Home… and more rain!

So it rained almost every day in the month of September. We had a grand total of two days of sunshine, followed by several more days of rain. Needless to say I was looking forward to coming home to a drought and a bit of warmth after being in the 40′s for my last few days at the farm. Alas, it was not to be. We hit the state line and were surrounded by brown. Two days later, rain. We got 6 inches of rain in the Concho Valley yesterday… the creek that runs behind my apartment is well over it’s banks after being bone-dry Friday. The rain followed me home, and while I am truly grateful for the rain and soon-to-emerge winter grasses, I’m ready for some dry without 30 mph winds… another West Texas weather phenomena I was glad to leave behind.

The last few weeks on the farm were long and tiring, with little down time for me to run into town and get things I needed to get done. On the other hand, though, no days off meant no missed lessons. My last week on the farm saw XC on Monday, dressage Tuesday and Wednesday, SJ on Thursday, and a last dressage lesson Friday. It was a frustrating week but like the rest of my stay in Virginia well worth the racing heart, shortness of breath, and the desire to bang my head against the wall at times. I missed out on a trip to Dover and Middleburg but looking at my bank account, that’s probably not a bad thing. My replacement arrived Thursday which meant all of my things were moved out onto the porch Thursday and my worn-out corpse slept on Heidi’s couch. Ashlynn’s replacement arrived Friday. Both are lovely girls and I think they’ll have a great experience at Windchase. My parents arrived Saturday night, late, in the pouring rain and cold, and we journeyed to Fairfax to stay with some great friends who offered us clean beds and a hot shower. After the horse trial Sunday we had a great dinner, an early bedtime, and an early morning Monday.

I’ve learned that competing in the horse trial the day before embarking on a very long cross-country journey is a really bad idea but I did it anyway and despite set-backs along the way was really glad I did. The morning, of course, started out rainy and cold. We arrived at the farm around 6:30 in the morning, at our breakfast, then I headed out to braid Cate who was less than cooperative. The chaos of the morning seems to have faded into a distant memory which is probably a good thing; Larry hooked up the trailer for me then while I went to change into my breeches and shirt he went to get my mom. Thirty minutes and a now panicked Megan later (it was 9:30, my dressage test was at 10:41… and did I mention it was raining), I started walking toward the house when I saw them strolling down the barn. Time change — Larry was still on Central time which put us an hour earlier. I felt so bad getting frantic w/ my parents but with the crappy weather and traffic I was worried we weren’t going to get there in time. We did… and then got the truck and trailer stuck in the mud.

“If you’ll just pulled through between the cones and swing around you can park next to that tan truck and trailer” — parking volunteer

“Umm… do y’all have a tractor that can pull me out when I get stuck?” — me

“Oh, you’ll be fine, you will.” — PV

“No, no, this isn’t an aluminum trailer… this is a steel trailer and a slightly heavy truck (not to mention the lack of 4-wheel drive). It’s going to get stuck” — me

“You should be fine but if you get stuck I’m sure we can find someone to pull you out.” — PV

“Ok.”

Onward we drove, about another 200 feet, then mud. Anyone who knows me knows in a stressful situation I’m going to do one of two things… get really quiet or cry. Which of the two do you think I did? Lemme give you a guess… my dressage score was really bad. My parents were great and just let me be a raging idiot while I threw dirty tack on a grumpy horse and headed off for my test without even knowing where I was supposed to ride. I took a nice tour of Morven Park, found Melissa, Ashlynn, Dawn and Jeff, found my dressage ring, and took a deep but un-relaxing breath. With 4 other people in the small warm-up arena, one of which was getting a full lesson from her trainer before her test (something about that didn’t seem right but ok), warming up a slightly less than angelic Cate was a mess. I gave up and waiting for my test, occasionally wandering back into the warm up to see if anything was better… nope, not better. If they’d drop the dressage portion of eventing Cate would be a rock star. We put in a decent test considering the situation, my level of tension, the pouring rain on the metal roof, and scored a 41.5, about par for little Catey. My mom thought it looked really good and was happy for us, so that makes it better I slowly walked back to the trailer, already thinking that cross country was going to be a no-go, but ready for stadium.

