I know its been awhile but I hadn't thought of a new story that was appropriate for the time of year. I have also just been doing a TON of conditioning with Mira, so nothing really new there, accept that she wants everyone to know transitions and canter poles are no fun and neither are placing rails at almost every fence right now. She would like to gallop really fast and jump really big and screw all the finer stuff..at least she isn't in heat right now.

Ok, so the story of the day. I thought I'd go way back to when Jenn and I had the idea to try a new event in the Carolinas. It was to be our first of the spring and with the smarts (read WTF) that we had we thought we would start out at Prelim for the season instead of running one Training and then moving up. We decided The Horse Trials at the Ark would be our event of choice. It was early in the spring it couldn't possibly be THAT hard. When we decided to go we invited other friends to go to, so Jenn, Lauren, Katrina, and I set out on what turned out to be a VERY interesting trip.

The trip down was smooth, and when we arrived at the Ark we got quite a shock. Animals of every shape and size greeted us as we entered the grounds. All I could think at the time was please oh please don't let there be cows ( to Cameron cows were smelly, oddly sized, horse eating monsters)..... little did I know at fence 5 on cross country you had to jump down a bank directly at a buffalo pen. Thankfully on the day of xc they moved the buffalo. Cameron was brilliant although I was terrified (so scared that I actually called my Dad and asked him to please take care of my dog if I died, which he handled REALLY well in spite of how he really felt- when I called him after I finished ecstatic that it went well he told me he was happy for me, but to NEVER call and say that to him again) because I had to be the 1st horse on course that day. It was my first event of the spring, only my 2nd or 3rd prelim ever and I had to go out of the box 1st...yes I was scared pantsless....
In the end everyone had a pretty good weekend, and Cameron finished 2nd which I was over the moon about, it was the trip home that was interesting.

Katrina and Lauren got finished and loaded before Jenn and I were ready to go. They wanted to get on home, so said they were going to go ahead and leave. We didn't think much of it at the time. We also knew in all of the stops we make that we would probably meet up, and at the time Nextel's walkie talkie  cell phone feature was cool so most of us had it and thought we would communicate that way. Jenn and I got on the road about an hour after the other girls.....

We had been on the road for  a while and we get a "beep" from Katrina, she said," hey guys where are you? We are only about an hour or so from Lexington." Jenn and I were flabbergasted. There was no way they had driven that fast... we didn't know what to say, so we talked for a minute trying to figure out how fast they had gone, and how they were now 3 hours ahead of us...I mean we aren't slow so how fast were they? Naturally it took us so long to answer that we got another "beep"... " seriously guys where are you, were gonna stop for gas and thought if you were close we would wait..." Well now we had to answer...argument ensued over who was gonna answer that phone. Finally because Jenn was driving we decided (she made me) that I would answer. " Um, so, we aren't even to Beckley/Bluefield yet...where are you all?" Immediately, " were only an hour from Lexington, how did you all get so far behind? We thought you left an hour after us?" Now Jenn and I know they did something wrong...and it dawns on us that they went East on I-64 at Beckley/Bluefield in Virginia instead of West.... there is a Lexington, Virginia and its much closer to Beckley/Bluefield than Lexington, Kentucky....Now we REALLY don't want to answer...so cautiously I say,  " Um Katrina, which way did you all go on I-64 when you got to the Beckley/Bluefield split?"...... SUPER LONG PAUSE..... she said, "East why"....OH NO... I couldn't answer. If they were that close to Lexington, VA they had gone now 3 hours the WRONG direction.... Now it was a big fight. Neither of us wanted to tell them they were going the wrong way, but we had to tell them soon. It was already 7PM and we all had work or school the next day.

"Um Katrina...you do know Lexington, Ky is West on I-64.. if you went East your almost at Lexington VIRGINIA..." my voice shook so hard because I knew what was going to happen next... " WHAT OH MY GOD THERE IS NO WAY>>>WE DID NOT GO THE WRONG WAY>> OH MY GOD!!!" radio silence....

What ensued was a lot of cursing and Jenn and I trying to console them and tell them we were sure this late that the VA horse center would let them stay overnight and then try to drive home in the morning, which didn't happen unfortunately because they both had to get home. What was originally a 7hour trip took them almost 13 hours to get home. I felt really bad at the time, still do. That was one of the harder phone (walkie talkie) conversations I have had with friends.

We can all look back and have a chuckle about it now. We still joke and all ask eachother if we are sure we know the way home before we leave horse shows.... you never know...you might end up going south instead of north...and this time of year I would be ok with that...

