Page 1 - December & January

December 30	This morning at quarter to seven, when the temperature was 14 degrees, I hooked up my trailer and headed south for Florida. As I pulled out of the driveway a virtual blizzard of snow sprayed off of the roof of my trailer, no doubt blinding the unfortunate drivers behind me. A sunny day with well cleared roads made for a relatively easy drive, as easy as driving a huge horse trailer for 11 hours can be. The temperature stayed pretty cold for most of the day but then in Virginia and North Carolina the final chunks of ice and snow finally started to break off the truck and trailer. I felt a little like the crew of Apollo 13 who, in the movie at least, reenter Earth's atmosphere in a frozen space module that dramatically thaws and melts. I stopped in Orangeburg South Carolina and was delighted to find a relatively empty parking lot at the hotel which allowed me to park the behemoth for the night without fear of being trapped the next morning until all the other guests had checked out.
December 31	On the road again. I left the hotel at six this morning, gassed up, and was back on the highway in a matter of minutes. My drive was thankfully uneventful and I managed to find a couple of isolated travel plazas for fuel stops where I had plenty of room to turn around. As usual, getting into Florida was anti-climatic as you quickly realize that you have five or six more hours of driving to go (but at least you are in the right state at this point). For miles and miles there are empty stretches filled with copious billboard advertising a predictable rotation of bibles, fireworks, and porn, clearly an important trinity here in Florida. When I got off of the highway just a few miles from the barn the song playing on the radio was Back to Ohio and I thought absolutely not right now. The barn looked wonderful; warm, sunny, green, floral, and considerably improved from even just last year! There is a new gate and signs and many things that were in progress last year, including a very impressive covered arena; all are now finished. After watching some horses and unloading some hay I drove a few minutes to the house that I am renting with Lauren and Jenny. The house itself is very nice and very clean though effusively decorated with tea cups, dried flowers, fake plants and ivy, and various other knick knacks. Unfortunately one of the little collections of clutter involved dolls, many of whom were positioned to watch me sleep and had to be moved immediately. I am afraid of puppets and dolls, especially if they are looking at me while I sleep! I am exhausted from the drive and, needless to say, will not see in the new year.
January 1	Happy New Year!! Well I would love to say that it was a hot and sweltering day here South Florida, but alas it was not. Yes it was much warmer than the teen temperatures I hear you are all having at home but I was really disappointed to find that temperatures this morning were in the upper thirties and lower forties. Everything here is outdoors so when it is cold outside you are out in the wind and you really feel it. I packed way too optimistically and since I had no real winter clothes with me I had to wear all of my jackets all at the same time. The effect, much like at home, being that my arms were stuck permanently out to my sides and though I could barley move I was still freezing. Nevertheless, I sat by the arena for most of the morning to watch some really great horses work. I watched most of Betsy Juliano's horses, including two recent arrivals from Germany, work with George and Betsy and I also watched part of Betsy Rebar-Sell's lesson with her trainer. I could tell from watching George that he had some new torturous exercises as his new favorites, including a ten meter circle that turns into a small square that turns into a turn on the forehand to full-pass to leg-yield to ten meter circle/square thing in the opposite direction. Got all that? Me neither, but I think that I better get it figured out before my first lesson because I know I will be doing it frequently. The other exercise du jour appears to be the renver in anything - renver to halt - renver in passage- renver in piaffe . I have not told Cupido about this yet as I can not imagine that he will be pleased. Though usually watching these great horses is inspirational, sometimes it is a bit discouraging as you quickly realize that when you do that same movement your horse does not do it in a gliding floating way as these superstars do, but rather in a labored, grunting way as do most regular horses.
January 2	Another day of chilly temperatures down here. The sun was out for most of the day making things appear deceivingly warm. I wanted to watch George work horses again in the morning so I huddled under one of Cupido's blankets in a comfortable chair along the side of the arena and shivered for a couple of hours while George rode a long string of horses. I was also able to watch him teach a couple of people and though I learned a lot by watching the exercises. I am sorry to report that all of the trainers at the farm this season now use a wireless headset system to communicate with their students. I really miss hearing the instruction but I am sure that it makes for a more peaceful environment to eliminate all the trainers yelling to be heard over the wind or a tractor. Since our horses just arrived yesterday they were not ready to work, but we got them out frequently to hand walk to try to loosen up their muscles which were undoubtedly tight after spending so many hours confined on a semi on the way from Ohio. The house I share with Lauren and Jenny is starting to feel homier. We put away or at least turned around most of the dolls so they are no longer watching us, which is a big relief to me. I was alarmed, however, to find that Jenny brought her snake along to Florida again this year. Nagini resides in her tank in Jenny's bedroom and I have not actually looked at her but Jenny did bring a little brown bag into the house tonight containing a live mouse which she told me was the snake's dinner. Snakes and mice are both fine outside but having them in the next bedroom and knowing that one is feasting on the other is most disturbing.
January 3	Though the temperature has not really improved down here I think that it would be best not to complain anymore since the weather is virtually unbearable at home. Today we were able to get on and ride the horses lightly. It felt so good to ride after four days of just sitting, driving, and unpacking. I was starting to feel really stiff but just 30 minutes in the saddle made all of the difference. We waited until the afternoon to ride, both because then it would be warmer and also to make sure that we did not ride our potentially fresh horses while others were trying to take lessons (there was little concern that Cupido would be fresh or, honestly, even very active but he had agreed to babysit Lauren's young horse Fritz for his first ride). Lauren and I spent about 20 minutes just hacking around and then did a short set of work in the front arena (the one which is not covered) and it felt so good to get warm while riding in the sun. After a little work we again hacked the horses around the property, letting Fritz really see the place and letting Cupido stretch all of his muscles. After so many days of watching other people ride I can't wait to get back to work and hopefully start in with lessons soon. Wellington is as charming as ever. All the palm trees are decorated with Christmas lights for the holidays and there are pickup trucks everywhere. Everyone is wearing riding clothes and dirty barn clogs and nobody looks at you funny when you jump out of your truck at the grocery store wearing breeches and run in for a thirty pound bag of carrots and nothing else.
