This past weekend I had the pleasure of watching my hubby ride. He was competing in a National Versatility Ranch Horse Association Clinic and competition. It was close to our house. So we took two trucks so I could take the patio umbrella and set in the second one. We were up off the ground and could see better as well and had our own imported shade. It was very nice. My kiddo was happy that we had "setup camp". Luckily the weather was nice and a little breeze if you didn't stand in the sun. I felt for those out in the sun all day working this event. First pictures and then I will post my review on a new event that is coming along and gaining interest.
Here my kiddo is helping the guy setup the banners. This is actualy a banner from our Uncle Bryan. So my kiddo was carrying it you can just barely see his hat hidden there.
My hubby would come around the backside of the arena and hang out with us. There were not alot of spectators. more on that later. but my kiddo would run to meet up with him as he came back to the truck. Lots of water was needed to make it throughout the day. By the end of Sunday, my hubby figured he had been in the saddle 18 hours. I think this should go in the logs for riding time. WOW.
We were waiting for events to get started and my kiddo thought it was cool to jump off the tailgate because there was a slight hill so the jump was a little taller. My biceps were working overtime pulling him up everytime he jumped. We were having fun just hanging out and soakin' up the fresh air.
Some friends of our showed up to add some smiles to the day. By about 2 pm Mom and Uncle Bryan were just not entertainment enough anymore. So luckily these cutey patooteys and Tio showed up. 
I do love that my kiddo loves to smile! It just lights up the world for me.
I caught this in the mirro of our friends truck. I thought it was pretty cool as he watched the riding going on.
This is just before the last competition for Confirmation. (Oh and my hubby let his horse fall asleep during the confirmation part hahah. I had to laugh over this because they all looked Dad on their feet at the end of the day. If I were the horse I woulda snagged a nap to.) The kiddo, dad, Rosie(horse) and Uncle Bryan walking down to see what was going on.
This is my oh so proud of Dad son. I think he looks to me like "Look what we got" haha. When I asked him what the best part of the weekend was. He said "when Dad got his ribbons of course" Well duh. It was awesome I will say. He works hard at riding and taking care of maintaining them here at our home. So this is a wonderful perk.
So that was our happy smiles. It was alot of learning for my hubby and working the classes. And he really did well at the cutting which he got a first place ribbon in for his division. It is my understanding that this is a newer event and they are trying to make a go of it. It might be just here in Arizona it is trying to take hold, but I have to say as I was sitting outside the arena. Two other cars came to pull up next to us. It was held at a pretty well known arena for the area. So I can imagine folks come and watch the happenings all the time. I have to say I know they do because I ran into another friend I havent seen in years there and she said she just came to see as well. But both cars left. One even said wow this is boring. One decided to go after they had stopped by to get something. So unless the organization and the tempo is picked up for the amount of events being packed into one day, it will be hard to gain alot of spectators. I think spectators are important to events because it builds that base of the event. I asked some of the participants if the length was normal. And they all agree that after you were exhausted and just plumb done and needed to drive home a very long distance the end was always very long and alot of waiting. I think we waited about an hour and half from when the last event was done to get any winning decisions etc. So in that respect the actual participants have to have the stamina to wait hours on end.
From a horseman's wifes standpoint. If they can better run items to run a little more simultaneously. For instance they had a split arena. Or even compact some of the items a little more. there was a few items that seemed to be just patterns and not alot of go. Push some of this together and figure out how to get it done in 6 hours instead of 9 plus an hour and half for judging tabulation and you will probably come up with an interesting event. The overall experience and skills and talents your horse has to have. Well Wow. I can sit and watch horses all day and there were some fantastic horses. A Boomer horse even and had great style and confirmation. My hubby knew alot of the pieces of the events but learned to put them together and work with them. And the participants themselves were all really helpful. So I must say I really liked it.
I was told another one was being planned for the fall. I hope so. Over the summer we would just explode in the heat of the day. But fall would work and I believe we will be going to another event in between.
The BBQ night was great to just sit and listen to folks that are truly passionate for their horses and living life to it's fullest. When you can bring people together with similar passions it is really a wonderful environment to be around. And my kiddo didn't watch a lick of tv Sunday. He played a little gameboy for about 15 minutes. But mostly hung out with me until our Uncle Bryan and friends showed up after noon. We layed on the back of the truck in the shade in between horse events and he told me stories. He "bugged me" and I got to listen to him giggle and he got excited every time his Dad was riding over. I read my book a little and listened to the breeze rustle the tree leaves. I also got to watch my hubby work on something that he loves and also see him win something for all his hard work. This is to me a great day. Truely, I love my life.
Enjoy!
Chris
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