Amber Mostoller

Amber Mostoller on Mighty Mouse

Date, Rodeo Name and Location
February 12th * Bowling Green, KY * Lonestar Rodeo Company

Which horse did you run?
I ran the one and only Mighty Mouse aka Docs Idaho Gold

How was the ground, alley, warm up area, etc?
I had never been down to this coliseum before, but had heard horror stories from back in the day.  I made a couple phone calls from people that had been there in the last few years and they said the ground had gotten a lot better and would be perfect for Mighty Mouse.  The ground was good, nice center alleyway coming in off of concrete.  We did not get in the arena to warm up so had to warm up in the outdoor arena…which was loads of fun in 30 degree weather lol.

How did you feel mentally?
I knew this was quite possibly going to be my last run on Mighty Mouse so I struggled all day with being able to let her go again.  I knew if she sold the next day and I had not given it my all I would be very upset with myself, so I tried to make it just like any other rodeo and stick to our normal warm up routine.  Mighty was feeling very good and even bucked a little in grand entry.

Tell me about your run, the good the bad and the ugly. Exactly how you felt about it?  Mighty Mouse has warmed up really well and was her normal ornery self outside.  I was dead last to run which never really bothers me too much (I like to think they save the best for last J )  It was a very short score line and I knew she was going to want to take off in the alley way.  I held her as long as I could and as soon as we hit the mouth of the alley way I started to guide her to the first and she ate it up.  She had her typical Mighty Mouse 2nd barrel and I knew I was going to have to ride her really hard up to the 3rd to make sure she had enough momentum to get around it.  I hit her twice going to it and she sucked it up.  We rocked the back side of it, but it stayed up and we hustled on home with a new time to beat!!  I was very excited and jumped off her and gave her a big hug.  All she was worried about was getting her cookie and was rubbing up on me looking for it lol.  I could not have asked for a better last run on her.

Comments about the rodeo?
I really enjoyed this rodeo and it was my first time going to a rodeo produced by Lonestar Rodeo Company.  I will definitely try to go to a few more of their rodeos as they pay very well and I have heard they put on a very good finals.

Anything interesting happen on the trip there or back?
On the way to the rodeo I stopped at a truck stop to get my truck and trailer acid washed as it was NNNASSSTTYY.  Mighty Mouse, Memphis and I were quite the site waiting outside freezing out butts off, but my nice shiny truck and trailer afterwards was worth it.  After the rodeo was over I drove to a friends house, put Mighty Mouse in a stall, and tried to prepare myself for the possibility that Mighty Mouse would not be coming back with me the next day.

Quote of the day:
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.

Amber Mostoller

Well its been another long while since I updated.  A lot has happened in the last few months that has affected my life in soo many different ways.  Where do I even start?!?  Since I had last updated I had got Mighty Mouse back to run and it is always a blessing when I have her with me.  I have her back to sell for the Leavitt Family and she has been working like a million dollars. Mighty Mouse has really helped me get through the last few months. I have relocated to Louisville, KY and have went back to work for my mom and the IBRA (International Barrel Racing Association) as well. 

I lost my grandfather right before Thanksgiving to cancer.  We have always been close and I have many happy memories traveling with him and my grandma during the summer months when I was little and then later just going to stay with them in Florida.  He was always a very happy person to be around, had a smile on his face, and encouraged me in anything that I did. 

Christmas came and went and I enjoyed getting to see my little brother along with most of my dad’s side of the family.  I went to a large show over New Years and did very well on Mighty Mouse drawing a check on 4 out of 4 runs.  New Years really got me pumped up for the IFR. 

