When I first started riding as a youngster in Arizona, like so many, I began with a good old Western saddle. But that didn’t last long. I had a fascination with the English style of hunter/jumper. My mom was surprised hut decided to indulge this temporary fad of mine — which wound up lasting a decade before I switched back to Western because, well, my boyfriend at the time was a cowboy. No judging, okay 🙂
While people probably think of jumping horses as eloquent and graceful, like dressage, and not as rough and tumble and difficult as Western, jumping tall fences and walls is, in fact, quite hard and requires a lot of skill from both the rider and the horse. So, when I recently stumbled upon this story about Esther Stace, an Australian woman who set the sidesaddle jumping record of 6’6” in 1915, I was naturally intrigued. Especially when I learned her record stood for an impressive 98 years until October 24, 2013.
Susan Oakes, the woman who eventually broke the record, is an Irish equestrian who trained extensively for her event. Susan not only broke the record, she beat it by two inches, clearing a wall 6’8” high. Wow! I mean, how does an animal weighing 1200 pounds get that much air?
It wasn’t until months later that The Guinness World Records contacted her to say they wanted to verify and recognize her record. Fortunately, Susan had her jump videoed and photographed and several officials presents. She is now and still the proud holder of the record these past five years. Let’s see how long she can go.
Myself, I can’t imagine jumping a 6’8” wall, much less in a sidesaddle. My hat off to these incredible women — and their horses. What an amazing accomplishment.
thirteen children total, ten of whom lived, and I’m sure that several of them were born in this house. She told my mother stories about giving birth alone, which boggles my modern mind, but I’m certain that she had many homestead “sisters” who were equally amazing.
I’m happy to say that Grandma Lillie lived to be 103 years old and had several great-great-grandchildren, including my daughter. She was a devout Christian Scientist, sweet, unassuming and humble. Upon meeting her, one would never dream that she’d held down the homestead singlehandedly in the middle of a prairie.
Spring has sprung and so have the spring and early summer holidays. In May alone we’ve had May day, National Teachers Day, Star Wars Day, Cinco de Mayo, Kentucky Derby Day, VE Day for World War II, Mother’s Day of course, Lilacs Sunday, Armed Forces Day, and we have Memorial day coming up on Monday the 29th. 
interesting history. Back in the early 20th century of the United States it was created, like Mother’s Day, to celebrate father’s and fatherhood. History says Father’s Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at a YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd whose dad was a Civil War vet named William Smart. Poor William had to raise his six children by himself after the war which back then, couldn’t have been easy. So his daughter Sonora, after hearing a sermon all about Mother’s Day at church in 1909, mentioned to her pastor something like, “You know what, fathers really should have their own holiday to honor them. After all, is just as hard to be a single father left with six children to raise as it would a mother. And hey, she was right! She even suggested her father William’s birthday of June 5th to become Father’s Day.
Americans as a whole weren’t hot for the holiday at the onset either. To them it was just a bunch of merchants getting together and trying to part them with their money. Newspapers and magazines joined the ranks with sarcastic remarks, jokes, and put downs. But the retailers didn’t give up and even went so far as to incorporate jokes about it in their own advertisements! 
But did you know, we don’t just have Father’s Day? There’s an international men’s day celebrated in a lot of countries on November 19. This holiday is for men and boys and not just dads. So though Father’s Day wasn’t fully accepted until 1972, there has been some sort of day for dads throughout history dating as far back as the 16th century.
The winner of a signed copy of 
Unbelievable as it might seem, some pioneer settlers liked living in dugouts. Letters and diaries of pioneers recorded that these dwellings were surprisingly comfortable; cool in summer, snug and easily heated in winter. Thick walls and sod roofs supplied good insulation at a time when few people knew the value of insulated homes, and wooden houses lacked in this feature.
