Introducing the GiddyUp Girls

The "official" riding season is winding down around here. The events page on the website is getting smaller and smaller with each passing weekend. That doesn't mean the end to riding, just an end to formal, organized stuff around here.

We are planning on heading over to the Knox County Horse Park on Saturday for the last Extreme Cowboy Challenge of 2008. Brenda is planning on running the course with Doc--yeah! I am not sure about bringing Rio. She still doesn't like going down the big step down and was a chicken to go into the woods last time we were there. We'll see what her mood is on Saturday. It might be fun just to go and cheer for Brenda and not worry about my somewhat nutty mare for once.

Quarter Horse Congress starts the following week--October 4th-26th. That means lots of chances to go down and watch all the competition. Last year, we scored tickets to the Freestyle Reining competition held on Saturday evening. Stacy Westfall performed bareback and did a routine with two horses--moving in sync with each other. It was pure beauty to watch. We also got a chance to watch her warm up in the warm up area before the show. She was in there riding bareback with lots of other horses going in various directions. She never lost a beat and just kep cantering and cantering.

On the 17th, a bunch of us girls are heading down to Smoke Rise Ranch for what they are calling the "Best of Ohio Ride". We have a big cabin rented for the weekend. Not sure what the ranch has planned, but we plan to ride and just generally have a great time. A couple gals are renting horses. We are bringing Doc, Rio and Dancer and (hopefully) Karen's horse Blue.

I have decided that the girls in my riding circle definetely need a name..you know, like a club name. So we have tentatively decided on "GiddyUp Girls". The second choice is "Sisters in the Saddle". If you have a favorite either way, let me know.

The founding members (and my initial names for each) of our little group are:

• Brenda: "Sister Never Lost"
  
• Liz: "Sister Stay in the Saddle"
  
• Jane: "Sister Rides Many Horses"
  
• Laura: "Sister Niceness and Light"
  
• Carla: "Sister Where is the Wine"
  
• Karen: "Sister Jumps HIGH Things"
  
• Me (our unofficial Team Leader): "Sister Sidepasser"
  
  

Liz, Brenda, Jane and Laura at the Polo Match

Karen

Carla

So, the October trip will be our first "annual", GiddyUp Girls Round Up. I am thinking we can have some fun competitions and maybe some prizes....I'll have to put my creativity cap (the one that only comes out once or twice a year) on. Its a given that we will be eating and drinking plenty.