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Showing posts from 2011

Merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas Everyone!! Hope you have a great day :)

Obsessed Horse Owner

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Definition of an obsessed horse owner: I was next in line at the packed grocery store yesterday, when I looked at my list and realized I forgot carrots. Much to the delight of the lady behind me, I got out of line. The horses were happy though :)

Remi

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My sister Heidi took these pictures of Remi a couple weeks ago, thanks Heidi!

Jealous Mare Syndrome

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Do you have a mare that suffers from Jealous Mare Syndrome (JMS)? I have two. I don't think this is a recognized syndrome, but I could give researchers somewhere some concrete evidence that it exists. Yesterday, I worked Secret first. Remi was seriously agitated and kept shaking the fence, while John stood there and watched. After I finished working Secret, I put her back in the field and got Remi out. When Remi was tacked up and ready to walk out the barn door with me, Secret realized what we were up to and came galloping up the field bucking. Didn't you just have a turn?? Today, I decided to work Remi first. I like to give everyone a chance to be first. Secret threw a fit. She galloped up and down the fence line while I worked Remi. I ignored her and she settled in and watched after a few minutes. John ran with her a couple of times, and then went off to watch the drama unfold. When I put Remi back in the pasture after working her, Secret came running up to the gat

Smile...

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Sometimes you need to stop, take a deep breath, and smile. This picture should do the trick, as "Farrah" and all of her friends have a tendency to make me smile.

New Issue Is Online!

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The December/January issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine is online. I wrote a breed feature about Arabians and did a business profile of Equinature , plus there are a ton of other great articles.

"How Good Riders Get Good"

Denny Emerson's book How Good Riders Get Good is a must-read for any equestrian. People who are new to horses, and those that have been riding for years will gain valuable insight from Denny. Personally, I enjoyed his straightforward writing style, and his obvious knowledge and wisdom about horses, horsemanship and so many of the disciplines we all participate in. Reading How Good Riders Get Good was more like having a conversation (although one-sided!) with Denny. My favorite parts of the book were where he used personal riding experiences to highlight a particular point. For those of you unfamiliar with Denny, he grew up in New England, won a gold medal with the United States Eventing team, won a Tevis buckle in the 100-mile Western States Endurance Race, with all sorts of other equestrian accomplishments in between. In addition to Denny, there are also interviews with other good riders - explaining their journey to the top (because as Denny points out - we are all individua

CT Morgan's Turkey Trot

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Last week, I helped Connecticut Morgan Horse Association (CMHA) with their Annual Turkey Trot at Bluff Point in Groton, Connecticut. You could not have asked for better weather - it was sunny and warm, and I think everyone had a great time. I know I did! The money we raised through registration fees at the Turkey Trot funds CMHA's Sue Brander Sport Horse Scholarship. To find out more about CMHA, visit their website!

The English Countryside

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I've always wanted to visit England. When I was traveling with the National FFA Organization, we went to Scotland, Ireland and France, but missed England. Its on my to-do list. I've also always wanted to go on a horseback riding vacation, thats on my to-do list too. Today, Secret and I made our own little "English Riding Adventure." We were riding through one of the fields, and came across some of my grandfather's sheep, who were also enjoying the unusually warm and sunny November morning. It took them a little while to notice us, I was trying to sneak closer to get a better picture, but then we scared them. The surprising part of meeting the sheep, was that Secret was not afraid of them. She checked the other pasture, to be sure the cows were not out, and then gamely walked toward the sheep. The sheep were not so convinced, and took off. We let them go. For a couple seconds there, I pretended we were riding through the English Countryside instead of at ho

Happy Thankgiving!

