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Showing posts from October, 2008

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Crazy Life

My horse thinks she is retired. LOL ! Between the end of the quarter grading and getting my hay in, this week has been out of control busy and stressful, so no riding for me. :( I was supposed to have a lesson this past Saturday, but I got a call on Friday afternoon that the hay I was to buy was here from NY, so I absolutely had to cancel my lesson and drive to get the hay on Sat. morning. Of course, had the 350 bales of hay I bought this summer not MOLDED ( grrrr .....that is not a story I feel like reliving right now, as it makes me SO MAD!) I would NOT be getting hay IN ALMOST NOVEMBER!!!!! But alas, I did need to get new hay. So the 191 bales we brought home on Saturday (home at 2PM....oh how fun....nothing like it taking FOUR hours!!) are just gorgeous. The mares love it and I love it. It actually smells like HAY and there is NO WHITE MOLD GROWING ON IT! AHHHHH , how pleasant !! I never realized how stressed out this entire hay ordeal was making me. Now I feel so much better, as

Ghosting it Forward

So, my blogger friend On The Bit has tagged me in something called Ghosting it Forward. I totally missed reading it on her blog ( here ) until now. WHOOPS! So here is what I am talking about: “Halloween is fast approaching, with all the tricks and treats that our little Goblins and Ghoulies adore. (*ahem* and just how many of us have been in on egging, shaving cream, and toilet paper decorations?) Ghosting It Forward comes along at a time when we really need something to smile about. Combining Pay It Forward, with a tradition known as “Ghosting”, (which in all honesty I had never heard of,) it provides a great way to do things for folks to bring a smile and a sense of wonder. “Ghosting” for those of you who are in the dark as I was, is a tradition of silently slipping over to a neighbor’s home, and leaving them a “treat” on their door step.” Here are Le Rules: 1) Have a Ghostly Image to pass along 2) Tag three people on your blog, with links to their blogs. Tell about what great folks

SMDA Ride-Re-Ride results 10/19/08

Too tired to write right now.....but it was a fun way to end the 2008 show season. :)

Posture Makes Perfect

I need something uplifting after my last post. :( I just thought this was fun and exciting.....it is amazing how much my equitation deteriorated after seven years without a riding lesson. Now that my instructor has helped fix all my bad habits (she is a dear and patient woman...LOL!) my equitation is SO MUCH BETTER! And of course, I have suddenly become a more EFFECTIVE rider! Amazing how that works! ROFL! So here is the before (taken June 2007).....UGGGG it makes me want to cry all over again. Piano hands, my hunt seat posture, stirrups too short......AWFUL! I am almost embarrassed to post this. Now, don't get me wrong, I had some nice moments and it is not as though I was a completely terrible rider. But I certainly needed help. I was not effective at all times. And here is the after (taken October 2008). Yeah, that makes me happy.

A Tribute to My First Standardbred Love

I am writing this post with a heavy heart. Today was a sad day. I went to visit and spend time with my first STB love, as he is going to be put down soon. :( :( The horse I am speaking of is F.W. Volo, my grandfather's retired pacer. Volo was born in 1972 and would turn 37 years young this January 1, 2009. Volo raced until he was 11 and he set many a track record in his day. The pics of him in the pasture were taken today. I love this horse so much. :( I boarded Sparky at my grandfather's farm for many years during both high school and then throughout college......goodness, I boarded there for nearly eight years. Sparky and Volo were like two peas in a pod. I always think of Volo as "mine" and doted on him as much as Sparky. And I totally took over Bampie's barn when I moved Sparky there...LOL! I was a precocious 14 year old and set about directing Bampie about how to build a tackroom, saddle racks, and crossties. We spent so much time fencing in the paddock (whi

BUMMER

Well, there was ice in the buckets this AM. This is SO NOT COOL. I am in complete and utter denial that winter is coming. I think I am pretending that I am either going to FL for the winter or that we are suddenly going to go from fall to spring! LOL ! Ah, either of those scenarios would be my ultimate dream. I am SO done with winter. Another bummer.....I found out yesterday that I am only allowed to ride one test tomorrow at my show....a Ride-Re-Ride with SMDA . I was hoping to do both Training 1 and 2...but I guess they forgot to mention in the omnibus that in order to allow as many rides as possible, they are only allowing each rider to ride one test. BUGGER. Oh well....naturally I chose Training 1. This is purely for year end scores......while ME Dressage Society gives awards based on levels, Southern ME Dressage Assoc. gives awards based on test. So it behooved me to ride Training 1 since that is the test I have shown all year. I am such a tricolor ribbon-ho.... LOL !