January 4	Today was a quiet day at the barn as it was a Monday. Mondays, in the horse world (or at least the serious horse world down here), are always the day off. Though Monday is kind of a strange day off it makes sense if you compete, because after a weekend-long horse show you are still on track for a day off on Monday. Where in other parts of the world Friday and Saturday are big party nights, here, in horse land, the big party night is Sunday. Sunday night rocks in Wellington when everyone from international jumper riders, to polo players, to grooms, to barn managers mix it up at places like the Players Club (a place pretty accurately described in a couple of Tami Hoag murder mysteries set in Wellington). The first year I was down here my tiny efficiency (remember the one with the giant water rat!) was mere yards from the Player's Club and my walls would thump from the music until three or four in the morning. Therefor not only is Monday quiet because everyone has the day off, but it is also quiet because most people are hung over (or if you are a rider your groom is likely hung over so you don't ride anyway). I, of course, am old and want to be in bed at ten not matter what night of the week it might be so I was wide awake today and able to enjoy having the barn virtually to myself today. George was around most of the day with the blacksmith but he was wearing Jeans, a clear signal that he was not working. Lauren, Jenny and I all rode relatively early and really relished having the huge arena with the beautiful mirrors (where you can really see that you are in need of instruction) and the perfect footing all to ourselves. I tried out some of the exercises that I see George drilling so that Cupido and I are ready to try them in our lessons and then we took the horses hacking around the property. After feeding the horses dinner I had enough time to go home, shower, and feed myself before returning for night check. Even though I had been gone only a few hours the horses were delighted to see me an acted as if they had not eaten though there was still plenty of dinner hay in each of their stalls. I am sure that they want to hoard it all just in case we are a few minutes late in the morning and they faint from hunger.
January 5	When I turned on the news this morning everyone was talking about the frost warning and the danger of losing the citrus and strawberry crops. Apparently all of us snowbirds brought the frigid temperatures right down into the sunshine state. There was also a wind chill advisory which seemed silly at first since it was hardly going to be below zero but it turned out to be a very cold wind indeed and with no wind-blocking shelter down here it made for a frigid day. While at this point I was hoping to have a tan, I have only terrible wind burn. However, I came down here to watch great horses so that is what I did. We all huddled in Betsy's comfortable chairs wrapped up in various horse blankets and coolers by the arena and watched George take a lesson with Kathy Connelly on Betsy's Don Bailey. The horse was really fresh (or just trying to stay warm) and leaped and played for a while before settling down to work. The lesson was really fun to watch but alas this headset thing makes for a less informative experience (it also makes all of the trainers look like tele-marketers). Shortly after noon there seemed to be a break in the action so Lauren and I decided to ride. By the time we got in the ring we were sharing it not only with George but with Cheryl Meisner who was taking a lesson from one of those intimidating European trainers. This guy seemed to be about seven feet tall, about ninety percent of which appeared to be leg, and smoked a pipe while teaching. As I rode by I caught a whiff of pipe smoke and disdain, and I was inspired to finish my ride more quickly than I would have otherwise. After leaving the barn I went to Dick's sporting goods and purchased some fleece ear-warming headbands, warm socks, and yet another fleece jacket. Who would ever think that I would be so desperate for fleece in South Florida?
January 6	Today I actually had a lesson. Since my lesson was scheduled for one in the afternoon I had the whole morning to do chores and watch rides. Unfortunately, it was again so cold that sitting by the arena was not very enjoyable so I sat in my truck and checked e-mail while simultaneously watching George, Betsy and Ryan Yap ride (Lauren occasionally knocked on the window when she wanted to communicate and asked if she could interrupt me while I was in my office). It is strange not to have numerous horses to ride and I feel like all of the down time is making me drowsy - although I might just be getting sleepy from sitting in a warm truck on a sunny day. Eventually it was time for Cupido and me to have our lesson and get some real exercise but not until we figured out how to get the very large ear-pieces for the wireless headset into my tiny little ears - needless to say this was painful but eventually we worked it out and went on with the lesson. While I did not get to try out the circle to square to halt to full pass to leg yield maneuver, I did get to experience the full effect of the "renver in everything". There was a shoulder in to halt to turn on the haunches to renver pattern that we repeated quite often and the lesson culminated with a passage ten meter circle, on which I was suppose to be "lighting a fire" but Cupido thought not, and then cantering and immediately turning a pirouette. It was great to get a lesson. I felt challenged and very aware of how sloppy I had become without the benefit of instruction for so long. On a completely separate note I have had numerous e-mails by people frightened to hear about Jenny's snake. Well, here is the latest snake update, Nagini is eating mice more frequently these days as she is preparing to start eating "larger creatures" (otherwise known as rats!!). Apparently, she needs to train for the step up, like someone preparing for a pie eating contest just with a much less appetizing food item.
