Weg Day #6

After yesterday, I am changing the counting system. Instead of WEG Day #1, #2, #3 etc. it will be "WEG Day -10 and counting". Counting the days to the end...

Oh, it's not that bad. But some days are longer than others. And overall, it's a blast!

First of all, confession time. The staff at the booth DID save me a piece of Swiss chocolate. A cute horse shaped chocolate filled with mint. Very Yum. So the Chocolate War is officially over before it started. Now if I could just wander down to the Swiss tent and procure some more for the rest of WEG....

Started yesterday at 7AM sharp at Keeneland with the two women from France who wanted to watch the thoroughbreds breeze. Early morning at Keeneland is so beautiful, with the fog just setting lightly over the track, the sun just a suggestion through a peach and pink horizon. The soft thomp-thomp of hooves on the artificial track, the glistening muscle and pounding hooves as they race down the stretch. Very friendly exercise riders who say Hi and smile at all the tourists lining the fence. We got some good pics by the track and in front of the row of jockey statues by the paddock.

Then on to the track kitchen for a hearty breakfast. With WEG in town, the track kitchen was busy - not with trainers and exercise riders but with tourists. Oh well, it did dampen the environment a bit, but the scrambled eggs and bacon were just as tasty. (Do you get a sense from this blog that I am all about food?)

Tim Folck, a great guy who helped start Quarter Horse Congress with his Dad, and a key factor in getting us our Traveler's Agribusiness sponsorship, stopped in to chat... he is working on some exciting plans relative to getting national level quarter horse and stock horse events into Kentucky. According to Tim, there are now as many Quarter horses east of the Mississippi as there are out in Texas and west. So using the new Horse Park indoor arena as a draw (which is already heavily booked for next year and beyond), we can be the center of Quarter horse activities too, on
"this side" of the river. The KY Horse Council looks forward to supporting this step forward for our competition horse owners.

Other stuff from the booth... lots of visitors yesterday, the traffic is picking up. We have a sense that Saturday will be a peak day, with the popular Cross Country event scheduled then. We are seeing many more people who have come in for all four days of the Eventing competition (Thursday through Sunday).

As soon as I got to the booth, I made a sale, WOO WOO! (I've never had the pleasure of being in a retail job, so making a sale is new for me...)As the woman is walking away, Pat (one of our KHC volunteers) asks "Did you charge her the sales tax?" OOPS! Had to chase her down and ask for 12 cents... Do you believe I did that? I should have just taken 12 cents out of my wallet, I mean -- REALLY! As far as my retail skills, I guess I had better not quit my day job. From that point forward, I let the volunteers handle the cash. I can't be trusted.

Got to go to Freestyle Reining last night. The only tickets I bought about 18 months ago, planned for a night with my husband watching this event which sounded fun. Then last week, the hubby says, "Oh, I'm going to Washington that day." So there I am, all dressed up and no where to go. Or no one to go with. A girlfriend filled in at the last minute, and she was thrilled to have the chance to see it. She asked, "DO I owe you anything?" to which I replied, "Not in cash but I'll get payback sometime later.' What a feeling of power to know your friends owe you a favor. Hmmmm.... stall mucking???

The freestyle was fun but not what I expected. COSTUMES! some cute, some weird.. and some riders really hamming it up, others straight as an arrow. They all had a few required components - you know, the spins, the sliding stops, the lead changes, the fast and then slow circles. But many threw in extra stuff, like piaffes (from dressage), or jumping off the saddle at a canter and running along side the horse for a few strides then jumping back on at a canter. Or sitting backward in the saddle. And three bridle-less, and one saddle-less.

Hey, I bet my horse can do all that! Not.

Ended the day with a 10PM dinner with Wayne Williams (Speaking of Horses Radio), Madelyn Millard, our board president who was interviewed by Wayne for the radio show, (shameless promotion: Visit http://www.speakingofhorses.com/Video_Archives.html), and Tom Tweeten from Minnesota Horse Council Board and EquiScentials. Good dinner, a bit chilly sitting outside, but my brain was dead by that time so I was useless as a contributor to the conversation.

Into bed at midnight --- ZZZZZZZZ