Just a quick snippet of the cute (and scary!) Halloween costumes at Fallbrook Riders Field today at the Fallbrook Silver Spurs Fall Schooling Show…
All of Kids Horsin’ Around entries got ribbons – Jessika is the beautiful Renaissance lady on Challenge; Jolie is the Viking w/mini-Viking Emmy – and they won first place overall!! – Erin is the cat on Tango the mouse; and Kristin is the zombie leading mini-skeleton Sugar! The costume contest took place during lunch break, after we had completed the English part of the schooling show.
Kids Horsin’ Around had several first time riders at the show and they all did very well!!! We are so proud of our horse and rider teams!! More pictures and a video to follow. (But I just couldn’t wait to share these cute, creative costumes from today’s show!!!)
Today family, riders and staff spent all day preparing for the Fallbrook Silver Spurs Fall Open Schooling Show scheduled for tomorrow at Fallbrook Riders Field. We did a practice run on the classes the riders would be showing in. For some of the riders,this will be their very first show! It’s so exciting for them! (and a bit nerve-racking!)
Then we spent a good part of the day washing horses, cleaning tack and trying on show clothes.
We will also have some really great entries for the Halloween costume contest to be held during lunch. And there was a lot of fitting and adjusting and getting the horses used to their costumes. Wait ’til you see the creative costumes we’ve got in store for the show!!!
DLaw Productions will be with us to capture the entire day on film!
Another fun birthday party at Kids Horsin’ Around, wonderfully captured on video by DLaw Productions. As some of you may know (from personal experience!) YouTube is pretty picky about publishing videos that have an audio you may not have the rights to! This video was not even done processing when they snatched the music from it! Original was so much better! Miley Cyrus singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”!!
What you’re hearing is an “audio swap” by YouTube...it’s better than nothing! (It is incredibly strange watching these videos without any music!!)
The birthday girl, of course, got the original, cool version!
Here’s a little clip from our petting zoo. It was taken with my iPhone and you can see the phone case blocking the lens on the bottom right corner. Sorry, I know that’s very annoying.
In this clip you’ll meet Buzz and Woody, twin Nubian goats about 3 months old. Then there’s Wilbur the Pot Belly pig and his harem of chicks! And numerous onlookers of the equine persuasion.
The San Diego Polo Club Closing Day USPA Spreckel Cup Finals at Rancho Santa Fe
This weekend, our field trip took us to the Closing Day USPA Spreckel Cup Finals at The San Diego Polo Club in Rancho Santa Fe. A fast paced game on horseback, with incredible feats of “how-the-heck-did-he-stay-on?” surrounded by people who obviously know how to have a good time. Boy! This was fun!! Polo is played on a field that could hold 9 football fields! The riding was spectacular, although Sally Swift would have been aghast at their lack of apparent “balanced and centered” riding. I say “apparent” because these riders never fell off going at break neck speeds with arms and legs flailing around, so they had to have good balance; they certainly were amazing to watch! The horses – thoroughbreds – were athletic and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the game. Horses held on the side lines for change out, never took their eyes off the field, and intently watched the ball in play. At half-time the fun and informative announcer beckoned the crowd out onto the field to fill in the divets. The match went into over time, with Tri Tech scoring the winning goal. They rode victoriously off the field to The Black Eyed Peas “Let’s Get it Started”. My kind of people – now if I could just get a polo pony!!
Next weekend we’ll be attending the annual REINs benefit Hoedown! Join us for a night of good food, fun friends, dancing, silent auction – all for a great cause!!
One of the first things you’ll notice about our new pot belly pig is that his behavior is somewhat inappropriate for a children’s petting zoo – he is constantly seeking out a new “friend” to love on. Sorry, Wilbur, but that’s gotta stop!
So, as the doctor’s snapping on his plastic surgeon gloves he announces the bad news – Wilbur’s cryptorchid.
Why is this such bad news?
1. It will cost more money to find the missing orb.
2. It will take more time to find the missing orb.
After much searching, the doctor found what he was looking for but it was in such a precarious location that he couldn’t remove it safely, and so left it there, deep inside the abdominal cavity. Which means…
3. Wilbur may only get half an attitude adjustment!!
The one outside came off easily. (Easy for me to say!)
Wilbur was given a shot of antibiotic in the butt, sprayed with some silvery topical antibiotic; about an hour after it had all begun, he woke groggily stumbling around, not really sure where he’d been. Good pig!
Our new petting zoo is up and running, and absolutely loved by all!! We have our bunnies (the mom and her four daughters – dad’s still in solitary confinement until we get ‘im fixed) out hopping around; 6 new chicks (2 Ameraucanas and 4 Barred Rocks); two baby Nubian Goats (already fixed; no horns!); the minis – Emmy & Sugar; and Zim, the Welsh Pony)
It’s a big hit with everybody, but I must tell you, those goats are REALLY LOUD!! and driving me nuts with their bleating!! According to Goat World, Nubians are considered a noisy breed…guess I should have read up on them first!!
But, they seem to be somewhat appeased by alfalfa, as is the rest of the grazing animals at Kids Horsin’ Around. In fact, I would have to say that alfalfa is everybody’s favorite food! The horses, and now the goats, will wait and wait with troughs filled with Bermuda grass or 3-way hay, if they think there’s a slight chance of getting the coveted alfalfa – it’s about the only thing they’ll all fight over.
Yesterday afternoon, we took a trip to the Anza Borrego Desert to visit the Sulphur Springs mares and their growing foals! We stopped in a small village, Ranchita, to get gas. All we got was a chance to pose for the ultimate touristy shot with a ten foot tall Yettie!! (That’s Kristin the Yettie has hold of!) Luckily, from there we could coast all the way downhill into Borrego Springs, where the mares lived.
The foals (all totalled, ten now!) were very friendly, especially when offered a handful of alfalfa. The mares, still alittle distrustful of humans (understandably so) remained stand-offish. What a colorful bunch! When we’d had our fill oogling and petting the babies, we left to go visit with the Coyote Canyon stallions and Kathleen and Robert Hayden, founders of Coyote Canyon Caballos d’Anza, the non-profit organization overseeing the care of these magnificent horses until they can be returned to a free-roaming life in Southern California.
Besides the four stallions, there are two BLM burros there, who are so cute – they stole every body’s heart! Jessika got a chance to work with one of the more skiddish grulla mares; and I got to see my favorite, beautiful red-headed mare. (That’s her peering out from behind the chain-linked fence – isn’t she beautiful?!) I heard she’s a real pistol, tho! Feisty girl!
Gaia liked the stallions best. (Here’s her blog) They were very impressive – massive necks and muscular build. Looking forward to our next visit with the Coyote Canyon herd and Kathleen & Robert Hayden!
Yesterday, several riders and family members from Kids Horsin’ Around, went to Fallbrook Riders Field for an evening ride and picnic dinner. Jessika and Donnie rode in Challenge and May from Morro Street in Fallbrook. I trailered in Max, Tango, Flash and Star.
There was a horse for every rider! Erin loved the large arena for cantering Tango! She looks so good on him – the two of them will be showing at the next Los Vallecitos Riders open schooling show in September. Flash needs a few more outings before he’s ready to show! Continue Reading »
"Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily."
Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
1759-1805, German Dramatist, Poet, Historian
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