hey you guys! I will be gone for 2 weeks cuz Im going to Summer camp! In Canada! Yup! Im going to a horse summer camp for a week! I cant wait! So anyways, ya, I wont be back until the 20th, so be sure to come back then! And im bringing my camera! So look for pictures! Bye everyone!

~KD

Well, since it seems no one reads about my lessons, I will just write about my barn life. A lady at the barn has been taking me home since she lives really close to my house. She owns Stella the dog. Stella had been on a leash all day because shes been pretty annoying (I dont think so but apperantly other ppl do) lately. Right before we left she was let off the leash to go mess around for a few minutes before we left, so I was puting away Indy and she was playing with some kids. She ran down the hill of Ivy and flowers (perfect place for bees) and was messing around down there. So then Noelle and I put her in the car and were driving out when all of a sudden I look back and Stella has puked all over the back of the car! Noelle was just kinda buged by it and we thought she had just eaten something bad, but then like 2 minutes later I look back and Stella's face looks kinda...different I guess. I didnt think much of it until her whole face was covered in hives, it wasnt to bad at first but as the minutes went by her whole head started swelling! pretty soon her whole body was covered in hives and Noelle was frantically calling her parents to get them to find a vet. Her face was swollen so bad that she could barely see, and we were afraid that it would affect her breathing. We rushed her to a vet and they gave her some benedril. Apprently she had been stung by a bee and she is HIGHLY allergic to them! We were soooo scared! Her head was HUGE. She didnt even look like that breed of dog!

She looks like this

She looked like this

Noelle was FREAKING OUT! I was too actually. lol so ya, that was my day

~KD

Well, sorry I havent been posting. Ive been soooo busy! I had 3 horse lessons and the Fling. I have to chronical that so I will post about it later. I am going to devote this post to my old horse Missy. I just got my only picture of her developed and I have to share it with you.

Missy was the horse of my dreams. I didnt expect it at first, she was a fat bay Dutch Warmblood mare when we got her, but I later learned that I would never meet another horse like her ever again. At the age sweet 16, she had to have been in the prime of her life. She always must have been. my trainer got her from a friend in Northern California on loan for as long as she could use her as a lesson horse. Since I was the only student in my trainers riding school, I got Missy all to myself, although I think my trainer must have loved her just as much as me. She was an absolute dream to ride. She was the first horse I ever rode that got automatic flying lead changes. She could a stride in a bounce jump, and 5 strides in a seven stride, it didnt matter. Once I was riding her and a horse was having fun in the feild next to the arena. Any other horse would have spooked but Missy just didnt care. When I untacked her I could just leave her in the cross ties uncliped and she would just stand there. if I went out of sight and came back she would nicker as if she hadent seen me in forever. One of my fondest memories was when I had taken her out of her stall one hot morning, and my trainer hadent arrived at the barn yet, so I brought her to a bench in the shade, and she just put her head almost in her lap and let me stroke her beautiful face. That was a week before she died. One morning, I was thinking about her, and it was eerie because I was thinking about what might happen if she died. Then the phone rang and I ran to it to see who it was. it was my trainer so I picked it up...I wish I hadent. My mom had also picked it up so I just listened. I listened to my trainer tell my mom that Missy was dead. I slamed the phone back in the holder and ran to my room. I didnt cry, although an ocean of tears welled behind my eyes. When I walked downstairs my mom walked up to me and told me everything. Missy had been feeling really bad one night earlier that week, so they took her to the vet. They did not know what was wrong with her so they decided she needed to go into surgery. Her heart stoped before she even was put to sleep for surgery. They tried to save her but there wasnt a thing in the world they could do. I never got to say goodbye. All I remember was our awesome last ride, flying over jumps. I later found out that she was nickering to the vets even in her pain. Now, almost a year later, I still feel the pain of her death. I know that things will never be the same again when I look at Indy, and he dousnt nicker to me. I dont think i will ever find another horse as wonderful as Missy, and all I have to remember her by is that one picture. I cried as I wrote this, and I havent cried over her death in months. I had to share this with you guys, so that her memory will not be lost forever.

