“I love deadlines; I especially like the whooshing sound as they pass me by” – loosely translated from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Yes, I was flying low yesterday. Trying to get back in the saddle on this blog. It’s like the guy on the radio used to say “these are the headlines, now for the details.” Keeping up with three horse breeds, a small training stable, a cattle operation, and a group of young riders, not to mention a paying job, is a challenge! And we love it!

This year I rode in Dressage, Doma Vaquera, and cow horse performances,  most of them in one month, October.  Sadly, we missed the National Reined Cowhorse Snaffle Bit Futurity, held in Texas for the first time ever! That remains on my bucket list. We did, however succeed in getting our Azteca gelding , Cyrus, to the Andalusian Nationals.  Cyrus was sired by our gray Lusitano stallion Trovador out of a big, bay, quarter horse mare of Hancock, Leo, Poco Tivio bloodlines named Poco Nuez. He is over 16 hands tall, gray, and a handsome dude. He’s been working on the ranch, prowling pastures, checking fences, and calving cows. He’s penned cows, sorted cows, roped and dragged calves to the branding fire on several ranches. Cyrus also ponies colts in training, and gets used as a student horse for equitation lessons. For the last three years he has been helping me to learn academic equitation from our two teachers, Donna Meyer and Manuel Trigo.  He and I have been learning (or learning at ) Spanish walk flying changes, Piaffe and Passage, and we are trying to do it with collection, straightness, and lightness!  Try patting your head while rubbing your tummy and whistling Yankee Doodle all at the same time! Well, Cyrus did himself proud at Andalusian Nationals. He won National Champion in Doma Vaquera. This is a Spanish cow-horse riding test but with a level of collection more reminiscent of dressage. Best of all, he won the jackpot musical freestyle with a flair! Using Flamenco guitar music, we put on a three minute abbreviated version of the Fantasia de la Garrocha. Some describe it as a mounted version of a pole dance.  We did, however have clothes on! I’m pretty proud of our boy Cyrus.