January 7	Today it was finally a little warmer, thank goodness. I rode this morning in the front arena, the one without the cover, so that I was actually in the sun and was actually able to take off all but one of my numerous jackets. Jenny was watching Lauren ride Rudy but spent most of the time picking up manure from the arena, much of it Cupido's. With the special arenas here at the farm it is essential that manure be picked up right away to prevent it from ruining the footing so if you sit to watch around one of the rings, especially one with many horses working, you spend much of your time picking out the poop - poor Jenny. After our rides Jenny and I went across the street and went for a hack in the big field. This is a huge expanse of property with another arena at one end and power lines running down the middle. It is great for a short trail or if you want to do a little work on the grass. We really enjoyed just being out in the sun and feeling comfortable. This afternoon I put Cupido out in a paddock and pulled a chair out by his pasture to read in the sun. I still had a jacket on but I actually felt the sun warming my clothes. Jenny went with George to go pick up a new horse in Miami and left her dog with Lauren and me for the afternoon so Brigitta (the poodle) and I sat there and absorbed some rays. Eventually, Lauren and her dog Bernie came out and joined us. So there we were, two people, two dogs, and Cupido all refugees from the frigid North desperately absorbing sunlight and vitamin D.
January 8	Today there was real warmth, the kind where you ride in a polo shirt and give your horse a bath. I rode out in the sunshine and went for a hack and then gave Cupido a shampoo, rinse, and repeat kind of bath a little heavy on the repeat. It is amazing, even body clipped, how much dirt a horse can hide in his coat. When the water finally stopped running off of him yellow and he smelled more like shampoo than, well you can imagine, I sprayed him with Vetrolin Shine and stood with him out in the sun so that he could dry. I think with so much time to spend on just one horse Cupido is starting to worry that he has turned into a life-size My Little Pony. He is already tired of having each spot removed from his white coat and having me hover around to clean his stall while he is trying to eat (an activity he engages in constantly down here because I am also around to give him yet another flake of hay when he beckons me). While it was wonderful to have a day to enjoy the typically wonderful Florida weather I know that tomorrow won't be very nice. The weather report calls for rain and then temperatures dropping into the lower 30s ad upper 20s which the newscasters keep reminding us might present the possibility of SNOW. As they remind us constantly there is little chance of the snow actually hitting the ground let alone accumulating but all of the real Floridians (pronounced Flaridians) are in a tizzy and have to be reassured that they will not have to shovel. I will keep you posted about the impending blizzard.
January 9	Well it has not snowed, at least not yet, but I think that we are edging towards freezing rain right now. I rode early this morning before the temperatures really started dropping. It was about 40 and raining and so everyone was packed into the covered arena. Actually, by the time I was tacked up and ready to go there were so many riders under the covered that I rode in the front ring in a light drizzle. It was not too cold nor raining too hard yet and having the arena all to myself was nice. We had an easy day today because I MIGHT have a lesson tomorrow. In the previous years that I have come here to ride with George you figured out if you had a lesson by making a daily pilgrimage to the sacred "book". This special book was really nothing more that a daily appointment calendar, but as the writing contained within determined whether or not you had a lesson and thus how you would structure your day it took on supernatural importance. Sometimes you could go and look at the book at seven in the morning and know immediately if you had a lesson that day, those were the easy days. On other days, however, you would simply find that the book had been filled out until say noon and though you could then determine if you had a morning lesson, if you did not you were unsure if you had an afternoon lesson or no lesson at all. You could easily walk from your barn to George's barn five or six times during the course of a day trying to figure out the schedule as he would maybe fill in another hour or two but not actually complete the calendar. This year there is no "book" but the lesson schedule is still a bit ambiguous. Thus far it appears that you send a text message to George if you think that it might be a lesson day and he then gives you an approximate time. Still confusing but a bit of an improvement, I think.
January 10	Cold, wind chill in the twenties - so very reminiscent of home. As Betsy Rebar Sell said today "it is like being at the November show at Lake Erie". I could not agree more, except here there are no walls here so the wind is unavoidable. Many people who had entered the show this weekend scratched today, or even earlier when they saw the forecast. It was a distinctly unappealing prospect to watch rides either at the show or at the barn, so after feeding and doing stalls this morning we all went back to the house where we hid with the heat on until it was time to feed lunch. Through a number of ambiguous text messages I learned that I had a lesson at one (which became two and eventually two thirty). This time I avoided the vice-like headset and borrowed Jenny's i-pod ear buds to listen to George with the wireless set. Cupido was very good even though this time we did George's circle-square-halt-full pass-leg yield-circle exercise and also revisited a number of the passage gymnastics as well. It was the first time that I had ever worn a turtleneck sweater to take a lesson down here, but today even with the sweater, vest, and jacket I never really warmed up. Jenny and Lauren watched my lesson under a mountain of blankets, coolers and jackets and I could hear George's teeth chattering through the wireless. Tonight we had a total non-horse night and watched a movie at the house. Hopefully the big thaw is on the way.
January 11	Another cold start with a morning temp of 34 and a wind chill warning. Betsy bought a giant propane heater - one of those tall ones that they put outside at restaurants - so that sitting by the arena was not unbearable. Apparently it was hard to come by as most things that provide warmth have sold out in South Florida. I hear on the local news that there has been a run on everything from blankets and winter coats to space heaters and heating pads - even the palm trees look cold. The barn was very quiet today, even for a Monday, as the cold has driven everyone indoors. There are a few intrepid souls who ride anyway, including Ryan Yap who rides all day but who has been looking irritable and reclusive riding around in a winter coat with the hood up over his very fabulously coiffed hair and George who has been hunched and shivering for days. This afternoon it did eventually warm up and when Cupido went out in his paddock I sat out in the sun with him, moving my chair each time the light changed and I ended up in a shadow. At home, Nagini consumed her first rat (I heard about it after the fact, thank goodness), yum what a tasty treat. I am concerned, but too afraid to ask, that consuming larger creatures means that the snake will grow.
