to learn early on. She is disappointed of course, but she hasn't pouted or whined about it. I am really proud of her.

Daddy ran her around all 3 barrels. She had a blast! Of course Daddy was about to die when he got back over to us though LOL. She was pulling back on Biggy as Neal was trying to get him to run. He was trying not to fall on his face and didn't see what she was doing.

My life has gotten absolutely crazy!

Even though things were busy, things were well in hand. Now I am hurt and I can't seem to catch up on everything.

Let me start with Stevie. He still hasn't gotten on a horse, but we are still working on it. I took a saddle stool from my instructor's barn to see if I could get him used to the saddle again. He is sitting on it and bouncing on it. Yesterday and last night he showed a really strong interest in riding. I would ask him if he wanted to play cowboy and if he wanted to get his own ribbons for showing and he would say yes each time. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can have a wonderful and happy update on his riding really soon.

Beth was in her first horse show. She did great and I was so proud of her and happy for her. She got 2 ribbons. She got a blue ribbon for halter at mini stud and gelding and she got a participation ribbon for lead line one barrel. She was so cute and Biggie her pony was beyond awsome. She has 3 shows comming up this next month, but I am afraid we are only going to be able to make it to two.

Bill our gelding has an ulcer on his blind eye. The dang thing isn't wanting to heal up. It was better the last time the vet was out, but still not healed up. Hopefully when she comes out this week it will be a lot better and we can go about our business.

I am having issues with Kelly. She has hurt me twice. Right now I am walking around with a wrap on my elbow and a brace on my wrist. My arm is getting better, but I have too much to do. She really did it in the other day when the ferrier was here. When she pulled back that last time I thought I was going to toss my cookies. I couldn't hold her anymore cause she kept acting up, so the ferrier tied her up. She did great after that.

We have planted a garden for the first time. The economy might get bad, but I'm gonna eat. lol

Poor hubby has so much he needs to do. He is working so much that he can't get it done though. He is going with us to horse shows. He feels that it's important to be with the kids, and it is. Beth loves having her daddy there to be with her. It's just slow going around here, but it's getting done a little bit at a time.

It just seems like lately there are not enough hours in the day to do what needs to be done.

Hubby had to go get some hay yesterday. I got the bright idea for Stevie to go. He was excited and ready to go for a ride. I told him before he left that if he was going to be a cowboy he had to learn how to sling that hay. He said "cowboy" and headed out the door. They got back with the hay and I reminded Stevie about the hay and being a cowboy. He actually helped to stack the hay!! He was so excited and doing such a great job UNTIL hubby accidentally knocked his cd case off the back of the truck. The world stopped till he got the jacket in the case just right and was able to put it back just so. He fussed a bit, but finished the job. We were so happy that he did that. This is a first for him.

A came over today to help us with the horses. Since we got rain last night we knew things would be a bit slick. I went out and caught Kelly. She did great with no one else in the pasture. She usually runs and acts crazy for a bit and makes me do tricks to catch her. She is training me pretty well. Anyway, we got her in the round pen and started to do a little bit with her. She did ok, but that knee is bothering her big time. A and I were talking and she meantioned clippers. I told her we had some but hadn't used them on the horses. So, we send hubby inside to get the clippers. We were pleasently suprised that Kelly did GREAT!

Hubby went to catch Bill. Bill is usually the one that is easy to catch. Not today. He made Neal chase him down and go through the big mud puddle. hee hee and nanner nanner to him. The last time Bill was clipped we had to twitch him. He shied a little bit but he stood there and did great also! we were so proud. He is really comming a long way.

While A and Neal worked on Bill, I stood with Kelly. We worked on her not crowding me. She keeps trying to put her head in my space. Then we worked on her trying to nip at me. She would try, I wouldn't let her and then she would look all innocent and start fidgeting with something else.

A told me that they are starting up a 4-H equestrian group here. I am going to get Beth in it. I think it will be great for her. Stevie will have his speical olympics, they both will have the horseman's association and barrel racing. Then she will have this for just her.

This afternoon I told Beth that now that it's warming up she has to get out there and bush Biggy and help feed him. She is also going to have to help clean up behind him. She was all excited. We will see how long it lasts lol.

Things around here have been nuts. Seems like all we do is run in circles and get little done. I guess eventually it will all start to come together though.

Stevie has been having a rough time lately. We don't know what's been going on with him, but I have a few nice scars and bruises. He is doing a lot better now and we are in the process of taking steps to head off this type of thing in the future.

Beth is doing great. She is still loving school and she is so smart. She has a birthday comming up. I can't believe she is almost 5.

We have been very lucky to find someone to help us with the horses. She comes over here to work with us and doesn't charge an arm and a leg! She really knows her stuff and is very patient. I don't want to use her name online, so I call her our instructor/trainer or just A. Without her I don't know what we would have done.

A has been coming over and working with Neal and Bill. Bill is doing so much better. He has gone from moving while mounting to standing still like a gentleman. He isn't bobbing his head like he was and he is listening so much better. He is still hot and always will be, but he is learning that he isn't going to get his mouth sawed on and jerked back. Neal is doing so much better too. He is much more relaxed on Bill and he is learning the cues to make Bill do what he knows how to do. I am so very proud of both of them.

A and her hubby are letting us use her belgian for Stevie this year. She is such an awsome horse. Teeney is so calm and Stevie doesn't ruffle her feathers a bit. We are also hoping to hit a few barrel races this year too. Stevie really enjoyed the one he was in. Next time though we will take our own horses. Learned our lesson real quick lol.

A is wanting to start Beth doing english riding. I need to find her a saddle and all that stuff. I think Beth will realy enjoy it. She loves to ride and will get on anything if we let her.

Kelly is having an issue with her left front leg. When we got her we thought that her lameness was due to being clipped to close. Then she had an absess in that hoof. Now she has a bump on the side of the knee with a lot of fluid there. We are taking her to the vet next week and hopefully something can be done for her. I have started working with her in showmanship because of her knee. If we could get that fixed I would love to put her in halter. Guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Life is calling, so, I better get back to it.