I went out to the IFR with a friend of mine and on the way out there I received a phone call that one of my very good friends, Cody Stephens, was not doing well and was not expected to make it through the weekend.  (I am sure many of you have read his story in recent weeks between facebook, prorodeo.com, wpra.com, or here on OTRR, etc) Cody had been diagnosed with Leukemia in April of 2009, went through chemo and beat it.  The cancer came back a few months later and his last resort was a bone marrow transplant which he had right before Thanksgiving.  The transplant worked and he was cancer free, but his body was rejecting the anti rejection medication he was on and his body was failing.  We broke down in Effingham, IL when the fuel pump went out in the truck.  It was 5:00pm and I feared that there was little hope that we would get it fixed that night.  Luckily there are angels that walk among us every day and two diesel mechanics stayed and worked on the truck to get us back on the road so that we would not be stranded with Mighty Mouse with nowhere to go.  Two hours later we were back on the road.  We arrived at the Kansas City hospital at midnight and his sister and friend met me at the door.  I broke down a few times on the way to his room, and when I got to his room tried to prepare myself knowing that his appearance would be different.  It broke my heart seeing him the way he was, but he was still my same old Cody giving me crap about stuff.  Lindsey Sears was there when I got there and had been there for a few hours (Cody had always had a crush on Lindsay and my first question to him after she walked out of the room was if he had proposed to her yet   He just smiled and told me to shut up.  I am very thankful that I got to spend those couple hours with him and feel very blessed to have been a part of his life.  I left the hospital at 2:00am and headed to Oklahoma City.

 I arrived in OKC at 7:00am Thursday morning, got Mighty Mouse settled and headed to the hotel to get checked in and showered before the mandatory contestant meeting at 9:00am.  We had the Gold Buckle Gala that night and autograph sessions at Grahams who was one of the sponsors for the IFR.  I went out to feed Friday morning and Mighty Mouse’s back leg was HUGE.  I do not know what happened, but she was sore to touch it so Richard (Mesa Leavitts dad) offered me Mesa’s new horse, Going In The Red, to run and give Mighty Mouse the night off.  I had never been on Red before but had seen him run many times before Mesa got him and then a few times with Mesa on him.  They told me to just let him coast to the first and then let him roll.  He worked really well and we ended up one hole out with a 15.2.  The second round I was back on Mighty Mouse.  She was not off at all, and seemed to be feeling good so I decided to run her and see how she did and how she felt afterwards.  She worked well, didn’t fire very hard but still turned in a respectable 15.4.  I knew she was going to get better if I ran her again, but wanted to make sure she was still sound.  Everyone was telling me I needed to run Red again and that I could win the round on him, but Mighty Mouse has been there with me through thick and thin and if she was up for it, she was going to be my mount. 

About an hour before the rodeo started Saturday night I got the news that Cody had passed away.  It hit me very hard and I broke down right there in the stands.  I went back to the stalls to get ready and knew I needed to be on Mighty Mouse.  I wore an arm band that night in memory of Cody.  Mighty Mouse felt like she had wings in the 3rd round and we took a 3rd place check.  That was my 11th run in the last 3 years at the IFR and although I have placed in the average before, that was the 1st time I had ever drawn a check in the round.  I knew Cody was with me.  Mighty Mouse ran another great time in the 4th round and we ended up 4th in the average by .001 of a second! 

It was a very long drive home from the IFR and the last couple weeks have been a whirl wind.  Mighty Mouse has had the last couple weeks off and we are getting geared up for the winter rodeos.  Every run I get with her is a blessing, although I know our time is limited until she is sold. 

Good luck to everyone in the 2010 season, and remember to cherish every moment you have with those you love.  RIP Grandpa and Cody…I miss you both everyday.

Happy Trails

Amber

Video from Round 3 of the IFR

Amber Mostoller on Mighty Mouse

So where do I start??  First off, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates this summer.  It has been CCRRAAAZZZYY to say the least.  I got a new traveling partner at the end of July (Sherry Sunden) and when I say we traveled….we TRAVELED.  There was anywhere between 2-7 people with us on the weekends, and we went from IL, IN, MI all the way to St Gabriel, Quebec (which for those of you who do not know where that is… I mean how could you not (YEAH RIGHT) its all the way ABOVE MAINE in Quebec.  We visited Quebec three or four times from the end of July till September which ended with the best rodeo ever in St Tite, QC. 