I slowly switched tack on the evil mare and headed up to a rather soggy but still solid warm up ring. We put in a few laps of trotting, a few in canter, then hopped each of the fences two – three times each. Cate seemed super keen despite the water and mud splashing on her so I though, ok, this should go well. After watching several rounds and walking the course while my mom held the beast, we were up. She was great! We took a rail at fence 7, a narrow three strides from an oxer (3.5 if you ask Cate, which is why we took the rail) but otherwise that silly little mare was bold and brave. My parents were excited to see us go and really excited to load the beast up and head for home. But wait, Ashlynn is here slowly convincing me to go cross country. I mean, I’m here, I have studs, my mare has been super brave the last few times we’ve schooled… and if ti gets bad I can always retire. Back in the trailer went Cate after a good clean-up, mom and Larry went to find food, and I slowly convinced myself to go cross country. I mean, come on, I paid for it already, and Phyllis called to see if I wanted her to come out. I told her I was going to walk out to the course and see if they were running on time and how the course was riding and I’d let her know but probably, yeah.

Course looked good, and with super-huge studs we were set to go. Phyllis was found driving around the park and showed up at the very mucky warm up. After a few less-than-enthusiastic hops over the oxer and the warm-up XC fence she told me to gallop my horse, go cross-country over the warm-up, don’t check Cate to the fence but kick on. So I did and Cate flew.

“Now, gallop like the wind, don’t stop, don’t fall off, and get all the way around.”

Not like that’s any pressure coming from someone I respect and admire as much as I do Phyllis. I went to my usual game plan of “kick through the first three fences, afterward she’s good to go!” The first fence, a simple log, went great, we had a slip on the approach at fence 2 that nearly left me w/ a face full of Cate neck, and then the first semi-test — an upbank road crossing followed by a beefy-ish table. Done and done, now on to the trakhaner. Let me remind you all, my first experience with a trakhaner was meeting Meagan Sentinel at Windchase on my interview the day after she and her mare Starry flipped over the trakhaner in the gallop field. Needless to say, there was a little anxiety mixed with the confidence I have in that “feisty” little mare. We galloped down the hill, probably a little more conservatively than we should have, and Cate put in a stop. I gave her a tap with the whip, let her look, and could feel her say — oh crap, I totally got this one, I’m so sorry mom, let’s try again! A small circle back and clean over… good girl! Brush fence then to the ditch combination — a slightly hesitant look at the ditch then over, then scramble up the incline over the roll-top. We’re a little less than half way with a canter-in, upbank out water… and a lost stirrup. Dangit, I always lose my stirrup in the water. We took a wide turn to the down bank at 10, mainly so I could grab my stirrup back. Cate didn’t want to rock back for the down bank until she realized, oh, down bank… at which point she put on her brakes and down we went, easy easy. Nice hog’s back for 11, into the wood 12, out of the woods for a combination at 13, and 14 was moved off course because of the bog. Fifteen, 16, gallop for 17 and we were done, one second under optimum time w/ 20 jumping faults and a very VERY happy Cate. What a blast and so worth every second of apprehension, every moment of frustration at the farm when we “just couldn’t get it,” and my mom and Larry watched it all the way through. My mom told me later that Phyllis stood next to them and clucked to Cate at every fence and kept saying, let that horse gallop, let her gallop. It’s nice having a trainer who is as dedicated to you as you are, if not more so.

The nice long walk back to the trailer was cold but at that point I couldn’t have cared less. Phyllis met up with us on the way back and told me she was very happy with our ride, was proud of us, and to come back whenever we can. Earlier in the week she’d asked if I had convinced Clay to move to Virginia yet and when I told her our idea she thought it was a great one and she thought it would work. Dr. Bowman asked when we were going to move that direction, too, so it was a good way to end the week, and our second Virginia adventure. We got Cate untacked, cleaned up and loaded, said good bye to my aunt Tisha, uncle Darren, and my cousin Lily who had every intention of watching but got lost on the way over, and ooched our way out of the mud and back to the farm. Oh, there was a slight detour to the office to drop off my pinney that ended with us getting slightly stuck in a traffic jam and me fussing at Larry to let me pull my trailer how I wanted to pull my trailer. I’m a little paranoid when I haul and probably a little over-cautious but if it keeps me from dinging up the dang easy-go, then by-golly I’m gonna avoid dinging up the dang easy-go.

