Calgary: Night Six (July 8)

July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 / suefraser / 1 Comment

You know, I never really know what day it is when we are on the road. It is either a race day or a non-race day. Today I had to ask someone what day it really was. Yes, it is Wednesday although I thought it was Thursday. Not sure why.

Team 23 was a bit slow getting to the barn this morning so barn chores began just a little bit later than normal. This was just fine, as it was a beautiful morning to sit and visit. Coffee and Baileys is the main beverage poured, along with the delicious banana bread that Allie’s mom Penny and Maxine so graciously provided for our crew. It was delicious—thank you!!!

I need to mention that here in Calgary we have hired a caterer to supply us with our evening meals. This is such a treat for me, as it has relieved me of cooking for 10 and gives me the opportunity to be there for chores and/or tend to the barn tours that come by in the evening. Tonight the caterer brought us rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies and salad. Love it!

There are so many people who have never been near a horse or seen a chuckwagon race. The Calgary Stampede often brings in groups of people to come to our barns for tours. We always oblige and let them know the heritage that comes along with our lifestyle. Tonight we had some folks from Alberta, Arizona and Vancouver. Rick gave them a tour of the barn. They were all so interested in what we do. We often take our lifestyle for granted but yet we are so eager to share our love of the lifestyle we live.

Rick and I were excited for today, as our daughter Amy and our five-year-old grandson Coy arrived to spend the rest of the week with us. Coy AKA Batman had called to get me to come and enjoy the fireworks together. This is just what I did. And boy, were they good to watch.

Today Rick and I went out onto the midway to see what we could see. We decided to take some candid shots. Marilyn Munroe was there so Rick had to pose with her.

We found some coke bottles with Cowboy and Cowgirl on them and posed with them. Boy, it sure is hard to find an English-speaking person to take the photo.

Once we got that all done, Rick decided to purchase some tickets to win the beautiful red Corvette. Wouldn’t we look good driving that baby down the highway at Mach speed?

We are happy to have Amy and Coy here. Coy loves to play with Emma, Shauna’s daughter. They were so happy to play together.

Tonight’s hook was comprised of Spirit on Left Lead, Ranger on Right Lead, Left Wheel for Vegas and Right Wheel for Law. Cole rode Beau and Chance Flad rode Trixter. Rick was off barrel 2, and boy did they tear out of there, so good that Rick beat Luke out and he was on barrel 1. We were so excited to have placed third on the day.

I have more stories to tell but they will have to wait until tomorrow, as I’m falling asleep at the computer. NOT COOL!

Let your smile change the world. But don’t let the world change your smile.

Calgary: Night Five (July 7)

July 8, 2015July 8, 2015 / suefraser / Leave a comment

Tuesday already. That means we are at the halfway point of the Calgary Stampede. The days go by very fast when we are here as it is such an important and busy show.

The air was pretty chilly this morning. I didn’t take a coat down when I headed to the barns but I could have used one. Once we got busy doing chores, I had warmed up.

It was laundry day for me today. Rick’s treat while here is dropping off his jeans and shirts with Cochrane’s Dry Cleaning By Dave. They come every day to the grounds from 10am until 1pm for drop-off service. Many cowboys utilize this service so they all look neat and tidy with their starched jeans and shirts.

I like it too as it lessens my load tremendously. We’re also fortunate to have a few machines donated for our use in the barns.

Once I got that all taken care of, Kaylee, Gary and I went to the Big Four to the lost and found. You see Kaylee lost her wedding band yesterday. So we wanted to report it. We’re hoping that it will be located by someone before we leave the grounds.

Out back at our barn we had some visitors that really paid us no attention. These ducks were just looking for some leftover oats to eat.

What a cute couple. I remember years ago Rick and I were discussing ducks, and I was clearly disappointed when Rick filled me in that the female duck was the dull one and pretty one was the male. He’s never let me forget it.

We have many fans abroad, and here we have Rick’s Aunty KooKoo (Sharon) with cousin Tammy and her daughter Sadie. Lots of our relatives love to get together at the cabin or their home, sit around the campfire and make bets on the races.

For the night’s races, my job (along with a couple of the girls) is to take the outriding horses over to the infield and tend to them. I have a tough time getting on the horse myself, so there’s always one of the guys to give me a boost up.

Tonight we brought over a beverage to celebrate our halfway point of the Stampede.

There’s no shortage of love for our horses in our barn. They all get number one lovin’! Ace loves to have his lip rubbed and Jesse has no trouble doing that.

Because of the redraw tonight, we got hooked with different drivers. So in turn we lost an outrider and had to hire a different one. Dustin was riding, but he had to go ride for his dad, Gary Gorst, as we were in the same heat. But not to worry as we picked up 2014 world champion outrider Chance Flad.

Rick decided to hook Spirit on the Left Lead, Ranger on the Right Lead, Sneakers on the Left Wheel and Law on the Right Wheel. Cole rode Beau again and Chance rode Stadium. They did a great job.

