Thursday, April 28, 2011

Getting Ready..

I received an e-mail from Chris, who is (I believe) an event director at Fort Concho. It said:
"I plan to have you set up near the HQ building, under some trees, right next to the CANNON. There is parking right there and you will know when we are going to fire the gun. That should work for ya. And, there will be some strong young and some old guys to help haul your stuff should you require assistance."

Ummmm.. Cannon??.. I thought they were going to fire off guns.. not CANNONS!

Okay - I thought to myself.. we can do this!!! I just have to find a good hiding place for Oliver.. like say, in the next county somewhere!!! Maybe I can get one of those strong men to help me keep Oliver safe ... and sound. Yep - this is going to be one very exciting event!


















Cindy sent my newest riding suit 'overnight'. Since I live way out in the middle of no where.. overnight actually means 2 days. Soo - I am just going to cross my fingers that my suit arrives before I have to leave Friday afternoon. I don't want to wait too long as Map Quest says my drive will be over 5 hours long.

Those beautiful grey gloves came in the mail yesterday... and they are everything and more I had hoped for! Not only do they fit like gloves (ha ha).. but they are longer than they appear in the photo, ending 1 inch further down my arm from my wrist. The pearl button is very elegant too.

I have a list of "I wishes" for the next event.

1. I wish I had at least 3 mannequin's to better display the suits I am not going to be wearing.

2. I wish I had at least 3 more styles of sidesaddle stirrups - antique to modern to show. I currently have a beautiful leather covered slipper stirrup that Pam gave me and a modern brass safety stirrup.

3. I wish I had a really old nice example of a sidesaddle with a rail.

4. I wish I had a riding apron - so that spectators could try it on.

5. I wish I had a saddle stand that was strong enough to allow spectators to sit on a sidesaddle.

6. I wish I had something to sell .. to offset the cost of this.. even though I am thrilled to get the chance to do it.

6 comments:

Michelle said...

I'm sure you guys will do great! The cannon would unnerve me a little too though! lol
What about having enlarged photos of different sturrips to put on a table for people to look at?

Also! An idea, since I know you're creative & handy. You can make a custom "mannequin's" from paper mache. You put on an old T-shirt and you get someone to help you cover yourself with the paper mache, a good thick layer of it. Let it dry (might take a little while) and then you ever so carefully cut it off and take it off. Then you tape it back up, add a bit more paper mache or paint it and Ta Da! It's a mannequin of you! I'm sure you could put it on a stand of some form so you could put your habits on it.

Unknown said...

We had a cannon go off unexpectedly at one of our events and wile my mare just startled a little my friends team of halflingers nearly bolted across town when his one gelding lost his s&^%! We used ear plugs in the horses ears next time and they were much better. Give it a try. We had these conforming neoprene ones.

scaequestrian said...

Ta-da! An antique OFFSIDE rail saddle... http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Vintage-Side-Saddle-rail-and-Saddle-bags-/200602312811?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb4d4606b#ht_500wt_949

Julie said...

Whoops - how did I forget the last wish....

A WINNING LOTTERY TICKET!!!

Marilyn said...

If you try the earplugs please let us know what you think. I saw some that are used by competitors in horseback cowboy/cowgirl action shooting and they are made of real wool fleece. I'd try them for July 4th if they seem to help. Good luck & have fun!

Michelle said...

I've never had luck with the earplugs. My mare always shakes her head and gets them out right away. I've even tried putting an ear net overtop and they still don't stay in. Maybe there's a trick I don't know about lol.