Great Horses - FOR SALE

Quick recap: Chocobella is the best mare in the world. Grey pony is doing beautifully now that we've decided she needs anything BUT Cassie's saddle. Jimmy LOVES the sunshine and is giving Lucy very good rides. Diesel is different every day, but seems to be learning his job and appreciating life :-) The team is getting amped for show season and we all can't wait to get out there and show how great our horses are!! Now the good part: VIDEOS!!!

Grey Pony:

Diesel

We have a long way to go with Diesel, but I just like him so darn much. I'm really, really excited about him. I can't wait to see what he becomes. Click here to see what else we've got for sale.

Sneaking in a Post – Lucy Canters VIDEOS

I'm swamped at work but I just have to sneak this post in!!!! Here are two videos of Lucy cantering JC last night in her lesson!!! She requested that I taped her at the end so she could see what she looked like ;-) I'm enormously proud of both of them!!!!! WAY TO GO LUCY & JC!!!!

Jimmy Goes Back Outisde

Today started off on the wrong foot, so I didn't end up being able to ride anyone or tape the greenies to sell. Hopefully we can start taping them tomorrow.

Jimmy's legs looked marvelous today & I even turned him out in the indoor so he could prove he felt better. HE DOES! I bandaged him back up & put him outside to play the rest of the afternoon. I took lots of photos today, so enjoy!

Left hind - Day 3. The water used to clean the wound
was clean, but the leg around the wound isn't!
Don't mind the yucky drip ;-)

Right Hind – Day 3. Nice & Clean & lookin' good!

Happy to get some exercise, but wants to go out to
play with his friends on the other side of the door!!

Mick… JC's Partner in Crime!!

The evidence: note that there ISN'T a top rail to the left.
Naughty Jimmy. He split it in half.

I even took a VIDEO today!!!! So you can all see the rambunctious little man in action. Happy Saturday!!

Mom & Dad Watch Jimmy Jump

Tonight my parents came out to watch Jimmy jump! I hand raked the entire arena & set up a new course – so by the time I got on I was pretty beat. I was sweating like an animal by the half-way point down one long side – not a good way to start!!! I had to peel off layers until I was comfortable enough to finish the job. WOW what an undertaking! Hopefully this week the arena gets drug for real by the tractor :-)

Jimmy bucked once tonight :-( It was a "STOP SPURRING ME" buck, which he never ever does. So I'm a little concerned because when we did carrot stretches before our ride tonight both sides of his neck popped quite a few times. Something to keep my eye on... I hope it was just an emotional moment, not him telling me his neck is out of alignment again so quickly!

Mom & Dad were very impressed with his flatwork, but especially impressed with his jumping. I had Mom take a video, which unfortunately is very pixelated because our arena is just so dark the camera can't really adjust and record unless it's full sunlight. Anyway - Enjoy the video! Jimmy was WONDERFUL tonight! A little hot, but I like him that way :-) My mom said he reminded her of Doobie tonight. Hearing that made my heart sing with rejoice and melt with love. RIP, my sweet, sweet Doobie.

Also - for those who love emotional, quick reads - this weekend I read "The Art of Racing in the Rain". It's similar to "Marley & Me", if that gives you an idea of what type of book it is. I read it straight through Friday night, I couldn't put it down. It was absolutely wonderful & the first four pages I was literally crying because I felt like Doobie himself had written those pages. Dogs and horses are astoundingly similar, I think.

A Good Weekend for Jimmy Choo

Jimmy had a very nice weekend. Saturday morning he taught Lucy a very very good lesson, in which he was slow enough at the sitting trot a few times that Lucy could actually practice sitting, which was lovely! She brought him a "Thanksgiving Present" of new LikIts & apples & carrots and a new CHRISTMAS HALTER!!!! He looks so handsome in it, and it's cute as can be!!! Check it out:

SNOWMEN!!! AND SANTA!!!!!

Sunday afternoon our good friend Carly came out and rode Jimmy. She hasn't ridden him since his baby days, so it was quite a treat for all involved that she got to come and hack JC! I took some videos of it, which I will post below. She just kept saying "Oh my God. He's just so much fun!!! He's so cool! Oh my God he's so fun!!!!!" which made me feel pretty awesome :-) I helped her out here & there, teaching her his "buttons" but mostly just let her hack around and have fun with him. She was very impressed with the fact that he "reminds" you when you aren't riding correctly, because he will pop out of the frame, or pop his shoulder out or change his pace. I hate to take all the credit for it, because I promise he just happened to grow up this way!! He's so wonderful, I just love him to pieces. It was really special to see him work under someone else and watch how he moves....It looks exactly how it feels :-) Fluid and magnificent! Enjoy the vids.







