No more tents! This is where tent stabling used to be. It used to be a good 10 minute hike to the show ring. And a flood zone after the ever present afternoon thunderstorms!
After Elena's exciting ride, it was a full day of celebrating and horse showing.
In Wednesday night's performance one standout was Along Came a Spider. This leggy black harness mare brought the crowd to their feet screaming, it was like you were at a rock concert: she certainly is a rock star.
The amazing cobtail mare Fancy Ribbons retired- her connections put on a beautiful retirement ceremony that Nicholas nephew Berto was a part of, and after the show there was an exhibitor reception back at the barn. We went over for a sample of the lovely buffet and found Berto handing out treat to the pony's many fans. For those of you know Berto and this picture will attest, Berto is the clotheshorse of the Villa family!
What to do after a busy day?
Head out to lunch!
If your cell phone rings while you are eating this, you will ignore it: trust us.
Reading the daily sheet at the East Pool: ahhhhhhhhhh relaxing!
Seaweed says everything is AOK!
Stopher Walk and the entrance to the new North Wing and our stalls.
This is a neat perspective. Stopher Walk is under the roof pictured below-it's the famous chute that the horses enter to get to Freedom Hall. You warm up in here, it's about 50' wide so you have a horse on each side warming up, and amazingly I've been in here warming up with 15 or so fine harness horses and you are not on top of each other. have no idea how long it is, it's VERY long. The first picture faces the road and toward the back barns and back warm up ring. The new North Wing is to the right with the dark brown roof (see press release above).
Over Stopher Walk facing the way to the ingate. Freedom Hall is the building in the upper left of the photo. To the left is the new North Wing and our stabling.
The reason I included this pictures is that I am photographing from the new skywalk that leads to Freedom Hall ABOVE Stopher Walk. In past years, fair exhibitors and everyone had to cross this chute among plunging, trotting, excited horses trying to warm up. Now everyone takes an escalator in air conditioning up and over the horse walk! Nice improvement! No golf carts allowed in the North Wing barns, hence the pack of them to the right- no one is complaining though because at least it's air conditioned the moment you step in.
My friend Shorty and I bid you adieu
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