CMA Halloween Uwarrie Ride

Everyone on the farm, but the Cat, came with us to Uwharrie with weekend. I arrived Friday night after driving through drizzling rain the whole way! Got Seven, Sadie and Navarre settled in their corral stalls. Then parked the trailer, hooked things up and then got Levi walked and fed right before the rains came in! It rained and rained all night, in heavy down pours. The mules and Navarre were very happy that I put their blankets on!
The next morning it rained until about 8AM. I fed the mules and walked the dog in the pouring rain. After it stopped we decided to head out about 10AM. Wendy arrived and helped me get Sadie tacked up and our lunches packed! Karen and Dave led the group on a great ride. They kept us off the high hills which would have been slippery and also away from the river that would have been really muddy! By afternoon the sky was clear blue and you almost did not need a jacket! At our second break I saw something weird in the woods, I called Teddy over and we brought it up to the group. It seemed to be have been made of Styrofoam and some how a plastic bag was in part of it. Weird, why would it be all the way out and whats is for???
Upon returning home I was so happy that I had started up my crock pot, because dinner was ready to eat as soon as we got the mules taken care of. Navarre spent the day with a new friend named Pete, a small driving Hinney owned by a friend of mine. He was happy to see Seven! That night was the group meeting and dessert time! We went ot bed early because when the sun set it really started to get cold out!
Sunday morning was cold but so pretty! Carolina blue sky, warming up fast! We tacked up and also decorated the mules for Halloween, since it was the next day! We had a lot of spray painted and glittered mules! Teddy and LuAnn painted Virgil to look like their old mule Charmin. Too funny! She has some white in her tail so it was easy!
Sadie wore a princess crown and had a wand, I also sprayed her with Pink hooves and big pink hearts all over her! Seven wore two large 7's on his rear end, he had blue hooves, blue mane and a giant spider on his britchen. Both mules also had spiders clipped into their trails! We had another great ride that took us down by Baden Lake for Lunch!

NC Corgi Picnic

Saturday Oct. 15th, Levi, Dylan, Mom, Dad and I headed to Wake Forest to Teamworks Training Center for the NC Corgi Picnic! We got there in time to help Judy set up the big play pen for Levi's brother and sisters to play together. (Puppies are 14 weeks at this point!) Judy still has one brother and one sister from Levi's litter and Rhonda came with her litter mate Harley. Levi and Harley pick up right where they left off, playing hard with each other! First was the herding test! All four puppies showed some signs of interest in the ducks and the tester
recomended that we re-test when they were a little older. The it was time for more playing for the puppies and watching things like Dock Diving, Agility and inspecting the items for the drawings. We went down to the pond and Levi got his toes wet but Dylan went for a little swim!
Lunch was ready and we had a great selection. Many people came up and watched the puppies play. One lady came up and asked, "Oh are there the door prizes?".
Rhonda, Mom and I signed our dogs up for the games. First was Hot Dog Bobbing. Levi and Harley really did not get it and only ate one while I held it up out of the water. Then it was Dylan's turn and he ate 10 of the little pieces of hot dog. I think the winning dog ate 21 in 30 seconds!

The next game was Musical Mats. Kind of like Musical Chairs except you have to get your dog to get on the mat when the music stopped! Harley and Rhonda won!!

The final game was the Corgi Dash! You would call your dog from a starting point to you and the time was taken from the start to a line the cross! The catch is there is a plate with a piece of hot dog on it in between! Several of the dogs hit the scent and went right for it. I took Levi down to the start and showed him a liver treat, then I ran down and started calling him! It took him over 8 seconds to come but he came right to me! He got a lot of "Ah how cute!" from the crowd! The winning dog did it in less than 2 seconds.
We headed home, all of us tired! Best thing that happened all day was that Levi was so tired he fell asleep on my lap! So sweet! He was also a little tired on Sunday and needed an extra nap! He did get to play with Sparky from next door! Dad and I celebrated our Birthdays together with some ice cream cake and Mom brought me neat flower arrangement with a puppy in it!













