Happy New Years.

In deciding what to write about in todays blog I am going to wing it nobody has pissed me off today. No causes, I'm even going to give our chocolate president a bye. I'm sure by tomorrow I'll have my ass in the air about something else that I'll have to vent about.
Anyway I guess I'll just give a little synopsis of my year and wish everyone a Happy New Year.
2009 was a pretty good year for me. Not as special as 2008. That was a once in a lifetime adventure, but this year was almost equally as good. I always try to find the good in things, when I'm not being an ass, that is. All the horses that I had in training this year had a successful year, and the ones that I trained last year and moved on to do time with someone else, were equally as successful or more so than when they were with me. Barkley was great when I showed him. Qualifying for the world show in 4 events, Being listed on the super-horse contender page, and making the finals in 3 of the 4. Unfortunately he injured himself and was unable to show in the finals in two of his best events. I cant say enough good things about my horse show friends that helped my achieve my goals this year. I hope they know how much I appreciate them. I'm sure that I dont say it enough. The horse business has been really slow for me this year, so next I am planning on doing something different. I dont know what that is yet, but I'm sure that I will figure it out when it happens.
I have had the absolute best time this year racing my car. I have always wanted to race cars, I used to dream about it when I was little. I have to tell you, it is exactly as fun as I always thought it was. I can't seem to get enough of it. I get to go once a month, which is not nearly enough for me, and guess what. It costs way less that showing horses. I usually get by spending as much on a two day race weekend, as I would on a stall at a horse show. And the investment on the car is less, I did spend quite a bit on my race engine, but still less than I have on buying a horse in a long time. I guess that I really dont have any complaints at all.
We're going to a slumber party tonight for new years eve, good thing, I cant stand drunks on the road and if I dont have to drive home after midnite I wont have to run into any. And Phoenix does way too many sobriety checks. You'd think there would be less drunks.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great new years, and I'll talk to you soon in the new year.

they are so similiar it is scary.

The fodder for my blog seems to be unending these days. Last nite I was on the NASA forum reading the posts and planning my races for next year, when I came upon a post written by the organizer of NASA Arizona. He was talking at length about how, when, and where he was taking his car, which happens to be fast, to get dyno'ed and weighed so that those that protest could be present to see the facts. You see his car is very fast, and I guess he is too because he drives it.
Now the similarities to the horse business become scary here. If somebody buys a nice quality talented horse, no matter the cost, and it becomes a winner. Everyone thinks its because it is such a great horse. Of course it couldnt be the fact that if it was well trained, the person showing the horse is a really talented individual. Say someone buys and traines this horse, or raises a nice horse, trains it and it becomes a winner in the show pen, its always because of the horses talent, Credit is hardly ever given the the ability of the rider to train the horse and keep it a winner in the show pen.
It is the same with the driver of the fast car. Now I'm telling you. I love racing more than anything that I have ever done in my life, and I am a rank amature at it. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that if Mario Andretti and I were driving the exact same car, he would whip my ass. Do you suppose thats because he is a better driver. God I'd hope so... Do you suppose that the same this applies to the car owned by the guy here in Arizona, it may be built to be a fast car, but if he was tallentless he surely couldnt achieve that track times that he does. The same goes for the fancy horse that has great success in the show pen his "driver" has to have a certain level of talent also. So as the year goes on, lets try and give credit where credit is truly do.

