Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody. Here's a photo I just took this morning of the Western Store. We have a white Christmas here AND very cold. It's just me and my husband, along with the 22 horses and 3 dogs. Time to go give the horses their Christmas carrots and clean their stalls. The wind has been blowing pretty hard, giving us lots of snow drifts, so I'll have to plow out the driveway and parking lot as well. I could barely get into the barn last night with all the drifting snow. Well, thanks again for all your support in 2008 as we get ready to make 2009 even bigger and better! We've got lots of plans to share with all of you. Keep in touch, and again.... Merry Christmas!
Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Just before Christmas and all is sooooo cold.

All I can say is that I'm glad to be home, but..... it is -30 below today with the windchill and -10 below without. It is tough just to stay warm! 3 mins outside and you are frozen solid. We've got all the horses inside and stalled in our heated indoor facility (45 degrees). They are really happy. Our barn manager, Lori has been getting them out in the arena and riding them with our current intern, Jen. We've been busy shipping product, setting schedules, and just getting caught up. We got our Christmas tree yesterday and put it up today. It took a day to thaw it out. We had to cancel the Barrel Show here at our facility because of the freezing rain and ice we got on Friday, Saturday was 2 inches of snow and today was sub zero weather with wind and snowdrifts. It hasn't been a fun week... My mom and my sister Kimberly went back home to Florida on Friday. I drove them to the airport and it took 90 mins instead of the usual 45 mins. The roads were glare ice. I had to go and tow Tommie's wife's Ford back to the house after it froze up. I love my Dodge. 110,000 miles and no major problems. Tomorrow will be only -20 below but it will get up to 34 by Wednesday. Time to trim the tree and get ready for a busy week before Christmas..

Pokerjoe & the new Breyer Model

Here is Pokerjoe just before Tommie and him perform the "Riding Instructor" at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center.

AZ Horse Festival

Hey everyone. Well, I finally have a few moments to blog our recent show, because just did the Arizona Horse Festival at Westworld in Scottsdale. Three days of demos and two night time shows called "Equi-Dance". Tommie performed 5 acts in the show. I was set to do the Chariot Race, but one of my horses, Maugua had a stone bruise on his foot and I didn't want to risk him getting injured during the race. So, we came us with a new act, the Chariot versus Roman Riding act. Tommie comes out and races against Jon Wearley our chariot driver. This is at the end of the show, so the crowd is very loud and cheering for either Tommie or Jon (also know in the act as "maximus wreckamus". After the show Tommie signed photos and programs for the audience. He was there for over and hour after the show end. We also were selling the first lot of Pokerjoe Breyer models we got. We sold all 36! Tommie signed every single one. I also got the news that Cavalia is coming back to Scottsdale after touring Europe for the past 2 years. On Saturday night, Normand, the producer of Cavalia was there to give away tickets and gifts from the show. My husband and I haven't seen him since we left Cavalia after Santa Monica in 2005. He said the European tour went well and that Fred and Magali are coming back to do Scottsdale starting Feb 2009 and Montreal in April. I'm hoping to be able to see it, to see how it changed from when we conceptualized it in 2003.
Thanks to Lise Streit and her family for producing the AZ show. We are looking forward to next year and building it up to be a huge show. It has a great location and incredible facility, so make plans to come next year. http://www.festivalofhorses.com/
We left for Az last week on Tuesday at 5am from Sterling, IL. We hit really bad ice storms in IA and Kansas. We arrived in Scottsdale Thursday at 1pm, got the horses set, set up our booth and did the rehearsal. For our way home, we had to go south through Texas, since I-40 was iced over and Amarillo was below freezing! We are currently at the Pecos TX Rodeo grounds with 8 of our horses and heading for Dallas today. We'll stay overnight there where it will be in the 50's and then head for the last 900 miles home when the weather clears on Wednesday. There is ice and snow all day today through Illinois and Missouri, so we're taking it slow to make sure we don't get stuck in a storm or bad roads. We counted 52 trucks and cars off the road when we drove to AZ because of the icy roads. We were doing 25 mph most of the way to keep it safe. It was 1,800 miles to AZ and it will be 2000 to return, so we'll be home Thursday just in time to put on the Winter Barrel Series at Double G this weekend. Gotta get ready for the travel to Dallas. Thanks for those for came out to see us and the new fans of Tommie. We'll have a new website and videos coming soon. Ride Fast... Take Chances!

Agribition in Regina

Here is Tommie and Pokerjoe at the Brandt Center in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. This is a 6 day event which features livestock events, vendors, CCA Finals Rodeo and lots of food! Tommie performed each day at noon to 1:00pm in the Brandt Center with his horses and dogs. We're putting together some video footage to add to youtube as we speak. It was an incredible show. Even with the cold weather, people came out to see the show. Tommie said he worked with the big horses on Mon. Tues and then with the rodeo guys from Wed through Saturday. He said the hitches were awesome with all the harness, chrome, and beautifully detailed wagons. Bill from XPress and Gerald from Flatland Belgians had incredible hitches. The Canadian Cowboy Association also held it's Finals Rodeo with 5 perfs from Wed to Saturday. Tommie was the specialty act and performed each perf as well. They had sell outs of the 8,000+ Brandt Center on 3 of the 5 perfs. Canadians really love their Rodeo. My husband said it was one of the best run shows he's ever been a part of. That says alot coming from him. It is quite an honor for Tommie and Pokerjoe to have performed at the NFR and the CCA Finals.

Here is a great shot of Tommie and Pokerjoe. Tommie just got the first Breyer model of Pokerjoe right before he left for Regina. Here he is talking about his Breyer model to the audience at Regina. It is quite a proud moment for Tommie and his horses. When he got the model of Joker in 2006 he was quite humbled. That was an accomplishment for Tommie and what he has achieved with his horses, but to have his first and most deserving horse set as a Breyer model, well.... that is all Pokerjoe. He has done everything and everything with Tommie. Everytime Tommie performs somewhere, Pokerjoe is in tow. This horse has seen it all. This Breyer Model is a tribute to Pokerjoe and what he has given to Tommie and all of us. This wasn't from just being in a movie or running 2 minute race, this was an honor from being there for Tommie since 1996. He has done everything that Tommie has asked him to do over the past 12 years and it has brought him in front of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of adoring fans. Pokerjoe has truly earned the honor of a Breyer Model Horse. I hope you guys enjoy it as well and know what it truly means to us.
Pokerjoe Breyer Model # 1539

Ride Fast.... Take Chances! karen