Day with Family & Horses

What a beautiful day! The puppies I'm staying with woke me up super early this morning. That's ok, it allowed me to gather my things as I am heading home this evening after house sitting for a week. It will be nice to see my own puppies. First thing this morning I swung by the small coffee/breakfast shop to visit with a friend for a bit. It is always nice to catch up. My friend has always been an inspiration to me in many ways. When ever I get a chance to spend sometime with her, it always warms my heart and I feel like I'm in a better place.


The Horse Show was amazing! We had bright clear sunny skies today! Although while we were sitting there, it did get a tad warm in the sun. My parents heard the show was having record crowds this year. I believe it, it was getting pretty packed when we were leaving.

Here are a few photos to share, as promised! My super-duper 12.5x zoom point and shoot camera I got for my birthday does a darn good job!

I really enjoyed the jumping lessons I did last year for a very short period of time. It was a LOT of work physically and mentally. I have a new profound compassion for riders that chose this style of riding. Someday perhaps I will venture to try it again when I have the time and money to devote to it.   

These are the calves that helped with the cutting classes. The little white guy was really the only one that wasn't afraid of me and my camera.

This Cowboy and his horse were amazing to watch! He controlled that cow every second he was in the arena! They were always 1/2 a step a head of the cow. Very exhilarating!!

This Cowboy and horse team were right on this cow as well! It was tough compeition out there. The crowd was going crazy! Man, I love this stuff! I'm looking forward to the cattle round up the end of March!

 You can tell by the way this Cowboy rides that he grew up in the saddle.

 Look at the horse's ears. He was ready to rock and roll with that cow!

This little guy must of worked the earlier classes and was taking a nap! The birds were pecking away at the goodies as well.  

After a while, we headed to the Equidome for some shade and to catch some of the Hunter Pleasure classes before lunch. The time and effort these folks put into their horses, outfits, and wet saddle blankets... amazing!

I loved the bronze statues they had out front. True cowboy bringing in a new calf that was just born. The way of life for a cowboy and his horse.

The sign under this water statue read, "Friends drink first!"

My family always enjoy purusing the vendors at these events, plus they had the air going in tents, so it was a perfect opportunity to get everyone cooled off! Check out this AMAZING coffee table. The statue is below and above the glass. I took a shot of the top of the table (see below.) Someday, I will have a home that I can add this too. Beautiful work of art. I saw about 10 photo/frames that I was ready to bring home as well. First, I need a bigger house and more walls. So they photos will have to wait until later.  

In addition, I believe I'm in the market for a new western saddle. Love the feather design in the lether and the accents. Right next to this saddle they had a HUGE black saddle with tigers and elephants etched into the leather. We quickly realized it was elephant leather! Wow, it was very impressive!

We spent some time outside watching the warm up arena while the riders prepared for the Ladies Side Saddle championship class. Some of these outfits were quite elaborate and very beautiful. Majoity of the tack matched the ladies outfits. This photo was the Champion. My Mom predicted this gal would win when we were watching all of the ladies during their warm up!

"Horses change lives. They give our young people confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled souls. They give us hope!" Toni Robinson