1yr today, RIP Kevin Benes, Forever in Our Hearts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iks24g76vSY




One year ago today, everyone's lives changed forever. A tragedy that will never be erased through anyone's mind. It has brought the Benes family and all of their friends closer together. Although Kevin may be gone now, his memory will live on forever. We will band together and fight to end drunk driving, to remember Kevin and all of the victims of drunk driving and one day we will succeed where there will be no more victims of drunk driving, no more parents burying their children, no more couples burying their spouses, all caused by one person's stupid, preventable mistake. RIP Kevin Benes 6/8/90-12/11/09

I saw Kevin's car for the first time today. I have seen so many pictures of cars from car accidents, these by far were the worst I have ever seen. I never knew it was even possible for a car to be damaged that severely, there is no way, just no way someone could have survived that, it was physically impossible. And someone's son was actually in that car, it just puts life in a whole perspective. That you have no control on what other people do, someone's reckless mistake is the cause of so much pain, loss, and devestation. People just need to know not to be that one person who makes the decision of driving drunk because you have no idea on just how much pain that could cause.

Comet goes to his first show!

So today I took the lovely psycho known as Comet to his first show ever. I must say he did pretty well in the classes. It was just a fun show/fundraiser so it was no big deal. We got a 1st in musical stalls, 2nd in simon says and a 6th in flags. But he wouldnt back out of the trailer (horse transporter helped us...he couldnt get him out either) he hops right in, he just doesnt like backing out and stepping down, he needs a slant load. But in the process of him flinging his head around I think he broke my finger :P and he dragged me through the woods when I was unbridling him because he is way too herd bound. He was also a little dork going into the arena but hey what horse isnt at one point? ;P Other than that I'm really proud of him not really trying a lot, most of the mistakes just comes from needing more work on ground manners so when we work more with that, we'll be ready for our next show!

Comet goes off property for the first time!

Saturday I took Comet over to my boyfriend's barn for game night. I thought knowing him (especially since he tried to kill me Friday) he'd at least try a little bucking. But nope, he did perfect. With the exception of him kicking the hell out of the trailer I couldn't have asked him to do better! The people would have never guessed what he used to be. He stayed overnight and we brought him back yesterday. We both had a blast and Comet made some new friends! I've been thinking about taking him to a fun show in IN, it's about an 1 1/2hr drive, but if I can get a ride I WILL be bringing him, it's on October 16th so we'll see! Here's a little picture of him from Saturday, he enjoyed the big roomy stall he got for the night!

RIP Emmy, I still miss you.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVUM7lTN0Ng

So today's post is in memory of Emmy, Starlight's best friend. It has been 1 year, 6 months and 25 days since she has been gone and the pain is still the same. It took Star a good 2 months to stop excluding herself from the rest of the herd. She will always be remembered by her sweet personality, even when Star was being a little witch to her ;) She is the only mare I have EVER met in my life that NEVER got moody, ever. She truly didn't deserve to go the way she did and it was just a shock, complete utter shock really. She wasn't mine so I really didn't think I would miss her this much but I do. I can't explain it, there was just something about her that I miss dearly that I truly can't explain. I just couldn't believe just the night before we gave her her last meal, pet her for the last time, watched her and Star chase each other away from their hay for the last time and it just wasn't fair. Out of all the horses, it had to be her. I've seen a few horses pass away and to this day Emmy is the one that cut the deepest. Don't get me wrong, I hated to see Rascal put down, right in front of me (I had to hold the flashlight) and I miss Shadow deeply, but they went peacefully, and their death was planned because there was nothing else to do to let them live comfortably. Emmy still had a lot of life in her even at 19. She used to be a search and rescue horse, lesson horse, trail horse, barrel horse and who knows what else, she was all around a great and unforgettable horse. I've just really been thinking about her lately and I really really miss her. The quote I made the day she passed still holds true... "The lives you touched were many, the lives you rescued were countless, but the lives missing you are infinite, RIP miss Emma"

Comet starts his training!

I started Comet in his western pleasure training yesterday! Got his head down much more than usual and I think that's the first time he was actually using his body correctly, he was collected for the most part, was balanced and it was much smoother than normally. Obviously he's not gonna be a western pleasure star his first day but got him down to a much slower/relaxed pace and got his head almost down to be even with his withers, ALMOST ;) We'll see what today brings, been riding him later in the day due to the heat!

Meet the horses!

Ok so obviously you all know Comet but here are a few of the guest stars you might see every now and then. First up is Starlight, a 23yr young Arabian mare. She came to me when she was 18, some lady that hadn't ridden her for 3yrs brought her to the barn so the barn owner could give her away to someone. She had some mare issues but nothing major. That was almost 5yrs ago, and I think she's more hyper now then when I got her :P Her name was previously Skunk, I got the name Starlight from Saddle Club and I normall call her Star for short. But she's a good girl who goes pretty dam fast for a 23yr old and still has a lot left in her! Here's a vid of her and her best buddy Kareen (my friend's 22yr young Arabian mare) running around in the pasture!
Next up is Dawson. Dawson isn't my horse but I ride him for his owners since they can't come out as much as they would like. We are still in the early learning process of each other but he's a very well trained western pleasure/jumper, the only problem he has is loping, he is pretty stiff and not very well balanced and he bucked A LOT (I know great for me right? :P) but he's getting better. Let me tell you, he is one of the sweetest horses I've ever met, and him and Comet are inseperable! Both of them come running to me at the gate saying pick me pick me! And they share their hay piles and play with each other in the pasture. Dawson's "owner" is a little 5yr old girl whose the size of a peanut, Dawson's around 15.3 or 16hh so he can crush her like a twig but they are so cute together! Dawson will watch where he steps and she will always run to get Dawson and doesn't care what horse is in the way (she's always supervised obviously), she wants her horse! She rides him english and I school him western along with her mom. They also have a cute little jumper named Keely, she's a Welsh pony and boy are both of them talented! I just wish they could come out more often but due to some issues they can't come out nearly enough :( but Keely gets ridden/loved on by another little girl at the barn so neither of them are being neglected! Grrr I couldn't get the video up so here's just a picture!

Comet's Story

Hey everyone and welcome to Comet's blog, this will be mainly about Comet, but will throw in some guests like my other horse Starlight and all their friends at the barn! Let me start off telling you a little bit about Comet. When I first met Comet it was on a trailer with 4 horses pulled up at the auction, I could only see a little bit but I saw a black and white paint with a little white diamond on his nose. My barn owner bought that black and white paint for his son. When we brought him home we soon found out why he ended up there. Comet had a serious problem, he layed down with riders. Everyone hated him, but I saw something most people didn't, I saw a horse that needed someone to love him. But the day I got him, June 26, 2008, all that changed. Comet and I were trotting and he suddenly took off, did a big bronco buck on the hill and I swung off and ate the dirt HARD. I got back on like any other rider but that didn't change, Comet reared 3 more times and I was already light headed so I got off and walked him around so he wouldn't think that he could go in after that. Well Comet then trampled/got away from me twice. I absolutely hated him and cried everynight about bringing him to auction after that, I also never really rode him again after the accident. But when my barn moved on January 23rd, 2010 I discovered Comet was different, he was actually moving. And from there on we only progressed, now we can trot by clucking and canter by kissing, jump over 2'3", gallop in the open field and much more. I highly reccomend to check out Comet's Story on youtube (posted below), it is a very moving and inspiring video. Comet and I have been through so much in these short 2yrs and I hope we will have many more journeys together! I'll be taking him on his first trail ride tomorrow so wish him luck! Take care everyone! :)

Lori