I'm fighting what seems to be the flu....I mostly feel normal but then get waves of hot/cold flashes and headaches so fierce I can barely function...so I've asked Cass to hack Jimmy for me the next few days until I can officially kick whatever bug my body is trying to fight. Until then, happy riding!

Good Boy Jimmy Choo

WARNING: THIS POST IS A LOT OF GUSHING ABOUT HOW WONDERFUL JIMMY IS. NOT LIKE THAT'S A SURPRISE TO ANY OF YOU AT THIS POINT...JUST THOUGHT I'D AT LEAST GIVE A WARNING THIS TIME. LET THE SHAMELESS & UNRESTRAINED BRAGGING COMMENCE.

Tonight my mom came out to the farm and watched me ride. It's fun having her out since she doesn't see Jimmy that much. She's really been there first hand through every step of the my life with Jimmy, and at no point in-between, so she's only seen the high-highs and lowest lows of our relationship. It's a very proud moment when I get to show her Jimmy doing so well. She tried to take some photos but the lighting in the arena just isn't conducive to photography at night so she ended up taking a video instead.

 

We worked on a lot of transitions tonight & Jimmy is so sensitive to weight and sound it's always a lot of fun for me to work on transitions. I step to the outside at the canter and he knows to trot I mutter a "whoa" and he walks. I realized from watching this video how vocal I am when I ride. I am always babbling to him and telling him how good he is & my tone tells him when he's NOT being good. I especially like in this video how he's proving that he DOES in fact carry himself properly. Mom and I talked about it & I drilled and drilled for hours, days, weeks & months before this surgical journey to try & teach Jimmy how to properly carry his head but it just wouldn't "click" when all along I should have practiced what I preach. When I'm helping a new student or a friend with their horse who "can't get them in a frame" I always say, "You HAVE to get their body before you can get their head. Once you control their body and their body works properly, they will give you their head." That is precisely what happened here, my beautiful blogging friends. Jimmy COULDN'T give me his body for all of that time because he wasn't able. Now that he can, his head just fell right into place. I couldn't be more proud. 

I'm also happy to say that Jimmy's lead changes have come back 100%. No more wiggling or trotting or skipping, he's back to getting them each direction in one fluid movement. The combination of transitions, lateral work, lots of trotting and lots of bending has really brought this big guy all the way back to 'life'. The best part? Just like when he was a baby: all it takes is a cluck. Go across the diagonal *cluck* WHAM-O. Lead change. He's too smart for his own good too, though so you have to be careful with that "cluck" queue because if you use it in combination of an inside leg bump & an accidental outside rein twitch down the long side....pop-goes-the-lead-change. Yep. He's a little too smart :-P

The BO text me this morning that Jimmy was loaded with hives :-( I realized the last few nights have been the first since he arrived at the new barn that he slept "naked" (aka - without a sheet) in their shavings so I'm attributing that to his breakout. One dose of Dex and he seemed absolutely fine by the time I was out there tonight. The diarrhea has stopped & now hives have started. He used to break out every season change but it hasn't happened for a few years. I've got my eye on him and thankfully, I have an incredibly knowledgeable barn staff that's watching him as well :-)

Can you believe that less than 6 months ago we were all terrified he'd never be the same? If he isn't proof that anything's possible, I don't know what is.

Oh - and today I realized...December 27th is our three year anniversary. Another post on that, but wow what a whirlwind 3 years it has been!!!

Lucy Canters & Jimmy's Happy To Be Back

Jimmy is the most wonderful horse in the world, have I told you that before?! Because it's true....and here's why:

Lucy had a great lesson yesterday & after 25 minutes of strong walking & trotting she learned to canter. I don't want her just cantering around yet, so I kept her on the lunge line and taught her how to ask for the canter and got her used to asking and the feeling of Jimmy leading into the canter. Jimmy has a big movement when he goes into the canter and I think that's where a lot of kids go wrong in their early riding - they don't learn how to sit canter transitions. The most Lucy cantered was a few strides, we just practiced upwards and downwards transitions & got her used to asking for both and feeling how he moves. Most importantly, we worked on keeping her HEELS DOWN and BUTT IN THE SADDLE!!! Lots of two point trots and sitting trots are in her future ;-) Here is a video of her & Jimmy yesterday:

Lucy rides weaker to the right than the left and this makes Jimmy cut corners. He definitely utilizes his "I'm a school horse, I do what I want" card. I'm not sure if that is what made me more aware of working to the right today, or what...but he REALLY needed an adjustment. I let him have a bit of a lax week & I paid for it today. He DID NOT want to go into the corners to the right whatsoever. He swished his tail & pinned his ears in defiance when I asked.

