Mother's Day

I have such an amazing mom! I rember when I was four and we would go out to feed at the ranch at night. She would tell me to pick the first star I saw. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight!" Then I would make my wish and she would tell me not to tell anyone or it wouldn't come true. I never did and still won't, but I will say that what I wished for has led me to where I am today and how I live my life. Who would have thought that a children's rhyme would be so influential?

Thank you for always believing in me, Mom. You've taught me to follow my heart. Even when you knew I was making a mistake, you backed me and were proud of me no matter what. I might not have followed the path that society would expect from me and I certainly live an unusual life, but I'm happy. I wouldn't have that if it weren't for you. I love you!

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140th Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby experience. I could write about the glamorous hats or rave about dresses. I could go on and on about the mint juleps, the majesty of the grandstands, or talk about the biggest television in the world. When it comes to the horses, I could (and probably will in the next post) about write a small book with tons of pictures. However, I won't. For now, at least.

The first turn of the 140th Kentucky Derby

There was one thing about the Derby that I will remember clearly for the rest of my life: The sound of 164,000 people cheering as the country's best three year olds came running down the homestretch.  The cheering starts from the moment the last horse loads in the gates and gradually escalates throughout the race to a level that I can't imagine any other sporting event could ever compare to. The grandstands vibrate with the roar of the crowd. There is so much  shared joy, excitement, and anticipation in the air. You not only feel like you're part of the present, but that you are experiencing the history of the past 140 years. You know what it must have felt like a century ago and you know what it will feel like a hundred years from now. No matter what has or will change throughout time, that sound, that feeling, of being at Churchill Downs for the last few seconds of the most exciting two minutes in sports will always remain the same.

Gone and lost my mind

Hell-horse has had a couple of fairly nasty episodes in the last few days. He will be doing well and then out of no where he decides he's not doing at all. In all honesty, he's dangerous in a lot of ways.

Two days ago, I told Ty that I'm about done with this horse (as a rachorse anyway). It's not worth Ty getting hurt over.

 Today, after Hell-horse threw another (though slightly milder) fit, I asked Ty if I should get on him and ride him around. Yep, I seriously lost my damn mind! I'm pretty sure Ty was thinking the same. He reluctantly agreed though and I quickly grabbed my helmet and vest before I could change my mind. I was really wishing I had my One K or GPA, but all I had at the barn was my chincy-ass exercise helmet, which I think is pretty much worthless. Great. At which point this morning did I decide to become suicidal? I hopped on anyway. For some crazy reason I felt like I needed to get on Hell-horse.

I asked our groom to take a picture as I had sworn I would never get on this horse.

Ty legged me up and I told him to lead me off a ways. Hell-horse was already pissed off from being ridden and felt like a bomb ready to explode. I reached up and just started petting and talking to him. He took a breathe and his muscles start to relax. I did the same. Woohoo! I might not die today....

My point of getting on wasn't to teach him anything, that's the fiancé's job. I really felt like he needed someone to get on him and not ask him for much, to realize that life isn't always hard. It's not that Ty just beats him all of the time, but when a horse is willing to fly backwards until he hits something and falls over, a person doesn't have much choice other than to get after them. The simplest thing, like asking him to change directions, can sometimes bring on one of Hell-horse's peddling in reverse fits. Even if you are just walking.

I just walked him in a big circle and left his face alone as much as I could. When he felt relaxed, we reversed and went the other direction. Then I did a few smaller figure eights with him. I rode him kind of like a horse that is barely started under saddle, just guiding him enough to get him to follow his head while moving forward. I babied him, talking to him and petting him for every little thing he did right (pretty sure the track people around us thought I was a wierdo). Hell-horse was really good! I stopped him, let him stand for a minute and then got off.

He was trying to pull down on me here. That was the worst thing he did. Well, that and tries to eat grass. I figured if he was relaxed enough to try and eat with me on him, it was a good thing.

It was probably a stupid risk to get on him, but I'm still glad I did. Hopefully it was good for him to just go for a walk and have even the tiniest of accomplishments rewarded. Do I think it will change him overnight? Absolutely not. At least he had that positive experience though and maybe enough of them will add up to make him better in the end. I wish I were fearless, that I were brave enough to ride him on the track. I never will be and I honestly doubt Ty would let me even if I were. Maybe one day I can do some dressage with him. Maybe. He does have some really good days, it's possible.

