I went to Equine Affaire! It was my first time going, so of course I went with a horse, as you do. Read all about Ciro's time at Equine Affaire here. We were only there for two days and Ciro took up most of the first day, but most of the second day was a day to play!
Before we even had Ciro unloaded from the trailer I was amazed at how many horses were around! They were everywhere. They were beautiful. They were all types of breeds. They were all going in every direction. It really was like heaven for a horse girl! There were over 500 stalls being used while we were there. One of the first things we saw were two Clydesdales being hitched to a white cart. Then there was a Gypsy in front of us!
After we got Ciro settled in we went to see where he would be doing his clinic. Luke Gingerich was doing a clinic at that time about mirroring your horse, and I'm sad I missed the beginning of it, but I loved watching the end.
Then we got food in the shopping building and walked around a bit. There were so many booths! I just had to walk around and take it all in. Of course I managed to find a booth full of books, but it was just a looking day.
After getting Ciro saddled, his mom and I took a walk around the barn to see all the horses before their warm up. The amount of horses and breeds really blew me away. What I couldn't get past was the amount of Gypsy Vanners and Drum horses! It felt like half the horses at Equine Affaire were Gypsies or Drums.
By the time we got Ciro settled for the night after his clinic, everything was closing down so we went out to dinner. Sadly we didn't see Fantasia, but I was too tired to really appreciate it anyways. Plus that gives us an excuse to go next year.
Dinner was a lot of fun, and back in the hotel room we looked at pictures and talked about the day until we fell asleep.
The next morning we had waffles at the hotel before Ciro's mom and I caught the shuttle over to the Expo Center. We checked on and fed Ciro before heading to yoga with Cathy Woods. Starting day 2 of Equine Affaire with an hour of yoga was very relaxing. If given the chance, do it! Other people who were staying the whole weekend were asking Ms. Woods if they could do it again the next day. I hope to be able to go to her Find Your Inner Cowgirl retreat one day, but for now I was able to buy her book, Yoga for Riders, and have a small chat with her.
Before I met everyone back at Ciro, I explored all the breeds being showcased in the Breed Pavilion. Unfortunately they were changing the horses in the building when I was walking around so I didn't actually get to see many of the breeds or talk to anyone about them. Just another reason to go back.
Next, it was time to actually do some shopping! I was looking for a few specific things which I didn't find, but I did get a saddle pad and two pairs of gloves - mostly because they were all on sale. Then of course I bought books! More to come about them in a later post.
After shopping we got food from the trucks outside, but since it was windy and chilly we sat inside the one tent that was set up. As soon as we sat down (beside the heater), it started pouring rain, then once we finished, the rain stopped!
There was a 15 minute demo happening about Gypsy Vanners, and since they're my favorite breed I wanted to go see it. I almost forgot it was happening, and it was just about to start when we finished eating. It was in a building we hadn't been in yet, but luckily it was right behind where we just ate. It was a small talk about the breed and we got to look at a Gypsy while they talked.
Then Ciro left us and we went back into the arena where he did his clinic because there was a jumping clinic going on with Jeff Cook. We watched some of it, then left to go watch a liberty competition happening in another arena. As one of the girls was jumping I watched a beautiful Drum horse being led around the breeds area. He happened to be in the booth we had to pass as we left, so we stopped to say hi to him. His name is Beau. He's a stallion. His fourth birthday was the Sunday of Equine Affaire! I fell in love.
The liberty competition was so much fun to watch. Everyone and their horses were dressed up, and the horses were beautiful. There were a couple of Gypsies and Drums. I think we were watching a lot of beginners in the liberty world because there were some young girls and from what I remember, it was most people's first competitions. Some of the horses looked like seasoned pros and did exactly what they were supposed to do. Some did a little of what they were supposed to do. A few did absolutely nothing that they were supposed to. There was only one competitor who really seemed annoyed at her horse. It really gave me the bug again to work harder at liberty training with my two horses - and dress us all up again! What costumes should we wear next?
After the liberty competition, things were wrapping up for the day at Equine Affaire which meant we had to go home. As we walked through the barn one last time, we passed a stall with a beautiful and giant (like bigger than 16.2h Ciro giant) dapple gray. The paper on the front of the stall said it was a Shire for sale. And 2 months old. We couldn't believe our eyes! How could a 2-month-old be so big already?!?!
We were slightly delirious at this point.
The giant gray was the mother. There was a colt behind her we couldn't see until we properly looked in the stall.
On our way home we talked and laughed the whole way. It was such an amazing weekend filled with nothing but fun and horses. All the horses. There is so much we didn't see at Equine Affaire this year that we wished we saw, but I am totally up for going back next year to see even more! Maybe not take a horse next year...just so we can really take everything in.