Snakesssss

Once upon a time, I had a lot of reptiles. There are mentions of Annabelle, my bearded dragon, in other posts, so this one is all about the snakes. I started out with a ball python that I got off Craigslist from a guy that wasn't taking very good care of her. That was Roxy:

Roxy was super chill, so much so that she helped me out with my Halloween costume one year ("Whatever I Can Throw Together"). She was a cool snake that really seemed to enjoy any time spent out of her tank.

After Roxy, I think my next purchase was Rowan, a motley sunburst corn snake. I ordered him from a breeder, and he was so tiny when he arrived:

He was always very vibrant, but in the time I owned him, he seemed to grow even prettier with each passing day.

One I had two, it was like potato chips. While at a reptile show, I picked up a baby snow corn snake, who slowly became this beauty:

Though Rosalie wasn't super friendly when I first got her, over time she turned into a very sweet snake.

I couldn't believe the yellow she developed:

The only snake I regretted buying was Ysmay, an impulse purchase I picked up at another reptile show. The guy was selling her for cheap, so I took advantage of it.

Though she was cute with her big eyes, she turned out meaner than my other three snakes. She struck at me so many times that I lost count, and to this day, I don't believe she was full corn snake. Unfortunately she died not too long after I got her, leading me to believe that she was probably so cheap because the guy knew something was wrong with her. She was a pretty girl, though.

This post was inspired by me finding photos of my snakes tonight, which I thought were lost forever. I'm so excited to see them again. When I moved to my small country house back in 2011, I rehomed my remaining three snakes (Roxy, Rowan and Rosalie) since in addition to them I also owned two dogs, a cat, a horse, two guinea pigs and a bearded dragon, and I thought that was probably enough for my new roommate to handle without kicking me out. While I do not know what happened to Roxy, the people I gave Rowan and Rosalie to still own them, and I'm hoping to get updated photos soon. I can't believe it has been five years, and I'm excited to see what they look like all grown up!

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Colorado wedding

Three weeks ago we flew to Denver, Colorado for Philip's sister's wedding. It was a little dicey flying in, for when we arrived, the weather was like this:

Of course, none of the shoes I brought along were sensible for snow. I spent the entire weekend wearing high-heeled boots since they were the only ones that went above my ankle. Relatedly, RIP high-heeled boots since they were ruined by walking through the snow and ice.

We took advantage of the wonderful weather (blowing snow and precipitation) to walk around Denver and see the places Philip frequented when he lived there.

 Though I froze, I liked seeing the restaurants he hung out at and the places he played his guitar. We also checked out the architecture he studied during his Master's degree – places like the library and an art museum that looks like a rock formation. We ate pizza at Mellow Mushroom for lunch, forgetting that we were having pizza at the rehearsal dinner later that evening. No regrets.

The wedding the next evening was held at a beautiful venue made even better by all of the snow on the ground.

We had a great time partying and hanging out with his family and enjoyed lots of niece and nephew time. It was also nice to get to see the mountains again, especially when they looked like this:

I hope to return to Colorado one day soon in the spring or summer so I can actually go up into the mountains!

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Horse show travels: Augusta, GA

A recent horse show took me and a coworker to Augusta, Georgia, for the Augusta Futurity. The show is put on by the parent company of my company, so my duties were a lot more involved than usual. In addition to my normal event coverage, I also helped my coworker put together a program for Saturday night's finals, which consisted of interviewing tons of people and writing lots of little profiles about them. I had a good time at the show in spite of the cold, wet Augusta weather. For example, I woke up to this one morning:

It's not as impressive since it had already started melting, but that didn't stop children from running around outside my hotel room screaming "DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN???!??!" while throwing snowballs at each other.

Though we weren't staying on the Riverwalk, we drove over to check it out one chilly afternoon. It was beautiful in winter, and I imagine it's even prettier in spring.

 

Also, during some rare time off, I drove over to Aiken, South Carolina so that I could cross another state off my list. I chose Aiken because I read that it was a pretty horse-friendly city, and I think that description serves it well. There are parts of the town where the roads are dirt, and you'll see signs at intersections that say, "Yield to horses in intersection." We saw several people out driving horses or riding, and there were big parks for people to train in.

My next show is Texas-based, so I have no idea right now which state I'll find myself in next. All I know is that we need to get reining, cutting or cow horse events up in the Northeast states so that I can travel there! I need to cross one more state off my list to be halfway to 50!

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Horse show travels: Oklahoma City

Although I'm a native Texan, I had never been to Oklahoma until my husband and I went camping in Ardmore a few months ago. I then got to experience it again when a coworker and I drove up to Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity in November. Thankfully, there was no icy or bad weather during our visit, but in spite of my taking lots of Vitamin C while I was there, I still managed to come home with the Futurity Crud. But there's no time for sick days when you're trying to get a magazine out the door!

