Thursday, October 7, 2010

A poke in the eye with a sharp stick....






I have had as much fun as I can stand here in Lexington! With four days to go on this show Ive gotten a little punchy. Two days ago I managed to bop myself in the cornea with a key fob. Sending me looking for an optometrist when I couldn't keep it open for more than seconds at a time with out severe discomfort. After driving around the city using only one eye and a GPS that could not locate the optometrist. I actually landed at walmart where to my amazement there was an eye doctors office. He fixed me right up with a steroid laced eye ointment and whole eye contact. Which , while giving me immediate relief was like looking through a glass covered with Vaseline. So still one eyed, I managed to arrive back at the Lexington center. Having missed my busiest time I decided to close up early and drown my sorrows in some wonderful Thai food just outside of town. The next morning my eye had absorbed the ointment and I could see almost normally, so I left early to finally see the goings on at the horse park. For one dollar I caught the bus in front of the expo and was deposited right outside the main gate at the horse park. Twenty five dollars bought me a grounds pass and I was inside soaking up the ambiance. Shopping was fun,I must admit and the different exhibits where very well done. Especially the taste of Kentucky tent where beer samplings and bourbon sipping where readily available. The amount of walking required to visit all the clinicians and parade of breeds was enough to work up a powerful thirst( over 1/2 mile one way). With the only available options being NINE dollar lemonades and FIVE dollar waters. A three dollar beer sampler that supports the local economy was alright by me. Because of the distance and wonky maps I missed the two presentations I had hoped to catch. But I did get to say "Hi" to John Lyons and have a nice chat with him. On the subject of "its a small world", I ran into an old client from San Diego who had a booth supporting the pure spanish horse! It offered some really tasty olive oil and a continuous loop of the musical freestyle dressage. Something I had heard alot about but missed on TV do to the hours I keep here. It was a thrill to watch the spanish horse Fuego! I hope competitive dressage has turned a corner at these games and will offer people options in types of horses out side of the warmblood, a fabulous group of horse breeds no doubt, but not ones easily/beautifully ridden by everyone. Despite the grind of a 14 day , three full weekend show, I was glad to be a small part of this event. I would however like everyone to smack me if I ever try to do something this big by myself ever again........I will be home early next week and most likely curled around two spaniels and one husband until the following Sunday, with forays out to the horses and chickens!