In this thread I will post photos and some video throughout my frist trip to Scottsdale. My friend Ken and I will be hauling Psymin out from Texas. We'll be leaving Tuesday the 11th. I hope to have some pretty good entries for everyone!

Stay tuned....

Bless you Natalie,

I will stay tuned in and check out your thread here inbetween classes at my school as Scotsdale progresses for you and everyone else in Arizona.

Good luck to you and Psymin.

Dottie

Sounds awesome!...drive safely and good luck with big boy!

Thanks Dottie and Rebecca. We're STOKED!!

So, let me get to my first entry. Today we cleaned out the trailer and loaded it up with everything we're bringing. My friend Ken, who owns the farm where the horses are boarded, is driving out to AZ with me. My mom is flying in from Miami and will be piggy-backing a flight with my husband Jarrod and arriving Wednesday in Pheonix.

I think it's a good thing to have Ken coming because he thinks of some things that I wouldn't. He's also got lots of little odds and ends that I sure don't...like TONS of buckets and big flood lights and whatever else I am sure will come in handy.

My house is clean and is ready for my mom to do the white glove test. My father is working (farmer) so he is unable to come out. This will be the first time my mother has ever seen Psymin in the flesh. They've only known him by video and photos. So, that tells you she hasn't been to TX in 4 years!

My friend and greatly respected horsewoman, Sharri, came over to clip Psymin's ears. He doesn't like it. At all. We got it done and then worked on standing him up some. He looks so good when I get to stand back and look. He should be a good boy for Del.

I've been running around since 7:30am this morning. I am POOPED. Tomorrow we get my mom at the airport and head out to visit Psymin.

My printer has run out of ink for the umpth-teenth time. I'm a flyer printing fool. Ken wants 100 business cards too so he can hand them out to everyone.

Now I'm going to get in the recliner and enjoy some junky reality TV!

5 DAYS BABY!

I will totally look forward to your adventures and pictures. I am so bummed that I can't go!!!

Awesome! Looking forward to the pics!

Hi all! Just checking in. We left home about 6am this morning. We arrived at Ft. Davis at about 5:30pm. Psymin is staying at the Ft Davis Ranch. He has a turnout and we pulled the trailer up to the gate and left it opened so he could go in there if he wanted. It is COLD here...in the 40s. He has his blanket and hood on. None of the resident horses are dressed. I wonder what they think of him?

Today we ran into a terrible sand/wind storm. We could see it on the horizon. There was a clear demark between the sun shiney area and the wind storm area. At first we thought it was fire. Then I thought it was rain. When we got closer, we knew exactly what it was. The truck and trailer were rocking all over the place. We pulled off to get gas and we had to sit and wait. Gusts were up to 80mph they said. We took I10 a little further to Ft. Stockton and then turned off onto 67 (I believe). The winds started to die. However, they are still blowing here in Ft Davis.

I was told I was being woken up at 4am to continue on. NICE. I better tuck in and get some sleep! We'll see you from Scottsdale!

Natalie,
Where is Fort Davis? Isn't that the same place Dimitri was stopping?
I'm glad you missed the storms. There were tornadoes east of you, I think.
Drive safe tomorrow!!

Ft. Davis is about 2 hrs southeast of El Paso, TX.

Well, another LONG day has passed. I didn't get to log on last night because it was just too late and i was way too exhausted.

We pulled in about 5:30pm yesterday. We met Stacy and her family and Del and his mom. Psymin was hit with some electrolytes and excited to get off the trailer. The grounds were smooshy but better as they have had some sunshine and warm weather to dry them out.

After we tucked Psymin in, we headed to the airport to pick up my husband and my mom. We went back to the condo and dropped my mom off. We hit up the grocery store for some provisions.

This morning we got to the grounds a little past 7:30am. We fed and then started to set up our stall drapes. We also rented a golf cart because the place is HUGE! It will be a great help for my mom and friend Ken. It has also paid for itself. While me and Psymin were waiting to go in for our class, he lost attention and patience. I had on his show halter under his barn halter. He was just raring out of control. He managed to get ahold of my index finger and wasn't letting go. I figured he was going to break it. Jarrod jumped in the golf cart and zoomed up to get Del. I took off the barn halter and shanked him and he went right into work mode. Del came to help school and relax me. It worked.

The "bagger" was there getting the horses ready to enter the ring. I must say that I typically hate the baggers, but there was only 1 guy and the horses were going in one at a time so they all weren't freaking out. Psymin really didn't get all excited about the bag! Usually that means "mom wants to take a picture" or "Mom is showing me something new" which is typically isn't allowed to act crazy over.

