Thanks to the recommendation of Mike McEntire (http://www.mcentirereining.com/) for this great new DVD that just arrived. It’s called “REINING the Fundamentals of Judging” from NRHA and I can’t wait to watch it. Mike had an older copy he was kind enough to sit down with me and watch a bit of so I could get the basic idea of what perfect maneuvers are.

It covers the definition of reining, maneuver scoring, penalty application and scoring live runs. You can buy it for $64.95 from the NRHA website.



Can’t wait to start watching it tonight and absorbing the info! I hear they have a pretty neat judges program as well!

I’m continuing with my series on fun ways to transform traditional horse show tail gate and concession eating experiences into a health conscious and even gourmet encounters. I’ve been playing with cutting out as much refined sugar from my diet as possible and seeing that almost everything has sugar or high fructose corn syrup of some sort that’s a bit challenging. This recipe is my cobbler recipe replacing the sugar for honey. When replacing sugar with honey it’s best to use a tad less because honey is naturally sweeter. I do like the dough to be a bit more crisp than this recipe turned out so I might experiment next time with adding some room temp melted butter to the actual dough.

You’ll need a few basic ingredients that you’ll likely have around the house already. In regards to honey, I hear if you eat honey local to your region it can help with any allergies you might have come springtime. So we stock up when possible at the local fruit stands.


Working with frozen fruit is easy but show season is typically spring and summer when lots of great local fresh fruits abound so I prefer to bake with fresh fruit and in this case, local fruit stand peaches and blueberries.


Now I’m not suggesting to go out and spend money on a toaster oven if you don’t already have one but back in the day living at the stable with just the viewing room to prepare food I ended up purchasing a convection toaster oven which does come in handy on hot summer months when I don’t want to pre-heat the full sized oven (which in the summer is almost never) and save a bit on the energy usage as well. I have this toaster oven and it has worked great for me the last 4 years! So pre-heat your oven to 375F.


I put the stick of butter in my baking dish and let it melt inside the preheating oven. Below are the basic ingredients you’ll need.
        1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted
        3/4 cup honey
        1 cup all-purpose flour
        2 teaspoons baking powder
        1/4 teaspoon salt
        1 cup milk
        1 teaspoon vanilla extract
        4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, cubed
        1 cup blueberries
        1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt topping with the honey and blend well. Stir in the milk and vanilla until blended. Pour the batter over the melted butter in your baking dish. Toss the peaches and blueberries in and dash the top with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The top will be browned and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan slightly.

Now for horse show prep, I like to bake in a dish that comes with its own cover and will sit well in the cooler. This is usually an arrival night dessert after a long day of traveling or will keep well until lunch or dinner the next day too.

Enjoy and success in your competitions!

Life with 2 horses, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 ducks and 1 Marine is definitely an animal farm but not really the one George Orwell had in mind. It’s a blast watching the ducks try and fly, crazily chance bugs about back and forth in their yard. The kitty loves tormenting Picollo and Zita daily and they seem to enjoy the antics almost as much. It’s a riot to see the cat, Lil Dude, trot like a lion along the fence line as a momma bird dive bombs him all the way to the horse trailer! Carrara always welcomes me with a light whinny as I walk out the front door, especially when she knows it’s feeding time and little Picollo in general is just the “best paralyzed doxy on the planet” no joke!

Here’s early morning “Let’s PLAY” from the kitty!



And this is what happens when paint is in the same rubbish as chicken bits.



So while you won’t be hearing the sheep from the hay barn chanting “Four legs gooooood. Two legs baaaaad.” you will hear the cicadas churping a chorus in the trees, the occasional whinny, a defensive bark and the quacks from Dooney & Burke and I’d define that as an animal farm and my own personal paradise too!

Some of the walls in my office have undergone a reworking with new drywall and once that was all finished a nice bright color has followed. I went with Valspar’s 3001-1B “Dandelion Wish” and it’s fabulous! The trim color is Valspar’s 3001-2C “Champagne Tickle” and viewing the finished product, I’m tickled beyond delight and all my wishes of a fabulous new look to the HorseGirlTV® studio office have been fulfilled. We just need to get the art and photography up and all set!



Or course Carrara didn’t care either way but the view out the window to her is MUCH improved. Do note the adorable baby picture in the black frame on the shelf behind my desk! And also my Aunt Roberta’s horse clock! It’s many, many years old and I’m so happy she passed it on to me. RIP Aunt Roberta!



Of course a bright new office deserves some wacky furniture and I was thinking this foot stool goes quite well with the farm and horse girl theme. What do you think? Send me your thought to the HorseGirlTV Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/HorseGirlTV/127250575050