7/17/16 Sunday in the wee hours a big
storm rolled in. Jake, Jayden, Jaynie, and I were in the camper. I heard the
thunder and lightning long before the rain. It seemed like it lasted a long
time, at least an hour. Eventually it rained pretty hard. Crashes of lightning
were very close and rattled the camper. Jake made me laugh, he crawled out of
his bunk to tell me he was worried about the Dairy Queen Dilly bars in the campers freezer if the
power should go out. I had to laugh about that. I was thankful Luke did not
stay because he would have been scared. It was pretty rough, then the power
went out. When we woke at 7AM, we thought it was just the camper out of power,
turned out not only the entire fairgrounds, but the entire town of Ft. Dodge
and some surrounding towns. This would be the start of an interesting day. The
horse show would go on as scheduled, but not under ideal conditions. We already
had to move it indoors, which was a much smaller pen for games events. Then
they had to run in a dark arena without power for a few hours. A small
generator was brought in to run the announcer and by noon a large generator was
brought in to run the whole fairgrounds. It was a hot day and fans were
needed for many of the animals.
The morning was very cool and nice.
The horse show day is always more relaxed and fun. The kids get to wear there 4H T-shirts, Jayden deigned this years shirts. Around 10Am
it started to rain and storm again. It was chilly if you got wet and the kids were
sitting on horses in the rain. With the lightning they took a short break until
it passed. One good outcome of the rain, the Jefferson rodeo planned for tonight
got cancelled. That made life easier!! I was not looking forward to coming and going at the same time trying to make a rodeo after an exhausting week. So the show started with Jayden in break
the gait and egg and spoon. Through the entire day she would be in competition
with Kourtney and Kylie in the senior division. Both girls have very slow, non bouncey pleasure show
horses. Tex is not. He is big, he is fast, and he is rough. Jayden gave it her
all and did a fabulous job. The show horses loping are as smooth as Tex at a
walk. Jayden held her own and made it through break the gait until they had one
hand on the reins, no stirrups and counter canter. In egg and spoon she was loping and bouncing and held on until she looked down to check a lead and lost
her egg. The other girls barely moved as there horses loped slow and smooth. I think they could have had the egg ontheir head and it wouldnt move. Jayden's rear bounced up with daylight under her up and down she went. She kept that egg on her spoon through the loping. She was impressive to watch. The girl has grit and determination and
it showed in all her classes. She ran a nice fast lope through poles, a zippy
keyhole, knocked a barrel in barrels that got her a plus 5 seconds and still
won the class. She had trouble in flags, and jumping figure eight. Tex wouldn’t
jump, but after 3 tries, she made him over the jump. She is quite the rider
indeed. By the end of the day, she had 4 trophies. She figured up her wins and
her white ribbons and no matter how she figured it she thought she could not
win the all around high point winner. She was feeling down, but was happy with
the way her day went and felt pretty good about how Tex did all things
considered. She had been preparing all season to ride Ace at the fair and
decided 2 weeks ago to ride Tex. She only got 4 rides of practice in on him
before fair. I knew the points would be close, but I still thought she had a
chance. I knew it would be super close and had to be just a few points. I knew
it could go either way. I said a prayer that the all around would go to the
girl that worked the hardest and was most deserving and would be happy either
way.
Jacob's day on Eagle went well. He looked so good up on the big black and white paint. Eagle is 16 hands and a big horse, but very quiet and easy to ride. He had the largest division of juniors with between 8 and 10 kids in all his classes. He was discouraged hoping he could get a win in for his day. He had some very tough competition in his class with two girls that barrel race and are very competitive. Jacob did really well riding Eagle in barrels and poles. He took him in at a lope and trotted through, then loped him home. He was feeling pretty good until the ribbons were handed out. He also did the mystery event and keyhole.On one of the runs home, Eagle was ready to run and took off and did a little hopping. It has been a long time since Eagle has gotten to run and I think he was feeling good. We were very proud of Jake for doing the fair and participating in the classes he did. He attended many meetings with Eagle and practiced. Even though he didn’t get the ribbons he wanted, he did a great job.
The show was over around 2:00. We got horses back in their stalls so they could rest and we could get some lunch or dinner or both. We went into town, the west side still had no power. Back at the fair, we rested in the camper. Jayden got cleaned up and dressed up with Jaynie and took a car full out to the star-lite for the awards banquet. All the state fair recipients and livestock champion winners got to go to the dinner. Jake was a little bummed he could not go. By 5, Jake, Mark, and I were cleaning stalls and loading all the “stuff” in the trailer. Horses were not released until 7:00. Year after year we think this is one of the silliest rules the 4hers have. Nobody comes out to the fair after 5PM. The only people at the fair on Sunday late afternoon are 4H families. The fair committee doesn't want anything to go home early in case somebody comes out last minute. The 4H kids have to get cleaned up to go to the dinner while the parents always end up having to clean out stalls. It is always hot and miserable and everyone just sits around the barns waiting for the release. We haul everything we can to the trailer and clean the stalls out so we can load as soon as they give the go ahead. Mark takes the horses home and I get the auditorium projects.
