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As evidenced by my photos for the most recent Sunday Stills, I spent a day at Dressage at Devonwood with Genevieve. Since it was her first dressage show (she's an avid jumper), I thought she would find the musical freestyle most entertaining. G was duly impressed with the facility and its picturesque location, admired the gorgeous horses, and appreciated the hard work that went into training and presentation. However, she admitted that she would find dressage boring. She's a higher-and-faster kind of gal.

Ah well, that's why there are so many equestrian pursuits.

I took a ton of photos, some of which are posted on my Flickr site.

The above photo is Edwin Miller on Lord of the Ring. I love the look of concentration on his face. One of the things I most love about riding is the total absorption required of the rider. A momentary escape from all the stresses yammering at us. By the way, Edwin is the current president of Oregon Dressage Society.

This picture was a quick telephoto snap. I call it "Done for the Day." Since temperatures were in the 90s, coats were optional for competitors. I liked the wee bit of dust kicked up by horse and rider. Kind of suited the feeling of trudging back to the barn after hours of preparation for the day's ride.

Love, love, love this guy! Toandos Mountain Man with Bernadine Diers in the irons. Monty is a Welsh cob owned by Sheryl Rudolph, founder of Fun in the Saddle.

G and I weren't the only ones who loved Monty. He took the USDF Musical Freestyle championship. I noticed that Bernadine was smiling in most of the photos that I took of this pair. Isn't it great when the trainer loves your horse as much as you do?

Had to tour the vendors, of course. That's half the fun of a show! The first booth we stopped at was Ansur Saddles. We were forced (No, really. She made us!) to sit in the saddles for our respective disciplines. Okay...we leapt at the chance to try out the saddles. Didn't take us long to promise to buy each other a saddle for Christmas. If only!

We found these shoes at the Glisan Street Saddlery booth. Soooo G! Note that, not only are they so cool, but rideable, too! "Wicked Rider" by Mountain Horse.

And they come in pink!! Wicked, indeed!