Monday Luca, Robert, and Gillian went to the fair. I got there at 8 again, helped fit harness to Luca, and bathed him. They left.

I saddled up Keno and rode around on him. I set up a couple tiny tiny crossrails. He was good over them, some head shaking afterwards but nothing bad, until Xsarena went over. Then I made a dumb decision. I figured we'd been doing well and we were done with that, but Cari wanted me to do it again and see if he was better after Xsarena had been nice and calm and steady over them. Instead of saying thanks, we're finished, I went over and did it again, Keno was not pleased. He started crowhopping after the jumps and getting tense. The mares left, so we did some quiet flat work and ended up with a nice trot over a jump, then called it quits. We went outside to the mini-arena and then the jump arena. Keno knows he's supposed to walk. I think he is really close to learning how to gait because hey, it's still four beats! It counts as a walk! It is pretty amazing how fast he can walk when we're going back to the barn. He also remembered pretty fast that if he drops his shoulder, he gets lots of inside leg and asked for a bigger bend and tighter circle. That solved that.

I took Reno out after that to drive around. Cari and a student were there finishing up their horses and talking, so I asked if either of them wanted a ride. Lisbeth, the student, went with me. It was fun, she asked a lot of smart questions and Reno was absolutely perfect. I let her drive a little on the way back and she was very excited. I think Reno enjoyed it too. He was really light in the bridle and just a good horse all around. Bathed him, rinsed his harness off, and somehow it was feed time?

Fed, then took Dylan out. He really needs to get out of his stall and into a run. He was very, very good for me. He didn't move until I asked him, and then he walked. But he was trying so hard to be good I just let him run on the lunge line until he decided he could work quietly, which didn't take too long. He's really got the "whoa" down perfectly now, without any contact with his head. I approve. Then, because I think all horses should be riding horses, I did some more leaning over and petting on him, putting some weight on his back. He was fine with it all, though I'm not sure how much attention he was actually paying to me. That's as far as I'd take him without someone else to be there. He's a nice guy, though. He's a good characterization of the compliant horse that Robert talks about. He'll do what you ask, but he won't think about it. You have to ask pretty hard because he doesn't understand, for example, that pulling on the right rein means turn right. He'll give to it eventually because it's annoying and puts pressure on his mouth. Then, one day, it just clicks. Oh! That's what you mean! And he's textbook perfect from there on out. He's not a dumb horse, he just doesn't think.

More boredom- went and picked a bucket of blackberries, it was dark, I went back to the barn and got a call from Gillian saying they'd be back around 9:30. The original plan was that Robert would drive us back each day, but I figured it made more sense to only drive us back once, so sleepover at the barn. It was good, Gillian had a sleeping bag and we found a cot. There were horse blankets, the tack room was warm, we had cheap sugary snacks. Whee.

The next day Gillian went to work around 6. I fed in the morning with Vic and cleaned Reno where he had rolled, and helped load the trailer. Chuck came by around 8:30 and we left shortly after that. Robert had a meeting somewhere? so Chuck, Lil, and I went with Reno. We unloaded uneventfully and went around the fair. Lots of gorgeous draft horses, and we spent a long time with the sheep. The Gypsy Vanners were the next aisle over, so I looked at those guys briefly. At 1 we reconvened to get Reno ready and fit the cart to him. Robert even showed up! Classes started nominally at 2 or so. But it was a large event, so things were delayed dramatically, and I don't think we started until almost 4. At least Reno got enough warm up.

We didn't really stand much of a chance in our classes. There was a couple with two Arabians, incredible harness and beautiful polished carts (they were using the Fair as a practice for Regional Championships in Idaho). I wasn't really a fan of them-- they were almost always behind the vertical and the drivers had enough contact on their mouths the corners looked stretched back about two inches. But they were very very flashy and well-trained. It was pretty cute, at the end we were walking around the warm up and the bay was standing quietly, but whenever we went by he'd nicker very softly at Reno. There was also a draft mule there who was the quietest, slowest thing. But she won almost everything! Very quiet, but very obedient and very steady. She won Gambler's Choice because she did everything right. Not fast at all, but didn't make a single mistake. Reno cantered, which we thought was allowed but actually wasn't. The Arabian that entered didn't start the back up right- they got it without touching the outside rails, but wasted a long time repositioning themselves.

Reno did very well in the arena with me. We didn't hit anything, and we didn't canter, so I was pleased. He did a very nice slow trot and had good transitions. We placed third (out of three), but we did well, so I didn't really care. Plus, I liked him better than the other two. The mule was cute and I liked her a lot, but the driver had to keep urging her on constantly, and the Arabians were held back. You tell Reno the gait and he knows he better keep doing it until either you say otherwise or he dies. I contend he would be way more fun to do a country drive with than the other three.

We finished around 9, and we were packed up and ready to go by 9:30. Lil drove Gillian and I from Stoneybrook to our houses, and I was home around 11:30. I collapsed in bed. It was good.