The Fair

As a little girl my father used to take me to the Midwest Horse Fair and it continues to be one of my favorite events out of the year.

If you've never been or never heard of it, the MWHF is this hive of equestrian activities that descends on Madison every year.   Chances are, if you've heard of it, it is in some way represented at the horse fair. From saddlebreds, to minis, to jumpers, to reiners and ropers, and everything in between.  There are tack sales, purse sales, horse sales, and my favorite: funnel cake sales. There are clinics galore to participate in or audit and people EVERYWHERE! There is never a dull moment, there's always something you can watch or do.

With so many people and horses it could easily become a chaotic mess, and yes it can be a little overwhelming for first-timers, but bless the MWHF organizers, the entire thing runs fairly smoothly.  Sure, there's a hiccup here and there; a friend's mare was stabled across the isle from a stallion and when she promptly went into heat he promptly went insane and pandemonium ensued (neither owner was able to secure another stall) and seeing so many people riding on asphalt without helmets in large crowds makes me nervous.

 On the other hand, I was quite impressed with the people involved in MWHF when I heard that my trainer's gelding had colicked in the middle of the night and the fair personnel noticed, called my trainer and prevented him from rolling. So perhaps it all evens out.

This year, I decided to bring my boyfriend with me so he could get a wider variety of horse experiences than just hearing me talk about lessons and coming to the occasional show.  We got there a little late so we missed the show I thought he would most enjoy: the Priefert Percherons.  They are a six-horse hitch doing incredible docking maneuvers and going high-speed around the arena. While I was bummed to have missed their performance, my boyfriend got a kick out of meeting Shaq, a gorgeous 19.3 hand Percheron.  He was especially impressed with how big Shaq's feet were.

This is essentially what I love about the horse fair.  I love that neophytes like my boyfriend can come and experience a completely different world and hopefully, develop a love for these amazing creatures.  I love that I can go an see a slice of the horse world completely different than my own.  And most especially, (but least seriously) I love that I can eat fried cookie dough while I'm expanding my horizons.