Here's some pics from our first horse shows of the year, WWGA and HHSC. (We missed the first WWGA the day Apple had her 12 puppies.) And, yes, Kate and Sugar are *really* good at two barrel flags, and we all run it fast. It's just too fun an event to be conservative. :) We also ran Half Eight, which is running down, darting between two poles set 5' apart, then turning around the end pole and running home. It is wild, but amazingly, all three of us ran it fast and clean. There are also pics of the pole bending machines, Sugar and Joey. They can fly! My favorite is seeing the big air the kids get as the horses power out of their turns. I only seem to get popped up coming into turns, hence the funny faces. Getting slammed around so much is why you see us holding onto the horn sometimes in turns, we are not just trying to stay on, but trying to stay centered so the horses can run hard and not get thrown off balance.
I've added (6/9) some new pics of the WWGA June 1 show. There we ran barrel and stake, which is similar to two barrel flags except there are three stakes (two for Will's age group), and we have to go down and back and down and back three times. Wave is good at this because she will run hard between barrels and with just a "hey" from me she sits in the dirt and turns the can. Will ran a 17.7 in barrels at that show--with his saddle falling off! It was a smoking fast run, the pro rodeo girls often run in the low-mid 17's, and he's only 12 and we don't often run barrels. Cool!
Enjoy! It's so nice to see the horses without their winter woolies. Set to one of our favorite Big & Rich songs. . .