Sun Circuit - Professional Photos

The photos I ordered from the photographer at Sun Circuit have arrived!!!

Valendisney Day

For Valentine's Day, Dave and I spent an adventurous day at Disney's California Adventure Park. We had tons of fun!!!

Here are pics of some of the highlights:

Soar'n Over California was a fav for both of us!

On The Tower of Terror

Dave didn't have the stomach for The Malibommer, but I loved it!

As I exited the ride cast members told me I was a winner for the Year of a Million Dreams and gave me a Mickey hat .

Preparing to 'soar over California' for the 2nd time!

We had a great time in the animation studio practicing our acting skills! Check us out!!!

Dave & Kris as Belle & Beast

We also learned to draw GoofyOn our way home

Happy Valentine's Day!

West Coast Circuit

I showed Breezy today at the West Coast Circuit show in Burbank at the LA Equestrian Center. We scored a 71 & 71 1/2 putting us in 1st place under both judges for the AQHA Amateur Reining!!!

We ran pattern 9. We walked in the arena and faced down ring. I loped in off and he waited on me through the entire run down gradually gaining speed past center and stopped perfectly. Then he backed up quickly and straight on a loose rain. One judge gave us a +1 (only our 2nd full point + ever!) and the other a +1/2 for the maneuvers. We paused for a moment then completed our turns to the right. They were smooth and rhythmic getting us a 0 from both judges. Then the turns to the left were good too, but a little sticky. One judge gave us a 0 and the other -1/2. Turns are really hard for Breezy so I felt good about how we did. Then we loped off to left and completed a small-slow circle to the left. Breezy felt dialed in so I loosened my reins as we moved out into our large-fast circles. But, as we passed the gate he bolted all the sudden and swapped out behind for a stride giving us a 1 point penalty from each judge. Johnette and I still have no idea why he did that. But, then he dialed back in and stayed steady the rest of the pattern. After our 2 large-fast circles we came down to a slow speed, changed leads, and completed a small-slow circle to the right. He didn't change leads at the 1st ask, but I remained calm and just nudged him a little harder and he changed right over. Then out to big and fast. He felt really good again so I loosened my reins to show him off. Changed leads well and prepared to go into our 1st run down. As we came around the corner he got a bit strong and didn't really wait on me before increasing his speed, but when it was time to stop be pushed as hard as he could and both judges rewarded us to +1/2. Then another +1/2 on the 2nd stop from both. As we headed down for our last stop breezy got really strong, but I made him wait and build gradually. We were rewarded with another +1/2 from one judge and a +1 from the other! So we walked away with 2 blue ribbons for the day and a Reserve Circuit Championship!

And just imagine....if we hadn't had that random 1 point penalty in the left circles we would have been at a 72 & 72 1/2!!!!

Breezy & I with our blue ribbons!


Our barn mates Maria & Harry with their ribbonsAnd Johnette won the AQHA Junior Horse Reining on Wendy's horse too!

Go Team Burman!!!

Horse Show Update - Day 8

Both Breezy and I showed well today. Not quite good enough for our 71, but still good. The circles were the best of the week and 2 of the 3 stops were fantastic. The run downs were still a bit chargy and the turns still a little sticky (-1/2 to the right & 0 to the left). All in all I was pleased with the run. Ended up with a 70 from one jusdge and a 69 from the other. Still didn't place though and so no points. Johnette still thinks we have a chance to get qualified for the World Show though. Just have to get 15 more points by the end of July.

Tomorrow I will ride Breezy in the Senior Reining in stead of Johnette. It seems he only gets chargy with me in the run downs and we think it is because I am stiffening my back. So this will give me a chance to practice staying relaxed and a chance to discipline Breezy when it doesn't really count if he charges. A BIG thanks to everyone that has been checking in on my blog and cheering me on from home. I really loved reading the comments and getting encouraging e-mails. Really felt supported! Thank you!!!

Horse Show Update - Day 7

Felt like myself again today. And ready to show again tomorrow!

Johnette schooled Breezy in the Senior Reining and he was really good. He seems to be back to himself again too. I think she got a great school in so hopefully he will show the same for me tomorrow.

