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Lookie!!!!

This is what I got yesterday!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW

CHAMPION

Entais Soleil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June Bug ~ WB/BOS ~ Mt. Palomar

Love June Bug!!! Winners Bitch and Best Opposite Sex under James Noe. He gave Soleil a RWB at Apple Valley when she was 6 months and 2 days old. Seems he's been good with our blue-eyed sable-merles.

Hangtown KC ~ Soleil Is Winners Bitch For 2 Pts!!!!

Soleil was Winners Bitch today under Robert H. Slay for 2 more points. She is now up to 13!! Yeahhhhhh!!!!!

Cardiff did nothing. I wonder if the judge thought her feet were too small?

Just an informative word about the judge today.....don't let him know you are a dumb shit. (But that might be good advice in most situations.) Yesterday there was a 6-9 month puppy bitch before Cardiff and I was waiting for her to come in the ring today. The handler pulled her which I didn't know, so I mentioned that to the judge ~ like why I was 9 seconds late. Hmmm.....my mouth runneth over.....how weird is that??? The judge said "Well, you should have checked the catalog beforehand to see that she was absent". Or, in other words "You ARE a dumb shit". I can't complain (about the judge and his infinite wisdom) because Soleil won, but next time I'll be really quiet and check my surroundings better before I go in the ring......o m g......

Regardless of these little interesting dog show details it was a GREAT weekend!!! 4 points total for Niffness & Blondie!!!

Happy Birthday Niffness ~ Miss WB & BOW!!!

Cardiff is One Year Old today!!! Omgosh!! I remember seeing her for the first time thru emails from Julie and it was love at first sight! Every picture I got (at least in my mind) she stood out like she was glowing!! She still glows to me!!

One of my favorite little puppy pictures......I reminisce.....

Anyway, we showed at Hangtown KC today and she was Winner's Bitch for 2 pts. The judge was Lee Reasin and I was in Winners with Soleil and Laura was on Cardiff. We all walked in the ring waiting for him to send us around and he said "I already know who I'm going to pick, so I'm not going to send you around." (He then points to Cardiff and the Open Blue bitch) "You are my Winner's Bitch and you are my Reserve". That was easy. Soleil was in Bred-By with another sable-merle and we're thinking he wasn't the judge to show our bitches under....but that's ok. It made for the 2 pts for Cardiffness though Soleil (& this other bitch) sit on 4 minors to finish. Yahoooooooieeeeee Cardiff!!!!!!!!!

 

And another favorite photo.......sorry...can't help myself..........maybe when she got named Wild Cardiff. 

A N Y W A Y . . . Happy Birthday Cardiff!!!!!! And congratulations on your points!!

Is This Really Worth It?

I'm curious why someone would almost 250 miles round trip to pick up a rough collie bitch armband, be there with the bitch and then not show for a 50% chance at a point but the same owner's other breed was shown for no possible points. The only way for the other dog to get ANY points at this point is if the dog WON his Group. Not impossible by any means, but a really long shot. These are things I pondered recently.

Could it be:

A: Non-Competitor (NC) is a dumb shit and doesn't know you actually have to compete against another dog to get a point? You don't get them for being the only one. Nor do you get them in your backyard. This is a confusing one, as the other dog was shown for 0 points and the collie could have gotten a point? And though it's surprising to me, and since my bitch was the other collie ~ she has been beaten....many times.

B: NC really doesn't like points.

C: NC forgot rough collies showed at 8:15 am sharp and thought there were 35 OES in front of collies. 

D: NC's pussy hurt.

E: NC's bitch's pussy hurt. (That's interesting.)

F: NC really didn't see me running around looking for Ring 3 in all mine & Soleil's fluffy glory and NC couldn't bear to go into the ring again for no point because the first 0 points on the other breed was too upsetting. Too horribly traumatic to do again in one day. To get more 0 points.

G: NC is actually a bone fide poor sport, but still thinks she sleeps well at night. (That's interesting too.)

H: NC still likes to get ribbons which you really do (lots of them) even if you get 0 points. You can even get a picture. In show pictures it doesn't show the 0 dogs you beat. They can look just as cool as if you won the national. Your non-dog friends will never know.

