Hi Everyone!

I can take a deep breath in between horse fairs. Iowa Horse Fair and Mid West Horse Fair is now over, and the list of people to thank will be very long! Minnesota Horse Expo promises to be a huge event this year - in fact, many people opted out of attending the Madison show because of the line-up of presenters at Minnesota.

The Iowa Horse Fair is always very enjoyable. It is smaller, and more laid back. The best part of going to Des Moines is having more time to visit with trailer salesmen (the Integrity guys) and shop. Of course, catching up with Mary Lou Lawless of Iowa Harness Horseman's Association and setting up the displays with Brenda are the best part, and this year Denise Kroeger (our faithful foster mom of horses in Iowa) was a much-appreciated addition to the volunteer crew!

We left home with Randy and Janimal on Friday, April 8 with Maria, our future foster daughter, Torre, our foster son, and Zachary (8) and Rachel (6) and two little dogs around 1:30 pm. Okay, I wanted to leave at noon, but you know how things go? One thing after another... We hadn't gotten ten miles from home when we passed an ambulance on highway 35 between our farm and Victory. We wondered but did not slow down much. We observed that two railroad cars had been unhitched and there were people on the tracks. We were later very sad to find out (when Cherie called) that yet another classmate from the very small De Soto Area High School had died. A junior in high school, Zach was hit and killed by a train that afternoon. It was a shock and disappointment to all, and we very much sympathize with the family of this boy. He had shared a role in the musical Annie with my daughter Cherie just a few short months back, playing the radio announcer. I will never forget him singing the song, "Smile, darn ya, smile..." I want to remember him that way.

We unloaded the horses and helped decorate a bit, then off to the motel for a snooze.
The dogs had to sleep in the truck due to NO DOGS ALLOWED - poor Tina and Cookie! The weather was so balmy, though, that they didn't suffer one bit.

Maria had a blast working the horses twice a day and we even snuck in a bareback ride around the fairgrounds with halter and lead ropes! Rachel and Zach were adorned in their costumes and demonstrated along with me, Maria, and hosted by the Iowa Harness Horseman's Association. We want to thank them again for the wonderful opportunity we had to do this - we are very grateful to have such a partnership.

One week later I was loading up for Madison. Randy was not one bit impressed when I went out to catch him, and Janimal was a big grumpier than usual. We headed off with my mother-in-law to keep me company for Tomah to pick up Lunar Storm. Lunar was waiting outside McBean's Sign Shop, tied to a trailer close to the main drag! It was so cute - he was ready to jump into my trailer for a one-hour haul. We arrived in Madison Thursday evening and Theresa Pendleton had already set up and decorated everything beautifully! Thanks to Theresa, everything was organized and she even brought along a personal groom and attendant for Janimal. Elizabeth was responsible for Janny in every way and got to ride in the demonstrations. She helped with Zachary when he demonstrated and each and every demonstration occurred without any mishaps or unexpected crises. We were also grateful to Wisconsin Harness Horseman's Association for joining us in our demo, and for allowing Lunar Storm and adopter Becky to participate in their demonstrations. We are finally feeling as though there is unity between the entire Mid West Harness Horseman's Associations and ASAP Inc. and value their partnership. Without them, ASAP could not continue its work and mission.

The theme of the Midwest Horse Fair was "The Circus Comes To Town". Being a teacher, I was excited to play the part! Thanks to Kim Strachan and Pastor Jeff Hoch, I was able to obtain a child's clown costume and an adult clown costume to use for the demo. I got lots of laughs the first day that we dressed, and actually wondered if I should "cut the comedy" and take the outfits off, but Theresa insisted that we were okay and should wear them! My son, Zachary, was the biggest showman of all, taking out a snake from the bucket to wrap around his neck and doing antics in the center of the arena as a clown should. Of course my little Rachel (6) had to be a "princess". This came as no surprise to me. She was able to demonstrate therapeutic riding moves on Randy each day and also rode in the saddle backwards. Who knows? Maybe next year she will be doing trick riding, as confident as she was! The horses who demonstrated at Midwest were:

--Christopher II (nicknamed Christmas) and Dondi of Illinois
--Lunar Storm and Becky of Tomah, Wisconsin
--One Bad Bob and Stephanie and Theresa Pendleton of Boscobel, Wisconsin
--Maureen Anastasia and Katy Hildebrandt of Madison, Wisconsin
--Fanny and Gabe Wand of WHHA
--Randy and Rachel Wellman of ASAP
--Janimal and Zach Wellman of ASAP

All in all, we had a dressage horse, a gaming horse, a pleasure/trails horse, a harness racer, a Western pleasure horse, and therapeutic riding horse demonstrating. How is that for versatility????? We were all so proud of our horses and each other, and next year are working on a drill team pattern to really spoof up the show!!!

We could not have done the Midwest Horse Fair without the following people:

-- The above-mentioned participants and demonstrators
--Deanna Witt, Theresa's sister and her daughter, who helped faithfully man the booth
--Theresa's son
--Danielle Strom, who adopted Sportsbar last year - you were INCREDIBLE - always there when we needed you and always so very polite!!! Both Saturday and Sunday Danielle not only talked with people coming by, but did grunt work and stayed until the very end to help us take down the display and load up the truck.
--Lynette Laska - Volunteer extraordinaire as well - came to help at the booth and with demonstrations for two days. Lynette, your kindness never goes unnoticed!!
--Dondi's cowboy, Joe - worked hard to help assist Dondi with anything she needed, and helped load up my truck before taking off for home Sunday evening.

I was so happy to see adopters of Pistol Pete N, Arlene's Dream, Dueling Fox, Delaney Rae (and now Nick J Cole), Barefoot Beauty, the placing owners of Hawk the Quarter horse, and many others. I am sorry that I missed some of you, due to the fact that I had to run Rachel home in between demonstrations for a very "important" birthday party that was going on! Thanks to all of you for allowing me to try to keep a balance between my family and ASAP by being there when I could not be. I am especially grateful to have such a friend and dedicated person as Theresa Pendleton who coordinates this most popular horse fair each year. It is a tremendous amount of work and Theresa needs to be commended!!! Hugs to you!!!

Now to get back on track. I hope to be at Minnesota Horse Expo one day this weekend, but for the most part Adrienne deMaster (another faithful ASAP representative and friend of several years) and Linda Bair (northern MN Standardbreds) have things covered. We could still use some volunteer help at the booth on Friday and Sunday if you are able... please email me and I will get a message to Adrienne and Linda. We can only hope for the same wonderful weather that we had in Illinois, Iowa, and Madison!!!

We have two additions at the ASAP farm - and they have created quite a stir.
Prince and Sid joined our family last Monday (Craig is very tolerant!!) - two llamas that we agreed to provide long term foster care for until the placing family could get settled in their new home in Florida. I am becoming a proud new mama of these two, but have big shoes to fill because Whitney and her parents couldn't have been a better home. I have tried to ease the transition by being just like Whitney. This could be tough, since Whit is a 16 year old high school student!!! Okay, at least I can give hugs and kisses like she does, but it probably disgusts the llamas!! I should have pictures of them soon to show you all.

I am hoping that Dondi and others have pics of the horse fairs to share with you, as my camera is still in the car! Hopefully we will have that for you soon, along with another update after Minnesota.

Tally ho!
Susan

Read past farm updates