CoolHorse.com is SO Cool!

For those of you who are not aware, we lost our pony LuLu last weekend. We all have taken it really hard, but Casey has taken it the hardest. LuLu was the horse that taught Casey how to ride, and was Casey's barrel horse.

Here they are when she first started to ride LuLu by herself, she had just turned 4.

And here she is this year, running barrels on her.
We never realized old LuLu could move as fast as she did for Casey.

Photos by Kate Moynihan Photography

Here they are at their first rodeo this spring. This was LuLu's first time ever in this kind of environment, she never even batted an eye...that's what made her such a good horse.

Casey Hiser/Lulu 04302010 from Bob Fitzgerald on Vimeo.

When CoolHorse.com posted on Facebook this week asking how people cope with a horse's loss, I posted a comment about Casey losing her pony, and how when asked if she wanted to skip the next show or ride a different horse, she said she "wanted to ride, cuz that's what cowgirls do". They responded that they wanted to send her something to wish her luck, which I thought was so, so kind of them.

We got their package today, and I can honestly say that they went above and beyond. They sent her a box full of cool things...much more than I ever would have imagined...

...2 ball caps,

...a really nice note, with a gift card...

... a pink brush (how'd they know she loves pink?)...

...a pink hoof pick and a tail bag (her new horse could really use one!)...

... a cool t-shirt and a bunch of lollipops and candy...

and best of all, they got her a big, ole smile!!!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to CoolHorse and I would encourage all of you to checkout Coolhorse.com by clicking here They really went above and beyond, and I think they deserve our business!! (Plus they have some really cool stuff!!)

I got this duvet cover a couple of weeks ago as their special of the week. I LOVE it!! I've been searching for something like this for 15 years!


Through divine intervention, God brought us another horse for Casey about a month ago. We weren't looking for a horse, but knew we would soon need to retire LuLu. We decided to get Dotty, because kid safe horses like her don't come around too often. Little did we know why God brought her into our lives. She has really helped Casey get through this tough time, giving her something to look forward to in the future. We're excited to see what Casey and Dotty will do. We sure are proud of her cowgirling up this week!

Casey/Dolly from Bob Fitzgerald on Vimeo.

All it's Cracked Up to Be

About every 3 months or so I take my barrel horse Pacman and any other horse who needs it to see an equine chiropractor, Dr. Lisa Baucom, to make sure everything is aligned and to check their accupressure points. The accupressure points are a great way to diagnose any soreness issues in a horse that otherwise can't be identified.

Dr. Baucom travels from Winston Salem (about 2-3 hours away) to a farm close by of some friends of ours, Valentine Farm, to spend a day working on horses.

Pacman says I recognize that pretty barn!

Pacman is 17 hands which is a really tall horse. Lisa has a block that she stands on.
Above she is checking Pacman's pelvis.

Adjusting his back and withers.

Adjusting his knee.

Pacman loves having his poll adjusted (which is right behind his ears).
It's like a big hug.

We are so lucky to have access to Dr. Baucom in our neck of the woods. A huge thank you to Leslie and Valentine Farms for organizing her visits.

Happy Trails

Fall is my favorite time of year and is the perfect time to hit the trail. We got brave and decided to go on the first ever attempted Hiser family trail ride last weekend (I can safely say brave and not stupid since we did actually survive to live another day).

We drove to a place we like to ride that is on the Little River near the town of Lillington, NC.


We actually have 5 horses, but only have a 3 horse trailer so the kids had to take turns riding double with Jason. JW went first. They rode our horse Walker. We've had Walker for 11 years. His full name is Walker Texas Ranger since he looks like the horse Walker used to ride on that show. We bought Walker as soon as we got back from our honeymoon from a rodeo stock contractor who had used him as a bucking horse and who knows what else. He was extremely thin when we got him which is amazing since he gets fat on air with us. I have no idea how to even make this horse thin. Through the years we have done a little barrel racing, competitive trail riding and polocrosse with Walker, and he is now excelling as a lesson horse. We love to tell his little students after they ride him that he is an ex-bucking horse. That just never gets old.

Casey is riding LuLu, who we call our million dollar pony. We couldn't ask for a better pony for the kids. She is 27-28 years old and still going strong. Casey does pee-wee barrel racing with her. I bet you can't guess what Casey's favorite color is(her saddle seat is actually pink too).


I thought this was a good shot of Walker. He is what is called a Medicine Hat paint. Native Americans liked to have these horses for battles because they have a war bonnet (the brown color around the ears and down around neck) and a shield, brown color on his chest. They were supposed to give the warriors courage and luck in battle. He also has one blue eye and one brown eye.


We ran into these cool chickens along the way. Around the corner from the chickens was a pasture with horses that we had to pass by. The horses came to the fence to greet us. I told Casey to stay away from the fence and she immediately said "Why, is it on?" It just made me realize how ingrained farm life is into our kids, that she would immediately know that a fence can be "on" (i.e. electric).


Half way through we swapped horses. The black horse's ears here are the closest we got to a picture of me on this ride. This is the horse I was riding, Missy. She is a 19 year old off the track quarter horse who is realizing a new career of barrel racing in her twilight years and is doing really well!

The scenery and the weather was perfect.

Here's a little better shot of me. Well almost. Not really. It's just Missy. Actually I'm kind of glad there were no pictures of me...I had my camera bag over my shoulder and the only bag we could find at the last minute to carry drinks, Casey's ladybug backpack. I looked really good..I mean really good. Luckily we only ran into 2 other people along the way.


We had no idea how long the kids would last on their first off the farm trail ride. They made it all the way around the 2 hour loop with no whining. We even got lost once with no meltdowns. Overall, it was an extremely successful trip!