Sweetwater Ranch Antelope Valley

11/21/2025

This is excellent information. California is not technically at risk at this time, but given the fact that horses traveled from all over the country to attend these elite barrel races, we should all be aware of the protocol.

We should all be on low level bio security even now. This means keep your horse current on their vaccinations.

Quarantine and isolate new horses when they move onto a boarding facility.

Avoid contact with unknown horses when you are at a show or event

And if you have a horse who has been exposed to a known, EHV -1 or strangles infected Equine PLEASE self quarantine!! No horses to move on or off your facility

I went through a strangle outbreak here in 2007. Another Stable knowingly allowed a horse to move from their facility to mine when the Stable of origin had an active outbreak of strangles. I had 17 horses get sick with that disease we were under quarantine for seven months. We couldn’t compete at any events. We couldn’t attend any clinics and I could not have any outside. Students come in for lessons. This had a severe economic impact on me as well as an emotional impact. One horse died from complications with proper hematuria. He was well vaccinated, but his system was so overwhelmed by the amount of ineffective streptococci bacteria that his heart gave out.

This is about equivalent to win EVH -1 turns neurological. So these diseases can be fatal. So have respect for all other horse people and if you have an exposed horse, just stay home. 

11/12/2025

💫 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞” — 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

Sometimes God sends people across your path not by accident, but as little reminders of what it looks like to live out your purpose boldly — and with heart.

Sometime last year, God crossed our paths with Tricia Aldridge. It started with something small — a little DM about setting up a lesson with Matt Mills (we were already super fans). But what began as a simple message turned into a spark that lit a fire in both of us — especially for Savannah, who became an even bigger fan of this incredible team: Tricia and her golden unicorn, Adios Pantalones.

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥. 𝐑𝐚𝐰. 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

But even more than that, she carries something rare in today’s fast-scrolling world — she gives the kind of investment that can’t be bought: time.

She takes time to acknowledge others chasing their dreams — young or old.
Time to share the messy parts of her story.
Time to remind people that it’s okay to fall — as long as you get back up.

And those are the kind of people our kids need to see — not filtered perfection, but faith-fueled authenticity.

When we made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Waco to watch Tricia and Adios run at the WPRA Finals, Savannah spent the entire drive sketching a picture of Tricia and Adios. On the back, she wrote a prayer for them both — a little act of faith from a big dreamer’s heart.

After the run, we wandered the barns, hoping for a glimpse of that record-breaking unicorn. And then — we turned the corner.

🤩 “Oh my gosh, Mom… there she is!”

I could see Savannah’s heart leap out of her chest. We’d talked to Tricia over text before, but this was different. This was real life.

Even after days of racing and being pulled in a hundred directions, Tricia didn’t hesitate. She did what she does best — she gave her time.

We had forgotten a marker for her to sign Savannah’s Truly and Adios Breyers. Without hesitation, she disappeared for a minute, came back not just with a marker, but with swag, a hug, and a few words of encouragement that Savannah will carry for a long time.

As we walked away, Savannah’s eyes filled with tears — not because of fame or fancy, but because she had just met someone who embodied grace, grit, and generosity.

For me as a mom, that hour drive was worth every second for those fifteen blazing seconds she ran + a meet & greet of pure encouragement from one trailblazer to another dreamer.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.

And that’s what this world needs more of — people who take the time to invest in the dreams of others, people who live boldly but humbly, and people who understand that their platform is a place of purpose.

Thank you, Tricia — for reminding us that greatness isn’t just what you accomplish in the arena… it’s how you lift others along the way.

Best of luck at the NFR. We’ll be cheering you on — with big hearts, big dreams, big prayers and maybe even a few unicorn drawings. 💛🦄

💜𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

“𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩, 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩.” — 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟔:𝟗

“𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.” — 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟓:𝟏

Red Hot Barrel Horses

11/07/2025

11/04/2025

11/04/2025

So sad. So true. We are adding more lights in the stable area. But it won’t help when the cold hits!!!

11/03/2025

This is very important knowledge and most people haven’t got a clue 

Learn to recognize 24 vital behaviors that indicate pain in ridden horses. Science-based training from a leading veterinary expert. Limited-time offer.

11/03/2025

11/02/2025

06/27/2025

This is the simple truth

There’s this old, tired idea that riding is about control. That dressage is about making the horse submit. Taming the wild. Forcing precision.

But here’s the truth:

You don’t ride to break the horse. You ride so 𝑦𝑜𝑢 don’t break.

Because the horse isn’t the chaos. You are.

Your fear. Your tension. Your ego. Your overthinking.
Every crooked thought runs straight down the reins.
And the horse? He doesn’t care about your excuses. He shows you exactly who you are.

So you learn to breathe. To feel. To listen more than you speak.
You learn to hold your position in the storm.
You learn to ride into the fire, not to dominate it, but to survive it.

Dressage doesn’t make you perfect.
Done right, it makes you unbreakable.

Not because you control everything. But because you learn to hold your seat when everything falls apart.

It’s not about who you are when the ride begins, it’s who you are when you dismount.