Isanti County 4-H Drill Team

This is the video on Friday night performance of the Isanti County Fair of the Isanti County 4-H Drill Team. I am riding Sean and we are the big brown horse and rider behind the black pony and rider with the black flag. Our team did very well and we have 2 teams going to State in Freestyle and Compulsory and 1 team going in English Quad. Enjoy! 

Isanti County Fair Results!

Well this year at the Isanti County Fair we got more rain than I remember from other years.
~ Tuesday I entered my projects that were non-livestock: my photography, my citizenship project and my craft and fine art projects. I got 2 blues and 3 reds on my photography, Champion for my grade, Grand Champion overall and a state fair trip for my Citizenship project about the fur trading post and 4 blues for my Crafts and Fine Art projects. We also had Drill Team practice that night.
~ Wednesday I was in charge of running the 4-H Dog Show. We got the agility equipment set-up and then it started to rain. So we put all the equipment away and started the Showmanship classes. Then it became a down-pour so we had to postpone the dog show for about 30 minutes. Finally we finished the Showmanship classes, gave out the awards and started the Rally classes. Kelly, my dog and I placed 2nd in Pre-Novice Rally with my sister beating me by 1 point. Got Rally done and started the Beginner B classes during some light rain. Finished Beginner B and Beginner A and it started to down-pour again. Then we did the Graduate Beginner class (it stopped raining), Novice, Veterans and Pre-Open classes and then we did my Pre-Utility class. We got a Champion with a Red ribbon. After that we did the 4-Dog Team class and got Champion with a blue ribbon. It was finally dry enough then that we could do Agility. I placed Champion in Elementary agility and Reserve Champion in Jumpers 1 agility. And that was the end of the dog show; long day for me anyways. We had mandatory Drill Team practice that night and the arena was really mucky and muddy. Sean had to trot and lope through really big puddles.
~ Thursday was the 4-H Pleasure Horse Show. Sean and I had Halter Showmanship in the morning. We had just finished doing our showmanship pattern and were lined up waiting for the placings. First they called the 1st place winner which was Hannah Bucheger and then they called the 2nd place winner number 3034 which was me and Sean. I have never placed that high in Showmanship and this was Sean's first year in 4-H so he hadn't done a 4-H show before.  I couldn't believe it. My friend next to me in the line-up, Chris Walz, said "Holy Cow."  Then each top 2 winners from each class get to go into a Overall Grand and Reserve Class and it was my first time being in that class. I was so happy with Sean. We didn't win in the Overall Grand and Reserve Class but it didn't matter. We had gotten our first ever Reserve Champion ribbon and I was so proud of Sean. That night the arena was really thick in mud since it rained around noon that day. So Drill Team was a little hard on the horses.
~ Friday was the 4-H Game Show and Sean and I showed in Poles, Key Race and Barrels in the Novice class. Sean hasn't done games before so we were just doing the easy class so he got used to do doing games. So we ended up getting 3 white ribbons because we were just so slow going through those patterns. We had 2 Drill Team performances that day at 1pm and 6:30pm. Sean did really good that those and we even got to see the Rodeo Drill Team perform.
~ Saturday it rained a little in the morning and then the Drill Team rode its last performance for the County Fair at the 4-H Gymkana. Sean and I did 2 classes from the Gymkana- Egg and Spoon and Flag Picking.
~ Sunday I worked in the 4-H eatstand and then I helped out at the WSCA horse show until 6pm and then we loaded up the horses and went home.
Long week and long story but it was worth it.

