State Fair fun

I always look forward to our annual visit to the Oregon State Fair. Rick usually signs up to be the horse show vet for one day (all the area equine vets are asked to take a day) which gets us free admission; yesterday was his designated day. That worked out great, because it was also the day Brian was to drive in the Draft Horse Show.

Brian's class wasn't until 3:00, giving him plenty of time to hang out with the draft horses and their peeps. Brian likes to drive, but he probably likes "belonging" even more. Don't worry; he has to help with chores, too.

With Sugar, one of the Clydesdales he drove last year

Filling water buckets

I would have napped, too, if I could've; I didn't sleep much Monday night

While Brian was busy, I helped an old friend ready his Shetlands for  the all-breed classes of Supreme Ram, Ewe, Young Flock, and Get of Sire. Picking straw out of their fleeces was interesting; he breeds for a very different fleece type than I do. I think mine fit the breed standard better; 'nuf said.

Finally it was show time. Brian informed me early on that I was "bumped" from riding shotgun to heading the team in the line-up. Fine by me; I could take more pictures that way!

Looking so confident and capable!

In the warm-up arena

In the show ring with Claire and Willy

Brian did a great job, and placed second in the class. Afterwards, he gave his grandma a ride around the warm-up arena. She was thrilled; said she hadn't sat behind a team since she was a little girl in Iowa.

Then it was off to "do the Fair." I was in luck; chickens were on exhibit in the Small Animal/Poultry Barn. The blue Andalusians particularly caught my eye; such beautiful birds!

There weren't any competitions taking place in the dog sports area, but one lady was doing practice runs with her dock dog.

That was a happy Pittie – and much cooler than we were (it was HOT!).

There were two things on my State Fair shopping list –  a falafel sandwich and a new $5 pair of sunglasses to replace my broken ones. I also ended up with a pretty little dress from India for a nice little price. I had stopped to admire it, tried it on over my clothes, then started to walk away. I wasn't trying to dicker, but when the vendor dropped the price twice in quick succession, how could I refuse? ;-)

Since we drove two vehicles to Salem, I was able to leave before Rick could (Brian, of course, wanted to stay as long as possible). That gave me a chance to ride my pony for the first time in many weeks; it was a great ending to a great day.

That's it for now from . . .