Levi's Sister Harley and her owner Rhonda.



























Sparky and Levi playing! See puppy made of flowers?

The BIG Weekend!

Friday night I headed for Flintrock Farm with my newly washed and clipped mule Seven. Levi was also along for his first big adventure! We camped for the night and then got up early to get ready for the show.
On Oct. 8th, the Carolina Mule Association held its Fundraiser Horse/Mule show. Aimee and Tollie showed up to volunteer for the day and brought their daughter from college, Caroline. She was to show Seven in the English Classes for me! She made friends with Seven and took a short ride to get to know him. She started the day with Halter and then moved into the riding classes. Seven won quite a few classes and got many seconds! She and Seven just clicked and rode so well together! Everyone was asking who she was and was amazed when I told them that she had just met me this morning and had never ridden Seven before!
Then it was time for Western division. I rode him in these classes and he did really well. We did well all afternoon and the competition was close for the High Point Mule Belt Buckle. We got Reserve High Point Mule! Wow what a show! Seven was so good all day! Levi had a great time too! Several kids walked him around and he never met a single stranger. He also got braver being around the horses and mules! He was a good traveler and slept all night in his crate too!
I had dinner that night at Jay and Annette's house with Holly, Linda and Barry! We had a great time and ate left overs and desserts! I was so glad to get a nice hot shower and climb into bed that night.
Sunday AM was another beautiful day! I got up early, packed up and off we went on our next adventure! Just an hour away was a Trail Obstacle Race at Brock and Leshia Griffith's farm in Denton, NC! After we arrived and got settled, we got tacked up. We met some new people too! We warmed up in the ring and then everyone road over to the hill side to the area where all the obstacles were set up! Then the order of go was read and we got picked to go 7th.........
It was soon our turn! Seven seemed ready to do something different from yesterday! So I charged at the course! 1st was opening and closing the arena gate, then a trot down the hill and road to a teeter totter, no problem! Then we had to climb up onto a tractor tire that was filled with dirt. We showed off and did a spin on the tire! Then ran over to the bottom of the hill and up three bank jumps! Seven did this like it was no problem! We then crossed some logs on the ground, through a cowboy rope curtain and on to a ride over a dirt hill. The next thing we were asked to do is ride a circle at a canter to the right. Seven collected up and stayed between my hands and legs the whole time and let me guide him around. We then moved a shower curtain from one barrel to another, dragged a barrel with a cow head in it. We dragged it from behind and then also turned and dragged it again! Then we took off across the field to a spot where we were to stop. I also did two turn arounds there too. Next was a steep hill, where we halted several times on the hill to show control. At the bottom we were to go into a tight trail cut into the woods, it was tight and it had logs to step over and wind around but Seven did it in a smooth manner! As we came out of the woods we jumped three black barrels, cantered to the road, I then stopped and dropped the reins and walked the rest of the way to show how broke and quite he is. I was so happy with his performance! He did everything I asked, how and when I asked! Can't get much more than that! Several people came up and told me they really liked our run! The other guy there with a mule came over to shake my hand! Boy was I proud!
We ended up winning the Race out of 13 people! I won $90 in payback money too! Leisha and Brock Griffith who judged the race said that I had 50 points more than everyone else. Most people rode the course in 10 minutes or more, one rode a little too fast at 5 min., I rode it in 7 minutes and something........
We headed home very happy! Really could not have done any better than we did and had two fun days with some wonderful fall weather too!
Got home and met my Cousin Billy at my house. He lives in Alabama but was in the area for business. So we visited and went to dinner! Billy walked out to see Seven out in the pasture. He tried to video him while he walked up to him. He said "I hear to won a big competition today!" as he said that, Seven's head popped up, he wheeled around, bucked and took off! I can't wait for Billy to send me the video post! It is too funny!

