Page 2 - February

February 1	I can't believe that we have been here almost a month already. I am just now feeling organized and have the tack room set up just the way I want it (my tack room is also now home to a number of small lizards who scurry in and out all day). The horse's clips have grown in and they all have beautiful summer coats. I also get browner by the day (at least my arms do - the rest of me is still Ohio translucent) and we all look generally healthier from losing our Midwestern pallor. This morning was day two of Klaus at the farm and today Klaus and Kathy Connelly sat together while Klaus taught so that they could keep the coaching of horse and rider as consistent as possible. The temperature quickly rose into the mid-eighties in the early afternoon and all of the my horses had shorter than usual work sessions and longer than usual hacks through Little Ranches. The horses all get really excited when they head down the driveway as they know that this means trail ride time. I think that these breaks are so good for them and really prepare them to see a variety of things that they might have to deal with at a show. For example, there is an elderly man who rides a bike all around Little Ranches and talks to himself as he goes. I like to try to convince myself that he is wearing a Blue Tooth under his helmet but I am pretty sure that he is just responding to random voices in his head. He does not pay attention to his surroundings very well and I have now almost run him over in my car and on my horse. There is also a man who has filled the front yard of his house with huge metal sculptures which he frequently works on with a blow torch and a sledge hammer. This is to say nothing of loose dogs, landscapers and bad drivers who do not think that horses should have the right of way. While the horses have all adjusted to these distractions they are still often taken by surprise by the neighbors immediately adjacent to Betsy's property who we all believe secretly try to frighten the horses daily. They have a number of large, horned, long haired cows who often disregard the fence line and wander across towards Betsy's farm or stay just out of sight and moo loudly and plaintively all day. These neighbors also run a brush hog and a wood chipper almost continuously as well as a giant slow cooker that steams constantly in their back yard (hopefully not cooking one of the the cows). The strange thing is that with all of this going on the farm in particular and Little Ranches in general still seem so peaceful.
February 2	Show day. Today I rode Cupido in a show at White Fences in Loxahatchee. Though it was a recognized show with many big name riders it had a quiet almost schooling show feel as it was a trailer-in only competition. The vast majority of my morning was taken up trying to get the yellow stains off Q, ah the joys of a white horse. I bathed him for the better part of 40 minutes using bluing shampoo- lathering, waiting, rinsing and repeating - and still a yellow hue remained on both of his flanks. Finally I gave up and rubbed white grooming chalk all over the offending areas and just hoped that when he got sweaty it did not run off. Around noon I put him in the trailer and with Lauren along to help me we set off for the show. It was actually quite nice to arrive, tack up, show and leave all within 2 hours. When we got out to warm up I was shocked to find that George had come to coach me since he had told me earlier in the day that he could not come because his day was over scheduled. It was great to have someone there to coach me at a show which I then realized I have not had in at least five or six years. Q was very good and though we had some mistakes it was really fun and now I know exactly what to work on for future shows. The down side of showing in Florida is, of course, that you are in a much more competitive environment. I went in the ring immediately after Chris Hickey, recently returned from a successful Pan Am Games. But it still is a lot of fun to be in the big pond even if that means that you are a very, very small fish.
February 3	I had another ride at the show early this morning so I was up around four to start braiding and removing all of the yellow stains from a certain white horse. Once he was as white as he was likely to get (eventually I gave up and used white grooming chalk on the stubborn spots). I hooked up the trailer and off we went again. It was a nice cool morning, the show was quiet and my warm up went well. I was prepared to have a nice test but when I went down the center line my top hat (my new hat which I bought three years ago and saved and saved for a special occasion) began to shift and by the time I halted at X I knew that I was having an equipment malfunction. As I trotted off the hat slipped down and covered my eyes and in an effort to see where I was suppose to turn I had to ride with one hand while I adjusted my wayward hat with the other. Things went from bad to worse as the hat began to bounce up and down in a painful way on the bridge of my nose. I must admit that I no longer cared about preparing for movements or half halting in the corner, my only thought was to adjust the hat, adjust the hat and adjust the hat again. As a result it was not my best ride and I will have to spend a little time working on a solution to the hat dilemma. I have had many suggestions ranging from foam inserts to headbands to radical hair restyling but I think that I am most likely to return to my old top hat which, though faded by sun and rain after years of hard use, never failed me in the ring. I returned to the farm just in time to meet Kathy Beck and Bev Heath Rawlings who are in Florida for the better part of the week. We were all fortunate enough to get there in time to see George ride in another Balkenhol clinic with both Rocher and Marnix. In the evening Lisa Gorretta treated a bunch of Cleveland/Columbus natives to a great dinner at a local restaurant which was great until a bunch of sports fans got a little rowdy about the Super Bowl which was clearly our cue to leave.
