This week was long... hot... wet... cold... frustrating at times... tiring toward the end because I got a cold on Thursday.... and sad at the end because Cue Ball, one of the wranglers, left to get ready for school yesterday.
I'm still working through the cold, and I just hope that I will get over it in the next day or two. I despise being sick.
Anyway, we had Discovery kids (4-6th graders) this week... "little babies," as we call them. Their attention span was SO SHORT that barn classes were frustrating and arena classes didn't make a ton of progress... but they did make some, and they did quite a bit of trot work in the arena on Friday. On the plus side, they were quite cuddly, a few in particular. That age group is just adorable and tends to bring out my 'mom' side... heh.
We performed the drill for probably the last time yesterday, since Cue Ball is gone now... we would have to practice it with 6 people instead of 7, and we probably won't have time to do that. I really enjoy doing the drill, and while our last performance of it wasn't top-notch (some of the horses were acting up), at least we didn't have any big collisions or injuries (other than Indy's leg getting banged up). Einer was pokier than ever and refused to go faster than a medium canter even though I carried a crop (like a small whip) and popped him with it enough to get any reasonable horse going faster.
On Thursday we had a free afternoon because guest trail rides were done with for the week, so Indy had us clean sheaths (don't ask... really. don't ask.) which was moderately gross... and then we got to ride the Belgians.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Belgians are draft horses, which means that they are large-boned, muscular horses that are very very tall. Pete, the taller of the two, is 18 hands or 72 inches--that's 6 feet--tall from the bottom of his front hoof to the top of his shoulder (or withers). For comparison, the horse I usually ride--Tye--is probably about 15 hands, or 5 feet, tall at the withers. Getting up on the Belgians was interesting (I had to lift my foot to above waist height to reach the stirrup, then hoist myself up from there) but riding them was really really cool--Jay (the one that I rode) has an awesomely smooth trot and canter. Their strides are enormous because of their sheer size, but for whatever reason, instead of having an up-and-down movement to his trot (as in most horses) it was much more side-to-side and really easy to sit.
On Saturday I went to the county fair and visited my family for the afternoon... my sister, brother and friends are all showing animals there (goats, alpacas, and sheep/goats, respectively) so I got to hang out with them for a bit and walk around the fair. I bought a couple pairs of earrings (yes... I have a hard time resisting sparkly stuff, especially when combined with dangly earrings), ate some fair food, petted some animals, viewed some exhibits, and reminisced about the old days when I showed at the fair. In the poultry barn there are usually some posters up with fair photos taken in previous years, and there was one from 2000 with me showing a chicken (I think her name was Penny) at the age of 11. What a nerdy kid I was! Bangs, hair back in a braid (it was pretty long back then too), enormous round glasses, and of course the unflattering show clothes (black jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt). Pretty awkward. I think I'm still awkward now, I just hide it better.
My sister is showing goats for the first time this year, and she won Reserve Grand, with her best friend coming in Grand Champion ahead of her. She was pretty thrilled, considering that she was going up against a lot of more experience showmen--and in the senior class too, which is all high schoolers and they get grilled pretty hard on scoring. She's a talented one for sure...
Just two more weeks of camp left now, and a week of cleaning and then Labor Day camp. Jr High girls again... should be a welcome change from the younger kids.
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