When you least expect it...

The new location - peace and productivity 

To say that I feel like I've been stuck in a tornado, would be a bit of an understatement.  The move in January was the start of a new chapter in both my personal and professional life.  I was able to clear out some personal relationships that were quite toxic, and open up time for travel and self reflection.

Prophet may have a slightly lower-speed life now, but he still
fits like a glove.  Thanks to Dana Sanders for letting me
cruise from time to time. 

For the first time in years, I've found myself without the responsibility of an upper level horse.  The commitment to competing at the upper levels is one of extreme time and financial monopoly. The young horses that have filled my time this year are some of the most talented horses I've had the pleasure of sitting on, but they don't require the hours of careful planning and management that Prophet did (and granted he was/is and ultra-princess).  So I've traveled, I've done things I never would have thought I'd do, and I have goals on the horizon that I wouldn't have thought would be possible. 

And now I'm more excited about the future then I ever have been.  

First on my personal life front... I recently had someone send me a message about how I never know who might be affected by what I write.  For that end, I'm happy that I've 'aired some laundry' about my divorce and the affects it has had on my professional life.  I'm quite a private person, but I also have a very blurry line between my personal and professional world: therefore, they

Catching some C-Horse fun in Houston, Texas

definitely effect one another, both negatively and positively.  Without going into detail, I will say that learning to define who is toxic in my life (friends/clients/etc), and being ok with letting those contacts slide away into oblivion has been the most refreshing

A little family fun with new friends and the polo match

process.  A process that has opened up my life for much more positive relationships to fill their space. 

New family member - Lilly Ann Sitton

I've also been enjoying the ability to be a little selfish and make decisions based solely on what I want.  One of those decisions being the addition of Lilly Ann to the Sitton clan.  She was a lost soul at a rescue and I couldn't let her stay there any longer.  She may be deaf, and a little wild, but she makes me a happier person every day. 

On to the professional side of things... A wise man once told me that a horse professional NEVER needs to own their own horses.  With Prophet being leased out and the sale of several horses last year, I have found myself with a barn full of amazing horses, owned by amazing people, who are not me.  I do have my 'old man' Rockie (who I teach lessons on), and one baby TB stuck out in a field, but my competition horses all have owners, and I (along with my bank account) have been  loving that. 

BUT I found myself on Facebook, just a week and a half ago, asking for a video of a mare (GASP) who was grey (DOUBLE GASP), and I had no idea what possessed me to do so.  Five short days later, I was drawing out large sums of cash, and hitting the road for an overnight roadtrip to Tennessee. It was love at first site, and when she had a bit of choke on the trailer ride home (aka prophet) I knew she was the one for me.

New Girl!  Mimi or Mimosa Sunrise

So now I have a horse of my own again.  And my bank account is crying a bit. And I am loving snuggling with her big head and sitting in her field as I absorb the fact that she is all mine. 

The fall schedule looks to be a busy one.  We have lots of shows for the C-Horse Crew, I have a few clinics to teach, and lots of traveling on the books.  Mimi will be spending the fall putting on weight and muscle and I will be focused on opening up my life for the chances that come when you least expect it.

She's got a pretty alright way of going. 

The Move is (Almost) Complete

A few months ago I began stressing about the direction my business was headed, and the ways for it to grow.  In my productive stressing (I like to think that my stress is productive - because, why else would I do it?!?), I came to the conclusion that I needed to step back from the day-to-day feeding/management, in order to focus on students and horses and helping them to achieve their goals.  The conclusion was a move to Hidden Spring Farm - a beautiful facility where I already have a long-time relationship with the owners, manager, and clients. All sounds peachy, right? Here's a little timeline on how things have gone.

December 29th - After stressing about how my current barn owners would handle the news, I found my worries to be for naught.  they were fully supportive and great.  HUGE sigh of relief, and a big glass of wine to celebrate the direction of C-Horse being solidified.

January 4th - Sit down with new barn manager and already dear friend to begin hashing out the plan of moving 14 horses.  20 minutes later - we are celebrating how easy our plan came to fruition and so we pour a glass of wine.

January 6th - First load of 5 horses pull out of Wynnscott and into HSF.  Introductions are uneventful.  We celebrate.

January 8th - Two of the four horses owned by client K.K. are shipped to her house.  They are youngsters.  We have to walk 1/4 mile down a road.  I'm worried.  They are perfect.  We celebrate.

