Horse Showing in Happy Valley: Part Two

Couldn't help thinking of that movie Children of the Corn...

Hello again.  I thought I'd give an update on the rest of our away show adventures at the Lion Country Horse Show.

On the second day of showing Noah was slated to do a derby class, which he'd never done before.  Our trainer knew we were trying to make the most of our show experience, so after Noah did well on the first day she asked if we wanted to give the derby on the following day a try.  What the heck, we figured.  Pfffffftttt.  Had I known what it cost to enter the class, I would have given it a pass.  This is where our lack of show experience came in -- I had no idea the class fee for a derby was waaaaaayyyyyy more than for a normal hunter division.  Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

Because this was his first attempt, we had no expectations whatsoever, which translated to absolutely no nerves.  We got to the show early and took James out for a good graze, then a nice long hack around the grounds and some neighboring fields.  When it got close to class time they did a relaxed warm up and then headed off to the in-gate to memorize their courses.  As it was the Fourth of July and Crazy Hat Day, the girls from our barn had decorated each other's and Noah's helmets, so as he headed up to the ring Noah looked like a bedazzled General Patton.  (I was really surprised he let the girls do that because he's kind of a keep-it-under-the-radar kind of dude, but I could tell he felt very happy to be included.)

The new Captain America model riding helmet...

Noah and James went in to the ring and proceeded to lay down the best round I've ever seen them do. (I'm actually lucky I saw it.  I had every intention of taking pictures but then realized I couldn't see a damn thing so ditched the camera and just took memory pictures with my eyes.) Their rhythm was relaxed, their distances spot on, and they nailed all the high options to score some bonus points.  Noah was light and following with his hands (something he's been working on) and this translated into a very happy, relaxed James.  Noah left the ring absolutely beaming and patting James profusely. His smile got even bigger when their score was announced as an 82, putting them in second place.

We had a moment or two of anxiety over the handy round, as it required them to do a trot fence, which they'd not practiced that much at home.  Their handy round was not quite as smooth as the previous round (dang trot jump!) but they still scored well enough to remain in second.  Holy crap!!  The kid had just completed his first derby (admittedly a baby one - not the height of the national or international derbies) and had gotten a second place!  He actually got to be in a victory lap, which was way cool.  Needless to say there was much rejoicing, and James was given many treats and pats, another long graze and an extra long massage from Mom.  What made the day extra special is that our barn-mate Carly and her wonder-mare Kalifornia Dreamin' won the National Derby later that afternoon - it was an abundance of awesomeness!

So proud of my boys!!

Carly, her mom Kathy, and Kalifornia Dreamin'

The rest of our week was wonderful.  Noah went to the lake with the rest of the kids, we spent a night making s'mores around the hotel's fire pit.  We did dinner with our barn family almost every night.  Noah did a couple classes Saturday and Sunday, and he did well.  He didn't have another round like he did in the derby, but there was a good mix of good moments and teaching moments.  Most importantly, he was spending a ton of bonding time with his horse, and learning all kinds of things about grooming and horse management.

Mom! Please! Put the camera away.

S'mores! (The dog in the pic is actually named S'mores!)

Inspecting the course

I was loving life too.  You know what it's like when you spend most of your day working and running around with the kids and then running to spend what precious free time you can steal with your horse.   It was so wonderful to have my whole entire day be about spending time with our horse, and with people who felt the same way as we do about horses.  It's kinda like wandering around lost and then finally finding your tribe.  OK, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but you know what I mean.

So there you have it.  Noah's first big away show.  We had a blast, a lot of laughs, and a ton of mother/son bonding time.  Who knows, it may be another 3 years before we can do something like this again.  Heck, we may never get to do another away show again, so I'm glad that both the kids and I have had the experience once. I'm most proud of the fact that we spent each moment of the experience taking it in and enjoying every moment of it, and thanking James profusely for his part in making it happen.

Holiday Wishes and Catching Up...

OK, so I'm a teeeensy bit late with the holiday wishes.  I hope you know I truly mean them.  I totally do!  I'm just really late in expressing it.  The pic above is this year's holiday card.  It's the first one since 2008 that does not have Sug in it.  We normally do a shot of the whole family, but those just did not come out this year. :(  This one was not too horrible, but it wasn't right to have the kids, me and the horses on the card and not the hubby - well, you know how well that would have gone off.

Did y'all have a good holiday season?  Looking forward to ringing in the New Year?  I have to admit, I've never been a fan of New Year's.  Midnight is waaaaaaayyyy to late for me to stay up, and you know, I just don't get the whole big run-up to one second and then... pffffffffffttttttt!  The air is immediately out of that balloon.  We are actually going out for the first time in forever.  Normally if we do go out, it's to a neighbor's place.  This time we're going to the home of some barn friends.  Their daughter is Sophie's age and the two are inseparable.  I hear rumors there will be a hefty amount of champagne.  Yippeeeeeee!

