Amber Mostoller….The last few months have been full of changes for me

So the last few months have been full of changes for me.  After the rodeos in September were over, the chances of making the IFR were VERY slim.  I was making money but so was everyone else that was ahead of me.  I had been staying in North Carolina to go to the last few rodeos and was given the opportunity to stay and ride some outside horses for a few people including Jeanette Nelson who owns and operates Triple N Ranch.  Jeanette has had owned some of the top futurity colts over the years and many have gone on to become great rodeo horses.  She also stands two great stud horses both of which are making names for themselves as well: Deep Sixum and JL Turn Ta Fame.  We currently have 5 of her great open horses to ride and sell for her (Heza Grand Sixum, NNN Sixums Top Gun, LL Blind Faith, Famous and Lucky, & Page of Fame)

 The month of October brought the IBRA National Finals in Wilmington, OH as well and I allowed my mom to run JB Absolute aka Abby.  Mom had qualified on her before I bought her and was missing her, so I let her run her all week.  Mom and Abby won the Sponsors/ Directors Race, placed in the $10,000 Guaranteed, won the long go of the Masters, & won the 2-D Open National Championship for over $4,000 in earnings along with a Buckle, Saddle, and other awards 🙂 GOOO MOM!  I headed back South and ran Abby in Williamston, NC to win 3rd!  I decided with all the horses I had to ride to give Abby some time off and quietly advertise her for sale.  I got a call from a friend in Indiana who had been watching Abby closely and wanted to try her.  I headed to Indiana in the middle of December, she tried her, loved her and I headed back South without Abby.  Abby and I have been through alot the last few years and she always seemed to find her way back to me, so it was a very emotional day.  Congratulations Rikki Morse on the purchase of this amazing mare. 

I had an awesome Christmas with my mom, little brother, and other family in Ohio, but had to be back to North Carolina so we could head out to the rodeo December 28th in Memphis, TN.  It was the first IPRA rodeo of the new season and I was running a horse I had only been on one other time.  His name is Justa Easy Routine aka Rudy and is owned by the Kerr Family in Huntersville, NC.  The rodeo was only $400 added but I had to take a horse back that I had been riding for a customer near Memphis so we figured we would be killing two birds with one stone 🙂  Teresa Kerr Tyner, Memphis (my dog), & I headed out the night before to make the 10 hour drive and arrived in time to watch the 10:00am slack Tuesday morning.  The rodeo is held at the Shelby Show Place Arena which is the same arena that we used to hold our IBRA National Finals at from 1999-2004.  (Fun Fact:  It is also the same arena that I purchased “my” Memphis at back in 2003) Teresa and I were both in the performance so it was nice being able to watch all of slack to see how the ground was holding up.  Ground looked to be getting a little deep but I knew that at 16.0 hands Rudy would be able to get through it!  He warmed up really good for me and I was anxious waiting to run.  I rode him a little cautious to the first barrel, but tried to make up for it riding hard to the 2nd…he really shut down for the 2nd barrel and I barely got around it!  We had a good 3rd barrel and ended up running good enough for a 6th place check!  Last hole but we will take it!! 

Next on the schedule…Asheville, NC December 31-January 1st SEBRA Bulls and Barrels which is my last ditch effort to make the SEBRA finals!  Stay tuned!

Quote of the day:  “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”

CD in the truck right now:  Luke Kaufman!

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Amber Mostoller…..And then there was St Tite….

Amber and Abby 1st Go

Soo all season long we all look forward to St Tite. The added money, the crowds, the go cart tracks (video here) and really just the overall experience of it all. I made the short go in 2007 on Mighty Mouse and in 2008 on Rookie and REALLY wanted to make it on Abby. In 2009 I was all geared up to go and Abby got hurt at the McDonough rodeo the weekend before St Tite so I had to jump on something when I got up there and it was a train wreck…Anyway 2010 was a new year…Abby worked AWESOME at Dalton, Lagrange, & McDonough and my confidence was UP. I was going to St Tite with a bareback rider (Josh Cragar) 2 bronc riders (Eddie Parlier & Austin Joseph) & 4 bull riders (Jon Mastrangelo, Tj Smith, Cody Holladay, & Allen Pippen) so it was sure to be an interesting week lol. Josh, Cody, & Allen & I left from McDonough and headed north. We picked up TJ, Jon, & Eddie in TN and then Austin we were picking up at the airport in Quebec. It was a 24 driive straight through and we made it up there in one piece sometime in the middle of the night Monday. St Tite is 2 go rounds and a short go with the top 10 in the average advancing to the short go. My first run was Wednesday morning slack and all of the boys would compete in their first round Wednesday night. The barrel racing draw is a complete reversal so it is luck of the draw whether you end up getting one of the performances or not. There were 99 barrel racers entered and i was in the 20’s which meant my second go would be Friday night (YES)!! I was very excited to get a perf for my second go instead of my second go being Thursday morning slack. The ground is always great in St Tite but its a long run to the first barrel. Abby and I went down the pen a little bit at the 1st barrel but she ran hard and we clocked a 17.0 which was somewhere around 20th in the 1st go…not too bad for our first run. In 2008 I made the short go with a 17.0 & a 16.5 and this year was shaping up to be the same way so I knew what I had to run in the 2nd Go.

