Saturday, March 21, 2009

PA Horse World Expo 2009

Here is Tommie with his favorite student, Lizzy Traband. She worked her horse in the demos with Tommie. This was them having fun for the TV cameras and practicing for an upcoming demo.

Here is Tommie during an interview with a local TV station in Harrisburg PA to promote the PA Horse World Expo. He's there with Blade the Mustang and his red heeler, Maverick. They both performed in the demos. If anyone has any photos please email me, I'd love to have a copy.
Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

New Horse Hauler Rig for 2009

Tommie and I have been pretty busy since 2009 started, but as the saying goes "You need to keep building!". Well, last year Tommie added a Freightliner Sport Chassis hauler to haul his trailer, but the 300hp Cat engine couldn't cut it. So, Tommie has been searching for a nice replacement and he found this really nice International with a 430hp Detriot Diesel engine. Lots more power and room! It has a full sleeper with bunks, tv and entertainment center, GPS, CB, DVD, CD, and room for 4 people very comfortably. The sport chassis was a bit smaller, but it had a lot of vibration driving down the road, this new truck is very smooth. it has full air ride cab and rear axle which means a nice ride for the people and the horses in the trailer. He had to customize to suit his needs with the ball hitch and single axle, but it is ready to go and get us down the road with a lot less hassle. The dual 240 gallon fuel tanks are a big plus too. We won't have to fuel up which means less wear on the horses. The hardest part is pulling off to a truck stop and weaving in and out to find a spot. Now, we can pull in a rest area, check them, water, hay, and keep on going. Everything we do is for the horses....
Keep on the lookout for Tommie driving your way. With the amount of travel he does, you'll probably see him on the road with his horses! Ride Fast.... Take Chances! karen

Thursday, March 05, 2009

North Dakota Winter Show

Here's Tommie and riding Joker bareback and bridleless during the show on Thursday Night.

Yes, I know I skipped the PA Horse World Expo on my blog. Don't worry, I'll get to it. We got to PA on Wednesday, set up our 5 horses, set up our booth, did 2 demos a day, rehearsal, shows on Friday and Saturday, signed autographs after the shows, packed it all up on Sunday, left Monday at 8am back to our facility in Illinois, got home at 10pm, unloaded the horses, slept, woke up at 7am, unpacked everything, repacked everything PLUS the chariots and gear, did office work, worked the western store, slept, woke up at 6am and left for North Dakota at 7am. We arrived here at 8pm during the truck pulls, sho we had to wait until they were done at 11pm, hit the hotel, slept, got to the barn at 8am, set our schedule for the show the 7:00pm show and took time to get caught up on phone calls. Sooo, now you know why I haven't written anything about the PA Show yet. That is basically our daily routine in a nutshell. We did the show here which was Tommie's 4 acts plus the chariots. It ran about 1 hr and was a lot of fun. The arena is narrow to race chariots, so it is really tight turns and side by side racing. I had Apollo and Dakota and Tommie raced Caesar and Spartacus. Now we are back in the hotel at 10pm. I leave for home at 7am Friday. Tommie is staying to perform at the Rodeo on Sat and Sunday. Once I get back I'll have time to answer the emails and comments. This is our first time at the North Dakota Winter Show. They have 8 ft snowbanks and its 10 degrees out, but the people here are fantastic. We love working with shows where the people are a joy to work with. The barn manager, Ben and his crew are awesome. They put panels up and made our area exactly what we needed. Thanks guys. Also, thanks to Nancy Allen for having us. Hope to see you all again next year. Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen
Here are a few shots of Tommie and I racing the chariots. It was a narrow arena, so the turns are pretty tight. We've raced together hundreds of times, so it was a lot of fun and a great audience. They were very surprised at the ending. Thanks NDWS!

Here I went deep to the corner. I knew Tommie wasn't cutting it enough so I could pass him as he slowed to turn. Dirt was flying as we got wheel to wheel quite a few times. It is quite exhilirating driving these 800 pound chariots with 2,000 pounds of horses pulling them. Like we say, "Ride Fast... Take Chances!" karen

Tommie Turvey performs with Pokerjoe