~KD

Hey guys! Ive been gone most of the week at a 'fling' with my litterature class. Its been so fun! Ive gotten to meet lots of my friends, and just hang out. The one bad thing about it is that I have to say something Greek for lunch...bleck. I know next to no greek! I dont even know the greek letters! So im a tad (more than a tad) lost when it comes to that. Today I was holding my greek card and shaking in the lunch line cuz I was soooo nervous! Mr. H (my teacher) picked the only phrase I knew on the card. Whew! This afternoon we had the reading theater and read the play Hamlet by Shakespear. It was...ok lol. needless to say I took a nap  so ya, Im gunna work on translating my greek card for tomarrow at lunch *rubs tummy* I want food lol!

~KD

Ive started a new blog with my penpal. Its a book we have been writing, so enjoy! Be sure to comment!

The Colt and the Filly

It may be a bit funky, but bare with me. lol

Well, my day started off at 5:00am when my bro called from the airport saying he was there safely (he was at a week long Summer camp at a college and he was coming home yesterday) so I woke up when the phone rang, and was just getting back to sleep when he called again an hour later saying his flight was delayed cuz of maintanance. So I was just about fall asleep AGAIN when my alarm went off and I had to get up. One of the ppl from the barn came and picked me up at 7:15 and took me to the barn. She lives really close to me and she own Stella the dog. We got there and no one was there, so I pulled out the horses with Belly Itch and we put stuff on them. Belly Itch is a disgusting fungus that growns on their bellies, and can even spread to other parts of their body. Zack has a mild case, but I discovered some more horses that have it. Lula, a mare that I mixed up with Mr. T, had it, so did Clyde, a big old school horse that a lot of kids ride. So I had to put bleach on it all. Then ppl started to arrive. lol! Get this, there is this girl that works there, and we went to VBS together when we were 7! lol! it was crazy. I ran around for 7 hours doing stuff until 1:30 when I had my lesson with Susan. My penpal, Brokenfur, apperantly emailed her at JumpGirl and was like I LOVE  YOUR STUFF!!! xD crazyness. So my lesson was with J cuz L is in Kentucky at a wedding this week (much to her dismay) I had a good lesson on Indy. Hes so cute! It was pretty hot tho, and I forgot my water up at the barn, so half way through i had to go get it. Indy liked walking towards  the barn but he didnt like walking away from it. Hes like WAIT!!! WE WERE GUNNA STAY!!! lol! so ya, that was my day at the barn. Tiring. lol. My mom came and we ate lunch at the picnic area. It was fun lol

~KD

Lesson 31
Well, Tuesday was no stirrups day! It wasnt to bad cuz I came late and missed posting trot without stirrups. I just had canter and jumping! My favs! Winston is so awesome that we did great! That was my last lesson with L for a week because shes going on vacation, so to quote her; she worked us real hard because she was leaving! Thanks L. haha, it wasnt to bad. Winston is pretty good so I didnt fall off. One girl almost did because she was riding Nimby, and he likes to jump! So ya, I had to go right after that to help a youth leader pack *sniff sniff* shes moving in 2 weeks! Im gunna miss her so much!

Lesson 32
Wednesday was my first private lesson in a LONG time with J. Hes really good with that and I learned a lot! I rode Thomas, (who I havent ridden in about 3 months!) hes slow and I dont like him to much, but my Susan loved him! (shes the one that started the line of horse clothes.) Speaking of Susan, she has her website up! its JumpGirl! put your mouse over the Home button and a list of stuff pops up. Here is a pic of me!

Hummingbird Thermal

Thats me and Khiara, one of Susan's favs. Here is a pic of Thomas too BTW

Hes the white one. Its not a good pic but O well, thats one of the better riders on him, she likes him too. Thom is a popular guy! He duz good at shows and stuff.

Lesson 33
Indy! My baby! hes adorable! This was my BEST ride EVER!!! I did SOO WELL! Even my dad noticed! The sprinklers were going off on the hill beside the Arena, but they didnt pop up so it was hissing and freaking out the horses. They all had to get ear plugs so that they wouldnt hear it. Indy was spooking the most, but I handled it. My dad took pics so here they are.