our freedoms

When I first got this hairbrained idea to start a blog I wasnt sure that I could come up with enough things to extrapolate upon. Well I was mistaken, because it seems that I have an opinion on just about everything.
Just this morning while on the way to get breakfast, Dave and I were having a rather animated discussion on the new flight restrictions that are going to be initiated due to the attempted attack on the NWA flight on christmas day. He thinks its unfair, that passengers wont be able to move about the plane freely anymore, or keep a blanket on their legs if they get cold. I agree, but whose fault is that. One person always seems to screw things up for the rest of us.
You people who protest the war in Iraq, and Afganistan need to take note of a few things. If we stayed home, and didnt fight in those countries. Who do you think is going to try and get these terrorists under control. All would be well if they would just stay at home and not try an inflict punishment on us for their own shortcomings. Just use this last attack as an example of how this works. A young nigerian man, in his 20's is born in a country where oppression is the order of the day. His life is difficult and he feels the need to blame somebody for it. Along comes some Al Quaida operative who is out and about looking for the downtrodden of the world and befriends the nigerian. All of a sudden it starts to make sense to him. The big bad U.S. has taken advantage of him, and if he can only rid the world of us infidels he will be some kind of success. And so it goes now the nigerian feels that he belongs to something, they understand how he feels and so his life has some direction. You know the rest of the story. If we dont try and stop the increase in terrorist activities, those attacks will only escalate. I said to the girl working the lunch on the boat this weekend how glad I was being born in the united states and not some 3rd world country. Some idot woman who was listening to our converstation wanted to know why. I replied if she couldnt look around the boat at the cultures that were present there, she was able to understand why in the first place. Do you think some guy born in Nigeria would ever have the chance to train horses for a living, race cars as a hobby on weekends, go camping on an uninhabited island off the Florida Keys. Hell no. They go camping every day because they live in freeking huts.
You say well I have never served in the armed services so I dont understand. Well maybe your right. I tried, upon graduation from high school, I tried to enlist in the Navy. My athsma was so bad they didnt want me. But that doesnt keep me from appreciating the fact that the reason that I can sleep soundly at nite, an enjoy all the freedoms that we do in America, including the right to protest the war if we choose, is because we have men and women in the armed forces making it possible for us to enjoy those securities and freedoms. So the next time you bitch about the cost of war, try and imagine yourself being notified as the next of kin when some terrorist takes a plane down. You may just have yourself a moment of enlightenent. I hope so.

observations:

I've had a few observations lately and while on my Christmas vacation trip. Hang on because these are pretty random abstract. People dont shower enough. Especially the ones that are flying. Foreigners are pretty rude when they come to the U.S. for vacation. Expecially the orientals and asians. I can kind of understand that because the the living conditions in their home countries. But nobody here is going to take anything from them if they wait in line patiently. Gay men are starting to look entirely too feminine. Its gotten really easy to pick them out in a crowd. And finally for today. East coast, and foreign lesbians have way more class than the average lesbian from the midwest or the west. The ones that we ran into on our trip were way more uptown than the ones we have come acustom too here in Phoenix. Not one of them looked like a homeless truckdriver. Just a few harmless observations for the rest of you to ponder for a few minutes.

feeding the fishes.

