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September 12, 2005
Got to talk to Bob today. He got my care package and loved it. Sent him a cake tonight from his favorite cake place, Edibles Incredible. They froze the cake for me and packed it in ice. With a little help from FedEx Priority Overnight service, my man should have a pretty dandy cake before 10:30 AM tomorrow! Thankfully, he doesn't like icing so it's practically guaranteed that the cake will get there exactly as I'd want it to.
Saturday was interesting -- on my way out to give Alyssa a lesson, I helped herd an Emu across Rt. 50 back to its pasture. He was jogging around frantically in the median. They used the reins off of my bridle to throw around the thing's neck to catch it, then wrapped them around his legs and hoisted him back over the fence. Let me just say this -- I didn't think there was an animal as mentally challenged as a horse can be, but the horse clearly has the Emu beaten in smarts, hands down.
I
schooled Alyssa on Bailey then braided him. Off to the twins' place after
that, I schooled them and started braiding Romeo. Much to my EXTREME
pleasure, Allie braided her pony herself (see picture to the left) and did quite
a good job (as you can see, Merlin thinks he looks pretty spiffy too).
With a little practice and a bit shorter of a mane, she'll be braiding like the
pros in no time!
Sarah and I both braided Romeo
(picture to right - I flipped the picture so that made the braids appear as
though they are on the left) and when we were done, he too looked pretty proud
of himself. Sarah got the hang of braiding so quickly so I am confident
that now, the both of them will be able to do their ponies themselves saving me
TONS of time. I'm not the fastest braider in the world so with them
braiding their own ponies, when Bob comes back, this means he and I will
actually get to eat dinner together on Saturday nights! Braiding is a
skill that every rider should learn and I am proud to say that no girl has left
my hands not knowing how to braid well.
With beautifully groomed ponies, my girls showed up at the show, ready to win and win they did! All three girls went home with arms full of ribbons and all three enjoyed time in the top two placings. Sarah was second in both of her over fences classes in Baby Green. I have YET to go to a show and see a pony as challenging as Romeo is. Sarah works tirelessly training Romeo and has kept going when a lot of girls would have quit. So, when Sarah earns a ribbon, any ribbon, she really, really earned it. I don't know any junior who could get on that pony and ride him like she does. Once Sarah outgrows him, every ride afterwards will be a piece of cake. I wish I had pictures of him jumping but I am really terrible at jumping pictures and didn't get one that wasn't out of focus or taken too late! But more pictures of this winning team will follow as the shows go on.
Allie's
pony (to left) isn't as tough as Romeo, but he's just as green. Like her
twin, Allie works hard at training her pony. Oddly, where Romeo does his
changes, Merlin doesn't. And since the girls don't have a flat place to
ride, Merlin has to get his experience with changes at the shows if we're not
able to trailer him someplace to practice. With great jumping style and
Allie on board to keep him brave, this team was second in the VHSA Pony
Equitation class. Merlin's a nice mover as well and thankfully, the judge
agreed, pinning him second in the Green Pony Hack and also gave him a second in
one of his over fences classes.
Alyssa
showed in the Baby Greens as well, winning one of her over fences classes and
pinning second in the next, missing Reserve Champion just by two points.
But later, she did get Reserve Champion (picture to right) in Green Pony by
winning 1st and 2nd over fences and 4th in the hack. I was really proud of
these guys, especially since Bailey has only just started jumping after his
year-long layup which means Alyssa and I have only been able to have a handful
of jumping lessons together. Although this was Bailey's first time showing
at 2'3" (picture below and left), he loped along the course quietly and
rhythmically like he'd done it all his life. Credit for this can only go
to Alyssa who has worked so hard and been so patient with Bailey's progress.
And to think, just last week, a friend of hers told her to accept that her pony
'would never be a hunter pony'! Oh, the young and foolish -- they just
don't know that one should never say never!
Other news from the show -- I got to see my friend Terri from Clairvaux (she now owns Beacon Hill Equestrian Center in Leesburg, VA). As mentioned before, all three of my girls work for Terri. And Allie was a total champ because not only did she start her day before 6 a.m. to get her pony ready and loaded up for the show, she went to work at Terri's afterwards.
I also got to catch up with my old friend, Wil again. He's such a character and I always get a kick out of his stories.
Also, we ran into our friend, Samantha and got to see her lovely new horse, Jake. It was great seeing Sam so happy and doing so well! As always, Sam looked so elegant on her horse.
As horse show days go, it was a long one. I left home at 5:00 a.m. to pick up Alyssa and was home at 6:00 p.m.. I treated myself to a nice steak on the grill and glued myself back to watching CNN. This morning, I had my first chiropractic visit and that got me ready to take on another week!