So here's what's been going on since we last chatted.  We've been doing some horse showing.  Yeah, I know, what dope starts seriously horse showing in the middle of a Northeast winter?!  This dope, that's who!  My trainer has had me doing 2'6" hunter and eq classes because she knows how stressed I get doing the 3' jumpers.  She wants me to get more show miles and feels that the lower level hunter and eq classes offer courses that are easier to memorize, taking that little stressor off my plate.  She feels that often trainers put students in classes they really are not ready for, and wants me to get to a place where I am relaxed and confident and bored silly before we move up.  The funny thing is that Sug is not a hunter type horse, and while it pains me to admit it, I am definitely not an equitation rider.

To add an element of excitement to things, I've signed up for the Marshall & Sterling league.  The plan is for me  to try to qualify for the year end finals at HITS-on-the-Hudson in New York.  I'm thinking of it as a smaller, lower version of the Big Eq,  It's got tests and everything, like the Big Eq classes have.  It's a challenge for us, because Sug is a jumper, and feels that trotting a fence or coming to a halt is an egregious waste of time.

Our first show around Halloween was less than successful.  Well, in one way it was.  We got out there, and we survived.  BONUS!  The second show was just Sophie and me, and was a great time, as it was just me and my daughter hanging out with our ponies.  We both rode pretty well, but more importantly, we spent a lot of quality time just chill in' with each other and James and Sug.  We wound up as champions of our respective divisions, but really, the best part of the day was just being together.

Here's a vid from our medal class.  Not perfect by a long shot, but we didn't totally embarrass ourselves, so I'm pleased.  Sug was so funny, she clearly thought that after the trot fences we were done.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Prk0aLMsz1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A couple of weeks after that Noah and I did a show in Gardnertown, NY.  So I had another really cool day hanging out with my other kid and our ponies.  James was a good boy for Noah and they got some nice ribbons.  Sug was her usually Sainted Mare self, and several people told me how much they liked her.  (Don't you love when people compliment your horse?  It's like when they compliment your kids.)  We did pretty well, too.  I beat Noah in the hack (crazy, as James is more of a true hunter than Sug) and then the Boy went and beat me in the M&S medal class, the one I'm trying to qualify for!  I was proud and a bit put out at the same time.

Fast forward to the weekend after Christmas.  Soph and I showed at Old Salem Farm in New York.  Holy crap, is that place ever nice!!!  I mean, really, it's crazy when most of the barns we show at are nicer than my house!  Sophie and James were so pretty together; they just seemed to flow confidently around the ring, both looking so relaxed and at ease.  Several people in the in-gate area commented on her riding and what a good boy James was (big cheer for the OTTBs out there!) and I was so proud!  They were champions of the Pre-Children's Hunter division!!!  At Old Salem Farm, no less!

Sug and I did not have a bad showing.  We didn't do as well as Sophie did, but we got some decent ribbons.  Our flow and rhythm around the course is getting better; we're not as choppy.  I'm getting better about putting my Big Girl pants and doing the numbers down the lines.  Sug doesn't have a big step, so it feels like we are going hell-for-leather and that feels a bit precarious to me.  I don't think I'll ever understand why you have to do a pre-determined amount of strides.  Why kill yourself for 4 strides when you can do a lovely flowing 5?  Whatever, I'm getting better.  It's so funny - at both shows people complimented Sug, telling me how much she helps me out, which says a lot about what a doll she is, and also about my riding! LOL!

So that about brings us up to date.

The Clint Eastwood Horse Show...

Finding the car? Easy peasy!

It's been two years since my last horse show.  If you've been following AWIP for a while, you may recall that last show was the one where I attempted to turn myself into a human lawn dart.  I haven't shown since then because of one thing or another - The Sainted Mare injured herself, I was kicked out of my old barn and needed to acclimate to life in a new system, health issues, my son was showing my horse, showing has never been that important to me.  For any number of reasons I just didn't show.  Then things changed and I kinda sorta thought I maybe wanted to show.

You know that kind of feeling, right?  The niggly thought in the back of your brain that's just a kernel of an idea until it takes shape and ultimately becomes something you need to act on?  That's what happened to me.  Watching my son show Sugar made me think I might want to show, and over time that thought grew and finally I told my trainer, "Let's do it!"  We settled on a local show as my comeback, and decided that instead of the jumpers I'd compete in the equitation classes.  My trainer felt that I'd be more relaxed as I wouldn't feel pressured by the need to make time or memorize a jump off course, and I'd put less pressure on myself as I am not an equitation rider, nor is Sug an equitation horse.  No expectations = no pressure, right?  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Not if you have my brain.