Well It seems that I have survived my camping excursion. Actually it was a really fantastic trip. The ride out to the Island which is 68 miles from Key West was pretty eventful except for the occasional passenger of oriental decent who had to toss his or her cookies off of the back of the boat. There were quite a few. We arrived, unloaded all our camping gear and commenced to setting up camp. I had purchased an Eddie Bauer tent of Ebay a few years ago and this was the first time that I had the chance to use it. I really didnt have any idea after this time had passed as to what kind of tent it was, but I thought I'd give it a try. Turns out that it is big enough to sleep 4 to 6 people, and is tall enough that you can stand up in it. The down side is that it is almost all mesh and you have to attach the rain cover if you want any privacy at all. Luckily all the parts were there including the stakes, which was a good thing because they were having 45 mile an hour winds on the island, and there were only two campsites that had windbreaks, both occupied when we arrived. Our tent was in the direct path of the winds all nite long, it flapped and shook and shuddered like it was going to blow right off the island with us in it, but it held. I couldnt believe it. I really did expect it to blow away. I can only think that it stayed staked to the ground because all that mess on the sides just let the wind blow thru it like a freeking gale all nite long. Truthfully, the hanging accessory bag that we hung from the ceiling blew back and forth in the breeze all nite long like a hammock for you camping gear.
Oh I forgot to mention that one of the engines on our boat was smoking like a coal fired locomotive by the time we arrived at the island, I do admit I did feel a little apprehensive when it left us there on the island, with just the rangers and 8 other campers. We enjoyed sandwhiches and lite lunch on the ship before the ship headed back to Key West, and spend the rest of the afternoon hiking around the island and Fort Jefferson. It is way cool, I probably too 50 pictures of different stuff. So far a pretty good time was being had by all. Around 10p.m., Dave decided to make dinner. Italian sausage and sauteed vegetables. Great idea, but we hadnt planned on the gale force winds and we had to use the grill at one of the campsites with the windbreak. We tried to no avail to start ours, even starting the charcoal in the tent in a steel pot and trying to transfer it to the grill. I'm sure that to the rest of the campers we looked like a couple of green horns. Huge tent for two people, cant get our own grill started and trying to cook by a battery lantern that gave off just enough light to find the grill. I was a GREAT nite. I had the best time. We got up early the next morning, had scrambled eggs and bacon, and packed up for the trip back home. I was extremely impressed with myself because I managed to get all the tent parts folded up and back in the original bag.
Now for the really fun part. Our boat didnt come back to get us. Seems like nobody really didnt why but it was either the smoking engine called it quits, or the weather was too bad. You see the waves on the return trip home were REALLY REALLY big. 15 to 20 foot swells, and the captain of the tour boat that we were hitching a ride on was really crabby at the start because on the way out half of the passengers got sick and were hurling up all over the boat. Which brings me to some questions that I dont really understand. The waves were great and the boat was rocking up and down like a first class roller coaster ride, splashing everybody with water.
Before were 10 miles from the island the hurlers were at it again. Here is what I dont understand, most of the people that were losing lunch, were the same group that lost breakfast, and you should have seen them at lunch. Piling their plates like they werent going to get to eat again for the next week. And 8 out of ten hurlers were oriental. You would think that a culture that eats mainly fish, lives on an island and are supposed to be some kind of master sailors from history could handle a little rough seas, but nope. One lady, skinny as all hell managed to fill 7 bags. The back of the boat, which is where they all line up hoping to keep the rest of us clean and away from the odor, looked like an add for free flights to Japan. And they have no natural sea legs, it was GREAT fun watching them trying to negotiate to the back without falling flat on their skinny little asses. One guy spent half of the time rubbing his girls back and holding her hand while she let her rip about every 10 minutes only to join her on the rail a few short miles later praying to the goddess of white paper bags. The rest of us took turns standing at the rail, wind and sea in our faces, much like a dog with it's head stuck out the window tongue wagging in the breeze as if he had good sense. I have to admit standing on the front of the bow, was some of the best fun that I have ever had. I stood the whole trip back, all 68 miles and 2.5 hours. It was probably the best two days that I have had in years. I cant wait to go back and stay on the island when I have more that just a couple of days.
I'm on my way home now. Sad that my trip is over, and really excited to see Hannibel and Shooter, and the rest of the beasts. I guess its time to get them ready for the upcoming shows. Oh yeah, and I get to race my car in about 3 weeks.

I am the restaurant critic.

Here is Key West we have eaten at some really fine dining establishments, and some that thought they were fine dining establishments. Living with a gourmet cook, I get to sample some of the best dishes cooked anywhere, which partially explains my weight problem. I would like to take the time now to elaborate on a few the places that we've gotten to eat at. Just in case you come to Key West and want to give them a try, and some you shouldnt. I am a big proponent of eating at the local places, off the beaten path and not corporate. The first nite we arrived by the time we got into town and had time to eat it was pretty late. We picked a place called Kelly's, which happens to have two interesting bonus points, It is located in the same building as the original headquarters for Pan American airlines, and it is owned by Kelly McGillis, you know the steamy goddess who falls for sissy boy Tom Cruise in Top Gun. It was after nine, they close at ten, and we were the last couple to get served. They start you off with this home-made bread that has coconut added to it. It was freeking awesome. Warm, Sweet, Soft, and Aromatic. Then we each had a different entree. I the seafood medley, the seafood was so fresh eash item had its own flavor, and Dave had the Crabcakes, he says they were incredible.
The next morning we at a PePe's. A little hole in the wall place about 20 tables and half falling down. I had the Creamcheese omlet, Dave the blueberry pancakes, and home made cranberry bread. All was fantastic. Dinner that nite was a definitly upscale Itailian place called Antonio's. Dont bother with this one. The service sucked. 15 minutes to get the first glass of water. My fettucine noodles were like rubber, and Dave's Stuffed Chicken was raw on the inside. Of course the waiter didnt notice because he never came back after taking our order, and the Mait re de, said it was the bad lighting that made the food look uncooked. I hate a queen with her skirts up over her head. I am usually a GREAT tipper, but in this case I followed Dear Abby's advice and only left a dollar. That was too much.
This morning we ate at a nice little dirty place called My Blue Heaven. Dave loved it. I thought is was so so. You see no matter how great the food is, and they too had a home made bannanna nut bread that was like candy, I think it is really filthy to have chickens and cats running around the dining room. Even if your eating outside. Tonights meal was at The Schooner Warf Bar. Dave oysters and shrimp, and me the coconut shrimp again. Both were just great. So I guess one sub par meal so far, of course at the most expensive place in town, is not all that bad an average.
Tomorrow we are taking a fast catamaran out to the Dry Tortugas Island, to tour Ft. Jefferson, and camp for the nite. There are only 6 camping spots, No electricity, No running water, etc. So if you never hear from me again you'll know I went nuts with no phone or internet and leaped off the wall of the fort to my death in the jelly fish filled moat. The whole island is smaller that 10 acres in size. I could go nuts just from the shear idea of being trapped. Over nite its just you, the ranger, and the other campers. The plus side of all this is we get to go snorkeling while we are there. Woo Hoo.
Hope to chat with you when I make it back to civilization. If the packing of the tent and camping doesn't kill my athsmatic lard ass.