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I hope that everyone has a very happy and safe Thanksgiving with their friends and family. I think this time of year spurs everyone to reflect on the past year, and what we are thankful for. Today I am thankful for: - My wonderful horses, they are athletic and talented, but also have great personalities! I am very lucky to have three horses to ride. - My family and awesome friends. Without the support of everyone, I would not be able to achieve many of my dreams. - I am thankful that my parents have a barn where I can keep my horses (otherwise I couldn't have them) and that they take care of my horses when I am off on adventures. - It goes without saying that I am glad to be healthy! Knock on wood, I will keep cancer as a distant memory! - 2011 has been a year of adventure for me. I rode my horse in Acadia National Park, went whitewater kayaking in Montana again with First Descents , and ran the two-hundred mile Colorado Relay on the First Descents All-Camper team. Plus I rode

Jersey Devil Part 4

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On Friday night, only two people had slept in the bunkhouse at the gun club. Saturday night, the bunkhouse, with around 30 beds, was filled. I was one of the people who moved inside! Sunday morning dawned with a clear sky; you could see all of the stars. I went out to feed the horses at six and they were both happy and dry in the trailer. Later in the morning, we headed over to the vets to trot-in for the 25-mile ride. Both horses were cleared to go. As we tacked up, John had the strangest expression on his face. He was pretty sure we should be headed home. We never rode two days in a row at a competition. We rode out of camp around 9 am, and knowing we were doing the same 25 miles we had ridden on Saturday, made it pretty low stress for Meg and I. The fact that the sun was out and it was not raining did wonders for our spirits. The trails still had decent footing. Of course, there were tons of puddles, but we could trot along with few issues. I could tell John was tired, not

Jersey Devil Part 3

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The picture was taken on Sunday - you can see how nice the trails were. Now imagine those with the weather report below! Because of the winter storm and our southern location, the weather we were seeing was interesting to say the least. It was a mixture of cold rain, freezing rain and hail. At one point I looked down at John’s mane and there were ice balls covering the top. I glanced over at Minnie and her mane was also covered in ice. We kept riding. After 15 miles out on the trail, we arrived back at the gun club for the 20-minute hold. We pulsed down and did our trot outs immediately after arriving back at camp. I was worried that when we started standing still, John would get cold again and have problems. Both of the horses got through the vet check fine, we threw their other blankets on over the tops of their rump rugs and tack, and they stood there eating hay. Meg and I stood there for twenty minutes shivering. One of the volunteers, a veteran rider, brought us chicken so

Jersey Devil Part 2

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For those of you in New England or the Northeast, I think it is important for met to note that the dates of the Jersey Devil were October 29th and 30th. The weekend of the snowstorm. The picture of Meg's truck was taken after we had finished riding Saturday. The rain started on Friday night/Saturday morning between 2 and 4 AM. When I got out of bed at 6 Saturday morning, the horses were both wet, but seemed okay. I fed them and watered them and they seemed perky. I checked John’s blanket and it had soaked through, but his hair was dry. I decided to take it off, figuring he would be okay. I came back awhile later and he was shivering! I felt awful. I quickly layered him up in the anti-sweat sheet (to let the wet hair breathe) and then a waterproof winter blanket on top of that. I wondered whether I should pull him from the ride – he was really shivering and we needed to ride out in awhile. I threw more hay at him, trying to get him warm and kept a really close eye on him.

Jersey Devil Part 1

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The first picture is of a truck we followed for awhile before getting to ride camp in Pemberton, New Jersey. No, the road was not tilted, this truck was just slightly broken and slightly overloaded. He didn't move very fast. The final two pictures are of the cranberry bogs we passed on the way into ride camp. After the Maine 25 ride, I was feeling bummed that our competitive trail ride season was over. It felt too short. I missed the Fryeburg ride in July when they cancelled it due to minimal entries. I skipped the Stamford Stampede in August to visit family, assuming I would be riding at Fryeburg two weeks earlier. I intentionally skipped VERDA, thinking that I would be riding at Tessier the next weekend. Then John jumped a stonewall, making himself lame and we missed Tessier. With all of this rummaging through my brain, I pulled out the ride calendar to stew over it one more time. The only rides left on the calendar were in New Jersey – the Jersey Devil Competitive Tra

