Worth the Wait

That old saying of waiting makes the journey and the adventure sweeter is so true.

Rewind to the spring of 2013- I had the lease on a wicked nice TB mare, and bred her to Flagmount's Freedom. Truly a dream cross to me for my next upper level prospect. 2013, and 2014 passed with zero pregnancy to either stallion that I tried. So I sent the mare back to her owner, and acquired another TB cross mare, Stone's Choice who was actually very closely bred to Dash De Kas, my first upper level horse. We got a pregnancy!! I was over the moon! Spring of 2015 rolls around, and we were reaching 300 days, and Demi ended up losing the foal. A very dark filly... I was devastated. I had no idea what to do or how to do the breeding thing anymore.


In June of 2015 I was lucky enough to roll into purchasing Ballinlaugh Ice, who was already in foal to Mannhattan. Mischief Managed was born in June of 2016, and so began the venture of trying for my Flag foal one more time. Success. There on the ultrasound screen was a tiny black dot. Now it was a waiting game for over 300 days waiting to see what Icy was cooking for us.

June 2nd 2017 hits. Icy looks close, but not quite ready to have her kid. Ty and I had a wedding to attend that evening so we check everyone at 6pm, nothing and went onto the wedding. We returned back to town around midnight, and I said lets go check Icy. Ty told me that there wasn't a point that she wasn't going to have had the foal she wasn't ready yet. I won the argument and out we went, still in dress clothes to the barn for what was supposed to be a quick check.

Saoirse at 6 hours old

Just kidding. There in the dark of the paddock was a tiny dark creature. We brought them inside, got the filly cleaned up and dry and finally got a look at what had taken us 4 years to create. The filly went nameless for a while as I wanted to find something perfect. We were blessed with a black filly, who had 6 white hairs for a star and one tiny white foot, and the absolutely best personality we could ask for.

Saoirse at 3 days old

Her barn name came first. Saoirse (pronounced Seer-SHA) which means freedom in Celtic. Now it was just down to needing a show name. Worth the Wait. That was perfect, because she was truly worth the long wait to get her here. Flagmount's Worth the Wait. The perfect princess had a name finally. Kelsea Ballerini wrote a song call "Legends" and it is so incredibly fitting to the relationship I have been able to from with his filly in such a short amount of time.

Saoirse has had an amazing first year with us. She has been to her first cross country schooling. She has been to two horse shows, the first she won, and the second she was 3rd out of 6. She is learning how to do big horse things like lunge, wear a saddle, she wears a blanket and a fly sheet. We cannot wait until she can be ridden and start the next leg of our journey.

Enjoy a few more photos of Saoirse through her first year with us!

Saorise at her RPSI inspection in September of 2017

Hanging out after her class at Texas Rose in March of 2018

Competing in the FEH Yearling class at Feather Creek in May of 2018

First set of many braids this girl will see

Maybe I kinda like her?

Headed to a show with big brother O'Malley.



Stay tuned for more adventures as we see where this crazy road takes us next.


Until next time.


*Keep Kicking* 

Summer of 2018

I swear... I really should be better about updates.

So here is what has gone on since the last post.


*Rio Bravo was sold into a wonderful Hunter/Jumper home, and is killing it down in Texas.


*Ty and I started a breeding program! Well actually two different programs. We are now in the third year of breeding top talented sport horses.


We acquired our foundation mare, Ballinlaugh Ice in the summer of 2015, and since have produced 3 exceptional young horses from her. We also had an opportunity to breed an own daughter of Aberjack, and had one nice colt from her.


We are also finally moving forward with the show pig program. During the fall of 2017 we captured two incredible females, and they are both bred for fall of '18 litters.


So lets introduce Ballinlaugh Ice or Icy as we call her.

Ballinlaugh Ice

Icy was imported from Ireland in 2009. She competed through the Preliminary level with BadEventer. In 2014 she had her first kid, Viper and he is now successfully competing at the Starter level. We purchased Icy in the summer of 2015, when she was bred to Mannhattan. She produced "Mischief Managed" in June of 2016, who is now in Southern California as a upper level jumper prospect, "Flagmount's Worth the Wait in June of 2017, and "Malfoy RSR" in May of 2017 who is available for purchase. We will formally introduce Flagmount's Worth the Wait shortly!

Mischief Mangaed
Mannhattan/Ballinlaugh Ice/Darnay

Flagmount's Worth the Wait
Flagmount's Freedom/Ballinlaugh Ice/Darnay

Malfoy RSR
Mannhattan/Ballinlaugh Ice/Darnay



Our goals with our breeding program is to produce top quality young horses that will be successful in any discipline, and with any rider. We don't breed for just flashy types, but rather good sound minded talented horses that anyone can be confident and successful with.