January 12	I spent the morning huddled by the new ringside heater to watch George ride Don Bailey in a lesson with Kathy. Though I could not hear her speak I was clearly able to decipher the exercises she had them doing and could see how this work improved the way the horse was going. In the early afternoon I was able to ride in just a sweater which was a rare treat and I think that Cupido and I were both able to sweat a little bit. I found a spot in the sun to watch Lauren take a lesson on Bree and was again forced to try my hand at lip reading in order to follow what George was saying. As I have ridden with George for many years now it was pretty easy to guess what he was saying. A lot of "so this is good here" and "Forward (pronounced foward)" and then "ye-es this is good here". I could also see how the order of the gymnastics gradually developed the quality of the trot and canter. This evening we went to dinner with Lauren's friend Chrissa at a local Mexican restaurant (why are the portions so enormous at these places?) On our way to the restaurant we drove through the Publix parking lot and saw a parade of people going in to grocery shop wearing their riding breeches, which was pretty normal here, and wearing down coats which is definitely not normal. Most were wearing clogs but occasionally you would see a woman wearing flip flops, undoubtedly on her way for a pedicure. What a great place this is where you can go to the spa in riding clothes and nobody thinks it is strange.
January 13	This morning it was a few degrees warmer so I was able to watch George working on his new freestyle on Don Bailey with only a minimum of shivering. Terri Gallo, the freestyle guru, was directing the show using her Mac laptop connected to the arena speaker system to play various musical selections. I love watching freestyles come together from the beginning. The end product is always so lovely that it interesting to see just how hard it is to organize. The barn became very quiet in the afternoon as both Kathy and George left early to fly to the USEF meeting. A four day meeting what fun! I rode in the covered ring and had it to myself for a while before I was joined by Cheryl Meisner on one of her horses. It is easy to feel intimidated by these world class riders and there freakishly fancy horses but I stuck it out and performed a little mediocre passage in the wake of Cheryl's more spectacular efforts. Fortunately Cupido did not find himself to be any less brilliant, no self esteem issues there. After my ride I went out for a hack around Cindy Circle. It is just so fun to be able to ride down the street passing not just cars but other horses as well, and to see great horses working or hanging out in pastures at the farms you pass. Cupido felt that ring work AND a hack was a bit excessive and he began to drag his feet in an effort to convey his utter exhaustion to me. We headed back and he enjoyed a couple of hours of sunny turnout. Clevelander Suzie Coleman, Bree's owner, arrived this afternoon and seemed really happy to see the Florida sun even if it is unseasonably cool here. I head back to Cleveland tomorrow for a few days. I think that I will miss out on the temperatures in the upper seventies down here this weekend and I am just hoping to avoid a blizzard or sub-zero temperatures at home.
January 14	Finally a true Florida morning where you need a light jacket not six layers of polar fleece. The horses were very anxious to get turned out, no doubt realizing that the weather was better and wanting to get out and sun themselves. The farm was quiet again today and I had a nice ride in the front ring and went across the street for a short hack. I finished up early today because I had to get to the airport to catch my flight home for the weekend. It figures that the day the cold weather finally breaks is the day that I leave, but the weather looks milder in at home to so I guess it is not all bad. I love to fly into and out of Palm beach because when you take off you fly directly out over the inter-coastal water way and then over the Atlantic before turning North along the coast of Florida, and the water always looks so beautiful from above. Today it was particularly blue, azure or cerulean (what great words). After flying north for a while we flew into the clouds and did not come out again until we were descending into Chicago (my connecting city) where everything was gray, the sky, the land, and all of the dirty snow, gunmetal or steel come to mind (not as appealing as the azure in Florida). Then I got home to Cleveland and though it was cold and gray it was nice to be home. My Christmas tree is still up and completely decorated, hmmm a little disturbing.
January 15-17	Home, at the barn all the snow is starting to melt (this could take a while as there is so much) and it is nearly 40 degrees - a virtual heat wave. The horses seem happy to see me, well some of them do anyway. Lots of rides and lessons and catching up with family. On my flight from Charlotte to West Palm several young ladies from a Florida Bible College sing hymns the whole way (one has a guitar and it reminds me of a scene from Airplane). They sing louder when we hit a couple of bad patches of turbulence, undoubtedly some sort of prayer to God for safe passage. The rest of the plane prays that they will stop singing - even a bolt of lightning would be welcome. They are all dressed in long denim skirts about one click away from Frontier Dresses. When I get out of the airport it is still 70 degrees at ten at night, how nice is that!
January 18	Wonderful and warm this morning. I was anticipating being cold when I walked out of the house and it took me a moment to realize that I did not have to hunch my shoulders against the cold. I watched a few rides after doing stalls and tried to get inspired by watching Don Bailey and Nueman. I worked Cupido in the arena across the street with short hacks before and after. Suzy had a lesson on Bree in the early afternoon and fortunately George sat close by so that we could hear him teach. There was the expected "Foward, Foward" and "This is good here" but also a lot of concentration on keeping the connection over the back consistent and keeping the inside hind willingly traveling towards the outside rein. While I was away this weekend one of the women who owns a horse down here had her thumb badly broken when it become wrapped in a lead line and the horse tried to get away. Though the bones of her thumb came through the skin and her finger essentially had to be re-attached in emergency surgery, she was out at the barn today and in a cheerful mood. She is a nurse and actually thought the whole thing was "really neat", go figure. She had pictures of the injury and was anxious to show us all, they were a little hard to take. I hardly think that I would be so perky after such a traumatic event. After feeding dinner, Lauren, Jenny, Suzy, and I went to the local Korean nail shop for cheap pedicures. with the warmer weather there is at least a chance of wearing sandals when we are not at the barn so it was time to do something about the feet. The pedicures are great, especially because as you have your toes worked on you sit is a great massage chair that works out all of the kinks in your back. As I arrived there in my clogs I had to leave in these paper slippers that they put on you so that you won't smudge the polish. They were one size fits all so they were huge and floppy and prone to falling off my feet. As I walked to my car I had to pick up my foot by bending my knee at a ninety degree angle keeping my foot rigidly parallel to the ground. I looked like I was walking in giant scuba flippers, a particularly good look with my riding breeches.
