Awards Banquet

Last Friday, was the annual awards banquet for the local schooling show series I participate in. It is always a fun night to spend with your horse show buddies celebrating the end of a successful show season.

This year I won quite a few awards. Satin was Grand Champion in the Western Speed Division. Let me remind you that she is 22 years old, making her the oldest horse in the division. Needless to say, I was quite proud of this accomplishment and my supposedly "senior" horse, who is constantly showing everyone that age is just a number!

Me and Satin's trophies = She received the perpetual for being grand champion, as well as, a first place trophy.

My other awards were earned by the ever handsome JB. He was third for the year in Open Model, which was a huge accomplishment as he competes against mostly QHs and Paints. He also received third in Beginner Western. He was the only Standardbred in this division and only started western training about two months before the show season began. Due to his achievements in these two divisions, he also won the trophy for High Point Standardbred in Open Classes. There are two Standardbred divisions at this local show series (both of which JB was champion in with his owner Helene), so this award goes to the Standardbred that acquires the most point in the non-Standardbred, or Open, divisions.

Helene and I with all of JB's awards

I was quite proud of both of my wonderful show ponies this season. They both gave me what has probably been my best show season so far. I am so grateful to everyone who helped make this possible. First and foremost, my fabulous trainer Renee, whose patience, knowledge, and dedication are what gave me the skill and ability to bring home these trophies. Also, a big thank you to Helene for lending me the ever wonderful JB and Jill, for giving me Satin, the best thing that's ever been mine and my partner through it all. I also can not go without thanking my family and friends who always support me, Daryl who ships us to every show, and my barn crew for being there for every early morning class, late night prep, and everything in between. It's been a great year and I can't wait to see what next year brings for us.

Me and all 5 of my trophies

Me and my show team with all of our trophies. Love these girls

Another Great Lesson

Last week we had another great English lesson. Our lesson partners Lisa and Lexie were back in action. It has been raining all day, so we were in the indoor, which leaves limited space for jumping. It did, however, give us the opportunity to do a lot of good flat work exercises.

We started with shoulder-in at the walk in both directions, then we added some trot and canter to that. We would trot half the ring until we got to the long side by the door and then come back to the walk and shoulder in down that side and repeat. Then we did the same thing, but added canter instead of trot. This exercise was great for transition work as well, which the princess pony is quite sharp at. Afterwards Renee set two rails on the ground parallel to each other. One was a few feet from the indoor wall and the other was at the center of the ring. She had me stand parallel to one and Lisa across from me standing parallel to the other. She had us go around in a circle, never taking our eyes off of the other, and we had to stay across from each other the whole time. Each time we passed the rails, Renee would call out a command, such as sitting or posting trot, canter, reverse, halt, etc. It was fun and quite helpful.

Next, Renee set up two small verticals next to each other (well not right next to each other, they were a few feet apart). She had us do a serpentine exercise where we picked up our left lead down the long side and around the first jump, then turning and coming over it. We would land on the right lead and go over the next jump, land on the left lead, canter up a few steps and halt, completing a serpentine pattern. A serpentine over two jumps doesn't sound that complicated, but put it in a small space and it requires a lot of collection, focus, and smoothness. The first time through she stopped at both jumps as she sometimes does the first time she approaches, but then she went over them and completed the pattern nicely. Every few times through Renee raised the jumps. We probably went up to about 2'6". We worked on focus and smoothing out the turns to use up the space we had and make nice straight approaches. In the beginning Satin wanted to cut the turns short, which had her jumping the jumps on a diagonal. By the end though, she was jumping perfectly and doing the pattern quite smoothly.

Perfect Hunter Pony Has Returned!

Last week Satin and I had a fabulous lesson! As Satin has come further along in her jumping training, she has been slowing down over the jumps and going around more like a hunter. The last couple of lessons however, she reverted back to jumper pony and was a speedy gonzales through the courses. Also, last week Renee and I decided to up her grain ration to two full scoops of sweet feed at each feeding, in order to help put some more weight on her. She is a little horse so I figured this new feeding program would add to her hyperness over the jumps.

