Is the Extra Money Worth it?

                                            　

Picture this, You get home from work and your kids have made the house an absolute mess. The living room is now transformed into the children’s playroom. Your kitchen is now permanently stained on your new couch. The house wreaks of dirty diapers and is covered in lipstick scribbled walls. Your kids run to you and ask what is for dinner. You wife has not yet returned home from work. All you want to do is pass out on the couch and forget all your worries. As you walk past the window, you notice that your neighbor is just parking his car. His three kids and housewife walk out to greet him. His kids don’t rush, but instead walk in an orderly line to give him a hug. His wife wears a cooking apron, as if she’s prepared dinner for their family. You can’t help but think what the inside of their house must look like, let alone smell like. Then your kid’s babysitter brings you back to reality by telling you what a nightmare your children have been. She proceeds to tell you she has found another job and no longer wishes to tend your children.                          

                                                                     

You begin to wonder what the difference is between your family and your neighbor’s? Where did you go wrong? You have always been a good Dad, or so you think.

The difference is that your wife has bore three kids, and then returned back to work to help support your family. Your kids have been looked after by a nanny for the past five years. Your neighbors wife has also bore three kids. Instead of going back to work, her family sacrifices an extra vacation each year so that she can stay at home and be

with the kids. Your kids are not any less of good kids as the neighbors, they have just
been raised in very different ways. Your kids only see their parents twice a day. They see you in the mornings before work, and at night after work. They pick up good and not so good habits from their nanny. They learn all the necessities, but at school. They are not set down to finish their homework after school. Instead, they get home and run to the television to play video games, or catch up on the latest cartoons.
At the same time, your neighbors wife wakes up before the dawn and makes a homemade breakfast for her husband and kids. She stays at home while everyone is away at work, and school. She cooks and cleans and takes care of all the household chores. When their kids return, she sits down with the kids and helps them with their leftover homework. They are given a healthy snack and after all homework is finished, the kids are allowed to play until their father gets home.
Working moms sacrifice the time they could be spending with their children for the time they spend at their jobs earning money to help support the family. Both have a huge impact on your kid’s childhood, and the decision to do one or the other should not be taken lightly. Being a stay at home mom and being a working mother are both very important factors in your children’s life. Stay at home moms sacrifice the extra money they could be earning at a job for the time they stay at home to support and raise their children, and in my opinion, you can not put a price on your children’s childhood.
In a small survey that I conducted to 50 mothers (both working and stay at home moms) over half of the mom’s said that they have never wished they had chosen a career
over being a stay at home mom. Jan Campbell of Logandale, Nevada even said, “ Being a
stay at home mom is a full time job!” Stay at home moms, work from sun up to sun down. Whether they are cleaning, cooking, paying bills, or teaching, they are always busy working. Besides taking care of the children, stay at home mothers are able to get more things done around the house. This is worthy of working mothers to consider.
In the book entitled Staying Home by Darcie Sanders and Martha M. Bullen, it says, “ Many women think this is the toughest decision they’ll ever make- whether to stay on the career “fast track” or to turn their back on the workplace and head for home. Although it can seem that way, the decision to become an at-home mother is not as black or white as it appears. There are any number of possibilities- from taking a few months’ leave of absence to staying home for a year or two to staying home until all your children are in school or longer- and these decisions can be modified at any time. Often a woman does not make a decision to stay home full-time until her second or third child comes along” ( Sanders & Bullen 16) More mothers need to see all of the options that they have availabe to them, and make their choice from there, not just assumer they have no option.
I am not sure that many women actually realize how many options are available, that its not just stay at home or work. Most women who either choose to stay home, or go to work feel strongly about their choice, and have thoroughly thought it through. After learning how many options are really out there, the mother must make her choice of what she wants to do. The stay at home mom’s family must sacrifice what she could be earning at a full time job, while the working mother’s family must sacrifice the time she could be spending with her family. Now that all of the options are known, it is time for the mother to make her choice. But a mother must highly consider every option.
Sanders and Bullen go over some issues to consider while making the choice.
Some of the issues are, “financial considerations, will your family be able to survive off
of one spouse’s pay? Will you be satisfied being a stay at home mom? Have you considered the major changes your family’s lifestyle will go through? How will the pressures affect the working spouse? How can you keep an equal rights household? Do you have support from family and friends? What is best for your children” ( Sanders and Bullen 31). These questions are great for determining what the best decision for you will be. They cover most of the situations you will go through with either choice you decide to make.

