Greetings,  I’ll be home for a lot of the month and I hope to get a final push on riding Dually. Rich and I will go to one more Versatility Ranch Horse clinic this month but will probably not compete this time. I just haven’t gotten enough time in the saddle this past month and Rich feels like he needs a little more time to get in sync with his new horse Diggs. But we’ll attend the clinic portion, which is a lot of fun and we get good concentrated practice in.

For now, I am here in MA preparing to film new episodes of the TV show the next three days. Shoot days are long and hard for everyone on the crew. I am really fortunate to have such a hard-working and talented crew around me that it makes my job pretty easy—just show up and talk. We always have a good time at shoots, but work really hard too.

We start filming at first light, which I discovered this morning is about 6:30a here. If the day goes smoothly, we should be finished filming by 4-5 in the afternoon. We’ll start three episodes tomorrow, then finish them up the next morning, after the riders have had time to practice their new-found skills. Then we’ll start three more the second day and finish them on the third. By Thursday evening we’ll have six new episodes “in the can”; these shows will play in January 09. On Friday, we’ll be catatonic.

This morning will be spent organizing wardrobe, scouting shoot locations, and making sure all the equipment and props are ready to go first thing in the morning. Once we’ve got those details out of the way, we hope to head for the beach to enjoy what’s left of the week.

Tomorrow is Rich and my wedding anniversary and I am sad not to be spending it with my husband, but sometimes work gets in the way. It is certainly not a reflection of how I feel about our relationship, because I value it every day. We’ll find a way to celebrate it when I get home next weekend. Oh yeah, I’m not going home then, just to Denver, where I’ll attend the Western & English Trade Assn. fall market show. It’s a good time to see all the manufacturers in the industry and get in touch with the retail side of things. I always enjoy the market—even when it delays my trip home.

Enjoy the ride!

Julie