January 9th - K.K.'s other two horses are shipped to HSF.  Introductions go great. I ride several horses at HSF.  People take a lesson, just because I'm available.  I love it.  We celebrate.

January 11th - The last of the horses move over. All is right in the world.  Everyone seems happy.  The baby boys played so hard they fell down, and then chilled out.  I spend 4 hours loading my equipment at Wynnscott.... and I'm not finished.  No celebration.

January 13th - Take load of stuff and start unloading.  Wondering where the heck Ally is, cause I sure as heck could use her.  It's raining.  I hate how much stuff I have.  No celebration.

January 14th - It's iced below the Mason-Dixon Line.  Schools are closing, there are special news reports about the apocalypse, the vet is coming to do coggins and Xray van's knees.  The horses are happy, Van got two thumbs up.  I still have more stuff to load.  Instead of celebrating, I write a blog entry.

Next chapters

So Kentucky didn't go as planned, but my re-affirmed sense of worth and drive to make-up for that long walk back to the box fueled my fire to make the trip to Knoxville Tennessee to attend one last event of the season at River Glen.

Hard to believe that this will be the last picture taken of the two of us on a xc course

Without much fuss or fanfare, P went out, put down his head and won the event - start to finish.  He is nothing short of amazing, and every day I thank my lucky starts for those big brown eyes and soft nose with the kissing spot.

BUT - the long drive home gave me a long time to think.  Usually I spend it singing to the radio and generally annoying everyone within ear shot, but this time I was by myself, with a quite truck and a busy mind.  P turns 17 in 2015.  Eleven years he's been my rock.  He's sound, he's happy, he made me a successful upper level rider with placings at Preliminary and Intermediate levels.  This last year he ran 5 times - pulled in in Kentucky, one 3rd, one 2nd, and two wins.  He has nothing left to prove.  Is it worth the money, the risk, and the time to keep running him around, just for my pleasure?

When I posed the question to my wise mother, her answer was the one I knew in my heart... NO.

So with a heavy heart I found myself on a plane, flying back east from my hometown, pondering the future for the brown boy who has been the biggest part of my past.  To stomach the decision I'd just made, I needed to have the wheels rolling on big plans for both of us. For P, a student who happens to be in the right place in her life, during the right time for him seems to be the obvious choice (hopefully more on that in the coming weeks). And for me, there's another pair of brown eyes that I'm throwing my heart at in the hopes that he can step up to fill P's incredibly large, talented shoes.

So, meet Van - or Exclusive Print.  Van reluctantly came into my life last February.  He'd been basically abandoned at a New York race barn, and I shipped him and another horse down to see what they'd do.  The other horse was a war horse - racing until 8, and selling quite quick to move on into hunterland.  Van on the other hand was fairly sure that humans were not nice, and refused to be caught, became violent (even under sedation) to anyone trying to touch his ears.  So I didn't touch him - until he said he was ready.  He's now gone on hacks, walks and trots quietly in the ring, and allows me to put on his bridle without much fuss.  His place in my heart is growing and I can't wait to see what he becomes!

No fairy tale endings

As I look back at the last post I made, 10 months ago, about Ted's passing, I still have to fight hard to hold back tears. My life since then has been a roller coaster ride, to say the least. During that time, I was slowing making the decision to leave my marriage.  It was a peaceful parting, with both of us deciding that we were simply better off as friends.  As smooth as the process has gone, the changes it has brought in my life are unimaginable.

I found myself single at 30, and a little lost.  Not sure who I was after 7 years of being someone else's half, I've struggled to find myself, and my confidence.The one consistent thing has been my horses, especially Prophet, and they gave me a reason to get up in the mornings.

P's sense of what I needed has been unreal.  When I got married, he came down with some serious ulcers - I think he was trying to tell me something. :)  With the split, he dealt with me crying into is mane, just like I've done several times before (having a horse for 10 years means he's gone through a few breakups).  After years and years of being anorexic, he started eating with vengeance, giving me one less thing to worry about.  His training rides many times were midnight hacks or bareback flats, because at the end of the day I couldn't physically or mentally handle much more than that.  As I loaded him into the trailer for the first event of the season, I whispered to him that if he was going to be the end of my marriage, he better make it worth it (only half way kidding).  He stormed around that event to finish 1st, and it gave me another reason to get up in the morning.

His second event was right as the weather had started to get better, but we still hadn't jumped much, and I was still struggling to find a constant life schedule.   He once again held my hand, ate all his food all weekend, and finished 2nd.

