Little bit of this....Little bit of that....

Another winter closing in on us so blog material will be a hot commodity when it pops up.  We have been very busy trying to 'winterize' as much as we can, which means I have not been taking my camera out with me.  It is amazing!  We get so much more done when I don't have it with me...altho I find myself say "DOH!  Wish I had my camera out here!" quite a bit.  :-)

Brian and I went on a date...seems like it has been forever since he and I could just go mosey around doing a whole lot of nothing and enjoy it.  We did not make it to the Rutledge Flea Market last year, and there was one more left this year....so we went.  It is hard to explain the Rutledge Flea Market...it isn't like your great big acres and acres of nice stuff, then after the weekend they pack up and leave.  Here there are a lot of 'stores' that have been here for YEARS and YEARS, and well, I like to call it the red neck flea market.  This is not meant as a slam - we love it!  You never know what you will find here.  In addition to the permanent 'stores', people do bring in their wares and set up in the back of their pick ups, under pop up tents, and some out in the open if the weather is nice.  There is a section in the woods where people sell hunting dogs, and other related items.  This time there was no horse stuff.  Bummer.

This morning it was very chilly and breezy, so some of the vendors had their fire pits going.  It was an awesome morning.  I was so glad we got there early.

 

I really don't know what the percentage of two legged travelers to 4 wheeled travelers are.  There are 4 wheelers, golf carts, and sometimes scooters to haul people around.  Most are very polite but you still have to be careful...some aren't.  Just after I got thru growling about the 4 wheelers this cute little couple goes driving by.  Aren't they adorable?  I love how she is holding on to his waist...I bet he drives a pick up truck and she sits in the middle and holds his hand while driving.  :-)

People bring their pets with them - they are here the whole weekend so why not?  This little goat had horns and her own box to jump around on....oh, and sleep.  She was very social and loved to play.

 She was all about rearing and doing the head butting thing...watch those little pointy horns!  She seems to aim them just right so they poke ya!  When her 'Mom' came out of the store area, the goat made a b-line to her...she wanted potato chips!
These people pulled their trailer with an old Studebaker pickup...I will post pictures in another entry.  For some reason I am having problems loading some pictures. 

 One of the cool signs on the outside of a building...

 Playing with the stuff....

 A view from the 'street'....

 Another mode of transportation...I thought this was cute!  Love the spare tire on the back. 

These two were a hoot!  When they would stop, the chihuahua would take his goggles off.  They traveled all over the grounds...

 I am lucky to have a beautiful garden where I work....it is a great place to walk at break or at lunch.  It is free to the public and so many people take advantage of this beautiful place located in town.  The squirrels are a plenty around here....this little guy was chewing something in the upper corner of the gazebo.

This one was mad at me.  I just walked into the gate and it chattered at me, then ran up the tree and chattered at me again.  I really don't know why he was so angry.  Maybe he was flirting? 

There are walking paths thru the garden...this big tree that started losing leaves caught my attention...

Here is my view when I come out at lunch....the gazebo is a popular place to sit and relax....I got caught out here in a rain storm one day.  It was so bad the rain was blowing thru the gazebo...I finally ran for it and headed back to the building.  I was soaked.  If I would have waited it out, I would have been out there all night.  The quick moving storm stuck around a while.  

 I try to keep my cube at work happy....I have plants and frogs.  :-)  This is one of my shelves....

And here is another.... I also have a lot of pictures hanging on the wall.  They consist of many of the photos I post on the blog.

Then there is life at home...they say that home is where the heart is, and for me that is very true.  I am very lucky...I am happy.

A beautiful sunrise one morning...

 Epona and Tripp are wondering what I am up to....

 Epona then sends Stormy over to check it out...he and Tripp and discussing what the crazy girl is doing behind the scenes....and why isn't she bringing any treats?  (Don't let them fool you...they got their treats!)

