I welcome the recent snow and I look forward to spending the upcoming holidays at home this year. This past year found me traveling more than usual in addition to my already more than busy schedule. In February, the American Farriers Association annual contest & convention lured me to Salt Lake City, UT for 5 days of Farrier fun & education. The trip had a fantastic ending when I was awarded the 2002 High Score Award for my AFA Certified Journeyman written exam.

Early in March, I attended the Stallion Expo in East Lansing as a representative for the Michigan Horseshoers Association. It's a big event & an opportunity when I can share my education with horse owners browsing the trade show. In late March, I spent a weekend attending an Open House & clinic in Shelby, MI at Will Lent's Horseshoe Company. Will performed a demonstration on draft horse shoeing & discussed the Scotch bottom shoeing for show. Myron McLean lectured with a great slide presentation on day two. The weekend was very educational, shopping the supply shop is always fun, & I met lots of new Farriers from the south-west side part of MI & several blacksmiths who also attended.

In April, I headed back to the Indian Farriers Association annual contest. This was my first contest competing in the Journeyman division. My goals were simple, only to complete my shoes in the time limits. I did complete my classes & very proud to win 2nd place ribbons with my swelled heel hind shoes & 2nd place with my hind straight bar fullered shoes. Those ribbons qualified me for the live shoeing event where I claimed 3rd place. The following weekend I attended an Open House & Clinic with this years Reserve World Champion Blacksmith Mark Milster at Goodyear Horseshoe Supply in Montrose, Mi & I also spent some prize winnings on new tools.

May was almost maddening. The first weekend, I traveled to Clare, MI to assist with the AFA Certification exams. My apprentice from last summer was testing on her final portion of the process to become a AFA Certified Farrier. She did a great job & passed. Mid-May, the MHA scheduled an event on Mackinac Island. Several members assembled on the island to observe & participate in a clinic. With so much happening, loosing the diesel engine in my truck was terrible. I left the truck with a mechanic and on May 20th I headed for Italy. I had a wonderful time & I spent a day working with a farrier there. I returned on June 6th to a very busy summer already under way. And.... I appeared in the May/June issue of the Country Lines Publication in a nice story written by Wendy Malaska.

June and July just flew by. I worked a lot. The first weekend in August I spent with the blacksmith group who gathers on Mackinac Island each year to build a project. The fellows welcomed me into their group & I was able to assist & help build each of the different stages of the project. I learned a lot from those guys. A few weeks later, I traveled to a small contest in Metamora to participate. I collected another blue ribbon, two reds, & one yellow ribbon that day. And then, it was time for a Chippewa County Fair. Brian & Joe showed & sold their 4-H hogs. Brian raised a Duroc this year who's final weight was 245#. He sold " Rock " to Carl Reich Electric for $2.60/ pound. Joe sold his 215# Yorkshire, " Pork-chop ", to McCrory Enterprises for $2.80 per pound. Thank you to Reich Electric & McCrory Enterprises for supporting our 4-H kids & purchasing those fine pigs! For a little fun, I entered one of my " wiltless roses " in the fair & proudly took home a Gold Ribbon Award.

I think I felt like I had missed the summer & in September we spent 3 out of 4 weekends in Raco at a secret little hideaway cabin. There were two weekends of horseback riding & one weekend of 4 wheelers & dirt bikes. And like most trips like this... we had way to much food & way too much fun! Also in September, the Professional Farrier magazine (the cover) purchased & printed a story I had written after working with an Italian Farrier in Italy.

October was back to business. I traveled to the Mid Eastern Farriers Association's annual contest. I was a little nervous this year, since I had done so well the pervious year (monopolizing the blue ribbons), advanced to the Journeyman level, & knowing that they always watch the girls to see if we can build shoes anyway, I had hoped not to embarrass myself. The wife of one of my competitors let it slip that her husband was also concerned about his performance, due to the fact that he was intimidated by me. I was so happy to hear that and I told her that even if I don't beat him, I was sure glad I at least had him scared! This turned into a great personal contest and we had a great time collecting ribbons at the banquet that night. I brought home 3rd place for my front fullered shoes, 2nd place for my hind fullered shoes, 1st place for my fullered bar shoe class & 3rd place from the live shoeing event.

In November, I headed out to Las Vegas to visit a friend. We traveled to Death Valley, watched the Professional Bull Riders Finals rodeo, visited Bryce Canyon & parts of South West Utah, & made an appearance at the Grand Canyon before I headed home. Then, I hosted Thanksgiving for my family and now in December, plan to spend the holidays at home alone. I welcome the small break in activities.... And I really need the time to practice for my next contest scheduled in January at the Michigan State University. : )        I wish you a very happy holiday and a great new year!