And I kept getting up in the morning.

By the time I got to the third event of the season, I'd started to feel human again (a mere 6 months later).  The temps were frightfully high, we ran xc in the middle of the day heat, our show jumping was in the middle of a complete downpour, and my horse brought me through for a 3rd place finish.

Although I no longer needed him to give me a reason to get up - I was glad to have it.

I made the decision to head to my favorite place in the world, Lexington, KY for the CCI*.  We've been qualified to run one for about 4 years now, so I figured it was about time.  There was a certain sense of pride as I trotted around the dressage arena in my shad, and heard them announcing the accolades from this year... not a bad record to say the least.  But as much as my little man fought through the slushy arena, the dressage judges weren't feeling his little TB trot, or my blingy belt.  :) Disappointed in my score, but excited to move onto the second day, I fed my guy a few extra treats and went to bed.

The footing was perfect, and P felt amazing in warm-up.  He came out of the box and made the first 6 fences feel like I was flying - even the one combination on course I was worried about.  But fence 7 was a turning AB question, where I knew that we needed to jump the massive table a little soft to make a good turn to the upright corner.  P had other thoughts, leaving out a stride and hitting the table hard.  We somehow made the turn to the corner on the end of the reins, but he didn't feel quite right galloping away.  Not sure whether he'd bruised his ego or something more serious, I jumped a few more fences with mixed results.  Once he put on the breaks to the coffin, I knew I wasn't in a position to kick him around the rest of the decently sized course.  I got him to take a breath (he gets upset when he stops), and faced it once again, only to have my horse with the heart the size of Texas tell me that today was not our day.  I put up my hand to retire and began the long walk back to the vet box.  About half way back my little guy got pissed - like, really pissed.  My usually docile, hunter-like pony, was a prancing, snorting, dragon - eager to get out there and redeem himself.

 I on the other hand, used that long walk (jig) through the bluegrass to put some things into perspective.  I was sitting on this jigging, fired up, pissed off horse, who had carried me through an absolutely terrible low point of my life.  And now the pressure could be off him.  So what if we didn't get to wear our pretty jog outfit the next morning.  He was healthy, he was hungry and he wanted more.  So we'll re-route to River Glen for one final run of the season.

For all those supporters who I've been slack about returning emails or phone calls, I truly apologize.  I am so appreciative of all my clients, friends, and sponsors who have helped me re-route my life. There's no way I could have made it through to the 'other side' without you. Thank you all, and an especially large thanks to my little bay, big-eyed pony.

Balladeer Ted 1993-2013

I realize I've been totally slack at finishing my updates for 2013.  I apologize and promise to do so (at least before the 2014 season gets started).  I have been a bit overwhelmed by the holidays, and by the huge loss of our big chestnut superstar, Ted.  I figured my ode to him was a bit more important than an update so here it is:

For many years, I’ve made the trip to Kentucky to watch in awe as the amazing, powerful, fragile, four-legged creatures galloped across the bluegrass.  That last weekend of April brings memories of the greats who have come through those finish flags… Courageous Comet, Molokai, Biko, Theodore O’Connor, Custom Made, and the list goes on… But each year many accomplished, lesser known horses gallop through those lanes and achieve what so many of us can only dream about - jumping the final fence and completing the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.  

If only I’d have known what the future held, I would have looked a little closer for a big white star and glistening copper coat to come galloping by while I was attending the event in 2005 (the last year of the full format at Kentucky).  A year and a half later I found myself in the right working student position at the right time, and was handed the reins for the ride on Balladeer Ted… that beautiful chestnut with the big star, floppy ears, and droopy lower lip.  

At that point, it was determined that Ted would no longer make a potential team horse for Canada, but he did have a lot to offer me in education at the upper levels (as long as I could manage his soundness).  I was in complete awe as Rebecca Howard handed over his passport.  Stamps from Blenheim, Bramham, Rolex, Fairhill, and countless other events filled the pages.  He was also the recipient of the Zeppa International Trophy at Rolex (which is always cool to see in the Rolex program every year).   I was sure that this horse had forgotten more than I will ever know, and then he promptly dumped me over a beginner novice log during our first jump school.  Like so many upper level guys, his list of quirks was longer than his list of events in his passport, and one of them was that you could not stop riding… ever.  

