Greetings!
Today I want to discuss a very important event coming up. The Calgary Stampede!
Now, the Calgary Stampede has got to be one of my favourite events of the summer. It always lives up to its claim of being the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. I have been to the Stampede almost every year of my life. It's always a blast.
A lot of the Stampede is based around tourism. This includes the shows, the concerts, and the rides. I think the best parts of the Stampede are, in fact, the agriculture related parts. One of the best parts is no longer there, though. This is the youth show. I loved the youth show being at the Stampede because it really gave me a chance to exhibit my animals to many people who, on a regular basis, are not exposed to this type of things. I always had people asking me to explain 4-H and things about cattle. I thought it was so cool to be able to enlighten people about the wonders that I deal with every day.
Another great thing about the Stampede is the rodeo. Many people, however, feel that rodeo is considered cruelty to the animals involved. I don't believe this. Those people are entitled to their opinions, but I feel that rodeo is a good natured sport. The animals are not harmed and are well taken care of. There are many worse places they could be. I think rodeo is fascinating because it does take a lot of skill to be able to compete in the fashion that these people do. It takes disipline, time, and patience to be able to be as good as they are. I hope to be in the Calgary Stampede one day. First, I'd like to be the Rodeo Queen of the Stampede and then possibly barrel race in it.
Well I enjoyed telling you about an event that is very important to me. I have yet another parade and rodeo tomorrow so I will keep you posted on the happenings.
~Miranda~
Thursday 30 June 2011
Sunday 26 June 2011
I want to be a princess when I grow up.
Hello! Wow it's been a while since I last posted! I've been super busy, though, so there is a lot to tell!
First off, last weekend was the rodeo. The Pete Knight Days Rodeo, to be exact. This is kind of important seeing as this is the rodeo I'm representing in the first place.
Friday night was the crowning. We brought out our horses and rode in the Grand Entry. My horse has never done this before, so she was a little nervous. She was fine with the flag going by, although she didn't stand still and tried to run. A lot. After that we chased calves after the guys had roped them, and Oakie was perfectly fine. At intermission, we had our crowning. It was so intense because me and the other girl were so close in the running. We decided we should just be co-queens! Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. So she ended up winning queen and I got princess. I'm actually perfectly fine with not winning queen because I realized that every little girl, at some point in her life, has said "I want to be a princess when I grow up." Well now I am one, so it's pretty cool.
On Saturday, we had the parade. My horse was really freaked out because so much was going on at the same time. There was noise and motion all around her and it was a lot to take in. Fortunately for me, she was fine during the actual parade. After that, we had to go in the Grand Entry, again. Oakie did not take well to that. I think it was mostly because it was about to rain, there was a lot of wind, and the flag kept coming too close to her, but she freaked! She reared up and almost started running and bucking, but some one came and held on to her for me. After that happened, I really didn't want to run around and back out, so we just walked her out. It was a good thing that she was still being held because when the rest of the horses came running out past her she completely flipped and she reared up so far that I thought she was going to fall backwards. This kind of made me nervous, so we didn't chase the calves after that. Emily, the queen, worked Oakie a little bit and made sure that she was fine. Oakie was great for Emily so we decided to call it a day. We loaded up the horses and spent some time just talking to people. Then I took my horse home and unpacked everything. I was so tired!
Another thing that has been going on lately is my calves. Summer Synergy is coming up pretty soon, so my brother and I have been getting our calves in the barn almost every day. We chase them in, put halters on them, tie them up, spray them with the hose, put a fan on them, and then feed them. This has quite a few affects. Catching them and tying them up helps to halter break them and calm them down. It will allow us to be able to lead them a lot easier and help keep them calm when they are tied in their stalls. Plus it keeps them away from their mothers, which helps because, at Synergy, they won't be with their mothers most of the day. By soaking them and putting the fan on them, it helps them to grow hair. This makes fitting a whole lot easier! The food is just to let them know that they get a treat for coming into the barn.
But that's it for now. I have yet another rodeo coming up this weekend so I will definitely post again after that sometime.
~Miranda~
First off, last weekend was the rodeo. The Pete Knight Days Rodeo, to be exact. This is kind of important seeing as this is the rodeo I'm representing in the first place.
Friday night was the crowning. We brought out our horses and rode in the Grand Entry. My horse has never done this before, so she was a little nervous. She was fine with the flag going by, although she didn't stand still and tried to run. A lot. After that we chased calves after the guys had roped them, and Oakie was perfectly fine. At intermission, we had our crowning. It was so intense because me and the other girl were so close in the running. We decided we should just be co-queens! Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. So she ended up winning queen and I got princess. I'm actually perfectly fine with not winning queen because I realized that every little girl, at some point in her life, has said "I want to be a princess when I grow up." Well now I am one, so it's pretty cool.
