Today is my mom's birthday so i created this slideshow of some pictures of her.

She means more to me than I could say. She is my teacher and the best one I have ever had. She is there for me whenever i need her. I can deoend on her when I need a shoulder to cry on. She is always there.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Love u Lots!!!

Colleen

My life recently has consisted of finishing up my Silver Award and doing horseback riding. This past lesson my instructor, Mrs. Kathi, found a new way to help me get over some speed bumps in the road. She lunged Gracie with me riding her and I had to hold the reins at the buckle and I had a bungee cord to hold on to for safety. It was really neat. Then Mrs. Kathi showed me some things with jumping Gracie. She doesn’t really jump it unless it is like 2 feet high. So hopefully soon I can trot the jumps. Mrs. Kathi said we are probably going to start doing it on the lunge line in a couple of weeks.

Collen

            Okay so many of you may be big horse fans and those of you who are fans may not be fans of horse racing. Well I happened to big a big fan of horses and I love to watch horse racing. So recently I decided to do a project on two different horses. An old famous race horse Man o’ War and one of the more recent race horses Barbaro. Both are famous and have wonderful stories. I hope like this little story about Man o’ War. Hopefully I will get Barbaro’s story up here soon. Btw, the internet rules for research.

            On March 29, 1917, at Nursery Stud Farm a mare Mahubah gave birth to what would become one of the biggest racing legends in the world. He would be known for his speed and his records. This colt’s name was My Man o’ War later shortened to just Man o’ War. His owner, August Belmont Jr., was away fighting in World War I at the time so his wife named the foal in honor of her husband. Unfortunately when August Belmont got home he decided to sell off almost all of yearlings. So he took all the yearlings he decided to sell to Saratoga yearling sale. Man o’ War was sold to Samuel D. Riddle for $5,000. Samuel D. Riddle took his new yearling back to his farm, Glen Riddle Farm, near Berlin, Maryland.

            At the age of two, Man o’ War started racing. He was trained by Louis Feustel. Man o’ War made his impressive racing debut at Belmont Park on June 6, 1919, where he won by six lengths. Just three weeks after the Purse Race at Belmont Park, the colt won the Keene Memorial Stakes. After winning those two races he continued to win races such as the Youthful Stakes, the Hudson Stakes, the Tremont Stakes, and the United States Hotel Stakes.

            During his two years of racing Man o’ War lost only one race and that was Sanford Stakes in 1919. He lost because back then they didn’t have starting gates. All the horses circled behind a flimsy piece of webbing and them the webbing what lifted up and they would be off. The reason Man o’ War didn’t win the Sanford Stakes was because he was in the middle of a circle when the webbing was lifted up. Some people say that it was rigged. After turning Man o’ War back around to race, he and his jockey, Johnny Loftus, were very far behind. They ended up placing second even with getting boxed in three times. Man o’ War lost to a horse named Upset.

            Man o’ War ended his first year of racing with three more wins: the Grand Union Hotel Stakes, the Hopeful Stakes, and the Futurity Stakes. In 1920, Johnny Loftus was not permitted to renew his jockey license so Man o’ War had to get a new jockey. For his second year of racing Man o’ War won every single race he ran that consisted of the Preakness Stakes, the Withers Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Stuyvesant Handicap, the Dwyer Stakes, the Miller Stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Lawrence Realization Stakes, the Jockey Club Stakes, the Potomac Handicap, and the Kenilworth Gold Cup.

            The very last race that Man o’ War ran in was the Kenilworth Gold Cup in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was there to race the famous Sir Barton. He ended up beating Sir Barton and setting a new world record. After the race, the colt was sent to Faraway Farms for retirement. At the age of 34, Man o’ War died due to what appeared to be a heart attack.

            In 1920, Man o’ War was named United States Horse of the Year. In 1926, he was named Leading Sire of North America. To this day there is a life-size statue of the brilliant chestnut colt at Kentucky Horse Park. There is now a Man o’ War stakes at Belmont Park, Man o’ War Boulevard in Lexington, Kentucky, and Man o’ War Road in Riddlewood, Pennsylvania all named after him.

