Merry Christmas

Hanging Out and Qualifying

Cole was so cute at the Little Britches Rodeo in October. We are having so much fun having them travel to the rodeos with us. He is working really hard since he started. At his first rodeo, he barely trotted through the barrels.

We have been having him practice on Liz for barrel and poles. Lil is just too hot for those events. She gets all worked up and it is hard for Cole to get her through the pattern. Liz is more easy going. So he made it all the way through the pole pattern and placed 3rd. He was so excited. Since I was in charge of handing out prizes, he kept asking when he got to pick his prize. You would have thought he won thousands of dollars. We were all very proud of him.

Goat tail untie seems to be his stand out event. On Saturday he qualified for Nationals with his 4th time placing in this event. So we kept teasing his dad about going to Colorado in July!
Here is Cole. He still found time to play in the dirt.

Then there is Ty. Here he is just hanging out watching a show. He would much rather be in the arena. He can not wait until he is 5 so he can rodeo too. He does get to help drive the tractor with Martin or Coy. He loves the tractor.

He is the entertainment for all of us at the secretaries desk. The funniest part was Ty wanting to talk on the microphone with the announcer. I tried to warn Shauna not to tell him he could but she did not listen. He asked if he could talk and her response was in a minute. Well that does not work for Ty. So for the next 15 minutes he said, can I talk now? Can I talk now? How about now? All we could do was laugh.

Our New Addition

Racheal has been trying for the last 3 years to get her mare to run barrels. Seems like we would make 2 steps forward and take 4 steps back. The mare got hurt in Racheal's Freshman year in September. We gave her about six months off but she has never been the same. Racheal did not want to give up on her. So she just kept trying and trying to get there. She definitely did all she could do. I am sure she still blames herself but she shouldn't. No matter how hard you try some horses just don't work for the events you want to use them for.

So I decided since she only has 2 more years of high school rodeo left that we need to find her a barrel and pole horse. She tried out this horse named Fluke. What a funny name. She seemed to get along really well with him. Although he thinks he is a big bully and pins his ears at you, she likes him.

We took him to their first rodeo in October. Of all things, we decided to try him in the Trail Course. Most barrel horses won't slow down enough to go through the course. He is really smart and well trained. He went through it like a champ and Racheal made a qualifying run everyday on him. Here are some pictures of them in trail.
Going over the jump.

Getting the gate closed.

His shining moment of course was when Racheal won the barrels on their third day. This is the first time she has won a barrel race since she was probably 12 years old. So it was very exciting for her.

The real test will be to see how he does in High School Rodeo but it was a great first weekend.

Junior High Rodeo Vernal

First weekend in October, we went to a Junior High Rodeo in Vernal. Brent was entered in everything.

I think he must have been listening to his Uncle Troy. He really came out to rope. On Friday, he caught in the Ribbon Roping right out of the chute. But he was a little close to the calf. So the calf ran through his loop. Then in the Breakaway Roping he caught in 3 seconds and was the fastest time of the night except he broke the barrier. They added 10 seconds to his time for breaking the barrier. He still ended up third. On Saturday, he caught right out of the chute again in Ribbon Roping. He and his partner had a smoking fast time of 10 seconds. They placed second. Just like Friday, he came right out of the chute and roped the fastest time in the Breakaway Roping. But again he had no luck with the barrier and another 10 second penalty.

I really love this picture. I was lucky to get this taken with him roping in 3 seconds! I hope he can keep up his confidence and consistency in the roping. Hopefully with a few less barriers.

Seventeen - Almost An Adult?

Racheal turned seventeen in September. It is really weird to think about. She will be an adult in one more year. An adult. I can not even imagine her not being home with us.

I wonder how she will turn out. She is already really kind and compassionate to others. She is extremely helpful. She is dedicated to her favorite sport rodeo. She works really hard and she is exceptionally bright.

Sounds like a proud mom huh? Well I am and I think it is great when you can look up to your kids.

Startin Em Young

While we were at the rodeo in Herriman, Michelle and her daughters Maliyah and Macenzie came to watch and play with the horses. The cutest thing all day was Maliyah with the rope and the calf roping dummy. She watched Racheal for a minute and then she thought she could do it. It was hysterical watching her try to get it around the neck. Racheal was trying to help her fix her rope.