Luckily for me, it seems to have had the opposite effect. In our lesson last week (the first since the diet change) she jumped like a perfect little hunter pony. We have been working on developing her trot which is much better. We also worked on my position at the trot which needed some tweeking. Then we worked on two point at the trot and canter which in Renee's words was "perfect" which made me quite happy.

As we cantered around going from our normal seat to two point, Renee had us pop over a simple white vertical, just using it as part of our circle. She had me go up into the two point as I approached the jump so all I had to do was release as she went over, since I was already up in a two point. This worked very nicely for both of us and we got some beautiful jumps and some "perfects" on my jumping position, which again made me a happy camper as that has been one of the things I have been working on the most.

After a few times over the vertical to warm up, Renee gave us a course to work on. We started with a shorter course of about 6 jumps. After a time or two through that, Renee changed the course making it 9 jumps, which included a two stride, diagnonal, a few singles, and a three jump bending line. Height wise, the course ranged from 2 foot to 2'3" with maybe one or two 2'6" jumps in there. It was our first time ever through a two stride and though height wise it wasn't large and they were plain verticals, I was a bit nervous. Satin picked up on this making the first time or two through a bit awkward, but after that I got over it and it rode quite nicely.

She rode through the whole course beautifully and at the perfect pace. The first time or two through the longer course she got quick going to the last two jumps because there was a long canter distance to get to them so she got a bit anxious, but after a few times through she settled and rode the whole course at a nice, even pace. Renee was quite happy with both of us and I was feeling quite confident about the course by the end of the lesson. When we are both in the groove with out jumping we do quite well. When she is in fast paced, jumper pony mode I get more disheveled which translates to her and we don't ride as smoothly. We are both getting better with each lesson though and Renee is slowly but surely working to build my jumping confidence.

Satin even jumped like a perfect hunter pony again on Saturday at home. This was even more shocking because she tends to be even quicker at home. I just did some lines and single jumps then a short 4 jump course, but she remained nice and quite through out. Then Ember, who rode her in the Firecracker Fun Show jump-off, wanted to get on. So, she jumped a 6 jump course and she though she got a little quick for her in the beginning, once they both settled into each other she rode quite nicely.

The icing on the cake was yesterday though. I was riding bareback with my friend Shannon and I just had Satin in a halter with the lead rope tied to the loop on the bottom under her chin. Shannon and I decided to switch and she asked to jump her over the crossrail. She jumped her bareback with no bit in her mouth and going in the direction of the gate and she went along perfectly at a nice, even hunter pace! I was quite proud and surprised and think this new diet may be our friend rather than the enemy I thought!

Firecracker Fun Show = Huge Success!!!

I could not be happier to announce that the Firecracker Fun Show, which I have been writing about (and of course planning) for the past month, was a HUGE success!!!! We raised over $3,000!!!

It was an absolutely amazing day! I could not have asked for better weather or turnout. We had a good amount of riders, horses, and attendees. All of our classes were very full and everyone had fun whether they rode or not. People have been writing and commenting to me over the past couple days saying how much they enjoyed it and what a great time they had.

The family was especially grateful, which made all of the hard work and planning completely worth it. I was so touched by their words of gratitude. Both of Caitlyn's parents expressed their thanks over Facebook and her family members that attended all hugged and thanked me personally over and over. It was especially emotional and heart warming between Renee and I. The whole experience was just so rewarding for me in more ways than one. I can't even fully express it. I was not the only one overwhelmed by the generosity and support shown by all of the attendees. As someone said to me the entire day had such a good vibe. I was so happy to be able to help this wonderful family. Renee has always been so good to me and has gone above and beyond to help me, so I was more than happy to be able to help her. Plus, I am fully aware of what it is like to have a family member with cancer. My uncle lived with us when he battled lung cancer and I'm sure Caitlyn's young age makes it that much more difficult.

