Page 2 - February

February 1	It rained all day today. It was warm this morning and with the high humidity my hair became exponentially larger as soon as I walked out the door. Everyone was riding in the covered arena and it was so busy that it looked like one of those German riding schools (or Timberlane in the winter). I had a lesson in the afternoon and by that time most people had ridden already so it was actually pretty quiet. Today it was renver at the walk before the canter, then canter and lots and lots of counter canter (on the quarter line, on the big circle, on the ten meter circle while "thinking" renver), and then pirouettes on the quarter line, almost in the corner, 3/4 rotation then through the short side and up the next quarter line in counter canter then a flying change and REPEAT. We worked on the half passes and the changes too. You will all be happy to know that I am not the only trainer guilty of saying "Just one more time" during lessons and then having it turn out to be a lie because it will actually be about four more times. After a short walk break we worked on the trot work starting with half steps, then lateral work, mediums, and a little passage (yes, be aware that when I come home I will want to pack a lot into one lesson). It is just so exciting to have a chance to get some training (I think that George actually thinks that it is a little sad how excited Lauren and I are to get lessons). When you go too long riding without any supervision you just get a little flat and all sorts of bad habits can creep into your work. Tonight I made the mistake of going to the grocery store hungry and I thought that it would be a good idea to buy cupcakes. When I came home I ate the cupcakes instead of going running so I think that I have derailed my fitness program.
February 2	After 24 hours of rain the sun came out for a while this morning (sadly so did the flies which are, surprisingly, not usually that bad down here). I rode fairly early and had a nice hack across the street and around Cindy Circle. On our walk we saw a huge piece of equipment dredging out a canal around one farm which seemed to have been badly inundated with rain and had a partially flooded arena. It is easy to forget that everything around here comes to a halt when there is heavy rain. Most arenas flood and there are very few covered arenas. Haven Safe, where I am boarding, has both a covered arena and special footing which is drained from beneath and maintained by a computer and thus is essentially impervious to bad weather (isn't that neat. I am sure that I could never figure out how to operate the computer but it is nice to ride on it since somebody else maintains it). I had many appointments to look at horses today which had to be moved back at least one day because of flooded arenas. However, when I called on another horse who I wanted to see it turned out that the guy was trailering in to our barn with that very horse to take a lesson with George in the afternoon. It would just not happen anywhere else that the horse you wanted to see just happened to be coming to your barn that very day. Bev and Kathy Beck are in town for a few days to watch horses and hopefully to get a little sun (that has not been going so well with all of the rain) and we, along with Jenny and Lauren, had a nice dinner at the local Italian place. Most of the patrons coming in and out of the restaurant were wearing breeches and boots as usual. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day of horse hunting. No doubt if we find one it will turn out the price has recently been increased to 100 million dollars, but such is horse shopping in Wellington.
February 3	The sun was out the temperatures were cooler and the humidity and flies were all gone this morning. I rode Cupido early so that I would be ready to start looking at horses just after 10. Cupido was unusually fresh in the cooler weather. We rode across the street since George was taking a lesson with Kathy in his arena and the front arena was busy. After a short hack I came back and got organized to look at sale horses. As it turned out for the rest of the day I was essentially away from my barn. I think that Cupido was shocked that I left and did not spend the day fussing over him! We saw a couple of nice horses and a couple who were not good matches. While I was out with Bev and Kathy, Lauren went to try a horse at Courtney King's farm. Tomorrow will be the first day of Competition for the World Masters five star. Some of the best riders in the world will be here. Isabel Werth and Ulla Salzgerber from Germany, Anky from the Netherlands, and Stephan Peters for the US just to name a few. I am hoping to get to the show for at least part of the day tomorrow, after looking at sale horses again in the morning.
February 4	Today was the first day of competition at the World Masters of Dressage. Sadly, I missed Ulla Salzgerber's ride and got there just as Isabel Werth was finishing, but I did see some really wonderful horses and riders including Stephan with Ravel and Anky with Salierno. The atmosphere at the show was pretty electric and it was great to attend a Dressage show and almost not be able to find a place to park in the overflow lot. There were Germans, Dutch, and Danish riders and fans everywhere and with so many languages it sounded a bit like a meeting at the UN. Stephan's ride was truly lovely. Ravel looked happy, relaxed, and yet excited to perform. At one point in the ride the horse appeared to be momentarily distracted by his own image on the jumbo-tron but it was almost as if he realized that he was looking at himself and was impressed with what he saw. Anky rode right after Stephan and though her horse performed fabulously (she got a 74 or some such score) he looked a little more exhausted and stressed (undoubtedly he had not quite acclimated to Sunny South Florida, having only recently arrived from the Netherlands). In the end Stephan won with a 76, Anky was second, and Isabel third. Ravel was still fresh and playful in during the victory gallop, virtually bolting back into the warmup. Lauren and I had gone together and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There is just nothing better, for people like us, than watching some of the best horses in the world, especially in Florida, at one of the biggest and best horse show venues in our country. I realize that for non-horse people it would be anything but pleasant, more like the seventh circle of hell in fact (hot, horses and dogs everywhere, people talking incessantly about horses, and miles of horse related shopping), but to some of us it is heaven! After the Grand Prix Lauren and I did a little shopping (mostly of the window variety) at all of the great shops at WEF (short for Winter Equestrian Festival - which is essentially a winter long horse show, mostly hunter jumper, where there are thousands of horses and tons of shopping). You can buy polo shirts, high end furniture, original art work, black tie attire, and a pitch fork all on the main vendor row, what else could you possibly need?
February 6	This afternoon I watched the Grand Prix Special in the World Dressage Masters competition. We bought seats in a box so that we were assured seating for this evening's sold out freestyle competition and I sat there to watch the Special. Michael Barrisone, Elizabeth Austin, and Leslie Morse represented the United Sates. Leslie and her horse Tip Top had a very good test marred slightly by an error of course in the extended walk. The mistake seemed to fluster Leslie (which I would imagine is very hard to do, she generally seems to be in charge of every situation) who then had trouble preventing Tip Top from making an early flying change in the extended Canter. The crowd was very excited for the last rider, Ulla Salzgerber, who represents Germany and who is a bit of a Dressage icon. Ulla has been in Florida for a while this season coaching Chris Hickey (I have described her before as an intense and intimidating woman who is very tall and very German and who smokes incessantly, making her generally appear like a dragon with all of the smoke coming out of her nose - I am sure that she would be terrifying to take a clinic with but she is a lovely and very focused rider), but few of us have had an opportunity to see her actually ride. Ulla's horse, Wakan, a large and long chestnut mare entered the stadium and was immediately unhappy. From the warm up, the horses enter the large competition stadium under a pedestrian bridge echoing with foot traffic and and into a huge open area surrounded by flapping tents and flags, stadium seating, and their own image on a jumbo-tron. Wakan entered the stadium and Ulla attempted to get her to go around the outside of the dressage arena but the mare refused (and that is saying a lot - Ulla's legs are very long and her aids are undoubtedly very strong). The mare ended up backing up and moving sideways, nearly backing into the woman who opens and closes the dressage arena as the riders enter and leave. Ulla made one last attempt to get the mare going forward and around the outside, but the bell had already been rung and I think that she decided that the best thing to do was to get the mare inside the Dressage ring where hopefully things would feel more familiar. However, about six strides down the center line Wakan stopped and again started moving sideways and backwards. After another lengthy resistance Ulla signaled to the judges that she wished to be excused. Eventually she got her horse back out into the warm up. What a disappointment to have to excuse yourself at such a big show! After the awards ceremony Ulla brought the mare back into the main arena (this took a great deal of doing and a lot of backing up) and after finally getting her into the ring schooled her through the entire test. The horse performed very well (with the exception of some unsteadiness in the piaffe) and so in the end I was able to watch Ulla ride the GP Special after all. Walking around the show I must say that I was a little alarmed by some of the fashion trends. Pig tails look really cute on Courntney King but they don't appear to be for everyone. Wearing slippers with your riding clothes also appears to be a bad look and wearing the Dubarry boots when it is hot out seems impractical. On the brighter side there were many fabulous polo shirts, even a special edition one just for this competition, and many cute new jackets and bags. I will fill you all in on tonight's freestyles in tomorrow's blog.
