wHaT a WeeKeND!!!

So this officially had to be one of the craziest weekends I have had in a while. While packing for the show (Poplar Place) I got a call Thursday night from a lady in GA that was interested in buying Hilmi and wanted to see him; therefor, I had to unload things in my trailer and make room for him.
I picked up Kelly and her enormous horse (18'2hh) Bella in AL after getting a late start Friday morning, due to the extra horse and a dead truck battery. So my poor truck and breaks amazingly got us to Poplar in one peice; although, there were some close calls, in which I thought for sure Bella was going to have to get out and pull us up the hill;)
I showed Hilmi to Sally and she liked him, rode him, paid me, and loaded him up, I wish all horse sales were that easy!
I rode bright and early Sat morning 8am and sense I was too tired to braid the night before I was up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning. Stressed for time I got all tense and started off the weekend with Tainy and I having a horrendous dressage test leaving us in 8th place ugh! Not to worry though cause Indy still had her chance and scored my lowest dressage score ever of a 22.0 and of course Miss America was in first place after that ride. They both had 1 rail in SJ moving Indy down to 2nd and Tainy stayed in 8th, but I was pleased with the rides non the less. Sunday was Cross Country and Tainy and I headed out at 9 in the morning to finish the show off with a stop at the coffin combination (rider error, collected her too much and forgot to kick and say GO and the same time:( Unfortunately that finished Tainys weekend up with 10th place . But Ashley's camera caught a stellar sequence of Tainy and I through the Preliminary water.








Indy of course zoomed around cross country like an old pro (she could teach her mom a thing or two) and bumped us back up to 1st winning once again! Giles was there riding Indy's nephew at his first show and she took 2nd in the BN division which was quite exciting as well! It runs in the family the whole winning thing or being in the top 3, you'd have to be a Gotthard to understand:)
So as the show wrapped up and Kelly and I went to hook up the truck and trailer, the trailer battery was dead, and we couldn't hook up, needless to say after an hour or so we broke down and Kelly went hiking for help. Finally getting us hooked up and being nearly the last person to leave. The ride home was rather uneventful and we made it home safe and sound with one less horse in the trailer and another blue ribbon to add to Indy's wall:)

ScHoOl NeWs!!!!!

I came home from the horse show to the best news about school! First of all I aced my College Algebra Class and got a B in English! But the best part is that I received a grant to go to school so my tuition and books are going to be covered! WHAT A RELIEF! I am so excited not only to be back in school but even more so to know that it will not be a financial burden! I am so fortunate and blessed! I have also decided that I am going to go into secondary education for Math which is 9th-12th grade! And through FSU I will be able to get both a teaching major and a math major at the same time, so I could always do something else if I decide not to teach. So that's it for school, as for the summer I've got a full load with American History, English, Pre-Calc, and Speech Class I'm totally stoked and can't wait for classes to start back up!

LeT's gO fLy A kItE.......

While my brother and his family were out here, the kids got kites in their Easter Baskets and we happen to have a perfect day for kite flying. It had been so long sense I had flown a kite and in fact I don't even remember being able to get my kite in the air as a kid but with much perseverance and I hate to admit it but help from my brother, Grace and I were able to get Hannah flying and out flew Clint and Garrett with Spidey! It was a blast we get so busy in our adult lives that we forget how much fun some of the simplest things in life can be.

We also spent some time at our local springs which was FREEZING cold and the best part about being the aunt is your the one who is cool, so you have to be the one to do EVERYTHING with the kids including doing cannon balls into freezing water, only for Grace:)

Me trying to convince Grace to go first so I could weasel my way out of it!


It didn't work, but she was right behind me doin it cannon ball style!

When we came home from the springs the kids simply had not had enough water so we broke out the water balloons! It's so much fun to be a kid again!


Helpin the kids fill up the water balloons....

Ready, Set, Attack!

Goodbye Phillipe, Hello Sollte!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we sold my moms pony Phillipe. We found him the perfect home with his new owner Victoria Lanza, they are quite the perfect match. I know he will be doted on and loved to no end! He will now become a fancy, spoiled little dressage pony:) He was such a good pony and such a confidence builder for my mom, that he deserved a home where he was the only horse. I am very excited to see the pair together and everyone better keep their eyes out for them cause they will be competing soon!
In return we purchased her Oldenburg gelding Sollte who we have fallen in love with he is 16'3 and is built to be an event horse, he will be a fun little project to have. My mom looks forward to getting him out to some schooling shows over the summer and I'll look forward to possibly competing him in the fall or my mom possibly. He is a fancy little mover and a very cute and very careful jumper.
So while we say goodbye to Phillipe and wish him and his new owner well we are thrilled to have Sollte as a new addition to our farm!
I will get pics up of him soon as he comes along and matures a little more:)

Blue Angel Dressage April 25-26

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of Fanny at the Dressage Show, but I just wanted to put in a note that she was wonderful, well for most of it:) She was the High Point Horse for 2nd level with a 63% which we needed to count as a score for my Bronze Medal. So next show we will definitely be doing 3rd level to get our final 2 scores so that I can get my Bronze Medal!

EASTER

Easter was great, my brother and his family were here and we celebrated it a little different then I was used to. They do Easter baskets and the Easter egg hunt on Saturday so that on Easter Sunday they can all focus on the meaning of true meaning of Easter. I really liked their way of doing this. So Saturday morning the kids woke up bright and early, I think I had almost as much fun getting ready for Easter morning and hiding the eggs as the kids did tearing through their baskets and hunting the eggs down.

As for Easter Sunday it was one of the best not only did we hear some amazing talks in sacrament but I even talked my mom into going to church with us. It was so special to go to church on Easter Sunday as a family. (I believe it was a first for us.) So thank you mom for going it really meant a lot to me:)

This was definitely one of the best Easter Sundays EVER!

My Sidekick

I am so behind on my blog so I will slowly but surely try and get everyone updated. We were so fortunate to have my brother and his family come visit and liven up the farm in April over Spring Break and Easter.

For me it was just great to have my sidekick with me for a week, Grace was by my side helping me feed, ride, and care for all the horses all week long. Every horse I rode Grace rode; although, she fell in love with Fanny and I think the feeling was mutual because Fanny helped babysit her all week both on the ground and on her back. As you can see below they were quite the pair.....

Grace and Fanny I love this picture of Grace, The Pony, and Bella. See the smile?

I can't believe how fast she has grown up but it just gets more and more fun to have her around with the horses, she is like a sponge I taught her, parts of the horse, colors, gender of horses, and she was so eager to learn. She's just like her aunt we both prefer to spend most our time on a horse or in the barn! I taught her how to do Around-The-World on the horse, back flips off the horse, and we galloped around on the pony bareback:)

Grace also helped in showing Garrett the ropes around the horses as well. As you can see from the video below Garrett may take after his aunt and sister too:)