Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and got to eat all of the turkey they wanted. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent the day with family. Loren got to trail ride for a while in the morning and for him that always makes a great day. We are very blessed in this family - with healthy children and a healthy granddaughter, a wonderful extended family and the ability to both do something we love every day and get paid for it. We are thankful for all of the clients who have put their trust into Loren's training. He loves what he does and is one of the very best mule trainers because of it. He treats every mule here as if we own it and were putting someone we loved on it to ride. We have a busy year coming up: Cole will graduate from high school in May and Cori will graduate from college in May. She and Camri will be returning to Belle to start working in the family business: mules. Our best wishes in this busy season to you and yours. Stop and be thankful for everything you have in your life and then tell those people that you're thankful for them. Don't let this season get away without taking a few minutes to be thankful.

Halloween Hog Hunt

Loren and Cole spent Halloween day hoghunting.

Trap Shooting

Cole shoots with our local FFA Trap Team. They had a trap meet tonight and Cole shot a perfect 25 round. He then got his new hat shot up by the team. That part seems strange - but we are incredibly proud of Cole.

Local Cowboy Race

Cole and Jiggs running through the barn.


Richard Ullmer on Badger.



Cori and Hoosier Daddy jumping haybales.



Loren and Jewels climbing the gravel pile.



Brody Smith and Odie walking over the logs.

Brody is 7 and the son of Jeff and Jennifer Smith.

Loren and the kids decided to attend a local extreme cowboy race over the weekened. It was held by a little saddle club close to home. We had a couple from Iowa here for a short clinic with Loren this week and they took their mule and competed too.

The course set was a pretty good course. It was set out in a circle basically so that part wasn't too hard to remember. The rules were a little weak and tended to change after we got started but also is normal for around here. We have found over the years that when we arrive at a "horse" event they are happy to take our money but they aren't going to let us take any of it back home. People aren't rude just uninformed. There was a little donkey showing at the race and a lady who couldn't control her horse at any time felt that the donkey scared her horse while she was in the arena.

They provided some age divisions: 12 and under, 13 to 18, and 19 and over. The 12 and under division had the little kids dragging a tire around a barrel. This was a very bad idea. The rope was too long and the tire to light and when the kids got going it became almost airbound and scared the horses.

The day was a lot of fun and we may or may not go back in the spring. I would hope some rules were in writing next time and we stuck to the rules. It's their ballgame and their ball, I guess they can make the rules up to suit them as they go along.

Brad Cameron Mule Clinic

Our friend, Joe Bufalo, hosted a Brad Cameron Mule Clinic this weekend. Joe asked Cole to take one of his colts for the colt starting clinic. Cole has started a few colts already and took to Cameron's methods very quickly. There were 2 other colts the first day and 3 other colts on the second day. There were many people watching. The weather was perfect!

All Star Mule Show

The All Star Mule Show was organized well but in a horrible facility. The mules and donkeys were pushed to the outside arena with mud and water everywhere. The stalls were also crap. The show manager agreed to move out of the big arena and into the small arena for a discount. It really emphasized his lack of desire to put the show together and his lack of respect for the people and animals who attended. No bleachers, no bathrooms, no warmup pen with the arena. It was cold and wet.

Camri participated in the lead line and the teddy bear race. She looked good. Cori won the Extreme Trail Challenge, Amateur Western Pleasure and Trail. Cole won a couple speed events.

Scenes from South Dakota

This year's buffalo hunt was not as exciting as last years. They only rounded up buffalo one day and only rounded up between 500 -600 buffalo. Here are a couple of the pictures. He and Tim Cross had a good time and made it safely home. Loren and the kids are now on their way to Columbia for the All Star Mule Show. Good luck to Cole and Cori. Camri may get to show one class if she is feeling better.