Nice To Meet Me!

Just a few more horse show moments for your viewing pleasure! Shannon and I set up the new barn display on Saturday night after we had driven 11 hours. The nice (but so very effeminate) trainer who shared our barn row chain smoked and chatted with us as we worked. Then his pug named Lana, (as in Lana Turner), went to the bathroom in our freshly-laid bark. But I love, love, love how the display looked! Shannon has named the 2 horse head statues Nigel and Octavius.

Rocko spent the first few days working out all those travel kinks. He got to run as fast as he could at the end of a very long rope. At the other end of the rope was a very small girl trying to hang on as best she could. He got away once and went for a little adventure, visiting horses from the other show going on at West World. He has a very healthy ego and we always imagine him saying to other horses, "My name's Rocko. Nice to meet me!"

I call this one "Little Girl Wear Ugly Rust Breeches, Fixing Jumps".

The obligatory shot of Shannon getting on Rocko. So entertaining.

Now that they are jumping so high, their division included a "jog" where the rider trots their horse into the ring and past the judge, so that the judge can see that the horse is sound and not lame in any way. This was a new skill for both Shannon and Rocko. Some horses don't like to do the jog and have to be chased in or have dirt thrown at them by their Mexican grooms to get them going. Rocko was a little confused at first, but caught right on and looks very happy trotting in with his little mother.

 (BTW, we don't have Mexican grooms. The rich people have Mexican grooms. We love to clean stalls and feed & water the horses. And, take my word for it, no one can shine up a horse as well as I can. There are Mexican grooms who just hang out at West World, hoping to get a job as the new shows come in every week. And we always tell them "no thanks". Then they laugh at us while we struggle with a wheelbarrow full of manure.)

Thank heavens we don't show on Sunday! While everyone else was having exhaustion-fueled meltdowns, Shannon could relax and just take Rocko for a walk to stretch his legs. He's a bit of a ham:

It was a good show. Nice and warm, S & R gained a bunch of important experience, and no one died.