AUGUST 2005

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August 21, 2005

It's nearly 9:30 PM but I figure I better do this before I don't have the time to do it at all.  Rode Justin today.  He was such a good boy.  It was hot but not unbearable.  He only played a little at the canter.  Step felt longer and his trot was so nice and rhythmic.  He stays nicely on the bit at the walk and the canter.  He's come such a long way and I just love riding him and being around him.

Taught Alyssa at 9:00 AM.  She was a superstar.  So proud of her.  Bailey is coming along so nicely and is getting more confident to jumps.  It is so fun to watch Alyssa develop into a better rider.  We jumped 2'3" today and she nailed every distance.  She was so focused and it was so cool to see her making quiet adjustments that were almost imperceptible while she rode the jumps.  I'm really proud of her progress. 

Finally got to teach Allie.  Between our schedules, we haven't been able to connect.  She's such a natural rider, she just looked great.  Her pony can be a toughie and she really handled herself well.  We worked a lot on canter transitions and doing a haunches in to set him up first so that he could learn to pick up the correct lead whether he was on the fence line or not.  Allie and Merlin picked up the exercise quickly.  Merlin's gotten a little rusty with jumping and wants to cruise to the jumps so we worked on making him wait.  He'll get it.  He always does.

The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, making dinner, cleaning house, taking care of Sassy's medical needs and paying some attention to Pippen and my sister's dog who I am caring for.  I'm whipped.

Off to bed!

August 20, 2005

Egads!  Almost the whole month is gone and I'm just now able to write.  So much has gone on so I'll do my best to catch up my news with events in no particular order. 

Was gone for a week in Massachusetts for Bob's Masters Nationals.  Incredibly ugly town (Worcester) but the river, where the events took place, was nice.  Bob and his crew won four gold and two silver out of six events.  Really impressive for such a small club (Potomac Boat Club).  I was so proud of my man who did three races a day in nasty heat.  I love watching him do his sport and kicking butt!

Leah came to visit me.  We went to lunch together.  Just unbelievable how she's grown up.  She's doing great with her vet stuff.  She's so smart and I know she'll be really successful.  We both had tons of catching up to do and there is never enough time.  I think we had a two hour lunch and I ended up having to sprint barefoot back to work to get a meeting started.  I had these stupid shoes on that I could not run fast enough in so I just kicked them off and ran like the wind.  I managed to get back to the office, print something at my desk and get a meeting started in all of five minutes.  A major save.  Oh, no biggie -- it was just a meeting where my boss was being announced CEO.

No shows lately.  When the twins were both back in town without plans, then I was gone.  And this past weekend, both of them were having improvements done to their trailers so neither they nor Alyssa were available for showing.  Which was fine for me because that meant I got to love on Justin a bunch!

Justin is putting on weight with the alfalfa cubes.  I shortened his mane the other day and he just looks so pretty.  He has a beautifully sculpted neck.  He's been doing great.  I'm going to get his hocks injected.  Had him checked out by the vet because he was feeling hitchy.  He should be fine once he's gotten his joints lubed.  He got his new shoes today so I didn't ride him.  Just groomed him, did his stretches and pampered him in general.  Did Nicole's horse (she owns Nightsong Niko) for her too since she wasn't able to come out.  She'd taken care of Justin for me while I was gone.

While Bob and I were in MA, we boarded the dogs.  I hate doing that.  We kept them together so they wouldn't be lonely or confused.  As Jack Russells tend to do, they got into a fight (I swear they'd eat their own young).  Pippen bit Sassy on the head pretty bad and the ding a lings at the boarding facility didn't treat the wound.  We picked them up on Sunday.  Apparently, the fight happened on Friday.  Sassy's head was a little swollen and my instincts told me to clean the wound because it appeared to be sealed shut by dried blood alone.  Bob told me to leave it alone and by Monday, Sassy looked like Mike Tyson.  Horrible.  I took her to the vet Monday evening and $500 later, we had Sassy back with a giant cone on her head and a disgusting drain that went through the wound and came back out at the corner of her eye.  I am not amused.  I am in discussions with the vet clinic, who owns the kennels, about a full refund for the vet services.  Had they treated the wound, this would not have happened.  I won't go on, or I won't stop.

I hooked Alyssa up with Peggy Smith.  Peggy was so nice to let Alyssa tag along with her at Rosemount.  Peggy is a phenomenal photographer.  I'm proud to say that I met her when she was first starting her business -- she wasn't even doing the rated shows back then, and I was one of her first clients back then.  She's a household name now in most barns that do the rated shows and her work has been featured in major publications like The Chronicle of the Horse.  I visited her site recently and she has some amazing pictures from her trip to Alaska.  If you have time, check out her site and scroll down and in red, you'll see 'Alaska'.  The pictures are right out of National Geographic.

Alyssa borrowed my camera and Peggy also let her shoot with her digital camera.  Peggy is so nice -- she's letting Alyssa keep any money earned from sales of the photos Alyssa took.  Alyssa sent me copies of her pictures.  She did a great job and took some really great shots.  Definitely better than me when I first started out.  Plus, I can't get good pix over fences to save my life.

