This weekend was the annual Equine Affaire! I look forward the Equine Affaire all year long. I feel lucky that it is only about an hour away. This year I took a day off of work to go. Then on Saturday returned with Brandon and Kestrel. We were so excited, we took this picture in the parking lot.
There are sooooo many things to see and do there. Tommy Turvey, for example!
And the Canadian Drill Team!!!
And Mr Pickles the saddle mule! I remember Mr Pickles from last year. Do you know that a female mule is called a molly? Because my sister's name is Molly, this information cracks me up. Maybe my sister is really a little tiny mule.
There are also plenty of things to buy at the Equine Affaire.
But the best part about going is getting to see the clinicians. Stacey Westfall was there, and Ken McNabb, and Julie Goodnight. And, as you see in this photo: Guy McLean.
Here's Guy under the tarp with one of his horses. The tarp training is particularly amazing to me because my brumby is terrified of big blue tarps. But Guy's horses trust him so deeply, he can fling the tarp all over them.
In this picture you can see two cute little feet poking out from under the tarp. My brumby would rather die than lay down under a tarp in a crowd of people.
The truth is, Guy McLean is not only an excellent horseman, he is an excellent human. This is a person who values horses with all of his heart. Plus, he also writes poetry about them. A poetry writing, horse loving, Australian cowboy??
Is it any wonder I had to hug him? He is one of my horse heroes.This is what happens at the Equine Affaire--you get to hug people who you admire so much.
Brandon and Kestrel were having a good time, but not
walking on air like me.
This booth is one of their favorites because there are knives and machetes there.
The day after the Equine Affaire, I donned my duster and aussie cowboy hat and tacked up my brumby. (I should have told Guy I call my mare a brumby.) You will see she is wearing her new breast collar from the EA. My idea when getting it was that the bright colors will tell hunters that this is a domesticated and adored pet, and not something to shoot at!
Out on the trail, Lilly loves this tree. She likes to stand next to it and rub her face on it. The last few times we have been out, she goes right up to this tree!
It was quite a lovely ride. We took the Ridge Trail and then went back via the Parallel Trail. Since the time changed, when I am out at 2pm, it feels more like 5pm. I will need to start getting to the barn earlier. I was happy to be wearing my duster because it is a lot like wearing a blanket.
I saw Getty sniffing at what I thought was a plastic bag but it turned out to be the remnants of an old hornet nest. Brandon thinks these are so cool, so I packed it carefully in my cantle bag and took it home with us. Speaking of cantle bags, I looked all over the EA for a vendor selling pink plaid cantle bags. There were none.
But on the trail, the new breast collar was everything I wanted it to be! Bill said we were as bright as a Christmas tree. And as merry!!
Until next time, Happy Trails.
2 comments:
We went to the Afffaire also!! (two hour drive for us) Almost go into sensory overload there is so much going on! Glad to see Miss Brumby has new reflective wear! Shocked you couldn't find a pink plaid cantle bag.... I'd have sworn they had EVERYTHING there, someplace.... :)))))
I knew you'd come home with something in pink! It's probably a good thing EA is so far from me--I know I'd spend money that I shouldn't. Does your Aussie hat have a helmet insert? I've seen some cowboy hats that do--who knew?
You look like you're ready to ride with the Man From Snowy River (one of my fav's)!
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