Conyers Adventure

What a weekend it was! Our group left in 3 vehicles for Conyers on Saturday around noon. I was riding with Cathy and Paige, James was pulling the trailer, and Denise & Peri followed him. About an hour into our trip Denise called and dropped the bomb that the truck and trailer were broken down on the side of I-75. Being that we were way ahead of them, we turned around and found them stranded. Long story short there, it turned out to be a bad alternator. A few hours or so later, we were on the road again! Our 2 1/2 hour trip ended up taking 6 hours, but none the less, we arrived safely in Conyers around 6pm Saturday evening.

Peri and Paige did a lesson Saturday night, and an exhausted crew of Rivermont Farm folks headed to dinner, hotel and a few hours of sleep before horse show day!

Peri and Never Say Never showed Sunday late morning in the Short Stirrup Division. First off, let me say, this show was huge! Not only was it a large show, the quality of horses were incredible. It was the H.J. Fox show at the International Horse Park in Conyers (where the Olympics were held in '96). Super dooper horses were everywhere! A little intimidating I must admit! However, Peri and Dewey rode near flawless rides! I was so proud! They won one of their jumping classes, and ultimately were Reserve Champion in the Short Stirrup division! She also placed 3rd I believe it was in the Equitation over fences. Yay Peri!

As the never ended day rolled on, it finally came time for Paige and Matinee to show. She ended up showing in the 3' Childrens Hunter division and the 3'6" Working Hunter Division. Honestly I was a little nervous for them when I looked out there and saw some GIANT jumps waiting for this pair! She rode the heck out of Matinee though and won some 2nd, 3rd's and 4th's!!! This was their first time even attempting such giant fences at a show! Once again, I was so proud!

I totally love watching these girls work so hard at home, and then to have their hard work pay off at a show nearly brings me to tears. I have to admit watching Matinee do a 3'6" division up against some sweet warmbloods (and beating them!) choked me up! Matinee was born right before my eyes, and after sending her to my friend Hannah Campbell for 30 days to break her, I finished this mares training. To watch her go from birth to soaring over such impressive fences and placing well....ahhhhh....it just did my heart so much good.

As we were packing up to go, Peri's mom Denise accidentally locked the keys in her car. I can't repeat exactly what was said, but lets just say I think she was a little frustrated! LOL! We called the Conyers Police Department and much to our delight a very handsome police officer came to our rescue. Actually, he didn't succeed getting into the truck, but we enjoyed watching him try. (with goofiness and giggles!) Another police officer showed up and got in the truck. The Rivermont crew was finally on the road around 9pm. We arrived safely in Lyerly at 11:30pm. I tucked the horses in, grabbed a shower and made it to bed by 1:30am. Horse showing...gotta love it! As my buddy Mitzi put it best, "This is the kind of stuff that horse show memories are made of!". Well said Mitzi. I'll remember this one forever!

(photos from top to bottom: Matinee and I, then I'm fighting with a problem in the horse trailer on the side of the interstate...nice shot huh? I fixed it though as you can see. Peri soars over a fence, then we have her showing off how well she did! Then we have Paige and Matinee. Mitzi and I fighting over a much needed bottle of Vodka, and finally Officer Hot Pants works on Denise's truck!)

Horse Show Weekend, Away This Time...

The Rivermont family is headed to Conyers this weekend! I will of course post photographs and results Sunday night!

The toothfairy wanted to visit, but....

Gracie obviously wasn't willing to part with her tooth! She left for school this morning with it barely hanging on. I imagine it will be gone by this afternoon!

My new black Beamer

Announcing the latest family member, I introduce "Beamer"! Last night Gracie and I adopted a precious black lab at the McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga. Last October my Lab cross "Oscar" was killed, which was just the beginning of MANY heart shattering things I would go through over the months to come. I didn't think I wanted another dog to "replace" Oscar with, because frankly there is no such thing. Beamer has a similar disposition though, and I have already totally clicked with him! I believe this is the beginning of a long over due healing process of my very broken heart. I've begged God to make me better because I'm so tired of the hurt that seems to sufficate me on a daily basis, and I think Beamer may be the answer to a prayer!

Gracie loves him, and he is equally fond of her! He loves my dad of course, although all animals love him! Look for future Beamer stories! I'm so excited to have a dog to take on road trips with me, or to Nightfall this spring in Chattanooga. I'm so thankful for my new friend! Oh, and so is Buddy our 3 legged Lab. He is SO excited to have a friend to play with!

Easter

Easter Sunday was an uneventful, yet lovely one. Gracie, Granddad and I went to church. Gracie is the only child in our church so she was a hit in her little dress, hat and gloves!

We came home, colored eggs and had a grand Easter egg hunt. Being that I don't cook much, we sort of enjoyed BBQ purchased from some guy off the side of the road and ate from Styrofoam plates. I know, real traditional. Maybe next year we'll have a "real" family dinner. Turkey, dressing, the works! It's good to have a goal!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter and remember what this day is really about.

A few Florida pictures

We're home safe and sound. I wanted to share a few pictures from this past week with you all!

She and I...on spring break!

