Loves of My Life

Most of you know, I love horses and have loved horses for as long as I can remember. I have had a horse since I was 13 yr old, but I have found another love, maybe not as much as horses but I do love it. I have found the sport of Dog Agility, let me explain......
Besides, Ivan and Dan, there are 2 other boys that I absolutely love: Catcher and Rodeo. Catcher is my 5 yr old Quarter Horse Gelding and Rodeo is my 22 month old Australian Shepherd.
Catcher has a special place in my heart, I owned his mother for 15 yrs before I lost her last summer. I have had Catcher his entire life and he will spend the rest of his life in my care. Unfortunately, I have not had as much time to ride as I want to, so Catcher leads the life of a pasture pony most of the time. I hope to have more time to ride this summer, but with gas prices as high as they are, we will be staying at home and riding around here.
Now to Agility...
About 5 yrs ago, I got my first Aussie, Ella and began training in Agility. After 2.5 yrs of training and taking classes, I finally entered my first trial and it was tons of fun. Tragically, I lost Ella about month that trial. Shortly after her death, I began my search for another Aussie. After a short search, I found a breeder that was going to be breeding a litter, and I decided to put down a deposit and I placed my order for a blue merle female. I was excited since I had pick of the litter and was looking forward to getting back to agility and having an Aussie. After a what seemed like forever, the puppies arrived and there was 1 blue merle female. I went to visit the puppies for the first time when they were 2 days old. The litter was good size with 6 girls and 1 boy. This was the beginning of the 10 week waiting period. I visited the puppies as often as possible and I began the process of trying to decide on which puppy to make mine. To make a long story short, I ended up with the red merle male, not exactly what I had order but I would not give him back for anything. The red merle male was given the name Rodeo and the full name of Fourwinds Raggin Rodeo.
Rodeo and I started agility training immediately. Now 22 months later, Rodeo and I have enter 3 agility trials and have earned 1 leg of our Novice Tunnlers Title. Rodeo is not ready enter the full trial but we have been gaining valuable experience. Last weekend, we entered the ACTS NADAC Trial and we had a successful trial for us. Not everything went as planned but that is OK .
I am looking forward to future trials this summer with Rodeo and future horse shows with Catcher.