Mule Rider Boot Camp at the RMF!

On Sept. 24 and 25th I have several friends come over for the first ever Mule Rider Boot Camp! We started the day with all mules and one short-ear! We did some ground work and some showmanship. Then tacked up to ride! We had multipable problems that needed working on but everyone worked hard. I started out by giving away my Julie Goodnight reins to some who had snaps on their reins, then my bridle to another lady who's mule needed my Gag Bit! I was stuck riding Seven in a halter and lead rope! Ha! He was good though.
We broke for a late lunch and then rode again in the afternoon.
Sunday I started up with just one mule rider and we did ground work, she and the mule showed much improvement even from the day before! We also did a Make-Over clip job on his face and mane! He looked like a new mule! Later some others came and everyone showed improvement, so you know me, I gave them more to work on!
A lot of fun and I enjoy helping people out. Sometimes just small changes in how things are done or how a rider things about things can make a big difference!

Blue Eyed, Lucky Three 7's Puppy Named LEVI

In my search to find another Corgi friend, I went to go see a rescue, and the mother of some puppies who might be re-homed. The breeder showed me one puppy that she thought I might be interested in. He was one of a 7 litter of puppies and born on 7/7/11. If that is not a Lucky Dog I don't know what one is! He was her pick of the litter and was disappointed because one of his eyes had turned blue over the last week. So he is not eligible to be in the conformation show ring.
The eye that turned Blue is his right eye, the same side where Reuben was missing an eye. I had some strict tests that the puppy had to pass, which he did with flying colors! He is a calm and confident puppy! The black on his head with turn red, as he is a red headed tri-color. So he will not look quite so much like Reuben when he is grown. I was in love! Of course!
I was so excited that I went out to all the pet stores to find him the perfect leash and collar, ended up with 18 toys and had to puppy proof my house. I also bought a book about puppies written by Cesar Millan.

It is weird how some things just work out! All the 7's in his life, the blue eye being on the same side as Reuben's missing eye, the breeder lives just a few miles from my house, I found her through work of mouth, and not an advertisement. When I did my tests with him and later spent time visiting him, I realized that he was the only one out of the group that I would have wanted anyway, because of his calm and confident nature!

I brought him home on Sunday Sept. 18th and have been having great fun with him ever since! It is funny to me how young he is and how easily he gets distracted. I also keep forgetting that he has not seen a lot of things, like cars driving by, plastic shopping bags, mules, cats, toes. So it is great fun showing him all this new stuff! I also brought him a new lunge whip to chase, which he took to that game right away! Good way to get a puppy tired.
The other night the girls next door came over to see him. They were so excited when they saw him that they started running at him making all kinds of noise. Levi was so funny, he took one look at them, barked once and then ran back to the porch. I got the girls to sit and then call him back over. Once he met them, they all had great fun!
Many Thanks for Mom and Aunt Cherie for my early Birthday money to help buy him! What a great present!

Levi at 8 weeks.

South Mountain State Park CMA Ride

Tara & Seven!

Teddy the Lipstick artist at work! How did he get so good with that Lipstick anyway?

Sadie Mae's fancy make-up job!