I also have to once again express my thanks to all of those who helped me make this possible: Kayla and Daryl who worked side by side with me through out, Lauren for letting us host it as the farm, Katie for running the ring, Amy for judging, Sue, Mary, Shannon, my parents, Kelli and everyone who volunteered their time during preparation and the day of. I also have to thank all of our generous sponsors who donated money, goods, or services. This includes Central Jersey Horseman's Association who sponsored our ribbons, C&C Embroidery who donated and made our Cure for Caitlyn shirts, Terrace Bagels who donated 4 dozen bagels, Dr. Klayman of Colts Head Veterinary Service, Mike Mullin, my family, the Hoffmans, the Harvey's, Beauty Store and Salon, the Nieto's, Quail Creek Pharmacy, the Ebners, Sarah Wayda, Gina Giovenco, Casey Koehler, Lazy M Feed, AB Tack, and so many more.

The Howell Patch wrote a great article about the event, which can be seen here.

We started the day a bit later than planned, but that is a horse show for you. When it comes to horses you can never stick to a schedule. The entire day ran very smoothly though. We started off with our pairs obstacle course, which I won along with my partner, Kayla (yes I have decided its time to use full first names). We followed that up with a switch class, in which riders switched horse and were judged on how well they rode and presented a horse they were not used to at the walk, trot, canter. I was extremely lucky to switch onto my trainer Renee's horse Portas. Portas, or the Big Man, as we fondly call him, is a beautiful warmblood gelding with a puppy dog personality. He is also a gorgeous mover and extremely talented jumper. I was lucky enough to ride him once before at R's farm and even jump him a little. Renee's brother rode Satin in this class and Renee rode Taz.

Portas had been a little spunky for Renee in the first class so I rode him a bit conservatively and just let him go around as he pleased. Unfortunately, we had a break at the left lead canter. I circled to get him out of the pack and unfortunately half of the pack circled with us leaving us no where to go. We recovered the canter quickly though and took a 5th in that class. My friend Ember actually won the class on Lexie, my lesson partner Lisa's horse.

Another highlight of my day was in the next class which was the jump off, which we split into ponies and horses. At the last minute mt friend Ember asked if she could take Satin in the class and give her a try. I said sure go ahead and she ended up taking 5th and going over her first 3 foot oxer! I was a very proud Mom!

I let Destiny, one of the girls from my old farm run Satin in the barrels. I did not expect her to run as she usually doesn't at home. But, apparently she knew it was a show and was ready to go, though luckily did not display the enthusiastic hopping and rearing she does at other horse shows. Destiny had never run barrels before and did great! They had fabulous turns and got 3rd to two very fast horses (one being Kayla's horse Smokey). Her sister Shyanne did a dash on her as did I and we got 4th. The Big Man aka Portas had some pretty nice barrel turns too!

Next was the relay race. My team, which consisted of myself, Kayla, Ember, Shannon, Renee, and Doug, won. This was followed by a pairs command class, where Kayla was again my partner and we took third. After that we had ride-and-tie, in which it was a team of 2 riders and 1 horse. The first rider runs the horse fully tacked to the opposite end of the arena where the 2nd rider is waiting. They hop off and tag in the second rider who untacks the horse and runs it bareback home. Kayla and I used Smokey so we were once again the winners. The final competitive event for the day was ride-a-buck, a bareback class in which a dollar is placed under your knee and you are given commands to follow. You keep riding until you lose your dollar. It came down to Renee and I as the final two and I knew I was done for. As you all know I speak very highly of Renee as a rider and trainer and there was no way I would out ride her, plus my mare is quite bouncy while Portas is smooth as silk. The normally docile Portas, however, forfeited the class for them. While backing up Portas decided to stand up. A 17 hand horse in full rear right in front of you is quite a site to see and add a leap to that rear and you are really into something. Needless to say this was a bit much even for Renee and she slipped off, putting an end to our bareback dual, which otherwise might have gone on quite a while. We ended the class winners once again though I am curious to see how it would have gone if Portas had not ended it for us. Though, I am pretty sure I know the answer to that!

