2018 Festival of the Gypsies!
Well, here we go, hang onto your hats, it was a wild ride! I'm going to start with the fun facts and achievements and end with the tears, so read all the way through! Fun Fact #1 - Festival of the Gypsies is the most fun Gypsy show ever! Fun Fact #2 - I can ride Boss bareback at a trot and stay on LOL! Fun Fact #3 - I can spin in a circle and get dizzy, run and still find my horse and get on with the help of a friend and a shove or two!! On to the achievements starting with the youngster, our stunning Fever's Spectacular-Spectacular truly shined this weekend, she won a huge weanling/yearling class with at least a dozen entries, was also first place in a very big solid color class and then was 2nd place in Dressage Suitability in Hand! Then my wonderful Gigi and I ended up High Point Amateur for the show and she won me my very first belt buckle along with a beautiful leather plaque!!! She was such a trooper as usual and even put up with my back and forth with her and her uncle Boss <3 And my new main man Boss Jr. and I were Overall High Point for the show!! Or as the festival likes to title it, the "Most Awesome Overall Performance Award" <3 He was also the Gypsy Halter Champion of Champions (Supreme) as well as the All Breed Champion of Champions! Winning us two gorgeous laser grooming boxes, beautiful laser engraved brushes and numerous other great prizes that this show gives out. And we won the best stall decoration award too!!!
I could not have done any of it without the awesome Katie Hembree, she took Boss from muddy buddy to superstar in just under 60 days. Yes he was trained before, but he'd had almost a year off. Thank you also to her amazing clients Shannon Creel Lord and Alecia Babich who drove all the way to California with her to deliver my boy and show their horses! They helped so much along the way and it really does take a village!! Thank you Pam and Carlee for all your help and support at the show too, and helping me through my moments of breakdowns, horse holds and quickly needing a zip and tuck into my dress LOL!!
And of course thank you to the best husband on the planet for driving and putting up with my crazy, holding horses all weekend, feeding them treats and giving them love, bathing them with me, jogging Boss in hand to keep him warmed up, joining in the fun again of costume class and Vintage lead line with our Gigi. For being the best catch of my life even though the costume made it look like I was yours. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I'm so blessed to have you!!
And last but not least, the most special moment came when this loving, wonderful family of Gypsy owners came together to present Kip and I the sweetest gift of all. Now I know you've all seen my pink unicorn stuffie Ruckfuckle that is our mascot at the shows, well he has a new friend to watch over in the form of a beautiful replica of our sweet angel Shimmery. So many wonderful people came together and pitched in to be a part of giving us such a sweet way to remember our beautiful angel so that we could have her with us all of the time and at each of the shows we travel to. I wish I could thank each of them in person <3 We were given at list at the time of the presentation and I hope no one was missed, but I'd like to list all of you here, thank you all of you so very much, you don't know how much this blessed us. We cried many tears all the way into the next day over this gift. And even Gigi and Spectacular recognized how special it was when we took photos together with her, they just sweetly put their noses into her and smelled, no nibbling, just a long nuzzle and it had us in tears all over again, so excuse my cry faces in the pictures, it was too much for me to hold back <3
Thank you to all of these wonderful people I call my Gypsy family <3 Kelsey Hulbert Caitlin Hulbert Michelle Simpson Barbara McCarthy Gwen & Kender Hartman Elissa & Claude Hiltz Jennifer Hoyt Marjorie Lynne Deb Fariell Pam McMillan Walters Tamara Michalak and Five Star Gypsy Horses Katie Hembree Alycia & Eric Antheunisse Sue Vega Connie Dopp Hanson If anyone was not on the written list I have copied here please do let me know :)