February 6	This afternoon there was quadrille practice at the the farm. I have to say that this year they seem farther along in their preparations than they did at this time last year. The program is still rather rough and they have not added any music to the practices yet but it appears to be shaping up rather well. George is coaching the team from the ground and after his long years doing the performances at Temple Farms this role appears to be old hat for him. At this point they are generally dealing with spacing issues: Linda is too close to Chris or Betsy and Pam are too far behind Sue and Bent. The best part of the whole show is that Chris Hickey screams "SHIT" almost constantly: "Shit!!! Where the hell am I suppose to be?", "Shit, Should I be on a pirouette??" "Shit, Linda, not so close" and so on and so forth as the practice goes. George ignores him and just say "A little forward Chris", "You should be turning your pirouette now Chris", "Chris, your spacing is good here." I think that in a few weeks the whole thing will be great and I can't wait to see it with the music but for now it is just really fun to watch them bump into each other and scream obscenities. The audience which shows up for these practices is worth seeing regardless of the riding and swearing - Tami Hoag (mystery author and rider), Chris Hickey's Fabulous boyfriend Richard not to mention a number of other truly fabulous men, and many six foot tall blond dressage goddesses who arrive in the entourage of almost every rider. The sidelines buzz with all sorts of Wellington Dressage gossip, much of it revolving around this years Olympic hopefuls.
February 7	Today, George, Mary Cameron, and Joann Smith all left for the show so the barn was a zoo this morning as trailers were hooked up and horses were prepared. George had a crazy morning trying to ride as many horses as possible before leaving the barn at 11. He was on a horse before it was light out but though he was so over scheduled and rushed he decided to squeeze me in for a lesson right before they left. As lessons are rather hard to come by I took him up on his offer to teach me and passed a pleasant 45 minutes remembering the importance of my outside rein and being reminded about using the upper part of my legs to make the horse feel surrounded and secure. Once everyone left for the show the barn felt like a ghost town and I took advantage of the empty arenas to practice with my last to ride, Q. It is so nice to have one whole end of the arena with full mirrors and it is even better if you are the only one in the ring. In the afternoon Betsy, Lauren and I shot over to the horse show to watch George school Rocher and Marnix and to generally take in the sights of the show. This weekend the competition is at Littlewood which is an annex of the main WEF show grounds. I have always thought of Littlewood as a refugee camp and it is essentially a little city of tent stabling where mostly hunter jumper riders set up camp for the season. Though their horses live in tent stalls the areas in front of each trainers domain is landscaped with trees, flowers and mulch and often adorned with wicker patio furniture and electric tiki torches. Many of the people actually live at littlewood as well in a cluster of tour busses and million dollar motor homes that take up about an acre or two of land in the back of the grounds. The motor homes, though extremly close together also boast little gardens and brick patios. Everyone gets around on scooters and golf carts which careen haphazardly around as there are no "driving rules" in evidence. The whole experience is like stumbling on a colony of mega-rich homeless people.
February 9	Yesterday, George won the Grand Prix at the show with Rocher and placed highly with Marnix. I missed the rides as I was on my way to the airport to pick up Oliver who is in town until Tuesday, so I wanted to be sure to catch George and Rocher in the Grand Prix Special this afternoon. When we got to the show grounds at Littlewood there was already a pretty big crowd there to watch the Special as George's ride was to be followed by Lisa Wilcox on her new mare and both riders tend to generate large crowds. The environment at Littlewood is a bit crazy with water trucks, mopeds, golf carts, horses, cars and pedestrians all competing for the same pathways. Also, there are hunter/jumper rings surrounding the dressage areas which makes the warm up and competition arenas seem more chaotic. Rocher, who has tons of show experience, handled the situation well, while Lisa's mare seemed a little nervous about the jumper ring next to her competition ring. I have to say it is unusual to see Lisa on anything but the stallions that I have seen her on in magazines for years. By contrast to the thick bodied stallions, her new horse is very tall and lean in her build. As we were watching the tests it was really fun to see the dolphin-like progress of the pony jumpers in the next ring as they surfaced with each jump and disappeared again behind the dividing hedge. Every few minutes tiny little girls with braids and bows on tiny little ponies with matching braids and bows would walk past our seats. We stuck around at the show and did a little shopping while we waited to hear the scores. George won with a 68 and Lisa was second with a 67 good scores which reflected two very nice tests. This evening we had dinner with Betsy at Nicole's, a local fancy bar and restaurant. Nicole's is a place to see and be seen on the weekends in Wellington. There was a disturbing amount of glitter and tight clothing going on and sadly this fashion trend seemed to be embraced by all ages and body types!