Viva Carlos' Magical Blog Hop: Appreciating what you have

Out of all my horses, Indy (Winndelynn) is the one I am most critical of. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I loved riding her sire, Winnetou, so much. A lot of things about her remind me so much of him, but she is a lot like her dam. I tend to expect too much of her too quickly and it's really not fair to her. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love her. We just haven't clicked as easily as I was hoping.

So when I saw Viva Carlos' latest blog hop, I figured it was a good chance to remind myself of all the things I love and appreciate about Indy.

1. Her big head that is a perfect cross between dopiness and femininity (is that possible?).

2. I can tack her up without tying/cross tying her and she won't move. I can just throw the lead rope over her neck and do what I need to do.

3. She is perfect to load, unload, pull her mane, bathe, groom, etc.

4. Her very large, but good feet.

 5. She follows me around like a giant dog. I can "lead" her around with nothing on her. She will walk, trot, halt, back, and do a turn on the haunches (in enclosed areas, of course).

6. Her very uphill and fluid gates.

7. Indy's sweet, soft, and kind eyes (like Winnetous).

 8. How she will just stare at me until I come over and pet her.

9. She really is pretty.

10. She is tall, but not too tall.

11. How proud she is of herself when I'm riding her and she gets something right.

My favorite picture of us. She was three in this picture and it was after our first official lesson together.

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Turning thirty

I'm not going to lie, the thought of my first thirtieth birthday (there will be more) initially freaked me out a little. It's amazing how fast time flies by!

This whole week leading up to my birthday has been amazing! Not that all of these wonderful happenings were to celebrate my last few days in my twenties, the timing of everything just turned out to be perfect.

It started last Thursday with a couple of our owners coming down. Between hanging out at the races/tiki bar and an awesome dinner at Pappadeaux's, it was so much fun to have them here! I can't even begin to express how wonderful these two are! I would still want to hang out with them even if they fired us ;)

Sunshine and drinks with friends=awesomeness

On Monday, my friend A flew down to see me. It was a fun and relaxing three days!

Bright colored tees and shades. Welcome to spring in Phoenix!

We spent time at the races, ate some pretty awesome food, and drooled over tack and riding gear at a super tack shop!

It will be mine! Eventually....

On Wednesday A and I went to a silent and live auction to benefit Anne Von Rosen, a jockey that was paralyzed here a couple of months ago. The amount of people that showed up to support her was amazing! It really showed how much of a family the racing world can be! There was so much faith that she will be able to walk again and everyone wants to do what they can to help her.

Bracelets for Anne

A and I did a little shopping before I dropped her off at the airport yesterday. Her coming to see me for my birthday was so wonderful! Ty let me slack off as far as the barn work went. I could actually hang out with her instead of her getting stuck watching me clean stalls and tacking horses all morning. I got to feel like I live a normal life for a few days :)

A watching hell-horse and Ty

Last night I came home to flowers and a couple of gorgeous scarves from Ty (he had already gotten me the Ogilvy half pad, One K helmet, and Prestige bridle as gifts too).

Me trying to get artistic with the scarves and flowers

My mom sent me a package that included some scrumptious cookies among other things. 'A' gave me this incredible lotion bar (I'm absolutely in love with it) from Lush Cosmetics on top of coming to visit.

Best lotion ever!

Yep, I TOTALLY got spoiled!

For the grand finale, I found out Ty and I get to go to the Kentucky Derby!

Hello Darling! I'll be seeing you soon!

This wasn't meant as a birthday present, but it sure as hell pushed my birthday from amazing to absolutely unbelievable!!! The owners that came to visit, got an awesomely located box for the Derby and they invited us! I booked our flight already (thanks A for finding affordable flights for me) and now just need to reserve the car and book the hotel. Oh, and shop for the dresses and hats. Pink for the Oaks and I still haven't decided what I want for the Derby. It's going to be spectacular and I still can't quite believe it!

Turning thirty went from being a little scary to the best birthday of my life. It's not the gifts I got, but the realization that the years of my life have led me to so many wonderful people. I seriously have the most amazing family and friends! Every year I meet more extraordinary people that make life all that much better.

So who cares about a number? Happiness preserves youth more than anything. It's the time we're given that really matters. I'm just grateful for the amount of it I've already had and the people I love that time has led me to.