News from 2006

2006 November - The Cape Fear Trail Riders show is done and has had a slightly smaller turnout than usual. 'Dira, as usual, worked in the Clubhouse handing out orders & working the register w/ the other folks. Paula worked in the show office. Skye and Sierra did what they did best. We were planning on going to Whitehaven Plantation for Thanksgiving, but the girls and I were all down w/ colds and when the weather turned bad - I said "no way"... Pretty Girl and Xena seem to be doing ok, now.

2006 October - The Cape Fear Trail Riders show is done and has had a good turnout. 'Dira, as usual, worked in the Clubhouse handing out orders & working the register w/ the other folks. Paula worked in the show office, Skye and Sierra filled in - handing judges cards in, checking coggins, matching entries to numbers in the ring and being general "gofers". "Xena" has settled in well at Whitehaven, but "Pretty Girl" seems to be having a bit of a problem. We may be bringing her home as she's not fitting in well.

2006 Aug/Sept - Equus Heals is still our regular place to be on Fridays and Saturdays. Fencing has started to get done on a new paddock. Skye and Paula attend a 4H conference to learn about the current program for volunteering. "Xena" & "Pretty Girl" go down to Whitehaven Plantation to become a part of Whitehaven's lesson program for a while.

2006 July - Equus Heals invited us to ride in the parade at Carolina Lakes and I got to join them! Out of 38 total entries (there were only 8 entries last year!), the JROTC from Western Harnett High School (Skye and Madira will be attending this high school this fall) took best overall and Equus Heals placed 1st. Weee - hot and miserable before the parade, but the parade went well. The girls wore swimsuits under our matching shirts and they went swimming for a bit to cool off while I stayed with the picket line (we had 7 horses total). The ponies that Sierra, 'Dira and I rode did great. Skye's horse was un-happy with all the activity, managed to get her tongue over her bit and proceeded to bruise her mouth terribly and make herself very upset. Since, Skye's ridden in a halter out on the trails and "Jazzy" is coming along fine.

We've been out a number of times now - trail riding at Twin Oaks, Little River Trails and once at Raven Rock State Park. We have quite a number of pictures from some of the rides. Some are up on individual pages (Pretty Girl and Xena).

2006 June - The girls are now volunteering at Equus Heals, a local Theraputic Riding Center that is just 11 miles from our home! They go all day on Friday (I drop them off before I go to work & pick them up after work. Sometimes they've done a full day on Saturday, sometimes they choose to do either morning or afternoon sessions. I've even worked a couple of sessions.

2006 April - May - The 4H SE District show will be held on May 20th & 21st. Sierra & Skye are just planning on competing in western riding events. Madira is planning on riding both huntseat and western. Ashley will be taking Star - but is looking to compete just in showmanship this year. When entries came due, it was decided that the girls' weren't quite ready yet, so we just went the the 4H SE District to watch. It was a bit disappointing as it turns out the girls' would all have been quite capable for the presentations that were there. There is always next year and now we know where we are and what has to actually be worked on.

2006 January - March - Finds us getting heavily involved with 4H. Skye, Madira, Sierra and Ashley Ross have all been going to practices and meetings. In February, Madira's (Mustangs), Sierra's and Ashley's (Fillies) teams competed in Horse Bowl (questions asked to test knowledge - set up like Jeopardy w/ a 4 member team) for the SE District. The Mustangs placed 3rd and the Fillies placed 4th - just missing qualification for State Competition. We went to a Horse Judging Clinic in February, then in March attended the State Competition for Horse Bowl where all 4 girls completed the Hippology test portion of Horse Judging. Now, we start going to practice for horse judging to gear up for the competition in April. Sierra also gets installed as a Reporter for the Horse Masters 4H Club of Harnett County.