Cat's To Do List

Buy hot chocolate (the good kind)
   (yes, it is hot outside, but what is life without hot chocolate?)

Search house and remove all of Hank the beagle's sticks
    (will the record of seven hidden sticks in one week be beaten?)

Ask new roomie Darcy to stop chewing gum so loudly
     (love the new roomie part, but the gum chewing is driving me nuts!)

Get Jon to switch feed shifts with me on Tuesday
     (date night with Brent, make Jon an offer of two of his AM shifts for my Tues. PM shift?)

Talk with Sally Blue to see what is going on with Gigi
     (can a horse like Sally even be psychic?)

Why does Gigi trot in place when ground driving?
     (do NOT lose more sleep over this question. Gigi is a yearling filly and is entitled to be quirky)

Find a new restaurant to take Agnes to when she visits on Thursday
     (be sure wait staff at new restaurant does not hang out with wait staff at old restaurant)
     (remember that Agnes is still the best owner any trainer could have)

Prepare for riding lesson with Keith Carson
     (how did I get so lucky, such a hunk for a neighbor?)
     (still can't believe he chose me to be his instructor!!!)
     (until he learns to keep his heels down I get to touch his ankle!)
     (my crush is platonic, really, it is.)

We Won!

Hi everyone, Cat here. I still can't fully believe it, but The Magnum Equation, the second book that our friend Lisa Wysocky has written about our adventures, was named Best Equine-related Book at the American Horse Publications Awards!

What an honor that is! So much so that my friends around the barn got pretty tired of me saying "I can't believe it!" over and over––and over. I eventually came down from Cloud 9, though, and asked them what they would have said.

Gigi (yearling filly): I won! Yippee,  I won, I WON!! ME!

Gigi is, obviously, still at that self-centered stage. Sigh.

Jon (barn manager): Why wouldn't the book win? Cat has been through a lot and she deserves this.

Hank (beagle mix): Yee-haw! What's the prize? Is it a stick? I could use a good stick. I chewed up my last one. Do you think Cat will let me bring the stick into the house? I love a good stick. Oh, what if the prize is two sticks! I'd better find Cat. I need a good stick.

Darcy (teenager with a trust fund): I'm like, wow! So this is for real then? Like the best book? That is wicked cool.

Petey (Darcy's Appaloosa gelding): Can I hold the award? I could hold it in my mouth. I wouldn't slobber on it much. I bet Cat would think I looked very handsome holding the award and she'd scratch me right there between my front legs. Yes, right there. Ooohhh, I can feel it now. Cat? Where's the award?

Agnes (Sally Blue's human mom): We love The Magnum Equation, yes we do! We love The Magnum Equation, how about you?

Agnes is seventy, but has never recovered from her high school cheer leading days.

Sally Blue (possibly psychic Appaloosa mare): I told Cat The Magnum Equation was going to win, but, as usual, she didn't understand. Frustrating, but then humans are so primitive in their communications. She is a good person, though, Cat is.

Bubba (neighboring juvenile delinquent): A book? About Cat? Did she get any money for it? I wonder what she did with the money. Not that I would take it. Not from Cat.

Bob and the other horses were too busy eating or sleeping to comment. My boyfriend Brent, and his brother, Martin, were fishing and I had no interest in talking to Bubba's dad, Hill Henley. I am sure that my neighbor Carole Carson would have had something interesting to say, but she is out on tour with her slew of kids and her hunky husband, country music superstar Keith Carson. The good news is I get to start giving Keith riding lessons for a secret project just as soon as he gets back from this leg of the tour!

As for the American Horse Publications award, huge thanks to that organization and to the judges for honoring us.  I still can't believe it!

Cat

Woof!

Cold, cold damp weather lately. Love it!!!! Lots of mud and way cool smells! Especially in the barn. Wow! And the pastures. And the creek bank, too, but don't tell Cat or Jon that I go down there. They are afraid I will fall in the river. Silly. Beagles are good swimmers. Mostly.

Fan mail. Thank you!!!!! I'm actually getting some. Especially after The Magnum Equation came out. People wondering when I will get my own book. Or, books. Flattered. Thanks. Sounds like fun, but  I will let Cat find the bad guys for now. I like being her support system. Maybe later alligator.

I bet you didn't know Beagles could type. Or know even know what a blog is. I don't understand it all myself. I just think the words and here they are. Amazing. At least to me.

I'm not supposed to tell, but Cat has news, news, NEWS! She isn't ready to share it yet, even though it involves all of us. I know what it is, though. I've got a secret and it is big! Huge! Exciting! I've actually been howling the news to the treetops, but I guess not many people understand the true meaning of hound dog howls. Shame, that.

Cat will tell soon, though. Stay tuned.

––From Hank the Fabulous Wonder Dog