We trotted in 2nd. He went nicely with a little bit of excitement from his bagging. We got on the rail and started setting up. He did exactly what he was supposed to. He listened closely and was rocking back and forth and giving me ears and neck. He was awesome. We presented to the judges and he did awesome. I couldn't have been more proud. I was beaming from ear to ear.

As we stood waiting for results, I just hugged him and took in the amazement of the show and our surroundings. It really is beautiful here. It was a beautiful day. I had my family and friends with me. My friends back home were watching the live feed. I sure hope that we did them proud.

I seemed to have left my cable to get my photos from my camera at home. I will get one tomorrow. I do have my video camera that I can get some video off of and perhaps some still photos. I'll see what I can do. Stay tuned!

spillem beaners woman how did you and psymin do ?

Go get a cable TONIGHT!!! We need pictures, please!!!
Congratulations on a SCOTTSDALE TOP TEN! How cool is that?!?!

PSYMIN ROCKS!!!!!!

I know the feeling of being there the first time and all the excitement that goes with it! My HA mare showed there in 2006 in AAOTR,AOTR Hunter. She was a brat going to and from the Equidome, but worked her heart out for my daughter in her classes. She didn't place, but I was so proud of both of them I could have burst! It's the experience of a lifetime. She retired to be a momma last year and did that job the same way she worked her classes. This year, she will return to the ring in Hunter again and hopefully make it back to Scottsdale in 2010. We'll all be cheering on the Ammy Army!

Congrats to both you and Del on your placings!

Mary S.

Thanks Everyone! I cannot wait to see what Del and Psymin do on Monday. It's going to be a huge cut. No matter what, this colt proved to me that he did indeed deserve to be here. He traveled 24hrs through 20 degree weather, a sandstorm, and our driving to be here.

Until I get my cable..and I will, Tazz, here are some still shots I pulled off my video of our class. Enjoy!!

Wow!!! You two look wonderful Natalie!!

I promissed I'd post a photo os Psymin. This was at the barn schooling.

Good Job, nicely done!

Here's some video. It is of our class and then of our AA stalls.

http://www.nnarabians.com/video/02122009.wmv

Nice video! It was so nice to see a different angle of you showing than what was on the live feed. Great job! You looked like you had such a fun time.

How did the live feed look? was it bad? I can't wait to see what it looks like!

It wasn't bad, it was just distant. The camera was over by where you all waited to go to the middle to be judged. They did zoom in a bit but the angle with the sun at times made it hard to see alot of detail, but overall it was a good feed.

Ok, cool. There are TONS of video cameras there. I bet Sea Horse has some good angles. I will have to take a peek tomorrow.

Hi everyone. Today was a great, relaxing day. We toured around the showgrounds and watched some classes. We also hit the vendor area. Lots of nice things to be had. I was able to see the video of our first class. Psymin showed the best he has ever! It was funny to watch him. He doesn't really react to bagging. He went in and trotted around the arena. I guess he IS a little boring! He set up SO nicely for me and we were dancing back and forth. We've never done that before!!!

It was also interesting to see his size compared to the others. He's a tank compared to the others. I never realized just how thick that boy is. If you want to breed for some substance, he's your stud.

Here are some photos I got today of Del and Psymin doing some halter work. Enjoy!!

thanks! That is probably my most favorite part of him. He has a butt that just keep on going.

I'm so tired and need to get to bed. I just wanted to post two photos from today.

Ah yes...Nap time! Almost forgot about that.

Psymin says: Perms make me sleepy

Ok, we're home safe and sound! Let me tell you, there is like NO PLACE to overnight a horse off of I10 in west texas! We made a stop for a couple hours at a place to let Psymin take a break. He drank but was too enthralled with the mini donkies, goats, mules, and pigs to rest. After 3 hours we got back on the road. We got to the farm at sunrise.

The show was A LOT of fun. Definitely a must-do experience once in your life. One thing I head today that kind of irks me is that folks were tearing Psymin up over the live feed chat during his open 3yo class. I was told folks said he wasn't even a halter quality gelding. Well, that's OK. He wasn't bred to be a halter horse. This is just one stop of many on our experiences of life. He's 3 and ready to hit his under saddle training hard now. Watch for us at a race track or working western arena soon!

Here are a bunch of photos I took of him the day before we left. Enjoy!

He`s just so darned cute Nat Congrats BARB