Great excitement here today, as Kris is in town for the two weeks of big shows (Indoor Preview Show, followed by St. Louis National Charity Show). Midday, he stopped off here to give the old ladies a lesson. And we needed it!
Kris texted as he got off Interstate 70. Bart immediately fell to the floor and went to sleep. In the end, I had to bribe him with carrots AND kick him to get him up (and this was his second nap of the day).
Oh, Bart!!!!
Off to our long awaited lesson – Kris, Anne & Bart, Jane & Derry (Harry Weber photo)
Marianne arrived to watch, and she kindly did some video. It was terribly dusty, and the sun was out, but the horses rose to the occasion and we had a great lesson. Harry got some wonderful pictures. We old ladies are so lucky!
Go forward, Bart! 
Kris is wondering if this is worth doing 
Marianne is always smiling!
“Desperate” is the term Kris used for my riding, as I flailed my arms and kicked and spurred. He pointed out that all my activity is slowing Bart down. He even suggested that Jane looked like she was being a little desperate (I knew she shouldn’t watch me!). The good news is, by the end of the lesson, we were much improved. And, even better, we get to practice with Kris again tomorrow. We didn’t jump high, but we did jump courses, and we had a lot of fun.
Bart 
Derry 
Derry and Jane jump into a line 
Bart & Anne jump out of a line 
Tired horses, happy riders, wonderful coach
Harry and Weedy ventured out to do some grocery shopping. It was cool enough this morning for Weedy to ride along and wait in the car. He had a great time and felt very special, though he was a little apprehensive to start. “I hope we’re not going to the vet!”, thought Weedy…
My two favorite boys
This morning, I saw a very vibrantly colored bug, so I took a picture and went to the bug book for identification. Yikes!! What I saw was a Cow Killer (Dasymutilla occidentalis). It looks like a large ant, but it is actually a parasitoid wasp. It’s called a cow killer because the sting hurts so much it could kill a cow. Luckily, it also runs very fast and wants to escape. It’s not aggressive. However, it does kill and eat bumblebees, one of my favorite insects. So I will kill the next cow killer I encounter (I hope that never happens!).
The unknown yellow bird two days ago was indeed a female summer tanager. The cresty head confused me, but Judi found a picture exactly like it. This afternoon, the beautiful red male summer tanager was filling up on suet (while a woodpecker worked on the far side of the holder. I hope they have baby tanagers, as they are such gorgeous birds. Or maybe the yellow one is a youngster, who knows? I’m including the yellow summer tanager’s picture again.
Finally, from Montana (yes, this IS in Montana), a waxing moon over The Big Ditch, which is an engineering wonder from the turn of the twentieth century – an irrigation canal 75 miles long, and still operating, providing water and beauty. Thanks to Nancy Stevens for the pictures she took this evening, wishing she had a jacket for the cool weather. We await crisp evenings here in Missouri, in vain for August, but it’s nice to imagine…
Stay safe, stay well, keep learning.
You had a visit from the “Murder Hornet “!
Love the tanager photos. I rarely see them. I’ve never seen a yellow one. What a treat.
Lucky you to have such an animated female tanager. She looks like a yellow cardinal, I wonder if they are related. And a lesson from Kris, you and Jane look quite polished.
I can not imagine anyone teaching you anything that you do not already know about riding and jumping.