On Saturday, we had the parade. My horse was really freaked out because so much was going on at the same time. There was noise and motion all around her and it was a lot to take in. Fortunately for me, she was fine during the actual parade. After that, we had to go in the Grand Entry, again. Oakie did not take well to that. I think it was mostly because it was about to rain, there was a lot of wind, and the flag kept coming too close to her, but she freaked! She reared up and almost started running and bucking, but some one came and held on to her for me. After that happened, I really didn't want to run around and back out, so we just walked her out. It was a good thing that she was still being held because when the rest of the horses came running out past her she completely flipped and she reared up so far that I thought she was going to fall backwards. This kind of made me nervous, so we didn't chase the calves after that. Emily, the queen, worked Oakie a little bit and made sure that she was fine. Oakie was great for Emily so we decided to call it a day. We loaded up the horses and spent some time just talking to people. Then I took my horse home and unpacked everything. I was so tired!
Another thing that has been going on lately is my calves. Summer Synergy is coming up pretty soon, so my brother and I have been getting our calves in the barn almost every day. We chase them in, put halters on them, tie them up, spray them with the hose, put a fan on them, and then feed them. This has quite a few affects. Catching them and tying them up helps to halter break them and calm them down. It will allow us to be able to lead them a lot easier and help keep them calm when they are tied in their stalls. Plus it keeps them away from their mothers, which helps because, at Synergy, they won't be with their mothers most of the day. By soaking them and putting the fan on them, it helps them to grow hair. This makes fitting a whole lot easier! The food is just to let them know that they get a treat for coming into the barn.
But that's it for now. I have yet another rodeo coming up this weekend so I will definitely post again after that sometime.
~Miranda~
Sunday 12 June 2011
There's only one way to never fall off your horse.
Hello people of the Internet! Some very interesting things have happened this past week and I shall be informing you of them.
First off, last Monday I had my riding test. I got all prettied up and took my horse over to the place where the test was and I warmed her up. The first thing we did was ride on the rail (circle around the arena close to the wall) and got told commands. We would have to carry out these commands as fast and accurate as we could. It was basically things like: walk, jog, lope, stop, turn around, and such. Oakie doesn't have a lot of control, so this was fairly difficult. After that, we dismounted and mounted our horses. The judges asked us a few questions, then it was on to the patterns! We had been practicing these patterns for weeks, so Oakie did really well on it. The only thing she did wrong was picking up the incorrect lead on one of the patterns. Fortunately, I discovered this right away, brought her down, and brought her back up on the correct lead. After that, the judges talked for a while and that was the end of that. I think I did fairly decent on the riding test, despite a couple of mistakes.
On Thursday night, we had our next test. Our written test. After the test we were supposed to walk around the farmers market, so my mother took me to someones house so I could get my hair and make up done, perfectly. Finally, it was time for our test. It was so hard! I now get what my dad means when he says that we are cow people with horses, not horse people. The test had some questions about horse parts and Pete Knight, the legendary bronc rider, on it. Those were multiple choice and fairly easy. The hard part was labelling the parts of the hoof, saddle, bridal, and horse. I was so lost! After our test, we went and walked around the farmers market and talked to people. It was pretty fun, although after a while it got a little boring.
Friday night I was preparing for my parade the next day. I decided to take my horse for one last ride before the parade and we went to get the calves in from the field. My brother saddled up his horse and came with me, his horse's baby following. It was going pretty good, until my brother had to go get a calf and a cow cut away. I went after the cow and picked up a jog. Oakie decided she'd rather run, then slow down to a jog really fast so I'd lose my balance. Then she decided she'd buck, sending me flying. I hit the ground so fast, and it hurt so much. My brother then went and got the quad so he could bring me back to the barn because I couldn't even put weight on my leg. J.T. got all the cows in, and both of our horses. There's the old rule that says when you fall off your horse, always get back on. At the time I couldn't even put weight on my leg without almost collapsing, so there was no way I'd be able to ride. Instead, I asked J.T. if he could get on for me. He did and Oakie was fine. Since I had a parade the next day, I decided to just sleep off the pain.
Saturday came around and my leg hurt more than ever. It was about 5:30 in the morning when I got up and I was super tired. My mother said that I had to ride my horse before I went, no matter how much it hurt. After getting dressed and curling my hair, I went out. I needed help putting on my saddle, though, because I couldn't lift it high enough to put it on. When I went to get on, it hurt so much! I got on myself, anyways. We went to the parade two hours early, and the parade only took about 30 minutes It was a lot of fun, though, because we got to put glitter and ribbon and stuff all over our horses! They looked so good! After that we went home and I finally got to relax.