January 19	I watched George ride Don Bailey in a lesson with Kathy again this morning. There is a CDI this weekend and all the lessons are getting progressively more intense as the show draws closer. Lots and lots of Renver in preparation for the half-passes. I have a lesson tomorrow and since I know that George will have renver on the brain, I schooled a bunch of it when I rode today so that Cupido would be ready for it tomorrow. After working our horses, Lauren, Jenny, and I went on a hack around Cindy Circle. Fritz and Rudy set an active pace but Cupido was not going to be hurried and walked at his typical leisurely tempo. Since we had been gone for a while George took notice of our return and his groom Jesse said that he commented that we must have gone TRAIL RIDING. Trail riding, it seems, is not especially approved of. I think that it might be seen as an avoidance of real arena work and is thus frowned upon. I think that it is good for the horses to get out and see the world and also I think that it helps ease the monotony of arena work for them. Besides, trail riding in Little Ranches can provide great entertainment. You can see all sorts of horses working, get attacked by dogs or a variety of other animals including birds and ponies, watch the guy who makes giant metal sculptures in his front yard weld things, and sometimes see an alligator in the canal (sometimes even when there is no alligator the horses think that they see one anyway).
January 20	I can't believe that we have been down here for three weeks already. I feel like I just got here! I had a lesson today in the early afternoon so I had the morning to catch up with e-mail and also watch lessons. Most people do these two things at the same time but I separate them into two different activities since I don't have a blackberry and sitting there with my laptop seems a bit obvious. Most days as you sit by the arena to watch lessons you can look around and just about everyone is answering e-mails or surfing the web on their phones. I am not sure how much any of us learn anymore by sitting there. Between the headset situation and the total Internet access we neither see nor hear the lessons. Right before my lesson Cupido and I escorted George and his new baby horse around the property for a little hack. Cupido thinks that introducing young horses to trail rides might be his calling in life. The young horse would sort of check in with Cupido as if he was asking "should I be afraid of the garbage bags?" When Cupido would keep his head down and shuffle by the offending object the three year old would relax and walk by it too. The lesson was strenuous as always. There were many transitions to keep weight on the hind quarters and of course the dreaded renver. There was an extended trot/passage sort of thing and half pirouettes turning from the long side sharply back onto a "reverse diagonal". The barn was quiet and relaxing in the evening and Jenny and I stayed to feed as Lauren had taken Suzy to the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. On the way back taking she took her truck to the great car wash place that will hand wax your giant vehicle for almost nothing. Unfortunately, this is still South Florida and the truck wash is in a somewhat questionable area where it is best to go only in the morning when crack addicts and other freaks and drug dealers are still sleeping it off. While she waited for her truck she saw a woman at the gas station across the street with no shirt on (all the car wash guys saw this too and it really slowed the waxing), and was accosted by a meth addict wanting her to buy his Walmart gift card so that he "could have gas money to pick up his one year old". I am glad that I have never been there in the afternoon!
January 21	Happy happy joy joy the temperature finally hit 80 today! It was a warm and muggy start but then as the sun came up it burned off some of the humidity, the ocean breeze picked up and suddenly the weather was perfect (well, ok, perfect for me and probably a tad warm for the rest of the world). I actually broke a sweat riding. Many horses left for the show this afternoon and the barn was very quiet then. There is a large CDI this weekend at the Jim Brandon facility and many people from our barn will be showing. Since I am not showing this weekend and thus did not go to the show today, I had enough time in the later part of the day to fuss with Cupido who, I suspect, will be leaving brochures for me advertising knitting classes or golf lessons so that I take up a hobby that does not involve grooming him. Even after all of these years, it is just so satisfying to brush a horse and make him all shiny and clean. Today I removed stray whiskers and applied hoof moisturizer at least twice. I have gone through at least one bottle of vetrolin shine and one of Cowboy Magic. Cupido now always smell like Micro-Tek coat moisturizer which is not the scent that he would choose for himself but is frankly more appealing to most humans. Today was Jenny's birthday and Lauren and I went out to dinner with Jenny and her family who flew in for her big day. Tomorrow morning I will try to get up really early to get the horses done and get to the show by eight to watch George's early ride on Don Bailey. I am looking forward to the first big show of the season.
January 22	I rode really early this morning so that I could get over to the show. I got there in time to watch George warm up for his PSG test. The CDI warm up was so interesting. Chris Hickey was warming up Cabana Boy with help from Ulla Salzgerber (who is very tall and very German and very, very Scary) and Cheryl Meisner was getting ready for a Grand Prix test with help from Robert Dover (who in his official capacity as Canadian Coach was helping most of the Canadian riders). Robert was clutching the rails at the side of the arena trying to control himself while teaching (which can be hard and I was sure that he would break the rail eventually). Lars Peterson was also there on a huge and very extravagantly moving horse whom I had not seen before named Beemer. George and Don Bailey had a fabulous PSG and won their class with a 69. Chris Hickey and Cabana Boy finished sixth after a ride that looked good but a little fresh. Ulla seemed to have a lot to say to Chris when he came out which she punctuated with a number of hand gestures and what I was pretty sure were simulated half halts (she is even scarier when she does that - I would get my weight over my hind legs if I were her horse). Robert also seemed animated and agitated when talking to Cheryl after her GP test but that seems pretty par for the course for him. I stayed for a while and watched a few Grand Prix horses including a really nice ride by Todd Fletrich on Otto. This evening we had an "international dinner" at a local restaurant as we celebrated Jenny's birthday (for a second night) and also Cheryl's groom Shanae's birthday as well. We had about 20 adults and Cheryl's toddler so we were packed in at our table like sardines, it was really loud but fun.
