The Walk of Fame

    I did a crazy, scary thing and ran out into the arena with my yearling, R-C Bey Dazzler, for the very first time in front of the crowd at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show in Arizona. I am so not kidding I had never even ran along side a horse like this before. So hey, why not share the first time experience with a crowd of people at the biggest Arabian show in the country?  Ever had a dream that seemed like the forces of nature were totally against you achieving from the very start? This dream I had, I would have to say, did not come to fruition in Scottsdale as I had planned it but is truly an ongoing awakening of the life God has put into my very DNA that includes the love of His gift of horses and the heart of Christ beating inside my chest.
   Since the day I got my first horse in December of 2002, I thought when she is too old to ride I am going to have a beautiful baby out of her ("out of her" is the horse world language for she is the mom). Jazz Tangent is my beloved American Paint horse, my very first horse. Now skip forward in time a decade or so. If you followed the blog at all you probably read that Jazz was injured, is retired, and after trying to breed her in 2013 I had to let that dream go because of her complications with RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction). You can follow this link for more information about RAO, COPD, Equine Asthma, and Heaves. 
   If you have ever been in love, you know it is hard to imagine that you could ever love anyone like you loved your first love. It was hard to imagine that I would ever bond to another horse like the bond I had with Jazz. I bought my second mare sight unseen. I literally wrote the check in some kind of strange "what exactly am I doing?" trance and the man that sold her to me said, "Do you want to go meet your mare?" I supposed that was a good idea so I agreed. I have also blogged about my love at first sight relationship and bonding to her, my new mare, "Our Lady" No Alarm so I will just suffice to say that she was also bred to KA Odysseus in the spring of 2013 and the following Spring on April 9th, 2014 our baby (foal in horse world language), R-C Bey Dazzler was born along with a dream that manifested from thin air to go to Scottsdale and bring home the Scottsdale Signature Stallion Yearling Futurity Championship.

R-C Bey Dazzler April 2014

    Why not? Why not this beautiful filly?
I mean look at her! Isn't she just the sweetest and most beautiful little thing you've ever seen?
    So what could possibly stop us now?
    The first challenge was an injury when her mother, "Lady" No Alarm, a first time mother spooked at something stepping on little Dazzler's leg. Would it heal in time for Scottsdale? Would the judges over look a bump on her leg?
    When we got to Scottsdale there were other obstacles, Baby Dazz was not happy not being able to see  her barn buddy and I thought she was going to injure herself the first night in her stall, rearing and slamming into the stall walls. After doing all we could to calm her down, I taped a sign on her stall door, "In Case of Emergency, Call ... my name and where I could be reached" then went back to my hotel room and  prayed myself to sleep.
   Dazz seemed to be doing better, much more calm and adjusted, when three days before our class she began showing signs of what the vet said was a respiratory infection that was going around the grounds caused by Arizona dust. When it seemed to be getting worse we started her on antibiotics but the day before her class she looked totally miserable. Green grossness pouring from her nostrils, a cough, and the bright light absent from her eyes. I decided if she still felt bad on Friday I would not take her out in the show ring to stand in the Arizona heat (yes it was summer in February in Scottsdale!). The halter classes are long and we could be out there for an hour and half to two hours among a class of about 23 competitors. Yes, we had come all this way for this one moment in the sun but I knew I had to consider Dazz's health first.

