It's a wrap! The 87th Lewiston Roundup is now a page in local history books.
We made so many memories, experienced highs and lows, made new friends, and all our horses got used to having jets fly low, loud and fast over their heads. The first night took us all by surprise; we gallop into the arena after the national anthem, and a minute before our entry a P51 Mustang buzzed overhead at the end of the anthem, just barely missing the arena lights. Horses, previously neatly lined up side by side, frantically scattered--rearing, shying and bolting--from the sudden sound of the low flying jet. All this while we held reins with one hand, and the sponsor flag we are tasked to carry in the other.
Grand Entry, Wednesday, 9/8/2021
Entering the arena is always an adrenaline rush, and it was even more so that night. But we were ready the next three nights, with Saturday nights performance being on 9/11 the Roundup Association directors scheduled 5 jets to flyover...but not at the same time. Three buzzed the arena, followed 30 seconds later by two more. By then most of the horses realized there was nothing to fear.
With over 40 horses in our group, we have to maintain a half a horse length spacing between the horse in front of us and ourselves, at all times. What we do isn't easy, but some of us make it look easy. Had issues with spacing every single night during Grand Entry which made us look sloppy and the line kept getting bunched up near the gate during our first loop. Given that half the group were riding with us for the first time, it's no wonder. AJ and I are right in the middle, marking the spot where most everyone in front of us is a long-standing member, and everyone behind us is new to the group. One rider got cut the first night because she couldn't keep up. It was particularly tricky for me because the rider who got let go was in front of me, and that position got replaced twice more. So AJ and I had to get used to a new horse and rider in front of us every night. And each one was different.
Grand Entry, Saturday 9/11/2021
My boy gave me his all, each performance. Wednesday night the footing was slick, so much so that during the royalty bust out a horse slipped and rolled on top of, then over the princess. She is okay, but no one ever wants to see that, or hear the audiences reaction while you are waiting for your turn to go in. It was definitely slick, because AJ did slip coming out of the last turn before we head down the rail and out the arena, but he righted himself quickly and kept going. It's no fun being the rider behind a horse that slips, not knowing if they are going down or not. Then Saturday AJ either tripped or stumbled--I'm not sure what happened--because for a split second I thought we were going down right after we came diagonally up the center of the arena. We do this, knowing full well the risk we take each time we enter that arena; that's why we start practices two months before the Roundup...to prepare, to fine tune, to train, to get into that space where everything goes right because we put in the time and effort. There is always the unknown, and so each night, before each run...I close my eyes, breathe and surround each and every horse and rider in the group with white light and a prayer of protection. Everybody rides in on top, everybody rides out on top.
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| Tough Enough To Wear Pink night, 9/10/2021. Waiting to go in. |
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| Patriot night, 9/11/2021. Waiting to go in. |
And then there's always a parade on Saturday morning. And it Duke's turn to shine in the limelight. He loved it, although he was a rather sweaty boy by the end of the 2.5 mile parade route. Fortunately I arranged for a friend to pick me up at the end, so as not to push the limits of Duke's 26 year old body. He's semi-retired now, but to him that just means he's bored. He hates it when AJ gets to go every where and do every thing with me. Horses never cease to amaze me with their character and quirks.
Another season of memories and magic has come to a fruitful end. Until next year when practices start up again in July 2022. I'm looking forward to it!
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