Isanti County Fair

Hi All,
This will be last post for about 1 1/2 weeks because I will be at the Isanti County Fair showing my Sean and riding in the 4-H Drill Team.
I am riding all day on Thursday in the Pleasure Show and all day Friday in the Games Show. Saturday night at 5pm is the 4-H Gymkana that I will be riding in a little bit because it goes a kind of late and I don't want to be riding at 11pm at night.
Also the 4-H Drill Team is performing Wednesday night around 8:30pm, Thursday around 4 or 4:30pm, Friday at 1pm and 6:30pm and Saturday around 5 or 5:30pm.
So come and see me at the fair, visit my stall which is in the North Barn and watch one or all of the Drill Team performances.
Love Ya,
Liz

Greater Things happen when you trust in God part 2

I have been working a lot lately trying to get in enough hours so I can take off the week of the Isanti County Fair. It is just 3 short weeks away and I am starting to feel nervous. It will be my first County Fair showing Sean, meaning I won't be using D.C. at all during County Fair. A big change for me. D.C. is still doing fine and has been a great pony horse for Sean. Mom and I ride D.C. and Sean on the roads getting Sean used to traffic and having them both get some excerise side by side.

Tomorrow and Sunday is our Isanti County 4-H Horse Camp at the Isanti County fairgrounds with the learning part on Saturday and the fun show on Sunday. I hope to get some good pictures from that that I can post later on here. Our Drill Team is performing on Sunday at the fun show and it will be Sean's first performance with the Drill Team. I am SO excited.

Greater things happen when you trust in God

Let's see what has happened since I last wrote. I'm having lots of fun at Drill Team riding Sean. He is doing better but he did shy at a barrel by the fence and bucked me off. Now my back feels like it has a metal pole beating on it. So it is back to wearing the back brace. I can't affored right now to go to the chiropractor.

Then a week ago Saturday I had my Graduation Open House where we had over 120 people attend. We did have a lot of leftovers but it was fun to see relatives, pastors, friends and loved ones. I had a great time but it did feel a little long. 
Looks like I will be writing 2 parts to this post

I GRADUATED!

Well it is now offcial; I have graduated from High School and Homeschooling. I graduated on May 8th which was a little while ago but I have been very busy to try and write everything in this blog post. The ceremony went well and I cryed while my mom gave me my charge for my future. Then I cryed during the congration song "Before The Throne" and the turning of our tassels. My class colors are white and teal; white for the salvation of Jesus Christ and teal for my horse's show blanket color.

Then on May 10th, it was the first night of Drill Team. I wrote last that D.C. had a relapse of the tick-borne disease and then Sean had swelling on his knee. So I rode another 4-H family's horse named Cleo. She is a Quarter Horse/Morgan Mare. She has a nice trot that feels gaited but she isn't. So at the next drill team practices - May 15 and May 22, I rode Cleo while my Drill Team  coach rode Sean (He was acting kind of crazy). So I am planning on riding Sean this Tuesday, May 29th without him acting crazy.

My Horse problems and happenings

After I last posted, D.C. came ill with Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis. it is tick-borne, obligate intracellular parasites, meaning they cannot survive outside of a cell. So they bite the horse's flesh and died but it gives the horse a fever, diarrhea, colic, loss of appetite, depression, and possibly laminitis. That happen on the Thursday of MACHE weekend. So he got 3 days of oxytetracycline injections and then 5 days of oral doxycycline tablets. He got better it seemed but now this morning he had a relapse. So to make sure he gets all of his doses, he is going to be boarded at Sunrise Equine Vet's clinic from Friday night to Monday night. So that is my sad note; that D.C. won't be home for 3 days.

My happy note is on Tuesday, I graduate from homeschooling at our co-op's Arts and Academic Fair. So no more school for me unless I decide to do something later in life.

Then on Thursday, I start my second to last year of 4-H,  Drill Team and Dog Project. It will hopefully be a great year since I will be using Sean this year. The only reason I didn't use Sean last year is we weren't 'clicking' and I always got scared riding him. Hopefully this year it will be different and I can ride him well and maybe carry a flag this year!

A week ago, I had my Senior pictures taken by Smylee with both of my horses, my dog and cat. It went well and Sean was very well behaved. I like them a lot.

So Sorry!!

I guess I haven't gotten the hang of blogging.
I had wanted to write every week but that didn't get in my head.