Gracie and I are on spring break this week in Florida. It's a little chilly, but none the less I am the color of a nice, bright, red lobster. Funny, because while laying on the beach today it was cloudy, cool and windy. One wouldn't think the sun was at work, tanning my white skin to a golden brown (or red!)! I mean, I couldn't see the sun, feel it, but I knew it was there. But was it working? Looking at my cooked skin, apparently so! Which makes me wonder, is that how God works perhaps? I mean, lately my life has been a bit of a mess in a lot of ways. Or, shall we say life has been cloudy, cold with a bitter wind blowing! One would never think that the sun is at work. I hope that soon, even though life seems cold, cloudy and windy, that I'll see that the "sun" has been working all along and the beautiful golden tan in life will appear soon!

Honestly, it's a struggle for me to take Gracie on a family vacation when it's just she and I. I sit by the pool or on the beach and see moms, dads and kids doing what families do. I hate it that I can't give her that. It's exhausting as well keeping up with a near 8 year old who has 10 times the energy I have! All of that being said, I'm thankful for the time I have with her and hope I make memories for her that will last a lifetime.

We left my dad at home tending to farm duties. I know he's lonely with us gone, but I've called him a couple of times a day to check on everyone. Luckily the horses are behaving for him! Sometimes they tend to treat him like the substitute teacher or something when I'm gone! I'm glad they are being good.

I'll post lots of pictures when I get home. Mainly our trip has been beach and pool trips. Oh, and shopping. My little Kia Spectra is filled to the rim with stuff! I don't know how to get it all home!

More updates coming soon....

Rainbows....a sign maybe?

Look what just appeared out my back door! I had to share! If you look closely there are two rainbows!

Horse Show Madness!

I don't have any pictures to post as of yet, but yesterdays horse show was a nice one I thought! The turnout wound up being better than I had expected (as usual), however it was one of those really odd "what else could go wrong with my life" days! I won't go into all of the boring details, but for example, I had ordered a load of shavings February 4th. Yes, February 4th, and they still weren't here. My shavings guy calls yesterday morning and says he can bring them now, so of course I told him to come on down! He shows up in the middle of the horse show, and as luck would have it, as he was backing his truck into my shavings building his gigantic spreader truck sank. I mean, SANK. Long story short, an hour or so later, my tractor, and 3 very kind men (horse show dads) showed up and got that sucker out of the mud. The important part is the show did go on, and I finally got my shavings!

In the middle of this madness, we get a phone call from my aunt who was on her way from Atlanta with my 91 year old Grandmother. They wanted to come see the horse show. Well, they ended up with a flat tire in Atlanta and never made it. Dad and I worried about them though, but apparently that all worked out okay! They returned home though without a visit unfortunately.

Horse show #3 down for 2009. Gracie and I head out for Fort Walton Beach, FL on Tuesday to visit my mom. After what I've been through lately I hope to magically find a cure for a broken heart while I'm there, oh and an aching back, but none the less I'll settle for having a few days of getting away from it all! Dad will take care of everyone while I'm away! I'll post updates on FWB while I'm down there, pictures and all! I have my collection of Joyce Meyer CD's ready for the trip (she's just awesome in case you don't know!), and here's praying that "my dream is on it's way", or so I've been told. I'm more than ready for my breakthrough. Something got to give, it's GOT to get better!!! I hope everyone has a great week!

Rain and horse showing...two things that do NOT go well together!

I honestly wonder if it will ever stop raining in north Georgia. I have noticed in the 6 1/2 years of living here that once it starts raining, it doesn't stop for at least 6 months. We have a horse show here on Saturday, and a handful of entries. I'm certain between spring break and the fact it has rained every day for weeks now it seems, that is affecting turnout. So, back to the single mom trying to survive portion of this blog. I will be honest. It's very nerve wracking when you have a handful of entries and this horse show stuff is how I survive. It's how I pay my bills, how I feed myself, my dad and my daughter. That being said though, I always seem to be taken care of. I have never missed a house payment or meal for that matter, so why do I worry? There is always next month if this show winds up being small.

So what's been going on at the farm? I quit my second job due to the fact I felt spread way too thin. Granted I need the money, but most importantly I need my sanity. The past several months have been one heart ache after another in my world, so I decided to take care of me for a change. This allows me more time with Gracie, and more time to concentrate on the farm. Yesterday I taught a lesson, and over the past few days I have been planting flowers everywhere! I LOVE working in the yard as much as I love horses! I'll get pictures soon of how my landscaping is coming along!

Yesterday I turned Sultan, Krystal and Turbo out in one of our green paddocks for a day of grazing. Krystal had her 25th birthday on the 31st! I can't believe it!

Gracie had two buddies over yesterday, which honestly I love the sound of giggly children having the time of their life. It really makes me want more children, but for all kinds of reasons, that will have to wait. Gracie got her toe stepped on by Turbo (wearing flip flops!) so she was not feeling so well yesterday!

In other news, Buddy is doing fantastic (after someone shot him in January leaving him 3 legged!). I took a picture of him yesterday while dad was taking him for a walk. As I keep saying "Buddy doesn't focus on the leg he lost, he just took the attitude of "why be sad, I have 3 other legs that work just fine!". I love that!