I’m sure my mom is dying to see what I write about us getting lost a few times on our way to Paul and Barbara’s house. Which we did. A lot. Despite my Garmin and Larry’s iPhone and my iPhone… we probably added an extra 50 miles to our trip just in missed turns, but it was still fun, especially now that I’m home and know where I am and how to get places. At the time, not so fun. But looking back, great memories. The drive home was long and Larry did the majority of the heavy lifting. I did some, and the truck pulled his little heart out all the way back to West Texas. Fourteen hours from Windchase to Jackson, TN; 17 hours from Jackson to Hunt, and 2.5 from Hunt to San Angelo. That’s a lot of diesel, by the way. We also discovered that it wasn’t a blown fuze that was causing the blower motor to not work. Oh no, it was the blower motor itself, so calculate all of those hours w/o heat or a.c., just windows once we hit Texas where it really did start to warm up. Oh well, just another thing to add to Truckie’s next doctor visit. And my mom cleaned my windows, at least the ones shoe could reach, and the dash. It was pretty gross, all that West Texas dust mixed with Virginia rain. And stink bugs.

So this concludes at least the fun part of our journey. I will still probably blog on Cate when I have a few minutes here and there. I learned a lot about riding, about horses, and a lot about myself. Now it’s time to apply my new tools to our next adventure.

 

 

Alien hunt

So, there are these nasty little sacs of gelatinous goo floating around in the pond at Windchase. Actually, correction… there WERE nasty little sacs of gelatinous goo floating around the pond at Windchase. One of my odd non-working student last week involved a muck fork, a bucket, and a row boat, with the objective to seek and destroy said sacs. It took three hours, several trips to shore to unload my “aliens” into a large trough, and three near-capsizes of my trusty row boat to get the nasty little things but I was successful, minus two that Phyllis wants me to go back and get this week. Nasty nasty nasty.

I’m sitting here at Market St for what is one of the last times this trip. The hotel room for my parents is booked, all extra tack is stowed in the trailer, awaiting further organization, and the truck is at the shop, getting the last few things repaired. Cate and I are entered at Morven Park for next Sunday and will be arriving Monday evening at Journey’s End appaloosa farm in Jackson, TN. It makes me so sad to think that my time here is almost over, almost as sad as I am happy to be going home. I love love love Virginia. I mean, what’s not to love — great weather, green grass, history… horse trials. But I am home sick, ready to get back to the dust, heat, and ready to try out my new mad skills. I will probably update one more time before hitting the road.

Yesterday was, of course, one of the last jump schools here at Windchase, and like the others Cate went well. Not perfectly, of course, but well. I did get a nice word from Phyllis that really makes me feel as though all of this time hasn’t been wasted. She said that I will make a good event rider because of my attitude toward the job at hand. While we are looking to “polish” all of my phases, there is enough courage and “get it done” attitude from Cate and I that is hard to teach and necessary for the sport. That feels good. We took some larger novice sized fences yesterday and Cate rode bravely to each, sometimes a little fast which tells me she’s ready for something bigger. I think we both are, but we need success at the novice level first.

Sorry this is so short; the shop just rang and my truck is DONE!! YAY! I’m off on my walk to the shop to pick up my truck, make a few more stops, then on to Notaviva for a wine tasting… maybe. See you all soon!

Meg

And on a happier note!!

Everyone has at least one amazing moment in their lifetime. I’ve had my share of them and this weekend I was fortunate to experience another one. Cate and I traveled down to Poolesville, MD, to the Seneca Valley Pony Club horse trial for our first “novice.” I couldn’t have been happier for the outcome if we’d won the dang thing versus coming in last place. It was a great great day.

I drove up Saturday to Poolesville to walk the cross country course. One of the perks of being in Area II and, more importantly, Purcellville, is the proximity to several really nice horse trials. The drive to Seneca took me right around an hour to make rather then the usual 2.5 – 6 to a horse trial in Texas. I arrived early enough to watch Ashlynn go cross country on her little mare Arden, then she and I struck out on the course to go over my fences. As we walked, Ashlynn did her best to coach me through each turn, each obstacle, every line. I noticed as we walked that the fences didn’t feel all that imposing, all that big. In fact, most of them felt a little, um, small. So far, good start. The two fences I had a bit of a problem with were 15, a large table, and 17, a nice long down bank. Neither looked impossible, just bigger than anything else on course. With the decision to kick at 15 and look up and ahead at the bank (which you should do, anyway), Ashlynn and I took a quick peek at the stadium fences ( “those look really small” … “they should, you schooled bigger at home last time” … “oh, ok!”), hopped in sick Truckie and headed home, enjoying a little adventure at White’s Ferry in the process. A late night in the barn doing pay stalls, cleaning tack, and running through the dressage test in my head had me in bed around midnight, almost 1am w/ a 6am departure.