Rick was on 1 barrel. When he came in to park, he said he heard someone whistle and the horses jumped ahead of the barrel. Rick tried to back them up, somewhat successfully but we were still assessed a one-second penalty. The horn finally blew and away they went.

Unfortunate luck struck and the top barrel was hit, assessing us another five seconds. That one hurts. This takes us out of the running for the top eight so we will just be running for day money now.

Rick is a great skinner, and I’m proud of him and he’s done well thus far. We were also happy tonight how fast the horses ran. Tomorrow is another day and we will shoot to get a day money.

One of the happiest moments ever is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.

Calgary: Night Four (July 6)

July 7, 2015 / suefraser / 1 Comment

Up and at it earlier this morning. At 5:15am the alarm sounded. I normally don’t need to wake to an alarm but as the days go by at this time of year my body gets more exhausted. So I don’t take the chance to expect to wake up on my own.

We decided to utilize the morning track time, 5am to 8am, to exercise an outfit. But we had a special guest come join us. Cody, our son, was the driver this morning, Chris, our son-in-law, was the helper and Kelly VanderBeek, retired Canadian alpine skier, came along for the ride. The faster the better, she said. Kelly enjoyed every minute of it.

After the ride, she also got to walk some hot horses to cool them out. Then she interviewed Cody about life in the chuckwagon world.

After all the excitement of the practice run, Team 23 got to work doing the barn chores. It was our turn to make breakfast, so I was it. Sausages, scrambled eggs, leftover fried mashed potatoes and toasted grilled buns.

I had to get at it, as Rick and I had a date, along with a few other drivers and trick rider Payton Bensmiller, to visit some kids at the Alberta Children’s Hospital at 10am.

Rick and I have been arranging this for many years now, and it touches our hearts. There are so many stories to be told there, and if we can just bring a little bit of sunshine to some of the little ones’ world, for even a moment, it’s made our day. And I must say, it’s very humbling to enter into those rooms. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

A huge thanks to Sandy, a worker at the hospital, who makes this happen for us year after year.

On our return from the hospital, we knew it was time to get some rest. Rick and I both headed to the trailer to get a couple of hours of R & R in. It felt soooooo good.

Race time came fast. I had a few thing to do up in the trailer, so I didn’t get down to the barns until 5. I needn’t have worried, as Team 23 had everything under control.

Our hook tonight was Speedy on the Left Lead, Nickle on the Right Lead, Sneakers on the Left Wheel and Law on the Right Wheel, coming off the 3 barrel. Cole and Dustin rode Ace and Andy.

Prior to our race, the dark clouds hovered over and brought some wind and rain. Who would have guessed? Up until then, it was the calmest, nicest evening. So the track conditions got heavier for our heat. When the horn blew, the outfit started and charged. Barrel 2 outfit’s outrider somehow almost ended up in our lead team. Thank goodness, he managed to get out of the way. And away we went.

We had a great turn despite that start and had the best performance out of our horses yet. Rick was very happy how they performed. The kicker was we had two late outriders. Not their fault, they just couldn’t get around the Ray Mitsuing outfit. He held them out three wide. Very disappointing.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and another redraw. We still have a chance to make it into the top eight by Friday. We just have to run hard, fast and clean.

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

Calgary: Night Three (July 5)

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / suefraser / 4 Comments

Rick and I are so very fortunate to have a Team 23 barn crew like these kids for our 2015 Calgary Stampede. We may have a lot of helpers but they have come to work, play and keep the morale up each and every day.

They keep us entertained let me tell you. For some of them, I call them my other adopted kids.

From left to right in the photo below, we have Kaylee (our daughter), Candice, Kim, Chris (our son-in-law), Cayley, Mylene, Jesse, Allie, Alisha, Me, Harold (our farrier), Rick and Cody (our son).

Morning chores have been getting completed very quickly in the mornings. The crew is very efficient. This leaves everyone a bit more time to catch up on some much-needed sleep, or to run some errands or even to get some laundry washed and dried.

Today, our relative Brace and I took our yearly trip to the Roundup Centre to check out all the booths and look at all the art displays. Was it ever crowded down on the grounds! But then again, when is it not? After all, it is the Greatest Outdoor Show on earth.

I treated myself to a nice souvenir sweater and a belt from one of the booths on the grounds. I was also craving a twist ice cream cone and so I had one. I told myself I better enjoy it, as they charged $5 for it!!! Yikes! But we crazy people pay for treats such as this. What a killing they make on the food down there.

While walking through the venue, we came upon this little jigger behind the board. I couldn’t resist taking a picture to share with you. He made me smile.

We had some guests pop by the barn before the races. First off, a little surprise from the Stampede Committee. They came and presented Rick with a beautiful halter for our horse Law. You see, Law won an equine award from last year’s stampede. They were just a little behind delivering it. But we will accept it just the same. Proud of that pony.

