All In a Days Work

At 5am I hopped out of bed to curl my hair and clean my tack (which was covered from the muddy slush we rode in for practice on Sunday). I got to work a little early because I knew I would be leaving earlier to get to the rodeo on time. 11am rolled around and Pat, the Rodeo of the Ozarks pageant director, picked up Rikki and I for the Kiwana's meeting. We joined several other board members and enjoyed lunch at Western Sizzlin while networking with local business men and women. I had an opportunity to speak about my travels throughout the year and the upcoming events at the rodeo.

At 2pm Pat and I had a photoshoot with the Arkansas Life Magazine. I returned to work for about an hour then headed to pick up Sach's trailer since mine is STILL in the shop. Only to get to Sach and Codi's and find that since we used Nathan's lifted truck to haul the trailer last time, the jack was set way to high to set down on a GMC pickup. Sach tried his truck too since it's a "real", aka Ford, but that didn't work out either. We had to stack several blocks of wood on the bed of the truck, jacked it up so that the weight was off of the trailer then set the jack up so that when we lowered it back down it would fit over the ball. This is probably a bit much to understand without seeing the hand motions I'm doing to portray the story... But it boils down to a huge mess that took up way too much time when we were already in a rush. After getting the trailer, Olivia and her horse we had to go Maximus. I think I shall be a professional trailer puller before long because if you saw the narrow turns into my driveway I make, I think you'd be pretty impressed.

Thankfully, we made it to the rodeo with plenty of time to get ready! We ran the rounders routine then lined up for the grand entry. Max did great and had a stunning queens run!

I quickly changed into my rounders gear and we ran through a few more times. Apparently during my speedy switch I buckled Max's rein to the nose band, tie down ring instead of to the bit. The crazy thing was that we ran through the routine to practice with his tack messed up but it didn't bother him once... when we got into the arena for the performance... that all changed. As soon as we ran out he blew up and my control went to zero. I highly recommend never riding with one rein and learned to ALWAYS double check your tack! After the rodeo I was completely humiliated and irritated at myself for not double checking my work but it seems that everything happens for a reason and the following day I found that reason out!

I decided that regardless of the tack problem, Max is a much better queen horse than Rounders horse and it would be easier not to have to switch tack. I got the wild hair to see what my boyfriend's horse was made of. Mr. Cody is a big, lean, sweet-faced, 12 year old sorrel who has done a handful of trail rides in the past five years. I rode him on Friday, brought him to the arena on Saturday then Rounders practice and he was a ROCKSTAR!! Cody loves to be rode and loves to be pushed. He is a bit out of shape but with a few more wet saddle pads he's going to be ready to Rock-N-Roll at Ozarks.

More updates & Photos to come. 9 days until Rodeo of the Ozarks and I invite you to join the fun at Parsons Stadium July 2-5.

Rodeo Old Fort Days

I was up until 2am packing and getting ready for the rodeo then up at 6am to get ready to go... Those sleep hours seem to be becoming an unfortunate trend but it's worth it! I was so excited about Rodeo Old Fort Days and seeing some of my rodeo friends that I didn't care much about the lack of sleep. I didn't plan on bringing Shiloh because I didn't want him to be in the way. I went inside to grab another load of things to put in my truck and returned to find that Shiloh and jumped over the tailgate into the
truck! He was not going to be left behind. His love is so perfect. On my way out I met with one of my sponsors, The Dusty Rose Boutique, to pick up the most comfortable boots I've ever worn and some very adorable jewelry. Then headed to the tire shop to get a stud put in my trailer tire but they didn't have to time get to it... So Ft. Smith Bound it was!


I got Max settled and parked the trailer then got ready for the Mayors Luncheon. During the lunch, the contestants answered impromptu questions and did a bit of modeling. We had a delicious meal and a wonderful time of mingling and catching up with everyone. I had the pleasure of rooming with the 2014 Miss Rodeo Arkansas State Fair, Beth Barnett, and we definitely made some great memories! The girls all signed autographs at Roland Farm and Feed Supply before the performance. The rodeo had a great turn out! After the rodeo I took care of Max and headed back to the trailer and as I walking up to the door Stephanie comments "Oh I thought you were rooming with Beth." "I am" I said. She replies, "Umm that's definitely the next trailer down." I'm going to blame that on the fact that it was dark and about 12:30pm.

Signing Autographs! Are you tough enough to wear pink??

Our camper didn't have any warm water. I'm not a baby about many things but a cold shower is one thing I can barely stand. But the sport of rodeo is a family event..  I trudged on over to the Stamp's camper and took a speedy shower in the dark. I hung out for a while and visited with the talented Mrs. Sherry Smith and Riki Smith then Katie came in to practice her speech and ask for some pointers. That's the part of I love about rodeo.. everyone is willing to lend a helping hand to one another. Anyways, after having hairspray caked hair covered in dirt and sweat, it is always so nice to get cleaned off. The light in the bathroom didn't work but there was some light coming through the window. Just enough for me to realize that what I thought was my travel size conditioner, that I just lathered in my hair, was actually makeup remover... Yep, I managed to pack makeup remover for conditioner! I can tell you that makeup remover does not remove remove tangles. Thankfully the pageant has wonderful sponsors and we were given Cowboy Magic shampoo and conditioner so when I got back to my camper I smeared some in my hair to help get rid of the rats nest that had formed in my hair throughout the day! Beth and I stayed up chatting and then called it a night around 2 am!

6am came soon but Shiloh and I were up and around to clean out Max's stall, wash him down, and feed and water him. Thankfully the weather wasn't 100 degrees but the humidity from the rain made the stalls stuffy so I wanted to get him cooled down. After getting him cared for I got myself ready so Beth and I headed to the fashion show. Of course her phone brings us through the ghetto and we thought we'd just stop for breakfast.. of course there is no sign of any food so we have to drive out the way to a Burger King where my cup of oatmeal was more like water!

The fashion show was loads of fun and every girl nailed their speeches!! We concluded by several of us meeting up at Logan's for a wonderful lunch! I thought I was going to go back to the camper and take a nap but Harper Stadium was wide open and Max had never ran a flag before so I rode for a good hour or more and Maximus did wonderful!

 That night while signing autographs in the stands, a group boys came up and one said "Your shirt is BEEAAUUTiful! And you're sooo pretty." Needless to say I hung out there for a while chatting and answering questions. They were so priceless!

What a great weekend it was in Ft. Smith Arkansas! And I didn't even get lost!! I made it to a rodeo with no mishaps! But I spoke to soon. With sleepy eyes I pulled into the drive and back up my trailer to hear a screeching sound and smelled something burning. Which turned out to my rear right trailer wheel bearing, u-joint and break! My guardian angel was watching out because if we would have gone another mile. I believe it would have flew off because that is exactly what happened when Nathan and Drew were taking it to the shop the next day. It could have been a bad a ordeal. And while I'm still trailer-less a week later... everyone was safe and sound and I have some great friends who are willing to loan a trailer. I don't know how I manage or how I end up being so blessed but I do!

Live life to it's fullest and love every chance that you get!!