Dog and Pony prep, part seven

It's called Ridiculous Performance, but that doesn't actually mean all the entries need to be ridiculous.

Some can be completely conventional. For example, class ten - Where's Timmy? - sounds a lot like Search and Rescue to me.

Which is convenient because I just happen to have this old search and rescue saddle blanket in my stash.

This was one of my first cross stitch projects ever, and boy, does it show. I ran out of floss partway through and finished with almost - but not quite - the same color. Even worse, I did a terrible job of measuring. This pad doesn't work with any of my English or Western saddles.

Thankfully, I have other options.

With an assist from my friend, Anne, I bought this beautiful Australian saddle by Steff Honrath back in 2020. I've never shown it.

October 25 will be the day.

Once that was sorted, I moved on to the most important part of the entry: Big Dog.

Or more precisely, Big Dog's search and rescue harness.

A quick Google search showed me that canine search and rescue harnesses come in all sorts of styles, most of which are red. This one is kind of a mish mosh, and it's blue to match the saddle blanket.

The signage - such as it is - was designed on my laptop, printed on printer paper and glued into place. Simple and cheap, my favorite!

The pieces of this entry span twenty five years of my tackmaking career. It's very satisfying to see them together like this.

As much as I love ridiculous performance, I still enjoy conventional performance, too. How wonderful it is to be prepping both kinds of entries!

Dog and Pony prep, part six

After more than two decades of almost continuous, multiple dog life, we are now a single dog household.

Or perhaps I should say, we are a single, full scale dog household.

Small scale is a different story.

I have so many model dogs.

You've seen them.

It's clear I have a problem.

I also have an enabler.

More than a few of my dogs are Alexey's thrift shop finds.

Take that big dog in the red shirt for example. Here's how she found her way to my house.

She's been standing on my shelf for almost a year, quietly minding her own business. This state of affairs might have continued indefinitely, but than I decided I need a big dog for one of my Dog and Pony Show performance entries.

Specifically, I needed Big Dog.

I picked her up, dusted her off and realized that Big Dog was a little worse for the wear.

She had a lot of missing paint, plus some fake snow affixed to her ear and coat.

Clearly, she needed a makeover.

Here's how she looks now.

I touched up her paintwork, painted her toenails and added some black to her tail.

Ready for the showring!

Don't worry. The sweater will be back, as will some of the many other tack items Big Dog now owns.

For the first time ever, my main performance model is a dog. A Big Dog.

Go-with dog

Not every year, but more years than not, Seth and I set aside a day in September to visit the Colorado high country and take in some fall color.

We always bring a furry friend with us.

For the first six years or so, Emma was our go-to dog.

She liked riding in the car...

and going for little hikes in the mountains, 

but she did not enjoy walking around mountain towns or eating at restaurants.

"Just leave me in the car, Mom. I'm good."

She became more social with time - and Prozac - but really, this was never her favorite thing.

By the time Piper arrived on the scene, Emma was happy to retire from traveling.

Oh, my sweet girl. 

I miss her so.

Seth and I have maintained a two dog household almost continuously since 2003.

After Emma died, I said I wasn't ready for another dog, but I assumed that was a temporary feeling. Nearly three months later, I'm not so sure. More than any dog since the first dog, Piper feels like enough.

This little dog is good at everything.

She's good at home.

She's good in the car.

She's good at wilderness adventures.

She's good at urban adventures.

She gets along with other dogs.

She could be friendlier with people, but I don't hold that against her.

She doesn't really like horses either. 

Nobody's perfect, but truly, this dog comes pretty close.

As Seth and I were driving to Cripple Creek, we remembered all the places Piper has gone with one or both us.

"Which do you think is her favorite?" I asked.

Then we spent some time discussing the canine merits of mountains and canyons,

oceans and lakes...

and zoos and shopping malls.

Eventually, Seth said, "I don't think her favorite is a place. She just wants to go with us. She is our go-with dog."

He's right, of course. Piper is our one dog that does it all. Our go-with, be-with dog.