Canadians are the best Europeans, or: What we did on Neil's birthday

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Neil's birthday was last Saturday, and to celebrate, we decided to do something special, just the four of us. Getting out of the house was also a good distraction strategy, since it was Baby's first complete day away from us. (On a side note, last year on Neil's birthday we met our first foster child, Ina, for the first time, and this year, we "let go" of our second foster child.)

So, on Friday, we dropped off the baby with her new foster parents, and then Finn and Lily went to work in the kitchen and baked a birthday cake for Daddy.

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Saturday morning

Happy Birthday, Neil!

(And, a phone call confirmed that Baby apparently slept much better than I did. ☺ That was great to hear)

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But where did we go, you ask? Well, the kids were VERY excited, and Lily made this drawing the night before.

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After breakfast we piled in the car and drove to Gut Matheshof in Kreuth, a huge equestrian center. The event? The 2012 National Reining Horse Association European Futurity, a competition for 4-year-old reining horses (western dressage). Kreuth is only a 1.5 h drive from our house (and even less when Mama's behind the wheel ☺. And Lily drew a cowgirl on a horse doing a sliding stop while we are watching and clapping.)

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There are two Futurities every year, one in the US and one in Europe, so it's a huge event. The go-rounds had been going on all week, Saturday was the day of the finals. Of the 52 horses that made it into the finals, only 3 were ridden by non-Europeans. I can remember when it was almost the other way around, ha. The picture below is the Canadian Morey Fisk during his run (this pic and the one above are from the NRHA website, just for the record).

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Since we got there pretty early and the pro finals didn't start until 2pm, we had enough time to watch some of the youth and non-pro finals.

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(P.S. The folks on the high chairs are the 3 judges and their assistants.)

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We also found a nice spot for our picnic blanket and basket (including the birthday cake, which we shared with "our friends" that Lily made about 2 seconds after we put the blanket on the ground). We were right by the outdoor arena, where Lily longingly watched the riders warm up their horses.

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And we sampled the food and drinks and roamed the extensive exhibits and vendors' area. You could have bought anything from a luxury 6-horse gooseneck trailer with living quarters to Ariat children's boots. I toyed with the idea (Ariat boots, not a trailer), but decided it would make more sense to buy the kids a pair in Calgary in two months. The kids DID get a halter (foal sized) and lead rope each for their "horses" at home. A huge (H.U.G.E.) hit!

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And in between watching the rides we ate, had coffee, played

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and napped in the sunshine.

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It was so much fun seeing Finn and Lily interact with all the people there. This is where their bilingualism really comes in handy. At an international event like this virtually everyone speaks English, and there were quite a few Americans there, too. Lily wanted to sit on all the saddles that were for sale ("Buy me this one, with all the silver!"), the kids watched a hat maker shape felt cowboy hats using steam, and "helped" the on-site vet doing sonograms of horses' legs behind the warm-up area. (Which was a reminder for me that for the professionals it IS a business and about big $$$: "His tendon is about 10% bigger than yesterday, but he should hold up for the final run, and then you need to rest him for a week.")
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Finn and Lily even hitched a ride. Not on a western horse, but on a huge jumper that is stabled on the grounds. Neil almost suffered a heart attack when Lily demanded the horse do a sliding stop with her.

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But luckily, the horse didn't know how. First of all, because he was a jumper, second because he was clearly part elephant. That thing was BIG.

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Lily also liked the palominos, like this one. But, truth be told, if it whinnies, she'll take it. In fact, she walked around with her little halter and lead rope and asked people if they had a pony they "wanted to get rid of". She told me we would take it home by making it walk beside the car with her holding the rope through the window. Most people didn't have a pony to spare, and then her second question was, "Can I put my halter on your dog?" ☺ One cowboy, an official from the NRHA booth, told Lily she could have one of his ponies, but they are all back home in Ohio. Guess where Lily MUST travel now, and soon.
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We really had a wonderful day, Neil said he seldom had so much fun on a birthday (his nap in the sunshine while the kids and I were off exploring might have played a part). He is not as horse crazy as the rest of us, but I think he's getting there. He kinda shook his head at the end of the day and said, "And to think that I come from a family where a horse was used to pull a plough." ☺

Oh, and why the post title?

Guess who is the new "European" Futurity Champion? Morey Fisk, the Canadian pictured above. You know, because it was Neil's birthday and all.

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Good night!

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P.S. Riding lessons for the kids are going to start in earnest soon. As soon as Finn's cast is off his leg, hopefully next week. But that's a whole other story.

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