January 23	I went for a hack on the wilder side of Little Ranches this morning. On one side you have Cindy Circle which is very quiet and you mostly see horses doing dressage work or in turnouts. When people pass you they wave and drive very slowly. Then there is the other side of Little Ranches where on a collection of streets called Ramble (North Ramble and South Ramble and so on) just about anything can happen. As soon as you enter this side things get a little crazy. Today, as soon as we stepped on to ramble there was a sudden cacophonous barking and a group of three or four Dobermans ran at their fence and looked as if they were going to try to get through to eat us. As we wandered on there were many seemingly rabid dogs, crazy drivers, workers on the roof of a house throwing shingles down in our path, a port-o-potty on the side of the road perched at a rakish angle with it's door flapping open in the wind, and finally a flock of strange looking ducks. When the skies started to darken and the wind picked up we headed for home, unwilling to be trapped on Ramble to wait out a storm. As soon as I put Cupido away Lauren, Chad and I ran over to the show to watch George ride his I-1 test. He had a nice ride and ended up in third place. Chris and Cabana Boy won with a 70 which seemed to make Ulla less angry with him (I am sure that a 70 is still a bit of an underachievement in her eyes). We stayed (though surprisingly Chad left and then came back to pick us up later, who would not want to stay at a dressage show all afternoon) to watch some of the Grand Prix. We saw Robert schooling Cheryl Miesner and another Canadian named Bonny. He was wearing a tan suit and carrying an umbrella with an ornate wooden handle - London anyone? There were many good GP rides though the days high humidity seemed to be taking a toll on some of the horses in terms of stamina.
January 24	I had a peaceful day off today. I got to the barn early to do stalls and walk Cupido as this was his day off as well. Then he went out in his paddock for a couple of hours while I watched lessons and rides. I also spent some time answering e-mails and looking at sale horses on line, marveling at some of the wonderful horses and outrageous prices. I watched Lauren's lesson on Fritz in the early afternoon which was especially fun because George rode the horse for the first half. The horses always seem a little surprised when he first gets on (Oh no - large man- strong half halt). Fritz was very good though very sweaty when it was all over. We fed a little early and went home to have a normal evening. Lauren, Jenny , and I are starting a new rotation where the person who does night check comes in a little later the next morning. I have night check tonight so tomorrow morning will be my morning to go to the barn after 6:30. I have not tried to sleep past six since I got here and I am not sure that I can do it, but it will be really nice not to have the alarm go off in the morning. George said that I have a lesson at some point tomorrow afternoon, even though Monday is suppose to be his day off from the barn (George is not entirely clear on what a day off is which prompted Betsy to call him Relax-Not. This is a great description and I laugh every time I think of it. I am pretty sure that this is also why he disapproves of trail rides).
January 25	Today was my day to go to the barn a little later. It was strange not to get up and run out the door but I got a few things done and tried to enjoy the slower pace of the morning. I got to the barn in plenty of time to watch Jenny's lesson at nine. George decided to sit on Rudy again for most of the lesson, which is always exciting. Rudy did very well though he had some thoughts about repeating the lines of changes and he and George had a lengthy discussion about that. I had a lesson at one and Cupido was very worried that George might sit on him and that he might have to be as energetic as Rudy. Fortunately for Cupido I rode the whole time. Right before our lesson started the sky got very dark, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees. I was very grateful to be riding in a covered arena as the rain started coming down. Other riders, who usually work in the front ring, came in to get out of the weather. There was a very frightened lady who was concerned about her horse spooking at a tarp blowing behind the mirrors. She was one of Kathy's students and after the tarp was secured (she was not going to that end of the arena no matter what until somebody took care of the tarp) she started a lesson with Kathy (we can ride simultaneously now with the headsets so one trainer does not have to scream over the top of the other). Ryan also came in out of the rain (his hair was still fabulous despite the moisture - mine on the other hand was getting puffier and frizzier by the moment and though I had it secured with three rubber bands it was starting to escape - I should talk to Ryan about his hair care products). In my lesson we worked on staying up in the canter work (the phrases "more up" and "more active" echoing constantly through my ear-piece), and using half steps to get a better carriage in the trot. I am still trying to figure out how I should ride my medium trot more like passage/medium but I think that it is getting better (at least it seemed like it as this work got a lot of "ye-es" and "this is good here", "the carriage is good here", and "so, this is good here"). I tried to go running tonight because I am concerned that riding only one horse I will become terribly out of shape. I really hate running and hope that I don't have to do too much of it. As I ran I started to justify why I should not have to run too much down here - soon I will be home riding more horses and I am sure that I will get in shape again quickly. I believe it, do you?
