Saddlebreds, Walkers, and Others

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I wasn’t lucky in terms of my placement in the special run line. The second half or dead end was consistently where I ended up. But, I did manage to get everyone I wanted, so I was lucky!

I watched reiners in the morning, but the rest of the days I’d often see other breeds warming up. First was this Saddlebred in Harness. 

Until the pair left for the arena. 
Next were Tennessee Walkers.
Pretty!
They looked comfy to ride, especially when gaiting.

 The four horse mini team.

Very pink side saddle.

 Glitter!

Lines and Reiners

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Waiting in line is all a part of Breyerfest.

There are many types of lines but the line that forms first, even before the start of Breyerfest is the Friday Store line. I have many skills but one of them isn’t sleeping outside in a line. I have limits and love beds. Mel was dedicated and that’s how I ended up number 74 in the Friday morning line aka Ninji Pit of Death .

We were led in by Police.
There was a good amount of people.
and we were welcomed in by drums and dancers.

I was a part of the first group that went into the store. I hoped to get more than just a dog, as I did last year. I did even better. I walked out with zero things. Once the shoving and flapping of arms and plastic ponies started in the bins I assessed my plastic pony dedication and realized I didn’t like to do any of the above.
So I went to the special runs line located next to a warm up arena. A new activity at Breyerfest this year was a Ride A Reiner. Intermediate riders could try out reining on nice reining horses. I watched the schooling of the horses.

The horses changed leads,

walked,

spun,

slid and backed up.

I loved this black gelding. He had such a pretty and sweet face.

Grand Turk's Donkeys

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I did two animal related things on the cruise. The first dealt with donkeys. The second was swimming with stingrays and kissing a sea sponge for good luck.

 Grand Turk has a feral donkey population. They also have feral horses, but there are far more donkeys. The donkeys have been on the island for hundreds of years, thought to have been imported to help with harvesting salt.

Donkeys are like a national treasure and are protected by the government there. They get to roam the island as they wish. So they are everywhere.

We saw lone donkeys,

young donkeys,

and groups of donkeys.

Some people had fences to keep the donkeys out, and others didn’t.

The halfway point of the tour was at the lighthouse. Some got out to see the lighthouse, while others *cough me* were distracted by donkeys. Our guide stepped out with bread and said he had a trick to show us.

Donkeys seemed to appear from nowhere.

He picked the  ‘right’ donkey to do the trick with.  He put a piece of bread into his mouth and the semi-feral donkey took it out. 
Then he asked if anyone else wanted to feed the donkeys, which was an easy yes.
Look how cute and tiny they are.
Cute and friendly semi-feral donkey.
My sister, Kendall, with the donkey.
When the tour was taking us back to the beach my mom turned to me and asked, “Did you get a picture of the lighthouse?”
“Nope.”
Lighthouse or donkeys? Donkeys. 
I did learn other interesting things about the island. The Friendship 7 landed near Grand Turk. They had a replica of it on the island. The real one lives at the Air and Space Museum in DC. 

Cruising 2016

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For the past week I’ve been on a floating hotel.

It’s the same ship, Carnival Pride, as last year but this year my mom, sister and I cruised with family members. 
The islands we visited were Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Freeport. On Grand Turk we took a bus tour around the island that featured the history of the island. 
I noticed the feral donkey and horse population. Most of my pictures of the island are of the equine variety, so there’ll be a separate post for them!
It was a nice week.