Tuesday, September 16, 2008
More on the show... (still got the videos from the show too in the previous post)Here
are some more pictures from the show. The moon was just stunning on
Sunday night so as we were packing up I snapped a shot of it coming up
behind the barns, it looked way better in person than in my picture -
for some reason my Cannon just was throwing way too much light into the
picture...but its nice anyway, that's Roper Doper in my truck.
I
noticed on CDN's blog that she also took a picture of the moon on
Sunday night. I always get a little sad when we pack up to head from a
show. It means all my good friends are going back to their homes one in
Central Wa – some in Southern Wa - some in Western Wa - 4 in Idaho -
one to Montana and one right near me. I know that we’ll talk via email
and over the phone but I also know I won’t see them all again for a
long time. My ponies load up to go to Lewiston without me and I head
home, but at least I had Roper with me so this time I didn't have to
head home alone like usual.
I have some pictures of Me and Pat here right after our Walk – Trot class. (Ain't he just cute!)
Some
shots of Stretch-O-Matic looking out from his stall – he prefers to be
able to do that if I close the stall door he will just open it again so
he can see out and flag down passers by with his cuteness and bum pets
off of random people. Both of my horses are horrible at bumming pets,
Stretch prefers to actively seek out pets by sticking his face right in
yours – while Pat sits back and lures people in by just looking cute as
pie – perking his ears forward and begging you to pet him. (Yes I know
Stretch's stall is dirty - but when you got the camera in hand you
might as well take some shots - both horses stalls are cleaned in the
morning and evening, this was between cleanings...)
Look here I am in my western attire for Horsemanship!
And this is just a random shot some people standing outside the arena waiting for their class.
Here
are some pictures of Patrick getting his braids out! Oh my gosh, while
I am glad I didn’t have to braid him, taking those suckers out took 30
min! I could have banded 2 horses in that time. My friend Tracey shows
up in one picture - she is who Joe hired as a groom. Tracey is
wonderful! And she braided Pat's mane originally...
Of course something screwy had to happen. 
Before
the Hunter Under Saddle Futurity started we had to wait on the side of
the arena for our names to be called and then trot down the middle of
the area for all the judges (3 total) to examine you. Well….while I was
waiting for my name to be called, this pigeon fluttered down from the
rafters and towards me and Stretch it looked as if it were going to
land on the arena rail right next to us or on the ground right near us.
Just
before the bird got to the rail it gained a little elevation (Joe was
continuously telling me to hold still so I did thinking the bird would
go away, as both me and Stretch were looking at the on coming bird with
a little apprehension) – just enough so that it perched itself right on
Stretch’s rump. I turned and looked and so did Stretch – I could feel
his skin twitch a little like they do to get a fly off, but the bird
stayed and started to settle itself. Stretch was just like “oh, there’s
a bird on me” not scared at all but looking on with his typical
fascination. I waved my hand a bit and the bird stayed, so finally I
whacked the darn thing off and said “Oh My God!” not like “I’m scared”
but like “I can’t believe this is happening to me – what the hell?!!”
Everyone
around me laughed, the judges laughed, the ring stewards laughed, and
the folks in the stands laughed….oh ha ha, he he, isn’t funny that bird
landed on me? Whatever. I was kinda annoyed at the bird. But it was
funny and I had nice rosy color to my cheeks and a pleasant grin on my
face just as they called my name and trotted down the line.
I
will never hear the end of that – all weekend I had to listen to bird
comments. “Hey Stef watch out for the pigeons!” “You know I think it
likes you, you should catch it and take it home.” “Maybe Roper would
protect you from the birds” And on, and on, and on….
But at least I am loved – our barn would get boring at times like this if it weren’t for me.