The Mini Walk-A-Thon was at Watkins Park in Mt. Airy. The idea is you get people to sponsor you to walk a mile and a half and the money goes to helping the horses at the rescue. Plus, it's a lot of fun! I liked that people could bring their dogs to walk with the humans and the miniature horses.
When you walk, you also get a nifty t-shirt!
When we arrived at the park there was a horse trailer in the lot. We came over to sniff around and I could tell there were ponies in there. But mostly I was interested in trying to eat some of the hay sticking out of the bottom.
Can I come in you guys?
Once the ponies were out the trailer we came to where everyone was waiting for the walk to begin. My people let me meet the minis. I don't know if you remember or not, but when I met our pony Gobie it was PRETTY SCARY. I'm still pretty sure that horses are people and dog eating monsters of some kind. I was barking my head off, but soon the mini Pumpkin and I were bonding over something we have in common:
Eating GRASS!
Pumpkin was pretty patient with all the humans (even the very small ones) but she was not taking any guff from me. She not-so-politely told me to stop barking by swinging her butt in my direction! I got the hint!
Little kid meeting Pumpkin.
Once everyone was there and ready we went on our walk around the park. I figured out where we were going and started to lead the way.
Follow me, ponies.
There were two miniature ponies on the Walk-A-Thon: Pumpkin and Triumph. And there were three of us dogs!
We match! One golden brown dog, and pony. One dark brown dog, and pony.
In our travels we came across a dog park. It looked really nice! There weren't any other dogs in there, though, and we were on a mission so we kept right on walking.
Maybe we'll visit again one day?
We also came across a groundhog in the grass! He was really close to us, and just quietly watched all the dogs and humans and horses passed by.
Oh hey.
We passed a soccer field where a bunch of children were playing a game. A bunch of them ran up to greet the ponies and even some of us dogs. One kid who ran up to say hi was actually part of the soccer team, and had to rush back when it was her turn to play!
Come say hi, we're friendly!
Some of the kids were very tiny, and all the horses were very patient with them and their parents. It must be nice to meet a horse that's more your size. I know it made me less nervous for sure.
A wee person from the field petting Pumpkin.
Soon we were done with the walk and were back at our starting point at the picnic area. It was time to relax and get some lunch. I had some bits of cheese, and the people had some other stuff.
All smiles after the walk!
Mostly I wanted a big drink, and I got it thanks to my pal Juneau the dog and her person Amber. We had brought some water, but thank goodness they had a travel bowl. We took turns getting water, and spilling it on the floor.
After I got better acquainted with the other pony, Triumph. He and Pumpkin share a place at the bar in New Windsor. They're pretty cool pals. I'm still not sure about horses, but Triumph and I calmly checked each other out.
Triumph having a peek.
After lunch more people came up to say hi. This was a whole family of folks who wanted to know all about the horses. They were pretty excited to see them, and even took some pictures.
Pumpkin, loving the attention.
By the end of it we were all pretty tired, but also really happy. We raised some money to help the horses have more hay over the winter, and we let all kinds of new people see and learn about the horses and the rescue.
A job well done!
The people piled me into the car and I settled down happily for a looooong nap on the drive home. Tired naps are the best naps.
Goodnight!
Even if you missed the Mini Walk-A-Thon you can still get involved with the HorseNet Horse Rescue fun! They're having a Fall Festival on October 22nd at their barn in Mt. Airy. There will be ponies and pumpkins and things to eat and an auction and the whole bit. You should come!
Meow! Those ponies sure are cute. They're almost the same size as you! Do you think you could ask them to come for a sleepover at your place sometime? You could invite Carmen and Samson and make popcorn. Are there any movies about dogs AND ponies?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really nice park you went to. At first we thought that groundhog was some kind of funny-looking little dog!
We looked at the Festival poster and it sounds like lots of fun. Do you think we could get rides on the ponies or jump around in the Moon Bounce if we promise to keep our claws in our paws? If we had more time, we could save up our allowances. We always end up wanting instant gratification so we spend it all on Friday afternoon for catnip and toys. Maybe we could get an advance. Never hurts to ask...
We always love to hear about your adventures. You get to do a lot of neat stuff!
Love from all of us. RainbowCatsx8