Quarter Sheets

As winter weather approaches (maybe not this week, but it is coming) I wanted to take a moment and share my thoughts on quarter sheets. For those of you not familiar with them, quarter sheets are a partial blanket that cover the horses hindquarters while you are riding them in the colder months. They are great for keeping the muscles warm and allowing the horse to perform to the best of their ability. In some advertisements, you see riders with the quarter sheet covering the rider's legs as well. I heard a personal account from a rider, that has led me to advise against this situation. This particular rider was riding with the quarter sheet over her legs - there is velcro to attach it. Her usually reliable horse spooked, and she knew she was going to fall off. However, since the quarter sheet was around her legs/waist, she had a few precarious seconds before the velcro let go, when she was not sure how the fall was going to go. My advice to any of you who ride with quarter shee

2nd Annual Turkey Trot

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Connecticut Morgan Horse Association is hosting their 2nd Annual Turkey Trot next Sunday, November 20th at Bluff Point State Park in Groton. This is a fun trail ride, bundle up and come join us! The trail at Bluff Point is between four and five miles, with some ocean views. Coffee and lunch are provided and there are some fun prize donations again this year. Prizes include: - Morgan hitch covers and stickers from American Morgan Horse Association - A necklace, stall name card, stationary etc from Dana's Doodles - A Breyer set from the Traveling Tack Room - An English saddle bag from Indian Hollow Stables. Cost is $25 for adults and $15 for youth, the Turkey Trot benefits the Sue Brander Sport Horse Scholarship Fund. All breeds welcome! For the registration form or more information, please visit: www.ctmorgans.org

Product Review: Marigold Spray

Last year, I got a bottle of EQyss Marigold Spray and really can't say enough good things about this product. For any of you horse owners out there looking for some extra help with your horse's coat, this may be the solution. If you read EQyss' website , it says the spray is great for repelling dirt, adding shine, etc. I'm sure that it does all of these things, but I have specifically used it in problem areas. Remi had some crud (a bug bite that turned into a bigger problem when I didn't notice it) in the crest of her mane. It bothered her terribly and she itched at it - rubbing out a piece of her mane. Fortunately, she has so much hair, that you can't really tell. After cleaning up the spot, I sprayed it daily with the Marigold spray and it helped relieve the itching. I like to believe that its making the hair grow back faster too - but I think her hair grows fast in general. I've also used the spray on some dandruff spots on John's hindquarters, a

Fun In The Forest Trail Ride

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The 3rd Annual Fun In The Forest Trail Ride to benefit First Descents (www.firstdescents.org) was held on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at the Silvermine Campground in Natchaug State Forest in Eastford. Thirty-four riders from across Connecticut gathered to ride trails in Natchaug and Goodwin State Forests. This year’s trail included dirt roads, woods trail, and airline trail. Riders had the opportunity to stop at a boat launch in Goodwin State Forest and water their horses before continuing on the trail. Riding on the airline trail was popular with many riders. The Fun In The Forest Trail Ride also has great prizes. Our 2011 sponsors were: Dover Saddlery, Absorbine, Horse Zens, Every Equine, BiSaddular, Knight Equestrian Books, Tamarack Hill Farm/Denny Emerson, Barnmice, Herbsmith, Alltech, Nicole Cloutier, Live For The Ride, Chaplin Farms, and Hosmer Mountain Bottling Company. Thank you again for your support. The trail ride is a benefit for First Descents (www.firstdescents.org). F

Maine 25 Continued

Finally our start time came. We walked out of camp. John wasn't nearly as cantankerous about leaving camp as he had been at Pine Tree, and I took this to be a good sign. We were riding alone, and I knew the other riders were two minutes ahead and more would be coming two minutes behind, I just hoped that I could stay alone long enough to get John calm and focused. I kept him at a walk. Unfortunately, the group of six riders was not walking, and soon caught up to us. We heard them long before we saw them. And composure John had been gaining, quickly went out the window. I rode off trail, continuing straight instead of turning right, so that they could pass me. They yelled to me as they went the correct way to make sure I knew to turn around. We fell in behind them (a good distance back though!) and John calmed down a bit. Soon, the Lasher's caught up to us. I let them pass, and stayed behind them for awhile, but couldn't get my pace right. I was always having to st