Once we were over the "You will go into the corners and you will like it" period of the hack, we got into the "canter perfectly straight" exercise I love to do. I have ground rails set on the quarter lines and he has to canter even-paced to, over, and away from the rail. This helps when he jumps because due to his small stature, it's very easy for him to wiggle his way around the arena. In the jumpers every extra stride counts and every stride he wiggles he's missing the time. He must go straight, between my legs, with as long of a stride as he possibly can, the SECOND I ask him to. I'm not always Nice Cop ;-)

He was beautiful for the straight exercise and I could tell he was getting a little amped and wanted to "GO", so I let him. We galloped and did a few roll back turns, some lead changes, and just had fun. I made up a "jump off" as I went. Pole, turn, lead change, gallop, pole, gallop, straight, rollback....you get the drift. He was really having fun!! Ears forward, happy lead changes & overall back to my happy, happy Jumper Jimmy Choo. I think it's so cool that he loves being a jumper for me, and yesterday he was teaching a 13 year old girl how to canter. It just confirms what I've already said: He's officially the most wonderful horse in the world. There's no way around it, I'm biased and I just love the heck out of him!!!

Wild Jim

Tonight I went out to see my Jim and he was SOOO needy! When he saw me walk up to the barn he came in from his limestone pen and met me at the door of his stall. He nickered so excitedly that he whinnied a little. I love when he does that :-)

I groomed him, put him on a lunge line, and took him into the arena. I could tell he was very wound up, so I knew it was time to just bring him into the arena and with the containment of the line, let him play at least a little. Jimmy's the type who will practically kill you if he is wound up and sees something that scares or excites him, so recovery or not I knew it was time to let him P-L-A-Y a little tiny bit.

A little tiny bit turned into a hot mess, and quickly. I hoped since he was looking so good last week today he'd only look better. Thank GOD I was right!!! He once again took advantage of the ground rails in the ring and before I could contain him on the line, he was leaping at least 3'6" over them, kicking his hind end on his arc, and landing in a beautiful, compact little ball, cantering off round, bucking a little, and executing flawless lead changes every time. Excuse me, while I pick my jaw up off the ground. I drooled at him for a while, then realized "Oh, stupid Jess!! Recovering horse. Time to calm him down." So I brought him down to the soft end of the arena and he noticeably calmed down. I tried to take a video of him being good.... Man does he have my number! He looked at me cute, trotted off nicely, then pulled, rooted, and bucked so hard, he ripped the line out of my hand. THANK GOODNESS I GOT IT ON TAPE! Haha.

He took off running and galloped as fast and as hard as I've ever seen him go - three full times around the arena. Whoops. I bent over the whole time as his "call to come" and after the third flying lap, he gracefully circled himself in, turned to face me, and stopped, staring at me. "Hey Mom! Did you see THAT?!" was the look all over his face. Oh my gosh if I didn't love this horse so darn much I would have been so mad. The rope burn, the terror from watching as he tore himself around the arena, the thought of "Oh my gosh, this could be the end right now. One stumble and he's done...." faded away when he came right up to me. He was just so proud and happy to have some play time I couldn't possibly hold a grudge.

After that he trotted wonderfully and I DID get it on video. Tell me what you think.





I sat at his open stall for the next 30 minutes and he sniffed my hair. We just chatted and hung out, he was happy to have me and I was happy to have him. It was something we haven't done in a while and it was refreshing for us both.

From watching how beautifully he uses himself in every aspect of his "play" time - jumping the ground rails, galloping around, bucking, trotting with every ounce of himself....I just can't help but believe with all of my being that he will make a full recovery. I believe he will come back, I believe he will perform for me again, I believe he will be the champion I've always known he can be. I love this horse beyond words. His spirit is my inspiration.