Amber and Abby 2nd Go

Friday night rolled around and there is nothing like hearing that crowd up there…its insanely loud, fireworks, great music, and it just gets your adrenaline going. Abby had a great run and we stopped the clock with a 16.7. I knew I had just missed making the short go and was disappointed but was very pleased with the way she worked. The rig did make a little money with Jon, Josh, & Austin all drawing checks. I knew that without making money in St Tite that I was running out of rodeos to make the IFR, but still wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. We made the long trip back to TN and got home Monday night. I cleaned the trailer and repacked everything to turn around and head to Benson, NC on Thursday for an IPRA & SRA rodeo. Dusty Myers (rodeo clown extraordinaire) Josh’s dad Em, & another bareback rider, joined Cody, Josh, & I on this trip. Benson Mule days here we come…

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Amber Mostoller….A Georgia Run..

Amber and Romeo, Dalton GA

So the last time I updated I got us through the month of August. Labor day weekend I found myself in Isom, KY where the ground is NEVER good…Abby had trouble at every barrel but so did everyone else which allowed us to grab a 4th place check there. The following weekend was the last weekend before the long haul to St Tite, Quebec! I was going to Dalton, Lagrange, & McDonough, GA. There were 8 of us going to St Tite and half the rig was meeting in McDonough and the other half we were meeting in Lexington, TN. Memphis, Abby, Romeo and I made our way to the first rodeo which was Dalton, GA. I was in slack and I could tell from the perf that it was going to be a TOUGH rodeo to grab a check from. Heather Moore was winning it with a 13.9 and already last hole was a 14.0. Abby worked great and we ran a 14.036 which just happened to be the fastest 14.0 of the weekend and we would hold there to finish 2nd!! On to Lagrange, GA…the ground was just a tilled up field and based on the times from the night before I knew it was anybodys game. I was 10th on the ground which concerned me a little bit as it was getting deep. Tammy Daniels took over the lead from the night before with a 14.4 and there were some very good runs that werent clocking any better than a 14.5. Abby flew in there and I was shocked when I heard our time…a 14.2 to take over the lead. I was ECSTATIC, Tiffany McClure was the last to run and ended up running a little bit faster 14.2 to win it but still so far I had won right at a $1,000 on the weekend and the biggest rodeo (McDonough, GA with $1200 added) was still to come. McDonough was by far the toughest rodeo of the weekend…a 14.8 won it and it took a 14.9 to place with over 60 entries. Abby worked great but a little bobble at the 3rd barrel cost us and we ran a 15.0. I had a great weekend and was VERY excited about going to St Tite….stayed tuned 🙂

Click Here for Video of Lagrange, GA.

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Amber Mostoller……LLLOOONNNGGG SSSUUMMMMEERR **Videos**

Where has the time gone?  This summer was full of ups and downs and big changes in my life.  In July I ran 6 different horses, turned another year older and my grandmother passed away the day after my birthday.  I put on the IBRA Ohio State Finals at the end of July and decided that if I was gonna make an honest run at the IFR I needed to buy a horse instead of jump riding every weekend.  My mom needed to sell JB Absolute (Abby) so I took on a partner and decided to buy her and on the road we went.  I knew I could ride her as I made the IFR on her the year before, but had not run her in 11 months and my first run on her would be Salisaw, OK July 29th.  They won the rodeo with a 16.359 and last hole was a 16.495…talk about jumping right into it lol… I ran a 16.489 for a 5th place check!! 

