The 4 Bridles of Discipleship

Those who have a heart for colt starting and training, understand all to well how the life lessons horsemen witness and receive, somehow all relate back to how we train. In this case, it is no different. It is colt starting “season” here at the Double M Ranch, our junior stallions first foal crop turned 2 this year, leaving us with the blessing of 5 head to start.

The past four weeks our Sunday sermons at church have covered the 4 chairs of discipleship. Our brains by natural progression heard the message and lesson of chairs and interpreted it into colt starting and horse training. We are so very blessed by our church, our preachers do a great job, I’m sure our horsemen’s rendition will be subpar at best in comparison, but the message is still the same and if it resonates with one soul, it’s worth attempting to retell.

Bridle One: The Brain-Chain (or….The Round Pen?)

For others, the aforementioned scenario may not be the case, Barrel racers call this bridle the “brain-chain”. Your colt is blown up, hot and wants to control the run. They’ve stopped listening to rider cues and start pushing through their bit, they’re confident they know what to do, are acting out from pain, they don’t need your help or guidance, or you’re merely a passenger…..we all know where that train is headed.

Some resort to using a bit severe enough to break the cycle on them, to control that energy and momentum #DuctTapeTraining. You can tell these horses from the ones that use the same bit to rate the control, to have a check if they need it. If they’re not broke to it, they fight it the entire time, mouth gaping, foaming, wild eyes that scream the locomotion is about to run off the tracks. It might work….for awhile….but it will eventually fail. When it does, you go back to your foundation, fix it if it’s broken and start again. Maybe try a different approach, start by vetting them for unsoundness, feeding them accordingly, fit and prepare them properly for a career in performance. Then get them soft, get their body round, get them collected, lift their shoulders, get them using their hind end, help them place their feet and most likely you do it all away from the pattern so their mind can function in unison with their feet, it’s rarely good when one out paces the other.

The brain chain represents those walls and challenges we face as people when we try to do life on our own. When we believe we can control the outcome of every situation. When we forget that we need God or believe we don’t. When we think our physical fitness, grit or hard work should be enough. For some the brain chain band-aid works longer than for others. But, that beautiful, smooth, willing and effortless run you see top performance horses lay down will always be a struggle for these horses, for these people. Eventually it breaks, someone/thing gets hurt and either you end your career or you pick up the pieces and rebuild.

 Some never experience this bit, this stage. For those individuals, they start at the round pen stage. Those colts are blessed to start their training on-time, have few hurdles, a willing mind eager to learn, eager to please, their trainer is patient, stern and consistent. They learn hard lessons but have the blessing of not having to unlearn one way to learn another way. They’re an untouched colt, a clean slate and are taught early on about the blessings of Jesus and the value of a relationship with Him. So they advance to the snaffle bit fairly quickly.

Bridle Two: Snaffle Bit

For those that choose to rebuild, you’re in bridle two, the snaffle bit. O-ring, egg butt, D-ring, dog-bone, double twist, tight twist, loose twist, reverse twist, smooth, copper, you choose. In this stage your colt learns to follow his nose, you learn to follow the Lord. You learn when you feel pressure, to give instead of fight, give your troubles to the Lord, to trust your Trainer, the ultimate Trainer of life. You build a foundation, you build knowledge, understanding and the physical finesse to move on to the next stage. You are pushed out of your comfort zone, you try new things. For a colt that might be a trail ride, learning your leads and lead changes, a cattle drive, standing tied at the trailer at an event, hauling over long periods. As the trainer you continually push their limits, the hope being your colt will come back to you when they are scared or in trouble, that they will listen to you when they are in a bind.

God wants this same relationship with you. He wants to be your numero uno on your speed dial, not just when things go south but all time. He wants your struggles, your praises and everything in between. The hardest times to give it all up to Him are when you are struggling the most, learning new things is scary and hard. The constant growth and give-take of this bridle grows your colt to the next bridle, grows you to your next level of Faith.

Bridle Three: The Junior Cow (or your step-up bit of choice)

In this bridle we test the foundation that has been laid. We add a little shank, maybe a little port, we test our colts response to pressure. We increase our expectation and our trust in our colts. We add more advanced maneuvers, sharpness and accuracy. It’s great your colt can follow his nose but now we want to lay a leg on one side and one on the other and based on their position we want them to frame up, take a lead and hold it, roll back on a fence or cow-down. Your colt now knows your seat, your hands, your legs and feet are all cues, they work in unison and depending on the combination, they mean different things.

Above all else, regardless of the distractions the world hits us with, God wants you to practice and focus on His combinations of guidance: prayer, studying scripture, fellowship, witnessing. There will always be umbrellas, banners on the fence, crazy fans, carnival rides, upset horses, etc etc etc to throw your colt off course. There will always be people with opinions, scary opportunities, insecurities, etc etc to throw you off course from God’s plan. In this bridle, we hope you and your colt hone your focus and dedication.

When (not if) you fail or get stuck on a cue, look to Him for help like your good-minded colt looks to you as his trainer. We want our colts to trust us and keep trying when they get frustrated. We want to teach them about what the rest of their life will be like in whatever discipline we are training them for. God wants to show you blessings He has for you on the Divine path He has chosen for you. Isn’t it a miracle that He cares enough to choose a custom one for each of us! You are never to far ahead to behind His plan.

Sometimes in this stage our training gets a little monotonous, we are training to a discipline, there may be fewer “new” exciting things to experience and more discipline required in repeating the same things correctly. Trust me, the work you put in, in this bridle will serve you well in the next. If you skip steps here, you’ll both regret it so take your time in this bridle, work hard, be disciplined.

