Kathy, Marsha, Shannean and I rode with Patty for the party lesson yesterday morning. The girls missed out on their lesson because we had to work the Cowboy Mounted Shooting at the Tulsa State Fair - arrival needed by 4:00pm. But I did manage lunch with the riding club at Graham's in Inola.
The lesson was a mix of good and not - that's what I get for saying Good and Splash in the same sentence last week. We started a bit stiff but it was a chilly morning. After warming up, Splash gave me some good trot work and fairly decent leg yields from quarter line and center line. Canter departs were decent as well but canters were difficult to keep when going from straightline to bend. The bad was our work on shoulder-in. We would try a small circle in the corner after going across the short end with the idea of keeping the bend into the straight away along the long side. But Splash would loose ALL of his forward movement in the circle and we would come to a real standstill instead of any shoulder in. Very frustrating. When we skipped the circle, we got a couple of slight shoulder in's - so quit while were were not behind. I think I strained several muscles in the attempts. So, more work needed.
Home to drop Splash and pickup the girls to go to the Cowboy Mounted Shooting (CMS). Fair traffic was awful and we started out trying to park near Gate 7, were sent to the track infield and then to the other side of the fairgrounds by the Golden Driller. Even though we should have been an hour early, we were at the wrong gate 5 min. until our scheduled start time. So, a fair angel rode us in a golf cart around the grounds and delivered us the the Mustang Arena a 4 sharp - we rode the cart without helmets and survived.
If you haven't seen CMS you are missing an exciting sport. The riders run a pattern of poles/barrels and shoot balloons as they go. A missed balloon adds 5 seconds to the time and gun issues sometimes cause missed balloons along the whole line. The shooter takes aim at 5 one color balloons, changes guns and then goes for the remaining 5 different color balloons. Ear plugs would be a good idea if you go see this event. Check out info at http://www.okgunslingers.org/
The cool thing is that one of our own YaYa Sista's was competing in the CMS - Julie G was looking glamerous as she hunted down those pesky balloons. And! Under all that western glamor, she was in breeches. I think a CMS yaya name is in order. Also competing were Lisa V, Brittton C (4H boy) and Tammy E and Abby E (former cloverbuddy).
The 4-H horse club worked the shooting by setting balloons for the shooters. Very hard work with lots of running in the worked arena. During a break in the shooting, Texas Thunder made an appearance in the Mustang Arena. They were fabulous. The picture is of Kong, the biggest of the Priefert Hitch called Texas Thunder (priefertpercherons.com). Kong is 19 hands tall, weighs 2370 pounds, and is a wheel horse on the hitch. The lovely Priefert staff (Rose and Jason Goodman and crew) showed the 4H kids some of their work un-tacking the hitch and then brought Kong out for a close up inspection. What a fabulous animal. Remined me of the Magical, Magnificent, Marvelous, Mystic, Midnight Thunder Mountain - my wonderful WY mount. YAYA!
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