What a fun day at the dog show.....as far as winning ~ not so good, but as far as seeing friends, that was wonderful!
There was a total entry of 8 (3-3-1-1). Ty got Reserve to the blue-headed white shown on an earlier post....Soleil got Reserve to a gorgeous sable merle Oktoberfest daughter of Jessica Whitman's. In my book, Soleil didn't quite even deserve the Reserve, as she was absolutely horrendous in the ring. She was lunging, barking and galloping. People remind me that her darling mom was the same way, and I suppose I remember (Tirzah's mom also was the same way, so it certainly seems genetic). Then, Tirzah got BOS to BOV which was the Winner's Dog.......Coley Bear, (Ch. Easy To Spot Whirlaway HC) got dumped. Tomorrow is another day.
Anyway, the picture is of Ali'i in his new Kensington cotton summer sheet. I took a picture because the sheet will probably never look as good as when it's first new. We are in training for.........Tevis next year so I am doing everything Janine tells me (minus those pesky iron shoes), as I figure she has 6 buckles and 2 of her 3 riders finished this last year. Since I am not getting to Tevis on my own, I've "signed up" with her and so far I am very excited! The blanket part, I'm not and this particular blanket will be a transport blanket only when he is hot and sweaty from a ride. He has another one for the pasture and I've already found out who to call to fix it when it gets eaten by the other horses (or hung up on the fence!).
Anyway, I ride with Janine once a week, so she can make sure I am riding him properly (according to her training she did with him), and work him at home in the round pen 2-3x's a week. I also have to go out by myself which I hate 1-2x's a week. This last week was my first ride alone in almost a year, as I really haven't ridden him much since my 50 miler last year. We went out and did this particular hill 3x's and on the last time up, it was getting a little later in the day and I thought I saw a mountain lion standing in wait for me and my tasty little Ali'i. I was so terrified because as I looked up the road, I could see him just standing there in a "stalking" position. I rode forward bravely, then very terrified, I turned around to see if it truly looked like a mountain lion. I had to ride down the road probably 2/10ths of a mile and as I did, I was thinking to myself "Is this how I am going to die???". I finally turned back and looked again and noticed the mountain lion had not moved an inch and somehow I figured it was an optical illusion. So, I rode up the hill and sure enough, it was these wooden posts that lined the cliff side of the road. Thank God. I was free to ride again, though I did hurry a little as I still had another mile or so to get back to my truck & trailer. There will be many more rides alone on my quest for that buckle. Guess I just gotta just suck it up!!