I tried putting Wyoming out with the big group a while back, but he got back in with Tandee and the donks.  I decided if he wants to stay that bad, he can stay there.  His personality has changed so much over the past year.  He is more curious, more social, he looks like he is smiling when he is being nosey, he is in our business when we are out working...What is funny about this picture is the gate panel is attached to another panel that is attached to the barn.  It has no purpose except to hold the food pan for Wy and Batman.  When he peeks at me this way, it always looks like he really thinks he is behind a closed gate...

Wyoming on the left and Boom on the right doing what they do best these days....eat eat eat!  Wyoming started getting his regular color back the more groceries he got.  He sure has shaped up nicely!  He is filling out too...can't wait to see how he looks in a couple of years.  He will be mature by then.

Early morning self portrait time.  Ajax the burro was more than happy to play my games, but Boom just isn't impressed.

Batman, me and Wyoming....they know how to have fun!

I tried to get them both in at the same time...but when one would sniff the other would move...Batman and Wyoming are buddies.  Then again, Batman is buddies with everyone...especially if there is food involved, and Wy shares his dish with Batman.  Batman is 1 1/2 yrs old now!  Wow!

We tore out some old fence and put up a temporary pen that is attached to the garden area that is full of weeds and grass.  Yeah...great garden year...but not for humans.  :-)  Red and Halo are not looking good so we put them in this area and we are feeding them different stuff.  They still don't like being separated from the group, but it has to be done for now.  Once they are back to normal, they can go out.  They do have their own feed pans...but they still like to share.  They eat out of one, then they head to the other one.  As long as they get along I don't care how they do it.

Batman thinks he is starving ...... TO DEATH!  ha ha!  He knows he can stretch that mini neck just a little bit farther and get a hold of Red and Halo's food pans.  

We are trying something new....the Big Bale Buddy!  Brian found a couple of reviews on them.  The goal is to waste less....they eat the bale down and the Bale Buddy lowers with the bale.  They are guaranteed for a full year against tearing, etc.  When it rains it goes thru the fabric.  We do have it sitting on a concrete pad - next time we will put it on the ground to test that.  So far it is doing great - the bale is 1/2 way down.  I will get a picture when I get home before dark...oh wait, that won't be until when?  June?????  Okay, slight exaggeration from a cranky person who misses an evening of light...putting my happy face back on now....I will get a picture very very soon.  :-)

 Boom not happy that I am a weirdo with a camera.....

I love shots like this - the ones that just happen.....the canopy is clear but the skyline above it is swooshing....  

Ajax and I early one morning.  

Wyoming and I....he thinks if he closes his eyes I will go away....wrong....not done playing yet.  Hee hee!

One happy llama!  Ha ha!

Now let me tell you about this....one evening we had the horses and donks in the yard, and Chase is part of that group.  It was time to go back to their area and usually Chase is the first one to run after me when I have a feed bucket.  Everyone came in except for Chase....we started hunting for him and this is where we found him.  He was STUCK!!!!  He layed down and got his body below the round part of the bale and he could not get out.

Brian had to get the tractor and move 7 bales out of the way so we could get him out.  I am surprised Chase did not spit on me...I took a bunch of pictures and he was MAD!

 I would not say that things are boring around here...they have just been busy and since it gets dark early, kinda blah.  I am thankful that the temps are still bearable - I can still hang out in the barn a while.  I do like to be half way prepared so the pink coveralls are ready just in case...

Hope everyone is doing great! 
Until later....Karen and Tripp who is thinking about Levi.  :-)

Levi's sending off party....

Today is the day....Levi goes to the eye doc to prepare for his 'new eyes'.  Levi threw a sending off party for himself, and a few members of the Wild Women of the Frontier group showed up to send him off, along with a couple extras....myself and Beth.  :-)  Levi talked the two leggeds into making chili so we would not be hungry.  It was mighty tasty if I say so myself!  Nice and thick, just the way I like it!
 