I picked up Tara at the Truck Stop at 7:30 AM for a ride and a break from life we both needed! We headed off for South Mountains State Park and got so involved in talking that we drove right by the exit for the new way to South Mountains, so we just laughed and went on to the other exit! We rode out with Holly, Max and Lu around 12:30. It was the first really cool day we have had all summer and as we neared the ridge we found that non of us had brought enough clothing for the nearly 30 degree drop in regular temperature. Everyone but me put on their rain slickers and that cut the wind and kept them warm!
Once we returned a warm soup, grilled cheese on sour dough bread and a warm blanket was the end of Tara for the night! I went over and enjoyed some desserts and a warm camp fire.
The next morning we tacked up and Tara complained of a tendon in her thigh that was hurting. So I told her to give Seven and his saddle a try and see if that felt better. It did and so we decided to ride that way the rest of the day. Little did I know that this would cause such a stir in the group. When we rode up to join in, everyone commented on Tara riding Seven. Saying, "What's going on here?", "You mean Shannon is not going to ride Seven?" Who knew? Funny!
We had a great ride that day. It was chilly but we enjoyed the nearly 15 or so mile ride! Tara did a great job with Seven or was that Seven did a great job for Tara, but both did well together!
On top of one of the overlooks Teddy found some lip stick that someone had dropped. He was so excited when he opened it and it was nearly full! He stared by drawing with it on Jane's horse Val but he is black so it did not show up too much. Then he went to write something on Holly's mule but she lifted her leg each time he got near her. So I offered up Sadie Mae and her Mealy colored nose! He draw a circle around one eye, lighting bolts down each side of her nose and then the head of a mule right on the front of her nose. Then with just a little left he wrote CMA on Lu's appaloosa mule's white rear end. We never know what Teddy is going to do next!

Bruce and Holly, hosts of the ride had stew and dinner for everyone. We had a great warm dinner and sat by a big camp fire till I actually fell asleep in my chair! After a warm shower, more hay for the mules it was time for sleep!
The next morning we decided to skip the Sunday ride. In all the years I have been with the mule club I think this is only the second Sunday ride I have missed. The first was to go to Tn. to buy Navarre! Tara cooked a great breakfast with eggs, hash browns, sausage and tea. It was almost worth not riding for that good breakfast! We waved the mule riders off and headed back to town! I wanted to go home early and pick up my new puppy too!

Rest In Peace Sweet Little REUBEN

My dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, 8/24/2011 I had to say goodbye to my sweet little Reuben.

During a two week hard battle with pancreatitis, after getting into some food, my wonderful Vet Team and I elected to have surgery on Reuben to see if his problems could be relieved. Unfortunately the surgeon found something unexpected. A mass or tumor the size of a baseball on his pancreas. He had been in so much pain and nothing could be done so I let him go.

My heart is broken.

Reuben was 11 years old but I only had 9 years with him. The day I went to meet him it was like he knew I was there to get him. He ran to meet me and was so excited that he crashed into my feet. On the drive home I had to tie him to the passenger side door because he kept trying to leap on my lap while I was driving!

He was as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside. Between loving every equine, dog, cat or human that he met to chasing that horse toy ball around the yard like a manic, he lived life at one-hundred miles an hour.

But Reuben knew how to relax and snuggle too!

He would jump up out of a dead sleep if I said, "Let's go feed the Mules!"

He had a bouncy little trot most every were he went.

He went from an untrained stray on a friends farm, to a registered therapy dog with both Therapy Dogs International and later on Wake Med Hospital.

He loved to go and visit the patients and never ran out of love, giving or receiving.

How did he know that the older lady, he was visiting, meant when she said, "Give me some sugar!" that she wanted him to kiss her ears? Some how he did.

How did he draw a young teenage girl, who had not spoken to anyone since her accident, out of her shell?

He always brought smiles to the patients and nurses alike.

I was lucky to have him, some say he was lucky to have me.

Funny, Lucky was his name when I found him.

He had a huge heart of gold and my friend is horribly missed.

Many thanks to my wonderful and supportive Mother!

Dr. Creech and Dr. Peters-Creech at Eastern Wake Veterinary and

Dr. Galllagher at Veterinary Surgical Referral Practice
for their kindness and wonderful care of Reuben.

Donna's Visit To Grayson!!!

October 2011 edition of Mule & More, By Donna Taylor

I left Colin in charge of my pony, three donkeys and my tortoise whilst I set off on my two week holiday to America. My itinerary was as follows: fly to North Carolina and catch up with my friends Joel and Nicole Robinson for one night. Then the following morning, Joel would drive me to Grayson Highlands State Park in Southwest Virginia to meet up with Shannon Hoffman and the Carolina Mule Association.

