Monday, September 22, 2014

El Rancho Futurity #1 - Rancho Murieta, CA

Have you met Elvis yet? This is my horse, Elvis and I am sure he is thrilled to meet you. Elvis has a back story too long to post but let me sum it up. He was bought in a sale in Texas with my horse show winnings in 2012 and I paid for a shipper to ship him to California. After 3 weeks of being stranded in Texas, he finally made it home. We soon discovered he had no tear ducts and had artificial ones (hence his registered name... "Metallic Tears") put in at UC Davis, twice! He then caught the herpes virus while at Davis and was in quarantine for 3 months! Shortly after we had him castrated at UC Davis and a whole mess of problems with infection hit him after that. So needless to say his start in life was not the best. But, through good faith and a lot of luck Elvis is here today cutting at the 2014 futurities!

I got to show him for the first time last week at the El Rancho Futurity. Just to walk him to the herd seemed surreal, it seemed like problem after problem with him medically sealed his fate of never cutting. But look at us go! I was not nervous to show him, as I sometimes get when I walk to the herd on my horses. I was just happy to be there!

Cutting on him was so much fun! He is a cool, calm competitor that doesn't get rattled during his run. He is small in size but a pretty steady dude. I cruised through the first round of competition with a score of 213, which is just above an average score in the National Cutting Horse Association's five judge system. With the first round over, I felt pretty excited to continue to show my horse well and advance through the rest of the rounds.

My Mom was the one who had to haul poor Elvis to his grueling veterinary appointments. She is the one who received the bad news when his procedures went not to plan. She is the one who kept me upbeat when I thought all was lost. My Mom never lost hope. She was thrilled to watch Elvis show his stuff, I think she was mostly nervous though.  

After we put Elvis in his stall and feed him some treats my mom and I decided to go treat ourselves to a Mexican food lunch that we enjoyed many times before - Coyote's in Lockeford. 

And this is me howling like a coyote portrayed on the menu...
Sometimes I am a little dramatic.
My mom had to actually take my photo doing this.
What a sport! 

Listed as a special on the menu board was "Real Crab Enchiladas" and I knew my mom would order it. It was served with a tangy green sauce. I sometimes regret ordering seafood type entrees at Mexican restaurants because I know they do their shredded beef right. So I leave the seafood section alone when dining la Mexicana! She did not seem to mind it but in my heart I know she wished she ordered her usual order of "Chile Relleno".

I ordered what I always do because on that day I felt like staying on course. One shredded beef enchilada and taco with rice and beans. It was perfect! I loved their enchilada sauce, it was smoky and not heavy on tomato taste. I know that sounds weird but I like a doctored up version. Make it sweet, make it spicy, smoke it up even if it is from the can it does wonders. The rice was fluffy although beans lack luster.

The chips and salsa are worth the drive alone. They sneak in flour chips with their tasty salsa and that is just my favorite! It was a perfect day. Horse show fun, socializing with my mom and eating Mexican food. My idea of perfection! 

Are you wondering how the rest of the horse show turned out? 
Stay tuned...

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