November 10, 2009

Well, it’s been quite a while since I have checked in here and a lot has gone on!  Sammy and I are expected our first child on May 22nd, and that has definitely been the highlight of the last few months.  Amp is turned out in his trap with a round bale enjoying a vacation until next summer.  Two flag times kept us from making the UPRA finals this year, but you can’t complain much when you go make nice runs, that’s just part of it.  This year proved that he is definitely a rodeo horse, not a “barrel race” horse, so I won’t run him again until after the baby is here and another rodeo season is in full swing.  We did accomplish a lot of positive things this year, so I would definitely call it a success. 

Slasher and Mocha, the two 3-year olds, are just coming back from a little vacation as well, and are working really well.  It is very exciting to have young horses show so much promise. We are going to a jackpot tonight, which will be their first one back in 6 weeks.

On Halloween weekend, our church had a 2 day steer wrestling event and some of the best steer wrestlers in the world showed up.  There were at least 3 that are qualified for the NFR this year that were there, and many past NFR qualifiers.  I would have to say the highlight of the whole event was the costume steer wrestling…VERY comical to say the least.  We had Miss Rodeo America, Tinkerbell, Jessica Simpson, Batman, a Hawaii girl, and the list goes on and on.  I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard, or enjoyed steer wrestling so much!  My duty for the weekend was working in the concession stand, where all of the proceeds went for Christmas for children in the Phillipines.  It feels good knowing we raised a lot of money so that they will be able to  enjoy something that we sometimes take for granted.

September 1, 2009

I want to write about an incident that happened to us on the weekend of 8/22.  I decided to go to a jackpot that Saturday evening.  Since my in-law’s house was on the way to the jackpot, we stopped by and got them, their horse, and Sammy, who had been working in that area that day. We go to the jackpot and had a successful evening.  I ran Amp there, for the first time in almost 6 weeks, and we hit the first barrel leaving it to place in the 1D against some tough competition.  I was happy about that, and our grey filly, Slasher, had also worked really well.  After we dropped Sammy’s parents and horse off at their house, we pulled back onto the highway to go home, and out of nowhere, this little red car hits the trailer on the passenger side.  The car hit our trailer exactly where Amp and Slasher were, the two “standouts” of the evening.  My first thought was about the horse’s safety.  After checking on them and the girl that hit us and knowing everyone was okay, I instantly thought about how Satan WILL try to take your blessings from you…anyway he can.  No matter how big or small, he wants to rob us of everything that makes us happy, blesses us, or brings prosperity to us; pretty much anything given to us from God he wants to steal. 

It amazed me that none of the horses had not even a scratch on them, and to top it off, none of them seemed upset or nervous after she hit us.  I know without a doubt that God had his hedge of protection around our rig and the horses, and I am so thankful for that.  Other than probably totalling her car, our trailer had only minor damage done to it, and is still in working order.   Amazing!

August 3, 2009

Well, I am officially ready for fall and the cooler weather!  It is just miserable some days here.  Amp is enjoying his time off and probably will for the next couple of weeks before he is called to action again.  The young horses are doing phenominal to say the least.  I have been asked a lot lately what my plans for them are; whether I am going to run them in the Juvenile Futurity in December and futurity them next year or not.  My reply is “if they are ready, then yes…if they aren’t, then we will enter up when we get there.”  Bottom line, I have been blessed beyond abundance with my two 3 year olds and 4 year old and want to have nice horses out of them when it’s all said and done.  Mocha is so solid and just has that ability to take whatever you throw at her in stride.  Slasher is probably one of (if not the most) athletic horses I have ever swung a leg over.  I have to be really careful with her and make sure she doesn’t scare herself, or me, because she has so much speed and just wants to crawl around a barrel!

As for Herbie, he has successfully competed in his first rodeo-exhibition as of this past weekend.  He did spook at quite a bit, but we made the pattern and came out alive so I consider that a plus!  My biggest surprise has been our trusty rope horse-turned barrel horse, Zan. 

Zan is 15 this year and used to be Sammy’s calf roping horse.  Several sets of circumstances brought Zan to my house last year on the same weekend that Amp made his last runs before the layoff caused by injury.  About the time that Amp was back in competition form, Zan was laid off to recover from an injury.  At that point, my thought was that with his age and his size (all of about 14.2 on a good day), I probably wouldn’t run barrels on him again.  Well, fast forward almost a year after I had to get off of him and in the 4 runs that I have made on him all year, and really since last August, he has ran 2/10ths behind a pro-rodeo horse, and this past weekend we BARELY drug the second barrel over leaving it to win the Saint Jo UPRA rodeo.  That was disheartening, but I had no idea he was capable to run against horses of that caliber, so I am very excited to say the least! What is really amazing is that he keeps on getting better with each run we make. I plan on using him a little more to give Amp a break from having to carry the “competition load” until I have the rest of the herd running next year.  Isn’t it funny how sometimes our biggest blessings are right under our noses?!?!

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7

July 7, 2009

Wow, has time flown since I last posted. We have been busy here around the house trying to cram as much stuff in to work on before Sammy goes back to work. Amp has had it pretty easy around here. He hasn’t taken to summer as well as the other horses, but we are praying about that! We have had a 3rd barrel issue the last couple of runs where he wasn’t dropping his hip to have a nice turn and this was costing us placing and/or winning several rodeos, so I tuned on him and he absolutely was going to smoke it at Teague this past weekend and a rider error caused us to hit it…grrrr….but it was a promising run for the future because he was definately listening and wanting to work! The colts have been working great and I am trying to keep from getting anxious for December to come around. Let’s just say I am amazed by them and God’s goodness every day! We have also been saddling up our two 2 year olds and starting the process on the “road to becoming barrel horses.” They are very smart, because now when we go to feed in the mornings they are in the back of the pasture instead of at the fence waiting on us like they usually are! I think they have had enough of being tied up saddled in the heat

This weekend we are going to Seymour for slack Saturday morning and then Vernon for a barrel race to take the colts to. I hope everyone had a safe and blessed 4th!