Regardless of the outcome of this show, I do not take this personally. This is not about me, nor my beautiful Soleil. It's someone's else's issue. And it's sad. To say I wasn't pissed ~ I was. Like I could have beaten the shit out of NC with my pin brush. Enter the show. Show your dog. It's not hard and you might just win. This shitty attitude makes a bigger circle than people think. I couldn't sleep at night if I did this shit.

Soleil showed and looked wonderful again & made a cut in the Herding Group. She's frickin' beautiful, showy and moves like a dream. This was worth the 1 way 3 hour drive for me. Aside from that I still ponder.

Grooming Day For Soleil & The Pasture

Blondie didn't want to have a bath today so she snuck in the dog house with Seabiscuit. He's sticking his tongue out about it. It's a one dog doghouse.

She had a head trim, whiskers & feet done. (O oh.....I forgot the toenails....)

Meanwhile Tony is weed wacking a large overgrown bush in our pasture.

It's fluffy like Soleil.

All better!

Now Blondie's sticking her tongue out but she's all clean & fluffy. She gets to sleep inside tonight!!

The end.

Camellia Capital KC ~ Soleil Wins 2 More Points & Her Second Bred-By Herding Group 1st!!!!!!!

Waiting for the Bred-By Group.

Soleil & Cardiff were entered in 2 local all-breed shows and Soleil was Winners Bitch for 1 pt each day, so she's up to 11 pts both majors (!!!!!). Cardiff was Best Puppy yesterday by default but I didn't take her in the Puppy Group because Ray of Sunshine was visiting and we would have gotten home way too late for him to visit and see our place.

Today, Soleil was Best Bred-By so we did wait for the Bred-By Herding Group. It was a long day and actually was supposed to be raining with thunder all day, but it turned out cool but very nice. ANYWAY, Soleil won the Herding Bred-By Group (9 dogs were in the Group) under Larry B. Stein. He was very nice to show under, and complimented her nicely. I also got a really nice comment from the Breeder/Handler of the Best Bred-By In Show, which was the Samoyed. He said Soleil looked great and really deserved the Group win. Then I looked at his DARLING 6 1/2 month old puppy dog (who's littermate was Best Puppy In Show yesterday) and thought he was going to be hard to beat. Cute, cute, perfect little puppy dog!! Omg......

I love Bred-By and winning in that group again is a kick! Soleil has been a good girl thou still is very animated in the ring and moves so pretty. It doesn't hurt that she has this big fluffy coat either!! I do look forward to her finishing and then bringing Cardiff out in the fall with a new coat. Niffness is just starting to shed. Finish Soleil, let Cardiffness shed so I can ride some horses!!! This is my plan. My fluffy/fluffless/Niffness Plan.

Soleil's Chief Solano Show Photos

Here's SuperFluff!! Soleil's 2nd major win. Judge is Monica Canestrini. She's fluffy ~ I look well-fed.

Her 4th Major Reserve ~ Judge Lesley Hiltz.

Endurance Riding Bliss! ~ Khemali'i Finishes Washoe Valley II ~ 50 Miles!!!

Donna Mickelson Photo

So, life is always interesting and I think, often times doesn't turn out the way one thinks it will, that things can change when you think you're going one way and all of a sudden you're going in another. And so it is with Ali'i.

I thought he was retired from endurance riding and then Summer got hogtied. She has shown intermittent lameness that I haven't figured out yet, so while she heals and I wait for someone else to work on her, I pull Chubby out of the pasture and look at him. I ride him and he looks fantastic after working and his heart rate is better than ever. I guess 9 1/2 months off has never hurt an endurance horse.

We worked back slowly but quickly, each ride being a little different. One day was hills, but easy, another lots of walking but long, another was in the round pen with increasing time & variety. I spoke with Janine about what was happening and she thought he had a great base on him and could do what I was asking about ~ riding a 50 with him. At Washoe Valley on Mother's Day weekend.

I love this horse so much and being on him again has made my heart soar. He's sweet, cute, easy and so nice to ride ~ I thought I wouldn't enjoy him after riding Summer, but they are both incredible horses, just different. And, after doing this 50, I even feel in better shape than last year.

