I called Dolly yesterday around 5:30PM and asked if she had heard from Danny yet.  She said she hadn't, but she would call me back when she did.

Well, yesterday's gone and I haven't heard a word so far from her today.  I would think they would already be on their way to Maryland by now, so I guess the answer is a no.  DARN IT!!!  Just one game show...just ONE.

You know your horse is being a pain in the butt when he turns cinchy within a week and doesn't like to work. I think Brooks is getting a ring sour and as little fun as it is for him, it's not any fun for me. He'll walk up to me to get the treat when I go to catch him, but he turns around as fast as he can to delay me from haltering him. Then, he's a jerk in the crossties when I go to saddle him and flies back as hard as possible whenever I go to tighten the cinch in the least.

Today, he did all of that, but I tied him to the tree with the flyback on him and tighten the girth. Up and back he went, fell down, got his head loose, and trotted away. I caught him, had the flyback tightened up, tied him back up to the tree, and he did absolutely nothing. He keeps getting away with pulling back because he either breaks something or gets loose. Hopefully, that won't happen anymore with the flyback fitting him more properly.

After that little fiasco, I free lunged him for ten minutes or so and then, we went to work. He was incredibly lazy for about half the time, then Dolly brought me out a pair of the bumper spurs to use on him and he woke up right away. We had two decent practice barrel runs and I couldn't stop smiling. Heaven knows I won't need those spurs for the game show though. He's a completely different animal then.

I'm supposed to go to Piney Hollow on Saturday night, but Jason got invited to ride the PBR in Maryland, so Dolly's going to go watch him. She said that Danny is probably going to go with her, so that means I don't have anyone to haul me there. She's going to call me tomorrow to tell me for sure whether or not Danny's going, but I'm afraid he is. Brooks just needs one game show to get his feet wet before the Fair, but this is the last one around. Maybe if we go team penning it'll take the edge off of him some. I think he just needs to get out to get that sourness out of his head and start being more Brooks-ish.

Dolly got me to ride the new roper tonight. His name is Shorty and he's really a cute little guy. He was a bit of a lazy butt; you need to keep a leg on him to keep him going and really ask him for any kind of speed, but he moves great with leg pressure and scoots in and out of the poles really nice. I don't know if he's worth the $6K, but he's going to make someone a nice little horse. His owner lives in Connecticut and wants him sold down here because Cowtown is so close. He's a 15yo, QH, papered, [I think.] and has a cute personality. I'm going to be sad to see him go.

It was hot, hot, hot today, in the mid-90s. We didn't do a lot of work and just fooled around for a while. It's amazing how sluggish the heat can make him. He was a in good pony mood and actually didn't give me any trouble. I'm still dreading about asking my mom to let me show on Saturday, so naturally, I'm procrastinating. Maybe I'll get up the guts tonight? Let's hope so.

Dad hopped on Brooks today because he wants to do Parent W/T/C at the Fair and decided he needed to "get a feel" for him. It's the most comical class of the four days when you see every parent who thinks they have what it takes mount their kid's horse and try to ride. After smushing himself in the too-small saddle and walking around the round pen for three minutes, we got a prognosis that Brooks is indeed "such a smooth ride!". Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my horse has a smooth walk. -bangs head-

The roping horse arrived, so Brooks has a new neighbor. He's shorter than Brooks, so he's no more than 14.3 and pretty cute looking. 15yo, QH, done rodeo forever, etc. And then there's randomly a grey and a bay horse. Both are geldings and I think the grey is older, probably 20ish and I have no idea about the bay. They're both sweet and I have no idea about their names, history, etc.

It's not even the school year and I feel like I'm preparing for some huge project.  Not a very good feeling.

So far, this is the sad list I've come up with.  I know I've got so much more to do, but I just can't think of it all right now.

4-H FAIR 2007 CHECKLIST

[ ] Complete record book.
[ ] Write report on Spanish conquistadors.
[ ] Pick classes.
[ ] Register classes online.
[ ] Put together horse first aid kit.
[ ] Dry clean rail shirts.
[ ] Try on chaps.
[ ] Buy halter and lead rope.
[ ] Buy girth.
[ ] Buy fly spray.
[ ] Buy reins.
[ ] Buy polos?
[ ] Buy hoof polish.
[ ] Fill out Horse Exhibit card.

Ode to joy.  In addition to that small amount of prep work, there's still getting Brooks in shape [God, I DRED doing WP with him.] and packing up every bit of horse stuff I own for a lovely five-day bonzana!  I know procrastinating about this will do me no good, but oh, well.

On another note, we had a decent ride on Thursday and I'm feeling optomistic about supposed show next Saturday.  I have my dad on my side as far as going; now it's just a matter of convincing my mom to let me go.  I know she doesn't exact want to do a 40 minute drive to Boonville 11:00ish on a Saturday night with work the next day, but we need to go to a game show badly before the Fair if I don't want a disaster.  So right now, I'm praying to the saint of hope and parent-persuasion.  Let's hope it works.

All is going well in Brooksland. Well, they're as good as they can possibly be for right now. He's arrogant, happy, and surprisingly doing okay for having a month off. Hopefully, we'll be going to a game show on the 14th to get him back in action and maybe a team penning or two in between. He needs something under his belt before the Fair at the end of the month. I still have no idea what I want to enter him in and I have a record book that I should have started back in September collecting dust. Ode to joy.

I wish I could figure out for the life of me what his problem is with the second barrel.? I got him to switch leads after the first with some figure-eights, but he's still taking that extra-wide step coming out of it.? He'll only do it at a lope too.? When we actually run it, he's fine.? It's odd.

We're supposed to be getting a roping horse at the barn sometime soon. He's a 15yo, has done rodeo for quite sometime, and he's selling for $6K. He's supposed to be a pretty nice horse, but he's only staying until he gets sold. I don't know how hot the market is for cow horses around here, so we'll see how long he stays.