Something Borrowed

You know that part in the Disney movies where nothing else can possibly go wrong then it starts to rain... Soon after the dramatic lightening starts and a storm begins? That's kind of how I felt lately. As of today I am paying on a truck that I don't get to drive because it has one problem after another, my horse needs adjusted.. again and his teeth need floated, my trailer has had 2 flats in 2 weeks and I need to get new tires, most of my paycheck goes to my horses and I'm not getting the work hours I expected to get over the summer.

That being said; with all of the situations I still can't believe how fortunate I am. Olivia and I haul together to Rounders practice. She is borrowing a horse that's not much further to drive, plus we get to do some catching up on the way to practice. As we were chatting I notice smoke billowing from the right side of my trailer and immediately knew it's the tires. I thought I would be cheap and use the old tires off of my F150 for my trailer to avoid getting all new tires after my blow out last week. Two words: Bad. Idea. The tire shop didn't warn me that the tires pretty much didn't fit and were rubbing on the trailer. We pulled into a church parking lot and hopped out of the truck. As soon as I checked the tire, I was on the phone with Nathan; at the same time, Olivia was on the phone with Kent, one of our Rounders coordinators, to let them know we would be late. We unloaded the horses and shortly after; a sweet man from the church arrived to help us out since we didn't have a jack. After removing the tire, it was obvious that if we had gone any further; it would have been a blow out. The tire wall was rubbing the trailer! Nathan and John showed up with a patch kit but the tire was past help... We called Sach and without hesitation he pulled his truck and trailer to the church so we could get to practice. Nate and John were sweet enough to load our tack and clothes into Sach's rig while we got the horses loaded.  Sach unloaded our horses so we could change into our Rounders outfits and make a run to the arena to get our pictures done. Of course it was picture day... My hair was flat and I lost a back to my earring. We ended up making it, only 15 minutes late! Good thing we left super early with intentions of getting warmed up and having plenty of time to do makeup without rushing. After our group and individual pictures I threw an Impact Gel pad borrowed from David Edwards with Lone Creek Performance Horses and a saddle borrowed from Rikki Taylor because mine isn't fitting Maximus correctly then got warmed up.

Practice was productive and I cannot wait to see the finished routine! Our first rodeo is in less than 3 weeks. On the way home we had to run all over place and first dropped off my horse then Olivia's and she brought me to my trailer then back home... The next morning I woke up early to get things ready for a busy day ahead. Got a tire put on my wheel for a spare then changed my flat but not without an offer from my sweet friend Dan to run to the rescue if I had an ounce of trouble. I took my trailer to the shop where the tire man wanted to put different sized tires.. which didn't seem like the best idea so.... home it was and off to work. That afternoon and throughout the day I had numerous board members and friends checking to make sure everything was okay. My rodeo family is simply the best.

A borrowed truck, a borrowed saddle pad, a borrowed saddle and borrowed hauling rig... if it wasn't for those that have helped me along the way, I literally would not be able to follow my dreams. At times it is so challenging to keep my eyes on the prize. It would be so easy to throw in the towel and call it quits. It would be less stressful, less expensive and less of a hassle. But I don't want less. I want more. I want to be the best I can be and to be an example for every child that has a dream that seems too far out of reach. I may not have the best of anything but I do have a support team that is absolutely amazing! I will say one thing: I don't admit defeat. I will not give up on my dreams and I will not quit when the going gets tough. Everything happens to us for a reason.

Live life with no regrets! P.S. I got my pictures done for my Miss Rodeo Arkansas Application!