4/2/17 Friday morning Jake went to Dayton to help Nate S. work on Jake’s Chevy truck. There was a list of things that needed repaired on the truck starting with the leaf springs, steering, exhaust, bumper hitch, and a lot of smaller things. Jake spent several hours helping and observing. He was most excited about helping weld the hitch on the back. He talked about it for hours when he got home. I took Luke to Spanish class. In the evening Mark drove our family in the new dream trailer to the Horse fair for Jayden’s first rodeo. The Bloomer trailer is 28 feet long and wider than the old trailer and very heavy. Mark was a little disappointed as he watched the fuel gauge go down as we drove. We arrived at 5, got a bite to eat and the rodeo started at 7:30. Jayden kept her horse Ace in the trailer until it was her time to run. This year it was much nicer weather, in the 50’s but no wind. It was plenty chilly but bearable. The Wahlert grandparents came to watch and cheer Jayden on. Jake went home with them following the rodeo. Jayden said Ace was full of energy and acting crazy the whole time she warmed up. There were 80 barrel racers and Jayden ran 4th in the performance. Her horse hesitated and resisted going in the arena, popping and turning. It seemed like a long time before he came running in. He took the first barrel wide coming in which cost her quite a bit. Second and third were nice and I was just pleased she had a clean run. I pray before she runs, many times as we are driving to the rodeo and then as she is warming up. I always pray for her safety. That is most important, then her horses safety, then for a good clean run she can be proud of. This rodeoing is making me more nervous all the time. Jayden ran a 14.7 and Morgan ran a 13.99, Kaylee L ran a 13.7. By the time the weekend was over, Chelsea D, who we bought our trailer from, won the rodeo with a 13.4. The times were so fast! The level of competition is so tough and there is no room for errors. We left for home while there were still a few bull riders left. We were tired driving home and Mark and I sighed many times just thinking about the long hauls this summer will bring. Des Moines is a close rodeo and it was only 11:00PM when we got home. but we were both exhausted. Can’t say I am looking forward to this again all summer.
Saturday we slept in and didn’t get left for Des Moines until noon. Mark and Luke stayed home and planted grass seed in the yard and did a lot of outdoor work. Jayden and I were on a shopping mission to find cute dresses and shoes for the wedding. Sounds simple enough and for most people sounds like great fun. As time goes on store after store, dressing room after dressing room and dress after dress, you start to lose hope. Jayden tried on so many dresses and I never found one for myself I even wanted to try on. It was frustrating. What is the problem? Too short is the main problem, then too low cut in the front. Then you have all the crazy colors, polka dots and flowers, lace, fringe, so many sleazy, and just plain ugly. You either look like an old librarian or a stripper. To find a cute dress and have it fit is almost impossible. I have learned that if it fits and you like it don’t worry about the price tag because it is pretty much priceless, take it and run. We shopped until 7PM. It was a very long day with very little to show for it.
Sunday was gloomy and seemed to rain most of the day. After church we caught horses for the farrier. He was scheduled to come Monday evening, but now that we have 7 horses, he wanted to come an extra day. I wasnt too happy about him coming on Sunday. We caught horses in the rain. Due to the wet spring we have been having, our poor horses have been standing in mud and muck. It is so bad when they have to walk through their pen, it gets up almost to their knees in sludge. I took each horse and hosed off the wet greasy mud off their legs. By the time I did that I was wet from the rain and my back was killing me. It seemed to take all afternoon. We took shifts, Jayden first, then she had to leave for a 4H meeting, I took the middle shift, and Mark last. 7 horses take a long time. 2 trims, 4 got front shoes, and Ace got all 4 shoes. Our bill at the end was $650. That is a lot of money and to think that will be every 7 weeks year round. We are not going to put shoes on as many horses next time around, that is just ridiculous.
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