Renee, Portas, and I at the end of the day.

Down to the Wire!

The Firecracker Fun Show is in t-minus 4 days! I can't believe it's finally here! I am very excited about it, but also a bit stressed. The show gets bigger and better with each day of planning. I do have a great team of supporters, but also have some difficulty delegating, so I have tons to do and feel like time is running out.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I organized a similar show last year, but it was on a much smaller scale. I am very happy about the rapidly expanding size of this show, but with it comes more to do.

The ribbons arrived yesterday and they came out great. Big thank you to Central Jersey Horseman's Association who sponsored them. I ordered wristbands similar to the Livestrong bands, that read "Cure for Caitlyn" which came in about 2 weeks ago and have already begun to sell. I also have to thank my embroiderer C&C Embroidery who donated 25 "Cure for Caitlyn" shirts and is donating $5 from the purchase of every shirt there after. The shirts came out great and it will be awesome to see so many people wearing them on show day. They have also been a great fundraising tool.

So many people, especially in the horse world, have been so generous. We have tons of great raffles from generous sponsors, such as my local vet who donated a free chiropractic adjustment, as welll as, a free acupuncture session. We have several lessons from great trainers in various disciplines. We also have non horse items like gift certificates, household appliances, and wine.

On top of the horse show and raffles, we also have a 50/50, pony rides, hair feathers / fake tattoos, a used tack sale and a wishing well for the family. The wishing well is similar to the wishing wells found at baby or bridal showers. Guest bring a small inexpensive item and add it to the well, kind of like stocking stuffers. For this wishing well, we asked that guests bring items for any member of the family. For example, I purchased some small toys and coloring books for Caitlyn and her brothers. I also bought a family movie they could all watch together. Things like this are a nice touch for the family and gives them something to keep them entertained at home or in the hospital.

As you can see this makes me quite a busy girl. Things are coming together quite nicely, but we still have a lot to do as show day approaches. I am learning about all the things that go into putting on a large show and charity event. I am also learning that I really love it. Yes, I am extremely busy and a bit stressed, but I am really enjoying putting this all together, especially because it is for such a great cause. It is also really rewarding to see all my work pay off and come together to be quite a success. It is not even show day and I have already collected almost $350 in donations!

We Jumped Big Girl Jumps!

Today, Satin and I had one of our solo lessons. It was raining all day, so we were in my trainer's small indoor. We started with work on our posting trot, since Miss Mare isn't really a huge fan of the forward, working trot. We worked on pushing her out and getting her to extend and move forward. R had us go to the sitting trot and frame her up, tuck her nose in a bit, and shorten her back to give her more power in her trot as I moved her back up to the posting trot. We worked on getting slight contact and the frame in the more forward trot as well.

Afterwards we did some work on our flying lead changes. R set up two sets with two poles in each set. We cantered figure eights through the sets, using them to get our lead changes. She nailed her lead change from left to right basically every time. Right to left was a bit of a different story, as she would get crooked and loose the hind end. With some pointers from R, we were able to fix this and get nice changes both ways.

Then R added a small vertical to our pattern. Well, at least it started as a small vertical, probably under 2 foot in the beginning, as an extra pole to work on the right to left change, which she got easily coming off of the jump. Soon though R was lifting the rail. Every time or two through the "course" she would walk over and lift the rail a hole, thinking I wasn't paying attention as she was giving me instruction as she did it. She can be quite sneaky when she wants to be. LOL Eventually she got the jump up to about where we have been jumping, around 2'3. Then she lifted the jump a hole and sent me over it on its own. I did it though not without some hesitation. Luckily, Satin had no hesitation and sailed over beautifully.

