Dog Days of Summer

Yes, we now have 3 dogs!  I found another border collie who needed a job.  Her name is Belle, she's 5 years old and is fitting in great.  She's been here for about a week and has learned sit, down, shake, come, and has been on her first trail ride and for her first swim in the pond.  Here are her first glamour shots (she is the one with the phantom of the opera face)!  Miles and Tally are also camera hogs and so wrestled for a ball to get on camera.  Miles has his intense border collie stare, and Belle is just happy to be here.

Snapshots of a Good Day

My working student in the new show shirt I found for her at a sale (a spectacular deal - $300 showmanship coat that doubles as an equitation shirt for $25!!)
One of our "show moms"
All the competitors in this leadline class were from our barn - 3 handlers, 3 riders, and 3 horses! A great bunch of people. We all enjoyed this show - I was preoccupied with Samson and making sure his (and thus my) day went well. But I did get to observe my stable in action! We had a large bunch of people there representing the barn and competing, helping each other out, cheering, and taking pictures. I felt like I really had "arrived" as a trainer when I saw all my folks able to safely and efficiently groom, tack, and compete with their horses without any assistance from me! I have the best bunch of clients and kids, independent and responsible people who can do anything necessary with the horses. I feel like they have been taught well, after seeing that show go so incredibly smoothly while I focused on Samson.

Josie's First Show

Cole continues to fulfill his summer duties as the riding lesson horse! He took his owner's daughter into the leadline class and they came away successful. One can't help but notice the adorableness of the purple shirt, purple bedazzled helmet cover, purple saddle pad, and purple halter on Cole. The saddle was shiny and they got a ribbon - what more can you ask for?

Samson's First Show

Samson has finally learned to tie, to stand quietly for grooming, to self-load in the horse trailer, and to stand bravely inside it while I leave and shut the partitions. We tossed Cole in the trailer for a leadline class and to keep Samson company, and off we went to the last saddle club show of the season. Samson was a a star - though he was pretty upset about all the shapes and sizes of horses there. I don't think he had ever seen a paint horse - those white spots really worried him, and the ponies were PRETTY scary. He had calmed down by the end of the day, though, and we counted it a success!

Cecil in the Limelight

We went to the dressage championships in Parker and Cecil was a rock star. It has been a long season, but we've been extremely fortunate to show in places like the phenomenal Colorado Horse Park (think: wood in stables is nicer than wood in my house) and in the mountains of Estes Park (think: best views of the Rockies ever seen from horseback at a show)

In this particular picture, I like to think this is the judge's view of Cecil and they are thinking, "Wow, what a gorgeous, balanced canter."
Final salute - Cecil takes his job seriously.
Lovely uphill canter!
Trot work

More Behind the Scenes

This is Tally, our ultimate horse show dog. She wore her harness and followed us around like a dutiful hound should, never barking, only the occasional howl or yodel at the other dogs there that looked like Miles the border collie. She has come to all the overnight shows this season because of her health issues we couldn't leave her at home. (Epilepsy and others) We must admit she is spectacular to have around for moral support.
Speaking of moral support, Rebecca came to the Estes show and camped with me and Tally in the trailer. Here she is, pictured preparing the ultimate PB&J sandwiches.
Sheridan was our official groom in Parker at the championships, she caught this picture of the sunset as I was distractedly working my way into pajamas.

We're not sure what happened to this banana, but we took it out of the cupboard and it looked like this. We elected not to eat it.

Kim's Friend in Estes Park

This is my friend and neighbor, Trisha. Her horse, Surprise, is from Florida and they competed at Prix St. George (a division in dressage) at the Paragon Dressage Show in Estes. They didn't have a camera with them so I filled in as impromptu photographer.