For two seasons, he held my hand as I made some mistakes and learned from his vast knowledge.  At the Fork, he taught me that I really needed to make a decision about which side of the tree we’d be going after the bounce bank; at Paradise he informed me that we had two different ideas about what a coffin canter was; and  in Ocala he let me feel what a real gallop felt like.  I’d had one upper level horse before him, who was also awesome in his own right, but Ted knew exactly what I did and didn’t know, and he would fill in the gaps with only a slight eye roll in my direction.  

Ted was a talker, and a very effective communicator to those who would listen.  After a big move in my life where Ted was out of the competition program for a couple months, he told me in his own way that he was ready to retire.  Once that decision was made in 2008, I only sat on him a handful of times.  I think he felt a certain level of pressure from me, and the stress of knowing he couldn’t perform physically would bother him.  Instead of me, it was my non-horsey husband who would take the reins, and Ted taught him to post the trot, how to ride a buck in the canter, and would politely yet firmly inform all of us when a ride was finished.  

A few years ago, Ted’s health started to deteriorate.  A lifetime of strenuous activity had taken its toll on his body, and I had begun to prepare myself for the day that I’d have to say goodbye.  He would have a bit of a bad spell, but would bounce back, just as strong as ever.  He was our celebrity around the barn, as none of the other horses had achieved even half of what he had in his lifetime and we all cherished every moment that was given to us.  

This is exactly what I whispered to him as we walked through his painful spell of colic a few weeks ago.  I told him that he’d done things and seen things that very few horses ever get to, and for that reason and so many more, he would always have a special place in my heart.  I wanted to think that this bad spell was one he’d bounce back from, but a few days later, it was apparent that this time it was different.  Surrounded by a group of people who loved and respected him so much, Ted crossed the rainbow bridge to gallop without pain.  

Ted is one of the hundreds of horses who have not only conquered the upper levels, but gone on to pass their knowledge to younger riders.  I feel honored to have learned the things that his previous riders instilled in him, and hope I do him justice by passing along that knowledge to my current horses and students.

Holes

You know, not that long ago, I'd have been tickled pink to have two horses sitting in prime ribbon position going into the final day of a competition. 

But here's the thing.... My horses are way nicer than what I see on the scoreboard today. 

Let me start with prophet, since my world sort of rises and falls with him... Last night when we arrived, he felt pretty close to amazing, and this morning he felt pretty close to flat. He finally started to put it together when I suddenly realized I'd looked at the wrong dressage test. Here's me halting in warm-up, trying to watch the rider in front of me to learn my test. Once we made the turn onto center line off the grass and onto screening and the glaring sun, it was all I could do to kick him in front of my leg. When I got my test back, our marks ranged from 4-8, which is pretty much how the test rode. One of the 4's was for that damned stretch over center line which I thought was a lengthening (remember, I watched the person in front to me to learn). We ended the phase on a 36.1 to sit in 4th. 

When I went to watch show jumping, the carnage forced me away... The nagging voice in my head kept reminding me I haven't really jumped in a month. Luckily my horse is awesome and carried me around, although he was a little flat to 2 and 3 pulling two unlucky rails which are not characteristic of him. But, again, we haven't jumped in a month - can I really blame him? 

So now I sit here listening to pete snore and making a plan for p to fill the holes I've created by not devoting the time I need to Into his training. This is a familiar pep talk I have with myself as he makes it so easy to skate along... Until its not. 

Flashy and I have been filling so many holes lately that I need to buy an extra shovel. And I like what is happening.... Except for last night where my little naughty kid spent an hour being hard in the back, hard in the sides, hard in the mouth and pretty much saying "f*ck you". This morning he woke up on a better side of the bed, putting in a decent dressage, with marks ranging from 5-9(!), and scoring a 29.1. Definitely left some marks on the table by not pushing for 'more' but that's ok. Show jumping he was quite good to leave them all up and actually get 2 time penalties... My new way of riding him has slowed him down too much!!! So, not much I would have changed about flash's ride, except to get more out of him, but at least I feel like my plan is working. 

So tomorrow both boys have Xc, where flash has a straight forward romp thru the field with a bit of a question at the water, and p has a pretty damned serious preliminary track. Like, for real serious.  I just keep telling myself that this horse has grown up, and does things now cause he's learned to trust me and our relationship, but when I walk up on questions like the one below, I can't help but think of that gangly track baby that wouldn't go down the hill to the puddle at our first event. 

I'm off to walk the boys around in the dark and enjoy this little bit of alone time with my kids. 