FEI World Equestrian Games...Dreamy was picked as the alternate

Well, I got my letter from USTA today. We were chosen as the alternate for the jumping demo at the FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010. BUMMER! Ah well. The discipline I applied for was eventing, as I was hoping I could do a cross country demo on that fabulous KHP course! LOL ! And instead, the worst part is that they did not separate hunter/jumpers and eventing....so they were all considered "jumping." There were 6 horses chosen: one hunter over fences (no idea who), two dressage (one is my friend Helene's horse JB and the other is that gray from FL named Sea the Gray or whatever) , one barrel racing (that would be J's Duncan), one carriage driving (no idea), and one "riding" horse (no idea). I have no clue what type of "riding", since the woman at USTA who I spoke to did not know either. LOL ! Granted, they are not riding folks. :) So I am the alternate for the "hunter over fences demo". It stinks that s

SUPER SIRE STAKES WEEKEND! October 11-12

Marshaling is just about one of my most favorite things to do in the entire world. There are no judges, ribbons, or scores. It is all volunteer and I do it out of pure love for the sport of harness racing. And of course, promoting my wonderful STB as a riding horse! I spent the entire weekend of Oct. 11-12, 2008 at Scarborough Downs. Saturday was the Maine Breeders Stakes Finals for 2-year- olds and Sunday was the finals for three-year- olds . On Saturday I spent the day at the SPHO booth, along with Charles Leerhsen , the author of the new book Crazy Good: The True Story of Dan Patch, the Most Famous Horse in America. (Oh dear, there is no underline tool, so I have to italicize the title). SPHO sold the book and of course Mr. Leerhsen signed them! HUGE THANKS goes out to Don Marean for calling me up to ask whether or not this was something SPHO wanted to do. He literally gave SPHO first dibs on the fundraiser. VERY COOL. Mr. Leerhsen and his wife were a pleasure to be with.

Lesson 10/4/08

I took a lesson last Saturday....I just have had no time to write about it! With the lack of light in the evenings as well as my teaching job I have not been able to stick with my Tuesday night lessons. There was just no way I could fit everything into one day like that anymore. SO I have been riding on Saturdays and that seems to be working out well. My lesson on 10/4 was great. I wanted to work on continuing to make sure I am keeping a steady connection to the bit...sometimes I worry when I ride at home that I am not being "firm" enough. Then we also worked on cantering from the walk. That is a challenge right now. The actual depart (upwards transition) is not bad.....but the downward transition to the trot is HORRENDOUS. It kills me because I want everything to be correct. But because Dreamy is still not convinced she likes this CONNECTION all the time, nor does she 100% understand what I am asking of her yet, she YANKS my arms out of their sockets in the downward. I am

MORE National Show Photos!

Here are the professional pics I purchased from Tallman Photos. They came out great!

National Show Photos!

Here are the professional pics from the National Standardbred show. Click on Portraits by the Show Sign (top right) and 9AM-1130 Dressage (bottom left) to see the Dream Girl in action. I think we had a couple under Candids too.....walking over to warm-up for dressage. Some of the looks on my face during the dressage is priceless....I am in such deep concentration I nearly look terrified! LOL ! http://photos.tallmanphoto.com/Equestrian/617112 And here are a few of the pics I took myself. First, our stall sign. Here I am, exhausted and dirty, braiding her mane at nearly midnight. Bad me. Dreamy chilling in her stall after dressage. Our tack stall. Had we realized we would not be showing out of the trailer ( because it was POURING we decided to show out of the stalls instead) then we would have been more prepared to show out of a tack stall. We had no saddle racks.... ummm , well no racks at all. It was a bit worrisome for me, the one who like to be organized and clean! LOL !

NATIONAL Championship Standardbred Horse Show RESULTS!

Finally…some results! I have been so busy this week...not to mention tired. Dreamy and I attended the National Championship Standardbred Horse Show at the Horse Park of NJ on September 28, 2008. It was fabulous!!! This is going to be a long post, so I apologize for that. Plus my loyal readers know I am not very concise. LOL! So I will give my post some subtitles to help organize it. THE WEEK PRIOR So the week prior to the show was chaotic to say the least. My brother got engaged in February of this year and decided to get married on September 27!!! Of all days to get married! I had been making plans to attend the 2008 show since last year…..and my plans included leaving Maine on Friday September 26. When I found out what day he had decided to get married, I knew I was not willing to miss the show, but I also could NOT miss his wedding. I mean, I actually really LIKE my brother! And all three of us were going to be in the wedding….I was a bridesmaid, S was an usher and C was the r