Monday, May 24, 2010

Life's Blessings

Today has been a great day! Our kids woke up giving us lots of anniversary wishes and hugs, I had a great ride on Barney, and then my sweet husband of 13 years today took me to lunch, even though I smelled like sweaty horses and looked pretty grimy! Storms keep coming and going, but we need the rain, so I won't complain. It's supposed to hit 80 on Saturday with sunshine - a summertime horseshow kind of day! Should be fun - wish us luck on our first outing together!

Friday, May 21, 2010

clover = fat ponies

We had hoped the clover wouldn't make a huge comeback this year, but it has, and the horses look like they've exploded overnight! So, we finally broke down and got the big guns to come in and completely spray all paddocks to kill the clover. The guy there said, "it's supposedly 100% safe, but I wouldn't put your favorite horse in there until after it rains." So, much to their dismay, Caruso and Barney are inside and getting playground time in the arena. The other four took over the cow pasture near the house and have been running around like little colts! Calling for rain this evening, so hopefully they can go back out over the weekend.

Barney had a visit from the equine dentist this week and is extremely grateful to Dr. Rucker for taking care of those hooks! He is much happier and a lot less fussy about his bit and contact. Thanks, Dr. Rucker! How frustrating to be a horse and not be able to tell your person "MY TEETH HURT!"

Friday, May 14, 2010

Lucy had her baby!

Our mare, Lady Lucy, who we donated to VA Tech last year, had her foal last week! He is a bay colt by Weltmeyer, and Lucy is loving being a mama! We knew she would.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Good Stuff

Barney and I had a great longe lesson with Kim Huffman yesterday! She is so patient and kind, as is my wonderful horse! The best thing about Barney is that he is an absolute mirror of my riding. He is so in tune to the rider's body that he is a perfect reflection of what I am doing right or wrong. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you found the perfect horse for what you need, where you are, and where you want to go. If I just learn to breathe and relax, so many things will improve, both on and off the horse! Knowing that hasn't made it much easier to accomplish, but I'm determined to get there. Instead of a test reader at shows, I need someone chanting "breathe" to me - is that allowed?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Enjoying Spring




Horse update - Barney is doing great. He and Caruso are perfect pasture and barn mates. My b'day gift to myself was a true competition sized dressage arena to set up in the outdoor. My gift from Bruce was to set it up. I think he got the rough end of the deal, as the wind blew it over 24 hours after he had spent the entire day getting it perfect! It is still beautiful, though, and I love being able to practice the figures so accurately. My previous use of poles on the ground to outline the arena still allowed for quite a bit of error (i.e. trotting over the "arena" :), so it now looks very official, and hopefully our test riding will improve! I still have to put the flower boxes together for the letter markers, but we've made a good start, and the old letters are still out there on the fence! BTW - The little man didn't even seem to care we weren't at Field Day - thank goodness for friends who were there to take plenty of pictures and reassure us that he didn't appear to notice our absence. Hopefully there was no permanent damage done.

Monday, May 10, 2010

mediocrity

Jack of all trades, master of none - I am having one of those days. Just returned from a long, beautiful weekend with my family to celebrate Mother's Day, only to think I was refreshed and organized and ready to tackle the constant demands of real life. In reality, after less than 24 hours home, I am already falling behind. While trying to catch up at the barn and work some of the grass bellies off the horses after their indulgent four days in the field, I find out I have missed my sweet boy's first field day. His kindergarten year winding down with lots of celebrations, and I was too busy with horses to remember. It's not even like the horses are my real job - and they certainly wouldn't have minded one more day off. The saying is true - you can't have it all - at least not all at the same time. So, I'm headed for the pick up line to tell him how sorry I am, hoping that he isn't completely sad and disappointed.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Spring at Sally Run

It has been the most gorgeous spring so far at the farm. I don't know if it has been truly more spectacular than past springs, or if it was just the horrible winter that made us appreciate it so much. Either way, we have had many beautiful days and have been mowing lots of grass! In true Wytheville fashion, though, I keep putting my insulated breeches away, only to have to pull them out "one more time" every 10 days or so. We've switched to night turn out twice, only to have freeze warnings force us to switch back. We're quickly approaching Mother's Day, though, so if you believe all the farmers, we should be in the clear after Sunday!

Happy Mother's Day!!