I was to camp in the mountains for four nights, then drive back with Shannon to her house in Zebulon, NC. The following day I would fly out of Raleigh Airport, NC to St Louis, Missouri where I was to meet Sue Cole, Editor of Mules and More and her family. I would stay with Sue for three nights and then finally fly to Las Vegas and then onto Tropic, Utah to meet up with Pete and Keela Mangum, who run the Red Rock Ride, for three days. I would then fly back to France via the United Kingdom.

It was going to be a crazy two weeks, taking nine flights altogether, but having the opportunity to see old and new friends was going to be a very exciting trip and one that I was looking forward to. I was also going to spend the majority of my time around mules which, as all you know, are so special for me.

My first night was very enjoyable. I got to see Joel’s horses and spend some time with him and Nicole which is always a great pleasure. The next day we drove to Grayson Highlands State Park, where Shannon was waiting for me with her two gorgeous mules, Seven and Sadie Mae. This was going to be my third consecutive year riding with Shannon and I was really pleased to have Sadie Mae to myself for the duration of my time at Grayson Highlands.

The Carolina Mule Association had organised this ride and I knew that I would get to see some of the members that I met last year at South Mountain State Park, NC.

Grayson Highlands State Park is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains and there are many horse trails. The elevation is around 5,000 feet so the weather can change very quickly from blue skies and sunshine to stormy rain clouds. At the campsite, there are 67 stalls for the equines, 38 covered and 29 uncovered. The Park is home to deer, wild ponies, bears and many other animals and birds.

My first day’s riding (Wednesday) was a gentle visit to the Park’s gift shop. It’s only about a 40 minute ride from the horse camp, so we tacked up our two mules and headed out with Tony and Brenda McMasters.

Shannon had told me to bring warm clothes as well as T-shirts due to the variable weather. Well, she was certainly right. Within 15 minutes of starting the ride, the blue sky disappeared, the heavens opened and it just poured with rain. Shannon is ready for any occasion and Sadie Mae had my raincoat securely fastened to my saddle ready for me to put on.

Luckily the rain had stopped once we reached the gift shop. We tied the mules up and bought ourselves an ice cream. Whilst looking around, two ladies walked in with their dog. They looked rather concerned and told us that they had just seen a mother bear with her cubs along a trail. They said they had abruptly turned around and headed in the opposite direction.

I have no idea why, but I have a huge fear of bears and I was starting to imagine that I would be coming across them on all the trails. I mentioned my fear to Shannon, but she said I probably wouldn’t see any.

This did not help me in the slightest on my first night in Shannon’s trailer. At 1:00am, we could feel the trailer gently swaying and something was scratching on the outside. Great I thought, there is going to be a bear outside, that’s just what I need. Shannon got out of bed, found her torch and opened the door. I was not even considering accompanying her and stayed firmly in my bed.

To her surprise, there was a raccoon trying to get into the back of the trailer where it could scent some food that we had left there. A huge look of relief came over my face and after Shannon scared it off, we went back to sleep, only for him to return at 04:00am to have another go at getting some breakfast. We didn’t enjoy the best night’s sleep, but at least it wasn’t a bear that woke us up.

The next day, we were up at 06:30 (Thursday) feeding the mules, cleaning the stalls and then getting ourselves our breakfast. Five of us headed out that morning. Tony and Brenda were with us and also another member of the Association called Barry Greene. The weather was perfect and we had a lovely ride along the Wilson Creek Trail.

Because Tony and Barry knew my fear of bears, they thought it highly amusing to tease me throughout the day about the bears in the park. We went through a gate that read “Bear Pen Trail”. Well, of course, you can guess what they said to me next. Did we see a bear? Not one I am pleased to say, although there were some beautiful deer.

