SHOOT 'UM UP!

This past weekend was the 3-day CMSA (Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association) Regional competition where I had my booth - (like last year)... It was great to see old faces that I had come to know 12 months ago, do some jewelry business, and completely enjoy the whole weekend of activities! Come Tuesday, they all head north to Amarillo for the World Competition! Good Luck to all those amazing, wonderful people that I have been blessed to get to know in the last year! A special thanks for Phil and Mark for their help unloading and loading all of my "stuff"! The entire weekend went to help in raising funds for the new Red River Museum extension and update!
Check it out on their website: http://www.redrivervalleymuseum.org/

My booth!

Two of the Mounted Shooters! Their 45 ca. pistols run @ 1,500.00/set and the custom leather holsters -depending on how ornate and tooled they are run close to the same!

They come from all walks of life and all over this glorious nation - from Texas to Florida, to Tennesee, to Washington to Idaho...Colorado...Oklahoma...Misouri....
Arkansas...Louisiana...Ohio...They're regular people in during the "regular year", from nurses, to air traffic controllers...Bell Helicoptor mechanics...ranchers...Viet Nam Vets...electrical engineers...lawyers...secretaries...retired teachers...horse trainers...commercial refrigeration business owners...retired coal miner...dog trainers ...ETC (JUST LIKE YOU AND ME!)

Cindy Duke - originally was living in Hawaii and spent her days on the beautiful golf courses of that delicious state! She met James Duke, a bachelor from Oklahoma, and left that golfing life for ranch life in Oklahoma, where they raise Black Angus cattle and Catahoula Cattle Dogs!! Riding her gorgeous Leopard Appaloosa with a perfect heart spot on his hip! She's from Big Cabin, Oklahoma and what a sweetheart! Check out her horse motel/ranch @ www.bigcabinhorsemotel.com. Her App is the grandson of Secretariat!

Here I am as a 10 year old (1974) in Lexington, Kentucky (Paris, KY) with Secretariat! It is a photo that I will cherish my entire life, but only have come to realize the depth of how special this photo truly is! With the new movie. " Secretariat", that I am really looking forward to seeing...it brings back all of those amazing memories of when I was in Kentucky!

My parents flew me (with them) to a wedding of one of my dad's college swimmers from Williams College. The bride's parents were good friends with the owners of Claiborne Farms (where Secretariat lived), so we had a private tour of the farm and were then introduced - up close and personal to Bold Ruler -Secretariat's sire, Riva Ridge -a Belmont winner and 4-5 other "big-name" Thoroughbreds that resided at that amazing blue-grass farm! As I have become a grown woman - always having that photo in my bedroom since it was taken - I have suddenly come to truly realize how blessed and amazing my journey to Kentucky, all those many years ago, really was! I am thankful, and praise God for allowing my path, and my parents path to cross with all of those wonderful people that I have come to know! (The photo was larger than my scanner, so I wasn't able to get it all in the scan!)

Waiting to hear their name!

The Videographer...

WAITING IN THE WINGS...

5 shots down and 5 shots back! 200+ patterns to learn! Using black powder and no projectile in the bullet, the hot black powder residue from the shot, is what pops the balloon targets that need to be reset after each run! The range boss reports with hand signals whether it was a clean run or not. A 5 second penalty is added to their time for each missed balloon or for a dropped gun. It's LOUD, but totally FUN to watch!

Men, Woman and Children compete...it's totally a family affair!

BADGER HENRY - A COWBOY/INDIAN ARTIST HAS MADE THE TRIP FROM THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, BOTH YEARS, TO DISPLAY AND SELL HIS AMAZING COMANCHE BEADED, BRAIN-TANNED LEATHER GARMENTS, BAGS, HIDE COATS AND ACCESSORIES ALONG WITH HIS GORGEOUS PALM LEAF HATS! WHAT A CHARACTER!

WE HAVE BECOME FRIENDS AND I CAME TOO CLOSE TO BUYING A BRAIN TANNED AND BEADED DEER HIDE DRESS! I COULD SEE MYSELF WEARING IT TO SCHOOL AND WOWING ALL OF MY KIDS (EITHER THAT OR THEY'D COMMIT ME TO SOME LOCAL PSYCH HOSPITAL!)

SATURDAY NIGHT WAS A BAR-B-Q FEED WITH A DANCE BY OUR WESTERN TRAIL COWBOY CHURCH BAND. GREAT MUSIC, GREAT FOOD AND GREAT PEOPLE! THAT MORNING AT 7AM WAS A CHUCK WAGON BREAKFAST TO START OFF THE FULL DAY OF COMPETITION! LIKE A STEP BACK IN TIME!

SUNDAY MORNING (8AM) WAS COWBOY CHURCH IN THE ARENA. THE WONDERFUL RANDY GUNN AND HIS WIFE HEIDI GAVE THE SERVICE AND IT WAS ONE OF THOSE A-HA MOMENTS FOR MANY. IT WAS DOWN TO EARTH, RUSTIC, AND ALL ABOUT THE ANALOGY OF THE WESTERN NIGHT SKY AND HOW REAL AND ALIVE IT CAN BE COMPARED TO JESUS AND HOW REAL AND ALIVE HE IS! WE SANG AMAZING GRACE, THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND AMERICA! GOOSE BUMPS GALORE! Check out their amazing and very blessed cowboy ministry: www. GunnPoint.us

WHAT A SUPER WEEKEND HAD BY ALL! NEXT YEAR IS THE "CLASSIC"...WHERE A $100,000 HORSE TRAILER RIG WILL BE GIVEN TO THE WINNER OF THE COMPETITION! SHOULD BE A GREAT TIME, ONCE AGAIN~!