Well Rowdy and I finally made our first NATRC (long distance competitive trail riding) competition at Dru Bonner here in Georgetown. Rowdy was great even after 22 miles! And very much to our surprise he took 2nd out of 10 riders/horses in our Novice class. That means he beat out quite a few Arabs. I&rsquove attached a couple of pictures. We&rsquore off to another event this weekend near Santa Cruz.

I think of TIER all the time, like everyday I walk out and see Rowdy. What a wonderful boy he is&hellipnow that he is about 8, he&rsquos really coming into his own. Has a level head about him and we just have a great old time out riding. As I mentioned we&rsquove been working towards competing in NATRAC events&hellipwe were up to 25 miles rides last year while conditioning, but my travels for work just kept us from any event&hellipBut the New Years resolution is we will compete this year.

As I may or may have not emailed you&hellipafter I brought him home, he went into training as he was green green, but still a good boy. He then caught strangles at the barn he was at&hellipso home he came, but by this time he was well under saddle. After the strangles were gone, we started riding again, but then he developed an absess, which healed, but then he foundered in both front feet. With lots of love, medicines, special shoes and supplements and 9 months off, he was well again. So that was his first 2 years here&hellipbut for the last 3 years&hellip.he has been healthy and has progressed extremely well in training here at home and at clinics.

The attached picture is from last summer at Euer Valley near Lake Tahoe&hellipone of my favorite places for vacations&hellipwonderful riding. Even if I do say so myself, he is an extremely handsome gentlemen.

Bless you and all your friends and supporters for the work you do.

Wanted to get a quick update to you on Rowdy. He's doing great! He's been at the trainers now for about 3 months. As you recall he was younger than first thought, only 3 and very green. The trainer took her time with him and it has really paid off. I have ridden him several times now-what a guy-walk, trots, canters, side passes, back-up. We're beginning neck reining now-so he'll be coming home soon. He's playful and loves other horses. Sometimes I take treats to him and he shares with the other horses around him.

The trainer has had him out on a couple of short trail rides and he doesn't spook easily. But she has warned me to be prepared-he likes to walk fast-so I guess I'll be out in front on our club rides. Can hardly wait to bring him home.

Rowdy is doing GREAT! He spent a month and a half here. We've working on trust and ground manners. Last Saturday I took him over to the trainers-so he is in boarding school. He's very smart and once he understands something, you can see him relax and just go with the flow. Yesterday he had a saddle on and didn't mind at all. Actually the trainer started to lean over him with the saddle and still he took to it very well. Today I worked with him on the longe line (with the trainer coaching), again he did well. We all think that after a few more months of training, handling and love, he'll be just a big old lovey dovey pet.

The horse dentist was out today and removed his very large wolve teeth. By the way, the dentist says he's 3. So we have a younger horse than expected. I have some great pictures and as soon as I can get to Staples to have them scanned and forward on to you.