To get to the other side and to get published on the HorseGirlTV blog of course! I put Carrara out in one of the side paddocks when it had cooled down in the afternoon and she wouldn’t stop starring at the arena. Wondering what was so fascinating, I walked over to see a massive snapper was crossing the dressage court! Seriously this guy/gal (whatever) was a little over a foot long and had a quick snap!

Ah the fun things that one finds on farms in this state! It’s always a interesting out here!

We have winners in the Draper Tale of the Traveling Polo Contest! Thanks to everyone who entered!! Thanks to the awesome folks at Draper (http://draperequinetherapy.com) for providing the polos!

The 1st winner of the Tale of the Traveling Polo Contest is Lisa Arney. Lisa had this to say, ” I have been an avid Dressage rider and Trainer with my mother for years and now am converting to Cutting. I would love the opportunity to use them on my FEI dressage horse and my National level cutting mare. What an opportunity to see them in action in two very strenuous sports. I feel protecting the legs on our performance horses should come first. Fortunetly in Cutting we are allowed to show with them on what a great way to promote your product I will promise action pictures with them on.” CONGRATS Lisa! We can’t wait to see great action shots of both your dressage and cutting horses!

The 2nd winner and next in line for the Draper Tale of the Traveling Polo Contest is Lisa Marie McGee Afshari. Lisa submitted this info with her listing, “I would like to suggest my therapeutic riding center as a place for Draper to test new polos. I have several old horses donated to Ready Set Ride, Plainefield, Illinois who are all in need of leg support due to injuries and types of unbalanced riders on board. My guys could use all the support they can get.” CONGRATS to you also Lisa! We hope your working therapeutic horses that have the opportunity to trial the polos enjoy them very much!

Our 3rd winner and next in line for the Draper Tale of the Traveling Polo Contest is Thresa Cunningham-Bailey. Thresa entered, “I would love to win some of the new polos! I know that you feature mainly dressage/hunter/jumpers – but there are a lot of barrel racers that use polos too and our horses put a lot of strain on their legs – so reach out to the horses that really get down in the dirt!!!” Congrats Thresa! WOW! Barrels! We’re looking forward to seeing some great action shots of those tight barrel turns in the fabulous Draper Polos!

A big congrats to all our winners and thanks to everyone who participated! Stayed tuned to the HorseGirlTV Facebook page this coming week as we launch another FABULOUS contest where we’ll be giving away a FREE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION to Bernie Traurigs Equestrian Coach (http://equestriancoach.com)!

Nope this is not going to be a politically driven rant about British Petroleum. It’s going to be short, sweet and to the point. I woke up this morning, sat up and looked at the email on my iPhone. I read this from the awesome inventor of the Shake n’ Fork…

“Does the fork in the photo look familiar? It should, its the one you sent back to me with a different basket made for sifting tarballs. According to BP it is the most effective hand tool that has ever been presented to them for collecting tarballs from beaches and they are actually buying them from me. I am down here in Alabama demonstrating it to the contractors in the area and it makes me so proud to see the yellow forks riding in the back of the sand buggies when they go to the beaches in the morning.”

I was SO over-joyed I had tears in my eyes! This amazing inventor of the Shake n’ Fork, Mr. Joesph Berto, had done it! The “most effective hand tool that have even been present to them for collecting tarballs” was just ringing in my ears. To me, this was THE turning point in this whole BP fiasco and the success of Mr. Berto’s invention on another platform, well, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person truly looking for ways to innovate. Not only is the Shake n’ Fork the most effective stall cleaning tool I’ve worked with but now it’s going to help thousands of people and the environment on the Gulf Coast! Awesome! I love win-win situations!

If you want to see the exact same Shake n’ Fork in this picture below actually in action on HorseGirlTV go to https://blog.horsegirltv.com/blog/?p=1358 and here’s the wonderful picture he attached to the email this morning showing the workers testing it out!

Kudos to someone at BP for finally making a decent decision that really can and will help Gulf Coast residents!

So we have a pretty open air barn which is great in the summer time and it’s fabulous that the horses can watch the sun go down from their stalls but dang it, it’s HOT sometimes in the afternoons in Eastern North Carolina! We recently put up the awesome Horse Fly Nets (check em out online at http://horseflynet.com/) which are geared towards eliminating flies but they also do a great job of blocking the heat of the sun while still being able to have a great view. It was easy to hang and the horses took an extra look at it ONCE then were over it and now we brush past them when turning out and nobody cares.