January 26	Jenny and I got all the stalls done and the horses turned out this morning as today was Lauren's morning off. I watched part of George's lesson on Nueman with Kathy, and then Lauren and I headed off to look at sale horses. Horse shopping down here can be a tricky thing. On one hand there are tons of horses in a very small area so looking is easy, logistically speaking. However, on the other hand, the prices are inflated (apparently horses are worth more once they enter the state of Florida) and sometimes the business practices are a little questionable. There is false advertising (a couple of years ago when I was looking for a horse for Ali a "bombproof" horse bucked her off), there are hidden commissions (when you get to the bottom of why the horse is so pricey it often turns out that there are many fingers in the pie and they all need their cut), and sometimes the prices go up if you have a good ride on the horse and seem to like him. No wonder horse dealers have a bad rap! Nevertheless, we did see some really nice horses and not everyone practices shady business deals. I rode Cupido when we got back and tried to have an easy day even though George was riding at the same time and probably wondering why I was not working a little harder (the stress of riding under the watchful eye of The Relax-Not). George e-mailed a schedule for the rest of the week and it appears that I will have an extra lesson this week since he has time, which is great. I am hopeful that having more lesson than the last time I was down here will inspire me in my riding and teaching so that I can go home feeling refreshed and confident. At least I will have many new exercises with which to torture my students!
January 27	This morning it was Lauren and I in charge of stalls and turnouts while Jenny had the morning off. As soon as we brought the horses in we set off on another horse shopping adventure. Today they were all really sweet horses who were clearly priced. Three were dressage horses and one was a jumper who was trying to switch careers. The Jumper was very kind and I think had some dressage training in his background, shoulder in and half pass seemed to ring a bell for him, but strangely the woman who brought him to show us did not own him, know his breeding, or even more disturbingly his name. I am not sure if things are different in the hunter jumper world but apparently this horse was sent to her for her daughter to ride but did not want to jump anymore so this lady, who is clearly not his owner, decided to represent him for sale. This woman called him Ken because he is white and her last white horse was named Barbie. I had a lesson at 1:00 which turned into a marathon of canter exercises. For example, counter canter on the quarter line, before you reach the end execute a 3/4 canter pirouette, then by the center line walk, before the next corner ride a 3/4 walk pirouette, finally proceed down the quarter line in counter canter and repeat (repeat until it is right, and this can take a while), then change direction and do all over again the other way. There was also counter canter on a 20 meter circle in the middle with a halt on the centerline on the open side of the circle, keeping the bend from the counter canter make a 45 degree turn on the forehand, rein back off the inside rein, and proceed again in counter canter. After that we worked on changes and then, after a short break, half steps in the trot. Cupido is unimpressed with the in hand whip and finds the half step work relaxing as it is as close to a walk that he is allowed to get during the lessons, George works much harder than Cupido while we do this, and this seems to please the horse. We all watched the first quadrille practice tonight and then Lauren, Jenny and I went to Sals for dinner since we had been smelling Italian food from a restaurant across the canal all day and were all craving garlic. At dinner Jenny did an impersonation of what she thought that Cupido was thinking during my lesson and she got the voice just right (only real animal people will understand this or comprehend why it is funny). I laughed so hard that I cried for several minutes.
January 28	Jenny and I snuck off the property today to do some easy work in the field across the street before going on a hack around Cindy Circle. Cupido was ready for an easy day after his challenging lesson yesterday and Rudy was resting up because he has a lesson tomorrow and Saturday. Cupido set a slow and steady pace on our walk while Rudy flitted from side to side and panicked a bit when he got too far in front of his friend. We managed to avoid dogs, cars (a large pink Mary Kay Escalade was my favorite), and roadside debris, and we didn't even break stride when we heard the "Pterodactyl" (it might just be a parrot but it make a noise that only and bird who is also a dinosaur should be capable of, he lives somewhere on Cindy Circle, and he shrieks at inopportune times). Just before noon Lauren and I headed up to Jupiter to look at yet another horse. This one sounded nice enough in the advertisement but there was no video and so it was a long shot. Jupiter, it turns out, it a lot like Loxahatchee. There are huge and lovely homes here and there surrounded by places with chain link fences, old cars left to rust in the front yards, and very, very angry dogs. Mapquest suggested that the address was on a road with "portions unimproved" which was a blatant understatement. The road started as gravel, then became very narrow and mostly sand, and finally became more of a track covered with broken bricks. When we arrived and got out of the truck I saw a woman standing with a horse in an outdoor washrack. When I approached her and introduced myself and ask if she was Rebecca she said (and not very politely either) "No, I'm D and Rebecca said you were coming at one". Well yes we were about 20 minutes early but that is hardly cause for such hostility. D made it clear that she did not wish to speak to us so we stood off by ourselves and waited. Eventually, the seller did arrive with a bag of subway sandwiches, clearly we had interrupted their lunch. We asked questions of the seller and it quickly became apparent that the advertisement was a bit of a stretch. Shown at third level with good scores translated into her owner thinks that she could show third level and would deserve high scores. When asked about the horse's feed and supplement routine I was told that the mare needed no supplements especially not joint supplements and then I was told that the horse gets Cosequin and Adequan (which is fine with me but I am pretty sure that those are joint supplements). Then D rode the horse because the owner/seller is intimidated by her canter (but she is perfect for a timid amateur). D showed us this third level mare with no contact (how does the training scale go....freely forward into hmmm what could it be? slack reins? no that's not it. Oh yes contact, that's right). The mare traveled in a crooked line and when asked to turn left opted to go right. I thought that it was best to just leave but Lauren convinced me to ride the horse and she turned out to be really fun and very sweet once she was working. We have most of this sorry affair on tape and I think that it might make a nice documentary on how not to sell a horse. When we got back to the farm things were still in full swing with the US High Performance riders doing test rides for Anne Gribbons (hopefully they will also host a Low or maybe Medium - depending on the day- Performance test ride series so the rest of us can participate) . As we were driving in the driveway, Stephan Peters was driving out - Wellington is so cool.