Bridle Four: No Hit Bit/Competition Bit/Show Bit

You’re almost there, the seasoned veteran. Your colt is now wise enough to know his job but he’s also wise enough to know he will fail and mess up every now and then because he’s a horse and we are human. The growth never stops. His foundation has taught him that in those moments he should collect up and rely on his Trainer to guide him rather than grabbing the bit in his teeth, raising his head and running down the fence. You haul him along with the other young colts to teach them etiquette, how to stand at the trailer quietly, how to drink on the road. He’s a mentor, you are now partners, together you compete, Together you summit the mountains of life. When your colt falls, you help him get back up, you doctor him and condition him to try again. God is there when you fall, he’ll help steady you, he’ll help you back up and doctor you. Your colt has put in the effort and made it to the performance, he learned from you and  you from him. Now you get the honor of helping the next colts building their foundation through their bridles. Now you get the honor of helping the next Christians building their foundation of Faith.

What would happen to the performance horse industry if every top trainer stopped training new colts and only competed on ole trusty? Eventually the industry would become extinct. What would happen if every saved Christian chose not to help other people who haven’t experienced the blessing of the Lord and being saved?....#GutPunch. Bridles 3 and 4 are the hardest, they require the most dedication and take the longest. You (and your colt) experience the most growth in these bridles they are critical steps, so in true horseman fashion let’s….GET. TO. WORK.

"Please Pray For My Horse"

Please Pray For My Horse.

Tonight I posted on my Facebook, a prayer request for my mare Smooch who, alongside my amazing veterinary staff at Oakridge equine, is fighting for her life. As I lay awake listening to every crack of thunder, every drop of rain and watch every strike of lightening dance across my bedroom ceiling I started to think how some of my friends might not really know what that means.

You see my friends there are some stark differences you must understand. The biggest and  most important difference to note is the difference between someone who owns a horse and a horsemen who has a performance horse partner. To be clear, there is NOTHING wrong with either, both serve their purpose and both can be equally rewarding and gratifying. Someone who owns a horse may have it out in the pasture, it may have a name, it may be “yard art”, it may live with a herd of cows or may be by itself. The purpose of this animal is companionship and the warm-fuzzies, they love to look at them in their beauty and grace, maybe occasionally brush them and overall, they provide their owner with a sense of joy and little is required of them to do so. The simple life you might say.

But then there are those who own performance horses. These high caliber athletes are a not just our companions, they are our partners. With them we defy laws of physics, we set expectations, we push barriers, we train. For some they are the means to how we make a living, for others the hope of how we one day dream of making our living. Many of us when looking in their eyes see our identity staring back at us. It isn’t a 50/50 relationship, it’s 100/100, in order for man and beast to perform at a high level successfully we have to be all-in, dedicated, committed to the same dream, the same journey, share the same work ethic. Cody Johnson once said in a song; “if you have a dream, chase it, because a dream won’t chase you back”. Every horsemen knows no truer statement has ever been spoken, nobody can make the dreams of a horsemen happen for them. Raising and training performance horses is hard work but we also know how privileged we are to have the opportunity and honor of this “work”. You see my friends, in our world, NOBODY wins at a high level who doesn’t work for it. I’d venture to say you can’t put in the kind of effort it takes to be successful in what we do, without a God-given love in your heart because on paper, it rarely makes sense. God has so graciously given to horsemen this incredible, selfless beast of power, agility and grace, who allow us to shape them, train them and grow them into the athletes we as their “people”, know they can be.

But what does that look like? Please let me tell you more. We own 15 head of horses at Double M Performance Horses. Every day, we feed each horse in their separate feeder two times, 6am and 6pm. They are fed high quality hay that has been sprayed, fertilized, baled, purchased, hauled and stacked in our barn. They are fed high quality grain that has been planted, harvested, milled, bagged, purchased, hauled and poured into our feed bins for dispensing. The feed is top-dressed with a pro-biotic and electrolyte supplements, sometimes additional supplements are added for various purposes. Just like professional human athletes have nutritionists to help them at the top of their game, our horses have us, we research, purchase and dispense dietary supplementation at each meal to help them be their best.

15 horses, 2x a day, 365 days a year, that is 10,950 scoops of feed we scoop and deliver in a year. 50 lbs of feed per feeding, that’s 100lbs of feed per day we deliver or 36,500 lbs of feed a year. It’s not like going to gym, where you might take a rest day or a cheat day, for horsemen, that is not an option. These animals depend on us, we wake up everyday to show up for them because we know without a doubt they will show up for us. We have to maintain them at a high-level if we expect them to perform at a high level. That means a high quality, consistent diet, regular exercise, care and management. So, although someone who has a horse owns the same animal as we do, you can see, their pony that grazes leisurely in the pasture, overweight, out of shape but happy to greet you for an occasional apple, is not the same thing.

It takes a lot to make it in this business, for many that means working full time jobs while putting yourself in a position to be performance horsemen and women. Horses are expensive to own, expensive to train and expensive to compete on; however, the life lessons and skills you learn are priceless. The skillset a top trainer or competitor have are learned and honed, like any other high-level professional athlete, over time and with practice. Practicing rarely makes you money in the beginning so you have to provide for yourself and your equine partners and thus many work a full-time job away from the ranch. Riding and chores happen before the sun comes up and after it sets.

For some, caring for and practicing with their animal athletes is only icing on the cake. Insert, back up horse. If your main mount gets side-lined with an injury or illness you have 2 options, you stay home and treat them until they are well enough to “hopefully” return to competition or you treat and care for them in the same fashion while running your back up horse to stay sharp and hopefully make a little day money. The point being, most people need a back up horse. You can attain a high-quality competitive prospect or athlete one of two ways, you can buy it (be ready to dig deep into those pockets, they’re not cheap) or you can try to make it. Understand making a top prospect into a winner is rarely less expensive, the cost is simply dispersed over time instead of all at once.

I promise I’m getting to the point, bear with me a little longer. For those breeding, raising and training their own prospects the process looks like this.

