Madam might be taking this writing partnership of ours a tad far. First she assigned me the job of publicist. That was fine until she informed Gabe and me that a Horse Opoly tournament with the local Belgian pulling horses did not comprise a proper book promotion. That’s when I suggested she might like to tackle this publicist task on her own since I was running low on tasteful ideas.

“Why, yes,” she agreed. “I’ll be happy to cook up a few events.”

Since then, her promotional antics have derailed everything from my plans to attend the Twins baseball opener to my Spanish lessons with Latisha. This second distraction also wreaked havoc with my Mexican cooking classes at the Quarter Horse Culinary Conservatory. Without a tutor’s help reading the recipes, I don’t know a fajita from a carnita.

So, last week Madam declared that the time had come for us to pack up the Comfy Sundowner and head out to the Minnesota Horse Expo. And that was not the entire story. Before the weekend was over, she nearly ran the wheels off my trailer. From Thursday to Sunday, we charged back and forth from Saint Paul to Glencoe, Minnesota where I finally met Ms. Emma Holstein face to face. Readers might recall that Ms. Emma was appointed to be my host at the Bonnie Mohr Spring Fling.

Anyhoo, this public appearance fanfare required that I exhibit all my best assets all the time. Frankly, I managed to remain in celebrity style most of the time. This included dutifully smiling while signing books, even when a misinformed photographer called me Mister Ed. I also avoided tipping over a baby stroller when a small human bounced a bundle of helium balloons off my forehead. Then there was the squealing ceiling fan, and the flapping welcome sign hanging above my guest quarters. Next came the close encounter with an assault chiwawa; a calico cat that mistook me for a sofa; a Jersey calf that attempted to join me in my guest room; a herd of roughhousing bulls; a busy front-end loader; a fork lift ferrying giant hay bales past my nose; an asthmatic tractor; and a Bobcat that dropped its bucket dangerously close to my toes.

Well, it was exciting but we had lots of fun. Image%207.jpgBy the way, I passed the well-mannered equine test. But best of all, that silly photographer sent me a great new photo to post on Match.com.