another year another horse fair ~ 1 of 2

Midwest Horse Fair was last weekend. For some reason my enthusiasm for it has waned. Perhaps from decades of attending, evolving changes or just plain ol' getting older. I used to be super duper excited about, and spent Fr/Sa/Sun at Fair. It was easy going back and forth. We only lived about 15-20 minutes away. Those days are looong gone. Now we are about 40-45 minutes away, and get in and get out.

It has become such a busy weekend. We have another annual friend event that always falls on the same weekend. I questioned if we should even go this year and considered giving away our rodeo tickets and three-day entry. I am very glad we did not!

pac-man cloud, about to eat hedgehog & rabbit!

The weather at Fair can be hot, cold, sunny, rainy and almost always windy. Many times all in the same weekend. This was one of those weather fluctuating weekends. It kept people away. Especially on stormy Friday. The day we spent the most amount of time there. Which included attending the PRCA rodeo that night!

I wondered how the rodeo would feel after recently seeing the best of the best at Finals in Vegas. In one word it felt immersive!! I have never been so close to the action! For the first time, we had front row seats. The seats were you get random mud flung on you. Riders whiz past an arms length. Some hang out inches from you. Bronc riders come right at you hanging on for dear life. Bull riders jump the fence and almost land in your lap. Hoping the madder than a hornet big ol' bull chasing him doesn't also jump the fence, and take you, the bull rider and the cute toddler next to you out.

Never a dull moment in the front row of a rodeo!!

Sorry, I do not have any of my usual rodeo action photos to share. I made the decision to leave my real camera at home, because of predicted strong storms. I would have been way too close for most of them anyways. I was so immersed in the action, I did not even take any phone photos of the competitors.

The couple sitting next to me were friendly and knew the well-known award winning rodeo clown, John Harrison. The seat between us remained empty, until the clown jumped the rail and sat between us. When the action got too close, the dad held their 10 month-ish old son close.  

John Harrison & his amazing horse Peanut

4.21.26

They always include entertainment snippets at our PRCA Rodeo. IMO this year a lot of the acts were lame-o. Walking horses and waving at the crowd. Many acts were more about their outfits and riding in the dark wearing lights.

there was a gal singing beautifully in the balcony

Impressive outfit, horse, and waving...but surprisingly not moving to the music. Meh.

I felt bad for the excessive amount of controlled movement the beautiful Friesen's were asked to do, alllllll the way around the arena.

I had high hopes when I saw them come back out with chariots. Nope.

even the drill team wore lights

Thank goodness this drill team did a lot more than wave! 

My favorite entertainment act was the Garrocha pole!! It has always fascinated me. Apparently Garrocha is part of Working Equitation competition.

Cavin Graham & Showgirl
(1 min 10 secs)

We also attended a couple clinics, and briefly watched a cattle sorting competition. It sure looked like fun! As far as shopping we ordered a couple things, but otherwise came home empty handed. The second half of my MWHF post will follow :)