Next post we will introduce, Flagmount's Worth the Wait. She is our keeper filly from 2017, and will not only be a valuable asset to our show string but the breeding program as well!


*Keep Kicking*

Many Changes, for the Good

It's done! My diploma is at my house, and its official! I have graduated from Oklahoma State University with an Ag Leadership major and an Animal Science minor.

Yesterday, I was elected as the Vice-President of the OCTA. I am excited to get back into the organization and see what I can bring to the table to help the club and organization grow. Check out OCTA at oklahomaeventers.us

I added a new horse to my string in September, and he is finally going extremely well under saddle.

First Ride on Bravo. He was such a good pony!

TC Champ or Rio Bravo is a 2004, 16.0 hand Bay Thoroughbred gelding. He raced successfully until September of 2013. The plans for Bravo right now is to come out at Feather Creek and do Beginner Novice and then he will probably move up to Novice at a schooling show. So far we have been extremely pleased with him and the way he is progressing. He is currently for sale.

I have also taken on the responsibly of becoming the leader of the Wynnewood 4H chapter. I have extremely excited to get started on this and help these kids with all of their livestock projects and get them to some contests.

As for O'Malley, he will come out this spring at Feather Creek as well and he will run at the Training level. I'm going for few out but extremely high quality outs for him this year. We will then look at the calendar and decide where he is going next.

I will get some pictures up of Bravo as soon as my computer decides to load them :) so stay tuned.

Until next Time
*Kick On*

The Beginning of the End

Well, tomorrow starts my last first day of college! Its been a hell of a road and an incredible journey and I am sad to see it end. But we must all grow up at some point. I'm ready to get on with my life, both with my husband and my career.

As of right now, O'Malley (who is completely adorable) is done with his EPM treatment and is 100% better. He is back to normal and will begin jumping again this coming Saturday. I am so lucky to have this amazing horse to compete and call mine and I'm so glad he has recovered this well. We are looking at the calendar for where we will possibly go this fall for shows, and its looking like maybe Holly Hill and/or Texas Rose. We are taking it slow for now and we will also have to wait to see if school allows me to compete.

I completed my internship with Airborne Stables, LLC about a week ago and it was an amazing experience. I began the summer as barn manager and finished up as assistant trainer :) I am please to announce that soon I will begin teaching lessons and starting another journey as a professional in the sport of 3-Day Eventing! I helped my first student this summer go from never having sat on a horse before to being able to walk, trot, canter on his own and he began jumping some small fences.

That's it for now, I better go enjoy my last free day before classes start. So until next time,

*Kick On*

Daddy Remembered, Horses' break your heart, and a New Name.

       Its been a really long time since I've blogged. To be honest, after my last post I just lost all desire to want to communicate what was going on in my life with or without my horses. Very soon after losing my faithful long time partner, Troll, I lost a huge part of the Rockin' Shamrock Team. My father was a huge part of our team and it was hard to continue on without him. I did not event through the fall, I had no desire to and the one jumper show I did was just ok. I don't know what I would have done without the backing of my incredible family, my best friends (Meaghan, Emma, Emily, Kim and a lot of other people), Ty, and of course O'Malley.
      So now fast forward to Spring/Summer '13, another changed major (graduation this time) and a wedding.
      I found my calling in life, Ag Leadership is where my heart belonged all along and I have met some incredible people/friends/new family. I am completing an internship with Airborne Stables, LLC and will graduate in December.
      O'Malley and I had one, mediocre outing this spring at Mill Creek, once again being shafted in the dressage, was having a great ride across the country when O'Malley decided that there were man (I mean horse) eating tadpoles in the water jump, and ending with a great show jumping ride. Cue the beginning of what was going to be a long summer of mysteries. After returning home, Meg noticed that O'Malley wasn't traveling right behind. His LH was twisting while he was going, however being my super hero of a horse, he once again wasn't letting me know of top of him that something was wrong, he just kept going and getting better. Then about a month ago, even though he is still very willing to compete all the Advanced level dressage movements, he could no longer hold himself uphill. *Call in back-up* I mean, Dr. Bullock and Dr. Hague. After a month of testing it was decided that O'Malley has EPM... great another one. However, this time is much different than Shorty's case and will likely have a completely different outcome. Time will tell, and I will keep you posted.
      7-6-13 is a date that I will for the rest of my life celebrate. Ty and I finally tied the knot! The day was incredible and went off without any issues and I could not be any happier.
     Hopefully, I will be able to announce soon, that my mare Swain's Song is in foal to Flagmount's Freedom :) :) :) Again, I will let y'all know as soon as I know something. So we will eventually have to come up with a name for the adorable foal (everyone cross your fingers and pray for a bay colt) :)