February 7	Last night it was very cold and windy while we watched the freestyles. It was so windy in fact that the TD allowed the horses to wear protective ear covers if the riders thought it prudent. In addition to the wind the horses also had to cope with the noise that the flags and flapping tents made, the lights (the show started at seven so it was all under the lights), smoke wafting in from the outdoor restaurant on the the grounds, and all the people. There were about 4,000 spectators (at least that is what it said a the press release). Though some of the horses were clearly a little more alert than usual they all handled it very well. There were eight riders in the freestyle and the evening was broken into two sections. The first four riders all turned in very nice performances scoring between 69 and 72 (one of the German riders used some of the theme music Night Rider which was a little different but as someone reminded me David Hasselhof is a big deal in Germany, go figure - she also wore a very shiny silk shadbelly but that is a whole different story). The second group brought in all the heavy hitters - Steffen, Isabel, Anky, and Ashley Holzer (note the really big names don't even need last names - like Sting or Madonna). Ashley's test was very clean and technically challenging but her horse does not have the presence of Ravel, Salierno, or Satchmo and Ashley ended up in fourth with a 76. Isabel and Satchmo had a great performance with one moment of miscommunication during a half-pass zig zag. It was hard to imagine the Isabel had just taken some time off to have a baby, she was riding as beautifully as ever. Isabel ended in Third with a 78. Steffen and Ravel had great, crowd pleasing music and the audience was really enthusiastic during their ride. Steffen did his two tempis with one hand and had lots of hard transitions such as extended canter virtually right into piaffe. His score was 81 and we all thought that perhaps he might win, but Anky still had to ride and she is the Queen of the freestyle. Anky's ride was very good and very difficult technically. Her music is of course perfect since she has an orchestra create it for to match the horse and the test perfectly. When she was finished we all thought that it was going to be very close. In the end she scored an 84 and won. It was a great experience to watch so many Dressage superstars virtually in my backyard! In general you would have to travel to Europe to see Anky, Isabel, and Ulla. I have listed all of the scores for both the Freestyle and the Special. Please CLICK HERE to view them.
February 8	The barn was like a ghost town this morning, almost nobody was there. Mondays are often quiet but this was the quietest it has been yet this season. Since there were no lessons going on in the covered arena, I took the opportunity to use the sound system to work on Cupido's Freestyle. It was so fun to have the surround sound speaker system instead of just my ipod when putting things together. Lauren helped me by manning the stereo system and helping me with the choreography. We are re-using Mary Austin's young rider freestyle music and the theme is "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and though it is a little feminine it is really fun. When putting a freestyle together all of your training seems to go out the window. You have to stop and start and try to just get things done and figure out the timing even if the horse is not working correctly. Oh well, I can put him back together again tomorrow. In the latter part of the afternoon I left horse-land and went to the Apple store at the mall to have one of the tech nerds help me transfer data from my old PC onto my new Mac. Since my PC had crashed we were forced to use a back up hard drive and only a real nerd at the Mac "Genius Bar" could possibly have figured out what to do. I must say that the Apple nerds are much kinder that the PC nerds. I think that I am now up and running with my new computer!
February 9	When I got to the barn around 6:30 this morning George was just finishing cleaning six stalls (it was his assistant's day off). Ahhhh, the life of a big time Dressage rider. Later this morning, I watched George ride Spirit Freedom and then take a lesson on Don Bailey with Kathy. Kathy's business partner Twan (spelling???) and two of his friends from the Netherlands were also watching George's ride. I was introduced to Twan and his friends, Ester and something that started with a J, I think, which had two unpronounceable syllable in it. A few minutes later I had to try to introduce all of these people to Suzy and Bob Coleman and I couldn't even make a guess at the "J" name. Suzy tried to repeat it but I think ended up concluding that the noises required have never been made by Americans. Twan, Ester, and "J" all spoke perfect English which makes me feel terrible that after about a decade of Spanish classes. I am still at a loss when asked to say more than "good morning" (or more helpfully- thanks to all of those classes - "my aunt's pen is blue" and in French I can say "I am single" and even better "I am Japanese" ). This evening while it was pouring rain (but not snowing!), Jenny, Lauren, and I went for pedicures and we saw Michele Gibson and her friend (both in riding clothes) getting pedicures as well. Seeing Olympic athletes at the local pedicure place is always fun. And yes, for you non-horse people Dressage is in fact an Olympic sport!!!
February 10	I rode early this morning so that I could be available to pick Megan Winkler up from the airport. She is flying in for several days to watch a CDI with many Young Riders so that she can see how it all works. After feeding her, which I now realize is important because "normal" People eat during the day, I brought her back to the barn and gave her a little tour. She was shocked at how big Betsy's farm is. We watched Lauren take a lesson with George and then watched Quadrille practice. The participants in the quadrille seemed to have changed since I last watched practice two weeks ago. While Betsy Stiener, John Zapoti, Pam Goodrich, and Jim Koford are still in it, now they are joined by Mary Ann Grant and Bill Warren. Pam Goodrich, who might have the loudest voice ever hear on the planet, calls out directions and corrections as they ride sometimes gliding along in unison and sometimes clumsily crashing into one another. Hours after the practice ends I hear "TURN NOW" and "SPEED UP, NOW THE ONES" echoing in my head. Betsy Stiener and John Zapoti seemed to be having a good time with John asking Betsy "Hey How do you do ones?" and Betsy answering "just start swinging your legs really fast". This evening Oliver, Megan, Lauren, Jenny, and I all went out for Pizza and discussed how best to rescue some kittens that Lauren found in the parking lot at the mall (well Oliver actually offered suggestions about how to dispose of the kittens and the rest of us discussed how to rescue them). I think that we will be spending some time lurking in that parking lot luring kittens out with Fancy Feast!