From there we went on to Huntsville, AR for two rodeos at the same arena.  I placed 5th at the first one and was just out of the money on the 2nd one.  While the rodeos were picking up I was also in the process of moving to TN to ride horses for a guy, and started renting a place in Santa Fe, TN.  That ultimately was put on the back burner as we were on the road all the time!  The rodeos really picked up in August and we added a few more hauling partners to the rig…Through most of July it was just Jared Cook, Josh Cragar and I hauling together.  We made a run the first week in August to Winchester, KY(Aug3rd), Girard, KS (Aug 4th) Pawnee, OK (Aug 5th), Springfield, TN (Aug 6th) & Rockmart, GA (Aug 7th). 

Saddle Bronc riders Eddie Parlier & Austin Joseph jumped in the rig along with bull rider Cody Holladay.  Eddie and I won Winchester, KY…Josh & Austin won Girard, Josh placed at Pawnee, Josh and I won Springfield, TN & I placed 2nd at Rockmart.  Not a bad week for the rig 🙂 and I was inching my way closer to the top 15!  The next weekend started a 10 day run in Belvidere, IL (Aug 14th) Josh, Jared, Cody, Myself, & another bull rider Jon Mastrangelo made the trip.  Josh and I both made money in Belvidere.  We laid over there for a day and then we were off to the Hoosier Finals in Indianapolis, IN (Aug 16th)  Cody and I were spectators at this rodeo as we didnt qaulify for the finals.  Jared ended up getting hurt in the 2nd round and wasnt sure if he was going to be able to ride the rest of the trip. Jon finished 2nd overall in the bull riding for the finals and Josh won the bareback riding.  After Indianapolis we headed to North Washington, PA (Aug 17th).  This was the largest rodeo of the week and historically the first day is never the best ground for barrel racing.  This year was no different as there was still grass in the arena when we got there…YUCK…no money there for me but Josh and Jon both pulled checks from here.  We laid over at my mom’s in Valley City, OH on the 18th and Jared caught a flight home because of his injury in Indianapolis a couple days before.  We headed to New Windsor, IL on the 19th.  The ground was HORRIBLE here and the girl right before me wiped out at the 2nd barrel.  I safetied up, let Abby pick her spots, and was VERY happy with a 4th place check there.  August 20th found us on our way to Ironton, MO…I remembered when I got there why I had only been there one time before and that is because the ground is hard as a rock lol…Josh was the only one in the rig to draw a check there.  We headed back to Columbia, TN and everyone went their separate ways.  August 21st Josh and I went to Blue Ridge, GA.  It was a MUD HOLE.  Abby worked really good (pulled a shoe) and I ended up one hole out…Josh won it.  Abby and I had a very much needed day off on August 22nd and then on the 23rd we were entered in Ashland City, TN which thankfully was only about 1 hour from the house.  I hit the 2nd barrel there on Abby to be 2nd…it was the first time I had hit a barrel on her since getting her back 😦  August 24th we were off to Anna, IL.  Anna is a large, hard race track….Abby worked decent here and we ended up 2nd 🙂  August 25th found us in Four Mile, KY…this was a covered arena that was a 12 second pattern with a closed gate!!   Abby worked really well and we finished 3rd…Josh ended up winning Ashland City, Anna, & Four Mile.  We took a couple days off and then were entered in Marietta, GA on August 28th.  This was a nice covered arena and Abby and I pulled off a 3rd place check here…TO BE CONTINUED…

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Amber Mostoller…Lets talk about June

Amber and Chunky

Wow…its been awhile, there has been soo much going on and it feels like my wheels have been spinning since the beginning of summer and have not stopped!!

I have been on probably 8 or 9 different horses since the beginning of June which has made for some great runs..and not soo great runs…here are the cliff notes to get us through the month of June!

June 4-5th weekend was bittersweet for me.  I was entered at 3 rodeos riding JTD Truly Streakin aka Chunky and we did GREAT winning Thomson, GA and placing at another one.  However, after the last rodeo of the weekend he went home with owner Mesa Leavitt.  Mesa also kicked butt that weekend and placed at two rodeos as well riding an old horse of ours Frosty Peppy Olena that she bought in March.

June 11-12th weekend I was on the road with my momma!!  She had been running JB Absolute (who is the mare that I qualified for the finals on last year) and mom had been kicking butt.  We went to Hillsboro, MO & Belleville, IL.  I was running Burrs Double Decker this weekend and had made two runs on her prior to the rodeos 🙂  Hillsboro, MO was hard as a rock and it was kind of a shock to both of us after practicing in nice deep horse show dirt.  Needless to say we did not draw a check.  We went on to Belleville, IL and we could tell it had rained there and the ground looked like it could get slick.  Decker had some problems with the ground but tried to work…no money though 😦  Mom drew checks at both rodeos!!  I told her she had better since I placed at both those rodeos the year before on Abby as well 🙂

To Be Continued….