So much stuff has happened and it's all been so fun! My towns rodeo, where I get crowned, is coming up this weekend and so after that there will be a lot to talk about! And there is only one way to never fall off your horse. That's to never get on in the first place. Until next time.
~Miranda~
First off, last Monday I had my riding test. I got all prettied up and took my horse over to the place where the test was and I warmed her up. The first thing we did was ride on the rail (circle around the arena close to the wall) and got told commands. We would have to carry out these commands as fast and accurate as we could. It was basically things like: walk, jog, lope, stop, turn around, and such. Oakie doesn't have a lot of control, so this was fairly difficult. After that, we dismounted and mounted our horses. The judges asked us a few questions, then it was on to the patterns! We had been practicing these patterns for weeks, so Oakie did really well on it. The only thing she did wrong was picking up the incorrect lead on one of the patterns. Fortunately, I discovered this right away, brought her down, and brought her back up on the correct lead. After that, the judges talked for a while and that was the end of that. I think I did fairly decent on the riding test, despite a couple of mistakes.
On Thursday night, we had our next test. Our written test. After the test we were supposed to walk around the farmers market, so my mother took me to someones house so I could get my hair and make up done, perfectly. Finally, it was time for our test. It was so hard! I now get what my dad means when he says that we are cow people with horses, not horse people. The test had some questions about horse parts and Pete Knight, the legendary bronc rider, on it. Those were multiple choice and fairly easy. The hard part was labelling the parts of the hoof, saddle, bridal, and horse. I was so lost! After our test, we went and walked around the farmers market and talked to people. It was pretty fun, although after a while it got a little boring.
Friday night I was preparing for my parade the next day. I decided to take my horse for one last ride before the parade and we went to get the calves in from the field. My brother saddled up his horse and came with me, his horse's baby following. It was going pretty good, until my brother had to go get a calf and a cow cut away. I went after the cow and picked up a jog. Oakie decided she'd rather run, then slow down to a jog really fast so I'd lose my balance. Then she decided she'd buck, sending me flying. I hit the ground so fast, and it hurt so much. My brother then went and got the quad so he could bring me back to the barn because I couldn't even put weight on my leg. J.T. got all the cows in, and both of our horses. There's the old rule that says when you fall off your horse, always get back on. At the time I couldn't even put weight on my leg without almost collapsing, so there was no way I'd be able to ride. Instead, I asked J.T. if he could get on for me. He did and Oakie was fine. Since I had a parade the next day, I decided to just sleep off the pain.
Saturday came around and my leg hurt more than ever. It was about 5:30 in the morning when I got up and I was super tired. My mother said that I had to ride my horse before I went, no matter how much it hurt. After getting dressed and curling my hair, I went out. I needed help putting on my saddle, though, because I couldn't lift it high enough to put it on. When I went to get on, it hurt so much! I got on myself, anyways. We went to the parade two hours early, and the parade only took about 30 minutes It was a lot of fun, though, because we got to put glitter and ribbon and stuff all over our horses! They looked so good! After that we went home and I finally got to relax.
So much stuff has happened and it's all been so fun! My towns rodeo, where I get crowned, is coming up this weekend and so after that there will be a lot to talk about! And there is only one way to never fall off your horse. That's to never get on in the first place. Until next time.
~Miranda~
Sunday 5 June 2011
This is the life
Hello people! Boy have I ever been busy lately!
Of course, as you know from my last post, just last weekend was 4-H On Parade. The entire weekend was non stop work and fun. All weekend there were shows. I came in last with my steer and my heifer but I came in third with my cow calf. I sold my steer, who ended up weighing 1187, for about $2.25/lb so I'm not too sad. Over the weekend there were a ton of little kids running around and they always wanted to touch the cattle. We tought them about animal safety and where to stand to pet the animal. This included telling them why not to stand by the back legs of cattle. I also saw a lot of my friends there who I haven't seen in a long time so overall it was a pretty enjoyable weekend.
So today I took my horse to my friend/instructors house out by Carstairs. I like to expose my horse to new things on a regular basis because when she rides in rodeos and parades, nothing will be too big of a surprise. Today we took our horses out into the field and rode around for a bit. Oakie spooked at a duck, but that was about it. My parents thought it would also be a good idea to make sure her saddle was fitted properly, seeing as my friend's parents own a saddle store. When they brought out a tape measure and tried to measure her, she flipped. Oakie reared up and ran away. We got her all calmed down a couple minutes later, and decided to try her with a new saddle anyways. This all made me a little nervous to take her on the next part of our journey.
The next thing we did was take our horses and ride into town. My horse was a little scared at first because she'd never ridden beside a highway in a ditch before. And certainly never around moving traffic. After a few minutes, she calmed down. She was perfectly fine riding through the streets and around the town and was fine with the barking dogs and trains. When we went over the railroad tracks, she didn't even blink an eye. After riding all around town, we rode to the rodeo grounds.