She thought she was as big as the big girls. Look at them carrying their ropes.

Could the Real Cowboy Stand Up

We went to our first Junior High Rodeo of the season in September. I am not really sure that we should have went. You will understand shortly.

Thursday Brent came home from school really sick to his stomach. He threw up a couple of times and had horrible cramps. He was still sick Friday morning. Friday we gave him the choice to go to the rodeo or stay in bed. He had entered the rodeo with a partner for Team Roping and Ribbon Roping. So he decide to cowboy up and rodeo anyway.

On the way there I picked him up some Gatorade, stomach medicine and bananas. He hardly ate anything. I did make sure he kept drinking. Racheal took good care of him too. She saddle all of his horses and got them warmed up for him. So all he had to do was go out and do each event.

On Friday he goat tied in 14 seconds even sick. He did miss in the Breakaway and Ribbon Roping.

He was sick all night Friday. So I really thought we should just go home for Saturday. But he stuck it out again. I am not sure how he could be living on just Gatorade and a couple bites of food let alone competing.

Saturday was a much better rodeo for him. He started team roping this year with Rhett. They are above. This was their first rodeo together and they won the Team Roping. Here is a picture of their winning run.
Here is Brent coming out of the box in Breakaway Roping. I really liked this picture. He should have caught but he rolled the rope right off.
So I was proud that he stuck it out. But as a mom I really wanted to just put him in bed and take extra care of him until he felt better.

Summertime Catch Up-National Little Britches Finals

So we made it to Pueblo Colorado. First we had to check in and find our camping spot. But the kids just wanted to go and see everything. So as soon as the horses were unloaded and put in their stalls, we started wandering.

There are a lot of vendors and things for the kids to do beside just compete. They had a dummy roping contest. I think this is where Brent spent the majority of his free time. That night we had a mandatory contestant meeting. Here is the sign that says we made it to Nationals. I know I am a photo geek.
Here is Brent at his first Nationals. The kids were so amped that first day.
Here is Racheal on the first day. I think she was mostly just nervous and trying not to let it show.
This is the group we traveled with. Hagen is missing because he was following some cute girl around. All of them had a blast for the next week hanging out together and cheering for one another. More pictures and details to come.

Summertime Catch Up-Heading to Nationals

Racheal and Brent qualifed the for the Little Britches National Finals Rodeo. So in late July we headed to Colorado. We were so excited for the kids to be going to their first national competition. The were competing with over 900 kids from all across the country.

Of course everything takes longer than it should. So we got a late start on our first day of traveling. Luckily that was through parts of Utah that we have seen hundreds of times. So traveling in the dark was not that bad. We got to bed late the first night about 1 a.m. The horses and the kids were ready to be out of the truck and trailer. We continued on the next day through scenic Colorado. Part of our trip was going over Monarch Pass. The drive over the pass is absolutely gorgeous. It is a little scray on the steep grades with a full load of horses but it was so pretty. Coy was driving anyway so I had nothing to worry about.
Houston rode with us. He and Brent had a great time on the ride. When they weren't sleeping, they definitely kept us entertained.
Isn't she pretty? Her stomach did not take well to the winding rodes but she looked cute anyway. Nationals was so much fun. I will have more to post about it.

Summertime Catch Up-Mountain Trail Ride

My favorite part of summer is getting up in the mountain horseback. Utah has the most amazing scenery. You can ride for just a couple of hours and it looks like you can see the entire valley.

We actually had a day off from rodeo. So we went riding with some friends. We should do this a lot more often!

We rode to the top of Pole Canyon and took a break for some lunch. Here is a picture of our horse camp. The weather was beatiful and it made for just a relaxing fun day!

Summertime Catch Up-July 18-19 Rodeo

We spent July 18 and 19th in Richfield at a rodeo. Amber, Troy, Cole and Ty also went. Ty just wanted to drive the tractor to rake the arena. So he was the tractor co-pilot for most of the day. We got the cutest picture of him and Racheal.

What a ham! He definitely keeps us entertained.
Racheal had a good rodeo she placed first in the Ribbon Roping with Lane and first in Breakaway. Above is a picture of her in the roping box getting ready to breakaway rope.

