The Dancing Horse Story Begins .....

I know there have been a few sporadic posts in the last couple of years on here about Gato and I but nothing regular to keep readers up on what we're doing. I'd like to get back into the swing of posting what is happening more regularly and am making it my personal goal to post a little something about our life together and our adventures at least twice a week, if not more. Everyone keeps telling me that I need to write a book ...... about my life out here on the farm .... and with Gato. So here goes nuthin' ......

We had a 'gig' lined up to go ride down in Cummings, IA (south of Des Moines) at Maffitt Lake Equestrian Center this past Saturday. It was a Dressage Classic show. At first I was a little hesitant. I've always known 'dressage people' to be a little high strung and a bit stuck on themselves. I know that what Gato and I do isn't perfect, by any means. Some of the movements we do are purely by accident but our intent is to get out there and just have fun. I was worried that some of the people there would be really critical of us and not care for our performance at all. Plus I ride in a western saddle. I've been to clinics before where I've gotten made fun of for riding and doing dressage movements in a western saddle. I know, I know .... the whole "western dressage' thing is out there now and people are getting more open to it .... but not the die hard dressage riders. They still think it's not right to ride in a western saddle. and then on top of all of that I got a message telling me that I would have to ride in a helmut because of their USEF rules. NOOOO!!! I wear big feathers and wigs and i can't have an ugly helmut on!! SO ANYWAY ...... I thought long and hard about it and finally decided to get over my fear of people making fun of me and just go. I had nothing else planned for that weekend so it was go there or sit at home feeling sorry for myself. Both my daughters had nothing else planned either so we all decided to take a road trip down to Cumming to the dressage show. :o) I went to work and dolled up one of my old hunt seat helmuts and made it into a showgirl helmut. It turned out pretty good!! :o)

The day started out ok. I got Gato bathed and his feet polished. I wanted to leave here around noon so we could get there around 2ish. We were supposed to ride around 6ish. Well, things went really well and we actually pulled out of the driveway at noon on the dot! YAY! :o) but then things slowly fell apart ....... i had mapquested the directions but put in Maffitt Lake Farm not Maffit Lake Equestrian Center. We got clear down to Cumming and got lost. ....on a small, tight, windy, hilly road. I was going really slow with a whole line of cars behind me and that's when I started to panic.

Let's back up here a minute ...... I have been married for 21 years. I am just now going through a divorce and am trying to learn how to do a lot of things I relied on my husband to do in the past. One of those things is to drive the truck and trailer. If you knew me for the last 20 years, you know that I don't drive. Plain and simple. I just don't. I'm a passenger ..... ALL THE TIME. Well, not anymore. If I'm going to be doing this Dancing Horse thing then I have to get out there and suck it up and learn how to drive my truck and trailer. So I have been. I have now driven to Manitowac, Wisconsin, Belvidere, Illinois, and a few other places. Each time I head out I am always nervous -- because I still haven't mastered the art of backing. ....at all. I will crash and jackknife. So I try to stay in areas where I can drive in and out and not have to back. I have other stories of 'close calls' I've had with the trailer in the last couple months that maybe I'll write about later but let's get back to today. We're heading to Maffit Lake Equestrian Center --- where I've never been -- and we're now lost .... by the lake. I managed to get off on a side road and with the help of the girls I 'whipped a bitch' .... as Dani would call it .... only it took me about 10 minutes of crawling and backing and crawling forward and inching backward .... and taking up the ENTIRE road. Luckily nobody was coming for a long time ....at one point we were completely sideways on the two lane blacktop completely blocking it until we got turned around to go the other way. I hate the GPS lady who calmly states -- 'make a U-turn' ..... 'make a U-turn' ..... 'MAKE A U-TURN' .... well, it isn't that easy lady so BE PATIENT!! After making a U-turn with that truck and trailer we got lost again .... yup ..... again. ....and by that time my nerves were shot.

I tried not to break down in front of the girls but I was so stressed trying to do everything myself that I finally pulled into somebody's driveway and couldn't help it .... I started crying. The girls told me to just calm down and pull it together. They were great. ....but I had gotten to my last nerve and it was all over. I was scared already about riding at the Dressage thing ..... going to a place I didn't know ..... driving the truck and trailer again by myself......just everything piled up on me. Then out of nowhere came this lady driving up on a four wheeler. She was really nice. She said -- "Are you guys bringing me a horse?" ..... I think she saw I was really upset. Dani told her what we were looking for. She said OH! You guys are really close .... it's just a mile that way across the lake. You're almost there! Then she saw my outfit hanging in the back of the truck. What are you girls going to do? ....and I told her what I do on Gato and that I was supposed to ride later there. I started to calm down a little bit talking to her and talking about Gato. That always makes me feel better. I gave her one of our fliers and she said she might come over later. Then I started to panic again and I told her that I couldn't back out of her driveway and that I was stuck. She said -- that's ok! I can't back my trailer either .... I just drive across my yard here and go to that driveway over there -- you can pull straight out onto the road that way. She said you are much braver than I am ..... I only take my horse out once a year. I laughed. That made me feel a little better. Before she drove off on her four wheeler, she looked at me one last time and said .... "You're ok .... everything is ok ... you're just about there." Those words really helped me pull it together. I wonder if she knew how deep that statement really was and if she was referring to us getting to the equestrian center or if she was referring to my life in general. Either way ... we took off again and were once again on our way. Krystle said , "Mom, do you think that lady was an angel? ..... sent here to calm you down and help us?" We all laughed. Yep, she was sure our angel that afternoon.

We got back on the road and finally found the Equestrian Center. I was still worried I would get wedged somewhere and not be able to get back out. ...but apparently there are a lot more people out there that can't back their trailers so the whole place was built so you could pull in and out and never have to back. PHEW!! We found out stalls and found Sherie (the lady that invited us) and unloaded Gato and then the rain started ......

Oh no ...... but it was just a little rain. So we waited to unload the tack and costume until it stopped raining ...... but it didn't stop. It just rained harder and harder. So we pulled up our lawn chairs and tried to get under the barn awning to get out of the rain. Then the lightning started. I will say -- the people were incredibly friendly. Not at all like I had thought. Everyone was helpful and nice to us. After we got there I felt so much more comfortable and really wanted to ride. ....but it just wasn't meant to be. The rain never let up. So we stayed there until around 5ish and decided to scrap it. We thought even if it did clear up, the ring was an outside arena and would be incredibly wet and muddy. Gato would have a hard time dancing in deep mud and I was wearing all white so if anything happened ..... that would be a big mess. So we apologized to everyone and said our goodbyes and headed out. Ironically enough ....... on the way home, the rain did finally stop and the sun came out and the evening turned out very nice. I think it was a sign ....... I really wasn't meant to ride there that day. Someone was trying to tell me to go home. So I took the hint.

Overall, it was a good day though. We met some new friends at the show even though we weren't there very long. I learned that I can make it through getting lost and turned around. I had a complete mental break down and still pulled through. The girls said they had a good time spending the day together and bonding even though we didn't ride. We have this memory now of the Dressage Show trip. Gato, on the other hand, is probably still wondering what the heck we were doing ....... getting him all cleaned up and taking him to another barn just to stand in a strange stall for a couple hours and then drive home again. Oh well, at least he got to get out of the barn and go for a drive. :o)

I would like to thank Sherie for inviting us and also a big thank you to Mona, Heidi, and Tammi for being so friendly to us. Sherie said there is another Dressage Classic show coming up in October at Kirkwood. That's an indoor arena ...... maybe we can do something there and not have to worry about rain this time. I love that arena. So we'll see ...... stay tuned to see what adventures Gato and I will be up to next!!