                                                                      

No matter which choice you decide to make, there are pros and cons with both.
Yes, stay at home mom’s get to raise their kids, teach them life lessons, have a clean house, and happy family. But, they sometimes are looked down on in society as lowly, uneducated women. Joanna Alvarado of Texas has this to say, “ The worst part is the perception of society. As an example- my husband and I are refinancing our house from a 30 year mortgage to 15 year. The loan officer today was having trouble pulling one of my credit scores. So he simply said to me, ‘Why don’t we just make the loan out in your husbands name and use his credit scores, because you don’t really contribute to the family anyway’.”
If only that loan officer was able to spend just one day in the life of a stay at home mom. I do believe he would reword his statement to Mrs. Alvarado. In my opinion, a stay at home mom contributes just as much to the family as her working husband does. She may not get paid for her work, but it is still challenging and it needs to be done whether or not she gets paid. Others do not know the of the importance stay at home mothers have over their home and family. There is no other woman that I would trust more with my life than my own mother. I have had a strong relationship with her, since I was at a young age. This bond is invaluable.
Stay at home Mom’s get to spend a lot more time with their children than working mothers do. You can not put a price on teaching your kids, and making lifelong memories with them. At a young age, these mom’s are able to instill values and manners into their children that they would otherwise never learn. From teaching babies to talk, and walk to teaching them how to ride a bike and send them off to school for their first day, nobody spends more time with these kids than their stay at home mom does. She is able to do the laundry, clean the house, take care of family pets, pay bills, make cupcakes for an upcoming birthday party, go grocery shopping, and cook a nutritional dinner for her family. Not that this is the daily routine of most stay at home moms, I just see my mom do this on an every day basis. Now I am not saying that working Mom’s are not able to do these ‘mom duties’ as well. They just don’t have the time to complete everything in a day while working a full time job.
As far as I can remember, my mom has been by my side pushing me to go that extra mile, and strive for excellence. She taught me how to ride a bike, even a horse. My mom taught me to read, she taught me manners, values, respect, how to love and accept others. She is an example of honesty, hard work, determination, and love. I have never had a stronger relationship with anyone other than my mom. Most children do have that strong relationship with their mother, which probably wouldn’t exist if mom worked a full time job.
Sure the family of the stay at home mom would have less money as that of a working mother’s. Stay at home moms learn to be creative and frugal with financial situations. The family must learn to use their money wisely, and make every dollar stretch
to its limit. Doing so might include skipping a family vacation once in a while, maybe
not quite so many trips to the local convenience store for slurpies and such.
A mother that I interviewed had the chance to work for a while before getting married and having children. If a woman decides to have a job and be a mother, I believe this is the best way to go. To have a job before you are a mom can teach you so much you need to learn before coming a mom. Its good to separate the two, and not bring the frustrations of work home to your children.
In the interview, Joanna Alvarado said the following, “ Luckily I had a career for 15 years prior to being a mom- so I would say that I am blessed to get to have both. I also think that the fact that I have worked in the professional world prior to Mom-hood, it will make going to work easier when my girls get bigger. I have LOTS of work experience to fall back on when it comes time to rejoin the work force. I also think that learning to balance a career has helped me be a better mom. I can juggle multiple tasks and prioritize better then I did when I was younger.” I love how Joanna has gotten the experience of both sides. In fact, she liked the ‘professional world’ so much that she intends on returning when her girls grow bigger. She is a great mom that understands that her young girls need her to stay home with them. She is the mother of two little girls, ages 4 and 7. They are both very well behaved girls. Joanna spends her days cooking, cleaning, and teaching her young girls while they are still young and at home. She understands how fast her girls will grow, and soon they will be out of the house and on their own. Joanna is trying to instill in them at a young age those lessons and values she believes they will need on their own someday to succeed in everyday life.
