I’ve been holding out on you

Don’t hate me.  But there’s something big happening on June 12th and I’ve only hinted about it once.  I haven’t told you anything, which is pretty amazing in itself because I typically can’t keep anything secret.  Especially when it’s this good.  But today I realized that there’s less than a month left before the event, and maybe, just maybe, I ought to fill you in. 

Remember my friend, Elizabeth?  Last year she told someone that now that she was retired, she’d really like to get a horse.  That someone pointed her in my direction and the rest is history.  Despite the age difference, we’ve become fairly close (and she feeds me, which helps).  Shortly after adopting Buddy and Donkey from me, she and another friend came up with a fundraising idea.  It started out as just a flea market type deal, but quickly blossomed into one big honkin’ shindig!  So big, in fact, that she reserved the Tyler County Fairgrounds for the affair!

I got to sit in on the first real “meeting” about the event, but was told that all I needed to worry my little head about was getting the horses ready.   Sounded like a plan to me!  Elizabeth and her friend are handling just about everything.  They’ve put flyers up all over the county and beyond.  They’ve contacted newspapers, radios, and TV stations.  They approached businesses for sponsors and donations.   What they’ve pulled together in just a short time is really incredible.  They didn’t even start working on this until February!

So listen up, ya’ll.  Here’s what’s happening that day:

Live music all day from 9am – 5pm

Adoptable dogs from Doddridge and Pleasants county shelters

Dog training demonstrations

Horseshoe throwing competition

Food, food, and more food

Pony rides for the kidos, as well as a ton of other kid-related activities that I don’t know much about

There’s going to be a clown there.  So if you have coulrophobia, beware. 

Tons of things will be raffled off, including an autographed picture of Brad Paisley!   Also a whole pallet of Nutrena feed, generously donated by the Tractor Supply in New Martinsville!  There’s a bunch of other stuff that will be raffled as well, but please don’t ask me to list it all.  I don’t even know half of what Elizabeth has collected from local businesses.

The day is not all about fun and games, either.  My main goal is education!  I can’t believe some of the things I’ve heard from people around here.  Like, you only have to deworm your horse once a year in the summer.  Or, you can tell how old a horse is by how many fingers you can get between their ribs.  Or, they don’t slaughter horses anymore since the plants in the U.S. closed down.  And my all time favorite, horses don’t need water every day if they’re not being worked.   ACK!

With that in mind, I’ve been working on brochures and pamphlets to hand out about deworming, vaccinating, the costs of horse ownership, horse slaughter, etc. 

Brannon will be there to do a farrier demo and talk about the importance of regular trimming. 

I’ve asked Doc to do a mini-clinic, but he hasn’t given me a yes or no answer yet.  Smartass that he is, he’ll probably just show up that day and ask me where he should set up. 

I wanted to get some people in to do riding demonstrations, but that just hasn’t come together as I had hoped.  I really wanted to show people dressage, mounted vaulting, jumping, etc.  And that’s only failed because of me.  Oddly, I just couldn’t find the time or energy to track people down and lure them into coming.

I’ll also have adoptable horses there.  People will not be allowed to ride the horses there, but will need to make appointments to come out to the farm if they are interested.  I can’t have five different people wanting to ride the same horse throughout the day!  Plus, I’ll need time to check references and facilities.   Unfortunately, the training of certain critters has not gone as planned this spring, thanks to all of the Fairmont horses coming in.  So most of the horses I’ll have there will be the cute, charming, adorable youngsters, including Traveler, Summer, Mick, Milo, Maggie, and possibly Quill.  Thunder will also go if he hasn’t found a new home by then. 

Want to know the best part?

Admission is FREE.  So I’ll see you there?