we interrupt this life...

...to bring you 3 days of nothing but horse at the Midwest Horse Fair! The only bad part of this weekend is that it didn't include Nemo/Koda. We miss them a lot. We look forward to riding them twice this week. I talked to our trainer Patty, she said they have been training outside and the boys were having another good week. I was glad to hear Koda was doing better with his bit.

We did the majority of our shopping at Fair on Friday, and found many good deals! Friday night PRCA Rodeo sold out. Personally, other then the hands-down funniest clown ever, I wasn't impressed with PRCA for various reasons. A clock/horn or something other then delayed announcing of the contestants timing after the fact would have been a good idea, especially when our coliseum has these available. Nothing against the announcer, he was fine - but seriously they could do better - this is a timed event, in front of a huge crowd. Guess I've seen a lot of rodeo's, and expect more in this situation. Saturday's Grand Prix jumping was fun to watch. It was complete with HUGE bright jumps, ramped up tall warmblood horses, and riders with nerves of steel.

I'm not sure what my favorite part of Fair was this year?? It might have been the freestyle duet routine performed on Sunday by 15 year old Moriah, with celebrity Richard Winters. Moriah won the Midwest Horse Fair Wind Rider Challenge. We saw a lot of Richard at fair, and liked his style. Ruben Villasenior's Saturday Bosel clinic was good too, as was his cute intermission performance with his young 10 year old daughter on Saturday night (both riding stallions). Ruben also performed with his Kiger Mustang stallion on Friday night. That Kiger stallion is gorgeous, and sooo well behaved - he was drawing a lot of attention. He is only three, and has been with Ruben training for about a year. He used him at his clinics, as well as some of his performances. If you were at Fair this year, what was your favorite part??

Unfortunately, I have no visuals to share. I purposely left my camera at home, so I could live the fair instead of watch it through a lens. I checked youtube, but found none of the above performances posted - yet. Think about horsin' around and joining in the fun next year! Midwest Horse Fair has presenters/participants from as far away as Canada & Oregon, and is always held the second weekend in April.

midwest horse fair

Having spent a full three days at Midwest Horse Fair, makes me want to work in the equine industry...not realistic to venture into a new field, given this economy - I know. But I'll keep thinking about a nitch I may be able to fill, that combines my design skills and my love of horses. If you have ideas, I'm all ears.

We enjoyed every minute of Fair, well, except for the tail end of Saturday night - the show was waaay tooo looong. I doubt many would disagree. Our favorite part of Fair was meeting Ruben Villeseñor, and attending his clinic. If you get a chance, listen to what this man has to say - he is practical, has a great sense of humor, is kind and has a true love for horses. His Western Dressage methods are so appealing to me, a perfect combination. I am happy to say he is invited back to Fair next year - see me there!

Another highlight was of course the mustang challenge, which I followed as much as I could again this year. We were only able to watch the finals and most of the adoption - it's always amazing to see what the trainers have accomplished with their mustangs in 90 days. Simply amazing. Something I could never do in my wildest dreams. The adoption always brings tears (not just to the trainers) mostly of joy. Meeting Deb (MJ Legacy's trainer) and her husband Ken (MJ too) after the adoption made our day. I knew from following her blog, they were great people and we would relate. Only horse people welcome strangers to visit, share stories, and even give hugs after an exhausting weekend. I was so happy they were able to take MJ home with them - lucky horse!!