The weather and footing couldn’t have been much better than what we had! The rain from the day before gave the ground just enough give to make it springy but not so much that you sank. The morning started out chilly but by the time I got Cate braided and ran around grabbing pinnies and a white shirt I was sweating and struggled pulling on breeches. Tack was tossed on with 20 minutes before my official test time and with 15 Cate and I jogged to the clerk, way on the other side of the venue. Cate was feeling a little fresh and jiggy, making me a little worried about our upcoming test. We arrived to the warm-up and were greeted by the clerk.

“Do you know your number?” — dressage clerk

“Uhhhh… crap. No. And my tag is at the trailer. I’ll be back!” — me

“hahaha ok.” — dressage clerk

Jog jog jog back across the venue, frantic dismount, scramble through the packets to find my bridle tag, attach to the  breastplate and all but canter back across for a warm-up. On the way over Cate took a huge sigh and suddenly relaxed, slowed her rhythm, and came round lightly into my contact. Wait.. what? Surely this is an act. I gave the clerk my number, let her check my bit, then discovered that my ring was empty so I could go as soon as I wanted. Cate felt strangely calm and relaxed so out of curiosity I trotted one circle each direction then asked for a canter. Instead of the usual resistance there was an “oh, sure mom” and a lovely depart. One circle, quiet, collected, relaxed… and down to trot, no head chucking, no dropping behind the leg… weird. I tried the other direction and, wow… this is not my horse! I trotted to Heidi and said, “no reason to keep schooling if she’s giving me the best down transitions and up transitions ever!” On to the ring we went, listening for our whistle. I was still pretty convinced I brought the wrong horse. The whistle blew — 90 seconds to enter the ring. Relax… give her plenty of notice for turns… think walk for all transitions… stretch up… oh God, here we go!

Best test… ever!!!! We scored a 38.5, definitely not good enough to win the class but for my little mare that was all right for me. As soon as I get the video I’ll post it somewhere. Let’s just say… best test, ever!

A short break between dressage and stadium found me unbraiding, visiting with my family for a few minutes, then studding, tacking, changing into cross country gear, and panicking when I realized I didn’t have my martingale. Crap! En route to the ring I asked the gentleman at the Surrey Tack trailer if he had a running martingale. He phoned the shop and said he’d meet me over at the warm-up as soon as they showed up. Melissa coached us over a handful of fences, I watched two rounds, saw the gentleman approach with a handful of martingales, then heard my number. No time, gonna have to do it without one. Dangit! Whistle blew, Cate and I cantered around the ring, saluting the judges before approaching fence one, a vertical w/ painted flag standards. Good canter, good canter, good cant… and stop. Really Cate? That’s not very nice! I walked her into the fence, turned into a circle, reapproached, and gave her a good three whacks w/ my bat. That got her attention. She never hesitated the rest of the way around course. We ended with 4 jumping faults (dang stop) and 6 time faults. Now a jog to the vendor, a quick application of a running martingale, and a jog across the venue, again, for XC.

5…4…3…2…1… have a good ride!

My practice with Cate is get her over the first three fences and we’re good. A light tap from the bat, a good leg, and a little -hiiiya and we went over. I lost my line a few times but thankfully my little pony is quite handy and found her way back to the fence in time. Good galloping in between, rock back for the fence and another quick tap, nudge with the leg, and hiiiyaa… followed until the next fence w/ “gooooooood girllllll!!!! gooooood girl!!!!!” The approach to fence 15 had me a little worried so Cate got a lot of encouragement from me, probably more for my sake than hers, and over we went like she’d been jumping it her whole life. Fence 16 road great and then we hit the up bank. I think I stopped being confident for a few seconds. Cate felt it, looked at it and said, wait, what?! She hit the brakes, looked, then almost without my instruction circled around and reapproached. Three light taps, hiiiya and up we went, awkwardly, but up and over. No the drop, oh crap… look up, look up, look … weeee!!! Good girl!!!!! Fence 18 was over before I realized it and even with our stop we were only a few seconds over optimal time. Cate was puffing and sweating but I could tell despite her exhaustion she was well satisfied with her little self. We completed our first novice course. Good girl!

