NIGHT OF AMAZING HORSES!

Happy Independence Day everyone! It's raining and gloomy here, but we have a full house for the weekend. The show on Friday went very well with lots of people attending and watching our show. We try to do this every year to help raise money for HALO. We also did a 50/50 raffle to help benefit a local girl who was just diagnosed with cancer. Our raffle raised $125 for her to help with the expenses. There also are having a benefit in Rock Falls on July 12th for her to raise money as well. We understand the need to help out the community and do what we can. Times are tough all over, but if we all do what we can and weather the storm, it will get better. Shows are down here at the facility mainly because of people and associations cutting back on travel and training for their horses. We understand and are doing what we can, but we need to stick together. Thanks to Norinne at Primp Your Pet for providing a bunch of cool giveaways from Wahl Clipper. The people loved the hats, clippers, and frisbees. They are proud of WAHL and what it means to this community. Tommie also gave away a Pokerjoe Breyer model to a lucky child. The show featured a good friend of Tommie and I, Brad "Wild" Hair. He travelled 400 miles and brought his clown car to perform. Lizzy Traband travelled 700 miles to be here and performed 3 acts in the show. She is 11 years old and is such an inspiration to everyone. I also need to thank Kathie Oberman for letting us use her quarterhorses Eli and Jr. for the show. They are such wonderful horses and got a chance to be in the shows finale. It took quite a bit to put together this show with all of the acts and such, but it was well worth it. Tommie brought in 2 of his fellow stunt guys to put on a quick demo with a human fireburn and then a fireburn on a horse. We also brought out "Odd Job Bob" a Gypsy Vanner horse from El Brio Vanners and talked about his childrens book and upcoming movie. Thanks to everyone who helped out (Seth, Jesse, Kayla and her friends, Mom, Kay and Liz.) plus all of you who attended the show. Thank you!!!!!!
Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

July 3 Night of Amazing Horses!

Tonight we put on a show here at our facility in Sterling, IL. We've been rehearsing and putting together a great show for tonight. We try to have a show around the 4th every year here. Lizzy and her family have been here practicing and hanging out. They came from PA (700 miles away...) just to perform tonight. Tommie also has two of the stuntmen he has worked with on movies here to put on a "fireburn" for the show. They will also be hosting a stunt clinic where they will teach the basics of stunts like fights, falls, burns, and the general industry. Brad Hair and his wife are here too. They do PRCA Rodeos around the country and will be performing in the show tonight. We also put together a square dance drill with 8 riders. It will be a great show and a fun start to the 4th of July weekend. There is sooooooooo much to do today. Gotta run. Calls are coming in.
Have a wonderful 4th! Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Blaineville Classic FEI Event

Tommie made a special appearance in Blainville, Quebec on June 27, 2009 during their FEI dressage event. He just finished up at Cook Forest and had to trek 640 miles outside of Montreal for this event. It was a bit wet, but the crowd was incredible. There were over a thousand people at the event and everything went really well. Tommie got covered in mud during his performances, but after a quick washing he was ready to go for the next act.Here is Tommie riding Blade and with Maverick (his red heeler dog) at the opening of the show. You can see it's a bit wet.

This is a shot of the arena while Tommie was performing with Pokerjoe. All of the announcing was done in French for the locals. The announcer, Nicho is great to work with. We have worked with him at shows in Las Vegas, Jacksonville, and Ocala. The crowd really enjoyed Tommie and are looking to have him back again next year for this event and the hunter/jumper show the following week. We would like to thank http://www.equivents.com/ for having us and giving us great accomodations. Thanks Cara!

On the 1200 mile trip home, Tommie, Jamie, and the interns took a moment to check out the 1000 islands observatory. You can see the US and Canada. Here is shot of the parking lot from the tower (400' high!) Tommie's rig is in the middle.

Here is a cool shot of Tommie's rig from 400' up! They drove to PA for an overnight stop at Carousel Farms and then continued home the next day. Tommie also picked up 2 Gypsy Vanner horses from El Brio Vanner Horses in PA. They will be doubling the main horse on an upcoming movie Tommie is working on. They are such beautiful horses. They are a lot of work with the training and care, but well worth it. I would love to have a matched pair to perfrom with.
Well, time to get back to work. I'll keep you posted on what's going on here.
Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Tommie at Skydive Chicago

