SWTPA Octobert 2011 and other news

What a pretty good month it's been.

On Sunday, Oct. 16, my Aunt Joyce, Uncle Wendell, my mom and my friend Brandi came to the barn to enjoy my horses. I actually got pics of my mom and aunt on my girls together. That is going in a frame! They stayed for a few hours and played with some baby mini's we have out there. After that, Brandi and I went for a ride in the pasture. This was Brandi's second time to be in a saddle. She took a real shine to Shelby, so I let her ride her. I was a tad nervous as I didn't know how Shelby would do with a green rider, but she was awesome! I was so proud of both my girls that day for taking good care of my family and friend.

Mom on Shelby, Aunt Joyce on Summer


Brandi and Shelby

I went to a sorting jackpot last Wednesday Oct. 19th. I was just gonna ride around in the arena as I hadn't ridden hard since I hurt my back last month the day after the last SWTPA show. So I was just going to lope Shelby a little and work on my role backs, stops and turns.

There were several of my friends there and I wanted to so some visiting as well. Vicki told me that if I wanted to sort that she had some openings in the novice class.

Well, if you keep up with my blog you know I couldn't resist. So I signed us up. Then Courtney asked if I had any open rides and I said, "sign us up!". Then I went ahead and asked Mike (Vicki's husband) if he wanted to ride, so that made three rides. Then Katy (Mike and Vicki's niece) asked if I wanted to ride. There's four. LOL What the heck, Roy takes checks. LOL

Vicki and I got 7 head. Courtney and I got 6. Mike and I busted : (. And Katy and I got 8.
The only run I had for the short go was with Katy. But I was very happy with all my runs. In the end, Katy and I placed 4th and earned a little money back. So my $80 tab only came out to $45. And that run earned Katy some points for the belt she is going for.

This past Saturday was our Oct SWTPA show. I was only going to pen as I wanted to go buy some hay afterwards. Ron, a boarder at the stables, wanted to go with me and see what went on at these shows. He was very impressed and even had a good chat with the arena owner, Roy.

Before the 12 penning started, that is the open class and what I believe is too much for me to handle right now, needed 2 novice riders. Ron and I were sitting next to the announcers booth. I look up at ReeDee (the announcer and judge) and she looked down at me. I said, "Don't look at me like that." She then said, "you can do this Tammy." Oh, all right then. Shelby was already saddle and all I had to do was warm her up. So I did it. I was teamed up with two open riders. I believe they are either siblings or cousins. Trent Field and Morgan Field. Trent is rated a 6 and Morgan a 5, so they could only use a 1. Those kids are good. And I mean GOOD. Trent got the first cow and and the other two cows with our number was standing to the far left and side by side. Morgan picked them both up and off we went to pen. We got 3 head in 20 second for the fast go of that class. That means we automatically got a $25 check and 1 extra point. Well, due to a rookie mistake, we did not get any cows in the short go. We did have them and one shot past me. So Morgan went after it. Trent was in the hole and I was the wing. I didn't know what to do and stood in the gate waiting on Morgan to either bring the stray cow or push it back across the foul line. Then I heard DK and Trent telling me to get out of the hole. They said it several times but didn't tell me where to back too. So I backed towards Trent. Wrong move. The other 2 cows came out and shot off like rockets. Now we are trying to pick them up again and we ran out of time. : ( DK later apologized and said that they were telling me to back up but never told me to back up where. She said had they hollered get to the wing, I would have known where to go. But, live an learn. We placed 7th. But, at least we placed I guess. I just felt bad cause these kids are used to winning a check and I sure would have like to get my first big association check on Shelby.

After the 12 class, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Wendell showed up and watched me do the sport and I quickly coming to love. So that was pretty awesome.

I did 3 runs in the 6 pen class. I drew up with a girl named Amber and Sid, then Sid and Jason and then Jason and David.

Jason, David and I would have had 2 head and a short go, but David didn't realize we had 2 cows when I started yelling to pen. We went to the end to pen and we had 1 Angus and 1 Charolais. David didn't realize that the Charolais was a good cow and let it slip past him. So we only got 1 head. He kept apologizing. Oh well. Poop happens. Just glad it didn't happen to this rookie. LOL

I had no short goes in the class and was actually grateful for it. I was starting to feel sick.

After I paid out, I took Shelby home, hosed her and put her up. Went home myself and vegged for the rest of the day.

About 7pm, David and I went back out to the barn and fed. I was felling much better so we went to the arena and visited and watched some sorting. I think David kinda likes to watch that as it is a speed thing. I really think he would like the penning as there is so much more speed involved. Maybe next month he will come watch me at the finals. I hope.

This past Sunday, Oct 23, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Wendell came out to the barn and spent about 3 hours. I hooked Summer to her cart and took Aunt Joyce for a ride in the pasture. She said she could see how you could get lost in thought in that beautiful place. Just you and your horse.

We got back to the barnyard and I gave a ride to Uncle Wendell and our new boarder, Al. They really enjoyed themselves. And Summer was on very good behavior.

After that, I saddled Summer and let Aunt Joyce play on her a bit and gave her a mini riding lesson.

When they left, I took Summer back out to the pasture and just enjoyed a leisurely ride.

That evening, Tracey came out and I had Shelby saddled. I asked her if she wanted to join me in the pasture since it had been months since she has been out there. Shelby was awesome, of course, but I am a bit biased. : )

What a wonderful month October has been. Thank you Lord!

And thank you for reading. Much love and blessings upon you.