Williamson County Fair Show

As many of you know, I have been working with the Williamson County Fair for a couple of years in an effort to have them host a donkey show. Finally this past spring, I was given the ok to get the ball rolling.

One never knows how show set-up is going to be from one year to the next… but this was a first-year show, and even with all the pre-planning, we were all a little hesitant. Though the arena was a little cramped, the fair crew that was provided to help us get set up, were awesome and helped the show go off without a hitch.

Our judge was Lee Little of Clarkrange, TN, who showed up and performed a very professional and thorough job judging each & every animal….having just had Rotator Cuff surgery on his shoulder 3 days prior! Yep, you read it right! This man took his time, and judged the LARGEST Tennessee donkey show ever (until the next week at Wilson!) and… in the oppressive heat of early August. 

16 year-old Taylor Ware of Franklin, Tennessee (she gained notoriety yodeling on America’s Got Talent)  started the show off with a beautiful a-capella rendition of the National Anthem, and with a little coaxing,  entertained us with a bit of her yodeling talent too!

The show was very successful. The Fairboard were very complimentary of our show, how professional & friendly our exhibitors were, and had many comments on what nice stock we had.   I would like to thank all the behind-the-scene volunteers, the show volunteers, the exhibitors, the judge and the wonderful spectators for such a wildly successful show!

The Williamson County Fairboard has asked that we put on a show again in 2012 and we are working to get a larger area to do this in.

 
If you haven’t viewed the Show results, make sure to go to http://tennessee-donkeys.com/WilliamsonCountyShowResults2011.html. 
 




 TDA Youth, Shyanne Lopp with her donkey Twister.

  

TDA Youth, Kendall Allen with Circle C Radar.








TDA  Youth, Katie Randall and her donkey Roller

Lightfoot’s ASSpect

            Hot and Hotter

This summer has been a scorcher. And, apparently, that is not enough torture to satisfy my Mom. She thinks it’s cute to haul my ass erhh…butt to every club function known within a 50 mile radius. What is up with getting up at the crack of dawn, getting a cold bath, rushing to get loaded up just to be tied to the trailer for hours on end? Does she not understand how hot it is? If only these new places she takes me to were air conditioned. But, no….one show did not even have cover. Can you believe that? And, then there are all these new things going on around. It takes me a while to figure out that the new sounds aren’t coming any closer and then some dingbat jumps out around the corner at me. Will I ever get used to that?  I’m thinking not.

Why can’t my Mom just be satisfied to let me lounge around and be a teenager?  I can think of a ton of things I’d rather do; continue practicing my knot untying skills for my Donkey Scout badge, maybe see if I can unlatch the gate and check out the property, or better yet, maybe I could learn to open the door to the feed room.  Yeah, that’s what I’ll work on next.  

‘Til Next Time,

Lightfoot

August 2011

A few thoughts……

• 2012 TDA fund raising calendars are on sale NOW!! The calendars can be picked up at all events or if you would like we can ship it. If you live close to any officer just let us know and we can arrange for you to pick it up. The cost is $12 each and if we ship plus shipping costs. Contact Theresa Puckett at 615-230-7260 or email ccrdonkeys@comcast.net.

• Mark your calendars for the TDA fall meeting and officer elections on Saturday November 5th at 4PM. For more info, location and a map go to http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/Events.html

•  Here is the line up for the rest of the year:
  
  Williamson County Fair Show - Aug 7th, Sunday 2pm
  Wilson County Fair Show - Aug 14th, Sunday 2pm
  Tennessee State Fair Show - Sept 17th, Saturday 9am
  Westmoreland Mini Mule & Donkey Show - Oct 1st, Sat 10am
  
  To find out more about these events go to http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/Events.html .
  
  For information and entry forms on the State Fair go to www.tnstatefair.org deadlines for on line entries is Sept 1st, mail in entries is postmarked by Aug 26th. All shows require a current negative coggins and the state fair requires a 30 day health certificate. Come and show or come and cheer us on.

•  The web site has a new page called “Donkey Lovers Tips. To access it go to  http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/members/DonkeyTips.html . If YOU have a tip you would like to share send it to Dayle at mailto:minidonks@united.net

New members:
Joyce Ridenhour Salisbury, NC   jlrdonkey@bellsouth.net
John and Gloria Cooper  Gallatin, TN awordfromglory@att.net

Please welcome our new members!                         

July Shows

July was a busy show month for those members that show their donkeys, with the Celebration and the Bedford County fair everyone had their hands full.  I would like to congratulate all those who participated at these shows, you make Tennessee proud.  With 2 new shows in the lineup this year we can maybe take a couple breaths but then it is back to work, or play depending on your perspective.