My Scottsdale Show Mom,
Baby Dazz and me

   If the strikes against Dazz weren't enough, her human partner, was truly ill-prepared for the challenges before me. Remember we left the extreme cold of winter in Kansas to make this trip. During the crazy days before our trip, we tried to schedule in time for both Dazz and I to learn what we were suppose to do. They were quick lessons in the cold barn. I had never shown in a halter class, actually my entire show career consisted of one class in Western Pleasure on the amazing babysitter mare, PR Thumblelina. I got a third place ribbon (and yes the class was more than three riders!). Most of my show experience was as a Show mom for my daughter, Amanda Guilfoyle,  a Show Aunt for my niece, Jacq Hollandsworth, and a Show sister for my now Scottsdale Show Mom, Carol Poland. I had never seen Arabain Halter classes until I came to Scottsdale in which I sat diligently watching classes all week trying to prepare for Friday's big Dream Class; the elimination class for the Signature Stallion Yearling Futurity. Which Top Ten would go on to compete for Championship on Sunday?
   Friday morning Dazz had a sparkle in her eye and probably not 100% but she was pacing again, which meant she was feeling better. We're going in (brief moment of freaking out extinguished by the bling). No problem I thought. I got this halter standup thing down (at least when Dazz did everything right). It wasn't until I was in the Show ring that I realized I had no idea what to do to correct her when she wasn't doing everything right. Great time to figure this out with all these judges walking around staring at us. One even came up and put a book in front of Dazz's face just as we were getting things figured out. I just kept smiling (I think). I knew one thing when they skipped from #381 to #852 that my number #670 was getting the gate (in horse world language that means you didn't win nothin).

Getting the Gate

  I am  hear to declare that I won more than could be contained in a ribbon and was worth more than the lucrative prize money offered in these classes. I learned so much not only about horsemanship and about my horse, R-C Bey Dazzler, but I learned so much about what God is awakening in my very spirit through horsemanship. I just want to say that  when some of the winners tossed their reins to hired handlers and hopped on their golf carts to be driven back to their big fancy barns, they missed it! We embarked on an amazing journey back to the "po" barn (that is horse world language for the economy stalls and less expensive barn fronts).
   What man meant for a "Walk of shame" God turned into the "Walk of Fame!"  It started when my Stranger Creek Investment Partner, Jerad Cooper, hollered back at me, while I was trying to contain my filly's excitement, "She is trying to take your picture." I turned and looked and a lady and her friends were standing along the rail with a nice camera trying to take a picture of the lovely Baby Dazz, so I stopped and laughed and said, "Of course, take as many as you like!" And I had Dazz walk around and pose. Then I realized a lot of people were walking along admiring our fillies as we began our long walk back to our stalls (which by the way the "Po" barn is a quite a distance from the show arena and much farther than the rich barns which are located alongside the arena. We had to walk past several of their $30,000 or more constructed for this show barn fronts, several other arenas, past the equidome, and almost out to the RV parking lot.)
   Along the way a lady approached me and started asking questions. She wanted to know everything about my journey. I shared with her the fact that I had no clue what I was doing but was just taking a leap of faith, that I was too old to let any doubts or hesitations get in the way, and that I was wearing $39 shoes that I could run in. They were Dr Scholl's black leather top tennis shoes from Famous Footwear, in case you need the tip. You have to run in the deep sand and I passed along the same advice I had been given, "Keep your toes up." But just in case, wear show bling on your ears so if you do fall you can flash the bling and retain your dignity. She laughed and when she said, "You are such a blessing to me." I knew one thing. I was in God's perfect moment for me and Baby Dazz. This 61 year old woman, who had never done a halter class, had a foal due this spring and she had a dream to bring her yearling to Scottsdale. Battling MS, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to run alongside her yearling. I said, "You are going to do great. Just keep your toes up and don't forget the bling!" We both laughed.
   A dream is like the magnetic attraction that God uses to draw us to him, to lead us to that place, that encounter, that perfect time he has prepared us for, like "Our Walk of Fame," where He touches other people's lives through us. A little girl held up her hand about three feet from my yearling. Her father asked, "Can she touch your horse, she's never touched a horse before?" The little girl stood there, frozen, afraid to reach out though her dream to touch a horse was right before her.  Baby Dazzler put her head down and stretched her neck out across the open space and touched her muzzle to the little girl's open hand. Pretty sure that was the only tear, that tear of pure Joy, that fell on the Walk of Fame that day.