Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween at the Horse Park

There's been so much going on this past month that I'd have loved to blog about (and some I still will, like the felting class I took in Michigan), but time has made it nearly impossible. The month ended on a great note with a ride at the Kentucky Horse Park which was a fundraiser for Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (CKRH).

Four of us decided to dress ourselves and our horses up in costume for the ride... as is usually the case with Halloween, planning and getting ready was the fun part! Mirian loved the idea of being a vampire and making her horse, Gringo, a victim and thus a vampire, too.So, how do you make fangs for a horse? Mirian sewed and stuffed some white fabric and painted blood on the tips, hanging them from Gringo's halter with safety pins. Realistic, maybe not but funny? YES!
Of course she had fangs, too.
She also decided to put mascara on her horse... Gringo is almost as long-suffering as our cat Sushi when it comes to being dressed up! He had his mane and tale painted pink, and had fake blood applied around his face.Our friend Martha rode my horse Sunday, and painted a broomstick on him to go along with her witch costume.
MB was a skeleton, and her horse wore the mask.
I rode Paul's horse Strawberry- she was a spider web (with a few captured flies painted on her rump) and I went as a spider. I had to abandon my extraneous legs when she started jumping around with excitement in an open cornfield and the legs were thumping on her, and I was afraid that the spider web was doing nothing to help me stick in the saddle! We rode through harvested fields and beside old barns, then back onto the beautiful horse park grounds.
It was the first time we'd ever gotten to ride our own horses over the beautiful cross country course, and we had a new appreciation for the height and breadth of the huge fences!We had our lunch on one of the jumps, and of course enjoyed a bit of red to celebrate the gorgeous fall day. Pin It Now!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Wonderful WEG (World Equestrian Games)

The countdown clocks that have been up all over Lexington for about 3 years finally wound down, and the Opening Ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games finally came about with the most beautiful displays of equine pageantry and variety. Paul and I were blessed with free tickets to the Opening at the last minute, and Mirian got to attend with a friend. (Robert is not into horses!)

My pictures won't do it justice, but let me just mention some of what we saw and heard at the Opening: Hundreds of horses representing dozens of breeds, a parade of athletes from 62 countries (much like they do at the Olympics), Wynona Judd singing My Old Kentucky Home as beautifully as I've ever heard it, Mohommad Ali in a glorious antique caddillac, William Shatner driving a buggy, drill teams, horses dancing with the Lexington Ballet, glorious opera singers, governors and mayors and other politicians, a real princess (HRH Princess Haya, president of the FEI), a dozen Fresians "dancing" to New York, New York, a mini horse race with famous jockeys riding, precision drill teams, trick horses, and million dollar circus carriages. It was a display I'll never forget.
There were so many different breeds and styles of horses on display throughout the Games (not just those competing), and it truly was an international event of excellence and diversity with the best of many types represented. All were groomed and trained to the hilt, and I was completely inspired.
Not only REAL horses, there was the most beautiful horse art and sculpture at every turn.Mirian got to meet the actor who played the jockey in the Secretariat movie (just released this weekend, and I got an autographed Breyer model of Secretariat, signed by Ron Turcotte, his real jockey! Painted horses remain all over Lexington, and I still hope to check them all out.
There is more to come, I can't say enough about what a great time I had at the WEG, and like many of my friends I feel that it's come to an end too soon... but we're so lucky to have had it at all. Pin It Now!