And of course the view is shaded but still a fabulous sunset to watch and enjoy in much cooler barn temps!



Check them out as they are a neat company and the innovator, Karleen, is a HorseGirl as well!

So I’ve been thinking of horse show and clinic friendly cooking this summer. I ask myself, what will pack/travel well yet be appetizing in the midday heat of horse shows. The same old, same old of PB&J with bottled water just doesn’t cut it sometimes and I’m often tempted to buy a greasy (albeit often tasty and supportive of the event) cheese burger. In the heat that 1/4 pound of meat just sits at the bottom of my stomach like a ton of bricks.

I thought it would be fun to test out different salad and sandwich options and work on being a little creative so here’s my first stab at it. We’ll be taking these tasty treats along to the Carolina Reining Futurity show this weekend!



Chicken Curry Croissant Sandwich:
    2 cooked whole chicken breasts, food processed
    1/4 cup nuts (I use a variety), food processed
    1/4 cup craisins (or raisins)
    4 celery stalks (no need to de-string), food processed
    Salt to your liking (I put 1/2 tsp.)
    4 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
    Curry powder to your liking (I put 1 tsp.)
    8 Croissants (cut in half with serrated knife for cleanest cut)

In a large bowl, combine chicken, nuts, craisins, celery, salt, mayonnaise, and stir until well blended. Add curry powder. Blend well and store in sealable container until ready to load up! Don’t forget your pre-cut croissants & a spoon.



This stays chilled well in the cooler and is easy to prepare from your trailer, tack room or even ringside!

Instead of just bottled waters, treat yourself to a little southern health friendly sweet iced tea! I make a caffeine free raspberry tea and sweeten with agave nectar. I’ve been working on cutting out as much refined sugar as possible and this is a GREAT natural sweetener (Thanks Tanya!). Unlike refined sugar is has low glycemic index. I make a 6 cups concentrated tea in a mason jar, sealed well and just water it down in my cup straight from the hose in the barn aisle!

Happy showing and blue ribbons all around!

I’ve been talking about it since 2007. Talking about returning to my Texas roots of riding western and four years later I’m actually doing it. Last month I phoned up a wonderful gentleman who I interviewed for HorseGirlTV a couple years ago and told him I was ready to get into reining and would he consider lessons. Now we’re not just talking any average reining horse trainer but a talent who’s consistently in the top 20, Mr. Mike McEntire (http://www.mcentirereining.com/).

Mike was gracious on the phone and told me to come out and he’d put me up on a horse to let me get the feel. Apart from my 4-H years, in which I massacred the reining test on my $250 grade mare who could barely neck rein (but thank goodness for the opportunity to have a horse at any price as a child), I’d been on a reiner once before at John Irish Performance horses for our “It’s Reining. It’s Pouring” webisode (which was one of the first webisodes and still one of my favorites).

I drove out 2 hours (which seemed like nothing considering I traveled with my horse for TWO DAYS to train in Holland this past fall) to his ranch, rode this awesome stud who I found out AFTER the lesson was qualified for the WEG qualifier. Holy cow! He put me on one of his GOOD horses. How neat. So… I was hooked and ready to come back the next week and the next week after. Week #2 I was on a cute 5 year old gelding by the same stud as his top horse (by Lil Ruf Peppy) and this last week I got to ride a 5 year old mare that was a very different feel from the week previous. So 3 lessons in all and I’m hooked, my dressage horses are for sale (of course I’ll continue to teach and love dressage) and I’m looking forward to a mellow winter of AQHA riding. After lots of hard work in dressage I think I deserve at least a little break to be a mellow cowgirl

The 2 hour drive is pleasant and filled with LOTS of the view below so I get quite a bit of thinking done and some HorseGirlTV phone meetings as well!


I don’t have any pictures of me riding yet but at some point soon I will and will share them. For now here’s the neat iron entrance.



And I’m SUPER excited to try this innovative new pad that I’m so honored to ride in by a legend in the reining world, Mr. Donn Leson. His wife is a dressage trainer and he’s been making the best western saddles in the world since 1966. This “Security Blanket” pad just seems too kewl and definitely innovative so I’m all about getting the best fit/ride possible whether it be dressage or reining. Can’t wait to try it out! If you want to check out Mr. Leson’s saddles his website is here http://lesonsaddles.com/ and the Security Blanket is on there! I get to ride in one of the Leson Reinmakers at McEntire ranch and can’t wait to have one of my own at some point soon!