If I don't write again until after Christmas, everyone please had a safe and happy holiday. Make sure and remind your family and friends (and animals) how much they mean to you, you never know when you might need them

signing off ~
Mandy

Foxhunting

This past Saturday I had the privilege of getting to go Foxhunting as a guest at the Woodford Hounds Blessing. It was amazing. I haven't hunted since I went years ago with Alston Kerr and Iroquois Hounds. I have also never ridden around Shaker Village on horseback. What an experience that was. The Blessing was amazing and the hunting we experienced after was fun.

I must say that the more I do it the more I love braiding. I am fairly decent at it and when a horse looks good, the braids just complement the picture.

Details Braids

Now on to what the Hunt entails. Its much similar to a horse show. You have to be up at 4:30AM so you can make sure your horse hasn't decided to become a creature from the mud lagoon overnight. If they have a bath should follow. The bath is for the horse...to be followed by you because when you are finished you will no longer be clean because all of the mud from your rhinoceros (read horse) will be transferred to you. If you have escaped sharing in the bath then its time to braid. With Detail who is an impatient as Nascar drivers waiting for the green flag (at least I hope that's the one) you also need a twitch. A twitch for those of you who don't know is a piece of rope attached as a loop to a stick. We put it on the horses lip below the nose and twist. It doesn't hurt the horse, it releases endorphins and allows them to relax (however if they are a 17hh broodmare about to be checked for pregnancy it is merely a bat to swing around and smack the handler with). It only takes about 30 minutes to braid if you get good at it, but can take up to four hours if your horse becomes a fire breathing dragon and tries in vain to eat you alive.

Then theres the trailer ride. Did I mention I live in Midway/Georgetown...Shaker Village is somewhere out in east Egypt Harrodsburg up some of the most narrow, winding, vertigo inducing roads that a horse trailer should not be traversing just to go gallop with some friends. It is amazing once you get there though, even though the actual trailer parking area is another three miles out in the middle of nowhere (I heard banjos).  You then tack up your horses and everyone hacks back down that three miles to the Village for the blessing. It is an impressive sight seeing all of those horses going down the road. The pictures just don't do it justice. For little Detail who had never hunted it was very confusing, but he followed along because all of his new found buddies were headed in the same direction....he really is a herd horse. If the others went and jumped off a cliff he would follow (that's a tribute to all the parents out there who like mine used to ask that of their kids---“If Billy jumps off a bridge would you do it too??”).

After packing almost 100 horses into a small area at the center of the village they brought in the hounds. I was impressed when one errant pretty little hound trotted right up and touched noses with D. I was only slightly worried that he was telling Detail how he was going to help him rid him of his rider somewhere later on the trail by jumping out in some marlin-like fashion from the woods. The actual Blessing was short, sweet and to the point. I think they knew that putting so many humans, horses, and hounds in one place for that amount of time was just screaming for the great stampede to happen.

They then separated us out into 1^st Flight (the jumpers), 2^nd flight (the non-jumpers) and 3^rd flight (anyone too terrified to gallop like a herd of elephants and small children). Somewhere in the separating we got put in 2^nd flight because we had never been out with the hunt and we were guests so due to Hunting etiquette we weren’t allowed to go with 1^st Flight. I’ll admit at first I was a bit miffed because I know I would be fine riding with those guys, but then I slowed down and thought about it (I know slowing down and thinking is a novel idea coming from me..) and realized I didn’t know the etiquette to ride in 1^st flight, I didn’t know the countryside, and my friend who asked me to come along has a horse who isn't ready to jump.

It still ended up being a boatload of fun. I love galloping cross country (especially with jumps-BIG ONES) but it is also tons of fun to go galloping across country with friends, although the chatting is slim to none because like skydiving when you try to talk the words get torn from your mouth before you can think them. I was disappointed to not see our quarry and to only sometimes see the hounds (though you can hear them the whole time) but come to find out, its rare for anyone to see the quarry.

At the end of the day, poor Detail had been subjected to long gallops, losing both of his front shoes (it was SO boggy because of all of the rain we have had), and having to stand in a line in the woods like a trail horse while we waited for the hounds to get something running. And my partner in crime, Sara lost her camera….on 4,000 acres. We were sad when we found out because she had just gotten the thing, but somehow (and it was shocking because it was 4,000 acres) someone found it and brought it back (I don’t know whats more shocking, someone finding it…or someone returning it).  

We did hunt a couple of coyotes, but no fox on Saturday. I blame the beautiful weather, but won’t complain because rain would have been miserable. It was a fantastic experience that I hope to get to repeat sometime, although without the thought of Sara losing her camera, and only as long as the weather cooperates. I am a fair weather rider ya know…. Even if I do event….

signing off~ Mandy