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Victoria dragged me out to yet another horse show this weekend. This time it was up in Redwood park in the Oakland hills. It was a beautiful day, and Redwood is a good place to be on a beautiful day. There's been a small horse arena in Redwood for many generations, and it serves most of the local equestrian organizations in the East Bay. Classes from Victoria's trainer and others were competing on riding skills and jumping. We watched. Vic's horse, Suede, isn't quite ready for that yet, tho Vic seemed quite clear that next year she'd be out there, among the 12 year-olds and 50-somethings.
There was a lot of sitting around and waiting. And it is somewhat fascinating to watch these very large and powerful animals under the control of teenagers. More specifically, teenage girls. There were also a number of grown-ups with their horses. And one token male. But it did seem like this was definitely a girls sport.
To stand next to some of these horses, especially the thoroughbreds who come into private hands after their short careers at the track, is something quite amazing. You realize how powerful these animals are, and yet they'll just stand there, with a rider on their back, waiting patiently for their turn. And then, everything becomes motion when they enter the arena.
We're doing this on the cheap. There's a lot of money to be spent here. The gear alone can be a small fortune. Everything Suede has is second-hand. Maybe next year Victoria will be on Suede in a horse show in the arena in Redwood. What a strange thing for a girl in her late 50's to be doing.
Me? No way.