Maine 25

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Its been almost a month since the Maine 25 mile competitive trail ride, so its about time I blogged about it! We drove up to the North Waterford Fairgrounds (home of the World's Fair) on Saturday, October 8th. The Pine Tree Endurance Ride in June was also held at this fairgrounds, so we were very comfortable with the trip up and our destination. Most riders had already arrived when we got there - they were also offering a 50 mile ride, so a lot of riders rode on Saturday too. We settled the horses into their stalls and then went to vet in (after a quick grooming - see the photo above). Sticking to my tendency to worry and overanalyze, I was nervous about the vet in. This was John's first event since he leaped the stone wall and injured his leg, and I never had the vet out to look at the leg, I just took care of it myself. I worried about pushing him and re-injuring the leg. I was also slightly nervous about being back at the North Waterford Fairgrounds. Our last ride at t

Directions to Fun In The Forest

The best directions to the Silvermine Campground are: - Route 198 (via Route 6) - Sharp right on Morey Road (after traveling about 4.5 miles on Route 198) - 3rd left after the bridge is the road to the horse camp (the second dirt road) I will be putting up signs too! Registration is at 9, Riders on the trail at 10. See you in the morning!

More Trail Notes

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Its been great trail riding weather lately (in between rainy days!) and we have made the most of that. John and I had a great ride at the Maine 25 mile Competitive Trail Ride in North Waterford, Maine on October 9th. I'll blog about that later. My cousin and I took our horses to Mansfield Hollow on Sunday, and it was a perfect riding day. Look for pictures soon. In the meantime, check out these two photos I snapped with my cell phone on the short woods trail at home. All of the yellow leaves are the Sassafrass trees. None of their leaves are any other color. Also note John's happy ears in one picture, and in the next picture he has radar ears. Thats because he noticed a 6 ounce bird in a bush - he did not run away, but I did not attempt to take any more pictures either!

Trail Woes Part 2

As I arrived at my parents’ house, I saw a man standing at the side door of the house, talking to my panicked looking brother. The NAPA Auto Parts guy found John standing on the yellow line at the bend in the road (YIKES!!!), contentedly chewing on a mouthful of grass and thought he should bring him home. John was 50 feet from the driveway, whey he just didn’t go home himself baffles me, but I sent the NAPA guy a thank you card. I carefully checked John over – he seemed fine. I fixed my tack up – nothing was broken, just slightly askew, and headed back over the hill to do the trail ride correctly. It went fine. What I noticed that worried me was that John had not come through the gap in the stonewall, instead he had jumped the stone wall ten feet farther down and knocked some really large stones off the wall – four or five of them weighing at least 50 pounds each. Two days later, on Thursday, John was lame. Really lame. My dad said he didn’t seem himself when he put him out in t

Trail Woes

A couple of weeks ago, I had a disastrous trail ride on John. After a good ride on Remi, I had a bit of time left before heading back to work. I decided to take John on a quick trail ride. Before I went, I took the Mylar combination bit that had been working so well out of his bridle and put a D-ring snaffle back in. He had been reluctant to take the bit lately. If you have never met John, you need to know he is a mouthy horse, and while he doesn’t bite people, he loves to put things in his mouth. The fact that he did not want to take his bit confirmed my suspicion that I could not fit the Mylar bit properly in any of my bridles. I took the Mylar out at the hold of the NEATO 25 mile CTR for this reason and used the snaffle. A new bridle was coming, and I decided to use the snaffle until it arrived. The other important thing to note is that I was overtired, which is not a surprising revelation, but proved to be a problem on this day. We rode up over the top of the hill and as we

Funny Trail Story

Last week I was riding Secret on the short woods trail. We were picking our way along through the brush when a squirrel noticed us. He was about five feet in front of us and ran to the nearest tree. He climbed about four feet up, but then he must have lost his grip on the tree. He fell down and landed with a small splat in a bush below the tree. The bush has already lost its leaves and I could see him perfectly, he wasn't moving. I felt really bad and worried that Secret and I had given him a heart attack. We had been standing still, but I asked Secret to walk forward so we could check the squirrel. As we got closer to him, he looked up, and saw us. He let out a small shriek and scampered off. We went in the opposite direction.