The long and winding road with Diddy

I think we look good together :) 

A little over 9 years ago, I drove into the backside of Indiana Downs with a trailer and $1000.  Off to the scary Italian-mobster-like trainer's barn I went where he showed me 5 or so horses that I could have for that price.  Even though this bay thing was still in wraps from his last race, something about his face, and the little white button on the end of his nose told me he was the one.

Although I probably should have regretted that decision - after years of illness, special management, 6 meals a day, vet bills, well-respected pros telling me to get rid of him -  I show up at the barn every day so grateful that my 'first husband' greets me with his little hoarse whisper of a whinny.

He truly has taught me so much about riding, horse management, and loving unconditionally (me loving him -- he only shows his love for me when it benefits him. :).  We've been through some tough times where I was sure his goals didn't coincide with mine, but we've made it though and 9 years later, we are better partners than ever.

Prophet's first show! 

A wise employer of mine once told me that in order to do any level of cross country, that the horse has to want it just as much as the rider does, and that she wasn't so sure that Prophet wanted it at all.  There's definitely been moments where I've felt that might have been true, but at the time, I had no other option but to keep trying with him - plus he told the psychic he was concerned I was sad and that made me promise I'd never get rid of him. At the lower levels, P would randomly decided that XC wasn't for him, and would leave me cursing in front of small children.  However every since I moved P up to the upper levels (3 or so years), he's figured out this game and he wants it - maybe not like a lot of traditional event horses but enough that we are safe and semi-successful.  

But (there's always a but, right?) I feel like his desire comes from my desire therefore I feel a heightened level of responsibility to make sure that I never put him in a compromised situation (unlike Flash, who does whatever the h*ll he feels like, whether I want to or not! :).  So... here comes my revelation, and it's not one that probably means anything to anyone else but me, but I needed a blog topic for this Monday!

He wanted to jump bit way back then! 

P doesn't owe me anything, so it's time we have some fun.  He's not going to be an Advanced horse.  Not to say that we couldn't get around an Advanced level course, but that's not something I want to 'just get around'.  He's given me a couple of top 5 placings at Intermediate, and I hope for several more, but I'm going to be very selective about the courses I choose.  Plus, prelim jumps are big enough to have fun over without the green feeling tummy.

My sweet boy

AND we are going to do other fun stuff.  Goals for the rest of the year include getting our BLING on going western pleasure at the Thoroughbred Celebration Horse Show (in addition to dressage, jumpers, and a CT), AND participating in the $10,000 Hunter Derby at the Duke Benefit H/J show.  We also will be going to Georgia to run around a preliminary, and hopefully making the drive across NC to run Intermediate in the mountains of River Glen.

Pretty much I'm going to have the best time I can with my amazingly awesome boy and not put so much pressure on ourselves. 

p.s.  We'll be doing a pretty cool t-shirt fundraiser for the Duke show - details to be announced soon!

Everyone wants to be friends with a winner

Not gonna lie - still on a bit of a high from the weekend.  Ok, maybe that, and the two Pepsi's I've drank, but either way, I feel pretty pumped.

Friday started like any other event - with me and my three boys headed down good ol' US 1 to Southern Pines.  Pete was jealous that his big brothers got spared my singing by being in the trailer, but he declined the offer to ride in the tack room.

Prophet was up first in the sandbox and put in a pretty decent attempt at a test.  I figured it was ok when the judge complemented us, but, really, I never know when it comes to that horse how the judges will like him.  I guess this one thought he was pretty ok, scoring us at 27.5, and in the lead by at least a few points.

I had plenty of time to soak in our success, as Flash's time wasn't for another 7 hours.... ugh.

Needless to say, Flash came out a bit over the whole situation.  And being surrounded by several advanced/olympic riders didn't make me feel much better, as they went around on their beautiful, big, babies.  Me and my little appy baby felt a bit... well... flat.  And Flash doesn't score well flat - he scores well because he's pretty freaking brilliant, and our brilliance wasn't really with us. He put in a respectable, mistake free test for a 34 - which put us WAY down the leader board in 9th place. After winning the first by such a margin on my non-dressage horse, being that far down on my usually dressage-gifted horse made me feel... flat.

Oh well, JUMPING was coming up!!!

On day two I had some help, which meant I couldn't be too green feeling on the drive down to jump.  For Flash it was SJ day - a day to play with the little jumps, and show everyone how little control I have of where he takes off.  He jumped a spirited round, that only included two missed spots (success!) and zero penalties, to move all the way up to 3rd.  Never did I ever thing there'd be that much movement in a novice class!