February 11	This morning I took Megan on a short tour of Wellington and spent some time at WEF so she could see what, I can only imagine, is the largest horse show anywhere. We watched a few rounds of Jumpers in the big grand prix ring. I took her on a little window shopping spree so that she could see that I was not kidding when I said that she could buy not only tack and riding clothes but also antiques, art work, formal attire, and crepes all without leaving the horse show. Then we walked through Grand Prix Village where people like Mayor Bloomberg have houses and very fancy farms that look like Italian Villas. When we finished the tour of WEF we went over to the Jim Brandon show facility to watch the warm up day at the CDI. We watched lots of great horses and were able to listen to Robert Dover yelling at all of the Canadians - "Simone I said DON'T leave the piaffe while you are ACTIVATING, wait until you have it, then stay in it, then leave!" and "That was not EVEN 12-15 steps, not even close, what were you thinking!!!!!" After the warm up we watched about an hour of the jog, where the horses are inspected, walked, and trotted in front of a panel of the ground jury and vets to check for soundness before the competition. Some people get really dressed up for the jog. George was all decked out in khaki pants and a blue blazer with a pink tie and Melissa Taylor had a fabulous jacket on with some designer jeans. Courtney King was very brave and wore a white shirt, I realize that she has a groom, and by the end of the jog she had been thoroughly slimed. Tomorrow is the first day of competition and there will be many great rides.
February 12	This morning was a bit of a scramble trying to get the horses fed and turned out, and the stalls cleaned all in time to pick Megan up at the house and get to the show by eight to watch the Young Riders Team Test. There were some very good rides though almost all of the riders had some difficulties. As the last Young Rider was finishing her ride George was starting around the outside of the arena in another ring preparing for his Prix St. Georges test. George had a good test and would end up in fourth place in a class of about 30 horses. Megan and I spent a few minutes watching the CDI warm up. Robert Dover was there, in his suit, working with all of the Canadians and clutching the sides of the arena when the riders did not specifically follow his directions. At one point he was demonstrating how he wanted the horse's carriage to be and he suddenly put both hands up in front of his face in a gesture reminiscent of actors imitating felines in the musical Cats. I must say that Robert seems very passionate about his riders and is truly invested in their success. I headed back to the barn in the late morning to ride and then went back to the show in time to see the last few rides in the Grand Prix, including Tina Konyot on Colecto V who were the last to go and also the winners of the class. Then, we watched Betsy showing her new horse Ducasse for the first time. Betsy had a great ride for her first go with a new horse and seemed relieved to have the first one under her belt. There was a huge rain and wind storm which held off right to the end of the show. Hopefully there will not be too many uprooted palm trees at the show grounds tomorrow!
	WEBMASTER'S NOTE - I'm baaaack!  Backlogged pages are below, and will be followed by new daily entries.
February 14	Happy Valentine's Day! We had a busy morning at the barn as Lauren and Jenny were trailering in for early classes at the horse show. With lots of team work all of the stalls were cleaned, the horses were braided and then off they went to the show. Megan and I helped ringside taking off wraps, handing over hats and jackets, and polishing boots. They both had good rides and were happy with their scores. While they were warming up I was able to watch Lisa Wilcox schooling one of her students. Lisa's hair is always perfectly pulled back in her trademark do no matter how windy it is. How does she do that? I also watched fellow Ohioan Joanne Smith riding the PSG in an adjacent ring. She also had a nice test and seemed pleased with it when she came out. After going back to the barn to feed lunch and take Cupido for a walk and some grass (he was no doubt starving having finished the last of his breakfast hay just moments before). In the afternoon, Megan and I went back to the show to watch some of the I1 and Young Rider Freestyles. Megan did a little light shopping and managed in just a matter of minutes to buy some nice gloves and a new double bridle - she did her part to support the equestrian economy. This evening we all put on our fat girl pants and ate lots of dessert - since we had no dates and no desire to fight the crowds at the local restaurants (except Lauren who spent the evening driving Chad to the airport in Miami).