Summer Reading List

One benefit to my crazy August of travel; was the chance to catch up on my reading while flying or sitting in an airport. Here is a quick summary of the books I read. It’s Not About The Bike By Lance Armstrong Honestly, I started reading this book with mixed feelings. You can’t help but have high expectations for a book like this. Seven-time Tour De France winner, cancer survivor and founder of an impressive cancer foundation lead to high expectations. But, Lance’s honesty and character have also been severely called into question over the years in the cycling communities endless doping scandal and I have read a bunch of those articles as well. The book is well written and a compelling read – I had a hard time putting it down. His cancer was tough and aggressive, and now knowing the details of his cancer journey, I admire him more for surviving. Having read the book though, I like him less as a person and a professional athlete. He came across as tough, mean, and extremely comp

Pictures from the Surftown Half Marathon

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Surftown Half Marathon

My summer of running prompted me to enter the Surftown Half Marathon on September 18th. My sister Heidi was already registered, so the thought of running a half marathon was less daunting having a successful Colorado Relay behind me, and a sister running the same race. The course wound through Misquamicut and Watch Hill (i.e. flat course with beautiful views). But it gets even better, the finisher’s medals are surfboards and the post race meal was clam chowder. I couldn’t pass all of that up, and neither could Tim, all three of us registered. Race day came and it was cold. I bundled up with yoga pants and a jacket over my running clothes. I was slightly disappointed that I had taken my knit cap out of my backpack. Tim had his knit cap and proudly sported it. We joined the thousand other runners bouncing around at the starting line, trying to stay warm. We shed our extra layers and began running. For the first eight miles, we mostly ran together, three siblings out for a long run

The Colorado Relay - Part 5

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Van 2 at the finish line Our team running to the finish line together Knowing how hard the second half of my leg had been on me, I worried about Baby Guac. She was already tired (we all were!) and had a long leg too. We met her I think four times on her leg, to refill her water bottle and offer encouragement. She did awesome. We were going to meet Marvel once on her leg (only four miles - but mostly climbing miles), but she ran so fast we missed her! Mateo had the last leg. It was one of the hardest legs of the race - the last climb into Snowmass, on single track. Basically he ran up one mountain, back down (where the whole team, his parents and girlfriend met him to refill his water bottle) and then up another mountain, back down and then up into Snowmass village where we ran across the finish line as a team. He killed the last leg. The sense of accomplishment and comraderie we had running through Snowmass as a team and across the finish line was incredible. Running 200 miles a

The Colorado Relay - Part 4

Again, I had a long time to wait before my last leg. At Exchange Point 19, I got out and wandered through the dark night to find the volunteer checking in runners. It was Jens Bishop, a friend that had gone to pre-school through high school with me and now lives in Breckinridge. First Descents was helping man exchange points and had been short on volunteers. When I found out they needed more volunteers, I emailed everyone I knew in Colorado. Jens signed up to help. I visited with him for a few minutes, and then, cold and tired hopped back into the van for some more unsuccessful attempts at sleep. As dawn crept in, we met up with van 1 to shuttle all of the night pacers back to Papa Smurfs car so that he could take them back to their cars. We went out to breakfast, but before we could go into the restaurant, I had to run over to some nearby bushes and puke again. I was really starting to get concerned about how much I was puking. For one reason, I hated to puke, and considering t