Well some exciting things have happened since I last wrote.
I have worked at 2 horse show both of them at Hi Circle Vee in Isanti.

Then end of March there was a 4-H Judges Seminar that the 4-H Drill Team worked at.
We had a food booth and sold lunch, treats, coffee and pop. I also rode a horse named Gilligan through a Western Horsemanship pattern with 3 other riders and the 4-H judges had to place us 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. I got 4th because I didn't know all of the horse's cues to make him move the right way so I kind of failed the pattern.

Then today I tried loading Sean into the trailer because on Saturday, it is Sunrise Equine's Coggins Clinic and I need him to get into the trailer for that. So today was just a refresher course and he got in on the 3rd try. I hope he does it the same way on Saturday.
That's all for now
SmartLittleLena



D.C. and I at MN State 4-H Horse Show with the Isanti County 4-H Drill Team



Sean's Christmas Photo

The Warm Weather

At this time of year, I usually get so excited for all the warm weather and knowing that I can soon go out in a tank top and shorts. But with everything melting and then it gets close to freezing at night, the snow has turned to ice and it gets very slippery out in the horse pasture. Sean is spending a lot of his days in his stall because the ground is slick for him walk out there. D.C. and the other horses walk on the ice just fine without slipping and sliding but Sean almost falls down on that ice.
I am going over my options on what to do so Sean can be outside without falling down.
1.    Putting Cat Litter all over the pasture. That would take a long time to spread and I would probably have to buy 3 or 4 bags.

2. Putting on his hoof boots that he uses on the rocky roads. I checked them-they don't have any grip.

3. Putting on these new shoes that are plastic and good for no slipping.



Ground Control Horseshoes



So many decisions to do in one day; it is hard to keep up.

Smart Little Lena

Horse Showing Fever

During the winter when there is no Pleasure shows going on, I get the Horse Showing Fever. Kind of like Cabin Fever where you can't wait to get to the cabin. Where I can't wait to show my horse in Pleasure and Drill Team. I have been looking for a new show outfit for Pleasure and I think that is getting me the fever. 



I love this shirt but it is sold.



It is a Heartland model rail shirt.

It is so hard to find a shirt with the right color blue I want. That shirt would have been perfect with my right size and everything.

Also another thing that is getting me into wanting Drill Team is that the videos from the MN State 4-H Horse Show just came onto YouTube. Yea! We got 1st in both of our classes, Freestyle and Compulsory. I am riding D.C. in both of these videos.
For Freestyle, I am carrying a black flag and my horse has only 1 white sock (The other horse has 4 white socks) :-)
For Compulsory, it is the same except we aren't carrying flags. At the first part of the video, I am the one 2nd from the far left with my back to the camera.
Freestyle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkTUdCLcH3w&feature=g-all-u&context=G2f00b5dFAAAAAAAADAA

Compulsory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45r7XV9TJNg&feature=g-all-u&context=G26c373bFAAAAAAAACAQ

Show these to your family. They are really cool to watch!
That's it for now,
Smart Little Lena

A Home for the Dog

After 3 weeks since finding a female yellow lab, she has found her home where she belongs.
We were about to give up hope and ready to send this dog to a rescue when last Friday night we got a phone call. The man on the other end heard that we had found this dog and told us that he was looking for a dog like that that had been missing for 2 months. Turns out it was his dog and she returned to old home. THANK THE LORD!!! Since then we have heard that she won't leave his side; he is even tripping over her. Also the day that he picked her was the anniversary of his son's death 4 years ago. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Smart Little Lena

Team Penning

Last Monday, my sister and I went to a private Team Penning practice with our Drill Team. We didn't bring any of our horses since it was cold out and the horse trailer was put away for the winter. All we thought we were going to do is watch the others work with their horses on the cows. Our Drill team coach brought an extra horse which I rode half the time. Then my sister got on him for the rest of the time while I got on one of the parent's horses. So I had a lot of fun riding 2 extremely different horses in 1 night.
I hope to post more more often. Sorry!
SmartLittleLena