Of course I can’t write an entry without updating the constant string of misfortunes… It’s now a running joke, what’s going to happen to Megan this week?! On the way home Melissa informed me that I had a flat tire on Truckie. Crap. My brain started trying to remember where the keys were to the lock for the spare tire. At this time, I have no clue. Truckie is actually at the tire place right now getting his tire patched. I’ve been driving Heidi’s little VW Beetle, relearning how to drive a standard. Apparently it’s like riding a bicycle… I’ve only killed it twice. YAY! The best new Megan incident is the now swollen and sore right ankle, courtesy of a huge hole by Drifter’s field that I found Monday night in the rain with Phyllis. She called the little house around 10:15 to see if someone would come out and help her bring in the 3 year olds. In the cold. And rain. And dark. Raise your hand if you see this being a problem for accident prone, bad-ankled Megan!! Duty called, though, so down I went to the alley, then down I went in the hole. When I finally pulled my boot off 20 minutes later after bringing in several other fields the ankle had already swelled. Great. As of today it’s still about twice it’s usual size and bright purple and green, but thank goodness for high pain tolerance, it doesn’t hurt… much. Yes, I still believe I wasn’t supposed to come to Virginia this time, and yes I’m still too dang stubborn to go home until October. So there.

Off I go to pick up Truckie, check on Julian the Corgi, then back to Kidwell to work w/ Sheila Lampiette who has “hired” me to “train” her in “physical exercise.” I love having a profession. Much love to everyone!

Megan

God Bless Texas

“Texas, Our Texas“

Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State!
Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great!
Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev’ry test
O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest.
(chorus)

Texas, O Texas! your freeborn single star,
Sends out its radiance to nations near and far,
Emblem of Freedom! it set our hearts aglow,
With thoughts of San Jacinto and glorious Alamo.
(chorus)

Texas, dear Texas! from tyrant grip now free,
Shines forth in splendor, your star of destiny!
Mother of heroes, we come your children true,
Proclaiming our allegiance, our faith, our love for you.

Chorus

God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.

 

…enough said

Looking up and forward to Seneca!

What am I doing at 9 o’clock on a Monday night in Purcellville? No, I don’t have tomorrow off and I probably won’t have as leisurely of a day when my day off comes Thursday. Veronica is leaving tomorrow so Ashlynn and I brought her to town for one last outing before she departs. We grabbed way too much food at Main Street Wings and ate it all, then moaned our way over to Market Street Coffee for drinks and internet. I’ve been enjoying my hot chocolate and dreading going back outside where it’s now a whopping 65 degrees w/ a predicted low in town of 55, meaning closer to the 50 mark for us at the farm. I’m going to freeze. I’m definitely starting to regret the decision to bring such a limited amount of cooler-weather clothes but when you’re packing for a trip and it’s 100+ degrees it’s difficult to imagine how cold the 80′s will feel, even more so the 70′s… and the 50′s are downright winter clothes weather. Brr!

Anyway, I know I usually post later in the week but I’m here and my laptop is cooperating so I’m gonna get a quick one in today, too! This week has been pretty good so far, considering it’s just Monday. Cate had her injections Friday and a good sound hack out Sunday. Today we had a light dressage lesson w/ Jineen and she felt great. I’m was a little worried about her racing around the pasture when I turned her out with Arden so tomorrow she’ll be back in a standing wrap as a precaution. She’s determined to hurt herself, I just know it. Cate was also fitted w/ a new pair of shoes today. She got regular shoes on the front and Steve welded bars to her hind shoes for more support. Let’s just say I’ll be paying those bad boys off for a bit but at least Steve is willing to work with me on them. She looked comfortable running about like an idiot so hopefully the extra support will help and I’ll have a semi-permanently sound Catey. She can fall apart when we get home; I just need her to stay sound for one more month and a few days.

In the interim Phyllis has done a great job testing me and pushing me past my normal comfort zone which has been great! Jumping Charlie has been a blast — he’s so eager to please and despite being a bit downhill he’s lovely. It takes a few minutes to get used to that feeling but I think I’m getting it. Just a few days ago while waiting for a hurricane to arrive we went out and schooled XC. Phyllis gave me a few options, some easier vs. scary options and for once I challenged myself and took the scarier but definitely more satisfying routes. Two years ago I would have opted for the “safe” path. Sunday found us in a jump set on babies — Fairlight, Vegas, and Prancelot. After an iffy start and some severe ankle pain I finally started riding Vegas like he needed to be ridden and by the end he felt great. Tired, but great. I love being here; it gives me an opportunity to ride a great variety of horses and learn to overcome apprehension and self-doubt to become a better rider. I don’t think I could find the same flooding of experience at home w/o ruining a few horses in the process. At least this way there’s always someone better to undo all of the Megan damage.