Colleen

Well today as I was sitting at the computer typing in my scince words and their definaitions I listened to an episode of 7th Heaven. In the first episode of the last season Jewel Kilcher guest stars and sings her song "Good Day". I really like the chorus and here is how it goes:

It's gonna be all right, no matter what they say
It's gonna be a good day, just wait and see
It's gonna be all right, cause I'm all right with me
It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gotta be

Now that might not ispire all people, but it really inspired me today. It has inspired me to look at things in a positive way and everything has the ability to turn out the right way and in a good way. The chorus has inspired me to be positive even when going through really tough times. I hope it does the same for you.

~Colleen~

            Since the last time I blogged lots of things have happened. I am still working with Gracie. She is a Bay Thoroughbred. I am pretty sure she is approx. 16HH. I love to ride her. Nobody likes to ride her because she is a very smart horse, so she is very alert. Sometimes when cars or motorcycles come past she rears, but it doesn’t scare me anymore. She is becoming a very calm mare. We made a lot of progress in our last riding lesson. By the end of the lesson we were trotting around the ring with her dropped, which has been our goal for a month or so now. We are getting very determined to canter again and hopefully jump at some point. I like to spend most of my time out at the horses with Gracie. She has been a great challenge for me and has been helping greatly get over the riding accident I had with a different Thoroughbred Harry. She has boosted my confident greatly by listening to me and by giving me a challenge. She doesn’t respond to anybody else as wonderful as she does for me which makes me feel special.

            Girl Scouts is over for the summer. The troop has a few events here and there. We get to go camping in September, and we have a Dragon Boat program that we are going to attend.

            I have been having a lot of fun at church lately. This past Sunday was awesome we watched a video from Mark Hall whom wrote the Voice of Truth where he told his testimony. I would definitely recommend watching this video it really moved me. The video gave me a better understanding of the song. Oh ya, so back to service. The pastor let us eat popcorn during service.

            Sunday was also Father’s Day. I have to say I am definitely grateful for my father. I don’t know what I would do without him!!!

So yep I am pretty sure that is everything,

~Colleen~

I have to say my life has been very crazy lately. The list goes on and on with everything: School, Horseback riding, Girl Scouts, Keepers at Home, Church, Watching Jared, and Trying to Start a Tack Cleaning Business with My Friend Abby.

There have been ups to this busy life like I got to canter Gracie. She is a pretty new Thoroughbred horse out at my barn. I have been getting hours in for my Silver Award. In school I am learning come Chemistry for Science. Abby and I are getting prices decided on for our business and she is looking into buying a horse named Fancy. She is an Arabian mare. This horse is very active and is a great trail horse because she could trot for hours if given the time of day.

Hopefully I will remember to write on here more!!!

Colleen

Summer was great for me. Even with a busy schedule I have been able to do everything I want to do.

Girl Scouts 

I went to a day camp, where I helped put as a Program Aide. Being a Program Aide is amazing with all the opportunities you get. The little girls are very sweet.

I am working on earning my Silver Award, which is very exciting. I have to put in 30 hours of work that involves my service project that I choose.

 Fire

Well I haven't gotten to do much with fire this summer but our church is supposed be haveing a Christian Fire Arts Ministry starting soon, that I will be part of hopefully.

Horses

That I told you about in my last blog that was sick is better. He is still separate from the other horses, but he is ridable. I rode just this week and it was amazing. It felt different than riding the Thoroughbred I have been riding. I am super- duper happy that he is better. I will post pictures of him (Sneakers) when I can. I should be able to post pictures of me and Harry after Saturday (lesson day).

Colleen

Wow! Summer has been great so far. I have been getting really involved in my favorite sport, horseback riding. And I have been helping out with our church’s Kids’ Camp.

My favorite horse, Sneakers had to go to the hospital in Gainesville recently. Hopefully, he’s coming home this week.

This is my 6^th year of being homeschooled and is also my 6^th year of Girl Scouts. I earned my Bronze Award and Junior Leadership Award as a Junior. This year I am working toward earning my Silver Award, Dreams to Reality Award, and Cadette Leadership Award. The Bronze Award is the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn, and the Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette can earn.

Colleen