In which we head north to play games with our favorite kind of horses
If it's raining in the middle of summer,
it must be Standardbred Play Day!
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| 9:30am, pouring rain. Early-arrivals hid under the shed roof. |
The forecast said "showers until 10am" and by 10:15am, the skies were dry.
(a minor miracle...but the crowd was distinctly thinner due to the weather)
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| Ta-dahhhhh, no more rain. |
Fiddle and I don't worry to much about rain. We went to Canada, ready to PLAY!
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| Dressed up all purty. That saddle looks really puny without all the other junk I usually have tied to it! |
There was only one other horse/rider team in the "experienced-under-saddle Standardbred" division, and Darren and Hazeltoes were there to WIN!
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| In our circles, a "pace-y" horse is a good thing. |
When "gunning for home," Darren would holler "HYAAAAAH!" and Hazel would respond with a burst of speed.
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| Dressed all in pink, I think Darren needs to don a pink-and-pearls helmet like Patty wears if he really intends to rock the look. |
I'm pretty sure that Fiddle and I are allergic to "HYAAAAH."
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| Not a two-minute-mile pace. Rather, a 50-miles-before-dinnertime pace. |
Years ago when she and I (and Jim) attended this event, we tried for speed and ended up mis-communicating a bunch of stuff that I really don't enjoy the other 364 days of the year. So this year
we left out the "hyaaaaah," and just had fun trotting around poles and barrels and ropes and buckets and stuff.
Consequently, we finished first in only one event:
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| the egg-stomp |
Because, Guess Who is perfectly willing to stomp stuff?
There were plenty of green-under-saddle standies
looking good and
having fun.
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| Countess, ridden by Alina (red shirt) did very well at the Games, and she is available for adoption at Greener Pastures! Whoever adopts her will get a really nice horse. |
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| The bay mare in blue socks is also looking for a new home via her owner. 12 years old, 16.1hands, very solid mind. Send me a note if you want to be put in contact with the seller. |
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| Adding a layer of green sparkling pixie dust |
This little gelding has got a lot of forward energy, and Erin is happy to keep up with him.
And face it: she's already got the fashion sensibility of an endurance rider!
My goals for the day:
- Have fun
- Complete each event with a smile
- Meet new people and new horses
- Support Greener Pastures
Mission.
Accomplished.
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| First place in egg-stomping, second (and last) place in everything else. I'm good with that. |
Especially the part about the smiling.
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| My mare is HAPPY! |
You know how it is.
(Good. It's good.)
Next time Ben and I will hope to be there!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun day! Love that smile, and those happy Dragon ears!
ReplyDeleteMHF: I would *love* to lead a whole caravan of 'Murken Standies up to the event next time.
ReplyDeleteFUNDER: I was just wondering if other people had noticed how much *happier* the Dragon is post-spay. I think it shows up in the pictures. Your thoughts?
OMG, is that Fiddle nose-to-nose with another mare???
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a lot of fun:)
This looks like SUCH a fun day.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the Egg Stomp! No surprise to those of us who have heard those "stories" about Fiddle! :-) What a Great Way to spend a Great day! I won't say "fun" because Dom already did! :-)
ReplyDeleteyou sure got your presentation down. you look wonderful. i was thinking, those studs on the bridle are the perfect way to teach a rude horse not to rub its head on people. every time it tries, it will end up hurting someone, so perhaps it will learn eventually that no one lets it do that, ever.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to print out your goals for a "successful" day at a show and put them up in the tack room! Beautiful.
ReplyDelete