There is nothing like leaving at 2:00am for a horse show to bring out the best….. & worst in people.

It was a big weekend.

My fabulous working student, who has tirelessly cleaned tack and scrubbed horse legs for a year, was doing her very first show.

It was also the grand finale………she was ending her days working for lessons and returning to a professional world working for that………… green stuff.

I can’t think of what it’s called………………..

Oh yes…………… money……
 

The new working-student-in-training had barely started……. and was attending her very first show as a helper…. having never cleaned a stall or even seen a horse show.

I was riding in my first competition on Baby Seabiscuit.

My home bred 4 year old was doing his very first show with a friend in the tack.

And the boys (that would be the horse show husbands) were attending, their first show  filming, polishing, helping watching their horse crazy wives compete.

Lots of firsts!!!!

We were tacking up when we arrived and I kept hearing this very loud….. very close-by noise. It sounded a bit like a fire breathing dragon………………

Really.

Eventually I heard shouting and I finally looked up and saw it. Just over head.

The man in the balloon, was wildly gesturing and asking if he could land in the field.

Let’s be real. It wasn’t exactly a request. He was in trouble.

So the giant colorful “fire breathing dragon” flew immediately over our heads and did a reasonably well executed….. emergency landing in the pasture next to us.

I knew then the weekend was definitely going to be an adventure.