You Brought Us Luck!

First of all, thank you for all your good wishes. You brought us luck! On Saturday we took two seconds and a FIRST. On Sunday we took a third and two FIRSTS!!!! Good old Tango pony!

Well, almost good old Tango pony. We arrived at the fairgrounds on Friday evening during the pouring rain. The trip over had been start and stop and Tango is not a patient boy. He was ancy in the trailer and ready to roll before I got him off.

Once I got him off the trailer, he didn't roll he RAN! Somehow or other he yanked the lead rope out of my hand and went galloping across the fairgrounds. I was screaming to my friend Nancy to come and help me but knew if I ran after Tango he was going to run faster. Frankly, there's no way I can outrun a horse...duh!

I can, however, outsmart the boy. I know Tango. Tango loves to eat. I knew as soon as Tango came to a lush patch of grass he was going to stop and that's exactly what he did. Nancy walked slowly up on one side of him crackling a peppermint wrapper while I tiptoed up on the other side. AH HA! We got him.

That was as bad as it got. Except for the MUD!




My philosophy is that if you love something enough, a little mud won't kill you. As long as it's not dangerous to Tango, I go for it and I'm glad I did. I truly appreciate all the people who came to support Tango and me considering the conditions.

There are some really beautiful photos of Tango that were taken by the husband of a friend of mine that I don't have yet. Tango is standing under a beautiful fall tree with Saturday's ribbons attached to his halter. As soon as I receive the photos, I'll show you.

The show wasn't all mud. It was colorful fun. I had a terrific time complaining to Terri (my friend who was there giving me advice and support) that an awesome trainer shouldn't be riding in the same classes as me. I obsessed about it all weekend until Terri suggested she might have to beat me if I didn't shut up. Emily and Nancy offered to help her!

I'm not competitive...no I'm not!
In the end, we had fun and that's what it's all about. When we got back to the barn, I hung Tango's ribbons on his stall door. I decided to go back today to take out his braids because I was exhausted when we got home.

When I got to our barn today, all the ribbons were on the ground. Tango took each and every one of them off his stall before he went outside. He showed me! I may have caught him at the fairgrounds, but Tango had the last word.

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Show Time!

By the time you read this it will be Friday. Tango and I will be on our way to the last show of the season. I seriously hope that talk I had with Tango about his manners will carry over to the show.

I really need the boy to cooperate. The show will be challenging for a couple reasons. First of all, Tango and I are fairly new to this dressage stuff. We have to think every step of the way. A lot of the responsibility falls on me. I have to give Tango the right signals in order for him to do what he needs to do.

When the weather is dry and sunny I can think more clearly. We're supposed to have between two and four inches of rain tonight and tomorrow. That means that Tango and I will be riding in less that desirable circumstances. In fact, it will be a little scary for me because the arenas will be slippery. I've never seen them cancel a show, so ride we will.

Tango's a sure-footed boy so I just need to stay calm. The good thing about the mud is that the judges won't be too critical of the dirt that Tango just can't stay out of even on a good day. I don't have to spit shine him as much as usual.

We're riding at 2:00, 2:25, and 4:00 on Saturday. On Sunday we're riding at 9:45, 3:30, and 4:24. It's going to be a long fun weekend. Wish us luck! We'll let you know how things go when we get back!

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Why, Tango, Why?

See Tango? Doesn't he look handsome and clean? This is what Tango should look like two weeks before our final show of the season. It's been relatively dry. There's no reason for Tango to be muddy. Even if Tango rolls, he should be rolling in the the plain old dirt or grass. But no.

I guess I'm expecting too much for my boy. CLEAN is not a word that Tango remembers. In fact, Tango doesn't even aspire to be clean. I know that but wouldn't you think he could have at least....

STAYED OUT OF BLACK PAINT!!!!!

In case your wondering, this is Tango's butt. The only good thing about Tango's butt right now is that it's bigger than mine. I'll give Tango that...it's his only redeeming quality.

No one seems to know exactly how to get the paint off Tango. They just look at him and gasp. I'm sure they're secretly glad that it's Tango (and not their horse) that is covered in black tar! I've tried to get the paint off with baby oil and Skin-So-Soft The paint doesn't budge. Last night I tried good old Vaseline. I managed to smear the paint around.

While other women my age are home watching TV or enjoying a nice glass of wine, I'm vaselining my horse! Is there something wrong with this picture? I even had to get my husband involved. I thought he might need to hold Tango while I scrubbed away.

But he didn't. Tango seemed to be enjoying a relaxing evening. I actually think my boy thought he was getting a much deserved massage.My husband sighed and took pictures while tossing out other suggestions. "How about that hand soap that gets grease off?" he asked.

"Do you want to go get some?" I responded.

"Your horse is falling asleep," Chuck said. "I'm ready to call it a night."

After about two hours, I'd had enough too. Tango was the only one who seemed contented with the whole paint issue. I think he would have stood there all night long and let me scrub away.

Like I said, we're about two weeks out from our final show. The boy is still covered in paint.

My wrists are sore. My arms ache. No one seems to know why Tango is the only horse on the farm that managed to get black paint all over himself.

Any suggestions for fast effective paint removal would be greatly appreciated (non-toxic preferred)!

Tango's enjoying this way too much!

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Tango's Almost Ready - Almost!