I ran JB Absolute aka Abby all summer and she continued to amaze me with her grit and her heart.  There were many rodeos that we pulled into as the barrels were getting ready to start after long hours on the trailer and she consistantly would draw me a check.  I did jump on a good friend of mine (Teresa Quay) horses a few times to let Abby rest and did well. Up through Labor Day weekend I won $7155.87 which had put me securely in the Top 15 of the IPRA World Standings.  Over half that had come from the end of July till Labor Day weekend.  I knew I still had some HUGE rodeos the following weekend of Sept 11-13th and then of course St. Tite.  I had made the short go in St-Tite every year I have been up there and was confident that with the way Abby was working I would do so again. 

Well they say all good things must come to an end and that it did when we got to the first rodeo in McDonough, GA Sept 11th.  We pulled in very late the night before and built pens for the horses.  The next morning I left very early to visit my grandpa who lived three hours away who was dying of cancer.  I received a phone call that afternoon that Abby had gotten loose and her back left leg was swollen and she couldn’t walk.  When I finally got back to the fairgrounds and the vet got there, he diagnosed her with a SEVERELY inflamed and bowed tendon in the back end, but said that she would need re ultrasounded in a couple weeks once the swelling went down to make sure.  Regardless she could not be ridden and my weekend was done before it even got started.  The owner of Abby at the time lived very close to McDonough and his daughter was entered that night, so he went ahead and took Abby home. 

I considered just getting a plane ticket home, but knew I could not vet out of St Tite and had to pay my fees anyway.  I decided to go on and help Sherry drive if nothing else and show her the ropes up there as she had never been before.  The experience of St Tite is always fun, although my runs up there were a disaster on the horse I borrowed lol.

After St Tite, I just prayed that the money I had won in the short 3 months on Abby would hold up to make the IFR.  I figured if it did hold up that it was meant to be and if not…well we would try again next year.  The season is now over and I ended up 14th in the year end standings and will be headed to my 3rd consecutive IFR

After St Tite, I got back Docs Idaho Gold aka Mighty Mouse back to ride for a little while to sell!!  (I sold this mare at the IFR in 2008 and she just keeps finding her way back to me)   Stay tuned for “THE ADVENTURES OF MIGHTY MOUSE”  coming soon!! 

**Video of the last rodeo I placed at on Abby

Amber and Mighty Mouse

We left South Bend and headed to my moms house near Cleveland, OH which was about half way from South Bend to Ellicottville.  I figured we could get a few good hours of sleep put the horses in stalls and wake up early to make it to Ellicottville for the 2:00pm perf.  I had my alarm set for 8:00am, thinking if we got out of there by 10:00am we would be good.  WELL my phone doesn’t switch from Central to Eastern time so as we were pulling out of the driveway (at what I thought was 10:00am I look at my truck clock and it says 11:00am!  Soo once again we were running late, and once again we get to the rodeo during the steer wrestling.  This has always been a great arena for me in the past.  It is nice sand, but can get pretty deep.  I was lucky to draw on top of the ground.  I have run there the last two years on different horses and placed 2nd and 3rd.  I was hoping Abby would pull through for me and she sure enough did.  She had a near flawless run and we tied for the lead!!  We did end up getting beat by one person so w split 2/3rd  but I was tickled to death.  Mesa ended up 7th as well.  After we ran we literally ran back to the trailer unsaddled and headed out to Fairmont, WV.  Fairmont started at 7:00pm, Ellicottville had started at 2:00pm and its a 5 hour drive…you do the math…   We knew we were gonna be cutting it close, but had friends already at Fairmont that were going to try to stall the rodeo as much as possible for us   It is a good thing that people in Pennsylvania drive crazy because we had the cruise set at 80 and we were getting passed. lol When we got into West Virginia Mesa jumped out into the trailer so she could start saddling horses through the escape door in the trailer.  KIDS DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME… IT IS NOT SMART AND REALLY PRETTY DANGEROUS….but God was looking over us and when we pulled the gates they were on intermission, horses were saddled and we took off to the arena.  I realized Abby had pulled a shoe at Ellicottville, but she seemed to be ok so I ran her.  The first girl fell all the way down and the ground got worse from there.  I was seriously considering turning out when they called my name.  I said a little prayer, took a deep breath, and let Abby go at her pace.  She took care of me and herself, although she did slip a little at the 1st.  A 16.6 won it and we ran a 16.7 for a 5th place check!!  Abby is really starting to show me her grit and ability to adapt to EVERYTHING.

