Saddle up!
We took Sophie to Ilderton this morning to see a horse show, and spent most of the afternoon hanging around with horsey folks and enjoying the atmosphere. I don't know a lot about horse shows, so I spent most of my time looking at how pretty they looked and how gosh-darned spangly many of the riders' uniforms are. I know the "horse people" that were at the event were looking at things like gait and how the horses held their heads, whether they responded properly to commands, etc. but as a casual spectator that's all a bit out of my league. I have received a bit of a horse-show-preparation education thanks to Linda, who was riding in today's show and was one of the reasons we decided to go. Did you know that show horses wear tail extensions, for example? Or that their hooves are painted before going in the ring? It's a whole new world, I tell ya! We enjoyed chatting with Linda before her performance, and also enjoyed a visit with Sophie's school friend Matt and his Mom Stephanie, who were at the event cheering on Matt's Grandpa. It was a nice social day in a new setting for us... we're checking the schedule and may head back to Ilderton for another show later in the summer.
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It was so great to see you guys at the show! Maybe Sophie will get bitten by the horse bug and you can become a "show mom" :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you brought me luck because that was a HUGE class and I was happy to place in it!
Linda
Thank you for introducing us to it - and congratulations on placing 5th out of 20 (that was a big class)! Sophie was sooo excited to show her friend Matt who you were when you rode into the ring (the stars on your sleeves made you easy for her to spot)!
ReplyDeleteI'm preparing myself for her Christmas wish list, which I suspect may now include "a horse"! I think we'll start small, with a riding lesson or two and see where that goes...
When you were about 4 years old we took you to see the RCMP Magical Ride in St. Andrews By the Sea in New Brunswick. Do you remember that?
ReplyDeleteOne of the things we discovered is that the Maple Leaf emblem so prominent on the horse's butt was created using a metal template. They place it on the honches and brush in the opposite direction of the hair. Voila... a Maple Leaf... and no harm to the horse. How cool is that!