This Is My Other Sunshine

This is my puppy Alexx. And this is his story.

We had lost our dog Sarah to a tumor in her belly a few years before we got Alexx. We had decided that we wanted a German Shepherd that we could rescue. My mom didn't like to buy pure bred dogs. So the first thing we did was go online to a German Shepherd Rescue sight and looked at all the dogs there. We found a few perfect dogs that we wanted. But we didn't act quick enough. We found this SUPER pretty female dog named Kayla. Haha i thought it was funny that we had found a super good dog with the same name as me. I read about her and i quickly wanted her and only her. But because of our strategy of waiting to long, Kayla was adopted. I was pretty bummed.

So after looking through the Internet and not having any luck in actually getting a dog, we decided to go to our local animal shelter. When we got there, there were puppies from Topaz lake that were rescued. There was 2 left. Bumper and Skye. We were going to get both of them, but we realized very quickly that having 2 puppies would be way to much. When we went and socialized with them, Bumper was the one that stuck out the most. He was friendly, and beautiful and full of energy. He was the one we brought home and named Alexxander The Great.

Ever since we brought Alexx home, he has been the best dog i could ever hope for. Every time i see him i want to laugh because he is just so cute! He is protective of his family and he doesn't really like men. We call him the womanizer because every girl he meets, falls in love with him and he does NOT like men. He gets used to people though. He got used to my step dad, after about 6 months of barking and growling at him when he cam to bed. Ha. He is really sweet but can be mean when he has to. His story of where he came from has to do with a lot of his actions. When the humane society rescued him, he was with 17 other dogs and they were not fixed. They were running around free on 10 acres i think. It was a lot of land. The man that owned this land didn't really take amazing care of these dogs. some of these dogs are lucky to be alive. It was a very bad situation. But now, all of those dogs are in a good home and hopefully happy. I know Alexx is. We couldn't be happier with him and how far he has come as our dog. He is a one year old German Shepherd, Border Collie mix.

And i would just like to add that pure bred dogs are not the only dogs out there that are good dogs. The dogs that are at your local animal shelter have had some sort of a bad life and all they want is a loving person to come and take them home and take care of them and love them for the rest of their life.

Wouldn't you want that?

This Was My Sunshine

This was my horse Peachez. And this is her story.

I remember to the date, the day i got her. It was October 16Th, 2006. I had been riding her for the past few months before that at my horse trainers place. The moment i laid eyes on her, i knew i had to have her and that she was the perfect horse for me. She looked at me with her big, gorgeous eyes and i knew that we would be a great pair. Yeah i know that that sounds really corny, but that's what happened. Anyways, when i rode her and i learned how to barrel race on her, i knew that this is what i wanted to do, this was my passion. Peachez helped my realize all of that. Barrel racing was hard at first, but we kept on working at it. Everyday we got, better stronger, and faster. We loved the speed and the adrenaline rush of running alone in an arena.

We would get up to the gate and she would fill with excitement and energy. Nothing was better than to feel that in her. We went in, ran, and went back to our trailer for some well earned water and snacks ;) She always, always, after a run, look at me and sigh with relief that i was still on or something. She thought that she was just something. She could have the sweetest attitude one day and then the next day, she'd be like she had horrible PMS. But either way, i loved her.

It seemed like everyone loved her come to think of it. She was a very good natured horse. She loved kids, she thought it relaxing to have them ride her around a few times. It was her happy place.

She never got angry with kids. I think she knew that they didn't know. That they didn't have the experience I did, or my mom did. She was gentle with them. She let them groom her, feed her and even lead her. She was literally the BEST horse. I always thought i wouldn't know what to do if something would happen to her. She was my best friend.

One time i was riding her and i was loping her and something scared her and it made me fall off of her. When i hit the ground, i was in a lot of pain and i couldn't move. Peachez was standing right there looking at me as if to say, " Why the heck are you down there?" she walked over to me and put her head down and i grabbed onto her neck and she lifted me up. I leaned on her until we walked over to somewhere where i could sit.

I think of that day every time i see a picture of her. I think that my horse, cared about me that much to help me up.

In June of 2009 I was supposed to race Peachez somewhere in Bishop. Well, when we went to pick her up at our trainers house, she couldn't stand on her back right leg. We tried everything to get that ankle to go down. We realized that it was more serious than we thought. We finally called the vet and we found out that it was dislocated. I found out later that i would probably never be able to race her again. My heart was broken and i thought i wouldn't be able to go on with racing.

Well a year passed with us trying to get her ankle healed and it was actually getting better!:) i was very happy. I would have been able to ride her this summer.

By now, you have probably noticed me using past tense words, right? Well this year in March, my mom was taking her to the fairgrounds to get her shoes and her shots. Being the high spirited horse she was, she stepped on her bad ankle wrong and broke her leg. If you dint know a lot about horses, then you should know that their legs are built like a chihuahuas legs. They are strong but weak. If that makes sense. When a horse breaks their leg, it cant be repaired.

We had to make the decision to put Peachez to sleep... it was the worst news that i had EVER gotten in my entire life.

I lost my best friend on March 19,2010. She would turn 10 in May.

It was the worst day of my life. I do know that she isn't in any pain anymore and she is happy where ever she is. i will see her again someday.

Wait for me at the gates and we will ride in together.

R.I.P. JP Rosettes Pep <3