January 29	Tonight was the first night of the Kyra Kyrkland Symposium at the Jim Brandon Arena. Using demonstration riders Kyra discussed and implemented her training philosophy. I bought a ticket to the cheap seats at the door and collected the ubiquitous wrist band which granted me access to seating and an open bar but not to a table and a buffet dinner like the VIP seats would have (but I saved a few hundred dollars and ate a granola bar that was in my purse). I sat down just as the first rider, JJ Tate, was starting her session. Kyra speaks perfect English but has an accent that is Finnish but slightly tinged with British. Certian words sound very British like when she says "bum" as she does quite frequently and the rest sounds a bit like the Swedish Chef. Imagine the Swedish Chef saying the words forward, look, and move and you will have the idea. Throughout the night Kyra returned to the same themes: The rider must sit on a triangle between the two seat bones and the pubic bone with the weight of the upper body coming down into the saddle through hips which act to absorb the shock of the horse's movement. The rider must sit on her "bum" as if she were sitting in a chair and must never squeeze or force herself into the saddle. The rider must stay behind the wither and aligned with the horse's center of gravity. The leg must never be used to squeeze and hold but to activate the horse and then the aid must cease when there has reacted. The horses must accept contact equally. The problem side is not the stiff but the weak side which must take the same connection as the strong stiff side. The program went on for six long hours and it was really neat to see Kyra ride a couple of the horses. I will have a more detailed entry when I have had time to review my notes but Kyra also had some really cool exercises for the canter pirouette and the piaffe. She was adamant about the rider having a quiet steady hand that does not pull (the Swedish Chef again) backward but remains constant and present with the horse. To this end she had one rider holding a strap and a couple more holding a whip between their two hands to keep them level and steady, and to highlight any inconsistencies in the connection. A final note for the night on fashion: Brown boots, on Kyra, on the demo riders, and non-riding brown boots on all fashionable spectators.
January 30	I had a lesson this morning and I made the mistake of saying that I was having difficulty with the zig zag. I was repeating that movement for quite a while! We also worked again on half steps, canter pirouettes and having a better connection and carriage in the canter in general. This afternoon I again attended the Kyra symposium. Today she focused much of her discussion and teaching on her theory that you and your horse are always in one of three zones: the comfort zone (the horse in the field grazing, or hacking in a relaxed way through the "forest", or being asked to do easy or familiar work), the stress zone (challenging your horse to work the way you want even if he does not agree or trying something new or difficult), and finally the panic zone (where the horse is very upset and can become dangerous). Likewise, riders also operate in these three zones. The comfort zone might be riding in the arena, the stress zone riding outside, and the panic zone riding your fresh horse out in an open field (or any variation of feeling comfortable, challenged, and down right numb with fear). Kyra explained that for both horse and rider it is important to work frequently in the stress zone, feeling challenged, or else the comfort zone will actually get smaller. Her example was that if you start by saying you will not canter outside but only in the indoor arena the next week you might feel uncomfortable even trotting outside, and eventually you will not be able to leave your indoor arena at all. Kyra took many of the riders in tonight's session out of their comfort zone and into the stress zone. In one case it was simply an issue of the rider accepting too little from her horse and Kyra insisted that she get, not just part of what she asked for, but rather 100% of what she asked for before the horse was rewarded. With another rider it was actually an issue of fear, a fear of angering her big mare. Kyra asked the rider why she was always compromising and negotiating with her horse and the lady answered that the mare was an "alpha mare" and had to be coaxed into the work. Kyra answered that she understood this because she herself is an "alpha mare", getting a chuckle from the audience. Kyra had mentioned earlier that "With a gelding you tell him, with a stallion you ask him, and with a mare you submit three written applications", but nevertheless she insisted that this rider become the "alpha" and insist that her mare perform some basic exercises exactly when asked and not just when the horse felt like it. Kyra was demanding but very enthusiastic with all of the riders. She would frequently ask questions like "Whose rhythm is that?" and "who is in command here?" she would raise her voice (I think now that it sounds like Judy Dench meet the Swedish Chef) and demand "trot, trot, trot" "trot, trot, trot", "don't squeeze", "don't move your hands". Then, as soon as the horse and rider respond, Kyra is quick with praise and says "good, good" and "ohhh good". I think that I learned a lot from this symposium and I found Kyra's teaching style a little more organized and accessible than many other instructors I have watched.
January 31 Click to see the wiz	Today our horses had the day off and spent much of the morning in their pastures. I spent the morning getting caught up on organizing supplements and doing horse laundry. In the early afternoon I made a run to the local tack store to pick up some supplies. The place was humming with hunter riders still wearing their helmets (hat on but chin strap undone even though they probably finished riding three hours ago, very strange) and polo players speaking mostly Spanish and Portuguese. As I walked out of the store I watched horses being ridden and walked down the horse path parallel with the street on their way from the big hunter jumper show back to their farms. Even after all of the years it is so funny to see a guy on his horse walking along the street, talking on his cell phone, and then pressing the crosswalk button (up high so that you can reach it from horse back), waiting for the light to change and then crossing the street and continuing on (still on his phone or e-mailing on his blackberry - you should probably not text while you ride). Lauren saw the Wellington Wizard this morning while on her way from Starbucks to the barn. We have all been waiting to have a Wizard sighting and it was big news. Lauren said that the wizard is looking very old. She took a picture with her phone and I will try to upload the image, grainy though it is, so that you can all see the wizened wizard. Tonight we attended a dinner at Chrissa Hoffman's with a saddle designer who could tell just to look at you how wide your hips are - I measure 26 he tells me - and what kind of saddle you most like to ride in. Kind of like a parlor game for strange horse people. It is great to live in this little world where everyone else is just like you.