Let’s talk a little about the Celebration, it was hot, well I bet you knew that. I guess we could start at the beginning which would be NMDA halter. We had 24 ribbons awarded to animals exhibited by members. Fantastic, great job everyone. One of our Club Member's, Dennis Vonderfecht won Reserve Grand Champion Jack with his beautiful Donkey, Rusty Weir.  Katrina Fleener won Reserve Grand Champion with her donkey Golden Anne (this jennet will be 20 years old on August 21, 2011 and this was her first show). Dennis Vonderfecht won Reserve Grand Champion with his Gelding, Red Dynamo.

Next up was the ACOSA Nationals,  we Tennesseans kicked some spotted ASS!! Grand National Champion Jennet Antonia and Res Grand National Champion Willa Cather both belonged to Dennis Vonderfecht, Yea! Grand National Champion Jack was Tin Roof Sunday, again Dennis and Res Grand National Champion Jack was Bosco, Yea me. Other TN Donkeys that did well were, Hello Darlin- Sandy Carroll, Jealous Much- Half Ass Acres and Merlin- me. Last and definitely not the least our Mammoth friends Hollywood and High Noon belonging to Joe Thomas showed off their pretty spots.

Performance In-Hand classes up next. Lead Race where my husband Brian and my donkey Bosco got beat by a woman with a broken toe!! Do you think he will live that one down?  I believe there was another that also fell fate to the toe, dare I say Joe showing Dayle’s donkey Partial Eclypse (Mookie). Then in In-Hand Jumping our son Zachary and his donkey Beaujolais beat Dad with Bosco taking 3rd and 4th and yes 1st was the broken toe! In Hand-Trail we won’t even go there. In Coon Jumping we found some redemption with Bosco taking 2nd, Beaujolais got 4th and Dayle with Mookie picking up a 6th.

On the In-Hand Youth front Miss Katie Randall was smokin’ bringing it with two places in trail, a 3rd in Lead Race and in Coon Jumping she nabbed herself another 3rd.

Moving on to the harness classes, we do love those reins! This Pleasure Driving class was not for sissies! WOW what a class, any placement in this class was a winner so two thumbs up to Dayle and Mookie for their 3rd place and to Sandy and Hermes for 5th. Way to go girls. Obstacle driving was so tough only 4  finished. Mookie and Dayle snagged 3rd while Beaujolais and Zachary took 4th.  In Reinsmanship Zach and Beaujolais got 4th not only showing up Mom but Aunt Dayle as well with us taking 5th and 6th. Speed driving, how fun is that!  Zach and Beaujolais are like Maverick and Goose “They feel the need, the need for speed”. In Pole Bending less than half a second off the leader they took 2nd place with Mom and Bosco sliding into 3rd and a respectable 5th for Dayle and Mookie.  Up next in the Single Stake Race and our dynamic duel slide into a very fast 2nd with Sandy and Hermes grabbing 5th while mom was completely shut out, I may hear about that a little.
Then Snigging, what can I say (he loves Snigging) well again a fast 2nd place time was posted by Zach and Beaujolais followed by a 4th for Dayle and Mookie and 5th for Sandy and Hermes. So, all in all a pretty good show.  If you would like to see all the results you can go to http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/ShelbyvilleShowResults2011.html

 

The Bedford County Fair is always a good time, it lacks the pressure of the Celebration. It is a bunch of good friends having a good time in the blistering heat, but with a breeze. Congratulations to
all! Here are the results:

 Adult Pleasure Driving-    

                     1^st CCC Love Bug                              Laura George

                     2^nd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse    Dayle Haworth

                     3^rd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                Theresa Puckett

                     4^th Sassy’s Charlie Brown                   Sherry Puckett

                     5^th Valiant Diego                                Lydia Spears

Youth Pleasure Driving-          

                     1^st CCC Love Bug                               Brittany Conyer

                     2^nd Twister                                        Shyanne Lopp

One Barrel Speed Race-         

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais           Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Theresa Puckett

                     3^rd Rocking NT’s Nickelback               Bill Poole

                     4^th Sassy’s Charlie Brown                   Sherry Puckett

                     5^th Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse     Dayle Haworth

Pole Bending-                            

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Theresa Puckett

                     3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     4^th CCC Love Bug                                Laura George     

                     5^th Valiant Diego                                 Lydia Spears

Snigging-                                   

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Sassy’s Charlie Brown                    Sherry Puckett

                     3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     4^th Stormy                                         Travis Henderson

                     5^th Twister                                         Shyanne Lopp

Halter- Std/Mammoth-         

                     1^st BAF Do A Fancy Dance                    Katie Randall

Halter wean/year Jacks & Geldings-   

                     1^st Castlewoods Red Gold Ransom        Dana Rathbun

                     2^nd BAF Short Spot Peppi                     Jerry Sircy

                     3^rd HHAA Jealous Much                       Dena Wilson

                     4^th BAF My World Joe Dirt                    Betty Sircy

                     5^th BAF kickin A                                  Kay Allen

Halter wean/year Jennets-
                     1^st Legendary Gypsy Rose Lee             Richard Fleener

