Slight Detour: Friends and Family at Spots of Fun

It was the dog-and-pony class at yesterday's Spots of Fun annual open horse show.

With three entries, Mike, the Border Collie, was on the mark for a top ribbon as he trotted around with his human and horse friends.

As usual, a Border Collie was once more demonstrating that Border Collies are adept at most anything.

Now, as an aside, let me tell you a story that our dad used to like to throw into dinner-table conversations, demonstrating the impact of the word "if."

If the dog hadn't stopped to go to the toilet, he would have caught the rabbit, and if I hadn't slipped in it, I would have seen the race.

I always liked that story but had never really seen it in practice until yesterday, although slightly modified.

In this case, if Mike hadn't left the arena to go Number 1, his team may have won the class.

And, after returning to the arena, if he hadn't stopped to go Number 2, he may still have had a chance to win the class.

No, the judge did not slip in it, but he did decide that Mike's two indiscretions could not be overlooked.

So, the red heeler, his horse and his human took first place. Mike seemed pretty oblivious about the crowd response and unconcerned about his performance. Sometimes it's just not a Border Collie Nation day.

In other news, the time I spent at the horse show was fun. In the morning, a bunch of outlaws and some blood relatives had gathered at the bleachers to watch Laurie show Barbara's horse Dusty in showmanship.

We had a good visit, and I was happy to catch up with my friends, the Piersons from Connell, Wash. I've watched Elaine, whose riding the brown, blanketed Appaloosa, since she was a young'un.

Elaine told me yesterday that she has graduated from Washington State University and, in two weeks, is starting her first career job in Liberty Lake. In the meantime, she's been enjoying her summer horsin' around.

And, for my blog editor and her daughter who are somewhere on a ferry in the Pacific, I had to take a photo of daughter Pam's classmates Sarah Marienau Mitchell and Monty Collison (the judge).

That was after Sarah noted that she and Monty had been hanging around inside horse show arenas for 40 years.

"We're old," she said to Monty. You can imagine my thoughts as one who knew them when they were both very young.

Barbara and Laurie had a great show with Dusty. I think Barbara came back to her trailer at the end of the show with two new belt buckles to go with all the ribbons.

That was after she had dumped her boots and spurs and changed into some cooler clothing. That was also after I'd locked myself out of my car. Happily, Willie came by the house, picked up the extra set of keys and rescued me.

Twas a fun day, seeing everyone and, as always all the horses and some of those canine friends.

I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all.

Happy Monday.

When they were about 5 and 4, respectively, my younger sisters had already earned a slogan: you hold it, and I'll ride it.

Not a lot has changed for Barbara and Laurie in the 50-plus years since then.