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Amber Mostoller….MAY 29-30th * “THAT’S RODEO”

CCRRAAZZYY extra long weekend…where do I start?  (HHMM Thinking…Thinking lol)  OK So this weekend I had a new traveling partner with me (Susan Cragar) and a new horse in the trailer (Odessa Be Nimble aka Cowgirl). I had been quietly looking for a new horse for Susan since February and when my good friend Jodi Stuenhrenberg called and told me she had decided to sell her good mare Cowgirl, I knew that the possibilities of that match up could be great.  I got the details worked out with Jodi and she dropped the mare off at my place the day before I was supposed to leave.  Susan and I were entered in Rome, GA & Waco, GA in the same day on May 29th and luckily we found trades to run in the slack at Waco so we could possibly make both of them.  I headed to TN Friday so that Susan could make a practice run on Cowgirl and get “aquainted” with her before the big day Saturday.  The “practice” run did not go as expected at all and I ended up getting on her and after about 30 minutes of “what in the heck is wrong with you” I decided that it was time to stop for the night and regroup in the morning.  After breakfast we went down to the barn to ride and I decided to put a hackamore on Cowgirl and she was immediately a different horse and worked AWESOME.  wwhheeewww What a relief…Susan and I got packed and headed down the rodeo road, not before stopping for fuel though and cleaning out the gas station of every junk food made and I hooked Susan up with some “Focus” drink 🙂  When we got to the rodeo we sweet talked the guys into letting us park up by the entrance so we could get out easily and no be blocked in anywhere where we might get stuck.  You could tell from the night before that people had been getting stuck and it looked like it may rain again.  When we went up to pay our fees we were pretty entertained by the fence that was dragging behind a 4 wheeler to umm level out the arena (I guess that was the goal there) and we also found out that they had decided to start the rodeo a half hour later than advertised 😦  NOT GOOD if we were gonna make Waco.  So last weekend if you all remember I had tried to become a professional singer lol…well this weekend it was ROCK CLIMBER!!  They had one of those rock walls there and I decided to try and climb it.  I went up the easy side to practice and then there is a hard side that you can pay $10 to go up and if you make it to the top and hit this little buzzer (which he did not tell me about the little buzzer before I went up the wall) you get $100 back!!  So anyway I start up the hard side and was actually very greatful I had just got my nails done b/c I used them to help pry my fingers between the wall and the little nub things they considering hand holds.  I made it to the top and jumped for the red thing (the buzzer was located inside of it) and then fell off the wall lol.  It was definitley a work out but alot of fun.  Who knows professional rock climber may be in my future haha.  ANYWAY back to rodeo stuff….Susan and I got saddled up for grand entry and while she was saddling Cowgirl noticed that she was REALLY swollen underneath..she had been bit by something and it looked HORRIBLE.  We touched all over it and Cowgirl was not swollen or sore so I had her ride her around to see if affected her at.  She looked good in grand entry moving so I said to go for it.  It started raining after grand entry (GOODY) and the rodeo just seemed to take forever.  I had someone at Waco calling to give me updates and it was pretty apparent that there was NO WAY we were making it over there in time to run.  This rodeo was kind of a family affair for Susan as both of her boys Josh (Bareback Rider) and Preston (Calf Roper & Steer Wrestler) were entered.  So as we watched the other events we noticed the ground getting VERY slick.  Horses were sliding everywhere and I immediatly had a flash back to Chapel Hill the weekend before.  Susan and I were down in the running order so luckily we could watch.  As the barrels started the ground seemed to be holding really good so we decided to run and I tried to get into my “Eye of the Tiger” running mode 🙂  Chunky went in HARD and I grabbed him a little soon at the first, so we rubbed it going in and made our pocket on the outside of the barrel.  He got over good for the 2nd, turned it hard…and we hipped it coming out…DANG IT…had an awesome 3rd and I let him cruise out.  Our time would have been good enough for 2nd place…GGGGRRRR  Susan and Cowgirl were next and I was very proud that Susan let her roll from the back of the alley way.  This little mare can BOOK IT to the first barrel and turn it the same every trip and she smoked it.  She got a tad bit behind her and coming around the backside of the 2nd Cowgirl hesitated a little bit in the mud.  She got out of it ok though and had a good 3rd barrel.  Although they didn’t draw a check at this one, I was still very excited for the way they were teaming up. It was their first “real” run together and I expect great things from them in the future!! 

