Saturday morning was spent making Rachael pretty. She got a nice bath, and I even applied a nice coat of show shine to her. Her hair was flowing magnificently! :) I used clippers to trim her beard and nose hairs/whiskers. I also trimmed her bridle path short. She was looking really nice. Want proof? Queue the first picture:
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| Riley picking some small leaves off Rachael |
I unloaded Rachael and tied her to the trailer. Riley then started brushing her, and getting her ready for me to harness. While he did that, I unloaded the carriage from the trailer.
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| Attaching the shafts to the carriage |
Once the carriage was ready to go, I turned my attention back to Rachel. Time to get her harness on. This went fast, and in no time, she was ready to go.
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| Harnessing the horse, with the help of my son |
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| Putting the bridle on Rachael, with a view of the carriage |
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| Rachael, ready to get some pictures taken of her |
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| The carriage. Loaned to me by my good friend Roger. It's very nice! |
Once Rachael was ready, the bride came over, and they took pictures with Rachael. The bride even got brave, and wanted to sit on Rachael. Rachael did not object to this. A normal horse may spook to a woman wearing a dress puffed up the size of a small car, but not a draft horse. :) Rachael did very good. She was very laid back today, which I was very grateful for. (the night before at the practice, she was pretty antsy, so I was happy she was being easy).
Once the bride had all the pictures she wanted, it was time for me to work the wiggles out of Rachael. I hooked her up, and off we went. We drove about 15 minutes down the road, and I had her in a nice trot. She comes to work so easy, that it makes me very grateful for her. We turned around, and then headed back. The way back was a gentle rise the whole way, which put a nice load on Rachael. When we got back to the wedding, she was more than willing to stand.
I'd like to take a moment to say how AWESOME Rachael did with shoes. She was a different horse. She wasn't timid on the road, or cautious. She stepped out real nice, just like she does in the field. I'm very grateful to my friend Cody for taking on the job, and helping me out. Also, I noticed that shoes with drilltech applied to them do not make a clip clop sound on the road. You can actually hear that drilltech grinding into the road. No chance of slippage on these things!
I'd like to take a moment to say how AWESOME Rachael did with shoes. She was a different horse. She wasn't timid on the road, or cautious. She stepped out real nice, just like she does in the field. I'm very grateful to my friend Cody for taking on the job, and helping me out. Also, I noticed that shoes with drilltech applied to them do not make a clip clop sound on the road. You can actually hear that drilltech grinding into the road. No chance of slippage on these things!
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| After a nice ride down the road, its time to begin the process of waiting |
One back to the wedding, I tied her to a tree, and I changed into my wedding duds. This was a country wedding, so I dressed for the occasion; white shirt, and black wranglers.
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| Me and Rachael, in my wedding clothes. |
Once I was changed, then came the next part. WAITING. We stood in that one spot and waited, for 30 minutes. I wasn't really excited about this, but, I figure you gotta roll with the punches on this kind of stuff. Wedding was supposed to start at 4PM, I was supposed to be there to pick up the bride at 3:55PM. I actually picked up the bride at 4:30PM. Good thing Rachael didn't mind standing.
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| Still waiting. :) |
After the wait, we finally got the wedding on the go. The bride came out, and she, her father, and her son hopped in the carriage. Then we headed off to the wedding. It was a nice peaceful drive there.
This wedding was set up in the middle of a 5 acre field. In the center of the field, was a single, HUGE, pecan tree. The hitching post, and all chairs were set up in the shade of the tree. It was beautiful. We drove out to the place, and it was so pretty.
I dropped the bride off, and then, once she had exited the carriage, I hopped down, and held Rachael's lead rope.
I should take a minute to brag on Rachael. I was very nervous to see what her reaction would be to the crowd. I figured when they all stood for the bride, she may spook a little. To my surprise, this didn't bother her at all. She really didn't care one bit. She stood like a lady, and was very well behaved (besides relieving her bladder during the ring ceremony) LOL. The only time she got a little cautious, was when the applause came right after the wedding. She wasn't too sure about that. I had to keep reassuring her that it was okay. She didn't spook enough to move the carriage though. Her head was as high as it can get, and she was looking at the crowd as they cheered.
We loaded up the happy couple, and we went for a loop around the pasture. It was awesome. I then brought them back to the crowd. Instead of having a reception where they stand in a line to greet everyone, they dismissed the audience by row, greeting each person who came. I thought this was kind of a cool idea, and saved the couple from standing in a boring line during the reception.
