Family/Friends/Fun @the Horse Show

 

The picture above is both good and bad.  

It's good because those were my two horses competing in the same class.

It's bad because Lily had not seen CB for more than two months, and when she did, she wanted to make up for lost time. 

You see, CB thinks Lily's his mother, and Lily takes the role seriously.  

Taking the role seriously in a horse show class is not a good thing for Lily.  She gets distracted from her real in-the-moment job. I was incredulous when we won a third place ribbon out of four horses.  I expected to be last. 

Lily did not behave her best in yesterday's afternoon classes at the Spots of Fun show, but she was a good girl when Annie rode her in the morning. 

Annie and Lily took fifth place in a class of ten. For a rider who hasn't competed since she was about 13, that's pretty neat. 

Annie also managed to stay cool, calm and collected while Lily did her antics in the later class.

Fortunately, CB did not let Lily's antics distract him from his job in a fairly large Western pleasure walk-trot class.  

He did not place, but Mary was quite pleased with his performance, as was I.  

And so, the goals for this show were happily accomplished:  to see what the young'un could do in his first horse show, to watch Annie get back into showing and for me to ride in the "Golden Oldies" class, which included folks 60 and older.  

It's very possible I was the oldest---by far.  

Therefore, I was quite pleased to have made it from start to finish under my own control and to dismount at the mounting block and not in the arena with Lily helping me hit the ground. 

Yesterday's show was definitely a family affair.  I turned my camera over to family members who took most of the photos, and they did a pretty good job of catching the action.

Pardon me if this post is a bit "family" heavy, but in addition to the goals above, seeing a large number of family (which DOES include "outlaws" together) is always fun and memorable. 

So, thanks to Laura and Willie for help with the photos.  Also, thanks to Debbie, Heather and Marlo for helping out with the Lily and the mounting block. Thanks to all family members who provided a fun cheering section.  

Finally, thanks once again to Mary for giving CB the best start I could have ever imagined. 

Once again, the annual Spots of Fun Open Horse Show featured a lot of spots AND a lot of fun. Moreen, Kenny and family, you put on a great show!   

Sister Barbara showing Dusty in Ranch Horse showmanship.
 

Three siblings:  Laurie, Kevin, Marianne---representing Batch One and Batch Two in our family.
 

Annie on Lily, Laurie on Siri in the warm-up ring.
 

Yes, I had a good time. 

Marlo and her mom Heather. 

Nearly four years ago, Marlo participated with her brothers in the naming of CB, whose name honors the memory of her dad Cazzie Brown. 

Bill, Grace, Debbie and Kevin

Cell phones were busy yesterday.
 

Some fun outlaws and family members.
 

Maryann and my sister Laurie visiting. 

My friend and high school classmate Helen is trainer Mary Marienau's sister-in-law and bus driver extraordinaire for West Bonner County School District. 

Helen and I enjoyed our first visit in more than 15 years.  Great seeing you, Helen and your sis JoAnn.
 

Mary and CB

Siri and Dusty having a talk. 

Lily may not have behaved her best for me yesterday, but that didn't matter.  I knew I was riding a beautiful horse, and it felt great.
 

Jodi, Roxzene, Barbara and Annie

Gini Chapin and Mary Marienau

Annie watching a video which her Uncle Kevin took during her first class. 

The End.