At 6:30 all the kids returned for the “parade of champions” where they cross the stage and are recognized for their awards. Next the horse project leaders announced the high point all around winner and gave buckles for junior, intermediate, and senior. The big moment had arrived and we were all shocked when we heard Jayden’s name announced!! Wahoo, we were so excited and happy for her. I did not have my video camera out because I did not expect it. Jayden was convinced there was no way it could be her, so she was excited. It was a huge deal. It took a lot of dedication to receive that award. She took her horse to many many projects and the meetings she did not take her horse to, she drove up by herself to get the attendance point. 15+ meetings and competed and placed well in 19 horse classes. Her perseverance and drive paid off. What a year this girl is having!!
The morning was very cool and nice.
The horse show day is always more relaxed and fun. The kids get to wear there 4H T-shirts, Jayden deigned this years shirts. Around 10Am
it started to rain and storm again. It was chilly if you got wet and the kids were
sitting on horses in the rain. With the lightning they took a short break until
it passed. One good outcome of the rain, the Jefferson rodeo planned for tonight
got cancelled. That made life easier!! I was not looking forward to coming and going at the same time trying to make a rodeo after an exhausting week. So the show started with Jayden in break
the gait and egg and spoon. Through the entire day she would be in competition
with Kourtney and Kylie in the senior division. Both girls have very slow, non bouncey pleasure show
horses. Tex is not. He is big, he is fast, and he is rough. Jayden gave it her
all and did a fabulous job. The show horses loping are as smooth as Tex at a
walk. Jayden held her own and made it through break the gait until they had one
hand on the reins, no stirrups and counter canter. In egg and spoon she was loping and bouncing and held on until she looked down to check a lead and lost
her egg. The other girls barely moved as there horses loped slow and smooth. I think they could have had the egg ontheir head and it wouldnt move. Jayden's rear bounced up with daylight under her up and down she went. She kept that egg on her spoon through the loping. She was impressive to watch. The girl has grit and determination and
it showed in all her classes. She ran a nice fast lope through poles, a zippy
keyhole, knocked a barrel in barrels that got her a plus 5 seconds and still
won the class. She had trouble in flags, and jumping figure eight. Tex wouldn’t
jump, but after 3 tries, she made him over the jump. She is quite the rider
indeed. By the end of the day, she had 4 trophies. She figured up her wins and
her white ribbons and no matter how she figured it she thought she could not
win the all around high point winner. She was feeling down, but was happy with
the way her day went and felt pretty good about how Tex did all things
considered. She had been preparing all season to ride Ace at the fair and
decided 2 weeks ago to ride Tex. She only got 4 rides of practice in on him
before fair. I knew the points would be close, but I still thought she had a
chance. I knew it would be super close and had to be just a few points. I knew
it could go either way. I said a prayer that the all around would go to the
girl that worked the hardest and was most deserving and would be happy either
way. Jacob's day on Eagle went well. He looked so good up on the big black and white paint. Eagle is 16 hands and a big horse, but very quiet and easy to ride. He had the largest division of juniors with between 8 and 10 kids in all his classes. He was discouraged hoping he could get a win in for his day. He had some very tough competition in his class with two girls that barrel race and are very competitive. Jacob did really well riding Eagle in barrels and poles. He took him in at a lope and trotted through, then loped him home. He was feeling pretty good until the ribbons were handed out. He also did the mystery event and keyhole.On one of the runs home, Eagle was ready to run and took off and did a little hopping. It has been a long time since Eagle has gotten to run and I think he was feeling good. We were very proud of Jake for doing the fair and participating in the classes he did. He attended many meetings with Eagle and practiced. Even though he didn’t get the ribbons he wanted, he did a great job.
The show was over around 2:00. We got horses back in their stalls so they could rest and we could get some lunch or dinner or both. We went into town, the west side still had no power. Back at the fair, we rested in the camper. Jayden got cleaned up and dressed up with Jaynie and took a car full out to the star-lite for the awards banquet. All the state fair recipients and livestock champion winners got to go to the dinner. Jake was a little bummed he could not go. By 5, Jake, Mark, and I were cleaning stalls and loading all the “stuff” in the trailer. Horses were not released until 7:00. Year after year we think this is one of the silliest rules the 4hers have. Nobody comes out to the fair after 5PM. The only people at the fair on Sunday late afternoon are 4H families. The fair committee doesn't want anything to go home early in case somebody comes out last minute. The 4H kids have to get cleaned up to go to the dinner while the parents always end up having to clean out stalls. It is always hot and miserable and everyone just sits around the barns waiting for the release. We haul everything we can to the trailer and clean the stalls out so we can load as soon as they give the go ahead. Mark takes the horses home and I get the auditorium projects.
At 6:30 all the kids returned for the “parade of champions” where they cross the stage and are recognized for their awards. Next the horse project leaders announced the high point all around winner and gave buckles for junior, intermediate, and senior. The big moment had arrived and we were all shocked when we heard Jayden’s name announced!! Wahoo, we were so excited and happy for her. I did not have my video camera out because I did not expect it. Jayden was convinced there was no way it could be her, so she was excited. It was a huge deal. It took a lot of dedication to receive that award. She took her horse to many many projects and the meetings she did not take her horse to, she drove up by herself to get the attendance point. 15+ meetings and competed and placed well in 19 horse classes. Her perseverance and drive paid off. What a year this girl is having!!
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