The Games. . .

On Saturday morning, October 31st, all four of the people in the Baker household were up before the sun. This is a VERY rare occurrence. It's far more likely for us to still be up when the sun rises than for us to wake up, on purpose, in time to see the sky look like this:




It was about 32 degrees outside and we were on our way to Gloria's horse event. I kept taking pictures of the sunrise while I was driving because it's something I rarely see!!



It was beautiful. . .

We arrived on the farm before 8 a.m. so we could set up the small sound system that I had volunteered to bring. Of course I volunteered Rob and Zach to set it all up so you can imagine Rob's "delight" at getting to set up a sound system before 8 a.m., in the sand, outdoors, in freezing temperatures. I think he owes me one (or two) so I didn't feel too sorry for him. . .

Gloria and I went into the barn to get Penny ready to ride and found that Penny's young owner had already begun the process. Gloria chipped in to help her and had a chance to learn some tips and tricks from her as well. . .

This was our very first experience to join in the competitive games that the farm puts on several times/year. We kind of knew what to expect since Gloria has learned most of the games during class time but she was still a little nervous on Penny and wasn't entirely sure she would remember all the rules. Much to my relief, Penny's owner, Katherine, stayed by her side and kept an eye on them both as they competed! All of the riders younger than about 12 had "spotters" with them so that helped me relax and enjoy the games!

After the first couple of games, Gloria relaxed, too, and really had a great experience. . .

Her partner was a beginner, too, but was older and was on a much bigger horse. . .

The two of them did very well together. . .

The speakers looked and sounded great, too!! They usually announce winners and things with a megaphone at the games so they were pretty happy to have a sound system. . .

All of the races had a Halloween theme and one of them was called "bobbing for apples". The gist of it was to run to the far end, feed your horse an apple and run back. It was pretty funny. . .

This was a relay race with a baton hand-off:

This very short clip is the only proof I have that I was a working participant!!:

Gloria took part in the very first group of games and at the end of her rounds, the winners were announced and ribbons were handed out. . .

Gloria's team ended up taking second place!!!!

There were 5 more groups to compete so Rob and Zach were excused and Gloria and I stayed around to help. . .

I was pleasantly surprised to see little Cookie compete in almost every game. She had many different riders and really held her own all day. . .

Many of the riders were dressed in costumes and several people even decorated the horses . . .

I spent the day helping set up each game for the different divisions of riders. . .

There were cones and buckets and all kinds of different items that had to be switched out every 5 to 10 minutes. . .

The last group of the day to race was the adult division. There were many levels of riders in this group and it really spurred me on in thinking that someday I might be a part of this group. Despite walking through sand all day in cowboy boots in nearly freezing temperatures, I really enjoyed taking part in the games. I'm still surprised at my new found enjoyment of horses and the satisfaction I get from working with and around them. I'm still very unclear on how all of this will unfold but, just like every other aspect of my life, I'll take it one step at a time, breathe in and breathe out and see what happens. . .