We woke up the next morning to TONS or rain.  Mesa’s dad watched the radar and wasn’t sure if he wanted her going or not b/c of running in the mud.  I packed up my trailer and was going anyway b/c my dad was going to be there and then I was going to visit my aunt and little brother on the way to Ellicottville, NY after South Bend.  Her dad decided to let her go at the last minute so we switched trailers again and headed out for South Bend. We drove through rain the entire trip but when we got to South Bend the arena was DRY.  We arrived during the steer wrestling, and I was in the perf so I saddled up and headed to the arena.  Abby had a pretty smooth run, but pulled out of the 3rd a little bit and we again ended up a couple holes out. We ran a 16.2 with a few mistakes and a 15.9 won it!   Mesa had an awesome run on Junior and ended up 2nd with a 15.9 as well.

This rodeo started my busy month of July.  We took three horsese, I was running Abby, Mesa on Junior and we took one of Mesa’s new horses called Ozzie for her friend Sidney to run.  We get there and I get Abby out of the trailer to find that she had somehow managed to cut the inside of her back leg.  We were in a new trailer and only about an hour from the house so the med kit got left in one of the other trailers along with just about everything else.  I hosed her off, wrapped it in paper tolls and vet wrap and saddled her up.  One thing I really like about Abby is that no matter how many kicks, bumps, or bruises she gets it never seems to make her unsound or effect her performance.  Mesa, Sidney and I all ran 15.4′s and were sitting 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for a long time.  My 15.4 was the slowest and by the end of the weekend I ended up one hole out but was VERY proud of Abby’s run.

Date, Rodeo Name and Location

June 13th * Belleville, IL * IPRA rodeo

 Which horse did you run?

Well I questioned whether to run at all b/c the ground looked AWFUL (see below) but I Ran JB Absolute aka Abby…

How was the ground, alley, warm up area, etc?

So this was my 3rd year going to this rodeo.  The arena is set up in the middle of a field and all they do is plow up the field.  The 1st year I had Mighty Mouse and the ground was hard mixed with grass and I won 2nd.  Last year they didn’t even dig it up the 1st day so Rookie and I ran on grass and ended up 3rd.  This year they had decided to dig it up the Monday before the rodeo WHILE it was raining and then it continued to rain all week which made it the biggest mud hole I HAVE EVER SEEN.  They had tried to disc it and just kept burying the tractors in it.  About half the girls turned out the 1st night.  When I got there Saturday morning I was hoping the sun would dry it out some but it wasn’t drying it out fast enough.  The 1st barrel did dry out some and they ran the tractor over it a few times just to let the tires pack it down.  As far the alley way goes they just open up panels for us to run through at this rodeo as well and we warm up in the middle of the field.

How did you feel mentally?

To run or not to run?  That was the question.  I knew the owner would leave it up to my judgement but luckily I drew 9th out so I had a chance to watch the other girls run before.  I also paid close attention to the horses in the other events to see how they were handling the ground as well.   I knew if I was going to run I had to commit to it 100% to get her through it and be confident on her.  She was very scared in grand entry and didn’t want to walk through the water and was trying to jump over the ruts.

Tell me about your run, the good the bad and the ugly. Exactly how you felt about it?  After watching the girls ahead of me go I decided to run and just make sure I was confident on her but to let her pick her spots and try to keep her in the ruts where it was more packed down.  She was VERY nervous going in and was running a little scared to the 1st… I bumped her once and she came right back to me having an AWESOME first barrel.  The 2nd barrel was made up of 2 or 3 ruts so I pushed her into one and let her follow it all the way around the barrel.  It wasn’t the prettiest 2nd barrel but the safest way around it.  Going to the 3rd was where the water was sitting and it was VERY muddy.  Abby kinda of just jumped and hopped through it.  She stuck a little bit in the mud at the 3rd so I just tried to guide her around.  She ran out hard and we won 2nd!!  The times for this rodeo were all over the place.  1st place was a 15.4 then me with a 15.8 last hole was a 17.1 which is crazy for there to be that big of a spread lol

Comments about the rodeo?

