I hope you are all finding a way to stay cool these past few days! Just a few quick things before the horsie update:
1. The 4th of July parade is going to be held on, well- July 4th. Duh. It’s a Monday this year. If you are interested in walking in the parade, please see me by Saturday, July 2nd so I can have you sign a waiver for the parade officials.
I am going to ride Tamahome, and I believe Danielle will ride Special, Birgit will ride Buster and Bree will ride Sassy. We will have four horses in-hand- D’Artagnan with Molly, Montana with Helen, Niko with Kaitlin and Nevada with Taryn.
Nick and his father Ken will be holding the banner in front.
It would be nice if we had volunteers to walk BEHIND us at the parade- the buffer zone it provides for the horses and the next participant will be very helpful. Just don’t walk too closely to the horses in front!
The parade starts at the end of our driveway and goes to the end of the street. It will last about a half an hour. We have to be all ready by 9:15am, and the parade actually starts at 10:30 am. We should be done by 11-11:30am by the latest.
Please wear Hanaeleh shirts/hats if you have them, and anything red, white and blue if possible. This year’s theme is “Proudly We Serve” so if you have a desire to wear camo, go for it.
We are going to do another practice run on Saturday morning- if you are planning on wearing anything outrageous or plan on putting anything silly on the horse, that is the time to practice it- NOT the day of the parade. If you are planning on riding, it may behoove you to show up and do the dry run practice with us.
2. After the parade (around 11-11:30am), we will be having a potluck BBQ and playday. There will be three events in the playday:
1. Musical horses- essentially, several people will be in the arena with a horse in-hand. The music will begin, then stop- any horse or human who does not stop with the music is disqualified.
2. At-liberty Keyhold- one horse, one person in the arena at a time. You both start at one side of the arena, and then must run to the other side, turn around, and run back. The horse has to follow (you can have a carrot or other food to entice the horse). Winner is the person with the fastest time.
3. At-liberty Obstacle Course- again, one horse, one person in the arena at a time. You have to encourage the horse to follow you through a simple obstacle course. Fastest time wins.
4. Most Patriotic Costume- pretty self-explanatory. Feel free to go over-the-top without scaring your horse (or other horses). Everyone will have a ballot to cast so feel free to vote for yourself! 😉
Please feel free to practice the events during the week or on Saturday- I will have the obstacle course set up this weekend for you to practice, too.
Your horsie update:
Gypsy- Is doing well, and is just about ready for me to ride again. No issues now with the bridle and we are just doing a little more sacking out with the saddle.
Rio- He has lost some of his winter fat and is looking good! One of his neighbor horses has been biting him, and tore skin off of his neck and side this past week. If you see any new wounds on him, please let us know so we can address them immediately.
Annie- She has been very sweet and was good in the arena this week. I wish we could find someone who wants to adopt her!
Apollo- He got new shoes this week and his knee is healing up nicely. He is much more comfortable and I will start with his re-training this week.
Sapphire- She is just awesome- she was great under saddle and was a very good girl in the longeing clinic this Saturday! She was a very patient teacher!
D’Artagnan- We are working on eliminating his “drive-bys” and trying to get him to listen more on the ground. He is being spoiled by everyone, too!
Montana- She is also doing well, and I wish we could find her a great home… she is very sweet and deserves an owner!
Niko- He was great this week, and really enjoys being under saddle and getting attention- we need to find him a home, too! He was also good for the longeing clinic as a leg model.
Nevada- He did great on Saturday with me and Taryn- he stopped and started without a fuss, and seemed much more comfortable under saddle.
Tamahome- Just as cute as ever.
Hope you have a great week!