"How about one more hole?" R said next. I gave her the "do I really have a choice look" and shrugged my shoulders. "Whatever you want". So up went the rail one more time. Satin knocked the rail, but due to rider error. Her toes clipped again on the second time, again my fault as I came out of my 2 point too early. The third and fourth time though she sailed right over and did so beautifully according to R and other onlookers. Felt pretty nice to me too!

Afterwards I asked R about how high the jump was. She brought out her handy measuring tape and announced that it was just over 2'9"! 2'9"!! I was shocked! I figured it was about 2'6" at the most, which was about as high as I thought we would really ever go as my mare is older and small. Seems like I underestimated us both, but luckily R never does!

Last Show of the Season

Last Sunday we had the last show of the season for the local schooling show series I compete in with both Satin and JB. Satin was in the lead for Grand in Speed for year end by 6 points, so she had a title to defend. JB was just a few points off getting reserve behind tough competition in both Model and Beginner Western, so the pressure was on.

Satin was up first in the speed division. We went in for the barrels and she was totally asleep, basically cantering the pattern. Luckily her good turns made up for lack of speed and she managed a 2nd. I borrowed a western version of a crop for the next class which was poles. I never actually need to use a crop on Satin, just flashing it past her eye a few times is usually enough. This is what I did as I ran up the poles and she kicked in to gear. She cut the turn around the first pole too tight and the footing was a bit soft from the rain earlier in the week, causing her to almost fall. I thought her front end lost traction, but I saw from the video her back end actually sunk under her and what I felt in the front was her scrambling to catch herself. The one thing I love about my mare though is she will do anything to save us both. One time during a lesson she tripped doing a lead change and went down on both front legs and her shoulder and managed to get herself back up and keep me aboard then keep going.

Anyway, when she recovered we just stood there for a few seconds. I wasn't sure what to do and whether or not I should keep going. That is when Satin said, "Mom I'm ready to keep going". So I trusted my mare and completed my pattern, though conservatively. The other great thing about my mare is she is very smart and careful. She is not the kind of crazy horse that will keep running hurt. If something was wrong she would let me know, so when she said let's finish, I said okay. She managed a fourth in that class.

My father was ringside that day, as both my parents always are. He has not seen me fall or almost fall since I was 5 so he freaked out about. As I exited the ring he was frenzied, insisting I get off the horse right away and that she was dragging her back foot. Now my mare is 22 and has some arthritis and those of you with senior horses with arthritis now, they often will drag their back toes a bit while walking and some even while trotting. So this slight toe drag is completely normal for my mare, which my father did not understand. I let him cause me to second guess myself, but I know my horse and I will never let that happen again. I got off felt her legs and flexed them, all normal. A friend of mine walked up the ring just then and I had her get on and trot her around for me to see and she trotted nice and forward. She was quite eager, even breaking into the canter. Then I got on and felt her trot, still 100% sound and normal.

My next and final class was keyhole so I practiced a rollback and both her turn and canter felt perfect, so I decided to trust my own judgement and knowledge of my horse and continue on. I ran her slightly conservatively, in fear too quick a turn may slip her up again. Her turn was beautiful and she earned a 3rd. These placings were just enough to keep her in Grand for year end awards by 2 points. Not too bad for a supposedly "senior" mare.

Next up, I had JB in Model. He placed exceptionally well against some stiff competition. A new gelding came who I happened to know from my old farm. This gelding and his sire are champion halter horses in Palomino and QH. JB placed 3rd in that class to that gelding and another that has been champion at CJHA the past few years. In the Open class he placed 6th out of about 12, which was excellent. He held on to his 3rd for the year end awards.

After that, we tacked up for our western division. Usually JB's owner H rides her classes before mine so the edge is off by the time we get to warm up. They had changed classes around to fit everything in so now she was riding after me. JB was pretty quiet though, but required a little more warm up then usual. Unfortunately, I did not get to give him as good of a warm up as I would have liked as I had to communicate back and forth with the ring steward to see where they were in the ring H shows in and if classes could be held as promised due to the switch.

