BioStar at Wellington: A Dog’s-Eye View (Part 2)
Aussie shepherd Kemosabe and his human, Tigger, have been visiting many horses and barns in Wellington for the past month at the annual Winter Equestrian Festival. While Tigger has been busy helping the horses with their diets, ‘Sabe has taken to chronicling the experience to share with you all….
I finally saw a gator. You know, the creature that eats Australian shepherds. It was a big dude, and I sure was glad Tigger kept me in the car. Of course she grabs her camera and runs to take some photos of the beast, and I’m in the car barking, “Are you crazy!?”
There are a lot of blue heron around here. I’m not allowed to chase them, but I was told by a greyhound at the Wellington dog park that heron tastes a lot like chicken.
During Nations Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival, there’s also a fund raising effort for the American Cancer Society called Pink Riders. The idea came from Carrie Stanton whose mother passed away five years ago after a 12-year battle with cancer. The riders wear pink, and help to raise money for the ACS. Longtime Biostar customer Kelly Soleau even got Millarbrooke Farm’s jumper Itty Bitty into the spirit of pink. Pink is apparently a good color for Itty Bitty because she ended up finishing second in her High Amateur jumper class.
Pink Riders at WEF – Kelly Soleau and Millarbrooke Farm’s Itty Bitty
Kelly’s corgi, Fluffy, and I both got into the pink effort as well. I would have preferred a color more suited to my coolness (like a black bandana with skull and crossbones), but then I noticed some very famous male jumper riders wearing pink ballcaps, and figured I could handle the color. The only problem was, strangers thought I was a girl. They’d stop and say, “Oh she’s such a pretty dog!” GRRRRRRR!
Dogs of Pink Riders at WEF – Kemosabe (left) and Fluffy (right)
While Nations Cup is going on in Wellington, the dressage community has the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, a World Cup Qualifier, in Loxahatchee. This is my third year attending the derby. There’s a fundraiser Friday night for the Equestrian Aid Foundation, hosted by Dressage Daily’s own Mary Phelps. Tigger and I looked over the items for auction, and I really tried my best to get her to bid on a framed and signed Bruce Springsteen album which would have looked great on the wall next to my dog bed, but alas, she was more interested in the CD signed by Eric Clapton. Nor could I get her to even look at the sports memorabilia, including some choice NASCAR and NFL items. I’ll have to ask Mary Phelps why she didn’t have some memorabilia from Lassie or Rin Tin Tin or even Scooby Doo, because I know from experience that I and my canine friends can easily con our humans into bidding on items like that.
Shelly Francis & Doktor, Jim Koford & Rhett in the FEI Vet Check at the Dressage Derby
We head back to Virginia soon. I’m looking forward to getting back to the BioStar office, hanging with the production team, herding the FedEx delivery guys, and stealing a few Optimum and Tum Ease bars. Maybe the production crew will buy me a beer.
Kemosabe is a three year old Australian shepherd who, when he’s not on the road with Tigger, likes to hang out at BioStar — taste-testing products and herding the FedEx delivery guys.
