Yesterday I went with Guy and Leigh-Anne to watch Guy’s cousin, Jess, compete in her equestrian events that she does.  I’ve never been to a horse show before, as horses don’t particularly interest me.  I must say, however, that watching events on TV make them look very easy.  Big deal, you jump a horse over a pole, right?  Well, jumping the horse turns out to be as hard as riding your closest sibling on their back and making THEM jump over something.  Anything.  Just try it.  Let me know how it works for you.  

 

When we arrived at the location, I thought it resembled a campground sort of.  We were greeted by Merle (Guy’s biological aunt), and her partner, Wendy.  They have two awesome children, Jess and Quinton.  We went and met Jess’ horse, Cinnamon Sam.  He’s a lovely horse.  He was very friendly and didn’t seem bothered by the three new people at all.  

 

It was interesting to see how the layout is fixed for the events, and the size of the girls riding!!!  There were these TINY kids, no more than 7 or 8, riding these HUGE horses around like champs!  Jess finished 2nd in her first competition, and I found myself cheering for her after only a couple minutes!  

 

The added bonus of the day was the announcer.  She kept telling the girls to ‘sit up straight’, and her tone of voice when they finished was marked with disapproval for many of them!  She would say things like “Well that was a lovely time of 1:57, and if you would just keep your feet in, you would have done much better, but it’s a good time”.  To us in the audience, we were devastated!  Leigh-Anne kept saying “I can’t take her anymore!  i really think I’m going to tell her to piss off”.  You wonder how she can put her own judgement into this!?  Turns out she owns the grounds and is their coach, so all made sense in the long run, but it was quite comical at the time.  In retrospect, it did give us something to bitch about!  

 

There was a very cute puppy present, just wandering around.  She’s a stable dog, and lives on the ranch.  Her name is Suzy, and it’s hard to tell who is really cuter....the dog or my sister.  Hehehe..yeah, right?  Of course, I had her in my lap and had to give her a treat.  I wanted to take her home with us in the car!!!

 

The day ended with us touring the stables, and the fields where the horses roam free when they’re not being worked to death by toddlers.  There is a lot of work to take care of a horse, which is probably why I am not interested.  It was great seeing Guy’s aunts and the kids.  They really are so warm and nice, that it reminds me of my family.