Iwish - 2014-11-03 1:50 PM Thank you everyone, you are all helping me see this in a different light. I always let people get to me, I dont know why, and it always brings me down. In the end, everyone is going to have an opinion (some nice and some just down right ugly) and I just have to learn how to not let their opinions affect me in a negative way.

rodeomom3 - 2014-11-03 2:49 PM


Here ya go.... different discipline- same principal 

First Mule Ever Makes It to the US Dressage FinalsLaura Hermanson and Heart B Dyna bray in the faces of anyone who thinks dressage is elitist.
When Laura Hermanson received an email saying she was long-listed to compete at Training Level in the US Dressage Finals in Lexington, Kentucky, she halfway thought it was a joke.She had been showing mules for the past three years, and she was campaigning her own molly mule Heart B Dyna toward making it to the USDF regional finals in California.
But the USEF has only allowed mules in competition since 2004, and a mule has never competed at the US Dressage Finals.
But a few weeks later, she received another email. Dyna had been bumped up from the waitlist, and was officially qualified. It was a dream come true… but Laura called the USDF juuuust to be sure.
“You know this is a mule, right?” she asked.
A pause. A shuffle of papers.
“Finally, they said yes!” says Laura. “And I knew I had to find a way to make it happen.”
Laura and 12-year-old Dyna have come a long way since they first met in 2006. Laura, a dressage trainer at Oak Star Ranch, had the idea to buy a mule with the gaits for dressage after a client’s mule really challenged her as a rider and a horsewoman, changing her skills for the better.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what makes them so special,” she continues. “Everything with them is like a horse, just amplified. Their power of retention is amazing, so the biggest trouble is reiterating something too much. You just have to be very accurate and fair… and you need a sense of humor because their dads are donkeys! They just have a piece of them that says, ‘nope, I’m not doing that today.’”
Seemingly, dressage would be the perfect discipline for an equine that demands an accurate ride. But Dyna didn’t think so at first.
“Dyna was a very, very tricky-minded creature, but very talented and very athletic,” says Laura, “I had to learn all these disciplines with her. I tried jumping; I tried cutting with her. Dressage has always been my background, and I knew there was probably going to be a time when I could focus on that exclusively with her, but with mules you have to be in it for the long haul, since they take a long time to mature.”
While riding mules isn’t too rare in California, at dressage shows other competitors were initially skeptical of Laura’s unconventional mount. But when her client horses and Dyna did well, their doubts subsided. Laura has gotten comments like “Great relaxation of the ears” on dressage tests!
But she didn’t trust her old truck and trailer to make it all the way from Madera, California, to Lexington. The cost of shipping Dyna across the country was daunting, and that was before hotel, rental car, vet and show costs. So Laura talked to a friend who worked in the movie business, and learned about GoFundMe as a means to bring the first mule ever to the US Dressage Finals. She surpassed her goal of $8,000 in little over two weeks.
“It’s been unbelievable. This was the first time I’ve ever really had to ask for help, especially financially—but it’s just grown kindness breeding kindness, and opened up a community of people I didn’t even know existed.”
She has gotten donations from all kinds of mule supporters, from the owners of Dyna’s full brother to complete strangers with plow mules.
“Dressage has the reputation of being elitist. And I’m living proof that’s not true. I’m riding a mule for goodness sakes!” Laura laughs. “It goes to show that anyone can do this. If you have a dream, you can do it.”
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Laura, and best of luck to you and Dyna next week!
Go Riding.

Iwish - 2014-11-02 7:27 PM So this is something that has been bugging me and has bugged me for quite some time. I see this all the time, people post the pedigree of something and ask for opinions on it and if it isnt jam packed with the "whose who" of the barrel racing world or is AAA and AAAT bred out the butt, most people will say "i wouldnt buy it" or "it aint worth the time" or "i dont recognize anything on the papers, so i wouldnt buy it". It isnt just on here that i have noticed it, i have noticed it at barrel races as well. I will never forget over hearing a conversation at a barrel race. This girl was sitting in the stands and had a couple hours before ran a really nice pattern on a really nice horse. These other girls came up to her and started talking to her saying what a nice horse, great run, etc. etc. Then they asked how was her horse bred. She said oh, he was bred to be a ranch horse he is all foundation bred. These other girls went oh...and walked away. As they past me i could hear them snickering and saying who would waste there time on something bred like that... Really?! You just watched this horse lay down an awesome run, were congratulating her on it, then find out its not "bred" for barrels so suddenly it aint worth a penny?... Not everyone can afford a horse that is packed to the gills with AAA and AAAT race horses and Is by Dash Ta Fame, frenchmans guy, firewater flit, streak of fling, judge cash or some other multi million dollar sire. So if you cant afford something like that then what? You might as well not even bother trying to futurity or rodeo with your "non name brand" bred horse, give up your dreams, pack up and go home and only stick to gymkhanas or local jackpots or playdays because your horse isn't "bred" for barrels. A horse bred like that isn't worth the time, effort and money it takes to futurity and rodeo. Even if that horse has the text book conformation you look for when buying a barrel horse, has the heart and try every great barrel horse needs, is so athletic it gives you goose bumps, but it doesn't have "name brand" papers so it just isnt going to be worth the time to train it for barrels. I know not EVERY barrel racer thinks like this, but more often than not this is the kind of answer i get. It is so discouraging to hear/see this over and over again. I haven't even started barrel racing, but im to the point that im not sure if i even want to. Im not saying that everyone should sell there expensive prospects and only buy a "non name brand" bred horse because others cant afford those expensive prospects so we shouldn't make them "feel bad". Good for you if you can afford a prospect with a designer pedigree, i wish i could. As a person sitting on the sidelines looking in, the message i get is if you cant afford a designer bred barrel horse you shouldn't even bother. These are my feelings, i know not everyone sees it this way, but this is the taste i have in my mouth and its bitter. Im sure that there are other horse sports that are the same way, i just happen to be interested in barrel racing. P.S. i can not tell you how many times i read, re read, re re read over this and how long it took me to get the courage.. or stupidity.. to hit that submit button... Im hoping im not the only one who feels this way....or maybe its a good thing if im the only one who feels this way, maybe i have the wrong idea...