It also was so nice to ride with Donna. She's funny, easy and our horses are compatible AND she stops to take photos. This one at the top took my breathe away when I saw it originally and couldn't wait to see it. She sent me some 7 versions and I had a hard time picking which one I wanted to use for the blog. I will post a link to her work soon, as her work is so creative, and random. She catches images that are just fun and ordinary, but makes them so beautiful. A true artist. I love you Donna!!

Washoe Valley, NV. I love this place!! Lake Tahoe is up in the mountains.

The sage.......O M G.....I almost fell over from the fragrance when I opened the window into the campground. Possibly my most favorite scent in the world! But, I've said that before...ok and T's a close second to sage.

T taking Ali'i up and back to stretch him out for the pre-ride vet exam. I am hypersensitive to Ali'i's arthritis so I wanted to make sure he was warmed up after our trailer ride. Look at the ass on that horse!! It didn't happen by itself!! All that hill training last year. 

Ali'i & I. Donna is in the background with Lily Pod. 

Ali'i got all "A's" on his pre-ride exam. I mentioned the hocks to the vet and that he can have a slightly off gait. The vet smiled and said she didn't see a thing, that he looked excellent, so not to worry about noting it on the vet card. 

All the collies in their pens. T was FANTASTIC with all he did for me in helping crew and taking care of all the dogs. The Punkies seem to like to go and travel well, so it's fun to have them.

Donna and Fred. We had dinner in Winnie ~ Doesn't Fred look like he wishes he was somewhere else????? He did mention that, like he'd rather be riding motorcycles with his friends. Wimp. Endurance isn't only for the horse & rider...............suck it up F R E D ! ! ! !  Hehehehehe!!!!!!!!

T marinating steaks. He used his bar-b-que and they were sooooooo tasty!!! Donna doesn't eat meat anymore and had to get pasta from the ridecamp dinner, then she proceeded to talk about little eyeballs in our food & stuff like that. I got her back by discussing the Winnie septic issue I had prior to leaving. It was gross.

Donna Mickelson Photo

6:25 am Saturday. I had to still boot up Ali'i and had bought new hind boots a size smaller. They were REALLY snug so T had to manhandle them on Ali'i's feet with a rubber mallet. In the meantime Donna is training her horse.

Because she trains her, Lily might still kick (hence the HUGE red ribbon on her tail) but she didn't try and buck her off when she first mounted her. Ali'i got slapped in his big round ass for that!!!

We walked over to give the timers our numbers and then we're off. God, I was soooooooooo non-stressed compared to doing this race last year. It was so easy and our horses were very compatible. 

We were out for about 3 or 4 miles when we saw this most beautiful bird fly next to us. Donna and I were oohing and ahhing over his beauty. I didn't know it was a magpie, as I have never seen one. I told T about it and he said that's what they were. At the one hour hold, there was another one (or was it the same one??) that landed right on Ali'i's pen rail. Donna called me to go look. We then saw it 1 or 2 more times as we rode and finished. I was thinking of Pierre or my cousin Cheryl.......sometimes I think they come to visit in forms such as this. It was special. And if it was them, Thank you. Oxoxoxox.....

 
My fearless fruit eating friend after the first sighting of the magpie & before the sun came up.

  Donna Mickelson Photo

One of the "SOB's" ~ "3 Steep Canyons" in the first 25 mile loop. They were very steep, up and down. I told Donna we were going to run down them on foot. She begged me not to...then I remembered how steep they were, AND rocky.

Donna Mickelson Photo

Going downhill. I LOVE Donna's photos. She took a lot of them in between us making sure the 8 people we passed on the first loop were not going to catch up to us. We were embarrassed to look back because we didn't want to look paranoid, so I told Donna I would look at her (because she was usually in back because of Lily's hoofy problem) then it would look like I was just looking at her. Like these riders cared, or could even see us!! But we were paranoid. Or secretly competitive. And we had to pee. So, we tried to suck it up but couldn't. They never got in front of us. We're really fast pee-rs.

Taking a quick nap after 26 miles. We had another 20 mile loop, 15 minute hold & vet exam, then 4 miles and after finishing we had 1 hour to get our final exam.