The Colorado Relay - Part 3

I now had a really long stretch of time before I had to run again. According to our team predictions, my next leg would happen at about 12:30 am. I cheered on my fellow van mates, hung out with teammates from Van 1 when our vans met up at exchange points, and tried to eat some and drink as much water as possible. As the evening wore on, my next leg was approaching. Sleep was impossible, but we all tried to rest some while we waited for our next round. And then the skies opened up again. We had a serious thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rains. Smurfette got hailed on while she ran her leg. When it was time for Buttons to run her 10 mile leg, it was raining so hard that many teams skipped the leg. Buttons had Brooks (her boyfriend and night pacer) with her, and ran the leg anyway. The night finally cleared and it was quiet and peaceful as I waited for Lemondrop. My night pacer, John and I were joined by one other runner, a marine, as we waited at the exchange point. Everyo

The Colorado Relay - Part 2

I arrived at Denver airport and took the train to baggage claim, where I met Baby Guac, my teammate from Portland, Oregon. We then went to Enterprise and met Bruiser to pick up the two 15 passenger vans for the team. We picked up a few more teammates (Fridge, Mateo and Buttons) in Golden, Colorado and then drove up to Breckinridge. My initiation to Colorado was driving the 15 passenger van on a dark and rainy night, up the twisty highway to Breckinridge. We met up with a few more of our teammates at a hotel. The others were staying with friends. We went to bed around midnight. Van 1 got up at 5 am (I think, I was still sleeping) and headed out to the starting line. Van 2 (my van) had a slower start to the morning, shuttled a couple cars to the necessary parking lots and then headed out to our first exchange point. I was the first person to run in Van 2 (I had legs 6, 16 and 26). I was starting to feel very nervous as we waited at the exchange point for Lemondrop, who was runnin

The Colorado Relay

Its been a month since the Colorado Relay, I guess I should probably blog about it! I agreed to run on the First Descents All-Camper Team for the Colorado Relay in March. The Relay is a 200 mile relay race from Breckenridge, Colorado to Snowmass, Colorado. First Descents was a beneficiary of the race this year and the race director thought it would be neat to have an All-Camper team. Each team consists of ten people (unless you are an ultra-team with only seven), our team had ten. We were not going to be a fast team, but a team of cancer survivors, representing our camp, and having a great time. Since there was no expectation to be fast, just to finish, I said yes. I began training in March, having not done any serious running since high school (a very long time ago). In June, I re-injured my knee (severely twisted it in college and then had it kicked by a horse a few years later - its a bit sensitive). I slowed down my training, ran my preparatory races slightly lame and kept s

Happy Cows Come From California...

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...And Secret would be happier if our cows went to California! This is as close as she was "comfortable" getting to the cows. Can you even see them in the picture? Another day, we will work on our fear of cows, but it made me laugh!

Friesians and more!

The October/November issue of Massachusetts Horse magazine is online. Check out the article I wrote about Friesians - there are some beautiful horses in Massachusetts and Vermont. I visited Friesians of Majesty in Vermont while working on the article, it is worth the trip up!

The Mirror Has Three Faces

Pat and Linda Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship have several advertising campaigns out in national horse magazines. The ads encourage horse owners to unlock the full potential of their relationship with their horse, by participating in a Parelli clinic or some other instructional format. My favorite is a picture of a Chinese fortune cookie. The fortune reads, “Your Horse is a Mirror of You.” If Pat and Linda are right, my mirror has three faces. In a way they are right. Each of my horses mirrors some of my strengths and weaknesses. John has boundless energy and he is always busy. He can get so tense that it is like sitting on an accordion. But that horse has a huge heart and he puts every fiber of his being into his work (and in some cases, to getting out of his work!) Secret is the boss mare and she knows it. But underneath her tough exterior, she second guesses herself and me and needs to be reassured. The mare has tons of athletic ability and can be the reason for one

Remembering 9/11

‎"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." ~Eleanor Roosevelt Remembering all those who lost their lives or lost loved ones ten years ago today.

Colorado Relay Video

Brooks made this awesome video of the Colorado Relay and our team, check it out.

More Pictures From the Colorado Relay

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