Then I had a short turn around to P's XC round, a course that I was excited to run, but a little apprehensive of P's fitness.  If I'd known I was going to be in the lead, I would have done a few more galloping sets! Luckily for me, I barely had to touch P's bit the entire way around the course.  After epic misses at my first two fences, we got our act together and P ate the rest of the course for lunch.  He was pretty much amazing, coming in right at optimum time.

A quick glance at live scores as we drove home showed that we were the only one in the division to go double clear, to  have the lead by 12 points.  Once again, I was elated, and celebrated Saturday night by falling asleep on my couch at an embarrassingly early hour.

Now that my ponies were really in prime positions - I picked up yet another person to help, and so the two horses, one dog and 3 humans headed South on #1 Sunday morning.

Flash was once again first up.  He made easy work of the jumps around the track, with only minor conversations about control/steering (picture me stopping in the middle of the track after fence 3... and fence 5... and fence 7.... when he sort of finally got the point).  If only I could direct ALL his energy in the correct direction, he'd really be unstoppable.  We managed a clear round though, to hold onto our yellow ribbon placing - Very proud of my little fighter!

P was my last ride, and the last show jumping ride of the show. He felt good in warm-up - so good that I did very limited jumps.  Apparently I needed a few more as my eye was a little off to the first two in the ring.  Luckily, P recognized my shortcomings, took the reins (so to speak) and jumped around the track with a monkey on his back.  At that point we had 5 rails in hand (20 points), and we didn't need a single one.  Landslide victory went to the Diddy man! I guess you can tell that I don't win often cause I did the victory gallop the wrong way, but oh well -- Diddy was even confused as to why he had to be the first one to go!

A super HUGE thanks to our new sponsors Draper Equine Therapies, IRH Helmets, and Custom Saddlery (expect a blog post shortly about these companies), and as always, the rest of our supporters - Cur-Ost, Animals to Wear, BonVivant Equine, Hoof Wraps, and Whinny Warmers!

Here are some pics from the weekend.

They compete at everything - even water drinking! 

Pete was not happy about giving up part of his back seat

My little hunter, oh wait, I mean eventing pony. 

Blue looks good on you, diddy.

Energy conservation is the key to Prophet's success

Pete knows where the water jumps are at CHP and pulls me towards them

Handsome boys!!!! 

bionic flash and his friend andrew

World's worst blogger award goes to - ME!

But in an effort to regain my blogging passion, I'm moving past my guilt and on to bigger and better topics! I keep coming across topics that I think, man, I need to blog about that, but alas, I sit down at the end of a day, and fail to open my computer, and instead I fall asleep on the couch watching my favorite obsession, Newsroom.

So today, I'm kicking off a morning of rescheduled lessons by tapping out an entry before noon, thus unleashing my morning creativity burst.
(momentary pause to fuel up on PB&J, cause typing two paragraph's is hard work!)

So, although I have millions of updates to give and opinions to spout about, I"m going to start with a little Flashy-pants update.

Flash started the season a little bit late due to a heal injury that he, of course, healed wickedly fast like the little bionic horse that he is. :)  He was 5th (I think) at LongLeaf in the Novice, won a couple of MacNair's CTs, scored a freaking 16.5 (and finished on it!) at the starter HT, and ran around the tough novice in Maryland with just a little look at the ditch for an otherwise amazing event.

Somewhere in that schedule, Flash came in with a bit of a swollen leg.  A few days of ice and hacking and it was as good as new.

The vet had a suspicion that he's actually broken his splint bone and it might be time for a trip to the vet school.  I just knew that he was going to be a terror up there - equivalent of a bull in a China shop, only this china shop involves millions of dollars of tech equipment and fragile vet students.

Just getting to the vet school involved a bit of an exercise in patience and creative driving as my truck (Big Booty Judy) got stuck in the driveway at the barn.  Flashy then got to travel in style as the only horse in the 5 horse slant load.

