Belt Buckle Curse Is Finally Broken!

All the years I have been showing I have never won a Belt Buckle! 

All the high points, all-arounds and championship... when ever there was a belt buckle up for grabs, it seemed something would always go wrong.  So I considered it a Curse!

So my friend Seven finally got it done did for me! We competed in 8 Trail Obstacle Competitions (1 each month) at Brock and Leisha Griffith's place in Denton, NC.  The finals being Oct. 27th, 2012.

We were leading in the points early but still had to go each time and put in good performances to keep our lead. Leisha waited till the end to be sure I would win, because she wanted to order a belt buckle with a Mule Rider on it for me! So thoughtful! Can't wait for it to get there though! 

Thank you to Leisha and Brock for hosting the competition and to everyone who was so supportive with your kind words and cheers!  

I feel like I can now say "Misson Accomplished" well at least this misson!  

My biggest thank you goes to Seven who willing jumped those bank jumps and did all kinds of strange things for me, just because I asked! 

Seven with our Champion Ribbon!

Mom and Dad came down from Virginia for my Birthday and to watch the competition!

Year End Winners are: (LtoR) Chad 3rd place, Melissa 4th place, Brock Griffith, Rebecca 2nd place, Shannon 1st place, Willow 1st place Youth and Leisha Griffith! 

My Trail Obstacle buddy Christina, she won one of Brock's new training tapes! 

Seven made friends with Willows 2 year old donkey!!  He just loves all Donkeys! Too Cute!

Special Visitor!

Sadie Mae had a special visitor last week. My friend Jackie asked me if she could bring her friend Erin over for a visit with my mules and donkeys. Erin suffers from multiple sclerosis and doesn't get to go out very much. 
She was able to pet Sadie and lean on her some to get a good rub on Sadie's shoulder. Sadie enjoyed the attention and stood like a statue!  I was glad to help Jackie and get Erin out for a small adventure. The smiles on her face said it all for me! 

Sadie Mae seems to always make people smile! 

Erin gets to meet Twila Merrill the Donkey too!

CMA Mule/Horse Show

On  October 20th the Carolina Mule Association hosted a fundraising horse/mule show. Christina and her horse Oakley came along with us on Friday night to camp. We rode in the ring and had a great crock pot dinner with our friend Cat Nordan! We laughed and talked until way too late!

The next morning the classes came fast but Seven did very well. We got a 3rd in English Mule at halter and then 2nd place in each of our three English Mule riding classes. We won the English Jack Benny class too! Then we had a nice break and got ready for trail classes.  Seven and I won the Adult Trail Class and then got 2nd in the Mule Trail Class.  Seven was really good for our Western Pleasure classes too. Finishing 2nd in most of them.

All in all we had a great day! We ended up being Reserve High Point! The Carolina Mule Association had a great day and raised more money at this show than any others!

Seven says, "What's all this for Mom?"

People could not believe I going to ride English!

Seven and Shannon with our Adult Trail Blue Ribbon! 

Ribbons that we won!

Corgi Picnic 2012

Levi got to see his two of his sisters at the 2012 N.C. Corgi Picnic on Oct. 13th in Wake Forest.
He had a great time playing with Brandy and Harley and even met a new friend named Lucas. We competed and got third place in the speed re-call class! The whole group went down and got to go swimming too! Levi jumped right in and was playing with a ball! He also got to run around and Frap with a ton of other Corgi's in the open field! Great Fun!

Levi playing with Lucas! 

 Brandy sleeping on Judy's foot!

Levi had a great time! 

Dr. Gerd Heuschmann Symposium

On October 5-7, 2012, I was able to attend a Dr. Gerd Heuschmann Symposium.
Hosted by Linda Hoover and the United States Refined Horsemanship Association. http://us-rha.com/

On Friday night in a Southern Pines hotel, a "For The Good Of The Horse" Round table discussion and dinner was held.  Present was Dr. Gerd Heuschmann, Jochen Schleese, Dr. Richard Mansmann, Shawna Karrasch and Gil Merrick was the moderator. It was very interesting and a lot of good subjects with in the Horse Industry were brought up. It defiantly left us all thinking about a lot of things, but that was just the start of the weekend.
The next morning at a beautiful farm in Vass, NC, Dr. Heuschmann spoke for the morning and most of the afternoon, then we moved to a field with a long hill. He worked with several riders on hill work and then finding a good tempo, balance and relaxation during there riding.
On Sunday it was a little cold and blustery. Dr. Heuschmann went even deeper into speaking about classical training vs. modern day, "do it now" riding. He had wonderful graphics by Susan Harris to help us understand what we was talking about.
I left with a whole new understanding and a new train of through about how I ride and approach training!  I also met a lot of great new people!
For more information here is a link to his web site:
http://www.gerdheuschmann.com/index-index-lang~en.html
If it happens to come up in German, find the little British flag at the top of the page to change the web page to English.

Seven's New Bridle Tag!

In August Seven and I won the Open division at the American Competitive Trail Challenge, in New River, Virginia. One of the awards was some ACTHA BUCKS to be used to a purchase items from their sponsors.  

I saw my friend Joe Most's Horse, Tuff, wearing a bridle tag like this and Seven told me he wanted one too! 

So I contacted Molly's Custom Silver and she helped me with this design! I am so tickled with it and can't wait to see it on Seven's bridle! The only problem is now I want to wear it as a neck lace as well and on Seven's bridle! 

Many Thanks to ACTHA and Molly's Custom Silver! 

Guess he was thinking the same thing!

Last night, a wonderful, easy, relaxed trail ride with my best friend Seven. 
He was so in tune with me. I did not even have to cue him for a canter across one of the fields, I just thought about it! 

Guess he was thinking the same thing!

The Book Of Mules now Available on Kindle!!!

Sadie Mae is now Digital!!!  Congrats to Donna Campbell Smith!  You can now order "The Book Of Mules" of which Sadie Mae graces the cover on your Kindel!!!  AWESOME!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Mules-Selecting-ebook/dp/B001MBUGXW/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1349278324&sr=1-2