...idk if hes bucking or not

I like that pic. My dad always gets a pic of me jumping over that. Look

Me on Nimby

Me and Jonny! Lol!

And here is the big ole buck with Indy (the end of it that is)

lol! He was having a good time. Hes crazy! so yup, that was my lesson.

Also, They are halter breaking little Sammy! Hes so cute! He was jumping all around the stall and his mom was just staring at him like come on! Is it REALLY THAT bad?? lol!

~KD

Today was work day! It was fun! I had to help tack up and stuff, there was one point where I was running the show because everyone else was in lessons. It was kinda fun. oh ya and guess what. IM A MODEL!!!  Remember my friend that is doing the line of horse clothing? She had me pose with some shirts on for her to put up on her website. so ya, im getting tired. If you want to know more comments and I will post more. lol

The neighbors had some foals born this week and last!! They are SOOO adorable! They are both Chestnut Oldenburgs! CUTE!!!!!

Enjoy!!!

Hey! I rode the Nimbers today! I havent ridden him in a long time! And this is another lesson with pics AND A VIDEO. I think Thursdays will be photo day cuz my dad is there and he takes pics of me. So I will put up some pics and the video and not say much.

Thats it, and I will post a second post with FOALS!!!

~KD

(I need to figure out my photo album

I rode Jonny today and Saterday. He has to be muzzled now because hes getting so mean. Its sad because sometimes he is so sweet and others hes just stomping around and biteing at ppl! L says ive been doing really good lately, so Im excited. Who knows, maybe I will do half way decent at the show in August! I had my lesson on Saterday with J. He was...ok. The thing I dont like about his training is that he spends hardly any time on one person, but is always jumping all over the time. L makes sure that when a person is riding she is paying attention to them. OH YA I KEEP FORGETTING TO TELL YOU GUYS!!! A BABY WAS BORN LAST WEEK! Yup! Its at the neighbors ranch, but its ADORABLE!!! Hes a little Chestnut named Sammy. I think I will Rename him tho, Sammy is such a popular name. lets see...Hidden Houdini! There we go! (thats one of my horses on the game Howrse) I wanna take him home with me! I hope someday I can breed a mare of my own. At my last ranch they had an ADORABLE race horse filly! Then they got a second one for her when she was weaned. He was so sweet! I loved them both! I THINK I might have pictures of them but IDK. Well i g2g, bedtime. TTYL!

~KD

Apperantly its Indy week, because L had me riding him yesterday and today. Hes getting better (holding a crop works wonders!) I fell off him today, I was leaning over his neck to much, and right when he was supposed to jump he decided to stop and wach me fall. It was weird, cuz I saw everything in slow motion sorta. I was on his neck, and then falling, then I saw the poles of the jump, and I twisted over and slammed my back on the jump. It was weird. Then I remember looking over and seeing Indy staring at me like what the heck are you doing there??? lol! So ya, that was my lesson.  I g2g

~KD

Hey! Well, yesterday was a busy day, it was the last day of my online class *sniffsniff* so I wont see those friends all summer. And then in the afternoon, I had my horse lesson, after that we went and visited one of my sundayschool leaders in the hospital (shes had appendicitus) then we went out to dinner with some visiting missionaries. My lesson was...ok...tiring, but my trainer said it was good so I will take her word for it xD. I rode Indy, but we didnt jump because the large arena with all the jumps was pretty noisy. some ppl accross the street were cutting down trees, and they HAVE been cutting down the trees for the last couple of days. So ya, I rode Indy in the lower arena, and we did flat work. He was kind of slow, because apperantly he always is when hes not excited about jumping. I took some pics of him after my lesson.

Thats Indy

Thats Stella the dog. Shes prolly my fav dog ever. Shes so fun!