The NRHA Futurity was so much fun to watch. I made new friends, and it was exciting to celebrate with one of them when the horse he trained as a 2-year-old ended up winning the Non-Pro. Additionally, the horse and rider that I interviewed in Las Vegas after they won the Futurity Open ended up winning the whole shebang in OKC after a run-off. I absolutely ADORE that mare, and I was so excited to see her win.

Another horse I was excited to see was Smokey, aka American Pharoah's pony horse! A former reiner, he was at the Futurity to be a reining ambassador, and he demonstrated the patterns before the finals classes. He also stood (somewhat grumpily, but who can blame him) to let people take photos with him. People such as myself!

Oklahoma City was a fun way to finish my travel for the year. It's always better traveling with a coworker, and when that coworker happens to be your BFF in DFW, all the better. After a nice break for Christmas and New Years and lots of time with family and friends, I'm getting geared up to strike out again on more travels soon.

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Horse show travels: Paso Robles, CA

Whelp, this is long overdue, but in October I flew to San Jose, California, only to rent a car and drive about 2.5 hours to Paso Robles, California, for the PCCHA Futurity. While the route I took on the way over did not sport very scenic views, I went back on Highway 1, and that drive along the coast was quite beautiful!

Paso Robles is wine country, as evidenced by the many wineries that call it home. The town itself is not very big, but it does boast a good pizza place called Rustic Fire. I may have eaten there multiple times on my trip; I may crave it every day now. Don't worry about it.

Alas, I did not drink even a sip of wine, but I did see impressive expanses of grape vines as I drove through the country. On my way back to San Jose, I stopped several times whenever the view warranted it. Times like this:

And this:

It was a tad windy on the coastline:

I tried to go see Hearst Castle, but I discovered when I got to it that I had to pay for a tour that included a bus ride to the top of the mountain where it sits, and I didn't feel like spending 2.5 hours doing that or being that social. So I just looked at it from afar.

After I left Hearst Castle, I was driving along Highway 1 when I spotted a sign that said "Elephant Seal Lookout" with an arrow pointing towards a parking lot. Naturally, I swerved in. And I was not disappointed:

There were so many! And they were sleeping and arguing and making great noises...best stop yet.

I always love California and was really happy to get to go twice in 2015 (including the side trip I took to Lake Tahoe while in Reno). Maybe I'll get to visit again this year!

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5 Things I Learned From Chica

(I just noticed today that I have a surprising amount of drafts on my blog that I've never posted, and I was going through them to see what they were. There were some that made me happy (like a post about a large horse show I took Sienna to that I never posted), and some that made me pensive (several posts that pondered whether being financially broke but happy due to the horses was worth it). And then there was this post, written shortly after Chica bucked me off nearly three years ago and gave me a concussion. It wasn't finished, so I've edited it down to five things instead. But they are all big things, and Chica deserves the credit for them. Here we go!)

As a followup to the "10 Things I Hate About Chica" post, I thought I should post some nicer, more gracious tidbits about my pony. As a side note, it has been almost FIFTEEN years since she attempted to buck me off the first day I owned her. Wow.

I could go through and list the obvious things my horse has taught me: how to be a better rider, for instance. How to sit a buck (or not). But I think it would be more fun to write about the non-conventional things she has taught me, the priceless knowledge I have gained from my best red-headed girl.

5. How to French braid. During our days on the Katy Cowgirls drill team in high school, part of our costume was a large star with ribbons that had to be French-braided into the horse's tail. After a year or two of having to sit and wait for someone else to do it for me, I finally decided to learn how to do it myself. Chica always stood there patiently as I braided and unbraided her tail, until I understood the process. By my last year in Katy Cowgirls, other girls were enlisting me to help them.

The tail star...and an unsure expression on my face.

4. How to mount a horse bare-back, from the ground. Not from a mounting block or fence. Chica and my aunt get the credit for this one. My aunt told me the theory, and it was up to me to figure out the movement. Again, Chica patiently stood there while I yanked her mane, kicked her in the side, slid off, tried again, and again, and AGAIN, until I finally succeeded in the correct jump/swing combo. (This is actually something I can still do today, although I've learned that the mathematics for the "jump/swing" vary from horse to horse.)

3. How to be assertive. For our first years together, Chica had my number and knew how to intimidate me. It was something that started off small and grew the less I worked on it with her. She got to where she would buck me off and run away or yank her leadrope/reins out of my hand and disappear, and one day she even charged me in the pasture. I was scared of her, and she knew it.

I was also picked on at school for stupid things like liking horses. While I usually tried to ignore it or laugh it off, one of my Ag teachers told me one day that I needed to start standing up for myself. And thanks to my trainer Connie, who taught me how to show Chica she was no longer in charge, I learned that it was not okay to let her push me around. And by proxy, I was able to transfer that over to human interactions too. Now I'm told I'm intimidating when I'm angry. Thanks Chica!

