What can I say about Paint Pony? Well, shes just Paint Pony. She was meant to be Tanners but he has not taken any interest in horses. So, Rilee said she will take her and tie goats off of her when shes older. Now wouldnt THAT be cute. Paint Pony doesnt do a whole lot around the house other than eat and poopy. But shes cute doing that.
Flash is THE man. Flash came to us in the summer of 2008. Jennifer Zeller got this horse in awhile back and used him as a lesson horse. She eventually leased him out to a girl right after Jennifer moved to South Dakota. Since the move was far and Flash being the age that he is, she knew that Flash had a little girl waiting on him to give him a loving home to live out the rest of his silly life. Since Rilee had grown to be leary of horses after she got bucked off (by Belle), she was hesitant at first to actually trust Flash. After lots of time and days spent playing with him, she has grown to love him. These 2 are best friends.
I wish you could see these two together. There are no words to describe this horse and not even Bill Gates has the money for him. Flash just has a very big sense of humor. He is very mischevious but is also like a little man. He would hurt himself before he would hurt Rilee and it shows with his every move. The most patient thing with her. Jennifer has blessed us with the opportunity of having him. And we cant thank her enough for him.
Crash is a 2008 Bay colt. He is out of our old mare Rosies Fancy Rascal and out of Pam Cantwell's awesome stud Dash Dot Com . We have not gotten the papers on this colt yet but we will get them eventually. We have big plans for this baby. I plan on starting him under saddle his 3 or 4 yr old year. I eventually want to run on him and then hand him over to Rilee for her to go on and rodeo on.
April 14, 2008
Belle ... aka (Blue Whale, Blue Belle, Hell Bitch, Gray Mare) has been around the longest out of the horses we have now.
She came to Mark back in 1996. She was a 4 yr old at the time and was used as a bareback horse with Scotty and Troy Ellis. She quit bucking and she was actually on the truck headed to the killers. Mark got a phone call one day from Scotty and said she was too pretty to kill and did he want her. So he said yes and sent his parents to pick her up. They said she was a bag of bones and very ugly. Mark broke her out to ride and later started picking up broncs on her. Shes been used as a pick up horse, bull draggin horse, day work, sorting bulls, and was a babysitter breifly for our daughter Rilee. Shes a very good lookin mare but she has the worst front legs/feet you could ever ask for on a horse. She is pigeon toed and also has some bad nasty pancake feet. We have to keep shoes on her or they will end up being split all the way up. Mark went on to make lots of money on this horse.
The best $1,000 he ever spent in his life!
Southbound 35 Thats where we are. My intent today was to get up and be out of Crowley no later than 8am. Well, its now 10:30 and we havent even gone through Alvarado yet. Sigh. I guess while Ive got 5 hours at my leisure, I will fill you in on our herd.
Okay, I told you folks that I would add pics of my new barrel horse, Caddie.
Here she is
Started off a pretty normal morning. Other than the fact that Mark went in late today because he had to change a part out at the Cummins house. Anyhow, I got up and got ready. Got kids ready. Got them in the truck (took the Dodge today) and off to Grammy's we go. Kids are whining and Im anxious to get today over with.. get to my moms and drop kids off. I remembered that I didnt put my perfume on so I grabbed a bottle of moms, sprayed some on my arm and I left. On my way to work I kept smelling it thinking that it reminded me of something. Ah ha! It smelled like my friend Andi, that passed away January 12. It was such a sweet smell and I missed that. Now, it might not be the EXACT stuff she wore but it sure smells close to it. So I called my mom and asked her what it was and get this .. Its called "Angel" its by some weird name. Thierry Hagler maybe? I dont know, thatll be something for you to do. Google that name! Anyhow, how ironic is that? It smells like her perfume and look at what the name is.
Actually made me cry.
I started running barrels back in 1998. I started on a horse that my mom bought me. At the time, I had never run barrels before but had always had horses and actually rode Pleasure horses under some folks in Tyler. So, needless to say, Barrel Racing was a whole new world to me.
So fastforward to 99. I joined some rodeo associations and hit the road by myself. Granted, my horse was not the fastest but he was a good start for me. We ran rodeos and jackpots for years and years and finally in 2003, I got pregnant with my daughter. I sold my horse and stayed home with her. In the meantime, Mark took over a rodeo company and Rilee and I hauled all over with him. He also still pickedup broncs and I helped with the stuff around the ranch we lived on and helped with the bulls at rodeos. I became a tough girl and did some things that alot of women never get to experience. I am thankful for those days because it kinda of rounded me into the "cowgirl" I am today. But in 2006 my daughter took a likin' to horses really quick. We let her ride a horse we had that we called Jenna. She was good as long as we ponied her but I would not trust any of our horses with Rilee in full control.
