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Oooo...just a little past the weekend - - given the onset of old age, I might have trouble remembering exactly what all I did. Bob and I went to our favorite restaurant on Friday and when I came home, I polished my boots and put my stuff together to meet Lori at a show on Saturday. Bob had rowing stuff around the same time, early in the day on Saturday, so I had guiltless barn time, as I call it. He actually left the house before me.

Met Lori at the showgrounds and had a great time catching up with old friends. Haven't gotten to talk to my friend Janet, face-to-face for quite some time -- it has mostly been via the discussion board we both post on. My favorite thing to tell people is that Janet and I are distant cousins, which we are. We both come from the same Scottish clan (on my father's side) called Gunn. She was nice enough some time ago to hook my dad up will all sorts of information on the clan when he was doing some family research. Anyway, I love Janet because she is a real-deal horse gal and never says anything unless it is the gospel. If Janet says it, you know it to be true.

Got to chat with Peggy Smith who I also adore. She was nice enough to catch a snap of me on Mr. Topper. I had such a giggle with Alyssa while I was telling her about the photo because I had to laugh at my intense expression. It was like I was out to conquer the world or something. I'm so competitive.... So, I make me laugh.

It was a perfect day for me, just because it stayed slightly overcast the whole day. As those who know me know, I am a sun hater and carry a trashcan lid sized hat around with me wherever I go. Which of course, this event was no exception. But I was actually able to go without it here and there as it got darker from time to time. The lack of sun made the temps quite bearable as well.

Topper was a really good boy. Alas, he was 6th out of 6 in the hack! But we were so pleased with the way he went, given past performances, that we felt like we accomplished what we set out to do. Oh, how I love the little blue strip of silk, worthless as it is. However, I know what improvement and advancement looks like and we couldn't have been more pleased with his performance. The fact that he remained a gentleman, hacked out long in his topline and didn't go buggin' at the canter was a huge milestone for Top. And each time he came out of the ring very relaxed, which is what we were going for. Mission accomplished! That doesn't erase the fact that I'm determined to hack him to the top three somewhere, someday. ;) I've managed to coach my kids to the top hack ribbons when no one ever thought their horses could so I'm hoping to Janatize Topper and find that sweet spot that will make him a hack winner. It's in there....

The other surprise was that Topper actually tried to add down the lines. We're a little more used to seeing him roll on that big stride down the lines, eating up ground like it was candy. But he listened quite well and came back to Lori. Long story short, it's all going to fall into place soon because his progress has been spectacular.

The next day, we went on The Forbidden Trail Ride. We've been oggling this property next door for quite some time -- saying how nice it would be to ride over there. Because you know, the trail is always better on the other side of the barbed wire. Surprisingly, as we were tootling along, we notice a freshly cut break in the fence, just wide enough for a horse to pass through. We know this to be a new break in the fence line because we ride it enough and I'm always scheming as to how we could actually break the line yet reaffix it in such a way that none would be the wiser. Sure, it's illegal. It would just go down in the books as the one moving violation that I got on a horse instead of a car for a change. Anyway, given that we didn't cut it, we felt it was an invitation to explore.

As always, there I was saying, "Hey Lori -- let's go check it out." And while she stands there pondering the legal ramifications of our actions, I press on to go places no woman and horse has gone before. The Forbidden Trail Ride was supreme and serene to make a rhyme. At any moment, you could pretend you were in Middleburg. The fields were fairly freshly mowed from the most recent hay cutting and the hills were rolling and ideal for conditioning. We kept it mellow since Top had been hunter-dude the day before. Of course, no trail ride is ever without its excitement for us. This time, the fawn we came across was alert and agile enough to dart off into the woods and scare the bejesus out of the horses. Shying has become downright comical with these two because they do it in unison and synchronicity. They are the water ballet artists of the equine, field wandering world. The take the exact same steps, shy at the same angle, stop at the same time and then life goes on. It's gotten to where Lori and I will cease conversation long enough for the drama to stop and will pick right up afterwards without even acknowledging that in the horses' minds, they nearly lost their lives.

Mention of the fawn brings me to the picture I promised some time back... something is up with my scanner (I'm going to kill it) so the quality isn't that great but the fact that you can barely make out what exactly that is in the grass is the whole point Mother Nature has made, for as long as the deer has been around, by making them in such a way that they are hard to see. And THAT my friends, was a run on sentence like none other, but because it is my webpage, I can do that. Click on the picture to the left and you'll get to see a bigger version of it. Even when bigger, you can barely make the little guy out!

My view of a trail ride from Justin's back.

Toppy chatting up the neighbors (little pun there).

Anyway, our trail rides are a freaking hoot and there are times when we laugh so hard, we almost fall off our horses. If one shied while we were laughing, we'd be screwed.

OK, I know I really need to update my links above but I'm just too lazy. It's hard enough just keeping up the blog!