Just got a photo of Tommie when he's NOT riding or training horses. To train for stunts and to get his mind off horses, Tommie will grab his rig, jump in his truck and head to Skydive Chicago to get in a days worth of jumps. When Tommie returned from the movie set in New Orleans, he headed to the jump zone with 2 of the interns and our nephew, Gary. He says it a great way to get yourself in control. You make the decision to jump out, you make the decision to open your chute and you make the decisions to land safely. You can't take any jump lightly and you must be prepared for the bad things to happen. He says it's even safer than training horses. He said he loves to jump with the interns for their first time. It really gives them a "rush" of life and the adrenalin levels get maxxed! It gives them a wake up call on life.
Here is Tommie under canopy in a blue sky at Skydive Chicago.
Ride Fast... Take Chances!
karen

Lots happening here at Turvey Horsemanship

Well, we've got a lot going on. Tommie got back from New Orleans just in time for us to plan a show for our facility here at Double G on July 3. We'll have our good friends and PRCA clown and barrelman, Brad "Wild" Hair and Hollywood stuntmen Michael Ortiz and Blake Pocquette here to perform in the show as well as Tommie, the interns, and me. For the interns, we got a great bunch this summer. Here is a photo of Tommie, Lori, Me and the intern crew.

We also have a barrel clinic this weekend with Marlene (Edelman) McRea. She's won everything from the WNFR to Olympic Gold. It's awesome to see someone of her caliber here teaching people from 9 to 70 yrs of age and all levels of competition. Here is a photo of her and her students talking about bits and how they pertain to barrels. She is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. I bet that anyone in her clinic will drastically improve their times at the next barrel show.

We also have the Family Big Top Circus set up on our property. They will be doing shows Fri,Sat, Sun at 5:00pm and 7:30pm. They have many talented kids and performers in the show. They also have pony rides, petting zoo, and quite a few cool animals for the kids to see like a camel, mini horses, llama, donkey, and percheron horses. Bring the kids it will be a great time! I can't wait to see the show. I think we'll be able to catch it Sunday night once we get Tommie on the road to Cook Forest trail ride in PA and the barrel clinic finished up. The weather is great too. It's just getting warmed up and time to start up the AC units.... Here's a photo of the Big Top. "When I say Big Top... you say... CIRCUS... BIG TOP... CIRCUS."

I guess only circus folk would understand that one. It's a Soul Circus thing. Did I mention Cavalia is coming to Chicago? If you haven't seen it and you love horses, you'll love it.

Well, gotta run. Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

More movie set photos

Here's a photo of the bad guys... They are all costumed up in the 90 degree heat! It's Michael Ortiz (left), Tommie on his horse Blade & then my dad -Tommie Sr, Jason Rodriguiz, Kristien Kery, and Scout Hendrickson. They look very "cartoon-esque".

Here is Tommie and our nephew, Gary. Gary got to spend time on the set with his uncle and grandfather. As you can see, it was pretty hot in New Orleans... especially wearing the costumes they had to wear! Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Tommie to be featured at Chincoteague pony swim!

Tommie will be working with the horses & ponies and getting involved in the festivities. It is going to be an amazing event. Come and join Tommie and the ponies for an incredible time. Experience first-hand the respect and understanding Tommie has with horses. I'll keep you posted on the events, times, and schedule once they get set. This is open to the public and you'll get to see the magic unfold!

INFO:
Chincoteague Wild Pony Swim - Annual event that brings thousands of spectators who travel from all over the world to see the Virginia herd of approx. 150 Assateague Ponies swim across the Assateague Channel. Usually held on the last Wednesday in July.
Date & Time: July 29, 2009 (On slack tide between 7AM-1PM) Wild Pony Auction - One of the highlighting events during Pony Penning. Ponies (yearlings or younger), owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Co., are sold on this day. Approx. 80 foals are sold each year. Usually held on the last Thursday in July.
Date & Time: July 30, 2009 (8AM-NOON)

Tommie just finished up with "Jonah Hex" movie..

Got word today that Tommie is heading back home tomorrow with Blade. They did a really extreme shot of a tent being burned down on Friday night early Saturday. It was a 10pm to 6am call time. He said it was pretty intense. Blade is doing great. Tommie said it's quite an accomplishment for this mustang to be a "movie star", when 4 years ago he was running wild in Nevada. That's pretty cool. He said Blade hit his mark everytime and fit the role of an "old west wild horse" very well. (It wasn't too much of a stretch for him!) The movie will hit in 2010. Be on the lookout for it. Ride Fast... Take Chances! karen

Here is a photo with Mike Ortiz, Lex Geddings, and Tommie Turvey on the set of Jonah Hex.