This is not saying that children of a working mom will not have values, and be unable to take care of themselves. But, children of working mom’s do develop problems. One problem in particular, I noticed develop just this last summer. I babysat a 7 and a 4 year old, while their mom and dad were at work. These little girls were very well behaved while their parents were at home with them. They seldom had problems. Once their parents stepped out the door, the girls would try and convince me that they were allowed to go play in the horse corrals. A complete idiot that knows anything about horses, would know that playing in horse corrals is not safe. I would tell the girls no, and they would throw fits because ‘their mom and dad let them do it all the time.’ Their parents would get home, and I would review how our day went. Most of the time the mom would get mad at the girls about lying. The girls tried to put so many things over my head, that they got confused with their own lies, and their behavior began to take a tumble with their parents as well. It would have been easier for the girl’s if they had the same person with the same rules enforcing them all day. Instead, They had a babysitter jump in and try to enforce new rules. Stay at home mothers enforce their rules with their children. They do not have children trying to act up because mom enforces those rules all day long.
In the book entitled Mothers at Work by Lois W. Hoffman and Lise M. Youngblade, they discuss a case in which the children get home from school and have to take care of themselves, without the supervision of a babysitter. “For Drew, a nine-year-old, and his older brother, twelve, returning home to an empty house is standard. The boys live with their mother and stepfather, both of whom are employed. On the day he described, the boys made their own supper and ate it together at the kitchen table. The
dishes were left for a parent to clean up later. Their mother works until midnight as a nurse, and their stepfather gets home between 6 and 8 P.M. The boys usually wait until the stepfather comes home before having dinner, but on this night, he was picking them up to take them to a baseball game, so they ate ahead of time.” What kind of parents feel comfortable having their kids home alone? Of course in this situation, both parents work in order to support their children.
I cant help but feel pain for these poor boys. What would happen if they had an unexpected and unwanted visitor while they are home alone? What would happen if they had an accident while cooking their own dinner? These young boys are too young to be responsible for their own well being. They should not be left at home unattended. Sure it said that they usually wait for their stepfather to get home before they eat, but who eats at 8 P.M.?
Another problem that some kids of working moms may experience may be feelings or rejection and sensitivity. Hoffman and Youngblade go on to say. “ If the child had 20 or more hours of care per week during the first year, there was a greater likelihood of insecure attachment between baby and mother as measured by the Ainsworth Strange Situation task ( Ainsworth & Wittig, 1969; Belsky & Rovine, 1988; Clarke-Stewart, 1989; Lamb & Sternberg, 1990). These findings were taken as support for the claims that regular and substantial separations between mothers and babies led to feelings of rejection by babies , lowered abilities of mothers to response sensitively to their infants, and caused emotional difficulties in children.”
After reading this study, I cant even imagine leaving my kids with a caretaker. Most mothers don’t know these facts as they are rushing off to work every morning. They are not only causing their babies to feel rejected by their own mothers, but they are also
affecting their response to their own children. Some may think stay at home mom’s don’t really have a job, that they stay at home and sit with their kids all day. When they are building bonds with their children that can not be gained in any other way. Children who attend a daily day care are sure to have a good relationship with their babysitter. But what happens when the child mistakes their mom for the babysitter?
In all actuality, are business woman really making that much more than stay at home moms? After making the car payment the mother needs to get to and from work, filling the gas tank, paying the car insurance bill, paying for daily lunch, and last but not least paying the babysitter for the long hours of watching after the children. These little bills really add up quickly. In my opinion, you cant put a price on your babies childhood. The little amount of extra money just isnt worth the time missed of your children's childhood.
                                                                   

                                                                  
                                                                   