Jimmy Choo Had A Very Good Day

Last night I had some changes of plans, so I was able to go out to see my Jim!!!!!! I hadn't gone out since Saturday. It looks like with my crazy busy schedule, 4x a week will be the norm (Wed, Thus, Sat, Sun) so I guess I just need to get used to it, but I really miss him after about two days! (Sometimes after 2 hours)

I got there and he was SO excited to see me. He came right into his stall and waited for me at the door to take him out. A GOOD SIGN! Then I put his halter on him & he just stood there. I kept saying "C'mon baby. C'mon Jim. Let's go babe." And he planted his feet. Of course I was upset, thinking he didn't feel good, so I slowly coaxed him out and got him on his walk.

Somewhere along the way of this recovery, Jimmy has gotten snotty. It really bugs me, because he was always the most polite horse I've ever known. He will go on walks and just randomly stop and paw. Uhm, excuse me?! Who are you. What did you do with MY polite horse??? So that needs to be addressed. Dually Noted.

We walked up and down the driveway (Jimmy: stopping and pawing at random. Me: clucking and forcing him to move.) and by the time we got to the bottom I had enough of the attitude. He was really proud of himself though, I could tell, so I wanted to play a little. See? Proud.
Then I had to let him be a little social, because Gus and Chewy came over to the fence, so I wanted to give him a little social interaction. He doesn't get to as much as touch another horse where he is now, so I think a little physical interaction is good for him.
I brought Jimmy into the round pen and let him trot around me on the lead rope to see how he felt. I was so impressed, I let him OFF the lead rope, which may or may not have been a good idea, but we will see how he feels when I go out there tonight :-) This video brings me to tears, I've watched it probably 15 times already, if not more. I'm so proud and so excited to see how proud of himself he is, and how good he feels. He hasn't been this excited about anything in months, many, many months. I'm so happy. I'm so proud. I'm so grateful.

Honored & Not Done Fighting Yet

I am always so flattered to go anywhere and have someone say to me "I read your blog" - especially when I've never met them.

Well, this happened in the most unsuspecting place this weekend. I was at the Chicago Hunter Derby and met a very nice girl, about my age. I was making small talk with her, the usual "what do you do, where do you work" type stuff, and she stopped and said "This is kind of weird, but I think I read your blog" WHOA! That is amazing. She was a total doll and I was so honored to hear that she loves to read about Jimmy and his recovery :-) The little guy has so many people rooting for him!! Thanks for speaking up, Liz!! It was wonderful to meet you :-)

In other news: I also saw my vet on Sunday & he asked how Jimmy was doing. I said "Same". I explained that Jimmy seems very happy now that I've stopped fussing with him. I just do the usual groom and spoil, but I don't do anything more than that. An occasional walk - but usually that's up to Lucy to take care of. He's SO much happier not having to work. I think the exercise that I thought was helping him get used to his new shoes was just making him sore and very sour. However - when John heard "same" he immediately asked "Do you think it's time to make him a pasture pet?" *GASP* I said "For now, yes. Forever? No. We are just starting with the new shoes and with Farriers Formula. I'm not done with him yet." So he did his usual "....mmmmokay....."

Later when I mentioned I also have Jimmy on whole flax John about hugged me, he was so thrilled to hear it. He said it's going to do wonders for every part of Jimmy, and really help where we need it. I really hope he's right! I'm not done fighting for Jimmy yet. Nope. Not yet. I know you guys aren't done fighting for him yet either :-)

I told Liz that a lot of people suggest I write a book about Jimmy's story & I admitted to her, so I feel like it's only fair to all of you - I plan on doing so. When there is a conclusion, no matter what it is, there will be a book. I feel like Jimmy's story is one worth telling.

Thank you for all of your continued support. Every person I meet out in the world that says "I read your blog" and "I hope Jimmy is doing well!" gives me another rush of courage and hope. I'm doing it for Jimmy. I'm doing it for myself. I'm doing it to prove that horses are worth fighting for. I'm doing it for all of you who believe I can. Thank you for believing.

Here's something I feel ties well into this post. It's all over Facebook right now, so I thought I would share it with you. Something to think about when someone says "But, it's just a horse." None of them are just a horse.

Meet Pepe

This is Pepe:



He is an 8y/o TB (we think) who is learning how to be something. We aren't sure what yet, but definitely something. Today Lucy was out with me and was the photographer for the day :-)

We started out with lunging and I got to see what he looks like moving - he's adorable! Just cute as can be. If I had to guess today, I'd say he'd make a perfect little fun hunter. Just beginner children's type stuff - but he's got the sweetest personality he'd just make a kid so darn happy. He's fun, too. He doesn't put up a fight, or argue with you about anything, he just tries and listens and learns. He's ideal.