The next thing on my list, was to load up the happy couple, and take them up and give them a grand entrance to the reception. They neglected to tell me there would be 45 minutes of picture taking between that time though. I passed the time by talking with people who came to admire the horse. Lots of kids came over, and loved all over Rachael. One of my favorite parts about doing this kind of stuff is letting kids pet the horse. They are so excited, and just have this look of awe. I love it.
After the pictures were done, I loaded up the happy couple, and away we went. I dropped them off at the reception, to some more applause, and then I headed to my trailer.
In no time at all, everything was unhitched, and loaded back onto/into the trailers.
This was a very cool experience. I really had a good time. All the preparations I took paid off big time. Rachael is awesome in shoes, and she performed perfectly. I wouldn't mind doing more of these! I'll try to post some actual pictures of us driving if I get some from the bride and groom. As you can tell, my 7 year old photographer kind of crapped out on me. Guess I should've given him a bag of skittles or something. :)
Speaking of my camera man, something funny happened at the wedding. At the reception, a friend noted the margarita machine, and tells my son that they are serving "slushies". So my son gets all excited and he seriously started burning the sugar from it before it even entered his body. We then, had to be the mean parents, and try to explain to him that he couldn't have one of those adult "slushies". The following picture is the aftermath. LOL
This wedding was set up in the middle of a 5 acre field. In the center of the field, was a single, HUGE, pecan tree. The hitching post, and all chairs were set up in the shade of the tree. It was beautiful. We drove out to the place, and it was so pretty.
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| Waiting during the ceremony |
I should take a minute to brag on Rachael. I was very nervous to see what her reaction would be to the crowd. I figured when they all stood for the bride, she may spook a little. To my surprise, this didn't bother her at all. She really didn't care one bit. She stood like a lady, and was very well behaved (besides relieving her bladder during the ring ceremony) LOL. The only time she got a little cautious, was when the applause came right after the wedding. She wasn't too sure about that. I had to keep reassuring her that it was okay. She didn't spook enough to move the carriage though. Her head was as high as it can get, and she was looking at the crowd as they cheered.
We loaded up the happy couple, and we went for a loop around the pasture. It was awesome. I then brought them back to the crowd. Instead of having a reception where they stand in a line to greet everyone, they dismissed the audience by row, greeting each person who came. I thought this was kind of a cool idea, and saved the couple from standing in a boring line during the reception.
The next thing on my list, was to load up the happy couple, and take them up and give them a grand entrance to the reception. They neglected to tell me there would be 45 minutes of picture taking between that time though. I passed the time by talking with people who came to admire the horse. Lots of kids came over, and loved all over Rachael. One of my favorite parts about doing this kind of stuff is letting kids pet the horse. They are so excited, and just have this look of awe. I love it.
After the pictures were done, I loaded up the happy couple, and away we went. I dropped them off at the reception, to some more applause, and then I headed to my trailer.
In no time at all, everything was unhitched, and loaded back onto/into the trailers.
This was a very cool experience. I really had a good time. All the preparations I took paid off big time. Rachael is awesome in shoes, and she performed perfectly. I wouldn't mind doing more of these! I'll try to post some actual pictures of us driving if I get some from the bride and groom. As you can tell, my 7 year old photographer kind of crapped out on me. Guess I should've given him a bag of skittles or something. :)
Speaking of my camera man, something funny happened at the wedding. At the reception, a friend noted the margarita machine, and tells my son that they are serving "slushies". So my son gets all excited and he seriously started burning the sugar from it before it even entered his body. We then, had to be the mean parents, and try to explain to him that he couldn't have one of those adult "slushies". The following picture is the aftermath. LOL
This should have brought back a lot of memories for you and Amanda! Our front yard isn't 5 acres, but you did have a nice ride around the neighborhood in the rain. The people who handled the carriage and horse did a great job, and I loved their country wedding attire. I hope you do get to do some of these!
ReplyDeleteEverything looks beautiful! Great job with Rachael - you guys make a great team. Hope you get to do more weddings. They look like so much fun! Lovely carriage!
ReplyDeleteGlad the shoes are helping her. (we also use Epic Easy Boots on our draft for trail riding and they are wonderful. I have tiny ones for my mini that I drive and they work great on asphalt.)
Heather in PA
hey tim jimthe horse traveler she really looked beautiful and weddings are fun arnt they.
ReplyDeletei have only done 1 wedding[my sons] and enjoyed it immensley