The rodeo grounds had a much bigger arena than the one I have a home so it took me a bit to get used to it. Before I knew it we were flying around the arena because it's always funner to go faster when there's more room. I practiced my riding pattern a couple times there and after about 2 or 3 times I got it almost perfect. I was so excited because Oakie picked up both of the correct leads on the first time and even stopped when I wanted her to. I was super impressed. After that we stopped doing the pattern because Oakie hates it and would just get worse from there. It's always better to end on a good note, anyways.
The last thing we did before leaving the rodeo grounds was work with barrels. Barrel racing has always been a big dream of mine, but I've never had the time or discipline to be able to get into it. We started by just walking around the barrels because this teaches the horse the path she needs to take. I also learned that when you go up to a barrel at a walking pace, you need to stop just before it because this teaches the horse she needs to slow down when she goes around the barrel. Of course it is a lot more complicated than this but it's a good start. I then jogged the path and when doing this you have to walk around the barrels. Something else I learned was that for every one time you run the barrels, you should walk it at least 10 times. This is important because it teaches the horse discipline and the proper way to do it. I had so much fun doing all of it! This really is the life.
After we rode back, \we took a look at the saddle and a couple new bridals. I ended up buying the saddle because it fit Oakie so much better and fit me a lot better too. I also ended up borrowing my friends bridal because it is a lot showier and shinier than mine.
That's all that's really new for now but this week I have a riding test and written test for rodeo and next weekend I have my first parade so I will update you as events happen. Also, there will be pictures to come so watch for them!
~Miranda~
Of course, as you know from my last post, just last weekend was 4-H On Parade. The entire weekend was non stop work and fun. All weekend there were shows. I came in last with my steer and my heifer but I came in third with my cow calf. I sold my steer, who ended up weighing 1187, for about $2.25/lb so I'm not too sad. Over the weekend there were a ton of little kids running around and they always wanted to touch the cattle. We tought them about animal safety and where to stand to pet the animal. This included telling them why not to stand by the back legs of cattle. I also saw a lot of my friends there who I haven't seen in a long time so overall it was a pretty enjoyable weekend.
So today I took my horse to my friend/instructors house out by Carstairs. I like to expose my horse to new things on a regular basis because when she rides in rodeos and parades, nothing will be too big of a surprise. Today we took our horses out into the field and rode around for a bit. Oakie spooked at a duck, but that was about it. My parents thought it would also be a good idea to make sure her saddle was fitted properly, seeing as my friend's parents own a saddle store. When they brought out a tape measure and tried to measure her, she flipped. Oakie reared up and ran away. We got her all calmed down a couple minutes later, and decided to try her with a new saddle anyways. This all made me a little nervous to take her on the next part of our journey.
The next thing we did was take our horses and ride into town. My horse was a little scared at first because she'd never ridden beside a highway in a ditch before. And certainly never around moving traffic. After a few minutes, she calmed down. She was perfectly fine riding through the streets and around the town and was fine with the barking dogs and trains. When we went over the railroad tracks, she didn't even blink an eye. After riding all around town, we rode to the rodeo grounds.
The rodeo grounds had a much bigger arena than the one I have a home so it took me a bit to get used to it. Before I knew it we were flying around the arena because it's always funner to go faster when there's more room. I practiced my riding pattern a couple times there and after about 2 or 3 times I got it almost perfect. I was so excited because Oakie picked up both of the correct leads on the first time and even stopped when I wanted her to. I was super impressed. After that we stopped doing the pattern because Oakie hates it and would just get worse from there. It's always better to end on a good note, anyways.
The last thing we did before leaving the rodeo grounds was work with barrels. Barrel racing has always been a big dream of mine, but I've never had the time or discipline to be able to get into it. We started by just walking around the barrels because this teaches the horse the path she needs to take. I also learned that when you go up to a barrel at a walking pace, you need to stop just before it because this teaches the horse she needs to slow down when she goes around the barrel. Of course it is a lot more complicated than this but it's a good start. I then jogged the path and when doing this you have to walk around the barrels. Something else I learned was that for every one time you run the barrels, you should walk it at least 10 times. This is important because it teaches the horse discipline and the proper way to do it. I had so much fun doing all of it! This really is the life.
After we rode back, \we took a look at the saddle and a couple new bridals. I ended up buying the saddle because it fit Oakie so much better and fit me a lot better too. I also ended up borrowing my friends bridal because it is a lot showier and shinier than mine.
That's all that's really new for now but this week I have a riding test and written test for rodeo and next weekend I have my first parade so I will update you as events happen. Also, there will be pictures to come so watch for them!
~Miranda~
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