And a correction to the results posted on the Day 5 update:

$1000 NRHA Non Pro - 3rd
$1000 NRHA Intermediate Non Pro - 2nd (tie)
$200 NRHA Limited Non Pro - 2nd (tie)
$1000 NRHA Novice Horse Non Pro - 3rd
DRHA Ladies Non Pro Jackpot - 4th

All together I won about a thousand dollars! Once you subtract the entry fees it nets out to around $400. Not bad!

Horse Show Update - Day 6

Well, today was not a good day.

Started out with an very frustrating phone call trying to move my cell phone number over to a new carrier (after this morning that makes a total of 5 hours worth of phone time over 6 days trying to get it taken care of and now it looks like it will be another 3-5 business before it's fixed!). Also, didn't sleep well because I wasn't feeling good. Then it just went down from there.

The spins were good (actually probably the best I've ever turned him in the show pen). Johnette showed me a new way to use my spur and it worked like a charm. But, in the circles had some steering problems and got several extra lead changes. I felt the lead change problem coming on yesterday and today it came thru. Think I could have piloted better, but Breezy definitely wasn't doing me any favors. Finally got frustrated and ended up schooling. So needless to say, no points were earned today.

Johnette will school Breezy tomorrow and then I will show him one more time on Friday for our last cxhance to get points at this show. Dave arrives on Thursday night so I think having him here will help.

Horse Show Update - Day 5

What an exciting day!

It started early with a 6:30am ride in the big indoor arena we that were going to be showing in. It was literally freezing cold, but Breezy seemed totally fine in there and didn't seem to have any worries. It was really crowded with other horses, but we had a good ride.

Several hours later I got back on him, after he had rested and had some breakfast, to warm-up to show. He felt great. However, as soon as I we walked in the big arena all by ourselves he got tense. It must have seemed a lot scarier to him without all the other horses. We under spun on our 1st spin for a 1/2 point penalty. Then we over spun on our 2nd spin for another 1/2 point penalty. Not the start I had hoped for, but Breezy just didn't seem dialed in on me. Started out with our left fast circle and we had no problem with speed. I felt like we were about 50% out of control and I thought he might drop a lead on several different occasions. When I asked him to come into a small slow circle I got nothing and had to resort to using my reins. The circles to the right were very similar. Every time we went past the far end he felt like he was going to leap put of his skin. I had to ride hard, but we managed to get thru our circles penalty free. Felt like his tail might be on fire, but penalty free. Just the stops were left. As soon as we rounded the corner to head to our 1st stop he was off to full speed with little I could do about it. But, when I asked him to stop he through himself into the ground and had a huge stop and rolled back clean. Then 2nd stop was the same story. By the time we got to the approach to the 3rd stop we had some serious momentum behind us, but again pulled off a huge stop. As we completed the pattern I had no idea what to expect from the scoring. I cringed for something low. At this point I knew we weren't going to get our 72, but was feeling good about just surviving. They announced 69 1/2. Not too bad, but definitely not what I had hoped for. Must admit I was disappointed. At that point I just assumed that that score would put us out of the $.

Put my horse away, had some lunch with Johnette and Wendy, and then headed over to the watch the video of our run with Johnette. When I watched the video it didn't look nearly as bad as it felt. The circles to the right actually looked really good and the ones to the left actually looked in control (fast, but in control).

Several hours (and about 40 horses) later I was checking the score board for a friend and noticed that my score was the 2nd highest for all my classes, but one. And in that one I was actually tied for 1st!!! Johnette told me to find out how many horses were left in that one class and if none beat our score then we would need to prepare for a ride off. I was thrilled! How fun would that be to have a ride off for a $1000 class and a bronze!

There were only 4 or 5 left to show so I jotted down their #s and watched them one by one fall short of my 69 1/2. Finally only 3 left. If the next horse in didn't beat the score I would have to go saddle up and start preparing for the ride off in case the last too fell short as well. The suspense was intense. I watched her ride and mentally kept my own score for each of her maneuvers in my head. As she completed her pattern I thought she would get a 70 or so. And sure enough, she got a 70 1/2. So no run off and no bronze. But, I did end up top 3 in all my classes out of a total of 55 horses. Not sure what my winnings will come out too yet, but pretty sure I made money on the day!