The Wild Women of the Frontier group (http://www.wwfrontier.com/) made a donation to Levi's eye surgery and had a small fund raiser for him, that they presented today, and they wanted to send him off properly.  Levi has touched so many people....and so have Jay, Brenda and their daughter Megan.  They have worked so hard to make this surgery possible for Levi, even selling some of their own items BEFORE they could officially adopt him!  So here they are making plans for a horse that was not even theirs yet...this in itself has touched a lot of people.

Here is Levi with some Wild Women of the Frontier members:  Janice, Patti and Lisa.
 
  

 Ohhh ho ho....how did a self portrait of Levi and I get in here?  Hmmmmmmm..... (hee hee!)

 During photos Levi gently wrapped his head around as if to give Brenda a hug....it was beautiful.  Levi knows something is going on...he just doesn't know what.

 Then she kissed him and looked up just as I clicked.  :-)

 Levi is a gem!  He is letting Jay poke around his eye to show everyone what the cataracts look like.

 Enjoying the attention.....

The will wishers are enjoying the sunshine....chatting about Levi's journey.....

Beth taking photos, and me taking photos of Beth taking photos....see the table behind?  Not only did it have 3 pots of chili on it, there were these most amazing brownies!  Holy smokes!  I LOVE BROWNIES!!!!!!

 Just playing with a picture of Jay and Levi....

 Jay brushing Levi before bringing him out for pictures.

 Jay is reading the flyer that was for the fund raiser for Levi...it was neat!

 Playing with photos again.....

 Going thru the food line.....there were also pictures hanging on the wall of Levi's journey before the EMM and of his Doc appointments.

Some of us chatting about what it would be like to be a Wild Woman of the Frontier.  Brenda and I are thinking this just might be too much fun - and we like too much fun!  Sure wish I lived closer...this is a group I could see myself enjoying.  :-)

 Levi is getting ready to go....now I have to tell you, I have another picture of Levi not wanting to get into the trailer, and we offered to help Jay teach Levi to load.  It was hilarious!  But for some reason my blog is telling me my photo space is all used up, and I can BUY some more.  Does it mean for the whole blog?  I am going to investigate this one......

Here is Levi after we taught him to load (hee hee!)......

Levi's friends are wishing him well....they are taking bets who Levi will think is the best looking!

Levi knows he is going someplace...and he is excited.  He loves to travel.  Just think, the next time he gets into this trailer he will get to watch everything from the hospital to his home....he will be like a child that looks at the world with new eyes.....we love you Levi and can't wait for you to see us!

I am so glad I made the trip to see them.  It was a beautiful day for the beginning of a beautiful thing.  Levi has his surgery scheduled for Tuesday morning....we will be patiently waiting for the report. 

Until later...Karen and Tripp who is very excited for Levi.  Tripp realizes how lucky he is to be able to see...he did not know it could be any different.  Hugs from Tripp to Levi!

You Tube Video - Budweiser Clydesdale and the Mouse...

I have not been on here much - we have been busy and not much to tell.  BUT.....I recently saw this cute video and wanted to share!  I know I have put a link in the blog before but am not sure how I did it...sure hope this works.  :-)

Enjoy!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0v-qlgB338&feature=player_embedded

Until later...Karen and Tripp who says he has more than one mouse!  ;-)

Tennessee Extreme Mustang Makeover.....as spectators!

I got a flu bug last week and missed a day of work - that does not happen very often, and I was feeling so bad on Wednesday that I was worried about not being able to go to the EMM.  I was better by Thursday morning, but still out of it.  We both worked 1/2 a day, then hit the road hoping I would be alright.  

This time around we are going as spectators...and I am glad we did.  I will admit that I missed being involved with a horse, but I also would have missed seeing every single mustang/trainer team do their stuff.  Since I was not feeling good we pretty much stayed in our seats.  We walked around to look at the vendors a couple of times, and went out to the barn and practice arena on Friday night.  Other than that...I was in my seat watching everyone.

