Lynn's Story of her trip to the Farm Show in PA

Thursday, September 20, 2007
Lynda's Description of her adventure to the Pa. Farm Show 1 2-07

I "overheard' this as Lynn was telling BoJangles of her long weekend away from home. We just got her back home from the Farm Show, and they were busily 'chatting' as she ate her hay. Lynda is my soul mate, it seems .We have been together since 1992 and she has never failed me.We let a student of mine show her at the PA Farm Show in Jan. 2007, and this is how Lynn saw it all...

Seems that she was telling him all about it and that first, she got to this big
(picture of a BIG barn-like structure) place and mom put her in a stall - yellow stuff that wasn't so good to eat, but the 'green' (hay) was pretty good. They gave her a bucket w/ water in it and left. Then they came back with 'stuff'- images of all kinds of brushes, washing things, tack. She didn't get all of her green eaten but the 'short human' (my student) took her to another place with water all over the place. Lynn got wet, but the water wasn't cold like before, and then the 'short one' put foam all over her! Lynn didn't understand that much, but then mom got out the smelly good stuff (a whitening shampoo- smells like grape soda) and washed her really well. Lynn, that is, not my student. Then back to her yellow house (stall) and more good hay. Mom put her pretty cover  (a wool cooler ) on her, which made her feel warm and comfy. Then after a while, they both came to put that black horrid thing on her (image of my saddle and pain between her shoulders) which is not wide enough since Lynn grew her winter coat.

 Then the bit and Lynn tells Bo about how SHE gets the bit in her mouth as Bo is always a little scared to be bridled. (shes' trying to let him know its a good thing)  So,she has to leave her hay, and go thru this low tunnel-like place with pieces of wood on the ground,then into a HUGE dirt pasture! She was telling Bo about how HUGE it was... the show arena that is. The short human is riding her, and the saddle isn't comfortable but Lynn knows it won't last for long because her mom knows it hurts Lynn, too. Around they go and she tries hard to be perfect for the short human who sends so many different messages that Lynn sometimes gets confused about them all. She guesses which one is right. Most time she nails that perfectly. After a while, some little horses come in that pasture and they are going all over the place! (these were the roping horses used in the rodeo the next day- the riders were giving them some much-needed exercise) They were laughing at her because she is SO tall and pure white- Lynn doesn't let it bother her due to her knowing that if any of them give her a tough time,  she is BIGGER, and can kick pretty good. Around they go, hearing that laughter, and Lynn getting tons of messages and signals she has to guess at.Thank goodness the short human doesn't bang on her back like she did at home.

Then its back to the yellow place (her stall) and that awful tack is removed. She gets some water to drink and mom n' dad stay outside her stall for a few minutes, then they leave her all alone there. She's alright because they always return- Lynn is confident in that I'll never leave her anywhere by herself. The short one brings her breakfast the next morning and it is Exactly like what she gets at home! Imagine THAT- food that is the same! She has breakfast and thinks that her place is a little small for a ''Draft Mare of Great Size''. She watches all the other horses get pretty, and then she has her forelock braided in pink/navy colors, and some kid human braids her tail up. Lynn realizes that it's going to be a very important day when That happens. (Bo interjects here that he knows those things too- as does Carli, who is listening in) They go to one of those pastures in her white pretty dress up halter and Lynn has to stand around for a long time- boringgggggggggggggggggg. Finally back to her stall again-

She waits and mom/dad come to see her. Lynn nickers real softly in that special
'' Mom, I love you'' whisper- and she sees her mom smiling and saying happy things back to her. All is good in Lynn's life again. Even Dad smiled at her! Its time to go do that important thing- but instead of mom going, the short human sits on her.?????????????????????????????

Lynn accepts this as mom says she must. It is off around all these cars n' trucks   (parking lot) that aren't moving- she has no clue what is going on as this isn't' like a normal "important" time... then into that big dirt pasture again. She walks around and around, bored to tears, then is told to whoa. Lynn listens to the person on her, and all of a sudden the 'sky' (aka- show announcer) says something and ALL THOSE PEOPLE act like they are going to JUMP on her !!!! (standing up for the Nat'l Anthem and the arena was Packed) Lynn tried to move away fast so they wouldn't get her but the short one said 'no- stay here'. Oooooooooooo- it was scary! The scary people didn't get her. they were Singing. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, might this human be smart Too? Then the people sat down again and Lynn felt better right away. The 'sky' said to trot, so before her human told her, Lynn Trotted. She didn't like the thump on her back when she started and the human wasn't expecting it either.