February 15	I drove Megan to the airport this morning and sent her back to the frozen North. When I got back to the barn I checked again for a lesson schedule but there was none. I think that we are back to the days of looking in "The Book" each day for lesson times. Having the schedule e-mailed out at the beginning of the week was a real luxury! Each year as the season goes on George takes on more and more until it seems like a struggle for him to finish before dark each day no matter how early he starts. After abandoning hope of having a lesson I had a nice ride and a hack (which Cupido liked a lot more than a lesson). I tried to work on all of the things that we touched on in my last few lessons like turning passage into a medium trot and getting more lift into the changes. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing paperwork at the barn while waiting for several loads of laundry to finish in the very fancy, very environmentally friendly, and very slow washing machine. Then I went back to the house and did all of my laundry in the very basic, environmentally unfriendly, and very fast washing machine at the house (fortunately there are no dolls looking down on me from the walls of the laundry room).
February 17	This morning at 5:45 I received a text message from George that I had a lesson today. I feel really bad that he is scheduling his day at five in the morning but it was good news to know that I had a lesson. I went with Lauren and Christine to look at a few horses. We drove down various sand roads in Loxahatchee and saw a couple of nice horses and met some unusual individuals, as is often the case when looking at horses. When I got back to the barn it was time to get Cupido ready for our lesson (aka wash off all the manure stains - the poor horse has to get a bath everyday before I ride and then sometimes again after). I got on a couple of minutes early and went for a walk before my lesson. As we walked along the path we came across a new sign (Horses Only) which was painted onto a four foot high wooden horse on wheels. Cupido, who is never afraid of anything, panicked at the sight of it (I don't know if he thought that it was actually a little horse who was forced to stand in the middle of the driveway WITH NO FOOD but whatever he thought he was sure that it was dangerous). He spun away and tried to take off but that only lasted a few strides and we turned back around to face it. It took a few minutes to carefully sneak up on it, checking it with one eye and then the other, snorting the whole way, but eventually Cupido touched the wooden horse's nose and seemed to decide it was not lethal. In our lesson there was again this medium trot that is more like passage and lots of staying up in the canter - up in the half pass, up in the changes, and up in the pirouette. In the end we worked on the passage while, you guessed it, staying more up. Tomorrow there will be more horses to look and more adventures on unimproved roads in Loxahatchee.
February 18	This morning after doing stalls we started the horse hunt early. It was freezing cold and windy when I got on to try the first five year old of the day, fortunately he was a reasonable horse and did not try to kill me. We proceeded on, looking at horses and then eventually went back to the barn to ride. Today, I rode in the big field across the street and practiced all of the stuff that we worked on in our lesson yesterday. Cupido seemed excited to be out of the arena and it was really fun to have long uninterrupted lined to work with. He seemed very inspired about piaffing in the field. Afterwards, I went with Lauren and Christine to video while they tried one more horse in the early afternoon This evening after having dinner, Lauren and I spent a considerable amount of time in the parking lot of the local mall feeding cats. Yes, that is right we are now crazy cat ladies. Lauren found a bunch of cats outside of Dillards the last time she went shopping and has been going back to feed a couple of them ever since. She wanted to show me where the cats were living and when we pulled up about ten of them ran out from the bushes to greet us. It appears that there is a mother and a tom and at least two full litters or young cats, not to mention two or three raccoons all living together. After seeing them all we ran to the local drugstore and bought cat food and treats (pounce party mix looked like a good choice) and went back to feed them. I counted ten but there easily could have been more. I am really unclear about the situation at the local shelters down here but if anyone wants a cat. . . . Fortunately we were neither murdered (someone was abducted from that mall once and found dead) nor arrested for feeding strays in the parking lot and managed to get to the barn for night check before Cupido fainted from hunger.
February 19	Today there was a big buzz at the barn as the high performance riders are all scheduled to come in today to work with Steffen Peters. Just about the time we finished stalls George started his ride with Steffen on Spirit Freedom. While auditors were not allowed, our stalls afforded us a front row seat for all of the rides. I was able to watch at least some of the other riders throughout the day including Arlene Page, Elizabeth Austen, Courtney King, Shawna Harding and Melissa Taylor to name a few. Steffen seems to have a quiet, consistent approach to his teaching which appears to get big results from the horses and riders. He focused on making the half halts go through and really correcting the mistakes consistently so that the horses developed good habits. I went up to Jupiter in the late morning to ride a sale horse and took it on a harrowing trail ride through the back streets of Jupiter, which much like Loxahatchee is a strange combination of expensive houses and ramshackle properties with chain link fences and seemingly rabid dogs. Thanks to a sensible horse I survived my adventure and got back to Wellington in time to see watch more high performance riders and have another really nice ride in the field across the street myself.
