What a weekend!
Friday morning I was up at 4am to walk and feed the dogs before heading off to groom Ruth & Bazil before loading them into the truck to take them to Border Union Show. My niece Stephanie was helping me, her job was to lead Ruth at the show, and I would lead Bazil.
We arrived at the showground with half an hour to get the ponies and ourselves ready for the ring. We didn't even have time to go to the loo!!
The foal had travelled lying down and his front legs had poo stains down them, which I didn't notice until we were in the collecting ring - I spent the time trying to pick the little bits of straw out of his mane after giving both Ruth and Bazil a final polish before entering the ring. Not very professional of me, but it was too late to do anything about the stains. I was embarrassed.
The class was for Mares (with or without a foal at foot) and Geldings over 4 years old. Seven ponies were entered in this class but only five turned up. Ruthie led by Stephanie did a good show. Although a bit overweight, she trotted with a decent amount of energy and tracked up quite nicely. Bazil behaved himself, that means he didn't jiggle about too much or rear up as he does at home when bored.
Ruth was initially placed 5th and last but after her individual show, she was moved up a place to 4th. I was delighted with her performance and over the moon with her final position.
So why do we have no photos of this big event? Christopher went off to buy a bacon roll and missed the class! All he saw was the ponies leaving the ring - can you believe it? So the photographs at the top of the page were taken last night - can you see Ruthie's smart green rosette?
On Saturday, I took Stephanie to ride Maud for a couple of hours before lunch. I rode out on Bombay. When we got back home, Stephanie was so exhausted that she lay down on the grass in the garden and fell asleep, and Fleur being Fleur took advantage of a warm pillow!
On Sunday, I promised Chris it would be a horse free day. So we packed the dogs into the car and headed off..... we drove south. We had no plans and eventually ended up on the Rinns of Galloway. The weather was fantastic although there was a coldish wind just enough to keep a jumper on, and the views across to Arran, Campbelltown and Ireland were superb as the air was so clear.
We had a lovely day and I had a fabulous weekend.