Just a quick post to let you know that Tango and I are leaving for another horse show tomorrow afternoon. I'll give him his bath tomorrow morning. Then I'm going to splurge and have someone who is much better than me braid his mane. After that, it's on the trailer and off to the show.

I don't know who's more excited, Tango or me! Wish us luck. I'll let you know how it goes on Sunday night when we get home.

By the way, this is a very special show. I'll tell you more about it on Sunday!

Also, thank you for all the nice comments on this blog. It's so nice to connect with other animal lovers. I look forward to hearing from all of you and I'm anxious to get to your blogs when I get back. You have such good ideas and information and FUN!

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Where'd It Go?????????

"Where did what go?" you ask.

My mind, that's what!

Tango pony and I are competing in another horse show a week from today. It's a big deal for me. I love to show off my boy. I love for my friends and family to come watch! It's just so much fun.

So, I filled out the registration papers. I checked the classes we planned to compete in and I made sure to check that we would compete for two days. Not one day, mind you, two. I made sure to put that information in bold print.

Then I put my registration papers in an envelope. I carefully addressed it and made sure to include my return address. I took my sealed and addressed envelope to the post office and made sure to put it in what looked like a lucky mail box.

Then I came home. "I'll get my ride times in a week or so," I thought.

One week went by. Then two. I'm pretty much busy all the time so I didn't think much about how much time had passed until..............

I checked my phone messages last night. "Hello," said the voice on the answering machine. "We have registration papers for a horse named TANGO. We have this phone number. What we don't have is the name of the rider."

Imagine that. I forgot to put my name on the registration form. I thought about calling the nice lady back and telling her Tango would do fine on his own. Then I thought about calling back and saying that I have multiple personalities and couldn't decide which one of me planned to ride. But in the end, I just left a message with my name.

Now I'd like to say that this loss of memory is a one time occurrence. However, it seems to be a way of life with me. I forget everything.

I'd also like to say that this forgetfulness is just part of the aging process, but I've been forgetful for as long as I can remember.

That's funny. For as long as I can remember...I can't even remember how long it's been that I've been forgetting everything!

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Fun. That's What It's About for Tango and Me!

We're back and we had a grand time. I felt like a sponge each time I completed a class and looked at the comments. For those of you who aren't familiar with dressage, I was interested in the points not the ribbons. We did, however, place in every class. Tango received two third places, a fourth place, and a second place. The second place was in our last class and we were an eighth of a point away from first.

You'll never believe where I scored the lowest...at the walk! I need to learn to walk my boy with more energy. At my age, I know all about low energy and I treat myself with caffeine. Now I have to figure out how to energize my boy's free walk and medium walk substance free. I've been given some ideas, but would welcome suggestions from you since espresso isn't an option for Tango!

The entire weekend went so well it was unbelievable. There were only three mishaps and they were minor. Tango pulled my friend's headband off her head twice while she was holding him near the mounting block. He's an oral horse and I guess her headband looked tasty.

Then, when I was in the practice arena, Tango's low energy walk turned into a full-of-energy trot and in an effort to avoid a collision with another horse we jumped the letter "C". My boy can jump!

At any rate, it was a good show. I learned a lot and Tango did great. He seems to love the excitement and attention. Here are the final written comments from the judges in the four classes where we competed:

1. Cute horse - Keep him marching forward with energy and pep. Obedient fellow.
2. Would really sparkle with more energy. Ask for bolder walk work.
3. Lovely horse! Ride forward! Many points lost to lack of energy.
4. Well done!

Well done indeed. Tango's a blue ribbon winner in my books. He gave me exactly what I asked for...I just need to sit back more, hone my skills, work hard, and depend on my good boy to strut his stuff! Will I ever get too old for this????

P.S. My dogs are glad the horse show is over. They think I've been spending way too much time with Tango!

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I Pulled His Mane...Yes I Did!

I was tempted...oh how I was tempted. Tango's mane was really long. The scissors were in my tack box and I could see them out of the corner of my eye. "Who's going to really know if I cut off three inches of his mane then pull the rest?" I thought to myself.

Then I remembered what happened last year. Tango's tail had gotten so long that he was stepping on it so I decided it needed a quick snip...just for safety of course. Well, one snip led to another and then another and another. By the time I got things evened up, even poor Tango was embarrassed. His lopsided tail was an eyesore for several months.

So, I did what all knowledgeable horse owners do...I pulled Tango's mane (gently of course) for
over two hours. Tango was patient until we got down to the last fifteen minutes. Then I popped peppermints into his mouth every other pull or so. By the time I was done, I actually think Tango could have gone for more...PEPPERMINTS!

The moral of this story is this: NEVER LET YOUR HORSE'S MANE GROW LIKE CRAZY ALL WINTER LONG. Spend a little time grooming while the ground is blanketed in snow and you'll save a lot of precious time when the tulips poke through the ground in the spring. Your wrist won't hurt so much either!

I know some of you animal folks out there (who don't have horses) will want to know why and how manes are pulled. Since it's really late, I hope your answer can be found in the comments to this post. If not, I'll get back to you later!

By the way, Tango is looking more spiffy every day. He WILL BE SPIT SHINED by Friday. Layers of dirt have been temporarily displaced by early baths. Why? So Tango can go outside, roll in the mud, and revel in the joy of the soft wet earth every morning. That's what horses do...at least my horse!

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