APRIL 2009

This month was spent getting back into the swing of my normal life at home: riding, teaching lessons, visiting with friends. Mom and Dad took a trip to Australia early in the month (and all I got was a t-shirt!!) I also did an H/A rating prep that our pony club sponsored. Helped me prepare for possibly trying for that rating this fall. It was a great learning experience; Deb Willson was the examiner and she was a great help and I also got a couple of good lessons from her.

The last of the month was spent down at Roles. We rented a travel trailer and parked it at the horse park campgrounds, as we've done the last eight or nine years. The boys stayed at Cathy's so I could ride them most every day. The weather was perfect for Rolex this year and, as always, we enjoyed the week: watching, shopping, spending time with friends.

JANUARY thru MARCH 2008

Florida was great as usual. Most of you probably kept up with my antics and activities thru my Ocala "blog." It was pretty successful competition-wise. Deacon did a couple of Trainings, then moved up to Preliminary quite successfully with a 4th, then a 2nd then a 1st place. We're near the top of the USEA Preliminary YR leaderboard right now! Probably won't stay that way, but it's cool for now.

Finn learned more about his job down in Florida. He completed one Novice, ending in 5th place. He still needs some confidence building and he needs to see lots of stuff. But he's getting there.

DECEMBER 2007

A fairly quiet month--horsie-wise. We're enjoying the holidays. Merry Christmas to all.

NOVEMBER 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!! The boys are enjoying some quieter weeks for a bit. Time out to roll in the fall mud, a light work schedule. They'll pick their workload back up for a couple weeks before I head down to Florida in January, but right now, thru all the holidays, we're enjoying a leisurely pace.

OCTOBER 2007

Deacon ran his first successful Training at Jumpstart, finishing in 5th place.

Scotch cranked it down a couple of notches and ran in Novice with a friend of mine who's own horse is coming back from an injury. It was nice to see how Scotch would run at the lower levels under someone else. He seemed to really enjoy himself. He likes cross country, but appreciated not having to work his 18-year-old body quite as hard!

I also made it down to Cathy's a couple of times this month for lessons with both Deacon and Finn. Cathy likes Finn and thinks he has potential and agrees on my goal of a 1* with Deacon next year. And I always come back from Cathy's with some good "homework."

SEPTEMBER 2007

Well, college classes have started back up! Two nights a week, but a full time schedule--it will keep me busy working horses, teaching lessons, and studying!

Ian Stark was back in Indiana at Come Again Farm, so I signed up for another clinic with him. He's great; I always learn a lot, work hard, and have a great time.

We also headed to Chicago for the AECs. Even though Scotch has qualified every year, I haven't been back since the inaugural year. It was nice that it was a lot closer this year. It was a great time and both boys did well. I cried when Scotch and I finished the cross country--this was our last together. He really put his heart into our final run as a team.

AND, Finn joined the team this month. We had a couple of hairy rides the first time I tried him; I almost decided not to purchase him. But I tried again; and we started to figure each other out. He's sensitive, but talented; and I think we'll be able to make a successful pair. Thanks, Kim and Lee Anne.