I’m starting to breath a little easier these days. With a nice surprise from both the insurance company and Shannon Clay and I are going to be able to fix the truck before I begin the long journey home AND I’ll be able to pay all of my bills. YAY! On top of that, I’m temporarily Phyllis’s slave on my days off, soon to be cleaning tack, tending to trees, mending blankets… etc. Jineen is hiring me to paint her fence line, all 400+ feet of three plank wood fence, as well as a possible second painting job — the exterior of her log cabin. The neighbors are hiring me to dog sit (I’ve heard some nightmarish stories, though, so I’m a little worried) as well as catalog their library, the Robbins’s are having me house-sit while they attend the AEC’s, and Dr. Bowman is due a house cleaning for services rendered for Cate’s ankle. So much for seeing the light of day ever again. I was also going to look into helping harvest grapes at Breaux vineyard, a small skip away from the farm. It would be fun and something different… let’s hope they want to hire a little person to pick grapes. Oh, and with Veronica leaving I’m picking up five additional pay stalls which will bring my total to seven. That means I’ll have to get up an extra hour earlier but if it’ll pay for the diesel going home I guess I can sacrifice a  little sleep. It’s not like I’m sleeping all that well, anyway, what’s an hour less??

Anyway, I guess it’s time to shut my laptop and head back to the farm, fellow working students in tow. Market Street closes in about 30 minutes and I’m sure they’d appreciate us removing our stinky carcasses from their building so they can fumigate and freshen.Good night everyone and see you soon!!

Megan!

PS — spent two and a half hours cleaning windows in the tack room, removing a nice buildup of fly poop and spit, corpses, and a few nasty spiders w/ their egg sacs. I loved Charlotte’s Web – these are not as friendly and there’s a lot of them! I was very proud of how clean everything looked until I stepped back and realized there was another window. Dangit! I guess I’ll tackle that nasty thing tomorrow. I also took a ride in the tractor today… in the bucket of the big red tractor, helping Kenny get boards to replace those damaged in the “high winds” of Irene that knocked down a tree. What fun! The tractor, not Irene.

Earthquakes and hurricanes and lame horses, oh my!

It never ends. Every time you turn around there’s something else life throws your way, or at least that’s the way it happens when you’re NOT supposed to be at Windchase but you are anyway because you’re too determined to get there and too stupid to see the signs… or just too hard headed to listen. Anyway, this will make a great story to tell the imaginary grandchildren.

For all of those concerned, I am ok. Life in the Bubble is great. Yes, we did feel the earthquake. The little gazebo in the sand ring shook while Jineen was teaching me on Cate and the tack room shook, scaring the three people inside when they realized Drifter kicking the stall couldn’t possibly rattle the walls that much. Other than that there was nothing exceptional about the experience. Cate was being Cate, Heidi and Ashlynn slept through it, and I did my best to call everyone who called me panicked as soon as I could. Thank you everyone who called and texted… I’m ok. Tomorrow should be the beginning of another fun adventure with full-on hurricane preparation. Every spare water bucket has been filled, there a piles of bricks to secure the barn doors, plans to move the nursing mares and their foals, as well as the “expensive” double-shed horses into the barn have been made, and Heidi and I drove to Reston VA today to pick up the second-to-last generator for Phyllis’s house. Those hoping to go to the Loudoun Pony Club horse trial are now not sure if they’re going to go which has to be a bummer for Veronica from Bulgaria who was going to compete on Oregano. All of the weather sites are giving us an all-clear for the hurricane but just like the earthquake — things happen. Hopefully Heidi’s “caboose” will survive. I promise I will keep everyone posted!

And on to lame horses… I rode Cate Saturday and Sunday on a hack, then had two lessons w/ Jineen. Cate came up lame after the second one and has been on stall rest ever since. Dangit. I’ve kept her wrapped and we’ve been sprinkling bute on her feed but she’s still lame. Dr Bowman of Piedmont Veterinary Clinic came out today and took a look. He asked me why her back feet looked so different from each other — well, they look a lot more similar now than they used to. I then laughed and told him, “hey, you wanna see this?” as I led her away. “Watch her back legs.” “Wow, that’s a crooked leg!” “Yup,” I said, “but that’s the straightest it’s even been.” He palpated the wind puffs and swelling, showed his student, then asked for me to take Cate into the barn to be hoof tested. He injected the ankle in two different locations with a steroid to alleviate the inflammation and said she should be perfect by Sunday, Monday at the latest. Ernie Frye, my wonderful farrier, suggested putting egg bars on her back feet to help stabilize the funny looking feet so I may look into that, too. I know Steve will be happy with little cash register sounds ringing in his head… looks like a lot of pay stalls for me next month to pay those guys off. The nice thing is that Dr. Bowman is pretty confident that the injections will clear her up so we can compete at Seneca next weekend. Keep your fingers, toes, and eyes crossed and breaths held. I’m determined to move her up to Novice but not at the expense of her soundness. If she’s even slightly off after the hurricane we’re not going.