On a side note…Congratulations to Austyn Holly & Firewater Fix aka Bubba.  Austyn bought Bubba from me back in October and they have been a force to be reckoned with ever since…winning both Rome & Waco this weekend!!  Keep it up chick!  Congrats also out to Mesa Leavitt on Frosty this weekend for placing in the 1-D, winning the 2nd go, placing in the finals, & winning 2nd in the youth of Frosty Peppy Olena aka Frosty in Gifford, IL.  Frosty was my moms main horse this past season and was sold to Mesa in March!!

So it was still raining and by the time we got unsaddled and ready to go Waco was all ready over slack and all so we waited around for a shot to get out.  People were getting stuck EVERYWHERE and pulled out with the tractor.  The first open hole we saw, I kicked it into 4 wheel drive and floored it 🙂  We made it out and headed back to Tennessee.  Preston wasn’t far behind us in his rig, and then Josh got out a little bit later with his crew.  On our way home my truck was running great up Monteagle when I heard something go under the hood and I lost all power.  It doesn’t matter how many times the guys tell me it was that went wrong I still can’t remember but something to do with the turbo and a hose.  The boys got it fixed fairly quickly and we were back on the road….for a few seconds anyway before it did it again.  Apparently it just wasn’t tight enough the first time b/c this time after it was fixed it held and we made it back to Tennessee. 

We woke up Sunday morning and I was treated to my second home cooked breakfast of the weekend (I could totally get used to this…thinking they need to kick one of the boys out and adopt a daughter :)- lol)  Susan and I decided to go to a horse show on Sunday so she could get the feel of Cowgirl a little more.  I remember every time I go to a show why I LOVE rodeos….horse shows take too long and too much can go wrong…for instance they missed my time on both horses I ran and I had to run both horses again…so 4 runs on 2 horses…go me.   I jump rode this little dun mare that a guy in Tennessee is trying to sell.  I LOVE her..she was very easy and we ended up winning the 2D 🙂  Susan and I worked on some little fine tuning on Cowgirl and she worked really well for her.  We barely beat the rain out of there and headed back to the house.  After a VERY long Monday morning we decided to just work horses at the house instead of going to the horse show…the weekend had wore me out and I still had a 3 hour drive home.  Cowgirl looked great and I could tell Susan was getting more confident with every ride.  They treated me dinner at the Mexican restaraunt down the road and I headed home….one horse lighter in the trailer 🙂

Until next weekend
Amber

Quote of the weekend: “To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.

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Amber Mostoller….May 21-22, 2010 * Chapel Hill, TN & Carthage, MO * ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

