Bryan & Brittney Austin

So Montana was good but a little disappointing for the equestrian team trip. I have made it a goal to try and improve at each show to place better in the show from the previous one, have better rides, and learn new things. I definitely learned new things with this trip to Mizzoula, Montana. Montana is beautiful. I got to drive and it was in the afternoon as we were making our way through beautiful Montana. I have never seen so many different places along the side of the road that were ideal for fly fishing. The mountains were breathtaking and they were surrounding. The cold was worth the trip for sure just to get to see and experience all that is Montana. The hotel we stayed at was better from previous years from what I understand but our room was a little questionable. We had no hot water, a broken lock on the door, and the fan in the bathroom would growl at you as you went to the bathroom. Also dust particles and some other kind of particle would fall down from the light every time you were in there. It was crazy. The shows were okay. We did have one jumper fall off but she was alright other than some crooked glasses and a sore body for the following week. I did okay in my shows. I felt like I could have ridden much better and I hate that feeling. I like succeeding and riding to the best of my ability. Something I learned in the following practice was horse control. I have been lacking on the horse control subject to this point because I have not ridden any horses that had any problems. But on my first horse I got for the show, since we were the first ones to ride, he did not want to slow down. I needed to learn how to hold a horse back and is something that I have now mastered thanks to Trixie, the teams paint horse that I got to ride. My second horse was part of a draft pair of horses and the other paired horse was in the same class being ridden so every time she got up right next to her partner she would slow down and fight me if I wanted her to move on. The last horse I had was great and I had a wonderful ride. Until some silly girl from another college would not stop riding right behind my horse. Etiquette at horse shows that if a horse has a red ribbon tied in the horses tail that means the horse kicks if you get behind it and my cute little pony had a red ribbon so when she kept riding right behind me and even though I tried to avoid her, my horse bucked. I almost ended up on the ground and then my horse was upset and kept backing up trying to kick more. She would not move forward and that hurt my chances I feel a little because I had a great ride before and even after the incident. Some judges will judge on the horses performance as well. It was a fun trip though and I really enjoy everyone that is on the team. We all have fun and they are all really great to be around. I have made some fun and excellent friends and I am so glad I decided to join the team.

The holidays are coming up and it will be so much fun. Since Thanksgiving is next week I do not have school on Wednesday through Friday. I get to spend time with my friend Brie and her kids on Wednesday and we are going to do crafts, get lunch, and just hang out which will be nice. I miss seeing her and her adorable family. She is so much fun to be around and I am happy she is going to be hanging out with me. Being in Logan is hard and I miss everyone so much. I get to spend Thanksgiving with my family and my grandma, aunt and uncle, and cousins will be coming down for Thanksgiving. It will so much fun to see and hang out with Grandma, Pat, Bryce, Nick, and Andrea. I am excited too because it will be the first time that Darcy will be cooking for us. Well we are all bringing something and I am not sure what Darcy has left to cook but it will be great. I am looking forward to the end of the semester and it should be a good one.

Well once I have photo shop back on the laptop I will post some cool pictures of the jumpers at the show.

 A weekend ago Bryan and I got the opportunity to go up to Blackfoot, ID and shadow the ranch owner, Rance Butler. Rance is a beef cattle owner who makes his living off of the cattle he raises, breeds, and cares for. My aunt Pat is friends with Rance and organized the whole trip for us to go. I got to ride Weezie my aunt's horse. The trip we got to go on was a trip up to the reservation land that is just outside of Blackfoot. Rance was pushing the cattle from the reservation land that he pays to have his cattle on for the summer to his land in Blackfoot. We first got on the horses and rode through the land sweeping for any cattle that had gotten missed from the day before ride. We then pushed the cattle down to the road and to a corral just off the road. The cows were actually mixed with another ranch owners cattle and so while the cows were in the corral they went through and separated the cattle. They then drove the cattle further down the road to more land that Rance was leasing. After we drove the cattle from the hills I actually joined Bryan in the truck since the horse I was riding was a little hyped up and my aunt Pat needed to ride her down. We then went home and had dinner and slept. We really did not get a lot of sleep so it was nice to go to bed early and sleep in late the next day. We then had some excellent breakfast at Stan's and it was oh so good. It was two big scones, 5 pieces of bacon, hashbrowns, and two eggs. It was so good. We then came home after getting a call that the dogs had gotten out of the yard again. It was a great trip for sure.