This week, from the position I had taken while on the outlook for Nuckolls County Fair photos, I was able to observe a young family and their horses. I'm not a good judge of youngsters ages but the youngest was in a stroller and I guess the others were spaced a year or two apart.
The parents and their stair-step youngsters left the rig and horses and perhaps went to the food stand or to register the youngsters for the kids' rodeo.
One horse in particular was not pleased to be left alone, It was a smaller horse, not a pony, about the size of my all-time favorite horse. I watched that horse and remembered what it was like riding a horse to country school in the seventh grade.
I considered taking a photo of the horse and his antics but decided they wouldn't show in a still photo. I was caught back in time to my grade school years and forgot the modern digital camera I was carrying is capable of taking both still and moving pictures. Had I taken a movie of the horse, I could have shared it with the readers of this newspaper's web page. I believe people who liked horses would have enjoyed seeing the animal relate to the rope.
The horse didn't like to be left alone and was working on the lead rope. It chewed and tugged on the rope. The animal appeared to know there was a way to untie the rope for the humans did it frequently, but was the correct combination of tugs? It kept unsuccessfully trying to discover the way.
When it tired of working on the rope, it rubbed its head on the trailer door which led to the tack compartment. Perhaps, he thought, if he got that door open he would find one of his human friends who would set him free. Or perhaps he thought by rubbing on the door, he could be rid of the halter used to connect him to the trailer.
The third horse was tied to the arena fence. With the exception of one hoof with which it continuously pawed the ground, it stood silently, intently watching the fairground happenings. I watched as it would shift its gaze from one part of the grounds to another.
The second horse tied to the trailer appeared to be taking a nap or dreaming about running in a lush pasture. It stood contentedly, ignoring the activity going on around it.
The family returned. Two of the youngsters were lifted onto the horses tied to the trailer. Mother settled into the saddle of the buckskin that had been tied to the fence. She expertly slid her cell phone into a pouch tied to her saddle's horn. It was obvious she had stashed the phone there many times.
I though how times have changed. I remembered securing lunches, extra clothing, fishing poles, ropes, sacks for collecting discarded pop bottles .... but never a cell phone to a saddle.
Dad handed her the reins of the smallest rider's horse. The gate into the arena was opened and they rode in. Around and around the arena the three rode with mother keeping a firm grip on the little boy's horse.
I suspect her goal was to acclimate the horses to the arena before the youngsters competed in their pee wee rodeo events.
I moved to a different area in my search for pictures.
Returning to my vehicle, I observed mother's buckskin horse had been tied to the trailer. The family and the other two horses were gone. The buckskin was not happy.
He was shaking his head, pawing the ground, making faces and noises. Obviously he wasn't happy to be left alone and was no longer the quiet horse I had observed earlier.
If I had untied that horse, I suspect it would have galloped off in search of its friends.
Never know what will catch your interest when you visit the fair, but over the years I have accumulated lots of fair memories and stories I enjoy sharing.
One of those stories involved the young mother who was thrown into a water-filled tank. Her make-up was running and her hair was flat as she climbed out of the stock tank. She turned to her friends and said, "I've got to go home and get remade."
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