Until then,

*Keep Kicking*

Dash De Kas

Once in a lifetime, we, as riders, are given a horse who lacks in talent but makes up for it with the size of his heart. My trainer used to tell me, this horse shouldn't be this good. He isn't scopy, he isn't fancy, and he is half crippled when he gets home from a show. But that horse will do anything for you. It didn't matter the distance, the height, the degree of difficulty, if I said jumped Troll answered with how how.

Troll as he was known around the barn was a homebred Quarter Horse. A racing Quarter Horse to be more exact. And yes, he raced, he raced ten times. Failed, but tried. He was not the typical Quarter Horse type. He looked like a Thoroughbred, all 16.3 hands of him, and he was as narrow as a rail, but quiet minded and honest like a Quarter Horse. He was originally intended to be sold, but had a tongue problem and would hang it out of his mouth while you were riding him. Thus, no one wanted him. I had out grown my first horse, and the other option was a moody Hann/TB mare that I would soon out grow as well. Troll was the logically option. The first time Meighan, my trainer, saw him it took me 30 minutes to saddle him, and another 15 minutes to get a bridle on him. She looked at my mother, and said you let your 12 year old child ride this?! My replied with a yes. Meg soon realized that Troll and I shared something deep. Even though he dumped me 8 times in that first lesson. I kept getting back on. We did our first Novice in 2003, with the hopes of moving right on up to training. But his lameness issues held us back. He had horrible hocks, and his stifles were starting to go as well. But he kept on trying. In the spring of 2004, we did 1 novice, and moved up to training and from our first Novice at Holly Hill in April, to Holly Hill in October of 2004 we went from Novice to Prelim. And not only competing at Prelim but competitive at Prelim. He ran around that track like it was another Novice. Spring of 2005 we did a few more Prelims, and then contested our first CIC* in June. He wasn't sound. He shouldn't have passed the jog, but he tried his heart out for me, and we made it through to show jumping. Troll was retired at the completion of that show. His joints couldn't hold up to the stress of competition. He happily lived out in my field behind my house or over at my grandfathers. Giving the occasional ride to my family members, my best friend Emily, or my mom. Who tried to bring him out of retirement last fall, but couldn't get him to walk let alone make it through a dressage test. Always loved, and never forgotten.

My first Novice, my first Training, my first Prelim, and my first International event. Troll was there from the start. He taught me how to ride an average horse, and make him exceptional. An event horse doesn't have to be fancy, they don't have to be scopy, they must love their person and love their job. Only the good die young.

May 6 1993-September 2012

End of Summer, Start of a new year, school that is.

I'm really horrible at updating here. However, summer has been very busy, and a lot has happened around the ranch.

To begin with, Harry has been sold! He now lives with a wonderful adult amateur in Texas, and even sports a new name. We look forward to seeing "Lance" and his new mom this fall at the Beginner Novice level around Area 5.

O'malley has been absolutely fabulous all spring and summer. Holly Hill started the year off for us, and he finished 4th in the Senior Training division after a good test, a double clear show jumping and a fast clear cross country round. Greenwood was next on the list, and poor O'Malley had to do dressage at 3pm in the Texas heat, however, he managed a GREAT test. Tied for 2nd after dressage. A super cross country round from my super horse moved us up to tied for 1st with our long time friends Ellie and Big D. Show Jumping proved hard for everyone and even with two rails we still managed to win the division :) and the top placed Irish horse award. We traveled next to Kansas City to attend Mill Creek P.C. and after a tough weekend, with some interesting scoring and rules we still aren't sure about, we finished 4th in another large division. Feather Creek was next on the list, and overall was a great weekend. O'Malley produced an amazing test, even if it didn't score the way it should have, and an overall all good show jumping round, and an interesting cross country we still managed another 4th place finish. At this point we were standing strong on the USEA Training Leaderboard :) check that off my list!!! Texas Rose was in June and we were ready to fight another big fight. However, once again he didn't score the way he should have, and a cross country that was extremely too easy we finished out of the ribbons.

Last week we contested our first jumper show of the year, and O'Malley won $180 :) so proud of my boy, and his form has improved so much, and my position as well its amazing.

We make the move back to Stillwater in two days, and we can't wait to return to the glorious land where the water is still :) keep cool, and pray for rain, and remember...

*Kick On* and *Bump Harder*