Miss manners would absolutely die,

As I said before I am going to be in Key West for a few day during the christmas holiday. As I have been travelling along, there are a few things that I have noticed about ourselves as americans that I feel compelled to comment on.
First of all, children and young adults say 25 and younger behave as if they have never been told "no" in their lives. I have never seen so many misbehaved kids in my entire life as going thru two airports on the way to Ft. Lauderdale. They walk into you, cut in line, talk loudly, smell badly, and when did we stop making taking a shower everyday a priority. Come on I know all about global warming etc, but when basic daily hygene, or lack of, turns you into a stinking mobile sweaty dirty mess. Something needs to be said. Are they too lazy or what. But wait, after seeing the behavior of the average adult at the airport. I now know why the kids look homeless. Now I know I dont always wear the best clothes, no starch, my addiction for wearing t shirts every day, and keeping my jeans until they are practically faded white, and have holes in them, but thats because I'm cheap. But I take a shower EVERY day, usually two, I am horrified if I can smell my own pits. I'm not even going to go their about all of them having greasy hair hanging in their eyes all the time. No wonder they get stopped by the cops all the time, they look like thugs. And I'm sorry, baggy pants on men hanging down past their freeking ass, and girls with their pants so tight and low around their waist that they have a roll above it that looks like a semi truck tire. Hey that is NOT attractive. Some things are better left to the imagination.
Now number two. I know why the little bastards have no manners, their parents didnt teach them any. Just watch someone learn that their flight has been cancelled and all answers will be revealed. For those of you who dont know. The east coast has had their worst blizzard in the last decade. It is not the airlines fault your flight has been cancelled. The alternative is very simple, stay home, or crash land into a really exciting ball of flames. A snow storm doesnt give you the right to talk to the ticket agent like she owes you her life.
Third. When we finally landed and got all the way to Ft. Lauderdale we had a really nice dinner at Rosies. We started with the artichoke spinach dip, exceptionally cheasy and creamy, then Dave had the blue cheese burger with avocado, with sweet potatoe waffle cut fries. Of course it was a grass fed beef and that automatically makes it good. I had the bisque seafood soup, and the coconut shrip. Both were better than any that I have any where before. We just checked in to the Double Tree Grand Key Resort on Key West, and will be here for three nites. One night we are going camping on Dry Tortuga Island, and then to an old victorian bed and breakfast the night before we come home. If anything else fun and exciting happens I'll be sure to keep you posted.

the selfish reason why I like pleasure driving.

