'Cause I've spent hours on this darned computer already, and I need a break! But, I wanted to pop in and say "Hi!" and let you know what we've been up to...I'll add photos as I find the time...
Friday afternoon my parents came up for a quick visit. They brought Amato's Italian sandwiches with them - the BEST!! My oldest and I were thrilled!! The youngest ate his usual PBJ. ;-) He finally had an opportunity to show Grammie & Grampa how well he is doing riding Kitch, even trotting and going over obstacles. They were duly impressed and he was so proud to show off his skills.
That evening we headed over to Leeds for the Ellis River Riders Game Show that was hosted by my team penning club at our arena. It was a wicked lot of fun!! I really wished that I was riding, but Tillie just isn't there yet and of course, Kitch, is now my son's horse, so I didn't want to get him all fired up by racing him.
Friday afternoon my parents came up for a quick visit. They brought Amato's Italian sandwiches with them - the BEST!! My oldest and I were thrilled!! The youngest ate his usual PBJ. ;-) He finally had an opportunity to show Grammie & Grampa how well he is doing riding Kitch, even trotting and going over obstacles. They were duly impressed and he was so proud to show off his skills.
That evening we headed over to Leeds for the Ellis River Riders Game Show that was hosted by my team penning club at our arena. It was a wicked lot of fun!! I really wished that I was riding, but Tillie just isn't there yet and of course, Kitch, is now my son's horse, so I didn't want to get him all fired up by racing him.
Saturday was our annual family reunion at my aunt and uncle's house. There was a good turnout and we had a great time! The weather was beautiful and the kids had a ball playing in the fields. We brought airplanes as usual. One of them flew way up over the trees and 2 fields over!! We thought it was a goner, but somehow Dad managed to find it when we walked over there to the family cemetery. We sure missed our great-aunt, who wasn't well enough to make the trip up here, and our great-uncle, who passed away recently, but it was a good time, nonetheless.
On Sunday we went back over to Leeds to watch some penning and compete in the sorting. Tillie was in a bad mood. I should have known that when I went to get her from the pasture and Lily was sporting a perfect hoof print on her ribcage! When I started riding her, she just seemed jumpy and wasn't really listening to me. Because of that, I did an extra long warm-up with lots and lots of trotting. Finally, I asked for a lope - and got a BUCK! Bigger than usual, huge leaps and kicks, head down and 'let's get you off', type bucking!! I got her stopped, collected her, trotted for a bit (Disturbing some poor guy who was trying to take a leak out behind the tractor!) and asked again - same thing, only with a bit more determination behind it this time!! Okay then. Now what? We were giving the guys quite a rodeo show and I wasn't too happy about it. We kept at it 'til I finally got a short, but reasonably smooth lope out of her, then took a break.
When the Open class broke for lunch, I was the only one in the arena warming up, which I figured was good because I didn't have to worry about watching out for any other riders, but bad because I was in the spotlight. Nothing to worry about though. Other than being chargy and trying to grab the bit, she didn't buck, so I loped her a lot, in the hopes of getting rid of some of her energy.
Finally, the Novice Sorting Class started and I figured we were going to do great since we did so well last time. Riiight!! We did way more bucking than we did sorting, but somehow we still managed to get 4 cows out and not kill the other girl that was riding with us. I felt so bad to have such an awful ride - she may never want to ride with me again. I came out of that pen really upset and apologizing all over the place - to her and also to all the other people that had signed up to ride with me. Fortunately, they're good sports and supportive. The next girl that I had scheduled to ride with, leaned down and whispered in Tillie's ear for a minute or two and told me that it wouldn't happen again....
And it didn't! We had a good ride, but unfortunately really tough cows, so we didn't make the callbacks. I did another ride with a girl that was also having horse issues, but we worked together and she was very happy with his performance on that run, so she thanked me for helping to boost her confidence. I'm still not sure I deserved that, but it felt good! And Tillie behaved even better. Our last ride was with the girl that we did so well with at the last sorting, and we did great again!! We made the callbacks and this time we had a great run in the callbacks and ended the day in 6th place!! Yippee!! That wasn't 'in the money', but it's an improvement for us, so I am thrilled.
By the end of the day, Dad and the boys were impatient to get home, and I was starving and exhausted, but Tillie wasn't quite done yet. After all, she had decided that she was in heat and that meant being as difficult as possible. She refused to get into the trailer...and everyone had to drive past us on their way out...so it was beyond embarrassing...especially since I find that harder to deal with than the bucking because I have no tricks up my sleeve to make her go in...it was awful!! Finally, instead of making jokes at our expense like everyone else, someone actually stopped to help, and with grain as an enticement (I didn't have any with me! I won't make that mistake again!) she got onto the trailer. ARGHHH!! (And, I know, none of them was really making fun of me, 'cause they've all 'been there, done that', but me with my inferiority complex found it hard to take. Oh well.)
Today was spent at the library, uploading all the horsey photos that I took this weekend. (http://www.morningcallranch.com/) The boys read lots of books during that time and I actually had to drag them out of there. They do love to read, just like their Mom. We enjoyed ice cream cones on the way home, which was a nice treat!
When the Open class broke for lunch, I was the only one in the arena warming up, which I figured was good because I didn't have to worry about watching out for any other riders, but bad because I was in the spotlight. Nothing to worry about though. Other than being chargy and trying to grab the bit, she didn't buck, so I loped her a lot, in the hopes of getting rid of some of her energy.
Finally, the Novice Sorting Class started and I figured we were going to do great since we did so well last time. Riiight!! We did way more bucking than we did sorting, but somehow we still managed to get 4 cows out and not kill the other girl that was riding with us. I felt so bad to have such an awful ride - she may never want to ride with me again. I came out of that pen really upset and apologizing all over the place - to her and also to all the other people that had signed up to ride with me. Fortunately, they're good sports and supportive. The next girl that I had scheduled to ride with, leaned down and whispered in Tillie's ear for a minute or two and told me that it wouldn't happen again....
And it didn't! We had a good ride, but unfortunately really tough cows, so we didn't make the callbacks. I did another ride with a girl that was also having horse issues, but we worked together and she was very happy with his performance on that run, so she thanked me for helping to boost her confidence. I'm still not sure I deserved that, but it felt good! And Tillie behaved even better. Our last ride was with the girl that we did so well with at the last sorting, and we did great again!! We made the callbacks and this time we had a great run in the callbacks and ended the day in 6th place!! Yippee!! That wasn't 'in the money', but it's an improvement for us, so I am thrilled.
By the end of the day, Dad and the boys were impatient to get home, and I was starving and exhausted, but Tillie wasn't quite done yet. After all, she had decided that she was in heat and that meant being as difficult as possible. She refused to get into the trailer...and everyone had to drive past us on their way out...so it was beyond embarrassing...especially since I find that harder to deal with than the bucking because I have no tricks up my sleeve to make her go in...it was awful!! Finally, instead of making jokes at our expense like everyone else, someone actually stopped to help, and with grain as an enticement (I didn't have any with me! I won't make that mistake again!) she got onto the trailer. ARGHHH!! (And, I know, none of them was really making fun of me, 'cause they've all 'been there, done that', but me with my inferiority complex found it hard to take. Oh well.)
Today was spent at the library, uploading all the horsey photos that I took this weekend. (http://www.morningcallranch.com/) The boys read lots of books during that time and I actually had to drag them out of there. They do love to read, just like their Mom. We enjoyed ice cream cones on the way home, which was a nice treat!
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