Halloween 2015

It's Halloween and the kids headed to a party this year.  Sydney got the opportunity to dress up twice as she also had a Halloween horse show.  She tied for FIRST prize in the costume contest this year!!

Here is Zorro and her horse -

And Holden, well, we may need to explain...
There's a dubstep recording artist named Deadmau5 (Deadmouse).  He wears a mouse head when he performs and Holden wanted to make a head just like his.  It took a bit of work, but it looked GREAT!

And then there were the Jack-O-Lanterns.
From right to left we have:
Andy:  a Zorro sign in honor of Sydney winning the costume contest
Julia: normal evil pumpkin
Holden:  sad pumpkin because someone pounded nails into his face - see closeup below

Sydney:  Barad-dûr.  In the Lord of the Rings this was the Dark Lord Sauron's primary fortress in Mordor, serving as his base of operations and the primary nexus of evil in Middle-earth.  If you want to know more, you'll have to ask the expert.

Last Ren Fest picture update

Sydney and I had SO MUCH more to say about the Renaissance Festival, but this story must come to a close.  So, here's a little picture update of the 8 weeks...

Opening gates

Fighting with a Quarterstaff

The Petting zoo

The singing troupe that Sydney listened to each and every day of the festival

BIG Chess

Vegetable Justice - you get to throw mushy tomatoes at the guy.  Warning to those that are easily offended, he can sling insults faster than anyone can throw tomatoes.

Our favorite violinist

Our favorite pickle guy

And, of course, the jousting team...

Dave

 Colin (jousting injury took him out)

 Harry

 Tom

 Shelby

 Mark

Horseplay

The previous post talked about Indigo, the horse that fears elephants, so we thought we'd tell you about a few of the other horses with the War Horse troupe.

Abraham is the biggest.  He was a bit unpredictable and showed his fear of all things at the far end of the jousting track.  He dumped Sydney the first week and nearly dumped Shelby, the lady rider that travels with them, several times during the festival.  He's a nice horse, just quirky.

Tara was one of Sydney's favorites and the one Sydney rode the most.  Tara loves blueberry scones and she's married to Abraham.  Here's one of Sydney working on Tara at a joust, and another with Tara, Sydney, and Kelly Bailey - the owner of the jousting troupe.

Millie was also a bit unpredictable and Shelby was the only one that rode her.  Millie dislikes the jingling bellydance skirts and would not let anyone come near her if they were wearing one.

Christine is the only clyesdale in the group and Sydney got to ride her a lot during the weekday practice sessions.  She's an older horse that can't keep her feet still and wants to jump the gun when jousting.  Mark, her main rider, said she knows what to do but sometimes decides to give him the finger and go do whatever the heck she wants to.  Christine gently chews her water before swallowing it.  Here's Christine,

Manny is ridden by Kelly, the game announcer and the owner of the War Horse Productions.  Manny has a unique talent.  He claps with his lips.

Daisy is the oldest jousting horse and she's trained nearly every one of the jousters they've had for the last 15 years.  She's a sweetheart.  I actually have a picture of Sydney and Daisy from years ago when Sydney would take rides on the War Horses.
Here they are in 2009 -

And Sydney braiding Daisy's hair this year -

And then there is Marcus.  Aka Dr. Buttons.  He is going for his degree in marine biology.  His tiny tail is named Jeffrey because it has a mind of it's own.

'Nough said.