I have had some little fun adventures these last few days, including a nice hack to the cemetery on Phyllis’s property. I’ve been looking for it for a while and didn’t realize that I had already passed it until I turned around. I was walking down a nicely wooded trail and saw an old rock wall, randomly stuck in the woods. I took a few pictures w/ my phone then walked Cate a little closer. Suddenly, a headstone. Then two. I texted Heidi — is it really really small, sort of over grown, small rock wall? “Yup, you found it!” was the response! I carefully tied Cate to a tree and climbed the wall, telling the “inhabitants” — I’m not here to disturb y’all… I just want to know who you are! One of the tombstones dated 1604 as the date of death… over 400 years ago. I know it’s a little creepy but I love cemeteries. I love reading the dates and just getting that sense of history. Because the cemetery was severely overgrown and my pony was looking for a way to untie herself, my visit was brief but neat. I’ve been back since but really need to go out on foot some day and spend a little time really reading the headstones.

The truck saga continues but Truckie is definitely feeling a little better. Now he needs a new fuel injector and something for the blower and we’ll be all set… for now. Oh, and new window tint. Is that too much to ask? It’s been a week of car issues for the working student population. Chloe sent hers off to Bridge’s when I got here… it’s now back a Bridge’s. Ashlynn’s car is on it’s last legs. Dawn had a flat tire and when her boyfriend started to change the tire the car rolled forward off the jack and on to the ground, puncturing the radiator hose. Phyllis’s RAV4 has a permanent “maint reqrd” light on, and Jineen’s car just returned from Bridge’s yesterday. So, I don’t feel alone in my saga, just over-blessed w/ learning experiences in truck maintenance. As of now Truckie is sound to make the trip home; in another week he’ll have a new fuel injector and will be good as, well, as good as a 12 year old diesel on it’s first cross-country trip can be.

Once again my computer is being fussy and won’t let me post photos so check back to this particular entry later and I will try and get the appropriate photos posted. It’s time for me to log off and head back to the Bubble… more windows to board up, flash lights to locate, and a lot of panicking over something that will probably not even hit us. Heidi and I agreed, though… if it’s gonna hit, please make it a legitimate storm that keeps us huddled in the “Little House” and out of the barn, attempting to ride in the indoor with the noise of rain, wind, and thunder scaring our otherwise sane ponies. Amen.

Love you all,

Megan

Regumate

I think there is one thing at Windchase that strikes fear in the hearts of

The most feared in all the land!

all working students. It’s not the wagon in the boarder field, or the snakes in the rafters in the indoor. Nor is it the thought of Bounce escaping and breeding all of the mares, or Stony, for that matter. Even Phyllis has less power than this… force. The most feared thing at Windchase is a little brown bottle w/ a black screw on lid labeled “Regumate.” This liquid is used to help regulate mare cycles and is given orally daily to Sirius, one of the broodmares. Windchase legend tells of working students falling victim to a drop or two of Regumate and developing horrendous periods, swollen breasts, and other oh-so-pleasant symptoms. When drawing up a syringe most working students wear two gloves. After administering the curse I typically flip one glove over the syringe then the other to keep it from dripping on my skin, an effective Regumate “condom” if you will. So, when Sirius slung her head with a mouth full of Regumate at Ashlynn, panic ensued. We waited patiently for hormonal changes, mood swings, lactation. All we got was a stressed Ashlynn (probably more from other life issues than the Regumate) and a good story of taking close to 5 cc’s of the fearsome Regumate to the face.

Attention all former working students… the little house is CLEAN! We had an interviewee come in Monday so the book said “clean little house” on Sunday. Every pot, pan, dish, appliance was pulled out of the kitchen, washed, shelves cleaned, bathroom cleaned, tub CLR-ed, floors swept again and again. I even pulled stuff out from behind the washer and drier, and out of closets. It was clean. Unfortunately there was still a smell. We’ve been having a little “fun” with two little kittens who have decided that the littler box is only decoration. So, after a few days of walking into the little house and being hit with a wave of cat urine, the kittens are leaving. They’re quite cute but Ashlynn discovered yesterday that they have turned her bedroom and bathroom into a litter box. Jineen found out, too, which led to a group meeting this morning in the little house discussing the responsibility of the working students to maintain the little house better. That included finding a new location for the kittens. It’ll be sad to see them go but it’ll be a blessing, too.

