Success

We had a very successful day at the show today.  The weather was perfect, low 70's, partly cloudy with a very light breeze.  The show ended up being very small with 2-8 per class.

V was 1st in English Go-As-You-Please, 1st in 17 and under Hunter Under Saddle and 2nd in Open Hunter Under Saddle.
She also ended up with the 17 and under High Point trophy beating E by 1 point.  In addition to the trophy she also got a halter and lead rope.
E won 1st in Western Go-As-You-Please, 1st in 17 and under Western Pleasure, and 2nd in Open Western Pleasure.
L brought her horse Allie but didn't want to show her herself so I showed for her.  She did very well for her first show, we won 1st in Adult Go-As-You-Please and 3rd in Adult walk-trot.  There were 8 in both classes.

Overall, we won our entry fees back plus the halter/lead rope, 2 $10 gift certificates, a Big Mac and desert at Shoney's.  Not a bad haul.  It is very unusual to come out ahead at a horse show.

First Show

Our first horse show of the season is today.  It starts at 10 am but we don't show until class 34 so there is no telling what time that will be.  E was getting Pep ready yesterday.  She likes to pretend she is a hairdresser when she cuts her mane.
L is suppose to bring Ali.  She won't show her herself so I guess I will.

Tree Climbers

Goats really can climb anything.  This oak tree has a particularly low branch the goats seen to like to play on.

The little ones stayed and played until to adults moved on.

Riding

When I got home from work today, everyone was up in the riding ring with the horses.

We have a show to go to on Saturday, so V and E have been getting the horses tuned up.  Yesterday they had a 4-H meeting where they brought their horses and practiced in an arena.
J rode Lady today.  He's trying to keep her from getting so obese again so she won't founder.
V got a little bored of Jessica.
And I think E has a touch of hay fever.

Peonies

The peonies are exceptionally beautiful this year.  The rain came before they bloomed and they haven't been rained on since.

I have mostly light pink and white.  I only have two small patches of dark pink.
It is a pleasure working in the yard with the sweet smell drifting by.
Of course I am always reminded of Mama sending a bunch with me to take to my elementary  school teachers.  I also think of Grandma's beautiful flower garden where I got these.

Flowers

Lots of things blooming now.  It has been a very wet spring.  Most of the flowers seem to appreciate this.

My lupine are starting to volunteer in other places.  I started them from seed originally.

This is the most blooms that I have had on this patch of rust colored irises.  I think that the center of the spider wort looks like a wad of string.

Busy

I've been very busy trying to catch up on everything after a long week end in Orlando.  The only problem with the meeting was that it was an all day long meeting with no time for anything else.  The food on the other hand was fabulous.  

I may have had a momentary lack in judgement recently when I purchased 8 Leyland Cypress trees.  I have planted 4 and decided I don't have space for the other 4.  I'm not sure I really want the 4 I planted, but I reasoned that I can always cut them down later.
The farrier came today to reset the shoes on 4 horses.  I always worry about Pep for the next week after shoeing.  She seems to get quicked about half the time and then is lame for 2 weeks.

V had the High School awards tonight.  She received certificates for outstanding achievement in English and Geometry.

Billy

It must have been a good day to sell a billy goat last Friday.

J took our billy to the local goat sell.
Even though he seems a little small he still brought $105.

I'm leaving for a meeting in Orlando tomorrow.  So unless someone here picks up the blogging slack don't expected anything until Sunday.

Track Meet

V ran in the District track meet Saturday.  It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.  She ran in the 800 (2:58) and was not last as she feared she might be.
She also was the 2nd leg of the 4x400 relay.  She held on to the teams position for her leg but the team lost.  They did however win the overall district championship.

More Pics

Here are a few more show pictures.

V coming out of the ring with Midnight.
At the wash rack with the heifers.
E with steer in the blocking chute.
After winning the division Championship.
E with k16 in showmanship.

J is still reliving the day and will reminisce with anyone that wants to hear.

Steer and Heifer Show

The big day has finally come and gone.  The steer and heifer show was all day today.  We took the cattle down yesterday, then got up at 5 am to start today.

E steer weighed 1090 pounds and was in the heaviest class in the light weight division.  She won the class and the went on the win Light Weight Division Champion!  She then showed in the overall championship class (light, middle and heavy weight division champions) but was not selected champion or reserve.

She was also 3rd in the Jr. Skill-a-thon and 3rd with her project book.  Her heifer was 3rd out of 3.
V's day was not as successful, she was third in her class of 8 (although the consensus on the outside of the ring was that she should have been 2nd). Her steer weighed 1260 and was in the heaviest class in the middle weight division.  Her steer acted beautifully, a vast improvement over last year where she wasn't even able to get into the ring with him.  In showmanship she made the first cut (there were 2 heats) but didn't place in the finals.  Her project book was 2nd and she was 6th in the Sr. skill-a-thon.  Her heifer was also 3rd out of 3.
This is how everyone felt at the end of the day.

I'll post more pictures when I'm not so exhausted.

Tulips

Once again E's tulips have outdone mine.  Out of the 50 bulbs I planted 3 years ago only about a dozen bloomed.  E had quite a few more than that in her flower bed.

Clipping

We started clipping the steers and heifers this weekend to get ready for the show on Wednesday.

E worked on clipping 16k's head.
We had a friend loan us his blocking chute and he clipped the steers for us.  We bought this steer for V from him so he has a vested interest in how he does.

Grapevines and Humming Birds

I finally got two grape vines for my pergola and planted them this week. One is a concord grape and the other is a blue seedless grape.

The hummers also returned this week.

As soon as I see them flying around the hook in the spring I run out with the feeder.  They are a joy to watch.