Anyway, I had him going pretty nicely by the time they were ready to start with Horsemanship. It was a pretty simple pattern, so I was quite confident. The entire pattern rode beautifully until the very end. The last part of the pattern was to jog to the last cone, stop, and back 4 steps. Unfortunately for us, it just so happened that the last cone was placed right next to the board for the trail class, which JB is deathly afraid of. He refused to trot all the way to the cone and stopped about 4 or 5 strides before it and backed himself the 4 steps. This cost us a few points, but we still managed a 2nd. In pleasure he rode pretty well, but did speed up at times, and placed 4th. We earned back our title of Command champion (a class we have won almost every show this year). It was down to 3 of us, one of which being my friend K, who I battle for first with every show. The judge has us backing up and asked for a reverse. I was the only one to reverse and keep backing as is proper procedure. The trail class was a failure as JB was once again afraid of half the obstacles, so he was 6th. He again held his place in 3rd for the year end.

It was not the best show of the season for me or either of my mounts, but it was still a good end to the season as they held their positions for year ends. I am quite proud of both Satin and JB and could not have asked for two better show horses. They both gave me a great season filled with many wins and championships. Satin proved once again she has still has plenty of years left in her and "senior horse" has a very loose definition. JB was excellent for his first ever western show season with this past winter being the first time he was ever ridden western. Looking forward to a little break for all of us and exciting season in 2012.

Yonker's Under Saddle Race

This past Saturday, October 8 I made my first trip to Yonkers Raceway for their first ever Under Saddle race, also known as a Monte race. They use trotters only, since pacers require hobbles, which could be an issue for riding. They also start behind the driven starting gate, just like in a regular harness race. In this particular race, they only went around the track one time, which equals a 1/2 mile. In a typical harness race they go twice around the track, for a full mile.

This type of racing is extremely popular all over Europe and this exhibition race at Yonkers was an attempt to bring it to life in the United States. Supporters of this new racing style hope it will bring more people to the track, and personally I agree with them!

For those of you that have never seen a Standardbred in full trot or pace, you don't know what you are missing. I have been a lifelong Quarter Horse girl and until I became friends with so many people in the Standardbred world, and became a Standardbred fan in the process, the only type of racing I knew was Thoroughbred. Harness Racing is just as exciting as Thoroughbred racing. The speed and action of the trot or pace is unbelievable, as is the many other aspects that make up the sport.

I have ridden some green Standardbreds that still had a big trot or pace, but could never imagine riding a real racing trot or pace. My friend H, who you all know as the owner of the ever talented Standardbred JB, was a participant in this race aboard a trotter named Where's Harry, and from the look on her face and what she told me after, it was the thrill of a lifetime. It definitely looked like it from the sidelines.

As I mentioned earlier, this was my first time at Yonkers and I went solely for the purpose of seeing this race. It was exciting and different. I would love to see this catch on and have some kind of circuit with different brackets and lengths. While this race was all trotters, they were all of different ages and classes, ranging from claimers to stakes winners. The other interesting aspect was that all seven horses were ridden by women, while on the other hand, most drivers are men. This is not to say female drivers do not exist, but they are few and far between. The full list of participants in this race can be seen here.

I believe this sport will bring new fans to harness racing and in turn more people to the tracks. I think other members of the horse industry will be especially interested in this new type of racing. I know I definitely was and from what I heard from the people around me, as well as, others who saw the video of the race (which can be viewed above), I wasn't the only one with this opinion. Also, from what I have heard from Yonker's regulars, the track was much more crowded that night than usual, which was due mostly to the Monte race.

I strongly urge the USTA and harness tracks around the country to put their heads together and look further into this sport. It may just be the ticket to bringing new life to harness racing.