2. How to be responsible. I look at teenagers today that are getting into drugs and alcohol and becoming pregnant while still in high school, and I think back to my high school years. What was it that kept me from becoming like one of them? For one, it was a little red mare that kept me grounded and busy so that I was not out partying with the "cool" kids. Even in college, my friends understood that taking care of my horse came before anything else, and I don't know how many of them got stuck riding out to the barn with me, and even helping feed or clean my stall, on the way to dinner/a movie/formal events/what have you.

1. How to be happy. In 6th grade I was diagnosed with depression, and I was started on Paxil and weekly group and individual therapy. I got to where I hated group therapy, and the thought of having to take a drug for the rest of my life just to be "happy" did not sit well with me. My mental state during those years was what convinced my mom to try out the horse thing, and although it was indeed expensive and my parents had to work very hard to let me keep her, my mom has told many people that she thinks Chica saved my life, so I would assume she doesn't regret it (mostly). Around that time I also started talking to God more, and I think that through a combination of developing my relationship with Him and Him sending me Chica, I was able to get on the right track.

It has been an emotional and good almost 15 years, Chica-Chica. Here's to the next 15!

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Horse Buying Horrors

Yesterday, at 12:27 PM, I bought a horse. He was a coming 5-year-old, a tall APHA hunter/jumper prospect. By 3:46 PM, after being put through the ringer by the horse's agent and "trainer" and being denied a pre-purchase exam because of the offer I had made (that was accepted), I backed out of buying the horse.

This horse was located in the Houston area, and I went to try him out last weekend. The weather was poor, but he stayed very calm in spite of the wind and rain, which impressed me. He had some issues due to a lack of training (or the wrong kind of training), but I thought they were fixable enough to make an offer, though definitely not pay full price.

Basically, the horse had no forward motion, and the "trainer" had been riding him only on a draped rein with a training fork. Seriously. She was marketing this horse as an English prospect and riding him with no contact whatsoever. She was also riding him with spurs, which is not a problem except she did not tell me to bring spurs and did not offer to let me use hers. I could hardly get the horse into a walk, much less a trot or canter. In fact, she had to pick up the longe whip to help get him to canter.

After talking to my trainer and several people in the industry about the horse, each person individually agreed that they would not pay more than xx for the horse, which was $1,000 less than his asking price. So I called the trainer and asked if she was open to offers. She said no, so I said thanks but no thanks.

During all of this I was also speaking with the horse's agent, a broker of AQHA and APHA pleasure horses. When I told her the trainer was not open to offers, she acted like I was being unreasonable expecting to pay less for him when he had already had his price reduced. I ultimately stopped responding to her.


The next day, the agent messaged me to find out what my offer was. I told her the xx price that everyone else suggested, and she told me that it was too low. I came up $500, which was $500 less than his asking price, and she told me he was mine.

After making plans to pick the horse up next Tuesday, I called a local vet to see about them going out to the barn to do a pre-purchase exam (PPE). I then let the "trainer" know I was doing a PPE. She freaked out on me, saying that the price I was buying him for did not include a PPE and she didn't have time to haul him for me to do that. I messaged the agent and told her about what the "trainer" said, and she also freaked out and told me that the extra $500 that I'm not paying the owner for the horse is now going to the vet instead, so it's like I'm making the owner pay for the exam. After going back and forth with her, at 3:46 PM, I told her to forget about it, I'm not buying the horse.

That evening, the "trainer" started attacking me through texts. She "informed" me that I was getting the horse for way less than he's worth and lowering her commission in the process, and again said that she's not spending the time to take him to a PPE when she's not being compensated for it. I don't know what part of me saying "I'm going to pay for the PPE and have a vet come out there" she couldn't understand. She went on to say that I was low-balling her (by offering $500 less? Really?) and trying to make her jump through hoops. And she blamed it on me that the agent did not know I wanted a PPE, when really that's the agent's job to discuss.

The bottom line in all of this is that the agent and the "trainer" were going to get less commission on a horse that isn't worth what they're asking for him right now, and they were butt-hurt about it. If I were the owner, I'd be interested to know that I lost a sale because of their greediness.

And you know, if you're trying to become a horse trainer, attacking and berating a potential future client because they don't want to accept the absurd conditions you've placed on a horse is not the way to further your career. I've always said that it's a bad idea to burn bridges and create enemies in the horse industry, because it's very likely that you'll run into those people in the future. This girl does not know that I write for an equine publication and interact with a lot of horse people. But I know that she is a "trainer" trying to get into the Paint horse world. And guess who has been telling everyone she knows in the Paint industry to not do any business with this would-be trainer? This girl, right here. I will also never do business with the agent again. There are plenty of other people selling horses out there.

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