February 20	Things were still buzzing at the barn this morning as the Steffen Clinic was still in full swing. Today the riders warmed up in the front ring and then came to the covered arena to ride through a test with Ann Gribbons judging. The riders were required to come in show attire with their horses braided. George and Spirit Freedom were the first to go and seemed to have a good warm up and test (auditors are technically forbidden but we can see and here most things from our barn). All of the riders ran through their tests in the morning and then after lunch they all gathered around a big screen TV and watched their tests from the morning and discussed what was good and what needed work. I think that this is all an effort at team building, making all of the US riders feel as if they are working towards the same goal. While that is a good idea, all of these people would actually be competing against each other for spots on the team so I am sure that there is not exactly an all for one and one for all feeling in this group. While all of this was going on Lauren, Jenny, and I went for a traditional Saturday morning hack through Little Ranches. After Fritz saw the boogie man early on causing the rest to bolt for home, they all settled down and we had a relaxing trail ride. Even the Pterodactyl was silent today and shockingly we were not chased by loose dogs nor nearly run down by crazed drivers. I will really miss our trail rides when we head home.
February 21	Day three of the clinic and today they were again riding with Steffen. Steffen got on Spirit Freedom and that was really fun to watch. I watched rides for an hour or two when we were finished cleaning stalls and then I did something really radical and actually left Wellington. I have about a week left in Florida before I leave to head back to Cleveland and I have not been to the beach once (in fact I have never gone to the beach in all the years I have been coming down here to ride) so I decided that today was the day. It only took about 25 minutes and there I was at Juno Beach. The water was beautiful, almost teal, and the sky was very clear and blue. I got on my beach towel (yes, in my bikini but nobody that I knew was there and I was certainly not the only person with cellulite on the sand today) and got out my book and just enjoyed all of the sun. I tried to absorb all the vitamin D possible before saying good bye to sunlight. When I arrived at the beach there were very few people out but after about an hour it was virtually swarming with people (many of whom should really not have left the house in bathing attire) and it was time for me to leave and go back to horse-land where I watched the last few riders of the day in the Steffen Clinic.
February 22	Today was one of those quiet Mondays at the barn. The Steffen clinic is over and all of the FABULOUS riders with their entourages have departed. The place seemed a little more relaxed with fewer Bentleys and multi-millionaires present. I think that we are all still ruminating on Steffen's training advice - Finish Your Half Halt! Everything was peaceful and I rode in the covered arena by my self for most of the ride (attempting to finish my half halts as I worked). The forecast called for rain today but the sun actually came out for most of the day. The humidity was really high and Cupido found it oppressive, claiming early on in our ride that he was exhausted and could not continue with such oppressive heat. I insisted that he soldier on and promised him a refreshing shower after out ride. As promised, I gave Cupido a very long and thorough bath, finishing with a little refreshmint body brace, but he was not impressed. I then had the time to start packing my trailer for our impending departure, where did the time go? In the early afternoon I watched a couple of rides before setting out to look at yet more sale horses. As I got into my truck today I was again struck by the theme of the white pickup truck this year. Our barn (the 12 stalls that essentially belong to George's students) has it's own parking lot and it is filled everyday with white pickups. I have one, Lauren has one, so does Cheryl Miesner, Sara Anderson, Laura Noyes, and George, Betsy also has one but it usually parked with her trailer. What an interesting theme. Other themes this year seem to include: argyle boot socks (worn over the breeches), slip on puma sneakers (instead of clogs but this is only a good idea if you have a groom - aka "my girl" because the little pumas afford no protection when a big horse steps on you), having a girl (this is your groom/working student who has no name and seems to ride all of your horses, she is not introduced but simply referred to - for example: the horse (who does have a name) came in from Europe three weeks ago and my girl has been riding him since then), brown boots for riding and for walking around at the show, and brown saddles (if you also have brown boots).
February 23	Today started hot and humid again which made me happy and the horses a little grouchy. After doing stalls I sat down to watch George ride Spirit Freedom and then take a lesson with Kathy on Don Bailey. Renver was again a theme as was the small circle between the movements. The lesson seemed high energy and very intense and I am not sure that I could have kept up (of course I can't actually hear Kathy so it is hard to tell). After watching George ride with Kathy I watched Betsy ride with George (following?) I could see all of the exercises that George just did modified to work with Betsy and her horse. Before it became too warm I decided to ride across the street in the big field, which Cupido really seems to like. After we crossed the street we met another rider from our barn who wanted to go for a hack with her horse, who becomes nervous trail riding, and asked if Cupido would like to escort her. Of course Cupido did not mind since a little trail ride helped to put off the hard work and we had a nice walk around the field. Eventually, we got to work and had a nice ride, still trying to finish our half halts. It will be a real shock in a week to go back to working in an indoor arena! This evening Lauren, Jenny, and I met my friend Debbie (who is from Tennessee) and some of her southern lady friends at a local restaurant for dinner. We had a great time as a bunch of horse people always do when we get together. There are always funny stories to tell and tonight we all exchanged rodent in the house sagas. One lady had a (or is it an?) opossum in her house all night eating cat food and destroying her house, another person suspects mice (or something bigger) living behind her wall, Lauren retold her bats in the basement story (as someone said as opposed to the belfry), and I had the water rat in my studio apartment the first year I was down here. Tomorrow I have lesson!