                     2^nd LGL Tinker Razzle Dazzle               Jerry Sircy

                     3^rd Sassy’s Violet                                Sherry Puckett

                     4^th Crooked Creek’s Trinket                Theresa Puckett

                     5^th H & V Farms A J                             Hunter Hughes

Adult In Hand Jumping-  
                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Bosco                  Brian Puckett

                     2^nd Dan                                             Travis Henderson

                     3^rd Stormy                                        Travis Henderson

                     4^th Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     5^th Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zach Puckett

Youth In Hand Jumping- 
                     1^st Circle C Radar                                Kendall Allen

                     2^nd KKR High Roller                             Katie Randall

                     3^rd CCC Love Bug                               Brittany Conyer

                     4^th Twister                                         Shyanne Lopp

Coon Jumping Std-           
                     1^st BAF Do A Fancy Dance                    Katie Randall

Coon Jumping Mini-               
                     1^st Dan                                             Travis Henderson

                     2^nd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse    Dayle Haworth

                     3^rd Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                     4^th CCC Love Bug                              Laura George

                     5^th KKR High Roller                            Katie Randall               

Adult In Hand Trail-                

                      1^st Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                      2^nd Legendary’s Hearts Wide Open     Kandi Wilhoit

                      3^rd Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                      4^th Lazy J’s Elvira                              Dana Rathbun

                      5^th Valiant Diego                                Lydia Spears

Youth In Hand Trail-              

                       1^st KKR High Roller                           Katie Randall

                       2^nd Circle C Radar                             Kendall Allen

                       3^rd Twister                                      Shyanne Lopp

                       4^th CCC Love Bug                              Brittany Conyer

Best Matched Pair-                   

                       1^st Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                            Twister                                       Shyanne Lopp

                      2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Brian Puckett

                            Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais          Zach Puckett

                      3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                            Rocking NT’s Nickelback               Bill Poole

                       4^th Circle C Radar                              Kay Allen

                             Valiant Diego                               Lydia Spears

Halter Jacks 2 & Over-                

                       1^st KKR Merlin                                   Brian Puckett

                       2^nd Sassy’s Charlie Brown                  Sherry Puckett

                       3^rd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                Theresa Puckett

Halter Geldings 2 & Over-       

                       1^st Rocking 615 Howington                 Dana Rathbun

                       2^nd KKR High Roller                            Katie Randall

                       3^rd Assphalt Acres Good Tipper           Diana Poole

                       4^th HHAA Lightfoot Lee                      Dena Wilson

                       5^th Circle C Radar                               Kendall Allen

Halter Jennets 2 & Over-         

                       1^st Lazy J’s Elvira                             Dana Rathbun

                       2^nd HHAA Bumble Bee                       Dayle Haworth 

                       3rd LGL Farm Li'l Misty                     Betty Sircy

                       4^th Legendary’s Hearts Wide Open     Kandi Wilhoit

                       5^th HHAA Gypsy Heart                       Dena Wilson

   

HHAA Valiant Diego Makes the Honor Roll

HHAA Valiant Diego has earned another Versatility Hall of Fame award. He attends many shows in Tennessee each year and was named the TN Donkey Association’s 2010 High Point Harness winner and 2010 Reserve In-Hand winner. Not only is Diego a good show donkey, he loves to attend pleasure drives as well as pet days/exhibitions in our area. He is a great ambassador for the breed. And, most importantly to his owner, he is a best friend. Diego and Lydia Spears live in Hohenwald TN and are proud members of the TN Donkey Association. 

Lightfoot’s ASSpect

    Parades and Birthdays

 

Wow!  Fourth of July!  What a great day to be born!  I was so excited when I overheard Mom and Aunt Dayle talking about the 4th of July parade in Lewisburg.  What a way to celebrate my birthday.  Sure it was going to be hot but parades mean bands.  And bands mean music. Who doesn’t just love a band right?  And, the theme of the parade was “Happy Birthday America”, so appropriate on this, my special day.  I was singing “Happy Birthday to me, Lightfoot Lee”.

Well, Monday morning finally arrived and as we unloaded and began to suit up. I was searching the grounds for the band. WHAT? NO BAND? NO STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER? NO HAPPY BIRTHDAY?? Are you kidding me? How does one celebrate the 4th of July, a parade and my birthday with no band? What a let down.

I saw no need for walking the parade route when the entire lineup proceeded out of the parking lot right in front of us. But, the three of us… or should I say the six of us plodded along, last in the parade with a cop right on our tail!  Like I was planning on speeding or something.  I walked so slow I became my own parade; at least a half mile behind the last entry.  When we dropped out (as the last big hill came into view), that cop whizzed right past us as if a Krispy Krème was at the end of this 2 mile hike.  