What a crazy, long, emotional weekend this was.  I left for the Lonestar Rodeo in Chapel Hill, TN on Friday night with Beea back in the trailer and Chunky.  I was excited to get to Chapel Hill and look at the pen to see who I would run.  After a couple weather updates from friends down that way, I was starting to get concerned as to what the ground would look like when I got there.  I drove through rain on the way to Chapel Hill and when I pulled in I saw where trucks had been spinning so I locked the truck in 4 wheel drive and got through the mess to park.  The rodeo ended up starting later then advertised which was already putting me behind for heading to the next one.  I saddled Chunky for grand entry still unsure of who I would run and was gonna “test” the ground a little bit.  He seemed ok during my few loping circles in grand entry but as I watched the bareback and saddle bronc horses I could tell the ground was NOT good.  They were sliding all over the places and as the rodeo went on EVERYTHING was having problems on the ground.  I knew with Beea’s running style that she was gonna be all or nothing so I stayed on Chunky and decided to watch the first few barrel racers before I made my decision.  I was 7th out so would be able to tell by the first few what I wanted to do.  Jennifer Dunn was the first girl out and I knew she would be a good one to watch.  She has an awesome little horse who normally can stand up on anything.  Her horse ran hard at the first and when she went to turn slipped really bad and went down.  My heart sank…the next girl turned out…#3 went in and completely pancaked at the 1st barrel….#4…down at the 2nd….#5 turned out…#6 made it through the pattern half way loping but still was sliding….I knew at that point I was not going to take a chance with my horse and was not going to get into a loping contest for a $500 added rodeo.  I was completely disgusted, pissed, and now I had to get back on the road to make the 9 hour drive to Carthage, MO in order to be there by 10 in the morning for the Cody Stephens Memorial rodeo.  I was already tired and considered crashing a few hours in Tennessee but knew I needed to get on the road.  I stopped at a gas station on the way got my NOS energy drinks and followed the detailed directions from one little grey road to the next across TN & MO.  Thank you to all my friends who answered their phones in the wee hours of the morning to help keep me awake. 🙂  By about 5:00am I decided I might take up a new profession of being a professional singer…I decided I would test out my skills by leaving a couple voice messages of me singing to someone who I knew would tell me the truth about my mad skills…haha you know who you are and you should feel very privledged lmao :)-  Anyway after my mini concerts I felt a bit rejuvinated and arrived in Carthage at about 8:30am.  I found Cody’s mom as soon as I got there and I was struggling not to cry already.  I knew it was gonna be an emotional day.  I had not seen his family since the IFR in January and I was very happy that I got to spend the day with them remembering Cody.  I got to run both Beea and Chunky and was excited to see how Beea would be after having the last week off.  She warmed up GREAT…very relaxed and smooth.  Chunky was his old normal self and we were about to experience a new challenge with this arena (a side gate dun dun dun)  I ran Beea first and as soon as I went through the gate I could tell she wasnt right.  She got very strong and took the bit at the first barrel.  I got her around it ok but the whole run was just her pulling through the bit and trying to get away from me 😦  I decided after that that maybe she just need to be turned out for alittle bit.  She is only 6 and has ALWAYS been such a worker for me in every run that I made on her in that first month…placing me at the All Region Finals against some of the toughest horses in the IPRA as well as other horse shows.  I called the owners and made arrangements with them to just get her turned out for a month or so and to get her looked over by a vet to make sure it was nothing physical.  Up next was Chunky.  I decided my best approach to the side gate was to back him through it so he didnt try running dead at the first barrel from the gate.  He was very responsive and let me back him up….however….lol when I tried to turn him to the right he tried to take off.  I got him under control and to the middle of the arena facing away from the barrels.  When I turned him to go he took off hard and inhaled the first barrel.  The ground was a little hard and he stumbled at the 2nd taking an extra step around but came back good.  He got a little by the 3rd barrel and ran hard home.  We ended up being 1 or 2 holes out of the money but I was very pleased with the way he worked overall.  After I got the ponies taken care of I went up to the office to see if I could help with anything.  I figured the payout for them and was happy to help.  I spent some time with his sisters Ashley and Gannyn.  Gannyn had just had her appendix removed that week so she was pretty upset that she couldnt ride but she did win the dummy roping!!  Go Gannyn!  His sister Ashley also placed in the barrel racing!  I had a 10 hour drive home and knew I needed to get on the road….I was gonna try to make it home and was going on about 30 some hours of no sleep.  The drive home was long and looking back on everything just made me feel extremely blessed for everything that I have and the opportunitys I have been given to do what I love.  Your Life can change in an instance and its very easy to take things for granted. 

Quote of the Day: 

“Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people that treat you right. Love the ones who don’t just because you can. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance grab it with both hands. If it changes your life…let it. Kiss Slowly….Forgive Quickly. God never said lif…e would be easy, He just promised it would be worth it!”

Just a quick reminder to not forget about the Scwab Collier Benefit

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OTRR Cowgirl Amber Mostoller: Oh SOO Close!!!

May 14-15th * Franklin, TN & Athens, AL

 

So after Marion, AR I was super pumped about the way Chunky worked and decided to give Beea the following week and weekend off so I had time to get her shoe on and just let her chill for the week.  I was up in the performance at Franklin on Thursday and was both excited and nervous to run Chunky there.  We do not get in the arena there and it is HUGE…and when I say HUGE I mean HHUUUGGEE especially for an indoor.  This is always one of my favorite rodeos though as it is produced by J Bar J and I have been going to there rodeos since I was a baby back when they were IPRA stock contractors.  They are now one of the best of the best around anywhere and are known for their AWESOME bareback horses aka The Michigan Monsters 🙂  I took Streakin Frenchie aka Rica along with me too just to let her see everything and get some hauling underneath her.  When I went to warm up Chunky my heart stopped when I realized I had forgotten my reins!!  I had switched everything in my trailer when I went to a jackpot the night before and forgot to put my reins back in and all I had were my split reins.  Brittany Pozzi was parked right behind me and she graciously let me borrow a pair of reins…THANK YOU BRITTANY 🙂  Chunky warmed up like his normal lazy self and we all waited up by the alley way for intermission to be over and to run.  I was 9th out of 10 to go and you can not see anything in the arena b/c the alley way is literally 100 feet long (which I knew could cause another little issue for Chunky and I lol)  Finally my name was called and as soon as we hit the mouth of the alley way CHUNKY WAS GONE.  At that point I had two choices…try to get him stopped and fight with him or say screw it yehaw…lol I chose “screw it and Yehaw” approach.  He came into the 1st barrel flying and INHALED it…he had a nice line going across to the 2nd and right before we got to it he stumbled alittle bit and lost alittle momentum…he came back good, but that little hesitation cost us to hip it coming out and it went over 😦  We kept going anyway and he had a great 3rd and ran good out.  Our time would have been 5th thus far with 20 girls left over the next 2 days!  I was bummed that we hit but super excited that he was working soo well.  My favorite part of the video is the GGOLLEEYY at the end courtesy of Em Cragar 🙂