Speaking of special........I was thinking the other day that I have NEVER fallen off of Ali'i. I might have jumped off (???) though I can't even remember doing that, but I've never lost my legs on him, nor has he been so bad as to launch me. Then I thought "Should I blog that? No. I'll wait til either I do get launched, or I never do and I'm not riding him again." I didn't want to test fate.

On the second loop about 10 miles out there was a water trough, hay and usually someone who takes numbers so they can keep track of everyone. This year no one volunteered, so there was a cooler full of water, cookies & a clip board to put our time & number on. Well, whatever about that because that was on the other side of the trough. We were about 20' away and Ali'i must have thought the trough was a huge black bear because he spun so quick to the left I was off and on my ass in a split second. I hit my head into the ground also and have to say I am so thankful to have my helmet on, as I think that would have hurt way more than it did with a bare head. I had to sit for a minute to see how bad I hurt, and Donna grabbed Ali'i who was over the spook and ready to graze. Anyway, it was good to get that (first) fall out of the way ~ hahaha!!!!

Donna Mickelson Photo

This is about 6 or so miles into the second loop. Up over the top of the hill and before my launch is a VERY sandy downhill trail that is probably 3/4 of a mile or so. Donna told me last year on the 30 Miler Lily rolled in the sand. Sure enough I hear Donna yelling and she had to jump off while Lily just laid right on the trail to roll. All I can think about is my saddle getting messed up, but hers is a treeless (??) so maybe they are rollable??? Anyway, good laugh and where was my camera?? She rolled one more time before the sand was done.

Donna Mickelson Photo

Right before the roll. Probably happened because Donna was putting her camera away.

Donna Mickelson Photo

Donna Mickelson Photo

This is the last 4 mile loop which went along Washoe Lake and was very sandy, so we had to go very slow.

 Donna Mickelson Photo

And here I am sitting on Lily's head ~ hahahaha!!!!! 

Donna Mickelson Photo

End of 50 miles. Ali'i is contemplating peeing. Behind him in the picture is the road that we started on in the morning. I like a ride that starts uphill because it takes some of the gunk out of the horses when they're all wild and ready to go. 

Within the first 5 miles we saw a woman walking back with a gorgeous chestnut arabian with 4 white socks & blaze. He was HANDSOME. We asked if she was ok and she said yes, but she was done with the race as he was an ex-race horse and didn't have an "off-switch" yet. I bet he was a fun ride!! (NOT!!!) Anyway, she sounded like she was a patient sort and would stick with him and was willing to go all the way to a race and pull if necessary to prevent an accident or injury. Anyway, I don't have it in me to ride a horse 5 feet like that!! Ali'i's puffy enough!!!!

Donna & Lily. This was both of their first 50 miler completion. I was so proud of both of them and Donna is stellar to ride with. She's good with her horse and conservative ~ EVEN THOU once we passed someone we didn't want to give up our position!!! We started dead last and 20 minutes late and out of 52 starts (50 finished) we were 39th & 40th in some 9 hours & 38 minutes. We got cool hay bags as completion awards.

Ali'i's vet score in the first & second exam after the first 26 miles had some "A-"s & "B-"s. At his final vet check his pulse was 48 (they can be as high as 68 for this ride) and he got all "A"s except a "B" on attitude. The vet said he looked a little tired. I was so thrilled with this final exam.

Donna Mickelson Photo

Awards Dinner ~ It was cold!!!!

Donna Mickelson Photo

People bring dogs. Soleil went one night, Cardiff the second night.

Leaving Washoe Lake this morning. I forgot to bring home some sage. I was just so overcome with emotion on how much I love my little horse. Every time I looked at him I wanted to kiss him and then I'd cry.

Winnie outfitted with the horse trailer. Totally cool traveling!!!!

Donna Mickelson Photo

My Mother's Day present from Donna, this photo. And my Mother's Day gift everyday is Ali'i.

Thank you Donna for this & being a great riding buddy, Fred for taking T to Starbucks & entertaining him (I'm sure!), T for being a great crew & dog sitter and Ali'i for carrying my butt for 50 miles. That gets me all mushed up!! I love you all!!!