Cate has been doing very well! A week of great dressage lessons has given me a huge change in her submissiveness to the bit and very nice movement. Unfortunately yesterday my poor little pony came up lame during the first five minutes of a private dressage lesson with Phyllis. Grr! We were in the process of warming up and I asked Phyllis if Cate looked a bit off. She said, “no, just short in the back right. Push her forward a bit and make her lengthen.”

I pushed her forward and the unevenness became even more uneven. “Now does she look off?”

“Not really, keep going. Oh. Yup. Now she loos like Lion.”

“That’s not good. Back right?” It was beginning to feel like she was trotting on her toe. I pulled her up, hopped off, and checked to make sure there wasn’t something in her foot. As I was picking up her foot I noticed that the collection of wind-puffs on her back right seemed much larger than it did a few days ago. Phyllis noticed it, too, but supposedly wind-puffs don’t typically cause issues. Phyllis suggested I hoof test her and have Jineen take a look to rule out an abscess. After untacking I took her to Jineen who first palpated the wind-puffs and got a very upset Cate response. We went ahead and hoof tested, too, just to rule out an abscess — negative hoof test. So, after a night wrapped in a furazone sweat we trotted out again today. The swelling was down and even after several sharp turns on the right foot and trot / canter work I have an almost sound pony. Jineen says it still looks like she’s landing on the toe rather than the putting weight on the heel; it may be time to have Steve reset her feet. She’s a little long in the toe because of the moisture here, so I’m just gonna have to bite the bullet and have her reshod for a whopping $200. Ugh!

Having two days off this week has provided an opportunity to attend a jumper schooling show as a groom. Former working student and owner of Top Notch Eventing Katie Willis took a client horse to the jumper show in Culpepper this Wednesday and needed someone to hold her fence and help tack up, cool out, etc. Let me just say… eventing is tougher than jumpers. While I’d never want to do hunters, where horses are judged on form and quietness over a fence (Cate would be a horrible hunter), Cate would make a great jumper. Unlike eventing, horses in jumper shows are allowed to be shown the fences before the round starts. Each rider has 45 seconds before their round to show the horse any fence and canter around the ring. We are allowed to take a lap around the ring in eventing but showing a horse the fences is prohibited. If it was allowed I’m sure there’d be a few less refusals on cross country, huh? It looked like a lot of fun and I hope to look into it a little more once I get home, a definite possibility for Mr. Beau and Princess. I thought I brought my camera with me but just realized it’s in my room at the farm. Bummer! I hoped to post the photos of Katie but they’ll have to wait.

Hacking out in the trees

I can, however, post a few from around the farm. This is from a hack I took a few days ago. The scenery out hear is almost always breathtakingly beautiful and every now and then I stop and take it all in. We’ve had a few good rain storms in the last week, heavy enough to make the sand ring unusable for a few days. I love keeping my windows open at night with my box fan circulating cool air into my room — best air conditioning ever! I’ve found myself shivering in my polar fleece pullover a few mornings when the temps dipped into the 50′s. Needless to say I’ve been laughed at a few times for being cold but that’s ok. I can deal with being laughed at. I’m a weenie when it comes to cold, and anything under 70 is cold. I still laugh to

Through the trees

myself when the boarders complain of the heat when the temperature hits 87. That’s almost jacket weather.

The truck saga continues — I’m supposed to drop Truckie off Monday morning for servicing at High Power truck services in Purcellville. I’m hoping that a little tweaking will be all that Mr. Truckie will need, otherwise this trip may have to come to an abrupt but necessary end. The mechanic who looked at Truckie assured me that from initial assessment he didn’t notice anything that would cause catastrophic truck failure but the bill could total between a few hundred dollars up to a few thousand dollars. No!!!!! We’ll keep our fingers crossed that it’s just resultant issues from the tank of GAS that was put in and not something more serious. He’s going to take a look at the blower for the AC / heater, too, because otherwise it’s going to be a long drive back to Texas.

Lastly, Cate and I are heading to Seneca Valley in two weeks to compete in our first Novice event. I’m really looking forward to the outing and, barring any other lameness issues, we should be well prepared to go out and make it half-way around the XC course Seneca is one of many I didn’t make it to last time around so it’s one I definitely want to try. With any luck (and an inexpensive visit to the truck doctor) we’ll also do Middleburg and Morven Park in September. The Novice is run on Sunday at Morven so Mom, you’re gonna get to see me compete!! No covering your eyes as we jump. I promise, it’ll be worth it!

I hope you have a great day and I’ll be back again next week!! Hopefully with photos!