February 10	Today the horses had the day off which made them very happy! George and Marnix won the Freestyle at the show and Betsy and I spent much of the day putting together a celebratory party for everyone at the barn. This was the first party that Betsy had in her new house down here and it was a really fun crowd with the Smith's, the Cardella's and Gail (new Jersey group), Lauren and Chad Tisdale, Fracesca Nicoletti, Lisa Gorretta and many others. The conversation was buzzing all night with speculation about things related to the Olympic selection trials and the Olympics themselves. This is a really interesting year to be down here as you get to see and hear about all of the big movers and shakers as they make their bids for the Olympic teams for the US, Canada, Denmark (lars Peterson), and many competitors for numerous South American countries (riders like Marco Bernal and Cesare Parra). Overall it was a fun evening and everyone was very relaxed as the pressure from George's first show this season was over.
February 11	Since Oliver has been in town we have been staying at the Wellington Hampton which might be the fanciest Hampton in the world. When we checked in, the woman behind the desk told us that we would find the elevators by taking a right at the first chandelier, since when does the Hampton have Chandeliers? Anyway, the hotel, like everything else in Wellington, is "horsey". There is horse art everywhere: hunt prints in the lobby, the halls, the rooms and bathrooms and photographs from WEF (Wellington Equestrian Festival) behind the front desk and above the breakfast bar. And, of course, there are horse people everywhere. All weekend long women in their hunter show clothes were walking in and around the hotel. They would come out by the pool in their breeches and show shirts with their helmets still on (how those hunters love to wear their helmets!!!) to give their friends a report on their classes from the morning before disappearing for ten minutes and returning in their bikinis to work on their tans. The only exception to the all horse people all the time theme seems to be a group of geriatric health-nut men who I see each morning at 6 AM at the continental breakfast. There are four of them all in their mid-seventies, wearing exercise clothes, eating healthy food and each one of them very hard of hearing. While I am toasting my bagel they are screaming questions to one another without a prayer of being understood - question "Bob, how did you sleep last night?" answer " Yes, I am having oatmeal." question "Is that the skim milk?" answer "I want to swim laps first." I am hopeful that somewhere, still asleep in the hotel, are their wives who will appear to turn on their hearing aids or at least answer questions for them throughout the day.
February 12	Riding in the rain. This afternoon I had a lesson scheduled at 4:45 but by about 2 the weather had started to take a turn for the worse. George continued teaching though a number of riders opted to skip their lessons so he let me know that I could go early if I wanted. Of course, I would rather not ride in the rain but lessons are hard to come by in this year's busy schedule and I was unwilling to give up the chance even if it was a little damp. Besides, with the new footing that Betsy put in no matter how much water their is in the arena the computer drains it out and keeps the footing totally consistent so you really don't have the excuse of not riding because the footing is bad or dangerous. By the time I got on Felina it was really coming down and I could tell that she thought this was not one of my better ideas. Just as we set foot in the arena I heard the first fain rumbling of thunder. George said that it still sounded far off so we started to work while he stood in the middle with an umbrella (horses really do not like umbrellas!) and tried to scream to be heard over the rain. After a few minutes I could no longer keep a grip on my soaked and slippery reins despite having my grippiest gloves on. George thought that this would be a good time to do a little canter work, oh so much fun with the reins slipping continuously to the buckle. I was sure that we had been working at least half an hour, though it turned out to be about 15 minutes, when a boom of thunder sounded ominously close and George, with out breaking stride in his speech said " This is good here, half halt on the outside rein and transition to trot, and half halt, this is good here in this balance, and I would run back to the barn now that is too close and this balance on the trot is good, we will finish this tomorrow." Felina and I trotted out and back towards the barn while George under his umbrella ran back to his barn. I was soaked, the horse was soaked and now we had to start over again tomorrow! As the evening wore on the rain just kept coming and now we are under severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings until tomorrow morning. I am sure that my boots won't even be dry by the time we start this whole thing again tomorrow.
