We went to the county fair in Culberston this mornining. I wanted to see the horse show and it began with the 4-H kids at 9am. I used to be in 4-H and still have a soft spot for it. The first few classes were in-hand classes, meaning that the kids are on foot and showing their horses as stockmen. Some were showmanship, which I enjoy; the kids are supposed to show their animal to best effect. Regardless of the animal on the end of the lead, a good handler gets rewarded. The halter showing is less interesting to me, which rewards a well made (and shown) animal.
I much prefer the ridden classes. We stayed for some of the western classes, including reining and a trail class. Here's a shot of some of the kids waiting their turn in the trail class:
I met a lady in the concession line whose mom works at the local building supply where we are getting our studio windows. Over the course of the morning, I met most of her family, and got invited to come trailride with them! That was really nice! Her dad and little sister shoot skeet, so we invited them to come shoot at our range. I was hoping to meet "horse people" at the fair and this made my day!
This is a toad that showed up the day after the big rains.
Yesterday, we went looking for someone to put up the horse barn. We made contact with a fellow who moved here 15 years ago from Pasadena! Small world, huh? Anyhow, he put us in touch with a guy (Vern) who specializes in erecting steel buildings. Vern came out today and was really helpful. He showed us some buildings and explained a few things about the footer and ventilation and insullation, so that was a big help. He left us a few brochures so we could order the materials. It should take about 8 weeks for the materials to arrive, but Vern and his crew will be available to put up the building as soon as it arrives. In the meantime, we need to clear the dead trees from the area and get the footer poured. Here's a shot of the barn site:
