It's Been A While....

   So I know it has been a while since I've updated you guys on horse progress and everything in general. Well I'm finally done with my term of online classes for one week.. spring break.. so I wanted to make time to make a post about some things that have been going on in mine and my horses' lives today...

Malibu : 

   So things with Malibu have been going great. She's getting more comfortable with her surroundings and becoming less flighty, I now have her turned out in a huge pasture with other horses and no halter on. She's really easy to catch now. If you pull another horse out of the pen, she's at the gate wondering why she got left out believe it or not. I actually took her the weekend of the 3rd of March to a trail ride with my trail group, a vet was on site to get her coggins pulled, then I took her down the road to a barrel race and rode her around at it. She was really hyped up at the trail ride, but once I out her and my gelding in front she was a dream. When the vet stuck her with a needle, she jumped back a step but was much more calm than I thought she would be. Even standing in a crowd of loud people and horses, she was calm and stood still.

   So flash forward to the barrel race... I took her and saddled her up and just held her while she took everything in. She was not calm this time I think because my gelding was left at the trailer. So after she freaked out because a child was dragging a puppy by a leash and ran backwards, I got on her and took her to the warm up pen. We loped circles then stood quietly by my friends and the tractor and there were no more panic attacks. She was awesome after the puppy incident. You can tell she is becoming much more calm about certain situations lately.

   Four days later, on the 7th, she got her feed done by our farrier in Grand Ridge and she did awesome. He used a rope to coax her feet up and once she understood what he was asking, she acted like a big girl. I've been so proud of her lately.

   Well when we got back to Troy, she got ridden and blanketed because the temps had been dropping. So after she was turned out with her blanket on, I get a snapchat from my friend Josey, the horse trainer/feeder/exerciser at GBA Farms saying she took the blanket off in the middle of the pasture and Malibu stood perfectly still for her. She's becoming better around different people and is finally growing up.

Barrel Race : 

   So as y'all know, I've been working and running a sorrel gelding, Tex, from GBA in Troy. Well we went to a barrel race in Montgomery on Friday, the 9th and Tex worked better than he's ever worked for me. We ran a 16.0 but I pulled him over on the first. The day before the race he was stopping on his front end and popping me out of the saddle, so I was preparing for that to happen, so I checked him and turned him too fast. But he made 3 tight turns on the pattern and ran faster than he has been running for a while. I was super proud of him even after a knocked barrel!

Josey won 1st in the 1D the next day at this show!

This was Kati's first race back in 8 months and her mare's first race back in 8 years!! They did awesome and had pretty, clean runs all weekend!

   We've got a few races in mind and I've got two of my Florida Saddle Club shows coming up possibly on a big bay horse you guys have seen me on before :)  a bunch of new possibilities coming up and I couldn't be more stoked about it. It's all in God's hands!!! 

Wise Words : 

   So I've got the possibilities of a few cool things coming up in my life and I've been going back and forth on decisions and have felt like I didn't know what to do, if it is the right thing. I'm just going to let time tell and let God have it and tell me what I need to do. I'm a firm believer in the saying, "If it's meant to be, it will be." Ever since I've been thinking of these possible new opportunities, I've come across quotes that have been so inspiring. I came across a quote under a picture of a man wrangling cows on horseback one day and he was talking about how many people had come up to him and talked about how great of a life he had and his reply to them was always: "if it is your dream, make it your goal, and then turn that goal into a reality. Nothing in life is set in stone and if we try and we fail, that is okay, we can always rebuild. How bad do you want it? I know you've heard that before, but it is true. If you wanted it that bad, you would have it." That really hit hard. Life is much too short to be unhappy and I go everyday with that mindset. Hope this makes someone happy reading this like it did me :) 

If you want something bad enough, you WILL make it WORK !!!!!