These pictures are going to be out of order.  I wish I would have gotten more but my camera really stinks when it comes to indoor pictures.  One day I will do an entry on the camera and why I don't recommend them if you expect a camera to do its job.

Anyways, back on topic.....Dale Lively and his mustang El Cuatro waiting for their Top 10 scores.  Dale is still a crowd favorite and got 3rd place.  He did very well, but I can't argue with the 1st and 2nd placings.

Here is one of my favorites.  David and Stardust.  Check out the look on Stardusts face...he was so cute!  He was watching the judges flip their score cards around...
I am happy to say that Abby, who was a yearling trainer last year and again this year in NE adopted Stardust!  I feel like he is in the family.  :-)

Greg Reynolds has done several EMM's, and he and his horse Justin are on the left, and Terry and Mr. Big are on the right.  Both were doing a lot of PR and posing for photos.
Mr. Big was one of my favorites.  He is so small and cute, and his eyes are so soft.  Terry's wife said they were taking him home.  She is a shorty herself and fell in love with his size and his big heart when they picked him up.  Story with this guy...the BLM guys offered them another horse because Mr. Big was so broncy.  Terry's wife looked at his eye and fell in love...nope, he was going home with them.  Look at him now.  :-)

Greg riding Justin around.  Justin is another shorter horse so his whole name is Just My Size.

Some stall decorations...

More stall decorations...

Darlene's daughter Ashley has competed in 3 EMM's now, and this year Darlene joined in the fun.  This banner was in the horses stall on the back wall...

It took a bit, but I got Jody Call to cooperate so I could get his picture with the banner.

Here is one of the yearlings posters....the young gal took Stargazer to an elementary school.  If you can't read the little blurb in the center, I will tell you the funny part.  It is from Stargazers point of view and he was telling about one little kid who asked Jessyca how you tell the difference between a girl mustang and a boy mustang.  Jessyca finally said "You just do" and moved on.  HA HA!  Isn't that great? 

 Here is another team favorite.  Joe and Ranchero.  Check out the cute look on Ranchero's face.  He is young and curious, and whenever another horse or human would walk by he just had to sniff it out.  Notice no bridle...they rode all over like that.  Joe would touch Ranchero's neck or grab a small piece of the mane and wiggle it to get his nose back where it belonged.  They won the Idols division and it was well deserved.  Joe came in with a bridle on and Ranchero did not handle near as well with a bit in his mouth as he did without it even tho Joe barely touched the reins.  One of the gals sitting by us mentioned that too.  I hope his adopters try him out with a bitless bridle - he is the perfect candidate for it.

Some of last years yearling competitors came back this year for a 2 yr old lunging competition.

Max is one of the mustangs, and he has his own quilt.  You really need to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see the Many Moods of Max.  This is awesome!

 This is awesome!  Here are your 1st and 2nd place riders in the Legends division.  They are engaged to be married!!!  They held hands and kissed.  I missed the picture of the first kiss, but it will be imprinted in my mind forever.  It was so romantic....
Madeline got 1st place and Robert got 2nd place.

 

 Madeline going over the bridge.

 Head shot of Mr. Big.

Here are some of your Top 10 Legends doing the shuffle ....

One of the obstacles for the Top 10 finals.

We went outside Friday evening to walk the barns and watch the riders practice.  The sun was setting and I got some neat pictures...this is one of them.  

 One of our local girls was in the yearling competition - Star is in the pink hat.  Again she was so close to Top 10!  This is her 3rd year and we are so proud of her!

Star's stall sign.

Star's poster for her mustang, Beauty.

This just tickled my funny bone!  This is a before and after photo....

Now this is a teeter totter!!!

Here are the final 3 for the Legends finals....Madeline, Robert and Dale.

Yearling Top 10......

Abby getting ready to show her 2 yr old, Ford.  Ford is the one she showed here last year as a yearling.