After Jenna, we put her on Belle .. Belle was daddy's pick up horse for many years. 11 years to be exact. And he also day worked on her. Rilee finally got the courage up to ride her by herself, no help, no ponying .. nothing. So I decided to ride beside her while she took her "run" in the pee wee class in Cleburne one night. Coming off of the 3rd barrel, Belle put a pep in her step and started trotting. Her speed gradually got faster and being that Im on a pick up horse as well ... the more I leaned down to grab the lead rope, the faster both horses got. (they are both used to RUNNING to reach for a bronc rein) Shes now at a lope and Rilee is scared to pieces. When Belle reaches the outgate, she stopped on her front end and popped poor Rilee up out of her saddle and then bucked one good lick and off Rilee went. She flopped on her back in the arena but she was okay. Just scared. We went back to using Jenna and then she started using Buck, the now retired pick up horse. Buck was great for her but still, would not trust him and Rilee alone.
In the summer of 2008, Jennifer Zeller, sent us a horse she calls Flash. Flash has been an ANGEL to Rilee. I do not know what we would have done, had Flash not come to live at our place. I do believe, if horses were allowed in the house, we'd have to have a bed specially designed for a horse because Rilee would want Flash inthe house, 24/7. And I must admit, Flash would enjoy it too. Hes just cute like that.
So, we have been hauling Rilee to these barrel races for the last 2 years. So she could run in the Pee Wee's. I have been without a barrel horse for 6 years! I have had the "want to" for so long but would NEVER spend the money on a horse for me. Well, I finally broke down and found a horse back in October. He was beautiful. And big. And so sweet. I started riding him as much as my schedule allowed but Mark had his eye on him too. Pete is just right for Mark. I really think Pete was put here to find us. And he did. Because I had no intentions of buying one, I had just run across his ad on a friday night and we went and rode him saturday morning.
So Mark finally whined enough (not really) about wanting Pete so I finally gave him to Mark. Mark decided that since he doesnt use Jenna, he'll let me trade her for a barrel horse. My good friend Kara had one that I had no clue about. We IM'd about her for awhile and I kept going back and forth on her. Didnt know if I was doing the right thing, didnt know if I was being fair to Mark (even tho he just took my new horse, Pete) I mean, was I really being selfish? I finally decide to tell Kara that I was interested in the mare. We meet at Rendon on saturday for me to ride the mare and Kara look at Jenna.
I was so scared to ride this horse because I had not been on a "barrel" horse in sooo long. As if they really ride that different? than a "ranch" horse persay? I mean, really, I couldnt have lost ALL my horsey skillz, right? Well, I rode her just fine. UNTIL I made my run. And holy CHIT .. that mare has got some skillz. I was so nervous before my run, I really should have had a beer to calm my nerves. But, I forgot my beer at home. As Im in the back warming up, they are dragging right before my set and a friend of mine, Haley Thorne, was back there. Shes so calm and laughing, joking with us back there. I joked to her about me peeing in my pants before I run. I was THAT nervous. Seriously, this was about to be my first run in SIX/6 years!!!!! Im sitting there thinking, WHY did I do this? WHY did I enter? My nerves cant handle it. Ok, shut up, run and deal with it. How am I EVER going to get over the fear of what people are going to think of my runs??? I have to just get over all this! Anyway, the tractor quits. My heart stops. Im number 72. Number 71 goes in, makes the first, second and I see her round the 3rd. At this point, Im hyperventilating. Ok, again, GET OVER IT! I freeze. What do I do now? They are calling my name. Do I go? Do I just go back to teh trailer? Do I sit there? Can someone else come run for me? Oh hell, wth am I to do. I go ahead. I gather her up and was going to cruise to the first barrel when .. WHAT? I just let go and she hauls ass to that first. I grab my horn hoping my butt dont fall out of that slick saddle, whew, we made it past first. I get both hands back on the reins, approach the 2nd barrel when I thought, oh crap, Im going to fall off, drop outside rein, grab horse and her shoulder drops, whales the 2nd barrel, it falls in front of us .. and who knows how long it actually lasted but it seemed like it fell, we danced on top of it, it stood back up and jumped out at us and we jumped it .. I dont know, I do think I went around it twice??? So, on to 3rd .. ok, Im so nervous, I think I forgot how to bend my legs. I think my legs are sticking straight out like the Bryer models .. ya know, when they cant sit down all the way in their saddle because they are so stiff? Yeah, that was me! Get to the 3rd and drop outside rein again, she turns so smooth but again, feel like Im going to fall off. I finally just pulled her up, Ive already made enough of a fool out of myself. I heard the announcer say (and I love you PAM!) Its okay Lacee, its tough coming from such a long break. Whew, so at least that might give people an idea that I really do know how to ride and its not just my inability to do so.
Anyhow .. all of that rambling to just say, I now have a new mare. She is a super nice horse. She does need some weight added to her but Kara has done such a great job getting her to where she is now. (Kara got her in November from some folks that hadnt fed her like they should) So anywho ... next time you see a monkey on a gray horses back, at a barrel race .... stop and say hi, it is more than likely ME!
Its very hard to come back to running after a 6 year break and not even being on a quick barrel horse. To top it all off, shes a lefty. I have NEVER run a lefty in my life. So I was bassakwards to begin with, lol.
Ill post pics of her when I get home from work
I have been wanting to BLOG for so long, and catch up on my whereabouts. But, I hated looking at my page! With the help of Jennifer, we searched a good bit yesterday to find someone to redo my page. Finally, I remembered Michelle Rudland from BHW and that girl hooked me up with a face lift!
Isnt it FANTABULOUS!!