February 24	I had a lesson today around 2 but that left me a lot of time to watch horses in the morning. The temperature was warm again and it was really muggy (my hair looks fabulous - frizzy and puffy and for those of you who are keeping track Ryan's hair still looks great. He must use a secret product! I used to think that he did not talk to me because my hair was such a disaster but he talks to me now and it is frizzier than ever). The flies were out and really annoying the horses so they did not stay in turn out all that long. Once we brought them in I sat down to watch Betsy ride Duchasse and Cleo. There were thunderstorms in the forecast and the skies would periodically darken, the wind would pick up, and we would all prepare for the deluge but then it would blow over and be sunny for a few minutes before clouding up and starting over again. Cupido and I got ready for our lesson and ready to sweat in the high humidity. Again we were trying to stay up in the canter, and encourage him to engage the connection in both the trot and the canter. There was a lot of renver in the counter canter on a ten meter circle. We also worked on control in the pirouette by alternating between walking and cantering in the pirouette and also alternating very tight and large and schooling pirouettes. In the extended trot we once again took the concept of a passage-like trot into the extension so that the connection remained up and pushing. After my lesson I got Cupido cooled off and watched the end of Lauren's ride with Fritz. The skies opened up at the end of her lesson and it continued raining until the riders showed up to practice the Quadrille (thank goodness for the covered). This evening while the rain came down and the palm trees flapped in the wind we all went back to the barn to have a little party in Kathy and Ryan's barn. We all brought drinks and appetizers and mingled. The horses thought it was great and craned their necks out trying to reach a little food themselves. There were people from all over, even from Holland, and it was really fun to catch up with everyone one last time before we leave for Ohio. Most northerners were appalled that we were going home so early in the year when the snow is still falling but home we must go!
February 25	I hear that it is snowing AGAIN back home. Why I am going back there so early this year? I started packing this morning both at home and then later at the barn. With only one horse I really do not have much stuff and what I do have I will probably need for the next couple of days. I gave Cupido a relatively easy day today since he had a tough lesson yesterday. We did some work and then went for a quick hack around Cindy Circle with Lauren and Fritz. Even though it was cool and windy today (a radical shift from yesterday's weather) we did not complain about having to wear sweaters and down vests because we know what awaits us at home in a few days, and this will seem like a picnic. It is not only the sunlight but also the color saturation that I always miss when I go home before Spring arrives in Ohio. Here there are rich greens, purples, pinks, oranges, and a very blue sky. At home in March it is usually the monochromatic white to gray to darker gray that always makes reminds me of using a gray scale in black and white photography (and also frankly depresses me a little). I watched Jenny's lesson and was able to follow one of George's seemingly favorite pirouette exercises involving a pirouette at the end of a quarter line and then after the turn a half pass to the opposite quarter line and then another turn. I have so many new little tricks for all of you at home!
February 26	Back to wearing the down jacket this morning. Usually in the Winter down here the weather is warm almost all of the time punctuated by brief interludes of colder temperatures, but this year it is all reversed with cold weather being the norm. When we turned the horses out they all scurried into patches of sunlight to warm up (just like the lizards). Despite the cool temperatures I decided to ride early because I had a lot of packing to do. Cupido and I set out and on our way down the driveway he became nervous and ran past the little horse on wheels with the "HORSES ONLY" sign. Even after more than a week Cupido is still extremely suspicious of the little sign bearer, apparently he is unable to trust a horse who would stand so close to grass and yet never graze. The cool weather made for a very "FOWARD", as George would say, ride. In the afternoon I cleaned out my trailer and started packing before darting off on what appears to be our penultimate horse hunting adventure (yes, we are actually going to try to get one more in on Sunday - we are die hards). This evening Lauren and I enjoyed watching TV in our fat girl pants while eating pasta and a variety of desserts. After seeing the weather report for home, we think that it might be essential to put on an extra layer of fat before heading North.
