Day 5

10:28 pm

It took three tries but Acilia passed her trot evaluation! Her perseverance paid off! We took a trot trail right after the evaluation- she did NOT like it- what can ya do? I told her just because she can trot doesn't mean she has to! We'll see what tomorrow brings! We spent a lot of time at the "Back Forty" today - It's so fun to immerse yourself in the lifestyle of the place you are in- we spent a lot of time with the animals at the petting farm and we visited the sled dogs! I miss Franko and Remo so much - so visiting the dogs here was quite a treat! I think we will be visiting them again for sure! We gave lot's of belly rubs :) Our trails today were at 2:30 and 4 pm. First ride was on "Bullet" and second was "Bugs". Second trail we trotted- it was great! "Bugs" was very smooth and I practiced posting :) Tonight was the big rodeo- there's been lot's of talk around here so we figured we better go- I went to get tickets but was informed it was part of our package- nice surprise! I didn't quite know what to expect, never been to a rodeo- it was quite entertaining with kid's riding sheep for as long as they could stay on, bull riding (I've dubbed it "bullbucking"), barrel racing- I even teared up in the beginning as the wrangler's rode the arena with American flags proudly in the sky and a beautiful solo of the National Anthem- I was also pleased there was a prayer- even if it was a "Cowboy prayer" - I love when God is a part of a public event! Perhaps the most comical part was when I had to go in the arena- I was wearing a strapless dress and sandals (which I removed before going in!) and walked into a muddy sand pit to race other "out of towners" to chase down bull calves to retrieve a ribbon from their tail- at one point I was charged by a whole herd of them! Ha! I walked out full of muddy sand- the priss in me was thinking ewwwwww- but I must admit it felt pretty good! Almost like a sea salt scrub at the spa! Our time here is winding down, I absolutely can not WAIT to share all the pictures I've been taking!!