August 2022

 Another month, another horse show. This time we went to Saugerties, NY for the Dressage4Kids Youth festival. It was a nice getaway. We shared a house with a total of six families. The house had a hot tub, fire pit and enough room for all of us. You performed well on your tests scoring in the low sixties putting you about the middle of your class. But during your musical everything came together. You got Brisk round and you performed beautifully. It was the best I have seen you ride him. And it was so good you took first in your class and won the award for highest scoring musical. You love doing musicals and so glad you made this happen.

You had a blast with friends and I got to chill with the moms. 

And we got some awesome group pictures.

We also went to an end of the year pool party for Pony Club.

But the summer had to end and you had to go back to school. First day of Junior year photo. 

Til next month...

July 2022

 Why does it seem that every month I post about horseback riding events? I feel like this is all we do now. Don't get me wrong, I love watching Sophia ride and progress but it seems all we do. This month was no exception. We went to Dressage at Lexington at the Virginia Horse Center. Sophia rode Level 1-test 3 and her Level 1 musical. She scored second in the musical challenge and got a big sash for Brisk and got to do a victory lap. It was so exciting. 

We went to Tryon NC to compete in Pony Club Champs. That was an adventure. It started when Sophia got her team just about a week before the competition started. Sophia was captain so she had to be sure the team had everything they needed and make the stall cards for the team. The team was in flux. It changed about three times. They couldn't find a stable manager for them. It was a mess. Two days before we were ready to leave a team member had to pull herself because a horse she has was sick and she needed to stay home with it. This was really stressful but Sophia tried to roll with it. Sophia helped me drive part of the way. She drove about two hours each way which was a huge help. Once she got their she set up the tack stall and met her team members. Addie from the barn was on her team. They work well together. However the other team member and the stable manager were not huge helps. The stable manager had a boyfriend riding in another discipline and was never there to help Sophia's team. Sophia took it all on herself and it was stressful. We brought nine riders, three stable managers and another twenty adults as coaches or parents. Covid ran through the bunch. At least six people got sick. Luckily Sophia and I were spared, likely because we just had it last month. The last day it was just Sophia doing most of the work because Addie got sick. It was so hard on her. 

Sophia rode really well. Things are starting to come together for her. She got a few points on her horse management because she was doing so much she could attend to all those crazy details HM judges are looking for. 

The weather wasn't the greatest. It rained every afternoon which stopped competition while we waited for the storm to pass. Luckily Sophia rode in the morning so she wasn't affected by the storms until Saturday night right before night checks. The parents were out enjoying a dinner while the kids went to a competitor party with food and demonstrations. The storm started blowing in and they told the kids to go back to the barns to do night checks early hoping you would all miss the storm. NOPE. It started pouring. Lightening stuck very close if not onsite. It was windy. All the kids scattered and Sophia's phone died. She was safe in the barn with the HM judges. The parents were frantic trying to account for all the kids. I was with Brian and Peggy in their car. We lost power for about 3 hours due to that storm. It was bad. But luckily power came back on and everyone was safe. This was a champs to remember. 

In addition to Champs Sophia went to Ocean City to stay with her friend who has a place there. They had a blast. The dad even let Sophia drive the boat! 

And our pets are all well.

June 2022

 This month had some great times and some not so great times. It all started with a trip to June to join Tracey at a scrapbooking retreat. It was SOOO much fun. The views of from the Sanibel Harbor Marriott were we stayed were beautiful. Tracey and I got a lot of scrapbooking in and enjoyed some great dinners and drinks. I then spent a few days with my brother because Tracey flew back to help Angie move to Maryland. I spent the days relaxing by the pool or doing even more scrapbooking. We had dinners and drinks out and enjoyed beautiful sunsets. It was such an incredible vacation. I needed this time away. 

The morning I was flying back George woke up not feeling well. We both immediately masked but it was a little too late. He tested positive for Covid that night. I got home and tested negative but overnight it hit me hard. Fever and aches. I knew I was positive about 2 AM. The fever lasted only about 24 hours but then I got a horrible sore throat. It felt like I had swallowed pieces of glass. I had zero energy sleeping 10-14 hours a day. I did manage to do some work remotely but it was hard. I quarantined the full time, as soon as I learned George tested positive. I missed a workshop that I had been really wanting to go to. So bummed.  NINE days later Steve and Sophia tested positive. They had been testing every few days and we thought we were in the clear. Sophia had no symptoms again (last time she tested positive after exposure in April of 2021 she had no symptoms too.) Steve had a bit of sinus congestion which lead to a sinus infection.

Sophia was able to ride in Ride For Life as she was nearing the end of her quarantine. She wore mask around others the first day. She was supposed to stay with a friend but we didn't want to risk her staying in the same room as them so I left my workshop early and spent the night there with her. This is one of her favorite shows. She rides while raising money for breast cancer research. She raised $1,210 and was the top junior fundraiser this year. She has been the top junior fundraiser every year. So proud of her. 

Sophia and her friend Gretchen did an exhibition ride to the Backyardigans. They did an awesome job. Sophia but the music together. They only practiced once because of Sophia getting Covid. It was a fun ride. I loved the costumes. They were so creative.

That about sums up our month. 

May 2022

 Another month in the books. Where does the time go? We had another busy month. We started the month with our yearly May 1st photo. This marks the half birthday for Sophia and coincides with the azalea bushes blooming. It is really just a good excuse to get a yearly photo of Sophia. Some day I will make a scrapbook page of these photos through the years. 

Sheep and Wool Festival was in person this year. I was thrilled. I met Robin, Susan and her girls there. Kallissa and I also met up shortly. It was so much fun despite being in POURING down rain. I got a lot of great yarn. Can't wait to make some of the patterns I picked out for this yarn.

We went to a new restaurant to celebrate my birthday day. It wasn't as good as Pasta Plus but was good. I would go back again. Bummed that Covid forced Pasta Plus out of business. That was my all time favorite restaurant. 

I was able to attend Angie's graduation. Tracey and Danielle were at Gianna's in Virginia and George came to Angie's. I can't believe the two girls had graduation the same exact day, same time! I was glad I could be there for her. 

Before Angie's graduation I dropped Sophia off at the barn so she could start prepping for the dressage rally. She was going to go down with another parent and I was going to meet them at the venue. Sophia was helping her friend in the wash stall. Her friend was cleaning her horses sheath and Sophia was keeping it occupied by feeding it treats. UNTIL he bit her finger. He chomped down hard and held it. It hurt like heck. Thankfully it was only the tip of the finger and he didn't crush any bones. 

That started the weekend off hard and it didn't get much better. It was hot that day, 95 degrees. Sophia and her friends worked hard to get the stalls set up. The barn was bringing a total of 21 horses. They sent Sophia and the older kids first so they could start getting the stalls ready. Sophia got a blister on the webbing by her thumb from shoveling the shavings in. Brisk was really hot and drank a lot. The sweat was dripping off him. This freaked Sophia out and she was very worried that he was sick. It wasn't a good day.

The next day she had the first turn out of the day. She had to be ready and have Brisk ready by 8:00. This was stressing her out. She made it in time, early even. She lost one point, her first HM point ever, for forgetting to clean his bit after she rode on Friday. Brisk did not like it when Sophia brought him back from his morning walk and his stall mates were gone. He was a bit of a jerk. This upset Sophia too. Her riding wasn't as good as it could have been. He spooked at birds during the qualifying ride and she missed the spot she was supposed to start her circle at. She lost two points on the test, which is a lot. She qualified, barely but qualified. Many of the kids who wanted to go to champs did not qualify so this was this score was very much welcomed.

Sophia did well during her musical. She scored second place. Brisk looked much better during that test. She rode to How to Train Your Dragon. 

We had a tornado warning one day when Steve and Sophia were at school. I was working. The wind really picked up. I went downstairs and brought the dogs in the downstairs bathroom with me. I ran and opened the windows (Steve told me too) and felt bad leaving the cats out. So I grabbed some treats and they followed me into the bathroom. Two cats, two dogs and me in a half bath. It was so windy, the dogs were anxious but thankfully the tornado never materialized.

Our pets are all good. The cats REALLY love Loki. They sleep next to him and rub up against him. It is so cute to see.