After a good night’s sleep undisturbed by raccoons, we set off for another day’s riding in the mountains. This time there were about 20 riders, but after a few miles, we split into two groups. Shannon and I rode with Jay Lankford. He knows the area very well and took us on some fine trails.

After a while, I was starting to forget about the bears as I was more concerned about the Yellow Jacket Bees that live in the ground. Shannon said that this was one of the worst trips she had experienced with these ground bees. There were many mules and riders that got stung including poor Seven who was stung just above his eye. So, if someone shouted “BEES”, then we had to lope away as fast as we could to escape.

Saturday turned out to be a very long but enjoyable day’s riding, led by Teddy Royale. When we were at South Mountain last year, Teddy had to endure my moaning and groaning about how sore I was. Well, I hadn’t ridden for quite a few months before that trip, but now that I had Tina, I was riding regularly, so my muscles were stronger.

This time, there were nine of us and we rode on several trails heading towards Buzzard Rock Overlook. On the way, we met around 25 cows and their calves on the same path. These cows had extremely long and wide horns, and as some of them were directly on the path we had to be very careful how we approached them.

Some of the cows started to panic and went running along the trail. Great I thought, what do I do now? Shannon told me to keep Sadie as close as possible to the edge of the path to keep away from the cow horns. Sadie kept as calm as ever as they sped past. She is such an perfectly behaved mule.

When we finally got to the rock, we took a group photo, had our lunch and enjoyed the amazing views of the countryside and mountains.

We rode 18 miles that day and as we were heading back to the campsite, we decided to stop at the gift shop for an ice cream. It was also a chance for Shannon and I to do a bit of shopping and buy various gifts for our families.

I found it rather amusing that we had covered 18 miles on our mules, moved cows, dodged bees, looked out for bears and then went shopping and had an ice cream. What a great day!!

On the last day (Sunday) everyone packed up and headed home, except for Shannon and me. Even though we had a five hour drive ahead of us, we decided to go out for one more ride which was so enjoyable.

I was told before I got to Grayson Highlands that it was a beautiful park and I would love riding there. This was certainly true. I had such a great time and would like to thank Shannon for letting me ride Sadie Mae again and also for getting her in great shape for me to enjoy. I would also like to thank the Carolina Mule Association who are all so kind and friendly and have made me feel such a part of their family.

Donna and Barry Greene hit off a great friendship!

Sadie Mae trying to get more than her share of lunch!

Long Horn Cows that Seven and I had to herd down the trail!

Donna and Sadie Mae!

On the last day when Donna and I rode out with just the two mules, this Chocolate Palomino Stallion (Who happens to be my Mom's favorite) just walked up to Seven and they began to nuzzle. I expected at least one of them to squeal but neither did, Seven even rubbed his wither at one point! I could not believe it!

Jerry Tindell Clinic

Shannon & Seven drifting the hindquarters!

Jerry watching as Seven & me work on new skills!

Debbie & Jack get some instruction.

Debbie and I headed down the road with our two red mules towards Holly's place. We got in late and once we got the mules settled it was off to bed. We had an early morning ride with a Clinician named Jerry Tindell. I had heard good things about him from Holly. She and her lady friends had met him at Bishop Mule Days in California, where he is from. They were so impressed that they went to everyone of his demonstrations during the Mule Days. Holly decided that she would like to host him coming to North Carolina. She got a small group together and Jerry flew out for the week to do some riding and teaching. By Saturday we were the last part of the group to have a chance to ride with him. I was really impressed as we started off with ground work in the round pen and him showing us how important it is to get the mules feet moving and going forward. He used Debbie's mule who has probably not had anything done with him like that in a long time. I liked how he made many analogies to drive his point home and used the mule and rider, no matter what their skill level to teach the whole group. We then worked on getting the mules to do a true, one rein stop, something I had always thought I understood, but he took it to a new level! Jerry rode Brodie, one of Holly's mules and talked about getting them to be soft to the bit and bend. He then gave Holly and me an exercise to practice, to start working towards a lead change, something that has been on mine and Seven's list for a long time! He told me to "Ride him like I stole him!" which gave me new confidence to push Seven for faster, quicker and more response to my aids. Jerry also kept reminding us to let him know if we feared something or did not feel safe about doing something. We rode out on the trail for about half an hour after the ring work and had a great time, but boy was it hot that day! Later that night everyone from the clinic met at Holly and Bruce's house for dinner. We all brought something and it made for a great meal! Best thing was Jerry was willing to sit and talk with everyone and answer questions about mules and riding. He said all day, "How can I help you!" This is a rare find in deed. I was excited to find someone, so willing to help, teach and explain things, but also teaching the Ray Hunt style of horsemanship which I have been looking to learn. He is coming back in November and I am hoping to ride with him again!
The next day Holly, Debbie and I went on a relaxing trail ride, were Debbie got to try out some of her new Jerry Training Techniques!