1.     Do your research, find a quality mare that meets your requirements

2.     Repeat process for the stallion

3.     Research the potential of the “cross”

4.     Pay the stud fee to book your mare

5.     Pay for a pre-breeding work up for your mare at the vet

6.     Pay to have your bred

7.     Pray your mare gets pregnant

8.     If she does great! Congratulations, start your broodmare management program for the next 11 months 2 weeks. If she doesn’t repeat steps 1-7.

9.     For the next 11 months keep your mare on a quality nutrition program, maintain her teeth, her feet, her vaccination schedule

10.  Foaling time, monitor for signs of foaling, wake up every hour or two every night in anticipation of assisting her in case there’s trouble. Mares have a relatively low dystocia rate but when they have one, it becomes a critical emergency situation quickly

11.  If you’re blessed and foal arrives happy and healthy, congrats! Wrap that sucker in bubble wrap and proceed on to step 12 (the bubble wrap is figuratively speaking of course…you pickin up what I’m throwin down?). If not, wipe your tears, hug your mare and tell her how sorry you are, repeat steps 2 -11 again, don’t worry, it’s only a year long commitment, it’ll fly by.

12.  Keep the mare and foal in safe fencing, handle him/her regularly, train them to stand for the farrier, to wear a halter, to be led, to stand tied, to load in the trailer and to pony.

13.  Wean the foal at 6 months, wrap it in double bubble-wrap and pray it stays sound and healthy until he/she turns two years old.

14.  Now decide if you plan to send your prospect to a colt starter or if your ole bones got one more in ya. Act accordingly. You’ll likely pay one way or the other, physically or financially. Keep a sharp eye on your colt, your investment.

15.  If your prospect now has a great foundation, let them grow up a bit, turn them out to be a horse awhile longer. This is the horsemen’s version of letting your horse have a childhood, free of responsibility. Continue to feed and care for them during this time, don’t forget your bubble wrap.

16.  They’re 3!!! Woowhooo! The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Time to start their discipline training. Do you plan to do this yourself? Or send them off to a professional? Again…you know the deal….you’ll pay one way or the other! Remember, this is a critical time in their life, the training they receive now can set them up for greatness or failure, be sure you know which one you’re headed for

17.  They are slick, shiney, well-oiled machines and are ready to start entering those futurities at 4 or 5 years old. 1 step forward, 2 steps back, red light/green light. They won a check in the 1D one day when they laid down a run, next day they hit all 3 barrels and the one by the out gate. At this point, you’re now spending the time feeding, riding and bathing them daily (or you’re paying someone who is doing this for you), furthermore, you are hauling anywhere and everywhere you can to show them the world. You are spending the money to enter them, in hopes of winning some back and more importantly getting them more consistent. That is, entry fee money, fuel money, rig purchase and maintenance money, on top of horse maintenance money…………if it hasn’t already, the commitment gets REAL, REAL FAST about now.

18.  You now have a great product, you hope. You have dreams and ambitions that stretch the horizon. You work endlessly each day to make sure your partners needs are met on all accounts. You work hard and you pray hard, because we all know in our line of work it takes execution of both at a high level, every day.

Sometimes, even if you’ve done all your homework, you have worked really hard through endless hours, blood, sweat and tears to establish a strong program of healthy, proven competitors, it’s not enough. Sometimes, things happen that are out of your control, the bubble wrap fails. In these scary, raw and vulnerable moments, you thank the good Lord for your veterinary staff and you ask God to guide their team in the treatment of your hopes and dreams that’s now standing before them in the form or a sick or injured horse.

It is in these times uncertain times you plead to your friends and family to send up prayers to God on behalf of your partner because you know that God says where many gather He too is there. It is in these times where you find the mental strength to be hopeful, you try your best to block out the what-if’s and you pray that you don’t have to make the call to end the life you have dedicated the last 5 years of your life to caring for and developing.

So thank you, to all of our friends and family who join us in praying for our equine partners, I hope you now have a better understanding of what it means to “please pray for my horse” by praying for them you are truly praying for a part of us. No matter the dream, it takes a village and we are grateful you are part of ours.   

NEARLY CATASTROPHIC-The Story of a Survivor of a HIDDEN RED BAG DELIVERY

We are wrapping up foaling season for 2019 here at Double M Performance Horses. It’s the wee hours of Friday, May 24th 2019, my alarm goes of, 11:30 pm, 12:30am, 1:30am……each time I diligently check our foaling camera’s for signs that our final mare is going to bless us with another Sheriff Of Blackburn foal.

My evening check on Boston revealed wax on her teats, an elongated and relaxed vulva, elongated full teats, softened muscles throughout her hindquarters and at her tail head, there was no doubt in my mind that baby was coming very soon, most likely tonight. At 1:30am I see Boston agitated, slightly pacing and can tell her coat is broke out in a light sweat, she’s in stage one labor, baby will be arriving soon. I patiently watch for awhile longer as it is our practice to not disturb them until we start to see feet and then aid only if needed.

If I’m being honest, I had a bad feeling about this delivery for the past couple weeks but I thought I was merely blowing things out of proportion as I frequently compare all our deliveries to the one (and only one to date) we lost 2 years ago (see blog post for We Wrote Our Own Story). Thinking some how if I had done something differently, not missed a sign, etc. I could have changed the outcome. As per usual Boston’s anxiousness led to the natural progression of delivery, I remember breathing a sigh of relief when I saw a healthy amnion and normal presentation of feet. However, contraction after contraction came and went and the nose would present and regress. After 7 or 8 contractions, it was clear mama was in distress and the foal was stuck. I quickly made the decision to pull the foal, grasping around the feet, pulling out and down with constant pressure in unison with her contractions, baby wasn’t budging. The foal’s nose wasn’t clear of the vulva yet and I knew something was wrong. So I pulled harder and mama strained harder and baby started progressing down the birth canal. When baby’s upper neck cleared the vulva, a thick, dark red, fluid filled, membranous tissue started protruding around the foal and my heart sank. My immediate thought was that this mare was prolapsing her uterus or her bladder and we needed to act quickly. The foal delivered the rest of the way and mama stood up almost immediately, broke the umbilicus and started cleaning her baby. I called Oakridge Equine’s emergency line, prepared to bring the mare and foal in and attempt to replace what I thought was her prolapse.

We decided to let mama clean off baby for a few minutes and in that time it became very clear that in her retained placenta, she had a partial red bag delivery. The fluid from the chorioallantois drained causing the thickened, hemorrhaged tissue to reduce and the “velvety appearance” was what remained. I have heard horror stories of the dreaded “red-bag delivery” but have been blessed to never experience it myself. For those that don’t know what a red-bag delivery is, in simple terms it is the premature separation of the placenta from the uterine wall, which ultimately cuts the circulation and oxygen off to the foal and the majority of foals will suffocate before full delivery.

However, typically when a red-bag delivery occurs, the allantois is not seen (the white sac), you see instead the velvety read microcotelydn’s which is your cue to break the sac and get to work to get that foal out of the mare as quickly as possible. The terryifying part of this delivery was if I had instead chosen to let our mare try to deliver her foal on her own for awhile longer (never knowing it was a red-bag delivery due to normal presentation), we may have lost our filly. Thank you God for helping me choose correctly this time.

We were blessed that our mare passed her placenta after a few minutes (we tie knots in the bottom of our mares to provide constant weighted pressure to assist the mare with passing it; however, that is a topic of debate and others have different opinions on this practice. I suggest you ask your vet and decide for yourself what your best practice is). Our mare foaled a BIG beautiful dun filly, the filly stood up quickly and on her first try and we thought we were in the clear. We would quickly learn that was not the case as she didn’t reach her milestones. She stood up in great time but was slightly “dummied”. She didn’t recognize her mama, was more interested in searching out the walls than nursing, was dull and very shaky. After nearly an hour we were able to get her to nurse one time for a short period, it was clear her suckle response was weaker than what we typically see in our babies. Exhausted we decided to see if we let mama and baby bond, if she would snap out of it and went to the house for an hour to watch on the cameras. Sometimes us “nosy owners” get in the way more than we help and we need to take a step back and let mares work their magic. That’s not always the case, but sometimes it is.

Mama was doing everything 100% correct and wouldn’t let her baby not know she was there, she was licking her, circling her, constantly putting her udder in front of her to nurse should she want to, nickering to her and stimulating her. Over the years we have began to appreciate the highly protective mama’s, they can be more difficult to work with post-delivery sometimes but they sure take dang good care of their babies. Boston has had 4 other foals, is a veteran mama and is a very protective mama, thankfully she tolerates Mitch and I. I knew she would keep working on her baby, so we left her alone for awhile. After an hour baby had “kind-of” nursed one more time and laid down, she was very shaky and weak. She passed her meconium and we continued to monitor her, she got up once more walked around a little and laid back down. I went back out after an hour and half, scratched up and down her back to stimulate her and get her to her feet. She struggled to get up and mama was clearly worried about her. I called our repro vet and told her what happened, she planned to come out later that morning to run an IGG snap test, blood work and to squeeze the foal (I highly suggest googling the Madigan foal squeeze!).

I periodically checked on mama and baby until our vet arrived and she was slowly getting better and better. Showing signs of staying on her feet longer, wobbling less, being brighter and more alert and actually interacting with her mama. When my vet arrived she was pretty bright but since she hadn’t hit her milestones previously, there was still concern for her health and well-being. She pulled blood, ran an IGG snap and bloodwork, took her temp, performed a physical exam, started her on antibiotics and performed the Madigan foal squeeze (which wasn’t easy because she was starting to get a little fight to her, praise the Lord!). After she was squeezed her suckle response was so much better, she continued to progress in the right direction. Her IGG came back at over 800 (another blessing) and her bloodwork looked good, only her neutrophils were slightly elevated, which could have been due to stress. Her temp was slightly elevated (102) so we started her on Metronidazole.

Later that day she developed some diarrhea; however, she was bright, alert, running, bucking, terrorizing mama like nothing ever happened. So we started her on probios, continued her metro and temp checked her 2x daily. We also started her on sweet potatoes, an old race-horse friend of mine (thank you Richard Joneson! I owe you one!) told me about that trick for foal heat scours, but to-date we’ve never had an issue with foal heat scours so I haven’t got to use it until now. We purchased one large sweet potato and cubed it, boiled it until soft, mashed it really well and let it cool thoroughly. I cut the tipped-end of a 12cc syringe off, sanded the edges (so it wasn’t sharp) and slowly gave her 2 doses (24cc am and pm) to help settle her stomach. Again, probably a controversial subject with many opinions but for this filly it worked really well and if nothing else she LOVED the sweet potatoes and it made doctoring her so much easier because she no longer fights us to put her meds or probios in her mouth and after all of her doctoring (ie: oral meds, temp checks, umbilical dips, etc) she still likes us!

Going through stressful situations is never fun; however, we all must take the opportunity to learn from them. I chose to share this story in hopes that it might help another breeder somewhere down the line! Moral of the story, a red-bag delivery doesn’t always present with a red-sac immediately so do your homework, trust your instinct and ask God for a little assistance.

God Bless!

Torrential rains and flooding has unfortunately made our normally green place, a mudhole. Sister Brass (right) really wants to meet new baby Mugsy, mama Boston doesn’t think that’s a good idea yet. Brass was a big filly too and is pictured here at 4 weeks old, Mugsy is a day old (you do the math on the size of Mugsy….no wonder she got stuck!) both mares are 15.2H race-bred mares.

God Given Passions Never Cease!