Sure a stay at home mom most likely will have a car as well. But the stay at home mom does not have a nine to five job to be at everyday, she doesn’t have to fill her car up with gas once a week. She is able to save that extra money she would be spending on gas for more important things, such as her family. A businesswoman might be able to make an arrangement with a babysitter for cheap caretaking of her children, but that is still considered a liability that must be payed. Stay at home mothers are making an important decision. They are not going going to work and making extra money for the family, instead they are saving money by not sending the kids to the babysitter everyday. After stay at home moms make their big decision to stay with the kids, they must learn how to be frugal with their money, and make it last since they are not bringing home a regular paycheck. There are many websites that stay at home mothers can visit that have anything from educational games for children to health and wellness of the mother. There are many stay at home mothers out there, and it is easier to do having the support of others. These websites also include online blogs, and boards of stay at home mothers.
After bills are paid, business woman really aren’t making that much more than the family of a stay at home mother. They might be bringing in a little extra money but not enough to make me want to leave my children with a babysitter everyday.
Choosing to go back to work, or stay at home with your children is a huge decision that should not be taken lightly. It doesn’t just affect you as the mother, it affects your husband, and your children, it even affects your family pets! Every mother has her own choice, and she has her own reasons and situation in which she makes her choice. Some families are lucky enough to be financially set that they can afford to have a stay at home mom. Some families can not afford to have a stay at home mom, but they use their money very wisely so that they may be able to stay home. Some women just do not enjoy being a stay at home mom, so they go back to work, leaving their children with a babysitter. In my own opinion, I would rather have happy, healthy kids than the latest pair of fashion boots.
After carefully considering your own family’s financial situation, I urge you to stay at home with your children. Teach them the values you wish to instill in your children rather than hoping the babysitter doesn’t teach them how to swear while your at work. Build that bond with your children that can not be built in any other way. Spend your time with them while they are still young and at home. Take advantage of the time you still have left with them.

Sources



Cohen, Carol Fishman., and Vivian Steir. Rabin. Back on the Career Track: a Guide for Stay-at-home Moms Who Want to Return to Work. New York: Warner Business, 2007. Print.

García, Coll Cynthia T., Janet L. Surrey, and Kathy Weingarten. Mothering against the Odds: Diverse Voices of Contemporary Mothers. New York: Guilford, 1998. Print.

Hoffman, Lois Norma Wladis, and Lise M. Youngblade. Mothers at Work: Effects on Children's Well-being. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. Print.

Sachs, Wendy. How She Really Does It: Secrets of Successful Stay-at-work Moms. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Long Life, 2005. Print.

Sanders, Darcie, and Martha M. Bullen. Staying Home: from Full-time Professional to Full-time Parent. Boston: Little, Brown, 1992. Print.

Alexander, Carly. ”Honey, will you please fold the laundry, I have a survey to do!” Survey. October 17, 2011.

Familyandhome | Helping Families Spend Generous Amounts of Time Together. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. http://www.familyandhome.org/.

4 Moms At Home. Web. 13 Nov. 2011.

http://www.4momsathome.com/.

Honey, will you please fold the laundry? I have a survey to do!

In preparation for my research paper, I conducted a survey to 50 stay at home moms. I conducted my survey over Facebook to my many stay at home mom ‘friends’ near and far. Facebook was a great way to get a quick response to my friends living as far away as Texas. In my survey, I asked these mothers 5 questions. I chose questions that I will be able to incorporate into my research paper. The questions I chose to ask were :
1. Have there been times when you wish you would have chosen a career over staying home with your kids?
2.What has been the best/worst part about being a stay at home mom?
3. With the way the economy is, if you were handed your dream job today would you take it?
4. What advantages do your children have versus the children of a busy career woman?
5. Is the time spent and memories made with your children worth the money you would make with a full time job?
To answer the first question, 30/50 Moms said they have never wished they would have chosen a career over being a stay at home mom. Some replied, “ Being a stay at home mom IS a full time job!” One Mom had the opportunity to work in the professional world before entering Mom-hood. She said that having a full job before children, made her better prepared to be a mother.
Most of the mothers I surveyed agreed that the best part of being a stay at home mom was the relationships they are able to build with their children and being able to be involved with everything they do, one said, “living in the present.” They also agreed that the worst part would be their lack of adult interaction and conversation.
Over half of the fifty surveyed would not accept their dream job, if it was offered to them. They feel that being a stay at home mom is their dream job. The few that wouldn’t reject their dream job would only accept it because their children are grown, and they had nothing else to do.
Most Mom’s answered question #4 about the same. Their children have their mother’s love, time, attention, and they develop good qualities that children of a busy businesswoman probably would not posses.
Every Stay at home Mom I interviewed answered the last question with an undoubtedly yes. One Mom said it best when she stated, “ I am not sure how to answer that. I don’t think memories have a monetary value. I think being a stay at home mom is a financial sacrifice for every family -but personally- for my family- it has been worth it." - Joana Alvarado 