Check out his Web Site at: www.JerryTindell.com

Debbie & Jack with Holly and Pearl!

My Mules Confirm that I am truly CRAZY!

Tara riding Sadie Mae, Diane driving Pearl in the Parade!

Diane driving Pearl in the show!

For years the mules have thought that I am Crazy, but now it is confirmed for them!

Got up at 5:30 AM and washed them both down in pouring rain and a thunderstorm. Loaded them on the trailer, ran in the house and took a quick shower and then off we went driving, huh, I mean swimming to the Robbins Farmers Day Fair!
Drove out of the rain that dumped nearly 2 inches on Raleigh just 15 miles south.
We had a good time at the Parade. The mule number was low so I was glad that I went! My friend Tara met me in Robbins and rode Sadie through the parade. I had Seven with his Mexican Mule outfit (Sombrero and giant bandanna to his knees) on and Sadie with her Sunflower hat, necklace of sunflowers around her neck and some in her tail. You could just hear all the people getting excited when they saw us. Kids would say, "Mom look at that one!" and adults were trying to take our photos!
After the parade, we went to the awards and Todd won Best Mule Team, with his Mammoth Donkey team, Sadie and Katie. He was happy to win but also a little perplexed that the Judges did not know there where Mammoth Donkeys. He said he is going to get a sign for his wagon next year!
My friend Diane came with her Donkey Pearl and drive her through the parade! Pearl did so well for this only being her 2nd parade being driven in! Diane was dressed like a country lady with a straw hat with flowers and Pearl had one too. She had flower all over her cart and a basket with fruit and flowers in it. We was surprised and also a little dismayed to win Oddest Hitch.
We started the show and I convinced Bobby to show Sadie in Halter, Western Pleasure and Coon Jumping. We also showed in Pairs Class. Unfortunately in most of the classes we were the only two. There was several driving mules and donkeys though. Several people asked, "Why don't they do this in October or something!" I agree!

Todd's Wonderful Donkeys Sadie and Katie!

Here is a great photo show of Robbins Farmers Day Fair from this last Saturday!

Here are also some time markers to be able to watch for me and some of my friends!!!

Link or put into your web search to play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BIFSZp2ugQM

Todd Barfield Mammoth Donkeys Sadie & Katie at 1:26 & 1:41 &

11:48

Wayne Hussey 4 up hitch

2:40

Sadie Mae & Tara and Seven & Shannon at 4:33 and 4:41

,

Pearl and Diane 4:45

at the end is Odell Hussey, in his late 80's doing demo of stacking logs with his horse Johnny!

Also a photo of my mule doing something kind of neat! The ladies driving Donkey, would not get on the trailer. She had pushed herself to the side and two big men could not get her to go straight again! I brought Seven over and lined him up, drove his shoulder over and told him to push the Donkey over!! And he did it!!! Wow, MULE ARE SMART! I was so amazed that he understood what I needed him to help with!!!