Reins of Life rolls around again, and so does rain

It dawned gray and wet on a Midwest Saturday.

The sky does not look promising.

I think this was my fourth? appearance at Reins of Life in South Bend, Indiana. I’ve lost track. But they all have one thing in common: it would not be a Reins of Life benefit dressage show without a little added water. To wit:

The pond.

There is not supposed to be a water obstacle at the judge’s end of the ring. Nor is there supposed to be mud at the entrance gate…

The mud at “A”

Last year’s mud. Not quite as bad.

The good news is that the water gods smiled on us and did not drip anything on us for the two days of the show. The mud had considerably dried up by day 2. However (and there is always a “however”) the heat and humidity gods made up for it by making most of us totally miserable. I was lucky since my booth was indoors. I was also lucky to complete three new Aquabord™ paintings and half of a fourth. I’m still working through the mountain of mustang photos I took on my trip to California last summer. I particularly like how my painting of McBride turned out. He is the oddball stallion that allowed us to approach quite closely without annoying or spooking him. I did him a favor in the painting and did not include all of his battle scars, which were considerable.

McBride, the “loner” stallion from my mustang trip.

“Racers”. Self-explanatory.

“Practice”. Bachelor stallions sharpening their fighting skills. Or maybe just looking silly.

Aquabord™ watercolor paintings are available on my website, although you might not see these right away. The last time I uploaded to my website it did not publish properly–lots of broken links–so I have been procrastinating about updating it until I had more than one painting to add. The good tech-y folks at enom did manage to get everything online for me quickly, but I’m hoping I don’t have to utilize their services again. I like it when things work properly. At one time I was considering designing my own website but that quickly got out of hand. So I’m at the mercy of others, as so many of us appear to be…I will close with one of my favorite photo subjects, riders preparing to show, framed by a barn door. This shot at Reins of Life was perfect.

I love taking photos through barn doors. Just put up with me, OK?