Thats Tyson. Hes one of my trainers dogs, she also has 2 scotties.

and last but not least

ZACK

Lol! Hes sticking his lip out! xD

~KD

Irish Sport Horse

The Irish Sport Horse (ISH) (US: Irish Draught Sports Horse), also known as the Irish Hunter, is mainly the result of a cross between the Irish Draught and the Thoroughbred. It has not yet been given recognition as a separate breed, although it is commonly bred from parents who are also Irish Sport Horses, in addition to being bred from the definitive parent breeds.

The Irish Sport Horse is traditionally used for all purposes, from transportation, to riding, and working the land. However, it is becoming increasingly popular as a competition riding horse. Its natural athletic ability and fantastic jumping talents means that it excels in the show jumping arena, as well as competing at the highest levels of eventing. The horse is globally renowned for being one of the best fox hunting mounts in the world, and the Irish Sport Horse studbook regularly tops the rankings for eventing.

Ireland produces a great number of Irish Sport Horses each year, many of them selling for great amounts in the United States and Europe.

For the 13th consecutive year the Irish Sport Horse Studbook has achieved the prestigious title of the leading studbook in the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses Eventing Rankings 2006/2007.

The highest placed Irish Sport Horse in the individual rankings was McKinlaigh (ISH) ridden by Gina Miles (USA). The ISH Studbook finished on 1238 points, over 100 points ahead of the Selle Francais Studbook, which finished in second place.

The Irish Sport Horse receives the sense and honesty of the Irish Draught and the athleticism, speed, and endurance of the Thoroughbred. It has an excellent temperament, being calm, yet lively when needed, and is very tough. Connemara blood is also found in some Irish mares. Due to its sense and strength, it is popular with police forces in Britain and Irelend.

The Irish Sport Horse tends to fall into three types: light-weight for carrying a rider up to about 70kg, middle-weight to carry a rider up to about 89kg, and heavy-weight for riders exceeding 89kg. Carrying a rider according to this classification includes being able to participate in hunting or other strenuous riding activities. Nowadays, most Irish Horses are middle-weights, and it is uncommon to find a true heavy-weight or a Lady's horse (trained for sports in side-saddle, and usually a light-weight).

The horse has an attractive head with a sometimes convex profile (a "Roman nose"). It has a slightly-arched and muscular neck, long, sloping shoulders, a deep but not overly broad chest, a short, compact back, and a muscular croup with powerful hindquarters. The croup is often sloping and long, a trait coming from the Irish Draught, which improves its jumping ability. The high withers of the Thoroughbred are also evident in many cases.

The Irish Sport Horse can be any colour, although it is rare to find piebalds and skewbalds. It ranges in height from 15 to 17 hands.

U know u live in 2008 when....

U know you live in 2008 when... 1.) You accidentally enter your password on a microwave. 2.) You haven't played solitare with real cards for years. 3.) The reason for not staying in touch with your friends is they don’t have a screen name or myspace. 4.) You'd rather look all over the house for the remote instead of just pushing the buttons on the TV. 6.) Your boss doesn’t even have the ability to do your job. 7.) As you read this list you keep nodding and smiling. 8.) As you read this list you think about sending it to all your friends. 9.) And you were too busy to notice number 5. 10.) You scrolled back up to see if there was a number 5. 11.) Now you are laughing at yourself stupidly. 12.) Put this in your profile if you fell for that, and you know you did

Australian Stock Horse

The Australian Stock Horse (or Stockhorse), has been especially bred for Australian conditions. It is a hardy breed of horse noted for endurance, agility and a good temperament. Its ancestry dates to the arrival of the first horses in Australia, brought from Europe, Africa and Asia. It is used today in a wide variety of disciplines, and is still valued as a working horse by stockmen throughout Australia.

The roots of the Australian Stock Horse date back to the earliest importation of horses to Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay in January, 1788. Some of the original horse breeds in these early imports included the Thoroughbred, Cape of Good Hope Horse, (largely descended from the Barb and Spanish horse), Arabian, Timor Pony and Welsh Mountain pony. Horses in Australia were bred for their stamina and strength, with weaker animals culled and only the strongest allowed to breed on. In the 1830s, additional Thoroughbreds were imported into Australia to improve the local strains, and the mid-20th century saw infusions from the American Quarter Horse.

