For the first time ever I took on a training horse - only because she was a Smokes Remedy daughter. Darrel Ostrowski purchased 4 year old solid bay mare Sheza Smooth Criminal from Renee Fairlie and asked me to train her.  I said no a few times but eventually the temptation of training a mare sired by my own stallion and out of a derby winning mare got to be too much for me. LOL I got along with her right off the bat. The first time I have liked a horse so much since I started working with Memphis.  I just never have a bad ride on this mare. In April I got the opportunity to purchase her from Darrell and scrounged up everything I had to get this purchase done.  I could not see letting this mare get out of my grasp!

Barrel racing season started off with taking Magnum to Winter Fair in Brandon. I was very pleased with his efforts - I was hoping to be a second off the leading time and he was less then a 1/2 second both days! Got me pumped about the rest of the year with him.

May brought breeding season and a devastating blow for Dream Chaser Ranch.  Smokes Remedy passed away after breeding an outside mare. Sadly he suffered from a blood vessel that burst in his heart and he was gone - just like that.  Not only did his passing break my heart but it also dealt the breeding program a serious blow.

It was the biggest foaling season ever for Dream Chaser Ranch and 5 beautiful babies were born here.  Two exceptionally loud bay overo fillies to Mysterious Marie and Juan Bad Kitty and three solid fillies to Judys Scat Scat, Suzies Wild Child and Magic Chant.  All fillies by Ace except for the striking liver chestnut out of Suzie who is sired by Root Beers Boots - a proven barrel sire from Alberta.

Kurt Klimpke and I dissolved the Dream Works Performance Horses partnership and so he had two more gorgeous Smokes Remedy foals born at his place. A perfect sorrel overo colt out of Ima Lineage Too and a maximum white bay tovero filly out of Sheza Easy Wrangler.

Once again Memphis and I went on the Heartland Rodeo Association tour and and I competed with her and Magnum at various jackpots throughout the summer.  As much as I could feel Magnum's sheer athletic potential - I just didn't seem to be the right rider for him.  Memphis and I had an ok season  - she did her job but just didn't seem to put her usual 110% effort in.  We ended up third for the season at Heartland and 3rd at Finals.  I also took her to Ponoka to run in The Breeze ( a 2D race with 50,000 for 1st in each division) and The Runaway. She had an exceptional run in The Breeze and we were only 0.06 seconds away from winning $50,000.  That would have made life a little simpler!

Magnum won us the 3D buckle in the short go at MBRA Finals so that was a nice way to end the year with him.

I sent Delta Getsya Smoking to Scott MacKenzie to be broke in September and purchased proven Quarter Horse barrel sire Plain Special from Doug and Carol Shaeffer who own and manage Sandy Ridge Stallion Station.