Saturday 8/31/19 and Thursday 9/5/19
I went to the fair on Saturday morning with John & Bill. We were there to check out the arts and crafts exhibits. I loved the flowers, the cake and sugar arts, the needlecraft, the big veggies, and of course the photography. I did not take photos of the photography or most of the other arts. We spent several hours walking and looking then headed home.
On Thursday I left work early to meet up with my Aunt Suzy and her husband to watch the Indian Relay Races. They were awesome!
In this photo you see the second horse does not have a rider, that happened when the switch was incomplete and the rider lost hold of his horse before being fully seated.
Indian Relay Race teams consist of one rider, three horses, two holders and a mugger (who catches the recently dismounted horse). The race starts in front of the grandstands. Racers make one lap around the track then leap off one horse and onto another. This is a bareback race (no saddles). In total they make three laps around the track each lap on a different horse. The fastest finish time wins. There are lots of great videos on YouTube and even a PBS special for more information.
The first race was for youngsters, as they paraded out Suzy commented about how rough it was that the little ponies had to compete against the bigger ponies.
And then they race was off and we understood why the little ponies were included. The smallest was probably the fastest. It just flattened out, cut the corners and zoomed. The rest of the string was almost as fast as that one and the youngster riding won.
It was a blast.
After the racing, Suzy went to look at the quilts and I went to spend time looking at the horses.
Next year, I really am going to make the time to not only do all of this but also watch the sheep dog trials and the horse pulling. — Jenny
BlueRavenBirders 