I was out at Athens, AL the next night which was only about an hour from there so Em & Susan Cragar graciously offered to let me crash at their place that was only about 15 miles from Franklin.  The next morning I was ordered to come eat Breakfast! 🙂  Most mornings my breakfast consists of a granola bar if that or junk food haha…so it was a nice change of pace to have a home cooked breakfast as Susan is a fabulous cook!  After breakfast Em worked the arena and Cori (Susans niece) and I rode around a little bit.  Rica rode really well for me…I get more excited about her everytime I ride her!!  I grabbed a shower after riding, went into town for lunch and stopped at the feed store for a few things and then went back to the house for a nap until we were all ready to leave that evening.  With Athens being so close it was nice to just chill all day without spending the hole day driving 🙂  We headed to Athens and prayed that the rain would hold off as it was looking like rain and had rained on and off a little bit at the house.  It was dry when we got there and luckily it held off for us to run.  Athens is Lonestar’s biggest rodeo on the year with $1500 added and after how well Chunky worked at Franklin I was REALLY pumped.  There were alot of tough girls out in slack the night before but it appeared from what everyone said that we had better ground then they did.  I was in the middle of the pack so I got to watch a couple girls run that I knew would be tough.  They all looked like they had nice runs but their times were off the pace…hhhmm   It was another long alley way and Cori tried to help me get up the alley way with her horse…Chunky had other plans and we were gone again lol.  We went a little done the pen at the first barrel but he came back hard and smoked his 2nd and 3rd..I figured we would be right there or close….UMM or not….bummer 😦  Not one girl from my night got within 2 tenths of placing.  Don’t know if it was the ground or what.  We got back to the house late so I crashed another night in Tennessee and headed back to Kentucky Saturday morning. 

CD in the truck:  Luke Kaufman…great rodeo CD you can download it on Itunes

Quote of the Day: ” Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you”

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Amber Mostoller….BACK IN THE GAME!!

BACK IN THE GAME!!

So we all head to Marion, AR.  Kalah and Reed had traveled with me before but Kalah’s friend and the Reed’s friend Cody hadn’t so it was a little bit of a shock to their system I think the fact that when I drive I DON’T stop for anything except fuel lol.  Cody tried to be a co-pilot while I was driving but was passed out by oh about 3:00am 🙂  We arrived in Marion at 5:30am and I had forgotten how retarded the side roads are to get to the place….people exiting off the highway have the right away and you have to yield to them crossing over traffic…its completely ridiculous…anyhow we got there, got horses unloaded and Memphis and I jumped in the backseat of a friends truck to make enough room for everyone to sleep and layed down for a few hours.  The next day I was on the hunt for someone to put a shoe back on Beea.  I was dead last in slack but from the looks of the arena it was REALLY REALLY deep and I wanted to run Beea.  She has a freeier running style and I wasn’t sure that I could hustle Chunky enough around the barrels to get out of the ruts.  Well NO ONE had shoeing stuff with them or shoes (which ended up being a blessing in disquise) Soo Chunky got the call.  I took him in the arena for grand entry and loped a few circles and man was it DEEP.  They didn’t have a real drag either just a chain link fence dragging a log so I knew by the time they got to me in slack the ruts were just gonna be filled in with sand and not very well at that 😦  After the perf they were winning it with a 15.1 and then it jumped to a 15.6 so I knew it was wide open.  Most of the “IFR girls and regulars” were in slack so I knew the times were gonna closer and tougher.  A girl ran a 14.9 in slack and a couple of the girls that are setting good in the standings were in there with 15.2’s and 15.3’s.  Chunky was riding around awesome and I don’t know if could feel me getting distracted or what but during the drag for my run as I was walking him up the alley way (which mind you I had done 3 or 4 times up to this point with no problem) he lunged and TOOK OFF with me into the arena and he was hauling ass.  The tractor was in the arena and I was pulling back with everything I had and then it was like he suddenly realized it wasn’t our turn and hit the breaks, which totally caught me off guard…lost both my stirrups and it took everything I had to not go over his head.  I jammed my forearm into the saddle horn which caused a huge lump almost instantly and started cussing Chunky under my breath for making me look like a complete GUNSEL.  (OK EYE OF THE TIGER… EYE OF THE TIGER)  LOL He must of known he was in trouble too…he waited patiently outside the gate for our name to be called and ran hard into the arena for our run.  He smoked the 1st barrel, stumbled a tiny bit coming out of it and had a perfect line going to the 2nd…great second barrel and I leaned a little bit away from it to not hip it coming out.  We were a little close coming into the 3rd and I got my weight to the outside stirrup and he made more of his pocket coming out, but ran hard home…I heard my time and was immediately overwhelmed….a 14.749…we had just won it by 2 tenths!!  