The Australian Stock Horse and the Waler horse come from similar roots, though today they are separate breeds. The "station horse" that was an ancestor of both breeds was used by the Australian Army in the First World War and was renowned for its toughness and endurance.^[2] However, the modern Australian Stock Horse differs from the Waler in that it is not as big. The horses shipped abroad to fight in war and kept at home to be bred on as Walers were the larger animals, as they were required to carry a rider with the considerable extra weight of weapons and a full pack. Some of the heaviest animals were also required pull water carts and carriages. However, the characteristics of toughness and endurance remain with the Australian Stock Horse of today.

Formal recognition of Australian Stock Horses as a distinct breed began in June 1971 when over 100 campdrafters and horse breeders met in Tamworth to form the Australian Stock Horse Society. Many of these people bred stock horses using bloodlines tracing back to native stock, along with some Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and a few ponies of outstanding merit. Most of the early ASH registrations were of horses bred with bloodlines that excelled at both campdrafting and cattle work in the rugged Great Dividing Range.

Initially, horses were inspected for registraton by three classifiers who assessed them for conformation, breeding and athletic ability. The best were accepted for inclusion in the Stud Book, some were approved for the registry appendix, and those not meeting the criteria for registration were rejected.

Fourteen specific foundation sires are responsible for most of the bloodlines accepted into the Society Australia-wide and most well-bred Australian Stock Horses trace to one of these foundation sires. These included horses bred from native stock: Saladin, Cecil and his son Radium, Medlow and Bobbie Bruce. The others were Thoroughbreds: Rivoli, Commandant, Panzer, Midstream, Young Valais, Gibbergunyah, Bushfire, Silvius and Deo Juvante also exerted considerable influence. ^[1] Since then Rivoli Ray, Blue Moon Mystic, Eliotts Creek Cadet, Warrenbri Romeo and some American Quarter Horses have also had a large influence on the breed. The use of Quarter Horse bloodlines is somewhat controversial, with some breeders preferring to stay with older lines. Those who wish to bring in outside blood are required to pay very high fees to the Society, thus providing an incentive for breeders to only bring in worthwhile horses.

The Australian Stock Horse is bred for intelligence, courage, toughness and stamina. The horse will be sound, agile and quick moving with a surefooted walk. It will have a calm, responsive temperament. All colours are acceptable. Height ranges from 14.1 hands to 16 hands.

The ideal Australian Stock Horse is well proportioned in all respects according to its size. Desired traits include a finely cut, expressive head with large eye and a broad forehead. The neck is long, arched, with head well set on. The withers should be well defined. Overall conformation is well-muscled but not bulky, with correct conformation that includes a deep chest, well-sprung ribs, strong and broad back, and powerful hindquarters. The hooves are hard and well-conformed.

There are approximately 170,000 Australian Stock Horses registered or foal recorded with the Australian Stock Horse Society. The Stock Horse is used in many competitive disciplines, including polo, polocrosse, dressage, campdrafting, show jumping, eventing and endurance riding. It is also used for stockman challenges, Pony Club activities, general hacking, and stock work on cattle stations.

While horses are now often being replaced in the flatter outback and Top End by motorcycles and helicopters, they are still necessary today for mustering (roundups) in rugged mountain terrain.

There was a tribute to the Australian Stock Horse during the 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony when an Australian Stock Horse reared and then a further 120 Stock Horses were ridden into the Stadium and performed intricate maneuvers to the music of the especially written Olympics version of the main theme of the film The Man from Snowy River by Australian composer Bruce Rowland. The Australian Stock Horse Crown Law has represented Australia in World Championship and Olympic dressage competition.

The Australian Outback Spectacular uses 42 Stockhorses in its show on the Gold Coast, Queensland, 31 of which are used in a show on a rotational basis.