Trots pretty cute, doesn't he?!? Today we worked on just basic move forward when I leg, come back when I slow my body. He's got the downward transitions down to a science. You'll see in the video I think about slowing down & he's got it - NOT because he's lazy and rude, but because he is extremely sensitive to weight. If I lean one way or the other, or just wiggle, he slows right down to a halt or walk and listens for the next cue. Can we say: My next lesson horse?! Problem is, he loves to think about bucking when he canters. He hasn't ACTUALLY bucked (yet), but he lovvvves to think about it. He gets a little light in the rear and swishy with his tail. You'll see in the video I have to keep lifting him up.

I like to work green horses from the start with very very light hands. I let them tell me their strengths and weaknesses, rather than starting very "rough & tumble, this is how we ride". I'm not that way in life, so I certainly don't believe it's right to be that way in riding. He learns quickly and listens well, I think once his topline and muscles start to fill in we might have a real riding horse :-) Meanwhile, I don't want to push his contact or anything like that, I just need him to feel what it's like again to have a passenger on board and figure out his whole body. He's very clumsy, but boy, he really, really tries. Here's that video:

OH AND LOOK WHO IT IS!!!! Little James. He was a little snotkins today. He has learned laziness in his time off and takes full advantage of the new skill at every opportunity when he SHOULD be working. He started out stiff on the line and worked out of it. Looking better, still not great. The waiting game continues.

Consistency Proves the Winner

Yesterday I went out alone and spent some time mono a mono with the Choo. He was very perky and upbeat while I brushed him, pretty animated and happy....until the Bute came out. I dosed him up with a gram before even looking at how he moved in the round pen so I wouldn't forget later.

Once the bute happened a carrot followed so he would swallow it all down...and one carrot went down, then he suddenly realized at the second carrot (while we were stretching) "AHH! THIS CARROT TASTES LIKE BUTE!! WTH?!?" and BLEH! out it went all over the aisle. From that point I tried and tried to get him to stretch, and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eye in the saddest, poutiest, mopiest way. Like a little toddler who folds his arms across his chest as the giant tears roll down his cheeks, feeling betrayed as ever that Mom put cough medicine in his apple sauce and he didn't notice until it was too late. Poor little Jimmy.

Somehow, taking out peppermint snacks that Lucy brought him changed his tune, and he was more than willing to show me 'what he's got' in his flexibility department. Thank goodness, I was starting to worry that now he's so stiff he can't even touch his elbow. Not the case, just needed a different flavor ;-) Yay.

After stretches we booted up and went to the round pen for the pain diagnosis. Since he can't answer "On a level of 1-10, how severe is your pain?" by stomping his hoof, I resort to lunging. His first few steps in the over reach boots were straight out of a comic strip, I swear. I was almost crying from laughing so hard. The whole walk down to the pen, he picked his toes up to his chest trying to figure out what the heck is on his feet. It. Was. Hilarious.

We got into the pen and he walked right out to the end of the line, put his head down, and went into a working trot. .....wait, what?! My horse, Jimmy Choo, hasn't 1. Gone to the end of the line willingly in months because 2. That means work, something that is a foreign concept and foul word to him entirely. So at this point I took a second and went, "Who are you?!"....then I saw what I had to blink a few times to comprehend. Sound?!.....my horse.....is sound?!?

He isn't quite 100%, but he's at least 85% improved. He is on the right path!! HE IS GETTING BETTER! In the videos below, you'll see that to the right he looks wonderful and the left he's still taking a short step every so often, as though he's "sore". I will take "Sore" over "LAME" any day!!!!

I think the consistency of bute daily, poultice, and wrapping the bulb of that left front heel has proved to be the best thing for him. Shoes were just a minor hiccup in the process, and he's proving MUCH happier without them. The over reach boots he will be wearing all the time. I'm going to watch to be sure they don't irritate his precious little hairs and skin over time, but this all seems to be the winning combination. Once he is really feeling all the way better for a few days I will wean him off the bute and the poultice. HOORAY! PROGRESS!!!!! Here's a snapshot of him from one of the videos. *drool* I love him.

Trail Rides

So he's sound to trail ride :) I've just done one - at a walk- and he was wonderful. Even when the herd of deer decided to join us. LOL!!!!

I'm remembering what he's like when he's in prime condition today, so I have an image and something to look forward to for the summer. I can't wait until he's ready to really hack and to teach Lucy on again. Here's a video of him with Lucy. He babysits her SOOO well <3 I love my Jimmy Choo!

