NC Corgi Picnic

Saturday Oct. 15th, Levi, Dylan, Mom, Dad and I headed to Wake Forest to Teamworks Training Center for the NC Corgi Picnic! We got there in time to help Judy set up the big play pen for Levi's brother and sisters to play together. (Puppies are 14 weeks at this point!) Judy still has one brother and one sister from Levi's litter and Rhonda came with her litter mate Harley. Levi and Harley pick up right where they left off, playing hard with each other! First was the herding test! All four puppies showed some signs of interest in the ducks and the tester
recomended that we re-test when they were a little older. The it was time for more playing for the puppies and watching things like Dock Diving, Agility and inspecting the items for the drawings. We went down to the pond and Levi got his toes wet but Dylan went for a little swim!
Lunch was ready and we had a great selection. Many people came up and watched the puppies play. One lady came up and asked, "Oh are there the door prizes?".
Rhonda, Mom and I signed our dogs up for the games. First was Hot Dog Bobbing. Levi and Harley really did not get it and only ate one while I held it up out of the water. Then it was Dylan's turn and he ate 10 of the little pieces of hot dog. I think the winning dog ate 21 in 30 seconds!

The next game was Musical Mats. Kind of like Musical Chairs except you have to get your dog to get on the mat when the music stopped! Harley and Rhonda won!!

The final game was the Corgi Dash! You would call your dog from a starting point to you and the time was taken from the start to a line the cross! The catch is there is a plate with a piece of hot dog on it in between! Several of the dogs hit the scent and went right for it. I took Levi down to the start and showed him a liver treat, then I ran down and started calling him! It took him over 8 seconds to come but he came right to me! He got a lot of "Ah how cute!" from the crowd! The winning dog did it in less than 2 seconds.
We headed home, all of us tired! Best thing that happened all day was that Levi was so tired he fell asleep on my lap! So sweet! He was also a little tired on Sunday and needed an extra nap! He did get to play with Sparky from next door! Dad and I celebrated our Birthdays together with some ice cream cake and Mom brought me neat flower arrangement with a puppy in it!













Levi's Sister Harley and her owner Rhonda.



























Sparky and Levi playing! See puppy made of flowers?

The BIG Weekend!

Friday night I headed for Flintrock Farm with my newly washed and clipped mule Seven. Levi was also along for his first big adventure! We camped for the night and then got up early to get ready for the show.
On Oct. 8th, the Carolina Mule Association held its Fundraiser Horse/Mule show. Aimee and Tollie showed up to volunteer for the day and brought their daughter from college, Caroline. She was to show Seven in the English Classes for me! She made friends with Seven and took a short ride to get to know him. She started the day with Halter and then moved into the riding classes. Seven won quite a few classes and got many seconds! She and Seven just clicked and rode so well together! Everyone was asking who she was and was amazed when I told them that she had just met me this morning and had never ridden Seven before!
Then it was time for Western division. I rode him in these classes and he did really well. We did well all afternoon and the competition was close for the High Point Mule Belt Buckle. We got Reserve High Point Mule! Wow what a show! Seven was so good all day! Levi had a great time too! Several kids walked him around and he never met a single stranger. He also got braver being around the horses and mules! He was a good traveler and slept all night in his crate too!
I had dinner that night at Jay and Annette's house with Holly, Linda and Barry! We had a great time and ate left overs and desserts! I was so glad to get a nice hot shower and climb into bed that night.
Sunday AM was another beautiful day! I got up early, packed up and off we went on our next adventure! Just an hour away was a Trail Obstacle Race at Brock and Leshia Griffith's farm in Denton, NC! After we arrived and got settled, we got tacked up. We met some new people too! We warmed up in the ring and then everyone road over to the hill side to the area where all the obstacles were set up! Then the order of go was read and we got picked to go 7th.........
It was soon our turn! Seven seemed ready to do something different from yesterday! So I charged at the course! 1st was opening and closing the arena gate, then a trot down the hill and road to a teeter totter, no problem! Then we had to climb up onto a tractor tire that was filled with dirt. We showed off and did a spin on the tire! Then ran over to the bottom of the hill and up three bank jumps! Seven did this like it was no problem! We then crossed some logs on the ground, through a cowboy rope curtain and on to a ride over a dirt hill. The next thing we were asked to do is ride a circle at a canter to the right. Seven collected up and stayed between my hands and legs the whole time and let me guide him around. We then moved a shower curtain from one barrel to another, dragged a barrel with a cow head in it. We dragged it from behind and then also turned and dragged it again! Then we took off across the field to a spot where we were to stop. I also did two turn arounds there too. Next was a steep hill, where we halted several times on the hill to show control. At the bottom we were to go into a tight trail cut into the woods, it was tight and it had logs to step over and wind around but Seven did it in a smooth manner! As we came out of the woods we jumped three black barrels, cantered to the road, I then stopped and dropped the reins and walked the rest of the way to show how broke and quite he is. I was so happy with his performance! He did everything I asked, how and when I asked! Can't get much more than that! Several people came up and told me they really liked our run! The other guy there with a mule came over to shake my hand! Boy was I proud!
We ended up winning the Race out of 13 people! I won $90 in payback money too! Leisha and Brock Griffith who judged the race said that I had 50 points more than everyone else. Most people rode the course in 10 minutes or more, one rode a little too fast at 5 min., I rode it in 7 minutes and something........
We headed home very happy! Really could not have done any better than we did and had two fun days with some wonderful fall weather too!
Got home and met my Cousin Billy at my house. He lives in Alabama but was in the area for business. So we visited and went to dinner! Billy walked out to see Seven out in the pasture. He tried to video him while he walked up to him. He said "I hear to won a big competition today!" as he said that, Seven's head popped up, he wheeled around, bucked and took off! I can't wait for Billy to send me the video post! It is too funny!

Mule Rider Boot Camp at the RMF!

On Sept. 24 and 25th I have several friends come over for the first ever Mule Rider Boot Camp! We started the day with all mules and one short-ear! We did some ground work and some showmanship. Then tacked up to ride! We had multipable problems that needed working on but everyone worked hard. I started out by giving away my Julie Goodnight reins to some who had snaps on their reins, then my bridle to another lady who's mule needed my Gag Bit! I was stuck riding Seven in a halter and lead rope! Ha! He was good though.
We broke for a late lunch and then rode again in the afternoon.
Sunday I started up with just one mule rider and we did ground work, she and the mule showed much improvement even from the day before! We also did a Make-Over clip job on his face and mane! He looked like a new mule! Later some others came and everyone showed improvement, so you know me, I gave them more to work on!
A lot of fun and I enjoy helping people out. Sometimes just small changes in how things are done or how a rider things about things can make a big difference!