The weekend of the horse show coincided with a soccer tournament my daughter was in.  I spent the morning watching her team play, thinking it would help distract me and keep the show nerves at bay. It didn't.  Not really.  We then had friends back to the house for a pizza lunch.  No distraction here, either.  Noah and I headed off to the show and arrived at 3:30, ready to warm up and show around 4:30 or 5:00. Here's where things got interesting.  The classes started running later and later, as will happen at horse shows, and our estimated show time was pushed back an hour, then another hour, and then another hour, and yet another hour.  We were told we'd be showing outside, under the moon and arena lights, in weather that had turned quite chilly and windy ( a factor when all the fences standards are decorated with cornstalks.)

So here's where we get to the Clint Eastwood portion of this post...

THE GOOD
I showed.  Despite nerves and delay and crappy circumstances.  When we weren't on the horses by 8:00PM I wanted to chuck it all in, but I didn't. Yay me.

I didn't completely suck.  There were some very nice moments in my courses.

I didn't fall off when I choked my poor horse into a ridiculously deep distance and she had to jump straight up from a near standstill. I almost went out the side door, but managed to scramble back in the tack.  The good news is this contributed to a marked lack of impulsion, which made it much easier to do the Halt/rein back test portion of the class which immediately followed that fence.

We had a fabulous time with my trainer and barn friends, laughing like loons over a late dinner of pizza that a barn mate's mom brought in.

Finding where you parked your car is not too difficult when you are one of the last people to leave the show.

THE BAD
The time - Riding at 9:00PM, 5 hours after we thought we would be.  By 9PM I'm normally in my fat pants, reading a good book and enjoying a nice sauvignon blanc. 

The weather - a 20 degree drop in temperature with gusty winds.  The Sainted Mare was definitely on her toes, bug-eyed and snorting, as was James, the OTTB my son Noah was riding. 

Cornstalks.  And wind. Need I say more?  Thankfully TSM and James kept their wits about them.  Many horses didn't, and we saw a few galloping riderless around the ring.

THE UGLY
My riding.  I went from riding 3' courses well at home to riding 2'6" courses badly at a show.

My nerves.  I let them get to me.  And because I let them get to me, I lost focus. Instead of being a thinking rider who executed her plan, I became a reactive rider that choked up on her horse, trying to "pull back" into seeing a distance, instead of simply getting my rhythm and letting it take me to the fence and finding the distance out of the rhythm.

When I added so many strides my poor horse had to take off from darn near underneath the base of the fence and I almost fell off and had to had to clamber back into the tack after hanging of the side of my mare's neck.

I beat myself up quite a bit over my performance at the show, as poor Sug did not deserve the ride I gave her.  Despite the adverse conditions, she did her job as best she could.  I did not hold up to my end of the bargain, and I feel I let her down.  Thankfully, horses don't think like we do.  (I hope). 

In the meantime, I'm feeling glad that we got that "first show" out of the way and it's in the rear view mirror.  I know what I need to work on in terms of my riding and in terms of my mental outlook, so I can say that while this show did not go as I'd hoped, it was a valuable learning tool.

So, onward and upward!  Time to start planning for show #2.  Now, where did I leave that valium prescription...

Best Laid Plans...

It's a gorgeous Saturday. Sunny, mid 70s, with a bit of a breeze. Perfect day for riding.

Except I'm not. The kids have a horse show tomorrow and Noah is riding Sug in itty bitty jumpers. He told me he would feel more comfortable about giving the mare the ride she deserves if he could work on things in one more lesson before the show. 

Bless his heart, does the little booger know how to work me or what? 

After riding we need to rush to bathe the beasties, clean tack and finish prepping because we had plans to meet friends for dinner. Of course we were running late, so things were, ummm, in a word- hurried.

Here's the summary:

Arrive home with 45 minutes to spare before needing to leave. The Boy proceeds to make the fixings for his famous chocolate chip cake while I set to work polishing his boots.

Daughter starts polishing her paddock boots. Realizes she forgot to tell Mom she'd finished the brown polish last show. Mom does several deep breathing exercises to avoid hysterics and sends Dad to store in search of more brown show polish. Crisis averted.

Boots are polished. No time to shower, so splash and lather arms and face to get rid of worst of the barn sludge. Poof myself with powder bomb of anti Monkey Butt powder and a spritz of perfume to get rid of eau de equine. 

Hair is mix of hat head and cowlick courtesy of horse slobber, vaguely reminiscent of the spooge hair gel scene in Something About Mary. Apply splash of water and hair goop to create semblance of order.

