The Kids of 13 & Under at Spur

Equestrian Girl shows with a great bunch of kids on our little open circuit.  They all get along good and are friendly with each other.  You'd think they'd be super competitive but for the most part, they all just hang out between classes, joking around and being cool.  They are all pretty close in age - 11-13.  A few will move up to the next age bracket next summer breaking up their happy little club....


This is Mac.  She's Equestrian Girl's best competition.  They trade off on the High Point award every other show it seems.  Show clothes were optional so Mac skipped the jacket.

This is Mark's daughter that rides in the W/T classes with me on Connor.  She won this English Pleasure class!

This horse shares a pasture with Stanley and is owned by one of the barn owners.  The rider is the other barn owner's daughter.  They don't normally come to the Spur shows but did this time and unfortunately had a sore horse and didn't do so hot.

This is Mr. B.  He's one of the few boys that competes in this series and is one smart dude - very little competition for girls when you are the only guy!!

Miss T is a Spur old timer.  Her MOM showed in this series back when she was a teen and Miss T is carrying on the tradition.

And last but not least, my Equestrian Girl.

Mom's can win too!

Last Sunday we had an open horse show. This is the series, Spur of the Moment Horse Shows, that I have been doing the adult walk/trot classes and having a blast!  The first show I was pretty darn nervous - I admit it.  There were so many things to remember to do and Equestrian Girl was firing instructions from the rail every time I passed by.  I came out exhilarated but with an advanced stage of cotton mouth.

By now, this is the 4th show, I'm starting to relax and just plain enjoy the adventure.  This show was show clothes optional too so I didn't have to sausage myself into those darn chaps either.  As a distraction for Equestrian Girl, I posted her with the camera and demanded lots of pictures of me and my competition - figured it might cut down on the peanut gallery comments!!

Before we went in the arena I had a bit of a Johnny Cash look going.  Stanley looked slightly bored but he likes doing walk/trot with me.  I ask very little of him and he knows when to walk and trot based on the announcer's voice.  I think he might even know when to change direction.  This is all good considering I'm so focused on equitation and keeping my chin up.  I just trust him to do his thing!!

There were only 4 of us in the class.  I actually entered the arena first but the other horses had much faster walks than Stanley.

This is Sue.  I don't really know her but she's friends with several other people that I do know quite well.  I think this was her first show.  She looks happy!

Mark is my walk/trot partner. He's done all the shows with me this year and is holding the first place spot for equitation.  He's brave for riding his daughter's Morgan - Connor can be a bit nutty at times.

I don't know this guy's name but his little haffie is just too cute!  I guess it's his daughter that rides him in the kid's walk/trot classes and does pretty good.

Then me.  I learned yesterday I need more bend in that straight arm.  My equitation leaves a lot to be desired but we win pleasure every time because Stanley is so darn good.  Trail goes good too when I remember where to go!

Class is almost done and the judge has us line up.  She had some...um...different opinions than I would have hoped for and expected but that's what makes horse showing so interesting.  Every judge has an opinion and they just don't all match.  She did make the club's "do not call again" list though.

The end.  Actually this was before we even started when I was giving Stanley a little pep talk and pat.  I remind him he has to take care of me out there and do all the stuff he's supposed to do so I don't have to think about it.  He does.

And back to MOOOO Town again!

I've never milked a cow.  I should put that on my "bucket list" considering how cute I think they are.

In the horse world we'd call this color Blue Roan.  I think it's beautiful on a cow.

Those eyes slay me!

This one has Shar Pei wrinkles!

These two were telling secrets.

How now brown cow?  Ooh, that was bad.

It took everything I had not to go give this little girl a pillow.

The end.  Bwwwaaaaa!!

Waaa Waaa (sounds like BaaaBaaa)

While I would have thought goats were quite like sheep, apparently mid-afternoon is NOT their nap time.  Most of them were awake and all too happy to be photographed.  They also come in an astounding variety of shapes and colors.

This type has basset hound ears and heads dipped in brown paint.

This one would look like a little white fawn if it weren't for those weirdo goat eyeballs.

What's that African deer animal - a gazelle? - that looks like this.

A lot of the goats came running up to the edges of their cages.  They probably wanted to eat my dangling camera strap.

Is this a goat in sheep's clothing?

Okay, this one DID just wake up and was doing his stretches.

I'm not even sure what you call this color but it was way cool!

This little guy was so freakin' cute with his blue eyes that he came very close to getting smuggled out in my camera bag.  I would have brought him back when he got big though so that's not fair.

Another camera hog with those big floppy beagle/basset hound ears!

BaaaaaaBaaaaaaa!!! Yeah, time for sheep!

It was mid-afternoon when I got over to the sheep pens.  Apparently that's nap time.

Most of them were stretched out dozing a way.

And then I got to this big guy.  He was NOT asleep.  He was standing guard.  He was not to be messed with either.

BaaBaa White Sheep had just woke up.

And somehow they snuck in a whooly mammoth sheep but he was half asleep too.

See!  Everyone dozing!

What sound does a rabbit make?

When your name is Bubba, you don't need to make a sound.

And bunnies do NOT snore.

But sometimes they make little rustling noises when they eat their blue ribbons!

Cock-a-doodle-do!!!

Last spring we raised a few chicks that later went on to show at the 4-H fair.  Well, one of them did.  The other two met their fate at their new home when a wild beast discovered a tasty dinner.  But none of our chicks looked like these.  I know chickens come in lots of sizes and shapes but I was seriously surprised that there were THIS many varieties!

This is what I think of when I think of a chicken.  MY eggs come from chickens that look like this.  I'm just sure of it.  Maybe.

I believe this is a rooster.  He was not happy to have his photo taken.

I think this was his wife.  She might be laying an egg.

I thought this was a grouse.  It's not.

She didn't like her photo taken either though she was quite beautiful.

Or maybe my eggs come out of chickens like this one.  

This one attacked me after the flash went off!

If not for that little black beak I'm not sure I could tell this one front from back!

This pair must have been good.  They got conjugal visits.

I don't think I've ever seen softer looking feathers.  She was like down all over.

This big guy won my award for longest feathers.

His reverse image buddy was a close second.

Mr. Big Guy scared me.  Isn't that the evil eye?

Lessons learned:  chickens come in all shapes and sizes and some do NOT like getting their picture taken at all.