Monday, August 23, 2004
Home At Last Where do I begin? I’m tired, happy, overworked and justified. What a combination. The whole month up to now is a blur which ended with a huge bang! The Michigan State Fair sure was awesome. We had a great time but were so busy with the horses that we didn’t get a chance to do anything there. I will get the results of our last 3 fairs out soon. We have really been happy with our results. We did get an interesting call while at the state fair from our neighbor. Seems that someones horse got loose and was hit by a car – my greatest fear. It happened right in front of our house and everyone thought it was our horse but alias it wasn’t. Thank goodness for that! I feel bad for the horse owners who not only lost a horse but in this day and age I’m afraid that they might risk a nasty legal battle over damage to the car as well and for that matter, I don’t know if anyone was hurt. It’s a sad day that we live in with all the law suits going on. While at the state fair we caught up with photographer Jim Finton who does is a regular on the county fair and horse show circuit. Poor guy was also in a terrible horse related accident in July when a wheel horse of a 4-up tried to mount the lead horse and all hell broke loose. Poor guy sure was beat up and is so lucky to be alive after all that. He tried to help out but got trampled instead. I hope that he heals up soon and is able to get back to taking those outstanding shots that we enjoy so much.posted by Chris @ Real Horses @ 2:36 PM
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Thursday, August 12, 2004
Still at Home Duane and Lauren are gone and I’m home all alone. I had planned on taking some time off work both this week and next but I’m so buried with work at the office that I chose to work all this week and take care of the remaining animals at home. I will be taking 3 days off next week for the State Fair. For now it’s just me, the dogs, cats, fowl, my old horse Hawk and mini donkey Jules. Hawk is beside himself since his filly went to the show as well. This will be the first show for our home bred yearling filly and I’m very anxious to see how things go for her both in how she behaves as well as how well she places. I of course think the world of her but she is my “kid” and we all know how a “mother” views her children. She got a clip job the other day and was great…. With the twitch on. Didn’t move an inch so it was a positive experience. Hopefully there will be a time when she won’t need the twitch but for now it’s a start. She looks so mature all cleaned up with her mane pulled, ears and face clipped.I really am depressed about not being there with everyone. I will meet up with my family Friday nite but will have missed the halter classes. At least I’ll be there to hitch and drive Ladies Cart. I didn’t sleep hardly at all last night. Woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up and headed in to work at 5. At least I’ll get home early tonight thanks to flex time. I’m gonna stop by a fabric store on my way home today. Yesterday I saw a 50% to 70% off sign out there – they are moving the store so I’m hoping for some deals on purple, grey or white fabric. It always seems like I need more of that for odd and ends – like the new display table that Duane built. He painted it purple so it looks nice but I would like to see it with a table skirt and our new logo. The stall drapes will be making their debut at this show. A big hug and many thanks go out to the Prill ladies for their efforts in hemming these for us. Still a whole bunch of work to be done on those, putting on our farm name, logo and stripes – it never ends. Duane is going to be making a type of awning for the valance so it can be back lit. Big dreams on a small time budget, I think that I will finally acquire all that is needed and be satisfied with our efforts when we are ready to retire ;-}. I’m going to get some silkscreen paint/ink to do the logo and farm name on our drapes next week and that will be our next project once we get home from the State Fair.
posted by Chris @ Real Horses @ 8:37 AM
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Sunday, August 08, 2004
SAGINAW COUNTY FAIR - Results It was interesting being in a circus type tent but it worked out alright. Since the fair moved (see further info about this in my prior post), this is the first time that we have gone back and I'm glad we did. We finally got to hook the unicorn and we couldnt be prouder of how well they worked at the first real go in the show ring. Hank was an absolutly perfect lead horse and is a total gem (Huge bear hug for the little guy that has more heart then a lion).Sr. Gelding Halter - Barney, 2nd Place
Sr. Gelding Halter - Doug, 3rd Place
Matched Pair - Doug & Barney, 2nd Place
Youth Showmanship - Lauren w/Doug, 1st Place
HITCH RESULTS
Mens Cart - Barney, 2nd Place
Ladies Cart - Doug, 4th Place
Youth Cart - Lauren with Hank, 2nd Place
Team - Doug & Barney, 2th Place
Unicorn - Doug, Barney & in the lead Hank, 3rd Place
On to Huron, Bad Axe Michigan. Just stopping home to catch up on messages, care for livestock and replenish our feed. Halter on Friday and Hitching on Saturday. I heard that there will be 4 good Percheron hitches there in addition to the 2 or 3 local boys. It's gonna be quite a show.
posted by Chris @ Real Horses @ 10:43 PM
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Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Horse show madness Its official, it begins tomorrow. 24 days straight away from home showing at 4 different shows. We actually paid entry fees for this abuse ;-} Note to self – have head examined. Lauren comes home tomorrow afternoon to hit the shows with us. I will be very happy to have an extra pair of hands and she loves the horses. I am blessed! We did a couple warm up shows so I’m hoping that things will go smoother now. It seemed that the last show was a bit smoother for us, but then again it was hitching only and not overnight. It seems that we have to take everything but the kitchen sink when we go overnight and for this run we will be gone many nights. At least we will be close enough to be able to make trips home to pick up supplies (horse feed and such) and check on the animals remaining at home between each show. Thank goodness there are a couple down days at the show grounds for each show. On the good side, we won’t need to work the horses since they will be worked for the judges. I must admit that I am concerned about the conditions at the Saginaw fair. Turns out that there are no wash racks and that if you wash your horse or equipment you must do so from a bucket for both the wash and the rinse. How the heck is that possible to rinse from a bucket. So everyone will be in the same boat at least but that will suck. Guess I’m going to have to give the boys a wash job at home tonight or Duane will need to do so tomorrow before he takes them over to the fairgrounds. I also understand that the horses are housed under a “circus” tent, which under normal circumstances would not be a problem but we have had a huge amount of rain the last couple days which make me concerned about the stalls being dry – rather the drainage or lack of drainage in the area. I’m sure that the fairgrounds will be very nice when they are done. They were moved from being actually in Saginaw to Chesaning because of a number of gun fights and abductions that happened in Saginaw during the fair. This will be the 3rd year for the fair being held in Chesaning so I look forward to them getting better with each year.posted by Chris @ Real Horses @ 11:18 AM
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Sunday, August 01, 2004
SANALAC COUNTY FAIR - Results Like last year, the Sanalac Fair in Sandusky Michigan is a Hitch only day show. The weather was very pleasant with over cast sky's and sprinkles on and off most of the day. The rain was just enough to keep everyone cool. The competition was great and a fun time was had by all.HITCH RESULTS
Mens Cart - Barney, 2nd Place
Ladies Cart - Doug, 3rd Place
Team - Doug & Barney 4th Place