Our other guest was Dr. Shirley McClellan. Shirley told us stories of days gone by and how she followed the chuckwagon races, and still loves it today.

Two of our Team 23 members slipped off the grounds to help out at a pancake breakfast. Kim and Candice went to the Sunwest Church to participate by giving kids rides on horses supplied by Camp Evergreen. What a feel-good story when you can make a child smile.

Yesterday’s sponsor was Terra HDD Solutions. Scott and his clients were thrilled to watch the races from an infield suite, and then come back to the barns to meet and greet us. We like to give barn tours to give the people a sense of what it is we do and how we do it. A huge shout out to Terra HDD Solutions for the great sponsorship here at the Calgary Stampede.

It was a cool evening for races. I think my husband may have even donned on his long underwear for tonight. I know he was cold and so was I. But I didn’t have any long johns. Boy, this weather has been from one extreme to another.

Our hook tonight was Spirit on Left Lead, Ranger on Right Lead, Air on Left Wheel and Zorba on Right Wheel. They sure started hard but not quite enough to get the rail position over competitor Evan. They were running okay but coming down the homestretch they just seemed to quit. They posted a 1:11.68, which gave us a position of 13 on the day and we are also sitting 13th on the three-day average.

We have one more race tomorrow coming off the 3 barrel. Then there will be a redraw to start all over at the different barrel positions. The name of the game is to stay clean and steady. Our goal is to be standing on that stage come Sunday evening.

Keep your head up. God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers.

Calgary: Night Two (July 4)

July 5, 2015 / suefraser / Leave a comment

Another beautiful morning here in Calgary, Alberta. I must confess, I got to bed way too late—2am was not what I was planning, it’s just how it worked out.

When the races are finished for the night, Team 23 gets busy and tends to the horses, washing, feeding, bedding and wrapping if need be. We usually finish up about 10 or 10:30pm, and then our sponsor comes back to the barn with clients. We welcome them into our barn to meet us and to meet the stars of the show, the horses.

Many are thrilled to be back at the barns with us. It’s just like NASCAR: If you get to go into the pits where the racecar driver and the crew are, you have won the lottery, so to speak. Yes, the race is thrilling to watch, it lasts just over a minute, but the real action is all the preparation and care afterwards. It does take a team, and Rick and I are very proud of our Team 23!!!

This morning was our turn to cook breakfast. Well, yes, we have breakfast every day but we share the duty with Rick’s cousin Troy Dorchester and his barn crew. We alternate days providing the meal. This way everyone eats and every other day we get a break. A win-win situation. My famous Ham and Egger Cheese Buns were on the menu today, along with a nice fresh fruit salad.

I want to share with you a photo of days gone by. What a crew this was!

This photo was taken back in early 2000. We were sponsored by Kendal Pipeline. What a team we had with Ken and Sherry Drysdale.

This partnership lasted for seven glorious years. What began as a partnership quickly became a friendship that lasts still to this day. They will always be part of our Team 23, for they helped us to get us where we are now.

You will see Rick and me, Cody (who totally looks like our grandson Coy), our daughter Amy, Ken and Sherry Drysdale, DeeAnne Foster, Francis DeBeaudrap, Nathan Sales and my nephew Jordan Pagacz. Not sure where our other daughter Kaylee was that day.

Around 4pm this afternoon, I was preparing to head out to the barns after a much-needed nooner nap. I laid down at noon, waking up again at 2:30. I felt refreshed. I need to make sure I do this every so often to stay recharged for the days ahead.

Before I went out, I could tell the skies were very daunting with threats of rain. And then it happened! A major rain and hailstorm came upon us. It was fast and furious, with lots of moisture in a short time. In the trailer, the hail pounding on the outside was very deafening. Team 23 was down at the barn and had started chores already. A few of them got caught in the craziness of the rain coming down and got soaked. It really didn’t last very long but you could tell it left a mark.

Despite the weather, the show must go on. Yes, the races were still held but Rick had to don the mud pants and raincoat to stay dry from the muddy track. He hooked Victory, Keenan, Spirit and Zorba.

We had a decent run with them, placing 14th on the day, and we’re sitting 17th in the show. There is definitely room for improvement and it’s not impossible to obtain a spot in the semi-final heat.

We would really like this, as our sponsor tonight was Terra HDD and they would be thrilled to have to come back to watch the final evening of races. A huge shout-out to Terra Core Rentals for their sponsorship and support.

Well, I best be headed to bed. This chick’s had it. Especially when my eyes are closing and my heads a-bobbing.

Imagine with all your mind, believe with all your heart. Achieve with all your might.

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The Travelin Trailer

Thoughts from the Voice Within

Calgary Stampede

Calgary: Night Six (July 8)

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Calgary: Night Five (July 7)

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Calgary: Night Four (July 6)

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Calgary: Night Three (July 5)

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Calgary: Night Two (July 4)

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