Pull on summer dress uniform of plaid skort and polo. Realize have not shaved legs and look like feral yak. Attempted to dry shave, which resulted in removal of square inch of shin and much cussing. Slapped on bandaid with hopes bleeding would stop by the time we got to our destination. 

Get to friend's house. Act like mature adult and monitor alcoholic beverage consumption, as horseshows and hangovers don't go well together. Get home feeling quite virtuous. Hit the rack only to realize I had not actually baked the cake. Crap. Adjusted alarm on iPhone to reflect earlier wake-up call. 

Alarm adjustment turns out to be unnecessary as barn buddy and fellow horse show attendee elects to return my text from previous night at 5am. Now wide awake and have plenty of time to bake cake. 

Commence warming up espresso machine for mandatory infusion of caffeine. Frothing of milk too noisy and too much effort, so elect to go with quick shot of whipped cream on top of espresso. 

Kids are dressed, cake is ready, so with a quick prayer to weather and horse show gods, off we go!

A Day of Firsts...

Yesterday dawned bright and early for Noah and I, as we were up at o'dark thirty putting the final touched on our preparation for his first show of the season.  Not only was it the first of the season, it was his first in two years (he was injured last year).  Add to that the fact that it was the first time we were to show James, so there were a few nerves bouncing around as had breakfast and got ready.

Seems like most of the nerves were on my side of things.  James is an OTTB, and can be a little forward, and likes a soft ride.  He's very tolerant of my kids and their mistakes, but the kids do have to be mindful to give him the subtle, soft ride he needs.  I was having all manner of Mom Moments, worrying that James would be overly worried about the show surroundings and a bit too keen for Noah to handle.  Rationally, I knew we had plans in place to handle things - we could longe James, our trainer could ride him, we could always scrap showing and just school - but well, I'm a Mom, and I worry. End of story.

Noah is much better about these things.  When I asked how he felt, he admitted to feeling a few butterflies, but mostly because it had been so long since he'd shown.  He was more concerned with making sure James felt as comfortable and relaxed as possible; he was worried that being in the trailer alone would cause James to think he was being sent off to a new home or to race again.  Noah's goal, he said, was to make sure James felt secure and that he gave James the kind of ride that would make the show a good experience for James.  He added that getting a ribbon would be really nice, but that he really wasn't expecting much.

Seriously, where does this child come from????  If I wasn't driving when he said this I would have reached over and hugged the heck out him.  Very.Proud.Mom.Moment.

We arrived at the grounds just as our trainer unloaded James, and James surprised us all by looking around his surroundings alertly, but showing no real signs of serious apprehension.  I went off to the show office to sign them up.  About 10 minutes later I happened to look outside, and noticed a tall, gangly boy schooling a tall dark brown horse.  I did a classic double take once I registered it was Noah on James, as I'd expected to see our trainer on him, or at least that he would been longed.  James had been so relaxed back at the trailer that Jenny told Noah the plan was to have him just hop on and school James, as it made no sense to work the horse more than he needed.  James trotted and cantered around the muddy ring with no problem, hopped over a few fences, schooled a course, and Jenny decided it was best to leave it at that.

She and Noah discussed their strategy for the flat classes.  As James had been a racehorse, Jenny felt it would be best for Noah to keep him out of traffic as much as possible in order to keep from arousing his competitive instincts.  Noah followed her instructions to the letter, circling or cutting across the ring to keep James away from the other horses.  This worked well in their first class, where they placed second.  In the second flat class James became a little strong on the second canter trip, but luckily the judge did not ask them to canter for long and James came back immediately when Noah asked.  They placed fourth in that class.

Then came the jumping classes.  This is the part where Noah's lack of experience can hurt him, as when he gets nervous he gets stiff, and can hang on James' mouth, which makes James tense and fast.  Noah has been working really hard on his issues and their rounds at home have really been improving, so this was a big test.  Noah looked intent, but calm.  James looked fine.  So did Jenny.  I looked like I wanted to barf. 

Noah and Jenny chatted about their plan.  The lines had ridden in 6 strides during schooling, but since James had gotten a little "up" in the last class Jenny told Noah that they would probably ride in 5 during the class.  Noah headed in to ride his course, and Jenny turned to me and said, "He's really serious today!"  True, the kid looked as though he was riding an Olympic course.  He went down the lines and we could hear him counting out loud, "Land-1-2-3-4-5."  Jenny laughed again, saying she loved how well he listens. 

The first round went well, and the second went even better.  James got a little exuberant on the ending circle, as he was justifiably proud of his efforts, but again he came back immediately when Noah asked.  They left the ring and we fussed over James as though he'd just brought home a gold medal, showering him with pats and mints.  Off they went back to the trailer, where James made it clear that, while horse shows were fine and good, he was ready to get back home to his field.

