A day at the county fair

Today the boys and I went to the Wayne County Fair to watch my niece show her horse. Never having been involved in 4-H myself, I knew pretty much nothing about it, but learned a little bit today. Kathleen is in the "Protege", which means that she is learning from an older member of her 4-H club. Today was their "pattern" class, in which each rider took their horse through a specific routine (pattern), and they were judged on their performance, as well as how well they controlled their horse (I think).

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day, and a great day to be outside. Here's Nicolas and Bryce with their Aunt Denise (my sister-in-law, married to Tom's brother), and their cousin, Kathleen. Kathleen is on the right.

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Here's Kathleen leading her horse, Jack, out of his stall.

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The boys with Kathleen, as she waits for her turn in the Arena.

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Kathleen with her Mom and her Protege Instructor, Dawn.

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This is during the trotting portion of the routine. For a 10-year-old, she does really well and has great control of the horse. Her instructor doesn't even follow her around in the arena as many of them do. She just stays off to the side and watches.

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Now her routine is over, and she's exiting the arena with her instructor. She ended up taking 3rd place, out of about 12 or so riders. She did a really good job -- we're very proud of her!

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