Horse Entertainment

I admit it. I miss my horses.

I tried to get a horse fix tonight (and mostly succeeded) by doing something totally Las-Vegas-Tourist-y. I went to the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur Hotel. I found out if I'd wanted to get into the stables, I should have gotten there before 1:00 so as not to interfere with the horses getting pretty for the show. Drat.



It was fun, and I would *love* to train Lena and Bar well enough to, oh, joust, deal with fireworks, have sword-fighting riders, etc. I admit we may have a long way to go, though.

At the very end, a couple of the riders and their horses stayed in the arena to talk to the guests, so I had a chance to touch soft horse noses and talk about riding with the actors.

I also helped convince a couple kids it was okay to get close to the horses so their parents could take pictures. Horse are big, and if I were a smaller human, it might take a little bit of coercion to convince me sitting next to a large horse I just saw racing around the arena was a good idea. Especially Diablo, a 14-year old Fresian who had the role of the bad guy's horse.

He's a big baby, though, and very affectionate with his rider--a nice guy (despite the dragon face paint) who has been riding Diablo for 5 years and told me he's the only one who rides that particular horse. They had quite a relationship which was cool to see. (No, didn't get the rider's name, just the horse's.) The nameless rider says Diablo makes everyone miss their horses.

The only downside about these horses is that they are so well-groomed that my hand didn't smell like horse after petting them. Oh, well. It was still a pleasure to watch such wonderfully trained (though still feisty and energetic) horses.

The rest of the show was a lot of fun, too. :)

Lena Update and Las Vegas

I'm back in Las Vegas again, only this time it's for Photoshop World instead of Paint Vegas.

Lena is doing fine, feeling feisty and acting her normal carrot-hungry self. I made sure I stopped by the barn this morning to tell them both good-bye and get one last horse fix before I left. And, yes, to listen to Lena's belly and check the manure pile in her pen. All is well by what I can tell from those two things--and her attitude, of course.

I can never decide for sure if leaving her alone is the best thing, but I'm pretty sure transmitting my own worries and fears in a loud emotional broadcast isn't going to help her heal.

On the Bar side of the paddock wall, he and I had a great ride yesterday in the indoor arena, playing with obstacles and (gasp!) cantering! Yes, I finally just did it and it felt pretty darn good. It was too hot to do a lot of work, and I didn't have a lot of time, but we had fun and I didn't hit the ground! Woo! He likes it when he knows he did a good job, and I like it that I'm working through my nervousness because he is so darn fun to ride when I'm not a big stress ball.

So to reward him, I chased him around with the camera this morning. Poor guy, he sure puts up with a lot from me--including my Farmer John coveralls. (They hold lots of carrots, though.)

Big Horse Shows

Big horse shows are big.

A week ago today, Katie and I were on our way back from our whirlwind trip to Vegas, back from our first experience with a big horse show. We decided if we do this next year, staying one more night would be good. Of course, Katie is already planning Lena's Paint Vegas barrel racing debut, too.

Back to last week. Because the arena had to be completely reconfigured, cutting was scheduled for the last day. On one hand, we missed most of the events, but on the other hand, things in the barn were pretty quiet.

The hotel itself is set up as an equestrian event center, with permanent stalls and a good-sized arena. All you had to do to find the barn was follow your nose. Some poor kid spent all day Sunday vacuuming the carpet of the alcove that led to the barn.

We got to our room - up on the 23rd floor - and managed to catch Cheri and Tiffany by phone right as Amber was going down for a nap, so had a couple of hours to kill.

We went to have lunch, then went to find the horses. Cheri had told me they brought seven horses from Slide, but when we got to the stalls, we only recognized six of them. I saw Vinnie first, then Cooper, Truly, Annie, Too Much Pepper and Peaches. But we couldn't figure out who number seven was. Turns out it was "Lena," another Lena, who they were using as a help horse.



We perused the gift show - gravitating instantly towards the most expensive headstalls available. Katie declined the opportunity to watch some of the Western Pleasure events and we headed back to our room. She didn't quite run away screaming, but close. On our way back through the hotel casino, where we dodged dazed gamblers and cheerful cocktail waitresses, we found Ike. He suggested Katie go up and change for the upcoming practice session right as Tiffany called me to say Amber was up from her nap. Nice timing all around, I'd say.

Amber and I hung out, trying to stay out of the way and find somewhere to sit after the cleaning staff kicked us out of the stands. Katie helped keep the horses warmed up, trotting and loping them in the practice arena, switching out as the horses each took turns with the practice cows. The cattle were - according to Tiffany - gross and nasty, running headlong into the horses instead of moving away.

The cattle did improve the next day - here are Ike (and Vinnie) watching as the helpers settle a group of cattle.



It was hard to watch the cutting and watch Amber, but there were some great runs on some truly excellent horses. Unfortunately, my pictures are mostly blurry because of how fast everyone was moving and because we were indoors. Amber spent time watching the cutting, watching me take pictures of the cutting, looking at the pictures I took, and climbing up and down the stairs with me right behind her. I got a great work out! Probably the most amazing thing was how long Amber played with her Play-doh. I don't think I've ever seen a 2-year old play with anything for 4 hours straight. Ever! I did get in trouble with her, though, for yelling "too loud" during Tiffany and Truly's Non-Pro run. I told her I had to, it was for her mommy. :-)

All of Ike and Cheri's horses made the finals, which was really cool, and Tiffany got reserve champion in both the Open and the Non-Pro categories. In the Non-Pro, she was only behind the leader by a measly 0.5 points, but she had a really exciting ride. (Hence the aforementioned "too loud" shouting.)

It was a fast trip, and I would have liked to spend more time with the Slide folks, but the time we did spend was pretty special. I got to watch Katie reconnect with riding and with people who really treat her as if they like her. (Because they do, of course.) I got to be reminded that there are people out there who really appreciate and enjoy wild and crazy - and smart - horses like Lena. That was a pretty special suprise to get out of this trip and one of the many reasons it was worth going.

And it was wonderful to come home to Lena Rey and Steve and share the after-glow of that gift with them.

Congtratulations, Slide Mountain crew! You guys are awesome!

Paint Vegas tomorrow

Katie and I leave tomorrow morning, early. We're all packed, big belt buckle and all.

It will be interesting, we think, no matter what all happens.

More to come, I promise. :-)

Vegas, here we come

I've made my reservations for Paint Vegas and am really looking forward to going!

Not only will it be great to see the Slide Mountan folks, but I'm interested to see what it's like behind the scenes of a really big show like this.

Plus, I'll get to spend some time with my daughter, which is always a treat.

More to follow from the show - December 10th is the cutting, reserved for the last day because they have to change the arena all around. Hopefully, I can get some great pictures, too.

Paint Vegas, Baby

Ike and Cheri are going to a really big show in December - Paint Vegas. It is an excellent place to showcase their awesome horses, plus they could win some serious money.

Cheri asked me if I would be willing to come help with Amber so she can help hold cows, and I think I'm going to do it!

I've never been to Vegas, so that in and of itself is a reason to go. But really, I'm looking forward to hanging out with them and helping out with Amber - not to mention seeing some world class horses in action.