First Official Day Outside

So today was actually Jimmy's first official full day outside... and since I got there at about 6PM, he'd probably been outside for 10 or so hours.

I have an idea that the entire 10 hours went something like this:



...Poor, poor Smiley. What a tolerant one that guy is!!!! God Bless him for being such a saint to the ANNOYING James!!!

Here's proof that JC had plenty of fun in the mud too:



Goodnight!!

Noticeable Improvement

Jimmy seems to be a lot better! He seems happy, and sound, and much more cheerful. He's totally manageable to handle when walking out to the pasture and he's very respectable when he plays with me in turn out. He plays with me hard like a horse, but as soon as I stand up and establish my space with him, he backs off and comes back with a fresh, loving attitude. He knows exactly when to be playful and when to be appropriate. I can only pray that my human children will be as wonderful as my equine child :-)

Here's a video of him having fun with me tonight :-D Enjoy! (it's from my phone, sorry it's grainy!!)



Tomorrow he starts to go outside with other horses that he will go into a herd with. He will be with his old friends Pal, Smiley, Cochise, and 'Bama. I can't wait for him to have someone else to pick on besides me!! Even if it has been fun being his buddy.

Have a great night, bloggers!

Figured Out a Video

Here's Jimmy in his first ever jumper class this summer :-) Sorry about the water mark, it was the only way I could get the video file off of the DVD.

He was second out of 20 in this class :-) Not bad for his first time in the jumper ring - and for a 4 year old :)

Lesson Day!

Today Jimmy & I went to Tievoli & lessoned with my old trainer, Heide Casciaro. Jimmy was a total super-star and I could not be more proud of him. He was tired toward the end & got lazy with his hind-changes (we weren't getting them in the beginning, then he got them, then he stopped from fatigue...) but he jumped so incredibly well for having never done most of the things we asked him to do. Canter in a straight line for 8 strides?! Why Mom??! Lol. Jump & turn around & jump again? Ok.... Haha. First time ever doing significant work that will lead up to course-work (bending lines, straight lines longer than a 2 stride, and rollbacks). He was incredble. Video is below. Enjoy :)

Jump Night 4/7/09

Hey!

JC was awesome tonight, we did work on a combination, the first time we've ever done one!!!

Here's the best video of the bunch! (By best I mean, the only one where you can KIND OF see what we are doing... our arena is a little dark for videos at night :P ) The out oxer was 3' <3 I love him!!! I am such a proud mom!!

Enjoy!

http://jrupsch.com/April7_09.mov

FVSA

Alright. So... it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Betsi warned me about the caliber of horses and judges, but $10 was too cheap to pass up, so we went anyway... and now I've learned.

The horses were all pretty low quality, the judging was off the charts re-re and there seemed to be limited organization throughout. Let's not even bring up time management. So, after I didn't pin in the WT pleasure, even though we were called back, which I was happy about (video here) I was a little bummed out bc JC was really perfect the whole time (Lacy DID get 3rd tho!! YAY!!) I decided not to do the WT Equitation... and once section 1 was finished I said what the hell and hopped on & made it in the ring just in time, luckily bc we were called back and ended up 4th. He hacked beautifully. By then it was well past noon and we were only on class #8. So, we all decided the day had already gone on too long and packed up to head home.

Jimmy had alternative motives though, since it took us an HOUR to get him on the trailer. What a shit. He's never been naughty to load EVER and today going to the show he tried to be naughty then going home he was RIDICULOUS and a chunk of my skin is lying somewhere at FVSA frm Jimmy ripping it off my hand. I wanted to shoot him and leave him for dead right in the parking lot. Not happy at all, so that's what we'll be practicing soon....

The good news is I had a really wonderful time bonding with Team CHS. It was so fun hanging with everyone and I'm so grateful to everyone else who came to see JC!!! It was great to see everyone and I'm so happy to have people like you in my life!!! Overall it wasn't a bad day, since we got to bond, and ride at that beautiful facility. And Todd and Steve are now BFFs. Clover Hill Stable's Show Team always has a happy ending :) We make the best of everything. And we are really good looking ;-P

Off the hook!

So today we were supposed to go to Bass Pro Shops but I am OFF-THE-HOOK!

Yesterday my friend Kristen came out and rode JC and he was such an angel. He never ceases to amaze me with how tolerant he is!! He was SO well behaved! Here's the video :)

I'm going to rush out and ride!!!