HC Obstacle Challenge 3/23/2013

First HCOC competition of the year! Debbie and I headed down and picked up Reed and her horse Fortune on the way!  One the way down Debbie and I were talking about riding Twila and Reed asked what was so different about it.  So I told her once we got down there I would take her on a ride!

Reed did well in her classes and So did Seven. He once again won both the in-hand and riding Masters Classes.
I showed Twila in the in-hand Green class. She cruised right through the whole course. I nearly had to run to keep up with her, but I sure was not going to slow her down either. She never even looked at anything twice and even carried the saddle bags that we have to move from one barrel to another on her back for me!  I was so excited and surprised when she WON the class! Go Twila!

So after that it was time for Reed to take her Test Ride on a Saddle Donkey! We got her settled in the saddle and we rode off through the barns and around the show grounds! Well by the time we got back Reed was smiling, laughing like a school girl and doing the Queen Wave to everyone she came across!
Bazinga!

Twila and Seven's awards for winner their classes! Collapsible Buckets! 

Reed riding Twila Merrill!  

Valentines Trail Obstacle Competition

Well long story made short, I was going to judge a trail obstacle competition and it got rained/snowed out for the weekend. The whole course was set up so on Sunday I brought Seven and Twila to school over the course. It was SO COLD and WINDY that I did not even saddle anyone up, but it was great exposure for Twila to new obstacles and new places. She even got on a mattress for the first time. We met a nice lady and her daughter who both fell in love with both Seven and Twila!  You can tell how cold we are from the photos!

Seven and his new friend Rachel going through the Tunnel Of Love! 

Reed uses her magic to train Twila Merrill to get one the Mattress! 

Twila Merrill concurs the Pink Bridge! 

Twila Merrill and Shannon going through the Tunnel Of Love! 

Trail Riding with Friends! 3/17/2013

Friends Rebecca, Suzette and Debbie came over on Sunday and we gabbed some Long Ears (and Rebecca's awesome short ear Nellie) and head out for an Early Spring Trail ride!  Great fun was had by all and we let the equines taste some of the bright green Spring grass that was coming up on the side of the fields!  Suzette rode Sadie Mae and Debbie rode Twila Merrill. Seven was happy to go on a nice relaxing trail ride after a Cow Sorting Clinic on Friday night and then a lesson with Linda Hoover on Saturday!  

Seven gives Cow Sorting a try!

There is a new sport called Cow Sorting in the Equine World.  It has become very popular, very quickly. Reed and I met up in Norlena for a Friday night clinic about learning to Sort.  Seven works cows very well but I had never tried anything like this before!  Seven did so well that the trainer first asked me, "You've won a lot of money sorting with this mule, right?" (well no, never done it before) and then after our second sort, "Is this mule for sale?" (Well Reed answered that one for me!)
Later they let me work the gate area and Reed sort the cows!  Now we are ready for a competition!!

See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYSsenkPrA

Welcome Brother Strauss

My corgi Levi's brother from the same litter was available for adoption. His ear had become injured as a puppy and was flopping some when showing. A vet who tried to FIX it, ended up ruining it!  He was having a successful show career!  So I decided that it would be lots of fun for have Levi's brother live with us. It would give Levi some company while I was at work and someone to help get some of Levi's energy out! So on February 22nd Strauss came to live with us! The two took of and it was instant playing! They love to run all around the yard together and even play tug of war together! True Brothers!

Strauss was not sure what to think of the mules and donkeys at first! 

Motley Crew - One blue eye and one ear flop! Prefect! 

Strauss went from Show Dog to FARM Dog in 1 day flat! 

First Lambs born at RMF

One of my ewes had looked pregnant but I really did not think she was that close. I was surprised on February 2nd, Ground Hog Day, in 20 degree weather, to find two new born lambs!  Both doing well considering the temperature and already up and walking around! I gabbed my camera and took some photos and made a video of them!  One boy and one girl, both cute as buttons! Going to be fun to watch them grow!
Link for video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expbIGgLFiw

CMA Sandhills Trail Ride

Debbie and I drove down for the day to join everyone for a Carolina Mule Association Sandhills Trail Ride on March 2nd.  I was surprised when not many people were there. I think the threat of cold weather and snow had scared some people off.  We did start the morning with a short but very pretty snow flurry, but we had a wonderful ride and ending with a clear blue sky and our jackets off!

Along the trail we ran into an old friend from Fayetteville driving around in his truck. Jack Cain drove along with us for a little while and then stopped for lunch with us.  Seven was doing his very fast flat walk down the side of the sandy road so I had Jack clock us! 5.5 miles per hour!!  Who can believe that from a Belgian Draft Crossed Mule?

Seven and I played with some of the trail obstacle there at the farm when we returned from the ride!  One of them required him to push with his chest and his nose against a bar, to move a barrel.  I have never asked him to do anything like that before but he soon figured it out!

The beautiful blue sky we ended the day with! 

Boss Man comes for a Tune Up!!

My friend's show mule Boss Man came to the St. Clair Red Mule Farm for a pre-show season training tune up in February 2013! I had great fun with him, working on obstacles and western pleasure!  He is a super neat guy and does so well at the shows! Thanks to Linda for trusting me to work with him! We even took the SHOW Mule on a few trail rides! Good for the brain!!!

Trip to Leatherwood for Mule Day's Planning Meeting

Of course we had to bring the Mule and Horse and do some riding while we where up at Leatherwood Mountains!!  
Christina and I made most the trip and pulled off to get some gas where I apparently picked up a nasty piece of scrap metal in one of my trucks tires.  We called Leatherwood and they directed up to Myers Tire Service! With a little luck they got us back on the road with in 35 minutes and it always cost me $18! I was very concerned because the tire was brand new, but they did a patch from inside the tire and it is like new!! They did an awesome job, so here is their card!

Running late we finally got there and got Seven and Oakley settled into their stalls.  Abbie and I sat down with Christina and Bev (who came down to help) and we went through everything like crazy! Got a lot of things squared away and settled for Mule Days at Leatherwood on March 29-31st.  We are so excited about this event because at this time the whole place is booked and we are going to have 125 equines and people from over 9 States coming! 

After the meeting Christina and I headed out for a short trail ride before dark and then enjoyed a super nice dinner at the Saddlebrook Restaurant!  I had a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, so good! 

The next morning it was a little cold but we had a nice warm breakfast again at the Saddlebrook. We ran into Jay and Steve coming in for a day ride with their mules too!  We headed out for several hours and had another really nice ride!  

Can't wait to come back!!  

Jay and Steve heading out! 

Seven on Tricky Creek Trail! 

Christina and Oakley! 

Shannon and Seven at the Over look area! 

Turkeys in the horse pasture on Sunday Morning, there was about 25 of them! 

I had to include this photo! The horse PHOTO BOMBED my photo of the Turkeys! 

A visit to Reflection's Farm

I took a trip down to Reflections Farm in Vass, NC (www.ReflectionsfarmNC.com) to visit with owner Kriestin and to ride her really cool trail obstacle course. She wanted some ideas for a redesign on the course for the 2013 show season! She has a beautiful place with lots of fun places to ride. She hosts the Refined Horsemanship Association Shows. http://us-rha.com/ 
We rode all around the farm and then Kriestin got some great sandwiches for lunch for us!
Then Rebecca and I had a lesson with Linda Hoover!
Kriestin rode Seven and even tried out Twila too!
A great day, Thanks so much Kriestin!

PHOTOS COMING!!!