February 27	This was my last day to ride in Florida this season. The horses leave tomorrow morning and Lauren and I leave on Monday. Today I tried to remember all of the themes from this season: FINISH YOUR HALF HALT (no matter how messy) from the Stephen clinic, SIT ON YOUR BUM and ask WHO'S RHYTHM IS THIS from the Kyra symposium, and RIDE MORE FOWARD while THINKING LIKE RENVER from George. Hmmm, well maybe I don't have it down all at once just yet but I am working on it. The skies threatened to rain all day and finally let loose in the afternoon as yet another cold front blew in. I put on more coats and as I packed Cupido's belongings at the barn. As I started saying goodbye to friends at the barn they all asked the million dollar question. Why are you leaving now? Isn't it snowing like crazy where you live? Well, I don't know to the first question and a definitive yes to the second. I do miss many things about home but the weather is not one of them. This evening we went to Chrissa Hoffman's for a little rider gathering. Lauren, Chad, and I joined about 20 others including Jamie and Tina Irwin (Canadian riders) and Bill McMullen and Bill Warren (know collectively as "The Bills"). It was very fun but I was up well past my nine o'clock bed time. Tomorrow will be a busy day getting the horses on the trailer to go home, stripping their stalls, cleaning out the tack room, and then packing everything at the house.
February 28	Today was one of those hurry up and wait days, just like a horse show. It was a rush to get to the barn and get the horses out, the stalls cleaned, all of the last minute items packed, and then it all slowed down because the shipper was running a little behind schedule. While we waited we said some of our good byes. Kathy was very sweet and seemed genuinely sorry to see us go, even inviting us to her place outside of Boston should we ever be in the area. Ryan said his farewell as he was driving off to the horse show (he looked fabulous with his tie draped dashingly around his neck) and Betsy Rebar Sell still seemed in shock that we would even think of going home while we were all still wearing coats down here but wished us well on our journey. When the shippers arrived they worked quickly to reorganize the semi to accommodate four box stalls - becoming a commercial horse shipper is on my growing list of jobs that seem more like activities found in the sixth circle of hell to me. We loaded the horses (really it is just amazing that horses have absolutely no qualms about getting onto one of these huge trucks but they walk right on and whinny to each other as they load as if they are saying "Hey, my room is nice there is a good view and lots of hay. How about your place?") and before we knew it they were off. Cupido seemed very comfortable in his box stall with his hay and nice clean bedding but I always worry about them when they are on the road. After stripping the stalls and loading all of the equipment onto the trailers Lauren and I went to look at one last sale horse (I said we would get one more in and we did). Finally, it was back to the house to clean out the refrigerator, I had no choice but to eat the left over ice cream, and do one last load of laundry. I am very sad to leave the palm trees and sunshine, even if it has not been all that warm this year. Maybe spring will come early to Ohio this year, but I won't hold my breath.
March 1 Click for larger image	It was very bittersweet to leave Florida today. I love being down there but I am always anxious to get home and get on with things there as well. Lauren and I hooked up our trailers, said some last goodbyes, and pulled out of the driveway around eight this morning. We planned to drive to Columbia, South Carolina which we estimated at about eight to nine hours We seemed to be rather popular with all of the long distance truckers with whom we were sharing the road. Fortunately the two of us are on the same page when it comes to driving. You stop only when you need fuel, this is a brief stop no eating or sightseeing but you must use the restroom because you will not stop again for another four hours. However, when we made our first stop, still in Florida (what a ridiculously long state), we did take a minute to absorb a few last rays of sunshine (undoubtedly our last for a while). We are staying at a nice hotel in Columbia, where we are taking up virtually the entire parking lot with our giant horse trailers. We just ordered sandwiches to be delivered since going to a restaurant would require unhooking and that would just be too much effort.
March 2	We had an early breakfast at the hotel this morning and thought long and hard about whether going all the way home was really a good idea. The temperature was definitely colder just half way home and it seemed as if "shutting it down" right here might be wise. I had also seen on the weather channel (which I watch obsessively just like most elderly Americans) that there might be snow, actually falling snow, in the mountains we planned to drive through, ugh. Nevertheless we soldiered on and got back on the road. As predicted, once we got into the mountains in Virginia there was snow on the ground and in the air. Lauren said that it looked like a snow globe, my thoughts were not so generous. By the time we crossed into Ohio in Marietta it was in the thirties and very gray. When I got to the barn there was snow absolutely everywhere. It looked like Nancy and Sheila had worked hard to carve out an area in which I could park my trailer and still the maneuver the 4WD. After unhooking I went into the barn and it was great to see my horses. I always miss then when I am away. Now I am home and it is good to see my house though I could do without all of the snow.
This Ends the 2010 Florida Journal