                                                                   
I am excited to use this survey in my research paper. It will be fun to use my own information instead of borrowing someone else’s information for a change. It wasn’t easy to find all the information, but I know it will be very useful in the end!

Work or Children???

I am going to be writing a paper on ‘Stay at Home Moms’ in the next few weeks. So to get me prepared for this paper, I had the opportunity to interview a real stay at home mom! Kim Hafen lives in Washington, Utah where she is the mother to 6 kids. Kim has been a mother for 26 years, and she says there has never been a time where she wished she had chosen a career over being a stay at home mom. “My children would be different people if they had a nanny or went to a day care rather than came home to me,” Kim said.

                                                                         
According to this stay at home mom, the best part about their job is not missing all of their ‘firsts’ and having that close relationship with your kids. The worst part about being a stay at home mom is that your job is never done- It is a full time position with no vacation time. When I asked Kim if she could have her dream job handed to her, or continue to support her children, she said that she would continue to support her kids. She said,” The joy and memories I share with my kids outweigh the benefits and pay I would have with a career.”

                                                                    
If she had a chance to redo anything in raising her kids, she wished she would have spent even more time with them. Kim’s favorite part about being a stay at home mom that a career woman wouldn’t have the opportunity of having is being able to put her children first. Most career oriented woman put their work before their kids, and Kim’s family comes first. Kim says,” Her kids have benefitted from her being at home by their higher self esteem and confidence, and by them knowing that they are important to me.”
I would like to thank Kim Hafen for her time in letting me interview her. Kim is a great Mom, friend, and person who I look up to very much. I will be able to use this information in my research paper in the next few weeks. Thank You Kim!

Long Live Rodeo

Imagine going to a PRCA rodeo. You are sitting in the bleachers waiting for the rodeo to start. It’s about five minutes away from starting, and you have not seen one horse line up for the grand entry. Being a rodeo fan, you are confused and start to wonder if the rodeo had started a few hours earlier. You notice a banner hanging up in the arena that says ’PETA HAS BEEN HERE.’  If PETA had their way, there would be no rodeo. There would be many jobless professional cowboys and cowgirls, and many more upset rodeo fans. PETA has been hassling the PRCA for years, with no such proof of animal cruelty being evident; why not give it up already? If things went according to PETA, we would all be vegetarians. The number of animals would overpopulate humans, and animals would be equal to, if not superior to humans.

                                                                

            PETA believes that in events such as barrel racing, steer roping, team roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, bareback, and saddle bronc that normally docile animals are physically provoked into displaying ‘wild’ behavior in order to make the cowboys look brave. PETA claims that PRCA abuses their livestock, but we don’t need to hear anymore from them. Anyone familiar with PRCA rodeo would know that the livestock used in rodeos does not belong to the PRCA. The animals used in PRCA rodeos are leased from professional livestock contractors. A contract is signed between the two parties covering everything from injury of the animal to cowboys harming the animal in any way.

             The PRCA has a set of very strict rules about cowboys altering the animal in any way to better their score. Along with strict rules, a hefty list of fines are incorporated with broken contracts between the contractor and PRCA, and between PRCA and the Professional cowboy competing. Besides Strict rules, and heavy fines, the PRCA has an animal welfare program for the livestock used in program. For cowboys to compete at the highest level, the rodeo livestock must be in peak condition. Cowboys share the spotlight with the livestock. They work together to make good runs, and high scores.

