So much going on - and trading evening feed for photos

It's been busy since last Thursday. Brenda, a friend from Michigan, stopped on her way home from a cruise to visit for a few days. Brenda is not a horse person, so I was a bit concerned how this would go, because literally Wellington is ALL horses. I thought the Friday night Challenge of the Americas (COTA)  -a fun musical freestyle competition that serves as fund raiser for Breast Cancer Research- would be something a non-horse person could enjoy. And luckily I was right, it was great fun!

The COTA Winning Team ("Pirates of the Caribbean")

Saturday we actually found something non-horsey to do: Art Fair at the Beach in Juno. It was stifling hot, so we actually ditched the art in favor of the beach. Brenda left Sunday morning and I didn't miss a step and went to the  "Champagne and Shadbelly*" evening at a beautiful Spanish themed farm. Funny tidbit: The 'champagne' was actually from Germany (German Sekt = sparkling wine) and quite good.

It was a nice event with well-known riders -even a para-Olympian- modeling the shadbellys. And I was quite excited to meet Emily, who came from Ohio to compete her GP Morgan at Global. It was so nice to find (finally!) a fellow Morgan lover and competitor. They are few and far in between here, if there are a handful I'd be surprised.

Speaking of Morgan lovers: I've been in touch with Nadette, the editor of the Morgan Dressage Association newsletter, and she thought a write up about the "Welly-World" experience would be good. She also wants photos, but I literally have only one where I am actually on the horse. So I asked Vivian if she'd volunteer. (I might have 'guilted' her into it because I sometimes feed her horse for her at night when she is busy).

I was in for a surprise: I thought Viv would use my cell phone and do a few snap shots - but she showed up with her camera today and did such a great job that I might now be guilted into doing more evening feeds...

Who can resist that face??

Happy Campers

"Can you please get a move on and dig the sugar out??" or
"Ein schoener Ruecken kann auch entzuecken" ("A beautiful rear can also endear")

*A shadbelly (North American English) is a type of riding coat worn in certain equestrian situations by fox hunting members, dressage riders, eventers (in the dressage phase of the higher levels), and occasionally by other hunt seat riders. 

This coat is considered an element of very formal riding attire, and its use is therefore reserved for the most formal forms of equestrianism. (Wikipedia)