This is my scripture for this weekend…..

Romans 8:37 “In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.”

June 9, 2009

It has been a while since I have written, but it has been busy around here!  Last time I wrote, I was getting ready to go to Honey Grove and Ft. Smith.  I ended winning second at Honey Grove, despite a few rider errors during our run.  I was first out, and on the program, it showed that they were going to have 5 Saddle Bronc riders before the barrels.  My plan was to wait until they started that event, then tighten my girth, put my rubberbands on, and get myself ready to run barrels.  Well, after a very “unique” version of the calf scramble (they were letting kids catch goats, baby pigs, chickens, etc… and take them home with them!), they start calling for the barel racers and I am nowhere near ready!  So needless to say, I didn’t have my best night of piloting, but somehow it worked out! 

I ended up turning out of Ft. Smith; I just couldn’t get a good feeling about going, and I decided that was reason enough not to drive 10 hours there and back!   Sammy and I took Herbie and Mocha to a jackpot this past week and let them cruise in there on their first exhibitions instead of trotting them though and letting them see everything.  I was so excited at the way both of them handled themselves.  Slasher stayed home because she has been sore for the last couple of days, but is over that now and working awesome again! 

It amazes me daily how much the Lord has blessed me with such incredible animals.  He has given me the desires of my heart and more, and I give Him all of the credit and the praise.  It’s not me or my training ability that has made these horses as nice as they are, but Him working in me, through me, and for me.   In no way do I deserve all that He has given me, in horses and in all other areas of my life, but he does it because He loves me and HE WANTS HIS CHILDREN BLESSED!!!! 

Friday and Saturday, our church, The Cowboy Church in Henrietta, TX, had it’s 3rd Annual Rodeo Bible Camp.  There were four events, barrel racing, calf roping, goat tying, and team roping.  This is such an amazing experience to be a part of.  I truly think I have learned more the past 2 years of helping out than the kids do!  I was honored to be asked to be the instructor for the barrels this year.  We had a lot of fun, and I always enjoy seeing the “lightbulb” go off for someone that has been having some trouble with their horse on the pattern.  I think my favorite part of the whole camp is the speakers that come and talk to the kids during breaktime.  I love hearing about how the Lord has worked in their lives, and what He has done for them. 

This weekend for us starts this Thursday with Winnsboro, then Clarksville Friday and Durant, OK Saturday.  On Sunday, Sammy and I plan on heading to church, then onto a jackpot for “colt day” (probably Sammy’s favorite part of all of this!)

Have a blessed week!

Proverbs 3:6 “In all ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

This past weekend I was entered up in Granbury and Bandera.  I decided to enter Granbury, a UPRA sanctioned rodeo, at the last minute to work on my timing with Amp in an outdoor pen.  I was kind of on the fence about whether I should enter or not, plus it’s not real fun trying to call in and enter when everyone is else trying to enter the same rodeo is calling at the same time that you are.  So, I told the Lord that I was going to call 5 times and if He wanted me to enter then I would get in….On try # 3, I got in!  I knew then that something special was going to happen there…and it did…We won the whole thing~YEA!!!  The ground was a little tricky there, but Amp handled it like a pro and took care of us .  We spent the night there and then headed to Bandera.  My husband, Sammy, is taking off of work for a couple of weeks before he goes up north for his next job, so he got to go with me this weekend.  I was really excited about that since he’s been working in Odessa six days a week for the past six months.  Plus, it was nice to share the driving with someone else! 

Our run at Bandera wasn’t really what I was hoping it would be…I think Amp had flashbacks of running on the track because he didn’t rate his barrels like he usually does.  I guess that just goes to show that horses make mistakes or have “off” days just like we do.  I have found you learn from those “dismal” runs just like we do from the nice ones.  I still got to take my 4 year old Streaking Avalanche (“Herbie”) with me to get some “road” experience, so that’s a plus, too.

I will probably try to make it to a jackpot this week with the colts, then it’s off to Honey Grove and Fort Smith this weekend.  I am standing on this scripture and believing for the upcoming weekend to be prosperous!

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.  You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.”   Psalm 128:1-2

Welcome!!

First of all, I would like to start off by saying thank you for stopping by and visiting my website!  Also, thanks to Kate with Wild West Webs for the awesome design and putting it together (and of course holding my hand and walking me through everything .  I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out-WOW!  I still have some information to add on the Horses page on current, past, and future barrel horses that I have had the privelege to ride. 

 Also,  a new devotional will be posted on the Home page every week.  I feel the most important thing we can do is spread the Word about Jesus and how wonderful life with Him is!

As for the horses, it has rained SO MUCH around here, it has been too wet to do much of anything; everytime I have a jackpot in mind to go to it gets cancelled because it’s too wet.  However, I am not complaining!  We have two tanks on our property that were completely dry until about 2 weeks ago when we got a “monsoon” and they were so full they were overflowing!  The amazing thing about it is that our whole church had prayed for rain a couple of weeks before this happened because we were so dry.  There were fires breaking out everywhere, one that was about a mile from our house!  So, the church prayed for rain and boy did we ever get rain!  Ask and He will answer  

We are off to Vernon on Thursday for the rodeo, then I am unloading my whole herd on my wonderful in-laws to take care of while I go see Sammy (My husband who is working in Odessa righ tnow), and my sister, Dakota, compete at the regional track meet out there.  

This is one of my favorite scriptures and one that I tell myself everytime before I head down the alleyway…

Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.”