My girlfriend, Terri (Terri Young), who just bought the gorgeous facility Beacon Hill Equestrian Center (the Leesburg one, not the Colts Neck, NJ one) and I have gotten to chat quite a lot lately.  All three of my girls work for her now.  I'm hoping they'll ride with her once I quit teaching in November.  Terri is one of the nicest people I know and I'll feel like my girls are in good hands if they go to her.  Terri's having an open house on September 24 (just found out I can't go because of a wedding!).  Once her website is 'live', I'll post a link.

Dani (of Brydelle Farm) and I continue to talk almost daily through email.  We keep each other informed of our progress with our girls, our horses and everyday goings on.  Like Terri, she works really hard to build her new business as well.  She's been coming up this way for shows and of course, it never fails, I'm either out of town or not showing on the weekends when she is up.  Her girls are doing great.  One of her students has been Champion or Reserve in her first few shows.  Dani is such a great instructor so I know her girls will continue to succeed.  I always enjoy hearing about their progress because I've gotten to hear news about them from when they first started with Dani.  I'm really fortunate to have good friends like Dani and Terri. 

I went to visit my best friend (of nearly 30 years), Lisa, in Connecticut the weekend before Bob and I left for MA (another reason why we didn't have a show).  It was like visiting a spa.  She has a beautiful 12,000 sq ft home with a fabulous pool/spa, theatre and gym.  As a guest, she of course sends a car for you (because it is easier for her!) and spoils you rotten while you are at her home.  Every room has its own TV in an armoire, huge closet and spacious bath.  I'm pretty sure the bedroom I always stay in is as big and my living room and dining room combined.  She has four cats so when I get up in the morning to find her, I get lost in the house so I meow and make her laugh and then I know where she is.

She and me and her husband went out to dinner on Friday and Saturday and had the yummiest Indian food one night and Spanish food the next.  Lisa and I ran around for a girls' day out on Saturday and had lunch and salon services in town.  There, when you get a pedicure, they give you a back massage while your toes are drying.  That was awesome.  We both cried when I left.  I look forward to seeing her again in October for Gold Cup.

That's pretty much all I can remember and quite frankly, looking at what I wrote above -- that's enough!

August 1, 2005

Just have not had the time to write lately.  I pretty much have a choice, ride or do webpage.  I choose ride.  Plus, I'm ridiculously attached to Justin so I'd rather see him than my webpage any day.

A ton has happened.  Alyssa went to two shows since I last wrote.  She's learning more and more each time.  As usual, the day started out with some challenges (Bailey wanted very much to be a circus pony) but Alyssa rallied and kept her head and showed me that she knows what true sportsmanship and being competitive means.  Bailey held his own in a class of twelve, horses and ponies mixed, adults and juniors, and was third in his Pleasure classes.  Betty Rowe, the Queen of Pleasure was first so Alyssa was in very good company. 

At her next show, she was fourth and then moved up a slot into third in Student Equitation.  The girls in first and second place in the first class moved down below the 3rd slot so it was good to see that Alyssa was the rider that moved up.  We just started Bailey back into jumping but are only doing so at home to get him acclimated to it both physically and mentally.  With Alyssa working as hard as she does, she and Bailey should be jumping at shows very soon.  She continues to 'do her homework' to the letter which I can always see in her lessons.

I've gotten to ride quite a lot.  Bob was on travel for a week which meant a lot of meals for me out of a bag in my lap while driving.  Yes, Virginia, watch out.  I'm the one driving with my knee.  Justin is looking great and doing great.  Loved my ride on him yesterday.  He's got the haunches in to the left but doesn't have it solid to the right.  He's a little dull on his left side but he really tries and I know he'll get it.  The half-pass is going well to the left, but again, due to the dull left side, he has trouble to the right.  Trot is much more balanced and consistent and the canter is good to the right but a little less balanced to the left.  Consistent work has made him improve on all levels so I know it will all get better.

He's starting to put on weight.  I put him on alfalfa cubes.  His coat is soft, tight and glossy from consistent work and grooming.  I've been whitening his tail once a week with vinegar and Quiksilver.  It's getting there.  A few more applications and that tail should be nice and white.  He's turned into quite the Princess since I've come into his life.  Every time I show up, he gets lots of treats, rubbin's and love.  He's such a puppy dog and I love spoiling him rotten.  He got his teeth done.  Much to my surprise, everything was good in there.  Just minimal work needed to be done.  I guess I always expect horses off the track to have major tooth issues (they usually do).  But Sabrina had already done a significant amount of work on him when she got him so it seems like everything was OK in there.

I've started to do a lot of work with him over poles to introduce him to jumping.  I've been using the fence posts that have been laid out for Sabrina's new ring.  I do serpentines back and forth over them and practice stopping him with my seat.  He's such a quick learner.  It's been fun teaching him.

I'm sure I'm missing all sorts of stuff but that'll have to do.