I normally really like this rodeo.  They add $1,000 to each event which makes it worth going to and normally the ground is not like that.  I would suggest for the committee to leave the ground alone next year until the day of the rodeo to avoid ground conditions like that in the future.

Anything interesting happen on the trip there or back?

This rodeo was only 1 hour from the rodeo the day before so it was pretty smooth sailing from one to the other.  The drive home also went smoothly suprisingly   Memphis and I had a good weekend. He of course is always making new friends and he is very happy that rodeo season is getting into full swing!!

Quote of the day:

The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results.  Norman Vincent Peale

Amber Mostoller on Mighty Mouse

 
Date, Rodeo Name and Location
June 12th * Hillsboro, MO * IPRA rodeo

Which horse did you run?
Soo Originally I was gonna to take Mighty Mouse and Abby on this weekend rodeo run, but something came up and I just ended up taking Abby.

How was the ground, alley, warm up area, etc?
The ground at this rodeo is either a muddy mess or hard as a rock…last year on Friday night it was a muddy mess and then hard hard hard on Saturday when I ran…this year they did a good job keeping the ground hard with all the rain they got so it was not muddy at all when we ran.  There isn’t really an alley way at this rodeo they just open up two of the end panels and let us run through them.

Tell me about your run, the good the bad and the ugly. Exactly how you felt about it. 
So Abby felt a little funny warming her up but I could not pinpoint exactly what I thought was off.  She had cut her nose pretty bad during the week and I thought maybe she was just being funny b/c of that.  I was 8th out to run so I got to watch alot of other runs go before me to see how the ground was holding up.  I was 2nd at this rodeo last year on Rookie and wanted to do well again this year.  The ground was hard as usual but looked good so I sent her.  She inhaled the 1st barrel and went across the pen hard.  I got a little handsy at the 2nd so she pulled off a tiny bit but was lined up going to the 3rd and had a decent 3rd barrel as well.  She ran REALLY hard home and a couple of the girls commented how Abby just hit another gear.  They were winning it with a 15.2 which is what I ran last year and I ran a 14.8 on Abby to take over the lead!!  I ended up 3rd overall after Saturdays perf was over but was tickled to death with her.  A 14.7 won it and there was another 14.8 just a little faster then mine.  I called the owners and they were very happy even though I called them at 11:00pm their time lol  This was also the 1st IPRA money I won of the year as well!!

Comments about the rodeo?
I really like this rodeo.  They add $1,000 to the barrel racing and there is a live band and dance after each perf.  They also offer $100 bonus to the winner of each performance which is great for outside rodeos since you never know if the ground will change.

 Anything interesting happen on the trip there or back?
I had planned on leaving for this rodeo around noon on Friday so I would get there nice and early and get a good parking spot.  Well I didn’t up leaving till around 2:00pm which was gonna put me there around starting time.  I had to put a tire back on my trailer that had flew off of it going down the road a few weeks earlier and when I went to the hardware store to get lug nuts they gave me the wrong size!!  SO I had to go back and get the right size…I am very paranoid about tires on my truck and trailer so I was constantly stopping to check and see if the lug nuts were still tight lol.  So I stopped at a gas station to get money out of the ATM and check the lug nuts.  Lug Nuts were fine and I go in to get $200 out…well my receipt said that the machine had giving me $200 but it only gave me $120!  I was getting nervous about being late for the rodeo and all the gas station lady could do was give me the banks phone number to clear it up with them…so I left with $80 less then I had intended and got to the rodeo as it was starting!

Quote of the day:

Learn to think like a winner. Think positive and visualize your strengths. Vic Braden