And a Good Time Was Had by All

Jordan's first horse show experience was very good. It was a small local show where we knew the majority of the people. The Midway Expo Center is a big, nice indoor show area so it is exciting to ride there, but the small crowd and friendly faces made it lots of fun.
Jordan was nervous going into her classes, but did very well. She rode Daisy, a school horse from Kris' barn. They were a good pair. Jordan tried to complain about things she didn't do perfectly, but I said she didn't fall off or forget her patterns and she's excited to come back, and those are the main goals of a first show. Good heavens, the girl first sat an english saddle in June! Another fun aspect of these shows is watching the dogs that come. From a dauschund that my friend Betsy had to a friend Sara's Great Dane (I really should have taken a photo when they were sniffing each other) and everything in between, dogs are a big part of horse show life.

To top it off, Jordan looks really natural on a horse, and Daisy is a good girl, so they ended up getting three second place ribbons and two fourths. We did tease her that the Nebraska girl had to get all red and white ribbons :-) She actually had her eye on the pink and green ones until I told her they were fifth and sixth place but I could trade them in for her if she wanted. Later we learned that she earned reserve high point for her division, which gains her another bigger ribbon. October 11th is another fun show just a few miles the other way from our house we should be able to make. She will try Payton at that one, and judging from their rides together I'd say she will do very well on him. She was all smiles and ready to ride again.

Saturday night was the Fall Festival at Midway School. To give an idea, they generally pre-sell around 10,000 tickets for the raffle. Add to that the chili supper, pizza sales, silent auction, games, music, hayrack rides, bake sale, face painting and kids running and playing all over the playground, and you can imagine the big fun event this is, as well as a phenomenal fund-raiser. Bill, Jordan & I each had volunteer stations at times, but plenty of time to hang out also. Ethan was so excited to show us his school and see all his friends, you could tell he felt ten feet tall.

Sunday Jordan, Kahlea and Makayla were part of a big bus of youth group kids that went to Shryock's corn maze. Afterward was a bonfire with hot dogs and marshmallows, and a fun time was had by all.