Flugtag, and a newspaper

So Saturday, September 21 I went with Beth and Brad's two children, Susan and Bill, and their boy/girlfriends, Sean and Jenny, and these four people's friend, Pamela to Flugtag in Grapevine.

Flugtag is an event organized by RedBull. The competitors attempt to fly home-made, size- and weight-limited, human powered flying machines. The flying machines are pushed by 3-4 people off a pier, that was about 9 meters high into a lake. Most of the competitors competes for fun, and most of the flying machines rarely fly at all.

The RedBull pier, and the first competitor. 

It is going down. 

And he left the flying machine from the very beginning.. 

Splash..

Didn't went well neither. 

A lots of people.

People everywhere.

I think this is a frisbee. 

It is flying!

People.

Cowboooysss.

Anything goes when you need to take pictures, or just watch.

People.

People.

Bill controlled the traffic on the parking place, so we could get out...  ;)

__________  __________  __________  __________  __________  __________

Brad gave me this article about the happiest people in the world. I think you are awesome, if you can read the text!
Because the quality is not the best.... ;)

Mustang Million

Friday, the 20th September, I went to a "show" called Mustang Million. It was a event made by Mustang Heritage Foundation, and their purpose is:

When you think about wild horses, you probably have a vision that pops into your mind of a herd running free in the West. Horses played an important part in America’s history from Spanish explorers, to western expansion and even providing recreational opportunities today. These majestic creatures have been protected as national treasures since 1971 when Wild Horse Annie united school children across the land to write letters to Congress. And while America’s wild horse herds still roam on public lands they are facing new issues. Over population and declining resources are forcing many horses from public lands and into government holding facilities, where American tax payers spend millions on their care each year. 

The Mustang Heritage Foundation’s mission is to increase successful adoptions of wild horses held in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse holding facilities. More than 42,000 horses reside in BLM short-term and long-term holding corrals and pastures and are in need of adoption. The BLM removes horses from the range in order to sustain natural resources (grass and water) necessary for the wild horses and other wildlife to live on public land. The Mustang Heritage Foundation works with horsemen and –women who have the knowledge, experience and facilities to gentle and or train a wild horse. Every time a horse is adopted and moved from BLM holding facilities, it saves taxpayers more than $10,000 per animal.  

But more importantly, it transforms the wild horse into a sensitive, yet hardy, authentic equine partner. The horse is not the only one being transformed by the experience. Horsemen and- women find that working with a wild horse creates an unspoken bond while also improving their horsemanship skills. We hope Mustang Million, and other MHF programs, serve as a reminder to Americans of our equine heritage and thus inspires you to adopt one of these living legends in an effort to protect the wild herds, our ranges and resources for future generations.

 Citation from http://www.mustangmillion.com/our-purpose/  

So I went to see this, and I just want to show you some pictures... You know, pictures say more than 1000 words... ;) Keep in mind, that these horses was wild mustangs about 120 days ago.

This is the program every rider went through

The light in this arena was not Christine-photographing-kindly, so the pictures might be a little..... noisy (?)..

Bridleless and bareback slide stop.

Bridleless and bareback reining.

Reining.

Slide stop.

Reining.

Slide stop.

Slide stop.

Western-rider in english saddle and bridle. 

This was not a part of the plan.

Reining.

Slide stop.

One more rider in english saddle and bridle.

Slide stop.

Canter after a slide stop-turn. Don't know what it is called ;)

Slide stop.

Reining.

This one planned the arena after every 5th horse.

English saddle and bridle. Slide stop.

Reining.

Slide stop.

Slide stop.

"Good horse".

Slide stop.

The menu at the event... I don't know what a "Danish" is, but it sounds fun..

Saturday the 21. Jenny, and I went to see the Legends Top 20 Finals Performance, and an "Unbranded" Horse Adoption. 

In the beginning of the final, the finalists were introduced, and this man stood with the american flag while the audience sang the national anthem.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Wylene Davis. 6th place.

Wylene Davis. 6th place.

The audience.

The audience.

Logan Leach. 9th and 13th place.

Zeke Zacharias. 15th place.
( This will be my next project with Phønix... ;p )

Zeke Zacharias. 15th place.

Miranda Holaday. 18th place. 

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Bobby Kerr. 2nd and 3rd place.

Dan James. 4th place.

Dan James. 4th place.

The horse that got adopted. The man on the ground rode with this horse, and 11 other horses, 3 man, and photographers from New Mexico to Canada. The girl on the horse's dad bought this horse for 25.000 dollars. That is 137.746 danish crowns. She was very happy!

Logan Leach. 9th and 13th place. 

Jason Charles. 10th and 17th place. 

The 19 out of 20 finalists. The last one had a accident, nothing bad.  I am not quit sure what happened.

And the winner was Tom Hagwood. 

This was a fun experience, and I hope I get to see more western riding, and rodeo shows while I am here!