There are a million reasons to celebrate in life today and on this day I am choosing to celebrate the ending of my sabbatical from a passion that has burned from within since I was a young child. I was somewhere near the 4th or 5th grade and the highlight of my days was picking up the new issue of “Horse Tales” a local equine enthusiasts newspaper published by Mrs. Elois Shackleford. As a child I was ate up with a love of books and by this point I had already read every horse related book at our school library and our town’s public library, at least twice. “Horse Tales” was my opportunity to read something horse related that was new and fresh but it also had a section about local horse events that I looked forward to most (of course this was in the “pre-internet” days). Then one day, I thought I had somehow struck the lottery when through a series of events I was blessed with the opportunity to meet the owner and publisher of “Horse Tales”, Mrs. Shackleford at her home near Gary, South Dakota. I remember this very keen twinkle she had in her eye and being in awe of her big black horse. The sun glistened off his coat in the evening sun like a reflection of shiny black pearl. I seem to recall his name being “Sundance” although it’s been many years now so I could be completely off; however, I can tell you for sure that he had a twinkle in his eye that said he was not only intelligent but a bit of shyster. Elois provided me an opportunity of a lifetime and allowed me to be apart of an article she was writing about the Silver Sage Ranch. My mom permitted me to travel with her to the ranch to shadow the interview process and I got far more than I bargained for, making many memories I’d cherish for a lifetime, including having my first up-close interaction with a draft horse, whom they affectionately called “Frank”. I was fortunate enough to be afforded the opportunity to write a couple articles for Horse Tales over the next year. I fell in love with writing as much as I had with reading, and the process of producing a paper so it was only natural that being a budding entrepreneurial spirit, I would do what would come next…….

The Silver Sage Ranch article in “Horse Tales” Newspaper!

Much to my classmates dismay, I pitched the idea of starting a school newspaper to my 5th grade teacher and she LOVED the idea! I was made editor and publisher and the paper was named “The Lancer Local”, after our school mascot. For two years I was blessed to write articles and piece together this publication. Mind you, this adventure too was pre-Adobe Photoshop so publishing the paper was literally proofing and formatting the margins of the articles in Microsoft Word, printing them, cutting them out and physically arranging them on the master copy which was then used to make a multitude of copies to be dispersed around the school. My paper publication days came to a close when I finished the 6th grade and moved to the “Jr High” which was at a different school and where I started more vigorous course work and athletics, leaving little to no time for my writing. We did put a copy of the paper in the school’s time capsule though and I believe someday when I’m in my 40’s some young kid from Canby Elementary will be trying to find me to invite me back to the school for the opening of the capsule. This will undoubtedly bring back painful memories for my fellow classmates when the Lancer Locale is once again unveiled…..I can already hear the groaning and grumbling that will ensue (if you could only see the smirk I have right now, I nearly belly laughed at the mere thought of this occasion, if you haven’t guessed by now they were not a fan of the extra workload).

The Lancer Local, First Edition. 2002.

So maybe my editorial skills weren’t so great lol

The next several years brought a lot of projects, sports, extra curricular activities and horse adventures; but aside from required course work, little-to-no “free lance writing”. I had always hoped I’d write a book one day, as did my parents and teachers who were frequently telling me “I would miss my calling as an author” if I became a veterinarian. However, the closest I came during high school to becoming “said author” was while in Mrs. Anderson’s English class, she had a love of the literary arts like no one I’ve met to this day. She had a way of reading a book that made the words dance off the page and encompass you in the story; so much so, that it was as if you were living the book and not just sitting at a mediocre desk on the 3rd floor of Canby High School listening to it. Mrs. Anderson had spunk and treated her students with respect while holding them to a high standard of being young adults. I do believe it was her love of theater that combined with her passion for reading and writing that allowed her to put her students in a trance every time she would pick up a book and start turning the pages. Even “those” kids who were always misbehaving and getting into trouble would shut up and pay attention. I was then, and still am now (thanks to Facebook) eternally grateful for her mentorship and friendship throughout the years. I’m sure if she reads this, she will start laughing because she will realize that I still have the inability to write a short and concise article, my ramblings and rabbit trails always prevail. So back to my English class, for our senior project we had to design a “shield” and a poster which would represent all of our passions and a “story” we wanted to share about a lesson we had learned. As I worked through this project I started to see the outline of a trilogy….to which I will go no further in explanation because whose to say I won’t one day still write said books and if I tell you about them now….well that’d just ruin the fun! For now though….the story ends there and said triology remains on my life’s “to-do” list.

I was pretty darn set on becoming a equine veterinarian and as such my course work and the height of the “bar” for which I completed it only grew with intensity as my collegiate undergraduate education ensued. My imagination was put on hold while I dedicated my time learning bodily processes in physiology, ways of the world in physics and of course “fun” organic chemistry structures (my apologies to Dr. Crittell if you’re reading this lol) and equations (that I still have never actually used…..). Although each instructor I had during my undergrad left a special impression (some good,some not-so-much) and many I am still proud to call friends and mentors to this day. Uh-oh….rabbit trail…….one instructor/mentor in particular deserves special mention, Dr. Williams, my physics instructor and boss throughout my undergrad. I will never forget the first day of undergraduate physics class when this tiny woman came skateboarding into our classroom, the chaos of creative learning through a multitude of toys and fun that ensued over the next several years was…dare I say? GLORIOUS! It could have easily been a different story, I remember breaking down and crying my guts out on my futon in my office trying to complete my first physics assignment, thinking I was never going to accomplish my dreams because I could never pass that class. I also remember the overwhelming sense of pride that followed the storm of whaling when I realized I had just figured out how to solve my first physics problem, more importantly I figured out how to approach the problems! When I say the professor you take for those tough courses MATTERS I couldn’t mean it more! I not only passed both my mandatory physics courses with an "A” but also took an elective and student-worker position in the physics department because of this one professor. I became a “geek” who enjoyed physics and surprisingly find myself still using it frequently today! She was then and still is the most “bad ass” professor any university could ever have and ECU should be so dang proud they landed her (even if she is a Arkansas Razorbacks fan (#haha). Truly speaking, very few collegiate professors take their teaching to the level that she does, she was always bringing in new toys to teach concepts (we had a closet full of stuff that makes Toys R Us look boring, which perhaps is a bad analogy given recent events….maybe Apple or Google would be better?). Being timely and prompt with grading was of the utmost importance and she somehow found that perfect balance of knowing when students are lying about their dog eating their homework and when their dog really did eat their homework and responded accordingly. Okay okay back to the story…..so long story short, my collegiate career had me reading text books and writing “scholarly” (aka: non-fiction and boring….) articles and papers at such a high rate that I had no desire to attempt writing or reading outside of what was required.

