Horses Hawkes Bay...is back in the saddle again!!!

Just another yarn for you all about a recent event !! On Sunday the 13th of july we decided we would branch out and go and check out the "Hairy horse sports day" which is held at Maraekakaho. Of course the morning started with the usual "have ya's?, you know the have ya done this ,have ya done that, have ya put that in , have ya got this and that, and have ya remembered ya horse???. We are dealing with 2 teenagers and six year old plus two dysfunctional adults here...LOL Alice is like a dream come true when it comes to the grooming side of a big day out, out with the hose and wash her legs (god I love clipped horses). Jesse , Chelen and Tarras, plaited (only to get the wave look) preened and washed and scrubbed. Wayne's mare hadn't been ridden for 6 years until the day before!!. We bundled the 5 horses into the floats , did the have ya got everything speech and hit the road. We soon found ourselves rolling along in an equine convoy, every horse lovers dream and every motorists complete nightmare.!! We were at our destination in no time. When we rolled in there weren't really that many people and I thought ,oh yeah this is pretty low key, just what us hillbillys feel comfortable with..LOL. But oh no not for long the grounds filled up and filled up and still they came!! I had saddled Alice up and chuckled as people drove past commenting, "oh my god someone is riding in Western "(not to mention my attempt at good clean jeans and a tidy T-shirt.Large western spurs protruding from the back of my boots and an absolutely stunning english skid lid). It always amazes me when people ask why do you use a bit like that? well derrr why do you use a pelham? But I remain polite and informative so as to keep a good name for the western club you'll all be pleased to know. I really didn't go out with high hopes in the flat classes as there were a lot of really well turned out and classy looking horses and riders in our age group. My hopes were pinned on the games to be honest. Well Alice went like a dream, suddenly I realised what an easy horse she is to deal with when we were asked for a canter!!. Holy #&*% there were bucks and baulks all over the place. Horses shooting sideways, wrong legs, %@#& me! it was like a bomb had gone off!!. Alice and I just cruised on through past and around the mayhem. We were placed in all but one class (I turned the wrong way in the lead class) and we managed to win the adults overall points for the day prize.We even had to pose for a photo with our bag of goodies and very smart large rossette. Yes we have done the western riding club proud once again folks. So the moral of this story is never ever judge a horse by it's harness. (Or the large slightly shabby looking rider on top...LOL) We should all be out there promoting our lovely horses and our club more often.