Results:

$1000 NRHA Non Pro - 3rd
$1000 NRHA Intermediate Non Pro - 2nd/3rd (tie)
$200 NRHA Limited Non Pro - 3rd
$1000 NRHA Novice Horse Non Pro - 3rd
DRHA Ladies Non Pro Jackpot - 3rd

We checked out my score card and it ended up that we did get a 1/2 point penalty for the over turn and the under turn and then -1/2 point for each turn as well (guess the judge was just not impressed with our turns). Got zeros for our circles and then a +1/2 for all 3 stops.

BTW... the high score of the day....72. If I had achieved the goal of a 72 we would have won or tied to win all our classes!

We are getting there. Tomorrow is another day.....showing in the AQHA Amateur for some more points hopefully. We will be back in the arena that Breezy is comfortable in so hopefully we will be back undercontrol, but still maintain the speed in our circles (ie a 'controlled' fast).

Horse Show Update - Day 4

Still cold and windy and now quite muddy too, but at least the rain has stopped.

Johnette took Breezy into the Senior Reining to school him again. But, this time he wasn't very good. He tried to shut off early in the turns, wanted to change leads when he wasn't supposed to and then got pissy about having to change leads when he was supposed too and then tried to run off in the run downs. So needless to say, Johnette did get a great school on him. So hopefully he remembers all the lessons he learned today and decides to do his best tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the NRHA day and the day that is most important to me (more $ to enter and more $ to win). Last year Johnette said that it only took a 71 1/2 to win the Limited Non Pro (which we are entered in tomorrow). That is only a 1/2 point better then we did yesterday. I am aiming for a 72, but that is definitely a lofty goal. But, if we both do our best we should be able to do it. Just need to make sure I don't chicken out and not go fast enough on our circles.

Tomorrow morning will be an early one. Since we will be showing in a different arena I am going to meet Johnette at 6:30am to give Breezy a chance to see what it looks like in there before the show starts. Probably won't actually show until 2pm-ish.

BTW... Thank for all the comments. Very encouraging!

Horse Show Update - Day 3

Rainy, windy, & freezing cold describe today pretty well. They did end up moving the reining classes to a covered arena, but there as hardly any space to warm up. All we were able to do before showing was a couple of tiny lope circles, lots of trotting and a couple spins. But, Breezy was really good and I rode better then I did the 1st day and we pulled out a score of 71 from one judge and 69 1/2 from the other judge, which were good enough for 4th & 7th out of 22. I under turned one direction which probably cost me a 1/2 point and still could have gone faster in my circles, but in all much better. I had a lot of fun! And the 4th earned us 1 point toward qualifying for the World Show (just 15 more to go!).

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow.....

Horse Show Update - Day 2

Yesterday was quite a long day. Johnette didn't end up showing Breezy until 8:30pm. He was good tough and I think Johnette got a good school. Hopefully he will be good for me today. His legs were a little puffy last night so we wrapped them and put some medicine on them. He should be fine. It's raining right now so we will probably be showing in a different arena that is covered.

Horse Show Update - Day 1

Today was the 1st day of showing. I showed in the AQHA Amateur Reining. It was really fun! Breezy was good and so was I. Had a couple bobbles in the turnarounds and we ended up with a 69 1/2 under one judge and a 69 under the other. Not sure were I placed; I think somewhere between 11th and 15th out of 47 (so most likely no points yet toward qualifying for the Worlds Show). But, both Johnette and I were happy with the ride. I don't show again until the 27th, but will be able to not make the same mistake in the turns and pick up the pace in the circles. We will be aiming for a 71.

Tomorrow Johnette is showing Breezy in the AQHA Senior Reining so that she can get a feel for how he feels in the show arena so she can coach me better and hopefully get a school out of it so he will be even better for me on the 27th.

A little tired and really sore, but having a blast!!!