My life took a turn in my first semester of veterinary school at Oklahoma State University and I began to feel for the first time ever that I was on the wrong path. I denied it for several months but I never could shake the ill-feeling and wondering thoughts of what-if. It was undoubtedly God saying “you only THINK this is what you want but trust me”. In a traumatic turn of events I recareered to a master’s program in business and entrepreneurship instead. Looking back at the many struggles I had getting into vet school, the poor feelings I had while there and ease of which I flew through the acceptance process and course work in my Master’s, I can not attempt to deny that God didn’t have His hand on my journey. I am so grateful He has because I can honestly say I have never been more happy than I am right now. He has provided me a life I love, a career I enjoy and find value in, a business I truly love and path to travel that I look forward too (even though I know it has a few Mt. Everest’s on it, those mountains no longer scare me but instead excite me! Challenges are not to be feared because although they sometimes cause stress and pain, they also promote growth)!

He merely opened my heart and my schedule to do the many things I enjoy in life! Of course if you know me at all, that first and foremost means riding, training, showing and competing with my horses. However, as you probably guessed….this also includes writing again! I’ll leave it up to your imagination if a book will be in my future but for now I am proud to announce that my first free-lance article, post literary sabbatical, has been published in Oklahoma Horses Magazine! I do hope you will check it out! It is nothing special….but it is something very important….a “start”.

This article highlights a program called the LG Legacy Project, a multiple world champion barrel racer has chosen to leave his legacy in a big way that involves coordinating with other very successful barrel racing industry titans to teach talented youth how to recareer some black-type, high dollar race horses from the track to the barrel pen….and doing it all on a timeline! He’s providing the students a learning opportunity and experience few get in this lifetime and giving reject race horses a better chance at life through a second career! I hope you’ll check it out! Oklahoma Horses Magazine is a fairly new publication but is gaining stature quickly, they have seen great support in the equine industry and provide not only some entertaining local equine stories but also are a great resource for finding what equine events are going on in Oklahoma. It’s the start of many adventures I have coming down my pipeline, rest assured I’ll keep you posted.

***SPOILER ALERT*** Double M Performance Horses has some exciting news to be released in a few weeks! (No mom….I’m NOT pregnant, if this should ever happen I wouldn’t tell you over a blog post!) Those are my “thoughts from the barn”! Check out our “News” page and check back frequently to see updates on what’s going on here at the Double M Ranch!

You can view the online version of Oklahoma Horses and purchase subscriptions here: www.http://oklahomahorsesmagazine.com/

We Wrote Our Own Story....

We were legends....loving you baby it was heaven.....

It was in the spring of 2002, I was 11 years old, my family (along with the rest of the country) was still grieving over the tragedy of lives taken too soon. The rainbow on my horizon was that all the money I had saved babysitting was finally adding up and I was about to get my very first horse! I spent many hours dreaming of all of the adventures we would go on, no longer bound to time by the woman whom I leased my previous horses from, the voyages that would ensue were sure to bring me more joy than I could fathom. I was finally going to get to be the girl posed so perfectly, so happily in all of the equine books and magazines I’d collected over the past 7 years of what my parents thought was the typical horse-crazy stage every little girl goes through. They would soon find out it was more than that, I was blessed not only with a deep set passion for all things horses, western and rodeo but I was also blessed with my first horse, a 3 year old paint filly named Kickin’ Up Pebbles.

Pebbles wouldn’t have been my first name choice but it was the name she arrived with and according to official cowboy legend, it’s bad luck to change a horses name, so Pebbles it remained. However, I added the “Kickin’ Up” to the front in anticipation of the many rocks that were sure to fly out from her feet as we thundered through the country side (and the barrel pattern) at a high rate of speed. Now, I know what you are thinking, an 11 year old girl and a 3 year old untrained filly (yes, she was barely halter broke when she arrived), that’s a bad decision. You wouldn’t be wrong, it was a classic case of the inexperienced horseman’s version of “they can grow old together”. To make matters worse we found out she was pregnant, which meant putting off my training and our adventures that much longer. After much preparation in the freezing cold temperatures of late winter in Minnesota, my dad and I had prepared a stall for her. Several “Foaling For Dummies” books later (this was before Youtube was all the rage of course) and trips to our vet to try to determine a rough due date, we were “ready”.

Hurry up and wait, day in and day out I was up every two hours trudging through snow from the basement bedroom in my grandparents farm house to the barn some 400 yards away and back. The cold would sting my face, having the same effect on my shivering little body that being shaken awake during a deep sleep has. By the time I would get back to my bed and fall asleep I only had “minutes” of rest before the next alarm would go off, back to the barn I went. After weeks of waiting, still no baby, I got worried so we took her to the vet to be palpated. “I’m sorry but I believe the foal is dead” were the first words from my vets mouth, they hit me like a ton of bricks. Before I could go into an all-out depression resulting from the loss of the little unplanned miracle and my personal failure as a horse-owner (or so I would have thought then), she said “oh…wait, nope it was just sleeping, I was able to wake it up and its moving” as she pulled her gloved arm out. “I’d say she has a solid week, maybe two before this little one arrives”, music to my ears, for the first time in weeks, I was going to get to sleep through the night. I’m sure every experienced horse breeder reading this is giggling about now, yes your suspicions are correct, Pebbles foaled a beautiful chestnut filly the following morning, all by herself as her little human slept silently in the warmth of her bed…the filly was affectionately named “Pebbles Patience”.