February 16	The weather was just wonderful today, in the upper seventies and sunny. I took Hesse out on a hack with Lauren and Jenny and then we all came back and switched horses and I took Felina for the second hack. It was so much fun to just walk around little ranches on such a pretty day, it is rides like that that make you remember why you got involved with horses in the first place. The horses were all really good and I think that they really appreciated the trail and the good weather. In the early afternoon I had a lesson on Cupido which was a lot of work but very fun too. I was concentrating so hard that I did not realize that Bob Weston (of Crosswinds Farm in Cleveland) was sitting next to the ring watching my lesson. Bob was down this way to visit his son and to see his horse who is in training with Joanne White out in Loxahatchee. When I was finished untacking I ran out to the horse show to watch a few rides in the Grand Prix. I looked at the score board and it looked as though Christopher Hickey was leading the pack with a 70 on an earlier ride. I was able to watch Betsy Rebar Sells, Tami Crawford, Michael Barrisone, Cathy Morelli, Lars Peterson and Karen Reid Offield. Out of that group Michael had a 68 and Lars had a 77 and though I left before it was announced I am pretty sure that he won with such a huge score. It was great to watch so many good riders in such quick succession. I was reminded again and again of how accurate they all are and how well they prepare their horses for each movement. A chance to rebalance in the corner is never lost!
February 19	Every year down here I notice certain themes. This year I have to say that it is a theme of driving with a Starbucks in one hand and a cell phone in the other (for those of you who know Laura Hutlock you have seen this coming). Preferably you are driving a dually while you perform this no handed driving maneuver and if you are a hunter you can do it all with your GPA helmet on (chin strap unbuckled). Everywhere you go around here: the grocery store, the library, the bank, the feed store, the horse show or the mall you see people with a coffee cup in one hand and a cell phone in the other parking their huge trucks. It is essential that when you get out of the truck you continue to talk and drink so you have to master picking up your purse without spilling your coffee and closing your truck door with your foot. Even when you are engaged in a conversation with a real person you do not put your cell phone down you just say "just a minute" to the person on the other end of your call and conduct essential business, very curtly, with the real live human demanding your attention and then smoothly return to your call. You can now also teach a lesson with Starbucks and cell phone in hand and ride with at least the phone (if you are a hunter you can also smoke while riding and talking on the phone and sometimes you can drink coffee too). George has started to answer calls even when he is on a horse who is bucking, rearing or spooking and he even manages to check the display to see who is calling before he answers while staying in the saddle through a severe disobedience. I will have to work on my multi-tasking skills to stay current with this trend.
February 20	Today came in with a big boom, literally. This morning at 9:04, as I was getting my first horse ready to go, there was a huge sonic boom as the space shuttle re-entered the atmosphere. It was so neat because not only could you hear it but you could really feel the deep resonance too. I worked two horses on my own and then had a lesson on Felina ( I thought that it might be fun to try one under better weather conditions). We worked on lateral work and self-carriage and he gave me a few good exercises to use in the canter that I am very anxious to try with some horses at home. In the afternoon the quadrille team hauled and hacked in to work on their program this time with the music. As usual there was a great deal of chaos as one horse tried to kick another and then the horse who was almost kicked decided not to go near any others for the rest of the session. Chris Hickey spent most of the practice flamboyantly screaming "OH SHIT" and George pleaded with them all to pay attention to where they were suppose to be (I watched from a distance but I could see George becoming more and more animated as he began gesturing wildly with his hands). The day ended with the same theme with which it began, space, as I just watched a great lunar eclipse (on my way home from a dinner of ice cream at Cold Stone).