Day two. Well after training pleasure driving horses for roughly the last 20 years or so. With modest success until recently. More on that later. I finally figured out why I like it so much. The reason is pure self gratification. See a driving horse isnt like any other horse, or event. You take a 1200# animal, hook them to a twin horned projectile that you site on 24" off the ground behind their hocks, and try and control them with a snaffle bit from 16' behind. No legs, seat, sometimes no voice cues, just the reins, from a position where visability is compromised at best.
They arent born lopers or joggers like pleasure horses, maybe they have that long low sweepy long trot that you see with a great hunt seat horse. But you never see one trotting around the pasture as a weanling or yearling with a cart attached to their ass.
When you break one to ground drive, then pull the shafts, drag the sled, and then finally hook them up to a buggy, aside from the fact that you hope they are great minded, it all you. Patience, perserverence, some insanity and blind faith that they won't kick the shit out of you, and when they put their heads down and do that sweepy long low trot, you know, with out any doubt that they only drive because of you. Its taken me a long time to figure this out. I have been really lucky, in all my years of driving, I have only had one buggy wreck while hooking one up at a show. Ironically Ive had none at home. Some of the horses that I've trained have come pretty untracked with someone else driving them, I usually recognize that possiblity early on and stop driving them. I am a bit of a chickenshit. Luck has definitly been on my side. What made me realize this today, I was driving a really cool Appy, that came to me the first of December, and he has just been a real joy to hook up, and I finally realized that's why I like the driving. Now that I've gotten the good stuff off my chest. Oh and I did train the AQHA select world champion driver, Even though It was not in my barn at the time, I broke it to drive and qualified it last year. That gray mare was broke enough that a drunk elephant seal could drive her as evindenced by her win at the world show. Your very welcome!!!!!.
Anyway, now I want to know why the AQHA doesnt have driving in their judging seminars. I'd really like to know that the judges that whose opinion I am paying for, actually know what they are looking for. Believe me, walking your horse to the arena in a halter and then hooking it up to warm up and drive is not the answer. Driving horses should be bomb proof. You had better be able to hook one up anywhere on the show grounds and drive it around. Scooters, golf carts, tractors etc, should not even warrant the twitch of an ear. Most of the drivers that I have trained are owned and driven at shows by amature's, and they had better be broke because I dont want the death of some grey haired vixen on my hands. I think some credit is due, where credit is due. It takes a pretty broke driver to get hooked up single handedly, at 7:30 a.m., when most of the driving classes occur, and then go to the show pen and show and win. During this last years world show, I was practicing passing and showing and driving with a fellow competitor in one of the warm up pens, both horses were studs and both were obscenely broke. We park trotted, road gaited, passed and passed again, all with our horses side by side, sometimes close enough to reach out and pet ones head while being passed. Not one time did they twitch an ear, look scared, spook, raise up out of the bridle, etc. It was exciting and very self gratifying to have two such individuals in the arena at the same time. I finished the excersize very proud of the work that I have done with my drivers, and I'm sure that one of those trick ponies that gets lead to the arena in a halter and hooked up wouldnt have been able to handle. It was a pure driving clinic. Well enough bragging and fluffing ones feathers, I'm leaving at 6:30 in the morning for key west. Too many other horse trainer in Hawaii at this time I've decided to go the other direction. Will talk to you tomorrow about some other inane subject.

The Ramblings of the semi Sane.

This is the first time I've tried something like this. Not because I think I've got something to say, but I am pretty long winded and am going to say it anyway. There seem to be a number of things lately that have pissed me off. The President and all of the Congressmen and Senators, and the way that they think they are running the country. The quarter horse industry, and the way the powers at be in the AQHA are running it. I dont think that either entity actually gives a shit what I have to say. But here Goes anyway. I'm going to start with a little background on myself, and then move on to the various unimportant opinions that I feel the need to express.

I grew up in the midwest, graduated from a small town high school. Enjoyed sports, horses, camping, etc. Attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln until I realized that universities exist mainly because educators cant get a job in the real world. After a few years they get tenure, and then they dont give a shit what or how they teach, and do very little to actually prepare anybody for the real world. I started horse training, moved around quite a bit with fair success until moving to Texas, then Oklahoma, California, and finally settling on Arizona.

I've had a great career. Lots of state champions, all around winners, honor roll winners, and some of the horse that have gone thru my barn and been started by me have gone on to have great careers. Now that I live here in Arizona, I've had the opportunity to pursue one of my other passions. Racing Cars, actually racing corvettes. I cant get enough of it.

Enough about me, now here are a few questions that I'd like the answers to. If Obama was going to bring about change. Where is it. Partisan politics are worse that I can ever remember. And who gave him the right to make the decisions for the general public that he is making. This country has some serious problems. Most of which he is not addressing at all. It seems that he is only concerned with his personal agenda. And talk about to the victor go the spoils, and appointing all your friends and supporters to your cabinet. He seems to have given a job to every one who has written him a big check,and attended a rally for him. He is not addressing the infrastructure of the electrical grid, alternative energy, finance, the stock market, or any othe the things that seem to be driving the economy and