I wish this photo was more clear - but you get the idea.  This is part of the course for the 1st place yearling finals.  If the jumps look close together, it is because they are!  This girl was running full blast all over and her little mustang was so in tune with her...it as beautiful, high energy and just plain awesome!  She ran her horse over the jumps then thru the fire hoop, then she followed him thru.  She also had a line of about 5 barrels on the other wall that were close together and they blasted thru those too with only 1 step between each.  I can't wait to find them on You Tube!  Their win was well deserved.

I like to take pictures of the obstacles for ideas.  This is the bridge they used for the Legends division and it really was not very wide.  Some horses liked it just fine, and others made the decision to save their rider the hassle of going over it.  Ha ha!  Others just fell off and acted like it was not a big deal.  I think I would have been a little freaked out to fall off the bridge...but they all just worked thru it.

We had such a great time and I am so glad we went!  Sherry and Jeffrey were a couple we talked to last year and she found me and asked about us and about Copper.  It felt so good to be able to tell her about Copper and how wonderful he is.  I do wish I felt better because I know I was not as peppy as I usually am, but then again I would have been bouncing all over the place and would have missed some of the riders.  The only thing we missed was the Showmanship for the youth trainers - not my thing so we went outside to walk the barn and watch the riders in the practice ring.

Now, there is always someone who does things that makes others feel uncomfortable, or just downright ticked off.  We head out there and I get a few pictures of Greg riding his horse outside of the arena, and at the far end is a guy, Cowboy #13, on a black horse and there is excessive slapping with the reins, spurring and yanking going on.  It was not the correctional kind of stuff (which would have still been excessive in my book)....this is something that went on and on.  Holy smokes, the horse did not have time to think about what he was supposed to be doing.  About that time I thought I would record it.  I did miss the nice big rear the horse gave him but I got some of the other stuff.  There was a lady at the other end of the arena taping too, and I saw her looking at me.  I thought she might be with that guy but I did not care - I kept doing my thing.  Come to find out, she was not with him...she was taping him too hoping he would stop his actions with the horse.  She had been out there longer so saw a lot more than I did.  The video I have shows him glancing at her and also at me.  He finally left the ring, and the whole way to the barn he was jabbing the horse with his spurs.  He did not ride the horse course, or show up to walk his horse thru it.  Don't know what happened....I hope someone nice adopted his horse because the horse was not being mean spirited, he just didn't get it.  His eyes said so.  Yes, the eyes have it!  :-)  When the horse did have a chance to move without having his jaw yanked on, he moved nicely from what we could tell.  It is just sad that some people think they have to do this to any animal.

Ya always meet the neatest people at these events.  I met a gal who was there to adopt!  Yay!  The gate is closed at our place, but it was open at hers!  She heard Brian  and I talking and saw me taking notes so she asked our opinion on some of the ones she picked.  It was so much fun going over our notes about what we liked and did not like, and I learned a lot from her.  She is a teacher so has the summers off, and one summer she spent as much time as she could riding around with a lameness vet, so she had a lot of information that she was more than willing to share.  Oh how I would love to do that!  She also rode around Lake Tahoe!  She took off with her dog and her horse and was gone for 5 weeks.  It took her about 2 1/2 weeks to ride around the lake.  How awesome is that?!  We really liked her.  She is every trainers dream in an adopter....she asked a lot of questions and gave opinions on what she thought, and she kept awesome notes.  She knew exactly what she was looking for in a horse, and it had nothing to do with color.  Today I heard who she adopted, and out of the 5 on her list, he was my #1 choice.  She said the trainer was so glad it was her who won the bid because she was at the barn talking to him, and the trainer had not talked to the other person about his horse.  I totally know how he feels...that is why Sonic Boom is home.  :-)

Next year the EMM will again be in Murfreesboro, TN, and another one is in Arizone - right by New Mexico.  Will see what that brings....

Until later...Karen and Tripp who took a 'trip' down memory lane of 2008....