oija - 2014-11-03 10:40 AM Keep this in mind. Those studs may be out of your price range but there are a lot of nice studs out there that won't be, maybe from completely different lines. I love pedigrees. I think of them like a puzzle. And I breed so I tend to care. But if I'm going to buy one to perform, and not breed prospects to sell, their performance record matters more than their papers. If I'm going to breed, I'd like both, pedigree and performance. That being said, a thread on here back a while ago asked people whether they were more concerned with the mare's pedigree or her performance for a prospect. Pedigree won the day. It just depends what your interest is. If you just want a solid horse to haul on the weekend and enjoy, you can do that with lots of different types and lots make solid winners, especially in the lower Ds. But if you are going to breed then you will find that those interested in buying care about pedigree. It's not all about being a 'pedigree snob.' Some of it is just business.

cheryl makofka Here ya go.... different discipline- same principal 
I seen that on Facebook and I know nothing about the levels of dressage, is training level a high level? She is a beautiful mule

LMS - 2014-11-03 12:11 PM

LOL, I think the point everyone is missing here, is that there are Bitches in every walk of life and you can never please hardly anyone anymore!   Apparantly it is more fun to be catty and snotty than genuinely nice and polite :)

rodeomom3 - 2014-11-03 2:49 PM


Here ya go.... different discipline- same principal 

First Mule Ever Makes It to the US Dressage FinalsLaura Hermanson and Heart B Dyna bray in the faces of anyone who thinks dressage is elitist.
When Laura Hermanson received an email saying she was long-listed to compete at Training Level in the US Dressage Finals in Lexington, Kentucky, she halfway thought it was a joke.She had been showing mules for the past three years, and she was campaigning her own molly mule Heart B Dyna toward making it to the USDF regional finals in California.
But the USEF has only allowed mules in competition since 2004, and a mule has never competed at the US Dressage Finals.
But a few weeks later, she received another email. Dyna had been bumped up from the waitlist, and was officially qualified. It was a dream come true… but Laura called the USDF juuuust to be sure.
“You know this is a mule, right?” she asked.
A pause. A shuffle of papers.
“Finally, they said yes!” says Laura. “And I knew I had to find a way to make it happen.”
Laura and 12-year-old Dyna have come a long way since they first met in 2006. Laura, a dressage trainer at Oak Star Ranch, had the idea to buy a mule with the gaits for dressage after a client’s mule really challenged her as a rider and a horsewoman, changing her skills for the better.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what makes them so special,” she continues. “Everything with them is like a horse, just amplified. Their power of retention is amazing, so the biggest trouble is reiterating something too much. You just have to be very accurate and fair… and you need a sense of humor because their dads are donkeys! They just have a piece of them that says, ‘nope, I’m not doing that today.’”
Seemingly, dressage would be the perfect discipline for an equine that demands an accurate ride. But Dyna didn’t think so at first.
“Dyna was a very, very tricky-minded creature, but very talented and very athletic,” says Laura, “I had to learn all these disciplines with her. I tried jumping; I tried cutting with her. Dressage has always been my background, and I knew there was probably going to be a time when I could focus on that exclusively with her, but with mules you have to be in it for the long haul, since they take a long time to mature.”
While riding mules isn’t too rare in California, at dressage shows other competitors were initially skeptical of Laura’s unconventional mount. But when her client horses and Dyna did well, their doubts subsided. Laura has gotten comments like “Great relaxation of the ears” on dressage tests!
But she didn’t trust her old truck and trailer to make it all the way from Madera, California, to Lexington. The cost of shipping Dyna across the country was daunting, and that was before hotel, rental car, vet and show costs. So Laura talked to a friend who worked in the movie business, and learned about GoFundMe as a means to bring the first mule ever to the US Dressage Finals. She surpassed her goal of $8,000 in little over two weeks.
“It’s been unbelievable. This was the first time I’ve ever really had to ask for help, especially financially—but it’s just grown kindness breeding kindness, and opened up a community of people I didn’t even know existed.”
She has gotten donations from all kinds of mule supporters, from the owners of Dyna’s full brother to complete strangers with plow mules.
“Dressage has the reputation of being elitist. And I’m living proof that’s not true. I’m riding a mule for goodness sakes!” Laura laughs. “It goes to show that anyone can do this. If you have a dream, you can do it.”
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Laura, and best of luck to you and Dyna next week!
Go Riding.

barrelracr131 - 2014-11-04 8:44 AM That mule is neat.



There was another one making the USDF rounds that was pretty cool.





Anywho, girls get catty period. I've been guilty of it from time to time (I'm not perfect) and people have acted that way towards me too. I try my best to be nice to everyone and ignore the catty comments. There will always be catty folks... just ignore them and fine positive people to chill with. :)