Turns out that James and his Boy had impressed the judge enough to place first in both classes, which combined with their earlier second place earned them the Reserve Champion ribbon.  Noah was extremely proud of his ribbons, but what struck me the most is how, for the rest of the day and to anyone he spoke to, he talked more about how good James had been.

I'm so proud of both my boys.

A Little Laugh at "Horse Show Nerves"...

My barn buddies and I often talk about how we were fearless as kids.  What?  Sent into panic attacks by the thought of a horse show?  Are you crazy?  We'd show our horse, our friend's horse, and that bronc that had hospitalized 3 people and we'd never think twice about it.

Now the very thought of a horse show has us reaching for the Xanax (Valium, wine, insert sedative of choice) and writing lists that are three pages long in hopes of calming our nerves by combating the effects of Adult Onset Dementia.  You know the list I'm talking about.  The one telling you to remember your Xanax, insurance card, show clothes, extra contact lenses, helmet, phone (so you can take a picture of your course), ice bags, Advil, and Ace bandages.

As a "responsible" adult,  we fear everything.  We worry that we're not prepared, that we won't ride well, that our butt looks big in our breeches, or (GASP!) that we'll have one of those dreaded GPS moments and wind up yelling frantically to our trainer, "Which one is it?  Crap!  Which one do I jump next?!"

Yeah, okay, as fears go, it's not the end of the world.  Frankly, getting eaten by a shark ranks higher on my list of crappy things that could happen.  Still, every time there's a horse show you can find at least one of us sitting in the trailer practicing our yoga breathing.

My barn buddies are off to HITS-on-the-Hudson this week.  I'd like to send them off with my best wishes for good luck and good weather, and (hopefully) a little giggle. 

Here's my take on Horse Show Anxiety.  Clearly it's meant for jumpers, but could be appropriate for dressage and eventing with a few tweaks.



(Full credit and apologies to David after Dentist and whoever came up with the Finals meme.)

Wonderful Weekend, Olympic Dreams, Colbert Rebuttal Video and Whatnot...

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Love, Sug

I hope all of you had a lovely weekend, and that all the Fathers in your lives enjoyed their special day.  As you can see, Sug made sure to show her Dad a little love - the wet, slobbery green kind.

I have to say it was a pretty fine weekend in my world.  Everyone was healthy and happy, we got to spend time with good friends, both human and equine, and I got to spend some more time covering the USEF 2012 Festival of Champions and Dressage Selection Trials courtesy of Horse Junkies United.  On Saturday my barn buddy Libby came with me to offer her photography skills - you can check out her efforts on the HJU Facebook page as well as in my Day Four coverage.

Man, is it fun to see amazing riding, of any discipline.  The level of skill seen at this level, as you'd expect, left me slack-jawed most of the time.  Which, of course, was a lovely look when combined with my still-glowing-holy-crap-what-did-you-do-to-yourself hair color.

The fun and inspiration carried over into my own riding.   After I left the Trials I'd head over to my barn, which is just down the road from the USET Foundation headquarters in Gladstone.  Sug is still into the Walk Only portion of her rehab, but as I've noted before, I've discovered there's a heck of a lot to be done in the walk.  Each day I hopped on the Sainted Mare and channeled my inner DQ, trying to maintain a constant rhythm, straightness and connection to the bit.  I'd concentrate on lengthening my legs along her sides and wrapping my legs around her, as well as trying to keep my aids as independent from each other as possible.  Easier said than done.  Have you ever concentrated on your legs, only to find that your elbows stop "following" the movement of the horse's mouth or your back tenses up?  Seriously, there was so much to think about I darn near fried my brain, but it was all good learning.

And the Sainted Mare's reaction to all of Mom's shenanigans?

Oh for heaven's sake, you've been watching that Peters guy again, haven't you?  When does this show end, again?  Can't be soon enough.  You're gonna give yourself a stroke a stroke with all that gyrating and concentrating up there.

The other neat thing about the experience is that I got to show off for my daughter a bit.  I forgot my notebook when I left on Saturday, so on Sunday Sophie and I stopped by the show and tooled on over to the media tent to retrieve it.  I wore my credentials, and as we walked through the crowd I pointed out the newly chosen members of our Olympic dressage team.  Steffen Peters was hopping on Sundance 8 to warm him up for the Intermediare freestyle, but he smiled and acknowledged us, and Jan Ebeling did the same when we passed him even though he was in a crowd of people.  This impressed my daughter to no end, so I gained a bit of serious credibilty in her eyes!  Thanks guys -- I owe you both, BIG TIME! 