All those years ago I vowed I would never sell my little paint mare for she had taught me more than I could have ever learned in a classroom and had blessed me beyond measure (those stories could be a book all in itself). Fast Forward 16 years….Pebbles and I have been all over the country together, we drove cattle on the great Kamrath Cattle Drive through the heart of Gary, SD, we ran barrels against some of the toughest competition in college rodeo in the red dirt of Oklahoma and partook in adventures of all kinds everywhere in between. She’s now 19 years young.

Two years ago I decided to semi-retire her from the barrel pen, I knew she loved to go but I had younger, faster horses and was really wanting to push myself and my training to the next level so I felt I needed to focus on them, consequently there wasn’t enough room on the trailer most days. Pebbles spent her days chilling with the broodmares in the pasture but noticed every time I’d take another horse out to work it and always made me aware of her disapproval. The guilt was getting to me until one day God presented me with a solution.

An old friend from the past had posted on Facebook that her daughter’s horse had passed away and she was scared to ride any of her other horses. I remembered what it was like to be her daughters’ age, wanting a trained horse I could feel safe and learn on, one that I could also win on but not having the money to purchase one. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to give back to the industry I dearly love, it’s no secret that the kids of today will be the competitors of tomorrow and it’s our duty as adult competitors to help cultivate this love for the western way of life, for the horse and all it has to offer. After screening her properly and successfully creating and signing a legally binding lease, Pebbles was on a trailer back to the north country to be this little girls unicorn.

The first year was great, I received photos and videos of her daughter showing her in 4-H, proudly displaying her many blue ribbons and pictures of her with the biggest smile while trail riding. I thought to myself “thank you God for your gracious plan”. As you have probably guessed by now, all good things must come to end and come to an end they did. After the first year of her lease things started to go down hill, the lease was breached on multiple occasions and I began to fear for the care of my horse. We were patient and cordial but diligent in trying to seek solutions but to no avail, in November of 2017 we made the long 15 hour trek to north central Minnesota to retrieve my beloved mare.

Upon our arrival, as I suspected I would be, I was disappointed in the level of care they were providing and I had another suspicion and worry that would come to head in the months to come. We were able to visit our families during the trip and got to ride around at our old stomping grounds, so it wasn’t all bad. Upon our return home I began to exercise Pebbles regularly, worried her excessive weight would cause her to founder but after two weeks of being stalled and lunged for an extended period each day, I saw no results. In January, I took her to the vet who confirmed my long-seeded suspicion, much to my dismay my 19 year old mare was bred. After conversing with the lease holder about this issue and her denying that it could have been possible and making up every pathetic excuse in the book, I severed all ties with her, still astonished that she could be so careless and disrespectful. Proof that time changes people because she was no longer the young woman who cared so dearly for her horses that I fondly remember.

The vet estimated she was due to foal April/May, the 3rd week of February she started building a bag. I brought her in to have her caslicks cut and have her checked again, thinking perhaps he had just estimated the date wrong. After her second palpation he stated he thought she still had several weeks left before foaling based on the position of the foal. I had a bad feeling, not one that’s easily explained but this whole deal wasn’t sitting well with my “gut”. Within a week her bag was full, she was waxing and streaming milk. I wasn’t prepared for the foal to come this soon as my closest due date wasn’t until the 23rd of March and found myself a little amused (and equally as worried) while I rushed around making preparations for her to foal, thinking about all the prep work I did when she had her first foal, 16 years ago.

February 28th she goes into stage one labor, pacing, sweating, up-down-up-down, rolling, pawing, biting at her belly, twitching, tails up….hours pass, too many hours, she’s this way for an entire night. I didn’t sleep a wink, watching closely on the foaling cam all night, ready to rush out and assist whenever needed. Morning comes, no foal. She starts to settle down. I get worried and call the vet. I’m given two options, bring her in and have her palpated again (recommended) or keep a close eye on her throughout the day and if she remains comfortable then she was probably just working to position the foal. I was also told to check her vulva to see if membranes were present (an indication the foal is breech), I did as I was told, no membranes and Pebbles remained comfortable, eating and drinking all day as usual so I decided to give her one more day before bringing her in to have her palpated. That evening I noticed how much her shape had changed, each time I pushed on her side, she urinated, I knew the foal was in position and she was showing signs of being ready to foal again, relaxed vulva, streaming milk, engorged teats, wax etc. She rests comfortably in her stall all night and by the following morning, still no baby.

I’m now more worried than ever. I call Oakridge, make an appointment for 11:30am and as per tradition, go to breakfast with my husband while monitoring her on the camera. He’s joking the entire time, frequently saying “has Pebbles had her baby yet”, he’s trying to be charming and get me to relax because he knows I’m worried but I’m certain he doesn’t know just how worried I am, I can feel somethings not right.

We return home from breakfast, Pebbles is laying down, I approach her and she’s resting easily and gets up in anticipation of her breakfast. I feed everyone and go in the house to change in preparation for our vet appointment. I go outside and Pebbles is down again, she ate all her breakfast and is in fact still eating her alfalfa but I can tell somethings up. I wait and watch patiently and then it starts, contractions. She’s straining, pushing, straining, pushing, I see the sac appear and immediately can tell something isn’t right. I call Oakridge while I enter her stall to break the sac, all that comes out is some hair…..I put on a palpation sleeve and palpate her, to my great dismay the foal is breech. I holler to my husband to get the truck and trailer and with in minutes she is loaded and I’m flying XX miles per hour to the clinic, thinking the entire 30 minutes that I may lose my beloved mare and most certainly her foal. I had a fleeting thought about the danger of getting pulled over while traveling at this rate of speed, I’d likely lose my license and it is unlikely a police officer would sympathize with me because to him it would just be “a horse”.  I put those thoughts out of my mind and began praying, I found myself pleading and bargaining with God like most imperfect humans do when they are facing trials, tribulations and are in the wake of a great loss.

