Everyone has been asking about photos of my doggies. Here they are! They travel with us everywhere we go. From Maine to California to Florida and tomorrow to Canada! They are well travelled doggies.  

Here is my brother Tommie and I (Karen) during our interview for the Rick Lamb Show at the Wahl Clippers booth. Rick is a wonderful host and made us feel very comfortable during the interview. 

Here is Tommie Turvey with his best friend and world class trainer, Josh Lyons with his two boys, Austin and Johnny after the Pfizer Fantasia Show in Louisville, KY. 

On the Road... Again

We are packed and heading out to London, Ontario for the International Horse Show. We are featured with Monty Roberts "the man who listens to horses" and Chris Irwin. The show starts Thursday and runs until Sunday, so make sure if you are in the area to stop in and see us. Tommie will be in the show Fri, Sat, and Sunday along with demos during the day so you can hear his thoughts on how works his horses. We have been working hard trying to get everything here in order, but it seems like a bottomless pit! Believe me it is wonderful to have so many opportunities and friends and fans, but it can be overwhelming! We have been non-stop for the past six months and it has only been getting bigger. Shows from everywhere are contacting us to perform and put on training clinics for them, hundreds of individual people want clinics, and sponsors are talking to us everyday to help us promote their products. We aren't in a big hurry, so we can afford to take our time and make the right decisions. We want our shows and clinics to be the best and most inspiring to people. We want to work with sponsors who have products we use and LOVE. Our integrity means everything in this business. People say that they can see the love Tommie has for his horses and how they love him. The same goes with how we want the people who see our shows or attend our clinics feel. We want our endorsements to reflect the fact that we care for our horses so much, we use this product. You can use any product, but we have taken taken the time to find the one that works right for us. So, It may seem like things are crazy here, well... they are, but I love the excitement and the unknown that the future holds. Our basic mission statement is to "put fun into horse training and make it an experience, not a training session".
Wow, time flies.... Gotta pack for the trip tomorrow. See you all on Monday! Keep the emails coming.
Ride Fast... Take Chances!
karen

Tommie Turvey and chariot designer, Jon Wearley, test out the chariots at the Wahl Equestrian Center, Sterling, IL. 

Tommie Turvey gives Linda Parelli a roman riding lesson during the 2005 Savvy Conference in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. 

Savvy Conference and Equine Affaire Louisville

We are recovering from the past two weeks of shows. The first was the 2005 Savvy Conference held in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It is the training facility of Pat and Linda Parelli. The Savvy Conference is where 2000 of Parelli people get together and have a fun filled weekend. This year they hired Tommie to perform his comedy act, roman riding act, and liberty act during the conference. It was incredible. The views of the mountains were breathtaking and the people were so receptive of us. It was a thrill to be part of such a successful program. The Parelli staff, Sue and Neal were the best. We had everything we needed all weekend. It was long days though. From 7am to 7pm Fri through Sunday, but well worth it. We met many wonderful people and some who had seen Tommie before and who actually came to the conference once they knew he was going to be there. There were people from all over the world too. I spoke to quite a few from California and Seattle who saw me and remembered me from Cavalia. One lady told me I would be the spitting image of the girl she saw in Cavalia. That's because it was me! Pat and Linda were so gracious. They had a reception every night for us and made sure we had everything we needed. Their horse training business is quite the operation. On our trip to Colorado we hit Wolf Creek Pass, about 30 miles from Pagosa, and it was closed until 7am. So, we had to go back a mile and stay overnight at a hotel until the pass opened in the morning. We're talking with them about the 2006 Savvy Conference to make it even better than this one. Hmmmmmmm. That will be fun!
As soon as we got back from Colorado, we headed out to Louisville, Kentucky for the first Equine Affaire held there. Tommie was in the Pfizer Fantasia Night Show and did demos during the day to educate people about his style of training. We had a fantastic turn out for us. Tommie's demos were standing room only and people couldn't get enough. They love to see how he interacts and gets the most out of his horses. We also hung out with our sponsors. Northeast Conversions, who make our travels down the road and enjoyable one. Their trucks are exactly what makes the drive easier, enjoyable, and comfortable. With added features like a GPS so we know our route, can easily find gas stations and we,ll never get lost, a dvd player for the second driver to relax and pass the time, folding back seat for the second driver to sleep, Sirius Satellite radio for uninterrupted music, news, and comedy, cameras so we can monitor the horses, hitch, and reverse, an electronic braking system to soften the stops for the horses, comfortable captains chairs for the passenger and driver, not to mention the truck is custom painted and dressed up to turn heads as you pass by. Dave and Doug are the two guys at Northeast Conversion that will get it done the way you want it. They even deliver it to you on a flatbed!
Wahl Clippers were in the booth next to ours demonstrating their clippers. That helped give us more "space" on the floor. Guardian horse bedding was there too. I haven't found a better horse bedding than Guardian. Two things bedding has to be: 1) good for the horses and 2) easy to clean. Guardian scores a 10 on both counts. We had a booth across from us that had this incredible smelling saddle soap. (Tack cleaner). I love the smell of candles and aromatherapy stuff, so I quickly ran over there and wow! I never thought of that before. Most tack or leather cleaner smells like "leather" or chemical. This stuff (M.O.S.S.) smells great and cleans leather incredibly well. Now I can keep my tack clean and smelling great. Tommie won't admit it, but I know he will notice the difference. The sandalwood is heavenly. I'll find a link and let you know more. I got a bunch for us to use on our own tack and leather. Absorbine wasn't there, but we used the heck out of their grooming products to keep Joker and Ace clean. We gave away a ton of coffee mugs and shirts that Tommie signed. I think Tommie signed about 1000 photos, shirts, dvd's, and programs. It was a long weekend but very successful. It was nice getting to see Terry Myers. He's one of those people you like to be around because of his radiant personality. He is always smiling and cordial. There were other friends of ours there too. Clinton Anderson was in the booths next to ours, Cleve Wells, Monty Roberts (who we will be doing a show with in two weeks), and John and Josh Lyons who stopped by to be at the Bobcat booth. Josh and his wife Jana are here with us until this weekend. We've been having lots of fun and throwing lots of ideas around. It has been so hectic. We unloaded 300 bales of hay this morning, trained horses, cleaned out the trailer, did office work all day long, and I am just finishing up with this blog. Thanks for being patient with my updates, but things are going great. Email me at karen@equineextremist.net if you have any questions. Ride Fast... Take Chances!
karen