We cuddled up on the grass and watched some of the show -  after all, how can you pass up a chance to watch Steffen Peters ride? - and then did some shopping and had a bite to eat.  On our way out we saw Tina Konyot longeing Calecto V, so we stopped to gawk at His Gorgeousness as he cavorted in circles around Tina. He looked like a big (make that VERY big) old puppy dog playing on the end of a long leash.  I waved and wished Tina luck in London; she waved back and we exchanged a few pleasantries, impressing my daughter yet again.  (Thank you, Tina - I owe you, too!)  Soph was in absolute awe of Calecto -- his size, his big poofy mane, how docile he seems to be despite the fact that he is a VERY BIG BOY and a stallion to boot.  I think Calecto is now tied with Sapphire as Soph's favorite famous horse.

I don't think Soph is quite ready to take up dressage full time yet.  She did, however, spend the rest of the day doing tempi changes, extended trot and passage any time she needed to get from point A to point B.  May I say the kiddo has some very nice extensions and great ability to get her hocks underneath herself. ;)

If you would like to hear all about Days Three and Four of my adventures at the Selection Trials at Gladstone, as well as HJU coverage from our final Show Jumping observation event at Spruce Meadows, you can find them over at Horse Junkies United.

By the way, if you saw the Stephen Colbert video making fun of dressage, maybe you knew the USEF filmed a tongue in cheek rebuttal to that, featuring Ann Romney, Jan Ebeling, and the slightly perturbed Rafalca.  The mare was NOT impressed by the foam fingers.  Here's a video showing you the making of that original video.  You can see your's truly at about the 1:30 mark.  I'm the one with the blue and white striped t-shirt, white camera, and Budweiser in hand. (Note to self, NO MORE HORIZONTAL STRIPES!! Aack!)

Fun With Sapphire at Devon and Setback Update...

This past weekend I had the HUGE privilege of covering the Olympic Observation Event at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair for Horse Junkies United.  It was AMAZING -- I got to sit in the official press box with all the "real" journalists.  However, part of getting a press pass to cover it for HJU means the content belongs over there, so if you're interested in knowing what I saw and who I met (think big name rider!) you can read about it by clicking HERE.  Sorry to make you do the extra work, but rules are rules!

To update you on the Home Front:

The Boy, aka Noah, has been given the okay to wean himself off his cane and is now going for PT in the hopes of joining his summer rugby league only 2 weeks into the season. (Conveniently, we get to go to PT together.  How's that for mother and son bonding time?)

Me: I've recovered from my stomach bug and have moved on to a head cold. As Charlie Brown would say, AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!  Oh well, better a small cold than anything serious.  The PT is helping my back, although it's embarrassing to realize how weak I've gotten, and of course it's fun to share giggles with the Boy as we do our exercises together.

Sugar: The Sainted Mare has not progressed as far as we would have hoped by this point.  We've been tack walking her, which she finds boring beyond belief, icing her, and hand grazing since she can't be turned out. (She likes the hand grazing part, especially as she doesn't need to wear her grazing muzzle.)  She had her second ESWT session and a re-eval on Monday, which showed she's still lame when being flexed.  So, 10 more days of tack walking, etc., and then another ESWT and an ultrasound to see where we are at.  I've also asked my good buddy Carolyn to come down and cold laser Sug a couple times a week.  I'm bringing out the big guns now! Fingers crossed that we see some improvement.

So that's where we stand.  I hope you do go on over to HJU to check out the Devon piece. 

Thanks for reading, and take care!

Long Live the Queen...

No, not the one with all the corgis (Elizabeth II of England).  The one of the show jumping ring, Sapphire.

I was supposed to be at Devon last night, covering Sapphire's retirement and the Well Fargo Grand Prix of Devon, but a nasty stomach bug laid me low.  I can't complain about losing 5 of the pounds I've gained since I fell off last September, but I'm not thrilled with the timing.

Thanks to the wonder that is the Internet, at least I got to watch the events on my laptop.  Sophie and I curled up on the couch together, my little girl smelling of green apples and clean little girl after her shower.  We both started sniffling as McLain walked Sapphire around the warm up ring, and had segued to fall on BAWL mode by the time she entered the ring.

She looked fabulous, and was on her toes the entire time.  Soph and I loved when McLain rode her to the side of the ring and let some children say hello to their idol.  What a gentlemanly thing for McLain to do.  Sapphire, for all her excitement, was very good for the kids, standing still and letting them get a good look and a few pats of the famous nose.  My daughter ached to be there, and was a bit sad that I wasn't, as she'd harbored hopes that I'd be able to get her Sapphire Breyer horse autographed. 

Sapphire looked as though she couldn't quite figure out why she was being untacked, why she and McLain weren't jumping the fences in the ring with them.  That was so good to see -- the fact that she was still in form, that she would have loved to have been out there, that her fire was still lit.