                                                                           

            PETA claims that the flank strap is too tightly cinched around the animal’s abdomen which causes them to buck, trying to escape the pain. They also believe that the flank strap can cause open wounds and burns when the hair is rubbed off and their skin is chafed raw. They claim to have found burrs and other types of irritants placed under the flank strap. Do you think PETA has read the PRCA Animal Welfare Rules? Rule # 9.3 states “No sharp objects in cinch, saddle, girth or flank straps. No sharp or cutting objects in cinch, saddle girth, or flank straps shall be permitted. Flank straps used for horses must either be sheepskin-lined or neoprene-lined and shall be of the quick release type. Sheepskin-lined or Neoprene line flank straps shall be placed on the animal so the lined portion is over both flanks of the animal. In the bull riding, a soft cotton rope at least 5/8” in diameter is acceptable as a flank strap and does not require the sheepskin or neoprene lining.” I would love to hear where PETA found these irritants placed in a flank strap. Do they openly share where they were found, because I have yet to hear.

                                                                                     

            PETA says that electric prods and spurs are used to irritate and enrage animals. PRCA rule # 9.2 states, “No locked rowels. Rowels that will be locked on spurs may be used on bareback or saddle bronc horses. Spurs must be dulled.” Rule # 10.6.4 states.” No sharp spurs. Riders shall not use sharp spurs. Rule # 10.1.5 states, “Prods. In the riding events, use of prods and similar devices is prohibited. The only exceptions shall be in the saddle bronc riding and bareback riding, and only in the case of a known chute stalling animals. And only if agrees upon by the contestant, the stock contractor, and the judge before the contestants competition begins. In this instance, the prod shall not exceed 12 inches in length. Use of a prod without the agreement of the contestant, stock contractor, and the judge before the contestant’s competition begins in the saddle bronc, and the bareback riding, or use of a prod in the bull riding at any time shall result in a fine of $1,000 doubling with each violation to the stock contractor and the contestant will receive the automatic option of a reride. Do you think PETA has ever been behind the scenes of a rodeo, and paid much attention to what lengths the cowboys go to, to ensure that the animals are healthy and comfortable?

                                                                                    

            Being a rodeo fan, you already know what a pretty penny these animals cost. A decent bucking horse can cost more than $25,000, while some bulls sell for more than $100,000. These animals are not only expensive, and require lots of upkeep, but they were bred to buck. Most of their cost comes from their breeding. PRCA stock contractor Skip Beeler explains the “making” of a bucking animal. “You can teach them to handle, load in the truck, stand in the chutes so they don’t hurt themselves, but nobody can train a horse or bull to buck. They’ve got to have it in them! I’d say it’s about 75 percent breeding, 10 percent luck, and 15 percent hard work to teach them the skills they need so you can handle them. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into breeding and caring for the valuable livestock that is a part of today’s sport of rodeo. Now knowing this, why would the PRCA let any harm come to these expensive, professional athletes they are borrowing for rodeos?

            An aspect never discussed in any dispute of PRCA and PETA, is PETA going and interacting with the PRCA at a rodeo besides picketing. I call upon all you PETA members to come to a rodeo. Don’t come and watch, but come sit on the bucking shoots. Watch the cowboys treat the animals as an equal. Watch how the animals are cared for, and treated. You won’t see any sick, lame, or injured animals on site. Count how many veterinarians are hired to come check the animals. I am willing to bet after doing so that PETA members will have a change of heart. They will come to the understanding that there is no group other than the PRCA with such high animal welfare standards.

                                                                                

                                                                              