I arrive safely at the clinic, pull up by the ICU, throw my truck in park and rush to my trailer. Never in a million years would I have expected what I saw next. Trailing out from under my trailer door was a placenta, when I opened the door and solid black foal lay on the mats of my trailer with a painted mama watching intently over her, wondering what the fuss is all about. The staff at Oakridge was quick to act, ligating the foals umbilical cord on the trailer and carrying her into the ICU, mama following willingly. She was small but was a fighter, breathing well on her own, all the while trying to stand, I could see her mama’s fire in her. She was placed on a soft mat, heating pad and oxygen while they checked over mama. Determining Pebbles was good to go, they sedated her to settle her down while they turned their attention to her foal. At this point I’m covered with unmentionables and still shaking from the adrenaline rush, thinking it’s all going to be okay. That thought was clearly preconceived.

Our vet makes me aware of the greatest danger of premature foals, the lack of mineralization and formation of the lower hock bones and knee bones. Without at least 50% mineralization it is unlikely the foal will survive and live a quality life because when they stand for the first time they will crush the joint and unformed bones. My heart sinks, still holding onto a small hope she’ll be okay and she was small for some other reason. They carry her foal into another room to take radiographs which confirmed his suspicions, the bones had not yet formed. It is now up to me, although he truly hates the facts, his recommendation is to euthanize the foal.

My first thought is this foal has survived so many odds already, how can this be? She was literally born breech in my trailer while I was driving at heinous speeds and was bright eyed, breathing well and acted like she could take on the world and I’m supposed to end all of that? I took some time to clear my head, did a little research, called my husband and in the end decided it would be too cruel and inhumane to put her through the extensive treatment, she didn’t deserve that. Just after noon, Pebbles foal was laid to rest. I loaded mama and her deceased foal in the trailer, went home, put her in her stall with the foal to figure out what happened and to come to terms with it on her own time. I had a very important appointment I needed to get to and got myself as ready and prepared as I could and headed out.

Keeping a close eye on mama on the foal cam, I suffered through my 2 hour appointment and rushed home (adulting really sucks sometimes). I arrived at her stall minutes later and could tell something was up. Her hair was all standing on end, she was shivering all over (it was 65 and sunny), her gums were pale, gut sounds hypermotile, her temp was normal. I called Oakridge to see if this was normal, my vet said it was definitely not and asked what her heart rate was. I thought to myself, I’m an idiot why did I forget to take her heart rate but she seemed quiet and calm, besides the shivering, so it's most likely not elevated. Boy was I wrong, her heart rate was elevated to 82 (for those who don’t know the normal range is 24-40bpm)! I knew something was again terribly wrong, she was given a dose of Banamine while at the clinic only 5 hours ago. For a mare who was eating alfalfa while foaling breech (which speaks tremendous volumes to her toughness) to have a heart rate of 82 with a full dose of pain meds on board, told me the situation wasn’t good so back on the trailer she went and back to Oakridge we went.

Upon arrival they palpated her, ran blood work and scanned her. The trailer ride must have done her some good because she passed a small stool, her heart rate had dropped to 65 bpm and her gums had some color back in them. Her bloodwork came back normal, a good sign that she wasn’t bleeding internally. However, her colon was displaced and distended (not entrapped, thankfully (google "nephrosplenic entrapment" FMI) which meant she would be staying there on fluids for a while, getting lunged to try to get that colon back where it belongs and functioning how it’s supposed to. After 4 sleepless nights and an exhausting day, I left before they finished Pebble’s exam, too exhausted to function. I trusted them wholeheartedly and knew they would do their absolute best to care for her. As I pulled out of their parking lot I said one last pleading prayer for my mare and journeyed home. She remained at Oakridge for another day and a half before returning home, healthy.

The following morning after dropping Pebbles off at Oakridge I spent a significant amount of time in thought and prayer with God while waiting for the phone call and update on her condition. During all of this I had hatred in my heart for the girl who let this happen to my sweet girl, in addition to my stress and anxiety. I had intended on writing this story in contempt of this woman’s behavior, in an effort to warn others about people like her and guarding your treasures. However, as He usually does, He worked a miracle that morning and allowed me to release myself of the anger and hostility I held towards this person and their wrong doing. It was then I saw the opportunity to use this tragic experience as a lesson from God, make no mistake, I am far from a perfect Christian and I am certainly not a preacher, but here it goes anyways.

 I can’t tell you with any certainty why this happened and am not sure if I will ever know but I can tell you it was all part of His plan and it happened for a reason. The test of a person’s true Faith is during times of trials and tribulation, not during times of blessing and wealth. The Bible says: "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." (Isaiah 41:10). I can’t help but think during times like these that God is sculpting us for bigger things to come, these trials will prepare us to stay humble and appreciative during our greatest achievements and highs (knowing all the while how quickly it can be taken from us) while simultaneously giving us strength when we are at our lowest, resting assured in His great power and will.  "The pain that you've been feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming." (Romans 8:18).

Think of your relationship with God as a dance, He will always lead but the better you get at following the more extravagant and beautiful the dance. It’s difficult to dance carrying baggage and in rough terrain which is why we must leave the baggage and frequently work on our footwork. Together you can two-step your way up any mountain and out of any valley. It is true, you can dance alone but similar to dancing, life, is just better with a partner.

#HaveFaith #DreamBig #WorkHard