I'm sitting at the computer on Sunday night at almost 10:30 pm - where did the weekend go??
It was absolutely gorgeous outside - warm - sunny - summer-like. It was a great day to wake up early on Saturday morning to take four horses and three very excited girls to the Retreat World's Fair and horse show!
Chief, Cricket, Lakehills Texas, and Fargo didn't mind, either. They all came right through the doors in the early morning for hugs and grooming. Even Cricket jumped right into the trailer! Away we went, Lexi, Rachel, Lisa, and I for the 20 minute drive to the ridge. From 8:30-4:30 that day we had the time of our lives. Chief took a blue ribbon in one class and at least a couple of reds in other classes. Tex, on the other hand, was less than patient for Lexi and the poor darling girl really struggled to keep him standing quietly during the halter class. I saw her tears and kicked myself over and over again for taking Tex. Don't get me wrong- Tex is a wonderful, safe, gentle horse. ONE PROBLEM - he doesn't like to stand still! He will wag his tongue, push you with his head, or paw the ground. Once you are up on him and riding he is absolutely fine, but don't ask him to just stand there! I guess that is what made him such a great race horse (he made over $303,000 before we got him), but Lexi didn't deserve such a challenging day. We didn't take Remmie because he kind of got some marks on him from R Colelateral (Cole can be a bully at times), and I didn't want her marked down for that. So in a way it is my fault that she struggled so much. The good news is that she did place several fifth places Saturday and gave her best effort! Fargo and Rachel teamed up instead of Janimal and Rachel. She came away with three 3rd places, one 2nd place, and a fifth place. Way to go!
The girls were able to ride in the parade in Retreat, and Cricket was 100% fabulous under saddle and didnt' mind the commotion or the crowds one little bit. Amy A. got to ride her and I walked to assist the girls with any thing that came up. The most excitement we had was a donkey who decided to try to bail out of the back of a golf-cart type vehicle by going onto the roof - the halter and lead stopped her from making the great escape and it took three men to free her and lower her back down into the back of the vehicle. I was scared something terrible would happen but it all turned out okay.
We got a $500 donation to go towards the feed bill, which has climbed to $1,200. We are not allowed to order any more feed until this is paid off. Thank you so much, Ursula, for that donation. Ursula also has donated her pasture to four of our horses for the summer. We still have over $2,000 in hay bills. As long as we are not adopting out horses we have no way of paying on these unless we receive donations. Maybe an early Christmas gift that would be completely tax deductible?
Hope to hear from you and don't forget these dates:
Saturday October 11 - day ride at Yellow River in Iowa
Sunday, October 19 - day ride at Wildcat Mountain.
Join us if you can!!!
Hugs,
Susan
Sunday was spent with mom - she is going through a bit of a hard time and feeling as though she will never get better. We took her out to eat today and to her condominium. She cried a lot and it made me feel terrible to not be able to do or say anything that would make her feel better. I think she is completely entitled to her feelings at this point and we do support her but it is still so hard. Within two weeks she'll be discharged and, hopefully, back in her home with full time care.
If she doesn't return to her condo, she will come to either our home or my sister's, or split between the two.