Brent tried Tie Down Roping again. I love these pictures. The highlight of his weekend was winning the Team Roping with Ashley. They did awesome.

Summertime Catch Up - 4th of July

My favorite holiday is 4th of July. I have a picture of my kids every year lighting sparklers. Why I have this obsession, I really don't know.

I love fireworks. We sat in the bleachers and the fireworks went off just past the arena. We were so close and it was soooo loud. But they were awazing.

For the holiday weekend, we were at a rodeo in Pangutich. I know you are all very surprised.

It was a good rodeo on Friday. Racheal won her first breakaway roping. She has placed at several rodeos but it was really good for her to be first.

Brent did well in Goat Tying and he caught is Breakaway Calf.

A Lesson In Tie Down Roping

Since Brent turned 13 before January first, he had to move up in an age group in one of the junior rodeos associations that we belong to. I was worried about him having to rope and compete against boys that were already in high school. He also had to add a new event Tie Down Roping.

Some of you may have seen this event before. The cowboy backs into the chute. He comes out and ropes a calf. Then he jumps off his horse and runs down the rope. He throws the calf and then ties 3 of his legs up. The one who does this the fastest is the winner.

Brent has never tid down a calf before. I was really nervous before the rodeo. It is the first time I had ever hoped he would miss. So here it is play by play.
First he backs into the box.
Then he jumps off the horse with the calf tied to it.

He runs down the rope and tries to throw the calf.

He gets the calf down and strings three legs.

He ties it tight.

Then he jumps up and puts his hands in there. WOW. He placed 5th.

I love the last picture. It makes me smile.

First Rodeo

A couple of weeks ago we went to a Junior Rodeo in Nephi. Although it is my children's thousandth rodeo, it was the first rodeo for my nephews Cole and Ty.

It was so much fun to watch them start. Cole did so well controlling his horse Jane. You can tell by the look on his face that he took it so seriously. The award was just a dollar but it was big time competition to him.

The funny story was Ty. The second day before he went to go in his boots were loose and falling off. So he did not have to go out in the arena to get them his dad took off his boots before he went in the arena.

As you can see in the picture Ty was upset. He tucked his feet up towards the saddle and during the whole ride all he could do was say he wanted his boots. You can see he was totally looking towards the gate and not paying attention to his ride.

4H Show

I love to watch my kids show horses. I know their love is rodeo but I still love it when they decide to show.

We went to the 4H MultiCounty Show in Nephi in June. The kids did really well. Racheal took first in Showmanship, Horsemanship and Poles. She took second in Reining and Barrels. So she had a really good day. Showing seems to come so naturally to her. She makes it look effortless.

Here are a couple of pictures of her and her horse Dasher.

The surprise of the day was our one eyed horse. Yes we ride a horse that only has one eye. She is Racheal's rope horse. When she first lost her eye I thought for sure we would not be able to use her for anything. It was sad because her and Racheal had just started to do really well together. We gave her some time to recuperate. Then Racheal wanted to try riding her again. So we started really slow. Then we thought what the heck, we should try to rope on her again. It worked. She ropes just fine. We have to do some extra things to make sure she does not hit her head or walk on you when she can't see you but she ropes really well.

Brent decided since she was mellower than the horse he showed last year that he would try and show her. The mare has never been showed. We have only used her as a rodeo horse. Brent had a good over all show. He got a blue ribbon in Horsemanship on her and he placed 3 in Reining. We did not even know the mare could do a flying lead change and she did it beautifully. WOW!

Brent was also good in all of the speed events. He even placed 5th in Barrels. I thought she would never be able to weave through the poles with one eye but she trusted Brent to get her through.

Here are a couple of pictures with her. You can see where her eye should be.

Team Roping Champions in the Making

Brent has been friends with Shad since he moved to Nephi. They love the same things horses and rodeo.

On June 23, they won their first team roping together. We were at a junior rodeo in Nephi.

It is amazing what they do when they are so young.

Here are some pictures of their journey.

March 2005 practicing on a roping dummy. How cute is that!

October 2007 they enter their first rodeo as a team.