Ranch Sorting - Chapter 1

What a fine looking pair! We had just chased the final cow through the gate. Looks like Mariah still wants to keep chasing them.

Ranch Sorting - Prologue

Last Saturday I was doing a lesson with Carly. Well, technically, Mariah was doing a lesson with Carly and I was watching and learning. I have really got to work on my hands. I am not keep them down near her withers consistently. *SIGH* Still so much to learn.

The Great Escape

Thursday morning started like any other school morning. We had had breakfast and Kira was waiting at the door for the bus to come, Kumi was getting her lunch together and I was just getting ready to step into the shower. I stuck my head out of the bathroom door and Kumi said my horse had run off. I went back into the bathroom to look out the window expecting to see the horses running around the backyard. No horses. I stuck my head back out of the bathroom and Kumi was putter her coat on. I asked her where she was going and she said, some what more emphatically, YOUR HORSE ESCAPED. What...

Promotion Saturday

Last Saturday, 11/5/2011, was promotion Saturday at Westernaires. It is a nerve racking day for most girls. It is the day that you find out what team you will be on fro the coming year. The powers that be look at equitation skills (there is test the riders take in September where judges grade their riding skills), their diagramming points, participation and everything else that you do at Westernaires and decide what team you move to.

You can move laterally or you can move up. You move laterally when your scores indicate you need a bit more work and you move up when your scores indicate you can handle the next level. So Kumi got a slip of paper with a number on it that told her she moved to

The Hat and the Tag

It was snowing here the other day. I always wear my cowboy hat when it snows. I got into the truck and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the rear view mirror. There was a white tag hanging down next to my ear. Very strange. I have never seen that tag before. I looked a bit closer and discovered it was not a white tag, it was my hair. Damn.

2011 Annual Show

Annual show has come and gone for another year. All the costumes and flags are packed away until next summer. Always a bitter sweet time. Promotion Saturday is this Saturday. Kumi will be moving to a new team. Will she be in White Division for another year? Will she move to Red Division? We will let you know.

That is Kumi in her final ride as a Shadow Ranger. She got to carry the team flag in serpentine.