The day of September 28th dawned clear and bright, much to the chagrin of those of us hoping for a cloudy, cool day.  But, a breeze for most of the day kept us in the balmy mid-80's and the fall angle of the sun allowed for a little shade to hit the arena until about 12pm.  Dust clouds had swirled over the ranch on Saturday when Mr. Eddy dragged the arena before watering, attesting to the hot, dry start to the fall, but Tracy did an excellent job watering and we had three AAA times right out of the box in Single Stake.  In fact, on the day, four of our riders consistently rode into AAA times.  Congratulations Mary, Bonnie, Caitlyn and Rachel!

Twenty-three riders joined us for our next to last show of the calendar year.  We missed several of our regulars, but welcomed lots of newcomers.  A big welcome back to the Gillens!  (Thanks for bringing all your friends!).  Cade rode his first event on G-Bar and did great even though G-Bar was having “mommy withdrawls”.  Phoebe English and Ella Halliday came to their first CGA show on their horses, Treasure and Ms. Pearl, to ride with their friend Madison. I think they found their nitch, mom!  See you back next month! 

Cece Kerns joined us from just down the street.  She was going to share G-Bar with Cade, but G-Bar seemed to have other ideas.  Sorry you didn’t get to finish all your rides, Cece, but you sure impressed us all with your “sticking power” on those two events you attempted!  Way to stay at it!  Hopefully, you’ll be back at our Halloween show. And our final “first-timer” ate up the ground on the faithful Max.  Welcome to Mari Friedman (and a big thank you to Chris Rice for the horse!)  You definitely have gymkhana in your blood, Mari!  A big Hello to Emily Booth and her family.  Looking for you on your own horses next month, okay?!

Also want to say Howdy to a few faces we know, but haven’t seen in a while.  Welcome back Kassidy!  (Are you sure you haven’t been practicing? - If that’s really true, I think Cap N Crunch has been sneaking out at midnight and running gymkhana!)  Aimee Brunette from Coast Stables came on her horse, Shadow.  (I think Shadow is going to give those AA & AAA riders a run for their money soon!) We also saw Ellen Gonzales on Wonder Boy again.  Thanks for coming out again, Ellen.  Of course I want to mention our regulars:  Kaylee, Ayla, Rachel, Sue, Selena, Jim, Leilani (I heard Dad got a saddle!  Better watch out Leilani!), Katelyn, Janie, Bonnie, Caitlyn, and Marietta.

Thanks to all who helped in the arena, gate and booth.  We couldn’t run the show without you!

Our high point was sponsored by Duggan International (our own Sue Duggan.)  RU Horse helped us procure some beautiful crystal headstalls and reins with the Duggan donation.  Here’s a little about what Sue & Duggan International does.  Duggan International is a local consultancy dealing primarily in international education policy.  Susan Duggan, the president, has worked in the area of foreign language and study abroad policy and program development for over 25 years.  Under Duggan International, Susan is currently the senior strategist of the U.S. Government’s initiative, The Language Flagship (www.thelanguageflagship.org) This effort is raising the bar for all US schools and universities for foreign language education.  Based in Ben Lomond, Duggan International affects students and educational policy all over the world.  Duggan International is available for coordinating think tank sessions focused on producing innovative results for high technology companies, government agencies, and other organizations in need of clear, collective thinking.  Phone: 831-336-8186 or duggan@dugganinternational.com.  Marsha Rugg at RU Horse helped us procure some really nice crystal headstalls and reins with Sue’s sponsorship.

High point winners were:

AAA: Rachel Crill                                          Reserve: Marietta Sullivan

AA: Rebekah Crill                                          Reserve  Bonnie Sullivan

A: Sue Duggan                                               Reserve: Aimee Brunette

FC Horse under 10:   Ella Halliday                Reserve: Phoebe English

FC Horse over 11: Selena Friedman               Reserve: Madison Gillen

Our Run for Fun was the ever popular Carrot Barrels (a contest for the horse with the most agile lips!)  It was won by Katelyn Praly (actually, I think Rusty ate the carrots!) who walked away with a nice saddle cover.  Rusty (Katelyn), Max (Mari), Treasure (Phoebe)  and Rosie (Madison) were the only horses eating all nine of the carrots, with Rusty edging out Rosie by six tenths of a second!!!  Although I have to add that I’ve never seen a horse eat carrots as fast as Sir Gettysburg.  I don’t think he even chewed!   We’re always looking for Run for Fun ideas, especially those events that put everyone on a level playing field.  Please send suggestions to Rebekah. 

On another note:  Chris Rice is looking for a good home for Max.  He has developed a little arthritis in his legs and needs a home with easy work.  If you know of a family who would love a “golden boy”, please let Chris know. 

Thanks to all for coming out.  I hope you all enjoy our Halloween Show on Saturday, October 25th.  As our riding season here in Boulder Creek winds down, I encourage you to keep up your gymkhana riding this winter by visiting our neighboring districts.  District 1 and District 8 are within easy driving distance of our fair valley and District 6 in Livermore (although a little further), has a covered arena and is definitely an option for a day show.  Hope to see you out on the road!