notes from the road 3/25/08 So, lots to catch up on and to talk about…first thing, don't you just love it when someone really talented and really kind, someone who is truly authentic in what they do, has great things happen for them?  I'm with you and I'm always thrilled when good things happen for folks I am lucky to call friends…I've had a lot of friends here recently e-mailing me a video of a girl & her horse doing the extraordinary, a bareback & bridleless run to an incredible song called "live like you were dyin.'"  It's been fun to e-mail friends back and let them know that that incredible lady is my friend Stacy Westfall and to tell them how happy we are for her, for all of her success…she's the real deal and is just as beautiful inside as outJ I've had several opportunities to perform with her in the past and my husband Sam and I are very grateful to call Stacy & Jesse friends…she's a ROCKSTAR (and so is Roxy!!!) and is so incredibly deserving of all the good stuff goin' on in her life!!!  She truly is a hippie chic cowgirl!!! visit www.westfallhorsemanship.com Speakin' of hcc, lots of incredible things goin' on there for us, we've been blessed to have wonderful people come into our lives that have made it possible for this idea of ours to become something, hcc's got wings now!!…there's a lot on the horizon for us with this co., we'll be up-dating the website as things happen...it's funny how music and horses keep giving us gifts…so many people have asked me where the whole hcc idea came from and it's fun telling them that it all started probably 5 years ago or so when my hubby sam and I started out in the horse expo world with Jim Campbell's Horseman's Radio Weekly Show…from the first time I sang from horseback at the Western States Horse Expo, when Ted Robinson let me ride his awesome boy, Clyde, people started asking me why I didn't where a cowboy hat when I sang and rode…it's funny, since I'm a Texas girl and love cowboy hats, but I just tend not to wear one and when my hubby heard someone ask me that the first time, he said, in so many words, "it's because she's a hippie chic cowgirl," and it stuck and an idea was born…hcc's an incredible example of all the God Stuff in our lives, we've been very blessed and I'll tell you, we're havin' too much fun!!!  We have several new shirts in the line now and plan on doing good work with this idea, we're already finding out that it's so much bigger than us and we're very, very gratefulJ  please visit www.hippiechiccowgirl.com  we'll have our retailers listed on the site shortly…if you're in the dallas area and are a buyer, check us out at the Dallas Market 3/27-3/30. there's more, bear with me, 'cause I do tend to be long-winded:-)… a few weeks ago now,  jane and sam and I were finishing up our TV taping with Julie Goodnight down in Weirsdale, FL (right near Ocala)…Julie is using our song "cowgirl creed" as her theme song, we're very honored and excited that she's using one of our tunes, we think the world of Julie…she was very kind to include us in one of her shows, which will air sometime this summer, we'll let you know…when we talked about me appearing on an episode, Julie asked me if there was something specific I'd like to work on with jane…since jane and I are a team out there performing at horse events across the country and since I  feel like I'm always learning and am never afraid to ask for help, I told Julie I'd really like to work on neck reining with jane…I've been riding her in a wonderful snaffle bit that my incredibly talented horseman friend Ed Dabney gave me but have been feeling lately that a leverage bit, a low- key leverage bit, might be a good thing when I'm riding and singing from Jane's back, that way I'll have hands free for waving to the crowd and a little more control when we both get keyed up from performing…of course, my goal is that I won't need any tack one of these days, that I'll be able to be bareback & bridleless when I'm riding jane, but, baby steps, but here's to puttin' out into the universe what you want, it was only a short while ago that I put it out there that I wanted to take jane on the road and perform with her, under saddle and at liberty, this summer that dream came true, so it's only up from here… well, my girl Jane was a ROCKSTAR on the show even though I had to wake her up early both days that we taped, boy, 5am sure is glamorous, NOT!!!  