Well, its been raining here for the past couple of days (really weird since its almost summer and we are on So Cal) so yesterday, when the storm broke, we were in San Diego buying some stuff at the navel exchaneg (a camera bag and rechargable batteries and some other stuff like officers uniforms for my dad) On the way back i got some AWESOME pics of the clouds and stuff.

These are all from the car. It was surprising how well it takes pictures when the car is in motion.

this is prolly my favorite

Well peeps! I got some pics to show ya! And be expecting more pics in these posts from here on out!

I rode Jonny today, and had my lesson with a different Trainer (we can call Him J and my other trainer L) Im going to start taking lessons with J on thursdays, since I get one of my lessons free now (cuz I work at the barn on Saturdays) Today was weird, it was all nice and sunny this morning, and then all of a sudden it started pouring down rain! And it was thundering too! Apperantly there was a tornado in Los Angelas area today! So the horses were all kind of hyper. Jonny was...kind of hyper, like I could control him, but he was testing the limits a lot. Here is a pic of him and me

I always look kind of frizzed after I ride (my hair cant tell if it wants to be straight or curly so it goes frizzy)

J was funny, he was practically dancing around cuz we were doing things right (as seen here)

Its called teaching a lesson while on the phone xD

Here are some pics of me jumping

...idk y my head is all up at an odd angle , I didnt really get out of the saddle very well there (I think it was cuz I was trying to slow Jonny down...)

I kind of like that one.

There is Jonny and...idk I dont remeber the name of that horse

there is the Jonny we all know and love (and no he isnt QUITE chewing my arm off there, but he was a second a before the pic was taken)

Well, I think thats enough for now. I dont want our compies to crash with all the pics!

~KD

Well yesterday was my birthday! And it was also the best lesson I’ve ever had! Winston is so good! If you guys have ever read the White Stallion of Lipizza, Winston is like oldest lead stallion that was the star of the show, but taught young riders how to ride. Well I’m not exactly a young rider, but it is like riding a teacher as crazy as that sounds. It was amazing! My trainer was like "Slow down, bring him to you" and she said it was the hardest thing for students to learn, but she’s just such a great teacher that I learned it really quick. So she just had me canter around and stuff, and then all the sudden she had me going over jumps, I would jump it, then she would call out the next one. Winston did really well with that (I wonder if it would have been better if I had done that with Zack) we just chipped (took a quick step before jumping) the second to the last jump. Winston duznt do flying lead changes, so I thought he was on the wrong lead over that jump, but my trainer said he was fine, so it must have been my fault. We just did that line over again. Then I went in cuz he was doing so well. I have another lesson today with a different trainer, so I hope it will go just as well. It was funny cuz Saturday was my worst lesson (at this ranch that is, at least I didn’t fall off and get trampled by my horse like at my fist barn) and then yesterday was my best lesson. I really like Winston, I mean I still like Zack, but I just don’t think I’m ready for him yet. I just need to get myself perfect before I try to make a rebellious horse perfect. So I think the break from him will be good. So after I put my horse away and stuff, my mom and my trainer took me down to their little show store to look at coats. None of them fit me, but I have a good idea of what I want. They had a really pretty brown tweet show coat, so I think I might want to get something like that. I look good in brown, so it would be nice.

When we got home, we went out to eat at a really nice Japanese restaurant to celebrate my brothers and my birthday (his was last week). It was really cool, basically, you sit down at the table, and there Is this big grill in front, and a chef comes up with the raw meat and vegetables, and he cooks it right in front of you! He took an onion, and stacked up its layers on top of itself, then poured oil into it, and lit it on fire so it looked like a volcano! It was so cool! I had shrimp and scallops (very good!) and my mom had a DELICIOUS stake! Like seriously, it would melt in your mouth! We also had REALLY good fried rice! It was really good! When we got home I opened my presents. Guess what I got! A camera!!! So as soon as I take some pics, I will show you guys! I think I will start doing Friday show and tell with Canada girl now that I have a camera. Well, I have to go, I still need to post about todays lesson (with pics!)

~KD

Ya! I won the HSB backyard contest for a homeschool shirt! I cant wait for it to arrive!