Elsabe and I apparently look very similar and it led to more than one moment of confusion! We went to the day care one afternoon to fetch Elsabe's adorable little girl, Kenzley, and I was driving (cos yay, driving!) and I stayed in the car while she ran in to fetch Kenzley. Awkward moment happened when one of the other mothers came up and started chatting to me like we were old friends. I didn't know what to do so I just smiled and said yes and no where appropriate. Next thing Elsabe walks out with Kenzley. The poor woman did a double take, turned bright red and smiled at me before almost sprinting to her kid and car. It took everything in me not to laugh. It may have been embarrassing but heck was it funny! I took another shot at riding Joe again and almost came a cropper when the little bugger decided to start crow hopping mid canter! It's hard enough to even just stay on him at a walk! By the time I managed to stop him, my legs were wrapped around his neck and my hands were clinging to his ears. As usual, I was in such hysterics I could not even control my own body, and Elsabe and I both almost wet ourselves. We sat for about five minutes just crying with laughter before we could continue our training. Elsabe decided to get on Joe to ride this nonsense out of him (an even funnier sight because her legs are much longer than mine!) and she made him run flat out. Turns out he can run a lot faster than either of us anticipated! It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen! I really did almost wet myself!
We made plans to head to South Dakota for the weekend so I could see Mount Rushmore, but the government decided that wasn't suitable, so they proceeded to shut down. First world countries are awesome :-/ to top it all off, we couldn't even just go to South Dakota because it snowed so heavily there that weekend that they lost over 7500 head of cattle. It was a devastating storm. We were promised some snow too but instead all we got was a MISERABLY cold 3°C day with gale force icy winds. Fun times. We bundled the horses into the trailer and headed for the nearby indoor arena that belongs to a creepy old cowboy who flirts with everything female and always has a bottle of peach schnapps handy. We were pretty grateful for the schnapps though cos we were literally losing feeling in most our appendages!
We had another South Africans only (plus American spouses and a few very lucky friends) braai with a lovely huge fire in their fire pit. I very wisely declined the moonshine that was offered to me. That stuff is seriously dangerous! Elsabe and I went on a long ride through the fields again on Monday with Magnus (I LOVE HIM!!!!) and one of her client's horses Tuxedo (a thoroughbred). We were heading back to the tack room when we spotted a coyote. Of course being the sane, rational people we are, we went tearing off across the fields chasing him on two young horses. It was actually quite funny because neither of them had ever been asked to run like that before so they didn't really know what to do. Elsabe and I were hunched up over their necks giving them full rein and shouting and pushing them forward and they both sort of ran with an "I don't know what you want from me!" sort of feeling. We were in hysterics again because by the time we got to the other end of the field we had long since lost the coyote and both horses were still confused as anything. Poor young things :)
I was amused and shocked to hear Kenzley swearing at the tv one afternoon. Elsabe had to explain to me that she can't pronounce the word "fox" and she watches Dora the Explorer (which has a character called Swyper the fox). So when he appears on the screen, Kenzley happily shouts "Myper the f*#k!". The innocence of it all is so cute! We then got a bit naughty and started teaching her to say "stupid fox". You can imagine what happened when she tried... :) we went and rode in the bad lands with one of Elsabe's clients - a grumpy old cowboy who rides his horse like a dying chicken. He holds his hands up by his chest and when his horse trots, his elbows bounce at his sides and his feet slide forward as if he's on a Harley! The bad lands were so absolutely beautiful though! Massive rolling hills with every colour of Autumn under the sun. I almost got taken out by a tree branch more than once because I was so busy staring around me and Magnus likes to walk THROUGH trees rather than around them like a normal animal. I still love him though :) he had only been ridden a handful of times when I started riding him and he handled the bad lands like such a pro!
I had the unparalleled pleasure of attending a redneck wedding. I fail to find the words to do it justice, but I shall do my best... The entire bridal party consisted of mostly large, mostly pregnant women and the groom and groomsmen were all large men with no necks. Most of them looked related. The groom and groomsmen all wore cowboy hats. In church. And indoors. At night. The WHOLE night. The bride and groom had custom made glasses for their alcohol. Once the bride had stopped swigging beer like it was fruit juice, they both filled up these special glasses - made out of moonshine jars attached to a wine glass stem... Classy, I know :) - with some potent liquid courage (my best guess would be actual moonshine) and proceeded to get louder and more obnoxious with every passing minute. Approximately every twenty to thirty seconds some drunken smart ass would start clinking a glass which meant bride and groom had to stand and kiss. If you ask me it got old after the first clink. Maybe the second. But no! Four hours later and apparently it was still funny! Kenzley, sweet little thing, had so much fun on the dance floor. It is too precious. When you tell her to shake her butt (yes, shake her butt) she literally does! Love that kid :) we danced for hours with her and eventually headed home.
This marks the end of another two weeks in North Dakota with my new found family :) definitely one of my favourite American adventures so far! :)
Stay tuned and stay classy, my beautiful peeps c",)
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