Scorup Cabin

Scorup Cabin

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Little Less Stress

The other day my mama sent me an e-mail about stress management, and I found it extremely informational so I thought I'd share.

1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker..

5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

20 *Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate!*



And I'll end it with an Irish Blessing.
May you always walk in sunshine.  May you never want for more.  May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door...




XO Loves,


Me



 

Monday, January 21, 2013

Self-Image

I meant to sit down today and do another post for my TB series, but someone said something the other night on a Facebook page that kind of offended me...

I was commenting on a thread about the difference between the types of cowboys throughout the country, when someone said something rude about a friend of mine.  This friend is an Amazing person and I really look up to her.  I spoke my peace on the matter, and the offender tried saying that's not who they were talking about, but the damage was already done.  The comment really got me to thinking about self-image, and in particular that we all have our haters.

Self-image is something I have and do struggle with.  I go back and forth from being semi-happy with myself to unsure and less than pleased.  Being a woman I'm fairly certain I'm not alone here, but it is something I try to work on.  I recently made a new friend who told me I'm totally awesome!  Who doesn't like to hear that?!  That one simple comment did a lot for my ego, which rarely makes an appearance in my personality.  It made me think that maybe, just maybe I really am awesome.  Every morning the alarm on my phone goes off and as I slide the dismiss button I read 'Wake up Gorgeous'.  A constant reminder does wonders for your overall attitude.  My wonderful roommate also wrote a little message on my shower wall, 'A smile completes any outfit'.  Isn't that just so true?  The way we carry ourselves and how we portray ourselves to others is really important.  If we slunch, yes I said slunch(a hybrid of slouch and hunch) and act mousy or intimidated then that is what people will think of us.  In order to be taken seriously one must exude power and confidence, even if you don't really feel that way inside.  No matter the situation, you are what you make of it.  So make the best of every one! 

It doesn't really matter if we're Joe Schmoe down the road, the Queen of England or someone in between there will always be people who have something negative to say about us.  Naysayers and haters are abundant in this world.  I found a really great quote by Mark Twain: "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that.  But the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great".

So lift your chin up, square your shoulders and tackle the ne'er-do-wells in life with reckless abandon.  Smile and say to yourself that it's all O.K. because, well, you're fabulous and that's all there is to it! 








Xoxo Loves,


Me






Monday, January 14, 2013

Today I Will...






Today I will not wait for someone to come to my aid.  I'm not helpless.  Although help may come, I'm my own rescuer.  My relationships will dramatically improve when I stop rescuing others and stop expecting others to rescue me.




Xo Loves,


Me

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Pamplemousse, #1 in TB Series

Alright, so this guy has recently made a place for himself in my top favorites.  I mentioned in my last post that I really want a foal out of him.  His stud fee seems pretty steep, but in the racing world it's really not bad.  Just another huge expenditure to save for!  So here's some background on this huge odd colored stallion.

The Pamplemousse was born in April 2006 at Clarkland Farm in Kentucky.  He's a 16.3 hh gray roan stallion by Kafwain-Comfort Zone, By Rubiano.  The Pamplemousse broke his maiden at Hollywood Park on December 14, 2008, winning the San Rafael Stakes.  He also won the Sham Stakes, a race which he led the entire way and won by six lengths.  He ran five races, winning three and placing once.  It was said by the media that "he is that rare thoroughbred with sharp speed and the ability to carry it over a distance of ground." The Pamplemousse was the odds-on favorite for the 2009 Santa Anita Derby, but was scratched the morning of the race due to a torn tendon.  Trainer Julio Canani said, "The Pamplemousse had more raw ability than any horse I ever trained. Not only was he fast, but he could carry his speed a long way. I really believed he had Classic potential, it was a travesty that he never had a chance to prove it."  This gorgeous big stud had some serious potential and was well favored for the run at the Triple Crown.

The show Jockeys is awesome, if you've never seen it, you should totally check it out! One of The Pomplemousse's owners Alex Solis Jr. is featured in an episode, and his jockey Alex Solis is one of the jockeys followed.  The Pamplemousse returned to light training in June 2009, but didn't race again due to an ankle issue.  He was retired from racing and turned out to stud at Tom and Nancy Clark's Rancho San Miguel near San Miguel, CA.  Ownership was syndicated with a $10,000 buy in for forty shares and two free breeding's for the first two years. It was decided that a fifty mare book would be a good start for The Pamplemousse.  Only twenty-two mares were bred to him in 2011.  His first foal was a filly born at Rancho San Miguel on January 11, 2012 out of Broke the Slump.  I tried, but couldn't find any pictures from his first foal crop.




Here are some good thoroughbred links you might enjoy: 
The Pamplemousse winning San Rafael Stakes 
The Pamplemousse dominating the Sham Stakes  




Xoxo Loves,


Me



Saturday, January 12, 2013

Race Horses

Like most little girls I was intensely horse crazy.  Our neighbor up the creek taught me how to ride, using her horses since ours weren't fit for children.  She gave me all of her old magazines and I read them cover to cover, cut out pictures, and plastered my walls with horses of all breeds.  I have to say though that my favorite magazine was The Thoroughbred Times.  The size, speed and grace these magnificent horses exhibited left me in total awe.  To me they just seemed superior to other breeds.  Living on a ranch though owning a race horse was kind of a preposterous idea.