From the get-go Flash had everyone bombuselled into thinking he was sweet and innocent.  He didn't even run over the vet student during his lameness exam jogs! And not one high kick to show them his hidden talents.  We are very lucky to have the NC State Vet School so close and the wonderful doctors there.  Even if Redding did give me a hard time about riding a little horse. Kind of was hoping Flash would give him a good strike at that point. :)

As you would expect with a bionic horse, he was a star in recovery - as if someone said, "hey Flash, if you get up really nicely and poop, you get a yummy mash and dinner on time", and so he did just that.  I was lucky to have a lot of students and friends who were around him all day and I'd get a bunch of updates throughout of how awesome he was doing - only when I showed up, he'd act like his world was coming to an end and he didn't know if he was going to live through the next hour.  I guess he might be a little bit of a momma's boy.  Pretty soon he perked up and embraced the spoiled lifestyle that he was getting though - and took to posing for pictures.

Once he got back to Wynnscott, his good behavior continued, and recovery went by the books - two weeks of stall rest with only hand grazing.  Two weeks of hand walks, and then eased back into undersaddle work and full turnout. He spent his days perfecting the art of destroying stall toys and convincing everyone at the barn that he was having a severe treat deficiency, cured only by a handful of the good stuff located in a bucket right outside his stall.

During Flash's stall rest time, we started to notice a particular toad who toiled away the hours sitting in front of Flash's stall watching him (and eating the flies on the stall grate).  We, naturally, named the frog Andrew and start chronicling his adventures.

Andrew watching Flash

I think Flash enjoyed having Andrew around too. 

Once Flash was able to go back out, I think Andrew misses him... 

And has to spend his time pretending to read.

Since then, Flash is coming back great.  He is in full flat work, and will hopefully start jumping this week! Wee! 

Flash's first ride back!  Airvest, neckstrap, and maybe some drugs. :) 

knocking off some dust... 7 years of dust.

Just before Thanksgiving I had a great idea to bring my old man, Rockie, out to the East Coast for a student to cruise around on for a few years.

Rockie was a homebred horse, out of a TB mare that was originally my grandmother's - given to my mom when my grandma passed away. He's by a Morgan Stallion who my aunt (dad's sister) owned, so he was literally a product of both sides of my family. When he was younger, I thought he was a little ugly - all neck and shoulders with very little caboose.

Until the day I got on him to canter through the field.  He was four years old.  My mom had competed him BN, and I was getting ready to move on from my pony I'd had for 8 years. He floated across the field and I promptly stole him from my mother.  From that day on, we began our climb up the levels, running the Training Level Three-Day at Mayfest HT in Lexington, Kentucky, and eventually moving up to Prelim.  Neither one of us had the education to run that level, but I was just dumb enough to try, and he was smart enough to keep us safe. We weren't the most successful, but it really didn't matter.

Right at the beginning of my senior year of college, Rockie had his first life altering health issue.  The night before we were going to leaving for an event (luckily my mom had come out with her mare that day), he started showing colic signs.  A little bit of Banimine and he seemed good to go -- until the next morning when he was in full blown shock.  He was in so much pain that he ran over 3 men to get out of a stall.  For the next 4 days, we took turns (my mom doing the most of it), walking around the indoor with an IV pole, giving him unlimited fluids.  He finally started to come out of it, and eventually returned to health.  He came back to compete in a Novice level event about 8 months later, but I was leaving with P for the East Coast, so Rockie went back to Illinois for a little more rest and recuperation.

For the next couple of years, he was leased by two people who competed him at the lower levels, but his respiration never did seem to recup enough after his illness.  He could get fit enough to run Novice and below, and he loved to be out on the XC course, no matter what the level.

And then his second life altering event occurred.  In a muddy part of the year, he came down with some seedy toe fungus, which was awful in itself.  Then, somewhere among the huge field that my parent's horses live in, he managed to find a 2" piece of metal and jam it into the hollow part of his toe.  You know the saying "No Foot, No Horse"?  Well we nearly had no horse. My poor mother was doing everything in her power to keep him comfortable. One of my awesome sponsors, HOOF WRAPS, was there to save the day.  My mom quickly ordered a wrap in order to avoid going into duct tape and vet wrap debt. Slowly and surely he grew his foot back was normal again!

So, now here we are a few years later.  Rockie is coming 18 this year and my mom was talking about how he needed to stay in work to keep everything moving properly.  I somehow convinced my parents to truck him out here when they were making the trip for Christmas, so they loaded him up (along with all of my things from my old room - I think they are really kicking me out!), and made the long trip out to NC.  Unfortunately, my student who I wanted him for needs to sell her horse (contact me if you know of anyone looking for a lovely open show/lower level dressage horse!) before Rock moves to her barn, so I get to have him around every day to pet and teach some lessons on.