It was a perfect ending to the evening that McLain and his new mount Antares F, a high energy horse as different from the placid Sapphire as it is possible to be, won the Grand Prix.  I think we could call that coming full circle, don't you?

Be well, Sapphire.  Enjoy your donuts, and have fun being a momma.

My favorite photo from last night, taken by Rianne Berker.

My Weekend at the Jersey Fresh Three Day Event...

Happy Wednesday, friends of AWIP!  Quite frankly, I had to take a look at the calendar and make sure it was, in fact, Wednesday.  How the heck do these weeks go by so dang quickly??

Anywhooo, in case you don't follow Horse Junkies United and my antics over there, here are some links to my recent posts so you can see what I've been up to.  The Jersey Fresh International Three Day Event was held this past weekend at the New Jesey Horse Park in Allentown, NJ.  As I firmly believe that you can learn from any horseperson, regardless, of discipline, I took the opportunity to see how the other half lives, so to speak. 

Ummm, they live dangerously. 

Hope you like the posts, and Happy Wednesday!

Boyd and Neville!! Photo by Noah

A Hunter Jumper Converts for a Day – Dressage at Jersey Fresh, presented by Five Star Tack

I’m going to start this post with the following bit of important news:  I MET BOYD MARTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAACCCKKKKK!

Sorry, had to go there. I feel badly, because I saw him walking with a group of people and totally had a brain fart, forgot my manners, and brazenly walked up and introduced myself (bad Amy!)
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Phillip Dutton and Indie

A Hunter Jumper at Jersey Fresh – Possible Conversion Afoot? presented by Five Star Tack

One of my favorite regular contributors to the Chronicle of the Horse forums has a tagline in her signature that I love: “Come to the Dark Side, We Have Cookies!” This is a very apt quote for me, as I’ll go almost anywhere if there are cookies involved.

However, I didn’t need the promise of cookies to take a wander down to the Jersey Fresh International Three Day Event held at the New Jersey Horse Park this past weekend. The chance to see great horses and watch amazing riding was enough of a draw for me. Oh yeah, that and it was an Olympic selection event for the US eventing team!

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Horse Showing in the Swamps of Jersey...



Locked on target.

 For the past 61 years, the first week in May has meant the Garden State Horse Show to many New Jersey equestrians.  The AA rate show is New jersey's largest, and is held at the Sussex Fairgrounds in the rolling hills and farmland of Augusta, in the northern part of the state.  Competitors come from all over the tri-state area, and the Grand Prix usually hosts industry luminaries like Mclain Ward, Beezie Maddedn, Kevin Babington, the Leone brothers, and Anne Kursinski. This year it was won by 16 year-old phenom Michael Hughes of Allendale, NJ.

Since 2008, Garden State has been the kick-off to my family's show season.  Why, I don't know, because every year it rains like heck and the place is a swamp.  It's either pissing down rain, or threatening to.  Only once you're well and truly soaked to the bone, slathered in mud and on the verge of hypothermia does the sun peak through, just in time for the last classes. 

This year was no exception.  Saturday morning saw us up at o'dark hundred schlepping up to the mud-pit, with the pony princess wrapped in bubble wrap so as not to get dirty prior to her class, the Pre-Children's Pony Hunters and Pre-Children's Pony Equitation. (Seriously, what is up with these names???  What do they call the division preceding this?  Fetal Pony Hunters? Oye veh.)

Since the last show was one of those "learning experiences," where the pony was feeling her oats a bit, we changed our show morning routine and tack a bit.  The kiddo was given a bigger set of brakes in the form of a pelham bit - not ideal in this division but we figured the stronger bit would be better than the sight of the child being dragged hither and yon on a tour of the show grounds. Cookie was also given an early morning Come to Jesus session, where one of the older girls schooled her in the ring, took her over a few jumps, and worked on downward transitions and halts immediately after the jumps.  Basically she reminded the pony of the First Commandment of the Pony World: Though Shalt Not Take Off With Your Child.

The change-up brought good results.  Cookie was forward, but in a good way, to my way of thinking. (I was raised during the days when you actually galloped fit horses around a course.  Today's preference for corpulent, half-comatose horses heaving themselves over fences is one I can't quite wrap my mind around.)  The kiddo did a pretty good job of balancing her and the pony landed most of her leads.  Maybe she could have ridden out more in the corners, jumped ahead less, and gotten her heels down a lot more, but no biggie.  The outing was a step forward from the last performance, and both kid and pony were pleased and proud.  All good, I'd say.  They also got a couple of ribbons, a fifth and an eighth, which I think is quite respectable in this level of competition and with 25 kids in the class.

What made the day even better was running into and spending time with old friends, our traditional show breakfast of bagels and mimosas, and, if you were to ask my husband and son, the rental of a golf-cart for the day.  The boy is still on crutches, so the golf cat was a sensible investment and gave my boys a toy to play with during the usual horse show "Hurry Up and Wait" nonsense.  Also made it much easier for the husband to ferry mimosas back and forth to the ring...

