Horse Poop Bingo!

It’s funny how things jump into our minds! I was sitting in a AuthorU Boot Camp yesterday, not sure what was being discussed, but I thought about my first experience with Horse Poop Bingo.

I know this is not a horse, and I have to say this bingo card is a perfectly manicured field. The Horse Poop Bingo I remember wasn’t quite like this.

Joanna started riding in horse shows in around 1996. At first she rode in the junior classes on horses like Bo and Rocky. She looked very pretty on a horse and rode beautifully. I have the photos to prove it. I can’t remember which show was her first, but they were all fun. We would spend the whole weekend at the National Western Complex. It was a completely new experience for both of us and we enjoyed it. For two or three days we rubbed shoulders with cowboys, or thats what it felt like to me.

The horse people I had known in England were the snooty upper classes.

The people we mixed with at the horse shows lived and breathed horses. They made themselves broke buying and looking after their magnificent American Saddlebreds. Most of them were good people and I enjoyed being around them. Joanna took riding very seriously, too seriously sometimes.

This is where we were introduced to Horse Poop Bingo. After the riding was finished for the day, a square would be marked out in the training arena. Someone would carefully use a can of spray paint to turn this square into a large bingo card. Tickets would be sold and we would all got and watch as a horse (which had been fed a high bran snack) would be led into the square. Poor animal would walk about wondering what all of the fuss was about.

Eventually (sometimes this took a while) the horse would poop! Who ever held the ticked that corresponded with the number in the square that received the majority of the poop, was the winner.

Santana's Star Status (Abe)

This never ceased to amuse me. Horse Poop Bingo was a blast.

The photo on the right shows Joanna’s last horse, Abe. Isn’t he gorgeous?

We sold him to Rochelle Cochrane, who was Abe’s trainer, and Joanna’s riding instructor. This photo was taken at the American Royal in Kansas City. We sold Abe when Joanna went to college, and she has missed him ever since. He was her best friend.

We know he is in good hands though, Rochelle lives to ride and takes good care of her horses.

One day my daughter will be rich and successful and will ride horses again. I look forward to going to watch her (and the Horse Poop Bingo).