Sit Tall in Your Saddle

          The first saddle is said to have been traced back to 365 AD. A tribe called the Sarmations came up with the saddle idea. They used these saddles in battle with other tribes. Through war, the saddle spread to other groups of people. As time went on, the saddle has branched off to fit each activity it is used for. Events such as horse shows, barrel races, and team ropings now have an individual saddle to best fit its needs. Such specialty saddles are show saddles, barrel saddles, English saddles, roping saddles and so on.
           To me, a saddle shows teamwork between a horse and it’s rider. A horse has to trust its rider to allow them to put a saddle on. I have been in a saddle from as far back as I can remember. As I have grown and changed, so have my saddles. I started out riding in a kids saddle, went to a barrel saddle, and I am now riding in a trophy saddle. Each saddle tells a lot about horse wearing the saddle, and the rider in the saddle.
         My brother is a team roper. He has been heeling for ten years. He has won 6 trophy roping saddles. Roping saddles are built more durable and made with heavier material than other saddles. On the horn of a roping saddle, you will find rubber. The rubber is wrapped around the horn for dallying. When a steer is roped the horses turn to the left, and the roper dallies (quickly wraps the rope around the horn) to turn the steer. With the rubber protecting the horn, the horn is not damaged. Roping saddles can be identified by their bulkiness and the rubber wrapped around the horn. Being heavier built, the roping saddle is ideal for roping and turning heavy steers. Roping saddles tend to be a lot heavier to carry than any other saddle, but in my opinion are the most comfortable saddles to ride in.

         My older sister is a barrel racer. Barrel saddles are light weight, and smaller than most saddles. Being built for speed, and having a tall saddle horn, barrel saddles are ideal for a fast timed event. Barrel saddles are not exactly the most comfortable saddle, but perfect for barrel racing. After turning the third barrel and heading home, the tall saddle horn is easy to hold on to and secure yourself for a bumpy ride. The stirrups on a barrel saddle are often thin, which makes for a quick slip in and out of the riders foot.

         The trail saddle is made for comfort. After having been out on the trail for a while, the last thing you want is a sore behind. Most trail saddles now have neoprene padding in the seat. This saddle is designed to keep the rider right square in the middle, So they might be centered in tough situations. The trail saddle is a multipurpose saddle and is light weight.

        The saddle has changed drastically since the first version was created in 365 AD. It has changed and adapted to better fit each and every sport using horses. There are many different Kinds of saddles for every sport on horseback. Saddles create an equal partnership between men and horses. Without saddles, we wouldn’t have the same rodeo that we do today. We would have to ride bareback every time we wanted to ride a horse. All of the timed events would be no more, and we would all have sore behinds! In the words of a wise man, “ No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.” - Winston Churchill.

Best Event in St. George

              Last night while I was working at the Gun Barrel, a group of seven Germans came in for dinner. As I was seating them, they asked me, "What is the best event held in St. George?" I eagerly replied, " Let me give you seven reasons that the Dixie Roundup is the best event in St. George."
           The Roundup is an event for all ages. Youngsters can participate in the kid's parade, and the kid's rodeo events. While the adults enjoy live music, the rodeo queen contest, western dances, and a 'Cowboy Up' themed parade down Main Street. "Now there's a reason for each one of you," I said. Being a Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association- sanctioned rodeo, and sponsored by the Dixie Lion's Club, the Roundup features some of today's top professional cowboys, while giving back to the community. One night at the rodeo is dedicated to breast cancer awareness with tough enough to wear pink night. The Roundup also hosts a rodeo breakfast with all proceeds going towards the Washington County School District. The Dixie Roundup is a great way to give back to the community through a fun event.

           The Germans then asked me, " Will you be in the rodeo?" I replied, "Unfortunately I cant enter because I am only a local, and not a member of the PRCA.

A Change in the Dixie Roundup

          The Germans seemed excited, but questioned why I wasn't participating in the rodeo, as I was such a fan of the Dixie Roundup. I answered, " If I could change one thing about the event, I would add a locals night to the rodeo.
          Since the Roundup is a Professional Rodeo Cowboy's Association sanctioned rodeo, only professionals holding a PRCA membership can participate. By accepting only professional entries, the Roundup's possible total entries are limited. Now don't get me wrong,  I'm not down playing professional rodeo. I love rodeo with all my heart, but if a locals night was added to the rodeo I would participate.
         By adding a locals night, the Lion's Club would collect more entry fees, allowing them to make more donations to the community. Since I have lived in St. George, I have met many other cowboys and cowgirls that would also love to participate but are not professional. Adding locals to the rodeo would raise ticket sales. Friends and family of locals would come to support their efforts. This would not only benefit the locals by being able to participate, but it would also benefit the Lions Club with a rise in ticket sales.