It was a good, albeit long, day.  We got home just in time for my son and I to watch the Kentucky Derby, and for the pony princess and her father to get changed and run out to her travel soccer game.  I know, it's ridiculous the amount of energy those two have.  It exhausts me just watching them.

Percy making sure there are no driving infractions

My Energizer Bunny

Happy hubby.

First Sleep Away Show Ever: The Week in Pictures

We got to HITS after dinner on Tuesday.  Cookie was already doing sleepies...

Day 1 - Sugar is a wee bit over-enthused in the warm-up

Sug is still a little "enthusiastic" and really wishes Mom would please just start jumping bigger fences!

Sophie and her buddy, Perzy, who wishes he could drive the golf cart.  Darn the lack of opposable thumbs!

Catching up with a good friend.....

Kiddo and the Po-Po get to show!

Happy Kiddo!  (Next Charles Owen model, maybe??)

The Pit Crew.  Cookie is wondering what's the fastest way back to the barn...

Sug is marginally happier.  The fences are getting bigger, but it's too darn hot to jump.

She thinks the heat would be more bearable if Soph would share her ice cream...

Hanging out by Jumper Ring 1

A respectable haul after Day 2 of Short Stirrup...



Tired Po-Po...

Elvis likes the view from MY side of the golf cart much better!

I don't know what Soph and Elvis are planning, but it can't be good...

First Sleep Away Show Ever: Day 3 - Mixed Results

Holy apocalyptic heat wave Day 2.  Temps hit somewhere around 116 degrees, if the temperature sensor in the car was to believed. 

Just a thought:  If you're going to be doing a lot of summer horse showing, you might want to consider an investment in this shirt.  I saw a picture of French show jumper Penelope Le Prevost wearing it and had to hunt one down.  It fits, and is flattering, which can be tough to find if you're built like a brick shit house (thanks, Dad, for burning that phrase into my brain.)  Even more importantly, it's cool. 

I told my barn mate the shirt was unbelievable, and although she doubted me, she bought one.  Let me tell you, she was a heck of a lot cooler in her ECE than she was in her competition polo yesterday.  I have a couple of short sleeve performance show shirts because I melt like ice cream on a summer day, and this one outperforms all of them. Just saying...

Anyway, the good, the bad, and the ugly:

Kiddo did so well today. Fought off the heat all day, drank water every time I nagged at her to,  and held her own in the Schooling Pony Hunters.  Cookie found the striding tough to make, but she and the kiddo fought for the numbers and came away with an 8th in the their third class.  Am so proud of both of them -- hope to have pictures to post soon.

My first foray into the Low Amateurs was not quite as good.  We decided to go for it as we'd schooled 3'3" a time or two at home and they'd been setting them soft at 3'.  Well, today's ring crew was not feeling quite as kindly as yesterday's, and they set the fences to the correct 3'3" height.   I was feeling a bit heat shock-y and almost bagged the class, but pulled my big girl pants on and gave it a go.  Sug and I had a heck of a warm-up, but problems at 2 different oxers in the class meant we were DNF for the class.  Sug basically said to me, "Look Mom, I can pretty much cover you 99% of the time, but it's hotter than heck and these are higher and wider than we normally do, and I need a little help from your end.  Either we do this the right way or I'm choosing life and making the executive decision to stay grounded."  I didn't hold up my end of the bargain and waffled on my decisions to the oxers in question, and she wisely chose life rather than risking us. 

So, lesson learned and back we go to Level One tomorrow. We'll hang there until we're more confirmed (rather, Mom is more confident) at the 3'3" fences.  God bless my big girl, though, she's so funny.  If you watch us while we're waiting to go, you can tell when I get tense or have a negative thought.  Not from anything I do (I think) but because Sug will turn her big ol' head around to look at me, as if to say, "Oh for the love of Pete, woman,  RELAX!  I GOT this! Just take a deep breath and stay in the middle and hang on, will you?"  This happens at least 5 or 6 times as we wait for our turn in the ring.  She's a pistol, my girl.  I'm so lucky she puts up with me.

Side notes:  Shared a few giggles with Neal Shapiro of Hay Fever Farm at the water cooler by Jumper Ring 2 today.  The man was one of my heroes when I was growing up.  I can remember him being so very kind to me when I met him as a star struck little girl, and I'm thrilled to say he's just as nice today as he was then.

That's one of the best parts of this whole experience -- seeing the riders I idolized as a kid, seeing the riders I've come to respect in recent years, and being able to really watch them in action.  Better than being back stage at a Stones concert, at least in my book.