In which I travel to Canada for the day, and ride a standie!

I didn't have time or money to get Fiddle vetted for an international health certificate so I could take her to Canada for the event, but I didn't want to miss the fun at the Standardbred Game Day in Langely, British Columbia...

 Fortunately, Greener Pastures was able to loan me a standardbred so I could play in the games with everyone else.  My mount for the day:  I'm A Pocket Picker.  He's a 7 year old, 15 hand standie gelding who raced successfully and retired sound.  Now he's looking for a new job as somebody's saddle horse.

 ...and look!  He has brindled tiger stripes (above)!  

The games were, as usual, very low-key.  This is not cut-throat gaming; rather, this is a gathering of folks who are just a little bit different than your average quarterhorse or arab or thoroughbred rider.  Standie people are accustomed to being the only one in the crowd with a horse "like that." 

And when we get together, we spend a lot of time complimenting each other on our beautiful horses. 

 Stephanie's horse (above) is 17.2 hands, with legs like phone poles.  She usually rides him in English shows, but for the day she put the Western saddle on him.  She did keep her lime-green helmet, though, which made me smile.

 Pocket Picker had never seen a gaming arena, nor barrels, nor jump standards, nor weave poles.  I didn't rush him, and he did fine.  

 This event (above) was called a "catalog race":  go to the barrel, retrieve the page number that the caller announces for you, and return home.  We didn't go fast, but we finished 5th anyhow!

 Phantom (above) hasn't been ridden in months.  He's a standie, though:  it's not a problem.

 This big gelding (above) gets ridden all the time.  He is dressed entirely in pink gear.

 The spotted horse (above) is not a standie.  There was an "open" division so standie people to bring their other horses too.  I thought that was nice.

The chestnut horse (below) is also not a standie:  this is a mustang who will be the "pickup" horse at the harness track in the fall.  His rider is taking him to all kinds of events to teach the horse how to do all kinds of crazy stuff that might come in handy someday.  My kind of training!

 I love this horse (below).  He does The Big Thing just like Fiddle.

 Duett (below) is another Big Thing trotter.  I'm not sure if she ever raced--she's been Marga's horse for a lot of years.

 Pocket Picker and I didn't worry too much about accessing his Big Thing.  Our goal was to have fun.

 And we did!

 He has only been carrying a rider for a few months now--and look at his trot!

 Now, here are a bunch of pretty pictures of standardbreds to admire:

 The Stuffy Race:  go to a barrel, get the stuffed animal.  Carry the stuffy to the next barrel, drop it there and pick up another stuffy.  Go to the third barrel and leave the stuffy on top and race for home.  We finished 3rd!

 Yogi (below) got a prize for his costume.

 Could you do this game on a green Arab?  I think probably not.

 Ribbons, plus an extra prize for being the "Good Sport" of the games and coming up from the States to play.

Now:

Somebody who is shopping for a nice horse please go get Pocket Picker.  He's a real sweetie--greener than my new brush tote, but willing to try just about anything.  Just exactly the kind of horse somebody out there must be wanting...right?  

Tell 'em Haiku Farm sent you!