As usual, I've been up to my usual -- riding here and there, doing this and that. So, here are the latest highlights:

Leah was home this weekend. We started off Saturday with a traditional 'pre-barn breakfast' at Bob Evans. Haven't been there in quite awhile. We were there early enough so we got to sit right down without waiting. Then, we headed out to Linda's in Middleburg. Leah rode Troy and I rode Rum. Linda was giving a lesson and Jim was riding the new pinto 3 yr old who is really cute. Afterwards, we headed in to town and stopped for lunch at Dank's. Also haven't been there for a long time. While we were there, we ran into JJ who I met on the big mongo trail ride Lori and I went on that Kelly arranged about a month ago. It was good catching up.

After Dank's, we went to see what kind of trouble we could get into at Middleburg Tack Exchange. For those who know me, you know I am a sun hater. I am constantly plotting new ways to avoid the sun while still being outside doing the horse thing. You also know it took me years to convert to low rise, boot leg jeans. I normally wear my monogrammed oxfords while riding, because the collar helps keep the sun off my neck and the sleeves of course keep the sun off my arms. But Land's End pinpoint oxfords don't look good tucked in to low rise jeans. They actually make you look paunchy and that's another look I'm trying to avoid. So, after some pondering, I decided that riding shirts are the best option. The collar is already standing up, they are fitted so you don't look paunchy and they are of decent quality generally. So, I decided my new thing was, I was going to buy shirts at MTE for my everyday riding shirts. I got one for $6 because it had the most hideously embroidered collar in the universe on it. I won't go into details because who knows, the former owner might bump into this. But the collar is so embroidered, there would be no chance of snipping the threads out and re-monogramming it. So, that one came cheaply. I got another, actually, quite a nice Essex shirt for $12.00. I'm avoiding white shirts unlike what I used to wear in the past, because it dawned on me that they just reflect the sun back up to my face. Not good. Both of my MTE shirts were blue.

Leah poked around, looking for goodies as well and tried on a few helmets. She just got the memo on adults wearing approveds so, she's somewhat in shock. I also looked at bits because you can find some very neat bits there -- some are custom and very hard to find.

On we went to The Tack Box. Leah tried on more helmets and there was where she really did damage. She had a laundry list of stuff she wanted to pick up so we basically knocked all of that out there. Thankfully, I didn't seem to find anything I really needed there.

Afterwards, we stopped off to see Justin and for me to drop off a few things for him. Lori had just finished up riding, as she had planned on taking Topper to a show the following day. Leah got to see how much weight Justin has put on since she saw him in the winter. He's a different horse!

No, the stops were not complete. We then stopped off at Stonegate to check out a horse that Tami is selling -- one that Leah thought someone back in Blacksburg might be interested in. I gave her a quick tour of the barn as well. From there, we stopped at Dominion Saddlery, which now, is no more. They have been bought by Dover Saddlery, which I don't think many of us are disappointed to hear. They were closed so we went to Clifton Saddlery. Leah was looking for one last item on her list and we found it there.

So, in one day, we hit four tack shops, three barns and two restaurants together. A day in the life of Jana.

The following day, we went to Lori's place to help get Topper ready for the show. I braided and Leah finished up the ones I didn't want to do -- that shortest part of the mane that is on the whithers that produces what I call 'Barbie braids'. Topper looked quite dapper with his braids and we're pretty certain he's never been braided before.

Justin cried and cried as we left for the show, but according to Paul, settled down after a bit under his two fans in his fluffy stall with his fly spray system. He's so spoiled.

I white knuckled it all the way to the show because I am not capable of being a passenger. I can do OK if it is just a car driving around but hauling horses -- I get a little scared when other people haul horses. I just haven't been the passenger much -- it's always been me hauling in the past. Going down that nice long hill before the Shenandoah made me feel like I was on the downside of a rollercoaster. Needless to say, I survived.

The show was pretty quick and painless. We showed up just in time for Low Hunter. Topper was actually a pretty good boy. He wanted to sight-see a bit in the Low hack but for the most part, he was a good boy over fences. Lori schooled him on course (which he needs) by pulling him up at the ends of the ring from time to time, so that he didn't start to roll (as he tends to do). Each time, he came out of the ring relaxed and we were glad for him having the positive experience. Lori was nice enough to let me ride him in the Green hack.

Saw a bunch of people I hadn't seen in a while. Becky -- who I just adore and always love to catch up with -- she's just the nicest...Sabrina brought some of her sales horses. Mr. Samson for one. He is adorable and was a very good boy and got some decent hack ribbons. Got to see Nicole, which was great for Lori because the two of them haven't seen each other in a long time. So, they had fun catching up. Saw some folks from ponyland, which was nice. Just amazing how the kids grow up so fast.

Anyway, I recorded Lori's rides and it was fun to go back and look at her rounds. We were really proud of Topper. It was great to have Leah there because as usual, she just picked right up and helped without any instruction. I have soooooooooo missed having her around all these years.

On the Fourth, Bob bought us a tandem bike and we biked up to Reston Town Center which was a blast but a work out! We watched a bunch of movies, went out to dinner, napped, hung out at the house, etc -- it was just a great weekend and I got to do everything I wanted to do!