Which (finally) brings me to the point of this post.... The Running Start Horse Trials was originally scheduled for the 23rd of February, but the lovely weather we've been having this winter (sarcasism), required it to move to Sunday. I had Prophet entered in the Prelim CT, but he had a chiro appointment on Sunday so was out for the show.  They weren't going to give refunds, so I needed a replacement, so I figured I should probably run Rock around once before handing the reins to Sarah.  They let me change to the Beginner Novice HT and down to Vass, NC we went.

Rockie was so excited that I wasn't so sure we'd get our giraffe neck down long enough for an entire dressage test, but we did, and it wasn't so bad. Show jumping came and Rockie thought that the jumps were way too small, and that lead changes were VERYEXCITINGTODOWITHLEAPSANDSQUELS!   So on we went to XC where he promptly tried to buck me off every time I attempted to slow him down.  He felt amazing though, and I had such a stupid grin on my face the whole time.  I even let him have a gallop up the last hill, speed faults be damned.

Running Start is sort of notorious for their slow posting of placings, so up the end, I had no idea how we'd placed.  When they finally posted everything, Rockie's name was in the first place column.  To say that I was excited is a bit of an understatement... or a really big understatement.   Really, you'd have thought I'd won Rolex - I was hugging  people I didn't know, squealing like Rock doing flying changes. Holy crap he won!!!!

So now hopefully he will calm down a little bit for Sarah to have fun on, although the horse definitely has jumping on the brain again.

In addition to Hoof Wraps, I also need to give a shout out to another amazing sponsor, CurOST, who definitely helps keep Rockie comfortable and happy doing his job at 18 years young. I have the most amazing sponsors ever!

C-Horse Stuff

The weather has been dreadful, and wonderful, and dreadful again.  Ah, the joys of living in North Carolina. :)
This morning, we were pretty much frozen in, therefore I used the morning off to play with some Pinterest ideas I'd had.  I've got to get around to making another 'official' order of C-Horse Equestrian apparel, but I think these are pretty cool too!

12 days of Christmas - I really am bad at this

Seriously?  How did I lose a week of my life.  Maybe it had something to do with the show to organize, lessons to teach, horses to ride, parties to plan, and a few winks of sleep in there... but alas, I apologize for slacking, and now need to pick up where I left off!

Today's feature comes from Whinny Warmers - a wonderful company with a cute name.

The owners of WW are awesome people who do a ton for the equine world.  They generously support my team, and my horses love them for it!  In the summer, my kids have all four legs protected by the Summer Whinny, which keep their legs cool and flies away.  In the winter, their legs are warm and toasty with the Whinny Warmers.  Both products have multiple benefits, including increased circulation, wound protection, anti-bacterial properties, keeping whites white before shows, and keeping soft tissues happy between rounds. Pretty much, they rock.








Not only is WW very supportive of my team, but they also are very active in supporting rescues and other great organizations all over the country.  How can you not love a company who does their part to give back!

Here in NC, the weather is starting to turn (finally!) and any horse would LOVE to find Whinny Warmers in their stockings to help keep those feetsies warm!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

In between Christmas madness, and enjoying the 70 degree weather, I've actually managed to remember the blog 2 days in a row! Yay!

For a quick recap, Day 1 featured BonVivant Equine and their wonderful browbands, bran mashes and boots. Day two was the wonderful company CurOst and their products that make my horses feel wonderful, and Day 3 was the awesome quartermark queen, Kate Bremser.

Which brings us to Day 4.

I'm going to go ahead spill a secret.  I live for the shows where I know Becky Raubacher and her wonderful husband Chris of Animals to Wear will be in attendance.  They are absolutely wonderful people and Becky is one amazingly talented artist.  Even when I haven't seen the two of them in months or even a year, I feel like no time has passed and I usually leave their booth with a bag full of awesome goodies and a warm feeling of friendship and support.

Those of you who see me on any kind of regular basis know that I basically live in their clothing.  They do an outstanding job of selecting just the right apparel on which to print Becky's beautiful art.  Every article of clothing wears like iron, fits amazingly and keeps me looking at least a little put-together!

I would go into details on my favorite products, but pretty much, just open up any link on her website, and you won't be disappointed.  Here are just a few pics to give you an example of how important Animals to Wear is to the C-Horse Team.

Cadet

dressage pad

dressage pad and Kerrits Half Zip carbon

polo

Seriously, if there is a horse-crazy person on your list - you will make them the happiest person in the world with ANY gift from Animals to Wear.