The win meant a lot to me…it wasn’t a huge rodeo but I needed it physically and mentally to get me back to where I needed to be.  This win was extra special b/c I won this rodeo on Mighty Mouse back in 2007…I am hoping to start a trend with that…I plan on running Chunky in Altenburg, MO which I won on Mighty Mouse by 3 tenths that same year 🙂

The OTRR Crew was there, so there is a pic of us, with Memphis the mascot of course!

Scotty NeSmith, Amber Mostoller, Spencer Turner and of course MEMPHIS!

When I got back to the trailer Sherry was working on Beea and holy crap it was painful to watch…Beea tried to decapitate Sherry on more then one occassion and was out EVERYWHERE….ribs…pelvis…hip…I knew something was a little off but for her to run half as good and she has been and to be out as much as she was just proves how much grit and heart she really has…She is a rodeo horse through and through!!  I feel truly blessed to be hauling Chunky and Beea right now and I am very grateful to the Yurko and Leavitt family for putting their faith and trust in me with their horses 🙂

Quote of the day: “Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

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Amber Mostoller… Turning Things Around

TURNING THINGS AROUND

May 7-8th * Elizabethtown, KY & Marion, AR

OK so I went home after Speedwell, TN… BOUND AND DETERMINED to get my head right.  Beea and Chunky felt great all week and I got mom to enter Elizabethtown with me!!  Mom has been running JB Absolute aka Abby who is the mare that I ran last summer to qualify for the IFR.  After Abby got hurt mom bought her back and she has been 100% sounds and running STRONG!!  Kalah also entered and I was going to be jumping in with her at Elizabethtown to go on down to Marion (mom didn’t want to go that far when there was a horse show 10 miles from the house she could go to) 🙂  My little brother had been in town all week so I was excited about getting to spend some time with him as well…we went to the midnight premier of Iron Man 2 on Thursday night…got home at like 3am I got up for work Friday morning…worked half a day…had the farrier out at 2:00pm to reset Chunky got everything loaded and we were on the road by 4:30 to Etown.  We had moms Hummer pulling their 3 horse trailer with Mom her husband (Gary the driver)…my little brother (Jacob) Memphis and moms dog Peanut!  Needless to say I was glad it was only about an hour down the road lol.  When we got there mom and I headed up to the arena to decide on the best plan of attack 🙂  The arena was long and narrow with the 3rd barrel in the middle of no mans land.  The ground was clumpy clay and was a little unlevel.  I knew Beea could handle it trashy so i decided to run her…she warmed up horrible…strong and just being a bully and I was really starting to think she was in need of a chiropractor…I got off of her and let her chill for alittle bit, put a different bit back on her and just took it easy with her and she was great.  Mom ran before me, had a good run from what I could see and ran a 14.9.  Beea went in the arena HARD and snapped back to turn the first barrel and I felt her kind of go down in the front end…she had a decent 2nd and 3rd but I knew our first barrel cost us.  We ran a 15.2 and when I got out of the arena she was lame on her left front…she had tore her new shoe off 😦  I knew I was gonna have to find a farrier in the next 12 hours or so to shoe her or else I would not take a chance on running her at Marion.  Mom left pretty quickly after the rodeo and she ended up 4th overall for her first of many rodeo checks to come on Abby!!  I jumped in with Kalah and one of her buddies and we also had two bullriders jump in with us for the 5 hour drive to Marion, AR

* Note from Memphis….Kalah got a new truck so I got thrown in the front of the horse trailer!! Can you believe it??  Someone needs to have a serious talk with mom and let her know MEMPHIS IS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER!

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