Tales of the Brookside Gang

Harvest Show pix

Sunday, October 7, 2007, 10:15 AM - Harvest Show 2007

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St. Patrick's Day and Good-bye

Sunday, March 25, 2007, 07:24 PM - Riva\'s Scrapbook

As you might expect, there was a big blow-out on St. Patrick's Day at the Cantina, and show staff and friends really strutted their finest green stuff. Take, for example, Jeremy Raleigh who chose 3 lovely shades of green from the Goodwill Store, the combination of which defies description. With him is Nick from the jumper ring, who chose white and short to go with his stylin' green jacket:

Our own Seth Clayton came prepared to celebrate, having found matching shamrock garb at the local Goodwill back home. Gets Best in Show!

The girls wound things down for us on Sunday, with Kate winning Champion in Childrens Hunter and Ann and Odin giving everyone a run for the money. Here they are with their favorite ribbon boy:

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and it comes time to pack up all the ribbons and go home. Just in time, too, since we ran out of room to hang them all!

So I hope that you have enjoyed my tales of the Arizona escapades of our little band of Minnesota merry men and women and hope that on our next road trip, more of you come along to enjoy the real deal!

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The Day After

Saturday, March 17, 2007, 04:44 PM - Riva\'s Scrapbook

Well, I wasn't packing a camera last night, so I missed many photo ops during the progressive party that started at our campers, moved over to the Holloway/McConnell complex, and wound up at the Cantina. Several members of the group have sworn off tequila shooters forever. Glad I found my way back to the ring in time to show this morning, but it was close.
Duke and I continue to work on our issues, but did manage to get Res. Champ. in the adult eqs and got a couple of nice ribbons in the Adult Hunters yesterday. Kate was the first to make my prediction about winning a Champion come true -- she did it today in the Mod. Jr/AO Hunters. With two blues in the Children's today, she's got a leg up on that champion too.

Time to go get ready for the circuit grand finale party which starts in an hour. Here are some pictures to keep you happy.

Kate and Ann ringside today

The rest of the Stonegate crew trying to work up some energy in the mid-day heat

Nancy and Ann enjoying each other's company

Sara modeling some of Seth's duds -- I think we will see the green stuff again tonight, but I wouldn't bet on the cowboy pajamas making another appearance.

Tony picks up some more loot

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95 in the shade

Friday, March 16, 2007, 02:27 PM - Riva\'s Scrapbook

March 16, 2007

Our banner continues to fill up with Reserve Champs. I sense that we are a whisker’s breadth away from one of our group breaking the barrier and getting a Champion this weekend. Tenor was reserve champ in the pre-greens yesterday and Duke was reserve champ in the Tucson High. Both were feeling a little fresh and frisky despite the 90+ temps but managed to rally.

The circuit is winding down and the classes are much smaller than when we first arrived. Hunter ring 3 has been canceled for Friday, and I believe all those classes are being moved over into the other 2 hunter rings. But there are still a number of people here who have been present throughout the circuit, like Brandie Holloway, Paul Rohrbach, and Leslie Nielsen. We’ve been finished with our classes by 2:00 for each of the last two days, which leaves time for regrouping and planning the evening’s activities.

The Sassy Wench Pub in downtown Tucson (near the University, where else) was our main course for Wednesday night. We left before the burlesque show started (we thought Rob E. wouldn’t be able to handle it), but not before Nancy bought about every T-shirt in the place. The décor was very dark and very female in an off-beat sort of way and the people watching was over the top. Continuing on the theme of girls’ night out, Thursday night was spa night, during which Nancy instructed us on the proper micro-dermabrasion techniques and provided us with masques and moisturizers to counter the effects of this bright Arizona sun. Then we grilled burgers and ate salad and called it a night.

We’ll be heading down to the cantina tonight (Friday) for Pizza and Karaoke Night, with Seth and Corey leading the way. I wonder if they have Seth’s favorite song in the karaoke repertoire?

Nancy and Tracy examine the menu at Sassy Wench Pub

Kate wears a souvenir from Nancy

Spa Night begins with a lecture from Nancy

Susan says this hurts

Tracy really knows how to get into this pampering thing

At Kim's request, here is a picture of the Grand Prix ring -- Simon (Rob's rider) on Brook Adams' Theo.

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Week 3 begins

Wednesday, March 14, 2007, 05:36 PM - Riva\'s Scrapbook

March 13, 2007

The sun continues to shine on Tucson, with absolutely perfect weather every day for the last 10 days. Kate, Anne, Nancy and Rob (the Roaches) joined us last Thursday, as did my friend Margo from Boulder. Kate and Anne took the show by storm, winning blues in their respective Children’s Hunter classes and pinning 3rd and 4th in the Children’s Hunter Classic. Tony (Broadway Nights) and Tenor (Pavarotti) also turned in outstanding performances in the Pre-Green Division, each winning some seconds. Duke was stellar up until Sunday, winning seconds in Tucson Low, Tucson High, and a combined A/O division against formidable competition, plus carried me to a blue in the Ariat Adult Medal. Then on Sunday we had a bit of a melt down, the cause of which remains somewhat of a mystery. So, rather than make the situation worse, I’ve decided to show in the Adult Amateurs this coming week.

In the mean time, we are doing the tourist thing while enjoying this lovely weather. Margo and I went hiking in Sabino Canyon, which is a very rugged area with lots of lovely streams running through. Last summer they experienced a 10,000 year storm which washed out much of the road and re-shaped much of the canyon. Sunday night was laundry and margarita night. At Tracy’s suggestion, we stopped for margaritas and chips before going to the laudromat so that we could get greater enjoyment out of doing our wash. Yesterday (Monday), Tracy, Rob Ebel, and I went to Nogales, Mexico for some serious purse shopping and lunch. Ask Tracy how she managed to convince the Customs Official that she only had one purse in that great big shopping bag. . . Then we grilled steaks in camperland, with everyone from Summit Oak, Stonegate, and Brookside chowing down on great beef, beans, potatoes, salad, and Nancy’s most excellent Cowboy Caviar.

I wrote the last couple of paragraphs yesterday morning and this is the first time I could get on the internet since then. All the horses did exceptionally well today, including Duke, whom Tracy has put back together with a few bandaids and her magic touch. He went in 2 Tucson low classes today and won both, which was good enough for Res. Champ. without going in the others. I wasn't here when Tony and Tenor's classes were pinned, but there sure was a heap of ribbons on the table when I got back. I hope you all know that you can check the results at www.hitsshows.com.

So, win, lose, or draw, we are having a great time down here and wish that more of you snowbound Minnesotans could be sharing in the fun. Here are a few pictures of some of our last few days’ adventures.