...and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
It’s always fun up at the Fair even though it is a lot of hard work. I think it’s a great opportunity for kids and 4-H Clubs to get their animals in top shape and present them in the show ring.
New friends are made and old friendships renewed, and we get to show off a little, too.
It all pays off with a little piece of silk, and it’s especially exciting when that piece of silk is blue.
Purple and pink are good, too, (in fact, they’re great!) and laurels are in order when you’re on the receiving side of those.
It was great to see familiar faces in 2015, like Fred Zingale and Bob Artman, and I couldn’t resist taking a sneaky shot of my friend, Russell Prouty, as he gathered his thoughts in front of his family’s horse stalls.
Russell and his wife, Cindy, have the prettiest buckskin Morgan horses, and their stalls are always adorned with plenty of ribbons.
And everyone remembers the beautiful black Morgan stallion that Cindy’s father had, “Ace.” That horse had a crest a mile wide, and I found him to be very gentle and polite for a stud, probably due to Russell and old man Adsit’s kind hands.
One year at Fair when my sister Arlene had our own Morgan, Foxy, (1) in a Western Pleasure class, he decided he’d had enough showing for one day and crashed right through the fence on the far turn of the ring.
The other horses were all behaving wonderfully and made the turn, but ol’ Fox went straight. Boards and wood went flying and were no obstacle for a determined Morgan horse with barn-on-the-mind.
Poor Arlene’s face turned 50 shades of red as she attempted to get him back through the mess as the class went on, in front of a startled judge.
Fair icon Kenny Carr was railside and saw the whole thing, calmly remarking, “Well... you’ll have that.”
I hope to see Kenny and his Mrs. at the Fair for many years to come.
It was good to see fellow horseman Rick Brown back and showing. He had suffered a major horse accident 2 years ago, with his stallion rearing up and going over backwards on top of him.
He’s one lucky cowboy, if you ask me.
I hope you all stopped by the Fallowfield Pie stand and said hello to fellow CN reporter, Christy Lindsay. She put her angel wings and pen and paper aside to volunteer for her church, serving pies, and proceeds go towards Christian missionary work.
Pie is always good, especially with milk. Did you know they even have Elderberry?
Short column this week due to Fair and me having to address hornets at my barn. The creeps are opportunists and seem particularly nasty this summer. Word has it that everyone is having problems with them but I have something good they can share with all their friends. The 20-foot-spray-and-hide-behind-a-hay-bale isn’t cutting it, so time for plan B.
So long for now. Enjoying Fair food essentials of hot sausage, cotton candy, lemonade and thigh-enlarging elephant ears, to the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”
1: Foxy’s registered name was “Christ Farm of Windsor Chikow.” Purchased from the late Julia Livermore, he stood 14.2 HH and had DC and Lippitt bloodlines, tracing back to Troubadour of Willowmoor, who of course, traces back to Justin Morgan. Milford Fox had him for a time, so we don’t know if he got his barn name because of that, or because he was stabled in Foxburg for a time. We had the honor of training him with the late Cecil Brown at Brown’s Hospitality Stables and also the late Joe Higgins.