county fair

there's something about county fair that epitomizes the essence of a rural american summer. this morning i rolled out of bed at 6 and, since my farrier appointment was at 9, i decided to go to the fairgrounds before that to find my article for this week. i got there about 7:30 and the beef fitting pens were in full swing, with members of 4-h and ffa bathing, drying, clipping, blowing and brushing their steers and heifers to perfection. it was bright and sunny and rather cool, and it was just perfect.

the article i found to write was amy andreen, a high school senior who's involved with the natrona county cattlewomen's royal court. the royal court consists of all the younger members of cattlewomen, and they do things like greet people at cnfr and hand out beef show awards. this is amy:

adorable, no? she's showing two hogs at the fair this year and is every bit as genuine and unassuming as she looks.

so following the fair i stopped by metro (yes - another day to treat myself to a hazelnut latte) and went out to the horse barns, where april and jazz were waiting in their runs. rick was already there when i got there, so i got the horses up and we went to work. he assessed jazz's lameness and we did find a tight knot in the ligaments of her right shoulder, so after work today i went to murdoch's and got a bottle of liniment and he suggested trying some physical therapy on her.

following jazz he started on april, and we put shoes on her front. looks pretty sharp, no?

i told them they better be grateful because they sure get better pedicures than i ever do. this is me and april tonight when i went out to rub jazz down, and i took april out for a trot. i tried to get her to look a little more excited, but all i got was the typical bored april expression:


and this. this is me and cat link earlier this week, after waking up from a two-hour nap after work. he likes naps. and he doesn't believe that i have a personal bubble: