I normally avoid clipping horses at all costs. For me it's in my top 3 most hated jobs, unpacking the trailer after winter being number one. Although I'm very competent (having clipped a lot of horses as a working student) I usually say that I don't know how to, that in Australia our horses don't grow winter coats and we don't even have clippers. This is a lie but again, in my top 3 hated jobs! Unfortunately for me tho one of my best horses is a little bit special in some ways (as all the good ones are!). He has tonnes of ability and along with that comes tonnes of attitude. He has an amazing extended trot, he bucks. He has a super jump, he bucks. He can score a 26 in the dressage without even trying, he also bucks! The attitude also comes out in the barn, most notably this summer by doing his level best to kill both himself and his handler. Both of them ended up in hospital! The horse required surgery and a long break. The handler with a concussion and almost severed finger! And what terrible, cruel, unusual punishment was she attempting on him at the time of the accident?! That's right, clipping him!!! So now heading into winter almost all of my horses have been clipped except this one. His coat has now grown to embarrassing lengths and the job of clipping has become unavoidable. So, given his last display, it's up to me to clip him myself. Put my body on the line. I have to say this horse and I have a very good relationship, he's one of my best friends (weird, yes). So to begin I enlisted the help of Uncle Sedative, just to take the edge off. And by edge I mean put the horse very much into a dreamlike state that he wouldn't even notice if we had another earthquake! I also had the kind and helpful assistance of Rachel Best to stand at his head and warn me if he so much as opened his eyes! Her assistance was involuntary, I just said can you hold this horse for 5 minutes.... So with extra sedative and Rachel in place, I set to work REALLY fast. It was going really well until I got to his stomach and I noticed a swish of his tail. I looked at his head and he seemed fine, his nose was fairly close to the ground. I went back to work thinking I'd imagined his tail swishing. I then got to his back legs and the tail swished again! This time the Rachel Alarm System went off alerting me to the fact that his head was way up in the air and he was very much awake! So a little more sedative and we were back on track. This time I got half way up his neck before the tail started swishing again. I tried to push on but visions of severed fingers and horse hospitals held me back a bit! So I gave him a pat (to tell him I love his fighting spirit) and put him away for the evening. Now I have a 2/3rds clipped horse and round two in the clipping ring facing me tomorrow..... Lucky he can jump!

Ronnie and I taking in the sights of Autumn.

Autumn for me is a two week period to catch up on everything that I have been putting off all year (eg my record keeping..) and to plan for winter. As winter approaches my barn grows from 20 horses in MD to 20 horses in MD AND 15 plus horses in SC. To SC I not only take the horses but obviously a couple of people (this year John and Chloe) plus a few dogs and a whole barn full of winter needs for horse and rider. And this year with my focus shifting from teaching back to my personal riding goals and sales, there are ever more horses to pack for! There's also the last couple of horses to sell that aren't moving south, Titanium and Raleigh this year. Add to this the preparations for the Irish horses and we keeping pretty busy!

This week I also upgraded my trusty old 4 horse trailer for a 6 horse one which should reduce the trips up and down highway 95 from 4 each way to 3 thereby saving about $2000 in diesel. So there is that to be washed and prepared for the winter also. Last but not least there's my wardrobe to consider. I need to make sure I have fleece lined breeches in the lastest colours!

Jeanne, myself and Lillian. Not a great shot, but the only one we took on the whole trip!
Cole's year ended well with VA Horse Trials with a top ten finish in the intemediate. I was super happy with his showjumping: of the 35 horses who started, 2 showjumped clear and 4 had one rail down each. Our hard work and experience in the showjumping (it pays to go to a couple of indoor shows) paid off with just one rail down. 10 horses alone had 5 or more rails! So Cole now gets a short break then back into to get ready for winter. He just has a couple more boxes to check (changes!) before his first advanced mid Feb. Lightning had a great test with a 29! Not bad for his second event! Unfortunately he wasn't so keen on the cross country, he just didn't understand why he had to gallop AWAY from the safety of the trailers and the other horses! Ronnie did a combined test, I thought it would be better to wait until there wasn't snow on the ground to do his first training!
Then on to Ireland for a spot of horse shopping. It was my first time there and I'm well and truly impressed with the quality of horses! Jeanne Leone (Cole's co owner, with Rege Dvorsky) came to keep me company and make sure I didn't get carried away with eating sausage rolls! I did eat 6 within the first hour but I digress... We saw some super horses, didn't crash the hire car (I was thankful to be driving on the correct side of the road again, I'm much faster!) and got to see the famous Coolmore stud in the flesh. And now the wait begins as we prepare for the new arrivals at the beginning of December! We were also able to catch up with Lillian Heard (while trialing the wonderful Fernhill horses) and see how she's settled into Irish life. Apparently quite well judging by her new found driving skills and new lilt in her accent! From Potomac to Kilkenny via West Grove, she's gathering some awesome experiences and skills. Back on the home front I want to share this message (Rege's personal blog!) from Cole's owner, Rege. Cole is one of my best horses and I was well assured he was in good hands! I'm also glad to see that the eventing terminology is entering Rege's vocabulary! Hope you enjoy as much as I did:

Rege's Blog
Well, Cole is missing his rider,Kate, while she is in Ireland looking for his replacement.Today was my first ride on Cole, being Kate has left. I immediately noticed Cole hard on the bit with little flexion on his left side.On the flats, he needed some coaxing on the counter-canter and I found it tough to get him on the proper lead.I was hoping to have my helmet cam for this historic ride, but I left it in Jeanne's Jeep and did not have the keys to open the door.Oh, to be back in Pittsburgh.Back to the ride. Cole did well over a sequence of skinny's and corner jumps. But I was surprised to be launched in the air as he bucked me off before the liverpool !!!All this said, I believe I can make him the horse he can be. I will put him on a series of neutracueticals until Kate returns.Conclusion: Cole is like an old woman with a Virginia ham under her arm crying that she has no bread!!!He has the heart, but needs the Chadderton back in his life.The grass is always greener on the other side, NOT....he's allready here.

VA Horse Trials Day 1

You know it's going to be a rough day when then first item on the agenda is a riders meeting to determine wheter or not to move the cross country forward a day because of the impending snow! My vote obviously was a very definate YES! Let's not cross country in the snow please! Cole's dressage was a 39, not the best, not the worst. The cross country was challenging enough, not so much with the jumping efforts, but with the time. I wasn't able to get going in the first part of the course, however the second half rode a lot better and faster. I was happy that Cole jumped confidently into the water. After a 3am start and a non stop morning/afternoon (literally) I thought it would be beneficial for the younger guys to go in the showjumping competition in the Coluseum. This contest is (from what I could understand) based on Take Your Own Line rules with style points thrown in. So in preparation I put on my best (only) Kingsland jacket and headed to the Coleseum! Let me just point out that this structure is a little bit disappointingly named, there AREN'T any lions or gladiators. Ron and Lightning didn't actually get that memo, (I think Ronnie thought he saw a lion, lightning definitely thought he was a gladiator) so it was good to get them in there jumping around before they actually have to compete. Tomorrow is dressage for Ron, Lightning and sj for Lightning, xc for Ron. Cole has the day off before he has to sj on Sunday. . I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow to clear skies and 70 degrees. Judging by the falling snow outside the windows of my Days Inn hotel I don't like my chances....

Liberty is back!

Liberty. Le Cheval photo.

As you recall Liberty was injured (self inflicted after he picked a fight with the clippers, blades: 1, horseflesh 0) a couple of days before Bromont. Not one to do things by halves, he then proceeded to get sick and required a trip to the vet hospital. This part all happened while I was at Bromont with Cole. I was only gone for 6 days but when I left he was a happy, healthy (albiet with a limp), fit horse that was 3 day ready and rearing to go. I got back and he'd been so sick that he was almost unrecognisable. Even tho he'd had the best care imaginable, he's a bit of a worry wart when he doesn't know what's going on and the antibiotics he was prescribed where a bit strong for his stomach. He then proceeded to colic at which point I decided it was best if I stay with him in the barn for a couple of nights. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a HUGE deal because I'm afraid of the dark (only thing other than snakes and odd numbers that I'm afraid of) AND we have a couple of ghosts in the barn. At least that's what I'm told and the power of suggestion can be quite real, ask any psychologist.... Also a HUGE deal for Liberty because he has read 'Stranger Danger' and takes the idea VERY seriously! Or at least at that point he did. Therefore a stranger (me, even tho he's seen me everyday since we bought him) sleeping outside of his stall wasn't his idea of a relaxing night in full of colicing and other strategies to cost us more money or send himself to an early grave. He got over that then his original leg injury become complicated which set us back a bit further. All very frustrating for a horse we had just bought and I'd only had to chance to compete half a dozen times! And each time he showed me that he's an absolute superstar in the making. By the time he was over the complication to his leg it was still only a couple of weeks since his injury. So I had a horse that was stall bound dying to get out (almost literally), a bit highly strung and still basically 3 day fit! And our good friend Dr Williams tells me I have to hand walk him! Not a hope I'd be able to hang onto him without him leaping free of the constraining shackles (aka lead rope) that I'd insisted he wear (again, just a lead rope). I had a better chance of staying on his back. 8 weeks of walking with Liberty takes you thru many phases: Denial - I'm NOT injured, I WON'T walk. Only bucking. Anger - I'm injured, but I STILL WON'T walk. Only bucking. Bargaining - If you let me trot I'll stop bucking. Depression -If I'm only allowed walk, then what's the point bucking? O, that's right, it's fun! Acceptance -I must only be allowed walk for the rest of my life, but at least I can still buck!! I have to point out that the bucking wasn't a pain or anger type thing, more of an entertainment ploy for (for Liberty not me!). Some days he would come out bucking, others he'd leave it till he heard something distracting outside of the ring, other times he'd go for days on end without bucking leading me into a false sense of security. Then when I'd finally think it was safe to answer my phone while on him, the bucks would return! After a few weeks of trotting he was allowed to start cantering again.

ANYHOW, long story short. Yesterday was Liberty's first full day of serious work (where he's considered to be a competition horse again) and today he will do a little jumping. Very exciting for me to be able to pick up where we left of in June again. I absolutley love this horse and am very excited about the winter season on him. Speaking of winter, I have several very nice horses that MUST be sold by the end of November, email me for more info.

Good bye and good luck Mario

This post comes, not with sadness, but with the bittersweet feeling of losing something that was not quite mine in the first place. Everyone who follows my blog knows that recently I've branched off into the showjumping world in my spare time with a wonderful horse, McCuan Mario. Although I'm an experienced eventer, he has been my first grand prix showjumper, something I never thought I'd achieve, nor did I set out to do so. With every horse I'm lucky enough to ride and compete I'm always well aware that they ARE NOT MY HORSE! My job is to sell horses and I've sold more than I could recall. Therefore I am prepared at any time to lose one of my close partners, sometimes because they don't make the grade, sometimes because the owner has changed directions in their personal life. But after a certain time with a horse I do admit to developing a closeness that is hard to lose. Mario is obviously a super talented jumper and it's become time for him to persue that career. So he's off to a new owner to continue along that path. Pat and Jill McCuan are wonderful supporters of my career and goals, it was thru close communication and a mutual decision (and my absolute blessing) that we decided to let him go in his direction and I continue mine. The difficult thing for me is that I have only a handful of close friends, equine or human, and I've considered this horse one of my best friends. I've spoken openly about a select few horses that guide and support every rider and for me Mario is one of the most special horses I'll ever come across. He failed as an eventer and I've spent hours hitting my head against a wall (explains a lot of things, I know!) trying to make him into something he's not. Then with the guidance of Marilyn Little-Meredith and her husband Ben (he's also an Aussie!), we found his calling in life. Along the way he has given me some great owners, a super farm to be based at (along with Taylormade of course), improved my jumping skills, some wonderful new friends. And the benefits run down the line: Heather, my barn manager, has many horses now under her care. John, working student, is flat out. Kaden, now back in Australia but a very integral part of the group, had a job in a big active barn. Paula Bollinger (Sunset Hill Manager for the McCuan family) was responsible for choosing me as his rider and has been an integral part of his career. I know Mario can't be credited with all of this, I do have other wonderful horses and owners! But he's certainly been a special partner and his influence will be seen for many years to come. Always there's the 'what-ifs': yes I'd thought about pursuing the showjumping further to see what we could do. Instead I have to think about the 'have dones'! Thank you Pat and Jill, you gave me a great gift with your horse and I hope to repay your faith with Liberty and Ronnie!

Thank you Mario. Good luck. I'll miss you. So will your best buddy Cole.

Interesting Mario facts: Imported from Ireland by Jan Byyny. Lillian Heard's mum was also involved with him. Hans Gerling (P and J McCuan) bought him and campaigned him until he went back to uni. Kelley Williams (A Bit Better Farm) also has been a part of his career, riding him until I moved to Sunset. I'll leave you with my favourite video of us, our first Grand Prix where I fell off at the last jump! Of course I hung onto his neck until we crossed the finish line so we still got a ribbon!

First time helmet cam!

Loch Moy Horse Trials today and tomorrow. Today Pam Patton brought along her helmet cam for me to try out on Cole. I can't say I've been a fan of the old helmet cam, that is until today!! What a great way for everyone to see what it's like! I know everyone else has already figured that one out! Check it out and let me know what you think. It didn't fit well with the helmet I used and my helmet kept slipping over my eyes, hence the great views of horse neck! Click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05HQOgWfNzk