This message is from: "Starfire Farm, LLC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Thanks, Mike, for your additions and corrections. Glad to hear that you felt that the Evaluation went so smoothly! I had some great concerns about how it was going to end up prior to arriving (worry-wort that I can be.) But once we got going, and I saw just how committed and hard working the volunteers were, I quit worrying. Thanks to the score sheet runners. Thanks to Patty Petersen, Alan and Lois Merrill and Denise Hoopes. Sorry I missed you on the first post. Couldn't have done it without you all. As far as the Starfire team was concerned, we had a "pit crew" addition with Susan Cargill jumping in, grooming and generally helping anywhere she could to get horses ready for halter classes on Friday. Once those were over we finally got to play! First on the agenda was hitching the Four in Hand. The whole time we were so busy with the Evaluation stuff, Jeff and Lisa Pedersen were driving their Four around the show grounds while I, longingly, looked on! Finally, it was our turn. Our pit crew harnessed and hitched. Dave McWethy came by and gave us some pointers on harness and hitching. Thanks, Dave. Philllip Odden, Arne Presthus and Dave McWethy jumped on the carriage as we drove first to the arena (getting in the middle of Anne Appleby and Gayle Ware's freestyle construction!) Then out to the horse paths in the woods. Ahhhhhhhhh what fun! That's what it's all about, eh Dave, Jeff, Lisa and Brian? There is nothing like the sound of that team clopping down the road in unison. Speaking on Anne and Gayle, I want to echo (again) what Catherine Lasessen said about the quality of riding and driving we saw at Libby this year. In addition to Anne and Gayle, Joni Morrison, who rode for Anton Voorhoeve, was riding and schooling the Voorhoeve's young horses. This young woman has ridden under world class Dressage instructors in Germany, and it was obvious. Anne let her school Wez and it was something watching her get some very lofty and "through" tempi changes and passage. What a gas! I commented to Joni about the quality of the work she was getting from Wez, and she said that he was "very nice!" A tribute to Anne's skill in bringing him up through the levels of Dressage. It was just awesome seeing the high quality of riding and schooling there, all in Libby, Montana at a Fjord horse show. Hard to imagine, but there we were. So, with all of that going on and the Pedersen's, the Jensen's and our Four-in-Hands, there was a lot to see at Libby this year. Saturday's show opened with the three Four-in-Hands and a Pair bringing in the flags for the opening ceremonies. Quite an impressive sight. We continued on with a Four-in-Hand class, then on to the various riding, driving and fun classes that make the Libby show so popular. I kept hearing Jenny Callahan's name placing high in the ribbons. Congratulations, Jenny, quite an improvement from last year. Due to flagging energy on our parts, the Starfire team had to scratch quite a few classes (can you believe it, we even scratched the Log Skid, oh yea, and guys, the GIRLS won the Log Skid again..............) I do want to say, however that we were very proud of Sue North's and our little white dun mare, MVF Sara. Sue (Sandy's mother) has been participating in the Libby show for a few years with very limitied riding and driving experience. She did an awesome job driving Sara in the Novice Driving and Ladies driving classes, taking first place and third place, respectively. Sue, who was thrilled last year when she finally "placed" in a driving class year, was as proud as can be of her little mare. Everyone wanted to take Sara home with them (sorry, you'll have to go through Sue first!) Congratulations to all who were there, whether you showed or not, whether you placed or not. We had another wonderful time, with good friends and awesome surroundings. Thanks, again, PNFPG, for another great time in Libby. We have some nice photos from the show and I'll try to get them up on our website during the next week. Beth -- Beth Beymer & Sandy North Starfire Farm, Berthoud CO http://www.starfirefarm.com