From now on I prefer to celebrate my birthday in the pasture, with my friends. Oh, and don’t forget the band! 

‘Til Next Time,

Lightfoot

 

July 2011

A few thoughts……

• July is a busy month for many of TDA's members. To start with Lewisburg has invited members to participate in their Fourth of July Parade. Then it is on to the Great Celebration Mule and Donkey show which runs from the 7th thru 9th.  Then back to Shelbyville on the 23rd to the Bedford County Fair Donkey show. If you don't want to participate come and cheer the rest of us on. For more info on these events go to http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/Events.html

• Former member, Heidi Trusler passed away on June 4, 2011. Heidi was a wonderful person and she had one of those smiles that was contagious. She loved her donkeys and enjoyed taking them to visit nursing homes and schools. She will be sadly missed.  

• Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) - FINAL Situation Report June 23, 2011. There are no new cases and no new premises affected. Disease spread in connection with this incident has been contained and no further situation reports will be generated.

A Great Time Was Had By All At The Novice Day & Mock Show!

 WOW, what an event!  There were close to 40 members in attendance with a couple coming all the way from Indiana.  We arrived early to see if there was anything we could help with before the day started and found that everything was perfect. It was obvious that Joe and Dayle had been hard at work for weeks, the ring was in fantastic shape, there were tents set up for extra shade, it was wonderful.  As the members started to arrive we were so excited to see the number of youth that we had in attendance, and there were plenty of novice adults also. There were a few that had never worked with a donkey before. For the day to work the way we had planned, we also needed a large number of veteran show people and donkeys to aid in making this teaching event a success, and they didn’t let us down.

 Each class in the mock show was demonstrated by a veteran, then that veteran would judge that class. Each novice person or donkey in that class was then paired with a veteran show person to help them with that class.  We would like to thank each and every one of the veterans that braved the heat to come out and help

these novices learn how to show and play with their donkeys.  Joe designed a challenging trail class which left even some of the veterans scratching their heads in disbelief. Lunch came and it was a welcome break, giving everyone a chance to duck in the house, grab a piece of pizza and suck in a little air conditioning.  After lunch everyone was excited to get back to the fun because driving was next on the docket. Many could hardly wait to get their hands on a set of reins. We started the driving portion with again a very tough obstacle course! We were so impressed that one of our youth members (Shyanne) stepped up

to play her part as a veteran, helping a very green youth snake her way through the course.  Next on deck was pleasure driving, where each novice learned proper seat position along with rein and whip placement.  It maybe a while before some of the novice get comfortable with reins and a whip at the same time. The only way to finish off this wonderful day was of course every ones favorite, the panty race. If you would like to see the results from the mock show check out our web site at  http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/TDAFunShow2011.html .

This day is what many of our founding members had in mind for this organization when it was conceived back in 2002. Helping others learn about these wonderful long eared creatures that we all love so much. I would like to share with you a quote from Travis Henderson about this event “That was one of the greatest days that I have had as a member of the TDA. I just loved seeing all those kids who had never worked with donkeys having a time of their lives.” Again I need to thank everyone involved in making this a wonderful event. Also a great big thank you to Joe and Dayle for opening up their home to us and working so hard to make everything perfect!  Everyone seemed to have had a blast, well maybe not all the donkeys.

Lightfoot’s ASSpect

TDA Novice Show

Joe Haworth is my mortal enemy!  I loathe the sight of him smugly crossing his yard.  And, it all began Saturday, June 11th on what should have been my best day ever.  Why, you ask??  Well, let me tell you.  Apparently, he took my last column as a personal affront and challenge.  Or maybe he just likes trying to make us donkeys look bad.  When I said I could do an “easy trail course with my hooves tied behind my back and blindfolded," I guess it did sound a little like I was bragging, but…. I didn’t know he was gonna put large flying bats in a mailbox or clanging cannons in what I thought at first was a feed bag only to have it start making loud popping sounds as my mom threw it over my back.  I showed her right fast where those bags of cans belonged.  But, then she picked them right back up and put them on me again.  I was forced to walk about 15 feet with them clanging on my legs.  I have never been so scared in all my 23 months.  I’m scarred for life.

The rest of the day wasn’t so bad though.  I got to hang out with my buddies, munch on some delicious Bermuda and meet a couple of new chicks. Here I am with my favorite one. None of us minded all the affection, attention or picture taking either. But, the kids seemed to have the most fun of all.  This shindig only needed a band to help soothe my nerves after Joe’s fiasco and it would have been close (Yes, CLOSE – remember the trail class) to perfect.

Next year, if Joe is in charge of ANYTHING, I want to know beforehand.  Then maybe TDA should consider renaming the Novice Show something like Joe’s Rodeo Fun Day.

'Til Next Time,

Lightfoot Lee