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County Fair Show Day

7/16/16 Saturday at the county fair was a beautiful pleasant day in the low 80's. Luke had the most fun at the fair with his friend Alex L. As much as I don’t like kids play pretending they are shooting guns and killing people, that seems to be what Alex likes to play. And so the boys had sticks as guns and ran around the fair for 3 days shooting the bad guys. They had so much fun together, hiding behind trees, climbing on tractors. As long as they were together, we felt they were safe. Us moms checked on them from time to time.

 
Today was the horse show day. This day is usually a little stressful and disappointing. We think Tex is a great horse and Jayden does an excellent job with him, however she cannot compete against the show horses. She has had a Condon girl in her group over the years. Her horses compete at the Iowa state fair and win in halter and western pleasure. That is pretty tough to compete with. Jayden got a blue ribbon in halter and a red in showmanship because she broke the pattern. Blues through the day and some reds for little things. The most fun was watching Jayden do English class. She has never ridden English for the fair and went to one meeting and practiced once. She borrowed the saddle, bridle and coat from her friend Erica. She bought the shirt and pants. She wore my black tall dress boots. I thought she looked pretty good and rode like a pro. The only error she made is she kept posting on the wrong diagonal. She posts when riding long distances down the road, she just was on the wrong diagonal every time today while showing. She kept second guessing herself and would switch. What felt right was actually wrong and earned her reds. I was still impressed with her ability. 
She did walk/ trot, western peasure, horsemanship, trail, and two bareback classes. During bareback the others sat the horse like it was walking during a lope because their horses barely move. Tex has a big stride and fast lope. Jayden had air under her, but she rode like a natural. The judge told Jayden in front of her class that she was an outstanding rider and most riders would have fallen off a horse like Tex.  Throughout the day the judge very kindly talked to Jayden about why she was being faulted for certain things, but very complimenting. It came down to her horse being a ranch/rodeo horse and not a show horse. He is much more than a show horse and a lot more fun. 
Jacob started with trail class and had a rough time. He went through the swing gate, that was the hardest of them all. We had practiced at home so he was prepared. However, Eagle shied away from the bridge and would not cross, he even shied from the logs he was to go over. He wouldn’t back for Jake and his reins got too long. He did the 360 circle great. I was happy that Jake worked on this at home and went in and give it his best try. He was pretty discouraged when he came out and got his red ribbon. Later he did walk trot class and got second place out of 6. That made him feel really good and he was happy after that. Eagle is so smooth at the trot and Jake handled him well. He looked so good on that big tall paint. Eagle is such a pretty horse and Jake rides him well. 
The horse show moved along fairly well and the last class of the day was around 5:30, costume. That class is always the most fun and laid back. Jake and Grandma came up with the idea to be a Mexican and have the horse be a big taco. Jake came up with the idea of calling his horse the “walking taco”. I love it!! Jayden came up with her idea of being a lifeguard. These kids are so clever to come up with their own ideas.
 
The who ended before 6:00 with much relief. Mark took Jake out to eat in town, Jayden ate at the 4H sweet corn feed and had to work in the ice cream stand. Poor girl, she was beyond wiped out, everything was hurting, it had only been minutes from finishing the horse show, she stood in a mega long line to eat in the heat, then the club leader told her she had to work. She just never gets a break. I went to the cool camper and had a ham sandwich. The rest of the night we showered and watched a little movie before going to bed. Tomorrow will be another early morning and long day.The plan is to do the horse show, clean stalls, parade of champion awards, release animals at 7, then head home and then on to the Jefferson IRCA rodeo. We are crazy!

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