September 2023

 September was a  good month. It started off with a trip to Florida to attend a scrapbooking retreat with Tracey. I was able to spend some time with George before and after the retreat. And Tracey and I enjoyed three days of long days scrapbooking along with some relaxing over drinks and by the pool. The retreat is held at the Sanibel Harbor Hotel which is an beautiful hotel with amazing views. It was a much needed break for me.

Sophia is bonding with Wren. Wren is a good all around horse. He not only is trained in dressage but he loves to jump. In the picture here he made a one stride a bounce and had a long reach jump. 

Sophia and Wren did their first show together. It was a RAINY day. Most people scratched but we braved the rain and Sophia and Wren had two good rides. Kate and Morgan even came to see her ride. Sophia has always bought the horses she rides a special brow band. This one was custom made for Wren. Blue beads (Sophia's favorite color) with a dragon in the center.

Sophia wanted her senior photos with a horse. She was thinking Nicki and/or Brisk but once we purchased Wren it had to be him. These are the photos I took alongside the photographer. The ones from the photographer are even better. She have rights to all the photos. They are amazing. 

 

Our pets are all wonderful. I love watching Otto cuddle up to Loki. Mr. Twinkletoes has enjoyed cuddling with us and loves joining us for dinner and at the table when Steve and I play games.

August- an exciting month

 August will be a month to remember and cherish. After much disappointment with Brisk not recovering enough to be ridden, a long couple of months of limited riding and long, hard talks and budgeting as a family we decided to purchase Wren. Sophia is overjoyed. We decided to have him vetted on August 2nd. The vet was able to do the pre-purchase exam on August 7th and when he checked out okay we signed the bill of sale on August 12th. Nine years ago my mother died. I think Grandma Barb was looking down on Sophia that day and had a part in all this happening. We also brought home Otto on August 12th eight years ago and he turned out to be a very special cat.

Sophia met with the person who has been leasing Brisk, had her saddle fitted on him and took a lesson from the person who has been training him the week of August 13th. We then moved him to our barn on August 20th. Sophia rode him in a clinic with Pheobe the very next day. So far he is adjusting well. He has made some friends in the field and seems to be happy. He truly has the best personality. He stands for the vet, farrier and dentist. He is calm and good mannered. He isn't super easy to ride. Sophia is trying to figure him out. He doesn't like it when riders ride with their hands so he is going to teach Sophia to use her legs and butt to move him, which is how dressage works. Sophia says easy is boring so this is a match made in heaven. He also likes to jump and Sophia was able to jump him in her pony club lesson. He is a big mover. He took a one stride jump in just a bounce but he is honest and tries his best. She is in love. Everyone at the barn remarks on how handsome he is and how tall he is. He is 16'3 but has a super long neck and face so he looks even bigger.

Sophia rode Nicki, one of her heart horses in a lesson before we brought Wren to the barn. That is always a treat.

 

So now that I got all that out let me tell you how we started the month. Steve and I went to Philly to take Nick out for his birthday. Mari joined us. It was great spending the day with Nick. We went to lunch, then hung out at a park and then back at his house. It was a great day.

Sophia was in another ad for IEA. This one was from when she competed at Nationals too. She finishes up this video montage. 

The end of the month was back to school time. Steve started about a week and a half before Sophia. Sophia has a pretty chill fall schedule. She is doing two classes at the high school, both chorus classes, and then doing two online college classes, English and Stress Management. This means she has plenty of time to be at the barn, both working and riding.

Our pets are all doing well. Both cats really love Loki but Otto is smitten. He follows Loki around.

July 2023

 July was an exciting month. It started off with a trip to the World Equestrian Center in Ohio. Sophia had been planning to take Brisk, who is a small horse to compete in the Pony Cup finals but with him being sidelined she had to make other plans. She took Robin's Thoroughbred Makeover Project horse, Seany, who is NOT a small horse. They had a show that ran alongside the Pony Cup which Chloe and Gretchen also did. We had a blast. The venue was nice, rings beautiful, shops great but the best part was the ride up Starbucks. The girls and their horses went there daily. Sophia and Seany's scores improved every day. They pinned junior, young rider and adults separately so she got a lot of 1st place ribbons as a young rider. 

I went to the RID conference. I presented with Betty, which was a first time for me presenting at a national level. We had a storm come through which was pretty severe. All the time I was at the conference Sophia and Gretchen were taking care of the horses, cats, dogs and goats at the barn while twelve of the Pony Club riders went to Nationals. Sophia and G worked hard and got to ride horses all week. The storm that blew through Baltimore hit them hard. They were without power for over 24 hours which means they were getting water from the pond by the bucket full to be sure the outside horses had water (automatic waterers don't work without power.)

Maybe the highlight of the month for Sophia was trying out Kate M's horse Wren who we found out (on July 17th) is up for sale. We were NEVER planning on purchasing a horse but with Brisk still not doing well and Sophia totally out of options that could continue her dressage training we considered this. Steve and Sophia went to see him on July 27th. Sophia was able to get on him and in a few minutes adjust her riding to they way he needs to be ridden. Kate and the person who has been leasing him were impressed. We were not able to sit down and have a family conversation about this for days with me being at the conference and Sophia barn sitting so no decisions were made in July. So I will leave things there.

Our furry family is all doing well, enjoying the box from Chewy that FedEx must thrown on our doorstep.