My first memory of a horse was my daddy's thoroughbred mare Sunset.  I have no idea where she came from but even now my memories of her are of a huge, gorgeous, sleek sorrel mare.  In all actuality she didn't have very good confirmation and was prone to bucking, but I loved her anyways.  I cried the day my daddy sold her....  He then ended up with another thoroughbred, a big bay gelding over 16 hands.  His name was Tank when we got him, but he wasn't really a tank.  Daddy renamed him Bailey, and again, I was in love.  My sister had a little mustang mare under 14 hands that looked like a pony next to Bailey.  I only remember riding Bailey once, and it didn't last long.  We started at the hay barn, only Bailey and I never left.  My legs were too short to really kick him and he was too lazy to care.  My sister even tried ponying him, but that didn't work because I think he thought her mare was just a joke.  He did however have some speed with a real rider.  Actually bucking one of my sisters friends off and breaking her back.  She couldn't ride and turning a thoroughbred loose in an open field wasn't exactly the best decision she ever made.  So again, another thoroughbred sold, daddy said they were too thin skinned and too tall for a mountain horse.  It wasn't quite as traumatic this time though, because one of my dads friends bought him.

 I knew what he said about thoroughbreds not being good mountain horses was true, but that didn't stop me from wanting one.  I grew up, went through a couple horses and then my freshman year of college I bought a thoroughbred.  Take Your Dallies was a 14 yr old 16 hand sorrel mare with a lip tattoo.  She'd had two bay roan appendix foals, was a ranch horse and a team roping horse.  She had giant flat feet and had a great sense of self preservation.  She was amazing.  Built more like a quarter horse than a thoroughbred, and was really fast.  I never found a race record on her, so while she'd been prepped to race she never actually did.  Every time I rode her I fell more in love.  She had heart, try, personality and a major attitude!  She wasn't mean or bitchy really, but if she was in a bad mood she let you know.  She had kind of a long back, which went out quite frequently.  If you tried roping on her when it was, you ended up in the dirt every time.  She loved to run, but when she was done she was done.  Always stopping on her front end I flew over her head several times.  But none of this mattered.  The big red mare was my best friend and even though she was a flat horse, she took care of me in the mountains.  Two years ago I bred her to a huge Hancock, Blue Valentine stud then had her shipped down to CA.  She sloughed the fetus on the trip down and I was just too far away to breed back to that stud.  Just a couple days after having an ultrasound she was the victim of a hit and run, breaking her front leg just below the knee.  She was the first horse I watched being put down and it was heartbreaking.  I had nightmares for awhile after that.  The vet that came down was the same one I was working with to get her re-bred.  He didn't even charge me.  Not only was I at an emotional loss, but there was no way I could afford to replace her.  Granted I had two more horses but I didn't have that bond with them.  It wasn't long after the accident though that my appendix mare started to show a personality.  Those two mares were the same age and constantly went back and forth for dominance.  It was like she knew I'd lost my best friend and it was now her duty to fill that void.

I got a gelding in trade for a couple months training on a 3 yr old fugly appy.   He's big, stout, tough and for sale.  I don't really like geldings and I only got him so I could sell him.  My next horse will be an off the track thoroughbred mare, and I really want to breed to The Pamplemousse.  So there's my plan.  A lot of people don't like thoroughbreds, but they're bred to run and have a lot of heart.  Besides at 5'11" I'm a fan of tall horses.

Since this post is already pretty lengthy I think I'll do a little mini-series on some of my favorite thoroughbreds throughout history.
                                       
                     
The late great Take Your Dallies

My Quarter Horse Appendix mare Tinky Sans Royal

The Pamplemousse, 2013 stud fee $2,500 (I'm saving my pennies)




Xoxo Loves,


Me



Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Winter Wonderland...

It's been awhile since I've written anything, as one of my favorite readers pointed out :) I just haven't felt very inspired lately.  It's not that I haven't had any ideas, just nothing really worth sharing.

On Saturday my cousin and I poked along through the Gorge, eyes reddening due to staring into the snow for too long.  We got to town around 9pm and still had to drive out to drop the horses off.  YIKES!  A bitter cold wind was ripping down through the valley stinging all bare skin that dared to show itself.  We were definitely not properly dressed for such an aggressive onslaught.  It took maybe 20 minutes to put the horses away and unload the stuff I needed from my trailer.  It took hours to warm back up!  First day back was cold and windy, second day back I woke up to 6 inches of snow.  Its been cold, icy and awful the last couple of days.  My poor cousin got stranded here in our little version of Alaska, and it's been fun.  I truly do love winter!  Cold weather makes me happy and I rarely really complain about it.  Since I didn't have much to really write about, I'll share some pictures from the last couple days.










Xoxo Loves,


Me