But, she handled it all with ease and grace…she loves the bit Julie was able to get for us, a level 2 Myler bit…jane looked great, me, well, there are probably several places where some of my old riding coaches in the past would cringe, times when I was focusing so hard on what Julie was teaching me that I looked like a marionette up on my girl's back and certainly times when "velcro butt" was not happenin,' and I really pride myself on no air between derriere and saddle…but I figure, hay, what's the fun if you can't put yourself out there, laugh at yourself and all the while be learning something new that will ultimately help you and your horse…I know jane was appreciative and she sure liked Julie and I'll be the first to say that she does not like everybody, there's a short list of folks who've ridden her or just have been around her…for example, Jane LOVES, absolutely LOVES, my friend, the great Sam Powell, I've been very fortunate to spend time with Sam, to learn from him and Jane's had the gift of being ridden by him and let me tell ya, she loves him, she's so serene when he's on her back…Buck Brannaman had the same effect on my girl, when my friend Patti organized for us to ride with Buck a while back in KY, she said I should watch when we would all be sitting on our horses forming a circle around Buck during the Q & A sessions, and just watch what the horses do, “they'll gravitate to him,” she said…it was so true!!! When most folks would ask their horses to step back as they slowly inched forward to be closer to him, I gave here a couple of steps just to see, had I not finally asked her to back up, I'm pretty sure she would've been in his lapJ  when Buck put his hand on Jane's face at one point, I swear she let go of any anxiety she'd ever had, he gave her such a gift, and me too!!! pretty darn amazing, thanks Buck!  By the by, if you haven't read The Faraway Horses yet (just one of Buck's books), you gotta, you'll be so glad you did!!! So, all that to say, Jane really seemed to like Julie and that's easy to understand when you know Julie, she's a great gal, the real deal and so gifted with horses and peopleJ  her show's called Horse Master and it airs weds. at 5:30 pm est…. going to FL also gave us a chance to catch up with our wonderful friends KC & Robyn LaPierre, they're equine podiatrists, true "difference makers," helping horses and their humans all over the world!!  even though we were up early every day, it was still like a little mini-vacation, the facility was FANTASTIC as were the people who run it, they were so good to us:-) we also got a chance to visit the MTRA, www.mtraocala.org ,a wonderful therapetic riding facility in Ocala...one of the best parts of the whole shoot was having our mack daddy sponsor, Suncoast Bedding, there:-) i'm so proud and honored to be associated with this wonderful company, they are doing wonderful things for people and horses all over this beautiful world!!! i'm so proud that you'll get to see our "angel rig" on Julie's show, i shot my interview portion right in front of it... the day after we got back from FL we headed out to Murfreesboro, TN to play at the Horse South Magazine www.horsesouth.com VIP Party (you gotta get this magazine!!!!) at the incredible equine event that is The Road to the Horse...we had too much fun and met some new friends, like Larry Mahan and Vaughn Wilson (look for him to be putting out a fantastic book about people and their horses soon, Vaughn is not only an incredibly talented photographer and writer, but he's also a great singer! talk about multi-talented!!!) we also got to see and catch up with old friends like Valley Vet Supply, Rockin' J Horse Stalls, CSI Saddlepads, Absolute Innovations, Ken McNabb, Chris Cox, Rick Lamb and others, we're so incredibly blessed to know all of these beautiful souls!!! the next weekend my Mom and i headed back out to mufreesboro to check out an incredible NRHA Reining show...it was great to catch back up with friends like Shawn Flarida, Pard's Saddlery, Elizabeth & Lori Cosper and our friend Andrea who made some beautiful hippie chic cowgirl pieces for us, she does FANTABULOUS embroidery work and has become a dear friend, i'll get a link up to her website soon:-) in fact, look for "notes from the road, part deaux", coming soon:-) please also check out www.eagala.org (my eagala angels) and check out these two new books: The Soul of a Horse-Lessons from the Herd by Joe Camp www.thesoulofahorse.com  and Spot of Grace by Dawna Markova www.spotofgrace.com  to find more links check out my myspace page blogs www.myspace.com/templetonthompson happiness, tt