Here are a few photos I took of the race (Copyright Shutter Savvy Images)

Last Week's English Lesson

Our lesson with L was rescheduled to last week and we were riding English once again (still don't know how R tricked me into this LOL). Anyway we started with our usual warm up on the flat then R sent us out to do some dressage serpentines. We started doing them at the trot, then moved onto the canter with simple changes. Her simple changes were pretty good, but not her best. We had not worked on simple or flying changes in a while though. Then we moved on to the flying changes, which I knew were not going to be pretty.

As a former reining horse, Satin can do flying changes in her sleep. But, now that she is holder she has stiffness and arthritis issues in her hocks and she also tries to rush into them too much at times causing her to miss the change behind. This is what happened the first time through. The second time through we got one perfect change, but the rest ended up being late or simple.

R said part of the problem was she was swinging her butt out behind and suggested practicing with a bit of an exaggerated bend down the straightaway, since the changes were supposed to be in the middle) and not letting her change. We did this several times until we got the response we were looking for, then R said "Okay now continue around the turn and let her change". She executed a picture perfect change after that, though not at center line, but that's okay.

Afterwards we moved on to course work. Our warm up course was the outside line to the single diagonal jump that began our course in our previous lesson. She refused the first time to the line then went over with no problem. After two times of this R made the single diagonal a bending line going to the first jump of the outside line, as we had also done in the previous lesson. Then she added another line that was probably about one hole higher on the opposite side of the ring. Satin sailed over it like a champ. I was quite proud, especially because it was her first time over this line and she sometimes refuses a new jump added mid course on the first attempt. After that R added the roll top as a single jump on the diagonal. We had done the roll top before, but this time it was a bit higher then in the past. Satin once again sailed over it like it wasn't even there.

Near the end of the lesson we were both jumping through the course quite smoothly, and both R and I were quite happy with it.

Busy Planning for the Firecracker

The last two weeks have been a bit hectic for me, hence the lack of updates. L and I did not have our lesson 2 weeks ago as we usually do, due to R having to go out of town at the last minute for a family emergency. Her niece's 3-year-old daughter was hospitalized and diagnosed with Stage 3 Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. Fortunately doctor's are very optimistic that with chemotherapy she will recover. She will remain in the hospital for a month and then have to go back once a month for chemo. She will receive chemo for at least two years.

This family has a long, hard road ahead of them. They have two other children, boys, ages 5 and 7. They live in Ohio and none of R's family lives near by, but they are taking turns traveling to Ohio to help. A fund has been started for Caitlyn and her family, called the Firecracker Fund. This will help with Caitlyn's excess medical expenses, as well as, things for the family like gas, meals at the hospital for mom and dad, babysitters for the boys, etc.

I was heart broken for R and her family at the news. My family has been touched by cancer multiple times and I know how hard and painful it is for everyone involved. It is especially sad when this horrible disease affects someone so young. Besides that, R has always been very generous and helpful to me, going above and beyond, whenever I needed her. Of course, I wanted to do anything I could big or small to help.

Last year, me friend K and I, had organized a fun show at our barn to benefit the Hope Happens Here Fund, which was started for my cousin who has cancer, but also benefits other families touched by cancer. We raised just under $1000 and everyone had a great time. Several people had been asking me if I would do it again this year, but I wasn't sure since we had moved barns since then. When everything happened with R's niece though, I knew another fun show was just the thing, especially since I already had the demand.

I got together with K and we came up with a fun class list that would be entertaining for rider and spectator alike. We presented the idea to our barn owner who was all for it, and happy to help. Then I spoke to R who was very excited by the news. Now we have a whole team of volunteers at work for the show which is set to take place November 5th. I already more people attending than the last show and tons of people offering raffles. The horse world is very big and very small at the same time and is always willing to gather together in support of one of their own, which is being proven once again through this show.

Besides the show, we are having other activities as well. We will be offering pony rides for children (or even adults). We are also having raffles, a 50/50, and a used tack sale. We have other ideas in the works too, such as a "wishing well" type basket, like they do at baby and bridal showers, to collect gifts for Caitlyn and her family.

So far November 5th promises to be a fun and successful day for a good cause, so fingers crossed!