All of a sudden the voice from the sky said something else, and her human told her to go faster- but with one foot ! WHaaaaaaaaaaaaa??????????????? OH- canter, that's the signal for canter. Lynn did, and it was going really good- no thumping from the human and the other horses were going fast too- it was kinda fun. All of a sudden there was a black horse in front of her and Lynn could see that this horse from her other trip ''to do important things w/ mom'' (this mare was also at the Worlds... right across from us). All of a sudden,  that horse tripped and stumbled - right in front of Lynn! Lynn didn't know what to do- so she jumped out of the way as fast as she could and all of a sudden her short person was GONE. She didn't know what to do, again and was scared a little. So she trotted to the first person she saw w/ grey hair (like Glenn n' I have)- surely he would save her.

That was the ring steward, that Lynn went right to. That one said she 'was alright and had been a good horse'. Lynn liked that and he made her feel better. There was the short human again- only on the ground. Lynn didn't know how she had gotten there but she was walking a little weird.  Lynn was glad to see her. The humans talked for a few seconds and Lynn was led out of the big dirt pasture. At this point, Bo is all but scratching his head wondering what had happened... Carlene told them that humans sometimes just fall off of horses' backs. No reason, they just do... And if you buck a little some will go off faster. It was kind of fun, Carlene said...

After that, back at her stall, no one rode her or paid to much attention to her. Lynn figured she'd let them down- but hadn't she done a good thing to save herself from a bad fall? Hadn't she helped her human not get hurt? Then mom led her back outside, and the short person was getting on her back again. Whaaaaaaaaaaattt???? They had to walk up n' down where all those cars were again- didn't make any sense to her. Her rider was scared though, and was very very sad.... once her short human got off again, Lynn had a big warm hug from her, and she knew her short human understood that SHE had been a good horse, and hadn't been bad somehow. Her little human thanked Lynna for 'saving' them from a bad fall.... (Lynn is boasting here big time)

So it was back to the yellow place again, she got groomed some by mom (who's back was hurting too- but she never did have saddles on her, so Lynn wasn't too sure about the 'why') and got a piece of carrot to eat. Mom n' Dad left and she was there alone. She slept some, ate some more green stuff, drank the water that tasted 'green' too, and slept some more. She made friends w/ the brown horse on the other side (A Clyde named Sandy...) and they told some stories too. Finally, it was time for more feed and some hay. Lynn got to go for a walk outside which was fun, and the sunshine felt good on her back and ears.

She waited and waited for her mom to come, but she didn't. Not for a Long time ! All of a sudden there they were and Lynn was whispering her "mom whispers" to her, and got the smile again. All was good in Lynn's life again- her mom was there. After a few minutes of moving stuff - that black thing was taken away- YAY! - she got her halter on, and went with mom to the outside again. Wow- another walk she though- but then she saw her BOX !! The gold one that takes you places w'/out walking there. Oh, Lynn was so happy, she took Mom to the walk-up, (ramp to go in the trailer) and went on all by herself! After all, she had done it many times before- why not just go by yourself? Mom didn't really need to go too. But mom hurried along with her, laughing at her. Lynn expected some green in there but there was none, so she just wanted to GO- NOW. She pawed and got yelled at to stop, so she figured she might do that. The ride home was boring with no green but then they were HOME. Lynn called and called- so happy to be home again, and now she was tired of telling everyone about her time away and was going to take a nap.

 Bo n' Carli discussed their times ''away''- one time seeing a grey thing with a long tube out its face (an elephant at the Great Circus Parade in WI) that kind of smelled bad, and of the time when the round 'clouds' came to land on the ground, ( Hot air balloons- Carlene's story ) only to stay there going up n' down. They both thought those a little weird. Lynn piped up to say that the worst things were the railroad tracks- Bo agreed, and that you had to beware of those because Sometimes the long pipes jumped up to trip you.

And that was about the end of the whole conversation ! At least for me as my head hurt from it all .