February 23	Saturday is usually a day of fun and relaxation for the horses as we try, barring a horse show or bad weather, to take them trail riding for a little change of pace. Just like the horses I look forward to the break in the routine of making circles and searching for the elusive Self Carriage. However, this morning our trail ride was anything but relaxing. We set out with good intentions on Cupido, Bree and Rudy and decided to take a different route around the back side of Little Ranches. No sooner did we choose the road to the left than the right when a very old man, driving a very large car, decided that he should have the right of way and refused to stop when Rudy was having a crisis about stepping onto darker asphalt from lighter cement. Even as Rudy was heading towards the car the old geezer was moving forward towards Rudy. Fortunately Jenny got Rudy to step on the asphalt and thus avoid becoming the old coots hood ornament. We were not deterred by a little senile driving and so we continued down the path not usually chosen. We were greeted by a very loose and not so friendly dog who was only moments from becoming Cupido's mid-day snack, when his owner nonchalantly convinced him to return to his property. As we rounded the next bend the sounds of a power sprayer broke the quiet morning air and Rudy briefly considered throwing himself to the mercy of the alligators in the canal rather than facing the wrath of the unknown noise. And then......there was the killer pony. A few houses down from the land of the power-washer we went past a chain-link fence with overgrown foliage blocking the view beyond when all of a sudden a tiny and clearly vicious creature came flying through the overgrowth with teeth bared and ears flattened - yes, that is right - a guard pony (more intimidating than a herd of pitt bulls). While Bree had already made it past the danger zone, Rudy and Cupido immediately took flight scrambling into one another in an every man for himself style get-away. Lauren says that I announced in a voice of doom "Oh god, here it comes" at the sight of the demonic pony but I can only remember teeth. The pony retreated once we cleared his property line and all was quiet for a time. Too quiet perhaps, we seemed to be walking forever and not returning to familiar sights, then the sun came out, the breeze disappeared and suddenly it was 95 degrees and still we walked. Just as we all began to sing "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name....." we came around another bend and there was a familiar sight. The moral of this story is that sometimes there is a reason that it is the path less chosen.
February 26	This evening most of us from the barn attended a formal dinner for the Equestrian Aid Foundation. Tonight's honorees (as this was a Roast I suppose they were Roastees but I don't think that is a word) were Jessica Ransehousen and George Morris (about whom I had many nightmares as a child after reading his scathing criticisms of pictures sent in to Practical Horseman), great equestrians who both turn 70 this year. This was a red carpet affair organized by Robert Dover and all of the whose who of the horse world turned out in their most Wellington Fabulous attire. After leaving the car with the valet and walking down the red carpet Betsy and I were photographed (just like at the Oscars though no one seemed particularly interested in who designed my "gown" well it was a cocktail dress from Ann Taylor but still). And then we entered the fray of the cocktail hour. It was really exciting to see all of my old childhood idols in one place. I turned to my left and there was Katie Prudent and to my right Robert Dover. When we were seated and eating they began to play a video of a wonderful interview with George Morris which was interspersed with beautiful old pictures from his very long career. The video then siegwayed to a series of clips of birthday wishes from equestrians across the country and the world. Klaus Balkenhol even sent his birthday wishes in German. Then the roasting began as General Burton, Kathy Connelly, Darren Chiacchia, Robert Dover and Todd Flettrich all spoke about Jessica. This was followed by the roasting of George (which was very easy as he provided abundant material) by Tab Hunter (elderly actor), Katie Prudent, Leslie Howard, Melanie Smith-Taylor and Mark Leone. There were call-in-roasts and birthday wishes from Capt. Mark Phillips, Debbie McDonald, and Guenter Seidel to name a few. Most of the stories, especially about George Morris, were hilariously funny. All in all it was a lovely evening though it has forced me to stay up well past my typical bed time of 10. The horses will still be expecting to be fed at 6:30 in the morning though I have just done night-check after 11 tonight!
February 28	This weekend there is a huge show at Equestrian Estates out in Loxahatchee. This competition is a CDI-W where many competitors will be trying to qualify for either the world cup or get scores towards making the Olympic selection trial in California this summer. The CDI is being run concurrently with a national show bringing the total entries for the weekend somewhere above 300 horses, most of whom are entered in the FEI classes. This afternoon they held the inspection for the CDI which I always love to watch as all of the competitors get dressed up and jog their beautifully groomed and braided horses for a panel of judges and vets who check for soundness. I watched some of the jog with Gretchen Singleton and Maggie Ball who had both just flown in from. This weekend many Clevelanders will be here including Wendy Padgett, Larry Ball, Nancy Varley, Laura Headley, Sana Hale and Carey Smith (it will be just like home but with sun).

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