Clinton-palooza 09

Well I never thought I would attend a Clinton Anderson clinic nor did I ever think he would make an appearance in my relatively small hometown. However, he is here this very weekend. I jumped at the opportunity to get tickets for just $15 which includes both days. I can't say I intend to learn much because I don't train horses and don't intend to start in the near future, but you never know what you could pick up. So, I intend to keep an open mind, to shamelessly pass out flyers and business cards for studly and hopefully to get a good deal on some trade-show type stuff. I'm particularly interested in the new EZ-all sheath cleaner, but I personally have always liked EQ Solutions better.

What I really need is an awesome question for th Q & A session. Every clinic I have ever been to had free stuff to give away and it usually went to those with a good question. Any ideas??

Wait with all of that hoopla, I neglected to mention that a fellow blogger is coming to Clinton with me and staying with me and my horses. Don't worry she doesn't have to stay in the barn with the horses, though if I were 10 or so years younger that would have been a blast. Now I must head off and finish some barn chores and a little house cleaning.

Fair Time

The State Fair kicked off a few days ago. I made mad dash to do take advantage of an excellent advertising opportunity. It finally motivated me to find the time to look over some really top notch ads that Nd_Appy with her most amazing art skills had sent to me. She produced a flyer and did my changes in literally 2 minutes. Talk about speedy!

She also off the top of her head produced some business cards. Two sided slices of professional awesomeness. (I think by using the term "professional awesomeness" I may not qualify to be in that category, but they are awesome) I spent a couple hours friday evening putting them up in all the horse barns, by the bathrooms and the arenas. When I checked them yesterday, a few cards had been ripped off and one flyer was completely missing. I can only hope whoever took them needed more than bathroom reading or toilet paper and that maybe I'll be getting some calls (fingers crossed).

I'm showing Studly at the fair on Saturday and Sunday so I have a little time to enjoy it. Now I'm off to eat something totally gross, yet oh so delicious at the same time. So, without further delay, here is the flyer and both sides of the business card. (Sorry if they show up goofy, you may have to click for a better view.)

Another Awesome Show

The Non-Pro Amateur Extravaganza June 28-29, 2009 at the Red Horse Ranch in Fergus Falls, Minnesota was another great show. Mostly because Red Horse has absolutely the best accommodations around; huge stalls (mostly with mats others dirt floor), indoor hot water washrack, near perfect ground not only in the show pen but in the loping pen too, and plenty of other stuff that I only notice when a facility doesn't have it, lol.

Anyway, I can put another couple check marks in the win column for studly. We won the $5,000 Novice Horse Non-Pro on Sunday and were also 2nd in the $10,000 Amateur. Missed the money by 1 pt on Saturday, oh well, that's the luck of the cattle I guess. Or, more like pilot error. It looks like we might have a fair shot at the year end title for the $5,000 NH-NP in North Dakota. Very exciting for a short, fat, old stud pony.

I'm waiting on the video from that show. Hopefully it looks as good as it felt and I can get some stills for the advertising flyer. I'm thinking it might also be kinda fun to have a couple jean jackets made. Then I and my poor recruited friends can be walking billboards.

The next show looks like it will be the ND State Fair. I'm missing out on 2 MN shows this month to keep up on work (so I can afford to show, lol) which is no fun, but I'm really looking forward to the Fair.

I'm also going to get up some videos of Harley, that I took the first few days we had him. He looks like a crazy Arab running around the pasture and they turned out to be pretty funny.

In other not so exciting news, I expect that I will be a better blogger for the rest of the summer because I just upgraded to a smart phone and will be able to post from that.

Even God Likes Cutting Horses

Well I would like to think so. I was browsing the fail blog and its sister sites at lunch today and found this:

Its actor Morgan Freeman with a baseball cap depicting a cutting horse. Now many celebrities show cutting horses (that's probably for another post), but this was a random sighting for me. I must credit my ever growing powers of observation for catching this hat because I really didn't get the caption. I know Freeman played God in the Bruce & Evan Almighty movies, but I can't figure out the Jack Nicholson - Devil reference.

Its too bad the hat doesn't promote a horse or farm, but it looks as if he has really worn it more than a few times. Of course I checked the NCHA website to see if he had earnings or a membership and could find none. Then I thought, duh, actors never use their real names, but after a short search it looks to me as if he does. Now I must end my complete randomness and get back to work.

And the Winner is!!

After a serious wet-noodle beating from Nd_Appy, I have finally taken the time to put up a post, albeit a short one. I'm sorry, its summer, I've been busy and then I got sick. No more excuses...

Studly and I had our first show over the Memorial Day weekend. We won the $5,000 Novice Horse Non-Pro class on Saturday. It was very exciting and paid out well enough that I didn't end up too much in the hole. Well that's how it is with horse shows, you never come out ahead. My Dad calls it paying for entertainment. Either way, I was entertained. No pics or videos though, it was an outdoor show with the dirt blowing everywhere and the sun was shining into the camera.

The new little horse, MH Moves Millions, has been named Harley. He belongs to my Dad and they also took some prize money at the show. I sometimes call him Honda because he is so small. He is just barely 14.3 and maybe 900-950. He literally looks like a pony next to any other horse in the herd, including Star our Welsh pony, lol.

In other exciting news, I just got back Studly's photos. Here are just a couple. I'm working to update the website, but I also have to do actual work. I gotta pay the bills. Photos copyright Alea Photography and used with permission.

I need to edit out our sad little hay shed. Every time the wind blows a new piece breaks off.

He was so funny taking pictures, just hamming it up big time. He ran right up towards the camera and then gave a little rear and buck.

Showing off the speed demon inside. I love how the sand is still flying from his last stride.

Epic FAIL!

I'm an avid reader of the Fail Blog (http://www.failblog.org/) and its related websites. My little brother, who is 7, was just saying the other day that we should make an "lol horses". He's pretty funny, but you had to be there for the whole conversation. I would love to see an lol horses or lol farm animals. Well, I'll get to the point. I was reading my June issue of a popular horse magazine the other day. Let's take a tangent and discuss how annoying it is to get the "June" issue while there is still quite a bit of May left. That has always driven me crazy.

FAIL #1
Anyway, in an article on maneuvering through trail class obstacles, I found this:
(Ignore my thumb) I believe the photo is the professional whom they consulted when writing the article. If you notice the right side of the cinch is at least 6 inches from the saddle pad. On the left side, it is touching the saddle pad. This article was something like 4 pages long with several photos, all clearly showing this saddling atrocity. Having a properly fitted cinch has always been a huge pet peeve of mine.


Fail #2

Studly's PtHA papers came in the mail today. Here they are:Hint: my horse is a 1993 model, with a bald face, high white stocking, and large white belly spot. So, yet another phone call to make.

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You...

I know it has been way too long since I posted. New stuff is coming soon, I promise. I just have to finish some horrible finals first. One 4 hour suicide inducement down, only four more to go. They could have a blog all to themselves, but I'd rather not relive it. Be on the look out for new pony pictures. A new addition arrived at the farm on Tuesday morning. Don't get too excited though, he comes with plenty of emotional baggage (not his, but there is a backstory). Studly also has news to report, some good, some not so good. I will be ranting! Oh, and my super good new method of mane care for Studly totally did not work. It wasn't as bad as a gallon of vinegar and a couple boxes of baking soda combined in your mom's kitchen, but it definitely didn't work. I guess its back to the old way for now. I'm sure I'll come up with something new and kooky very soon. Until then, I hope a pic of Snoopy-longstocking trying to scratch his best bud, who is ignoring him will keep you entertained.