Seasons

So tomorrow is my last day at Barbeques Galore. I treasure the time I have spent there and the opportunities I have been afforded. I have learned a tremendous amount and have gained several priceless friendships. But, it is just time for me to move on now. I resigned over a month ago and have been working my way out of the job training and coaching since. I am excited for this new season. I will grieve some of what I am leaving behind, but am mostly just excited for what is around the bend (whatever that may be).

The next day I am off to Arizona to show Breezy at the Sun Circuit. I am so very excited about this show. One of the things I am excited to try is the new strategy Johnette and I have been working towards. This is really just the 1st test so adjustments may still need to be made, but I'm ready to put it all out there. I feel like we have been holding back the last 2 years and now I am finally ready to put it all out there. I'll try to post updates throughout the 10 day show.

Here's the schedule:
1/24 Schooling day
1/25 AQHA Amateur Reining
1/26 AQHA Senior Reining (Johnette will be doing the showing on Breezy this day)
1/27 AQHA Amateur Reining
1/29 $1000 NRHA Non Pro
$1000 NRHA Intermediate Non Pro
$200 NRHA Limited Non Pro
$1000 NRHA Novice Horse Non Pro
(all classes on 1/29 run concurrently)
1/30 AQHA Amateur Reining
2/1 AQHA Amateur Reining

Karen's Baby Shower

Yesterday was Karen's baby shower. Jen, Anita & I were the party planners. It ended up being a great party.

As guests arrived they were asked to pick a letter and fill the page with words that started with that letter to be assembled into an alphabet book. This way we could all be a part of little Ethan's education!
Then we all sat down in the dining room for a meal together.
Then back to the sofas to open gifts and have dessert.

Me & Karen
The fabulous Party Planners with the guest of honor

All the guest were sent away with cute little tea bags with tags tied to them with ribbon. The tags had the baby's name and due date on one side and then a fruit of the spirit written on the other. Each guest was asked to pray specifically for that fruit in Ethan's life.

Set Your DVRs!!!

Horse Update

I am begining the new year with a new horse trainer. It was an extremely difficult decision to make; 1st to leave Rick & 2nd deciding where to go.

Early in December I talked to Rick about our goals for 2008. I'd really like to step up our game and go to some big shows. Breezy is getting older and I don't want to have any regrets or shoulda-coulda-wouldas. He understood and wanted the same things for me, but with no other clients going to the big shows he wouldn't be able to go with me. He suggested that I consider taking Breezy to another trainer. I've never had to 'choose' a trainer before. Debbie McEwen found me when I was 6 years old and then Rick asked me to work from him when I was a junior in high school. It was a painful decision to leave Rick and then it felt daunting trying to select a new trainer. Rick had a couple in mind for me and made some calls for me which was super helpful. I did some research on my own on the trainers he suggested and made some personal visits before making my final decision. I chose Johnette Burman because of her already thriving non-pro program. When I shared with her my goals they seemed to mesh well with her own.

Breezy arrived at his new home in Temecula on December 29th. I went back and rode him this past Saturday and was extremely pleased. Johnette seems to be getting along with him really well and I have already seen some improvements. I also really like her style of coaching. She always gives the 'why', which is really helpful for me.

Our 1st show will be the Sun Circuit, January 25th thru February 2nd. I am extremely excited! We are going to enter the Amateur Reining and attempt to qualify for the AQHA World Show held in November (going to the World Show would be an absolute dream come true!!!).

Photo Hunt: Delicious

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I wouldn't typically think of Christmas wrapping as 'delicious', but the way Bella enjoyed chewing on the bows I must assume that she thought they were!

Happy New Year!

7 Memorable Moments of 2007

(in chronological order)

1. DC trip with Dave

2. Manager's Conference for work
3. Breezy getting injured and putting us on the injured list for the show season 4. Saying goodbye to PJ 5. Our 2 week Mexico vacation to Cabo & the Mayan Riviera 6. Trips to Las Vegas with Susan & Cheryl (the 2nd one with Chris, Jenny, & Jackson too) 7. Weekend in Idaho 8. Grandma's wedding 9. Trips to Disneyland (1 with Dave and 1 with Cheryl & Jackson)

10. Getting Bella & Buffy

Well, it was supposed to be "7", but I just couldn't narrow it down.

Photo Hunters: Messy

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