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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

Snow Rides and WEG!

Still not much excitement around here. LOL! :D The past weekend was fairly warm and sunny, so I was able to ride. Unfortunately I felt under the weather so only rode on Sunday. I had time (and had planned) to ride all three mares. I rode Dreamy first and still felt icky, so I ended up just grooming Reva and Sparky. Truthfully, I don't think they mind hanging out. :D I did do more in-hand training with Reva, and I must say I am proud at how quickly the big mare has figured out how to stand square. :) Smart girl. Sparky pretty much just wanted the cookies, though she does like a good curry session. LOL!

Anyway, the sun was out and there was fresh snow in the field, but the footing was still excellent. It was deep, so I limited our ride to about 25 mins. We walked, trotted, and cantered with only a bit of "energy" when first cantering to the left. ha ha ha ;-D Dreamy was obedient and easy to ride, which was nice. Her canter was bouncy and SLOW. I know much of it is because of the snow, but even when on the "track" which is flat, her canter is really excellent. I am excited and hope this continues!!! :) Such a well trained mare! And her neck reining is just about perfect now........!!!!!! ;-D

I really hate this time of year, with the cold temps and no indoor. :( Every year we make it through, but man, it gets old. The worst part is that even if I had an indoor, there are many days where I would not even want to ride.....as I have said in the past, there is no use riding a horse with COPD in sub freezing temps! I know others may do it, but I just don't take chances like that. We can both just be stir crazy together. :P

I am so looking forward to the return of warmer weather and more daylight in the afternoons. If I can just get through February, the long and slow miles of conditioning will begin in earnest in March! :) That should not be too hard. February is a short month anyway, and will be full of fun things. This coming weekend is the Maine Dressage Society banquet, which is always a good time. I have two good friends coming with me, which makes me super happy! :) Dreamy and I have two horse shows to attend (part of a winter series, yay!) as long as the weather is cooperative for those two Sundays.....here's hoping! There is also a full week vacation for me from work! Yay! There are a few perks of being a teacher....LOL! And there is the long awaited weekend trip to New Jersey for the SPHO-NJ banquet! I am so excited for this trip! Good friends, good times. :)

Dreamy gets her first influenza shot for WEG this coming Monday. We had to reschedule twice already because of the weather. UGGG! :( Thankfully my vet has FEI horses in his practice, so is familiar with the routine of doing international show shot requirements. Plus his assistant is possible more organized than me, if that is possible! LOL! She has already typed up a full outline of what we need to do and we have already scheduled appointments. I fully expected the extreme regiment of shots, etc from WEG, being an international event and all, but the one funny part was the deworming requirements! LOL! My vet said this was a first for him, too. He actually has to deworm my horse and make record of it. Sounds silly but it is to prevent the spread of ticks, which does make sense. At least Dreamy did not need an FEI passport.....that would have been $300 I would NOT have wanted to spend! :P~ Luckily the WEG equine village folks realized that asking the demo horses for passports would be kind of stupid. Thank god people do use their brains at times! LOL!

Things for WEG are coming along well. I am very excited about this event, of course! We have an exciting idea for the jumping demo, and I have found Jessica from the USTA to be very easy to work with. :) Yay for promoting the breed! :)

We got a TON of rain yesterday, but thankfully most of the ice is gone because of good sanding (thank you husband!) and some warm weather/wind today. I hope the field is still in good shape to ride. Right now it looks OK, but who knows how it might hold up to horse hooves. :( Now if I can get through February, life will be good! Even when we get snow in March, it melts pretty fast. LOL!

Comments

  1. You get to take Dreamy to WEG? Thats so amazing!! I wish I could take Johnny...
    Maybe we can come down to see you!

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  2. Yup! I am excited! We had to apply to the USTA back in 2008. We were chosen as the jumping alternate, but we are going to actually be right on the grounds and in the (four) demos. There were 10 horses chosen (6 demo horses, 4 alternates) but two of the alternates (my horse and a horse from FL) are going to be there and will be in the demos. The other two alternates have not decided if they are attending last I knew.

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  3. Whoops...posted before I realized I was not done. LOL! It would be great if you could come to see! The demos are Oct. 3, 4, 5, 6. :) I already got the time off from work.....ha ha ha.

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  4. I was hoping to make it down to watch anyway so maybe we will tailor our trip to fit those dates? I would love to see Dreamy in person! Go you for being chosen for the demos!!

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  5. Thanks! We should definitely try to meet up! :)

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