Forty Winks & Blue Ribbons

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day! I certainly did. My little girl had another meet yesterday and the husband gave me a break and took her to the farm so I was able to sleep in. It was a great gift.

There was however, a strange streak of sickness that went through the house this weekend. The girl had the worst of it. She woke up in the middle of the night and informed the husband and I that she was sick and then consequently threw up all over the hallway carpet. I really have to teach my kids to throw up in the toilet, not on the carpeting.

So after spending some time cleaning it up, the husband and I dragged ourselves to bed. The girl came bounding into the bedroom a few hours later, declaring that she was all better and that she could ride. Can we please take her to the farm?

The husband got himself up and showered while I laid incapacitated in bed. He’s a great guy.

Here is a review of the meet yesterday after just a few hours of sleep.

She’s waiting . . .

She’s giving . . .

. . . up.

Here we go again . . .

She’s giving it the old college try . . .

It’s not working.

It’s not working for her father either.

Her grandparents are awake though! They came in for the weekend just to watch her ride. I was very proud to have them see her. She’s in her element.

Yeah – right in her element.

Aha! A smile!

The results of the day? Lots and lots of blue and two championships. Who knew you can ride while asleep?

Her grandparents were beside themselves with pride. And so were her parents. She was thrilled too and extremely talkative during dinner that evening but then promptly fell asleep on the ride home from the restaurant.

I suppose adrenaline can only carry you so far.

How was your Mother’s Day?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Mud Treatment

The girl’s meet was scheduled on the Saturday before Easter and it was spring break week for our state schools . . .

It also rained so there were not as many girls riding this weekend as usual. But we were there. And happily so. I literally rolled out of bed and drove the girl to the farm. My intent was to drop her off and then come home and tidy up for the big horse meet. I didn’t comb my hair, I didn’t put on makeup and I had on the same shirt that I wore to bed. I did brush my teeth – in case you were wondering.

But I never made it home. I stayed to “help” and I didn’t want to miss any of the girl’s events and before I knew it, I had been there all day and I rivaled any horse in the smell department.

The rain and the state of the equestrian mom’s hygiene didn’t stop us from having a good day, no sirree. I just love this photo. Look at her face, and look at Ella’s face. And you should have seen my face when this shower came through.

For some reason the girl had to take off her saddle and run through the mud to the other end of the ring. I don’t know why this is so – I’m very confused on any given horse meet day. The girl was also slightly confused as to what to do when she got in the ring. The trainer started yelling, “Run, girl, run!” So she did.

And here we are, mud to our knees. It’s not a big deal, those boots only cost a couple of hundred dollars. And I think we paid $20 for hoof shine. True, there is such a thing.

Splash! I was concerned that the horses would not get a good footing in the mud but as usual, I worry for nothing.

And as usual, there was intense scrutiny and the girls did just fine through it all.

I finally got a shower that night, much to the relief of the rest of my family. It was such a long day that the girl went to bed when we got home and didn’t wake up until it was time for Easter service at church the next day.

I made sure to shower and we were all smelling pretty. The husband bought me a corsage. Do you know why brides carry a bouquet when they walk down the aisle? Back in medieval times, fresh flowers were used to disguise the body odor of the bride. I’m sure that’s not why the husband bought the corsage for me.

The Banquet That Wasn’t

My little girl is a lovely and talented rider. Last year, she had a lot of success.

Last year, she came in third in the league and received a little ribbon and was honored in front of all her little horse riding peers.

Last year, we gave Miss Tina a scrapbook featuring photos from the girls and their accomplishments. She loved it.

Last year, she wore a dress and when she came down the stairs, both her dad and I almost passed out. She was in the middle of her self-imposed boycott of dresses.

Why am I posting photos of last year’s banquet?

Because this year, we didn’t go to her banquet which took place last night. We didn’t go to her banquet which took place last night because she had to write a four page paper on the Cambodian genocide for her English class before the end of the period. She had to write the bibliography too, and she wasn’t happy about that. The gruesomeness of the subject just added to the entire atmosphere.

The paper and the circumstances surrounding the paper hung over our heads and sat on our shoulders like an albatross all weekend. No one was happy about it, least of all, the girl. She managed to get half of it done by Saturday night which was a good thing. I was hosting a party I allowed her to have a friend over so she wasn’t bored. That girl ended up staying the night (last minute addition to our already crazy weekend) so no progress on the paper was forthcoming.

We all woke up Sunday and decided that was our main focus. Which means we did not travel for the B Team banquet. Which means I ate the $80 we paid for the banquet tickets. Which means we didn’t see the girl in a dress.

I just hope her team understood. I admit I was a little sentimental when I saw these photos from last year. I didn’t post them so it was nice to dig them out of my external drive. It makes me wonder how the banquet last night went – but it was the right decision.

The paper and bibliography are done and emailed to her teacher. Now we let the chips fall where they may.

Life is not a peach.

Not Over Yet

Two weeks ago I spend a weekend of misery in the rain and cold and horse poop muck. It was the end of a long equestrian season. I thought of it as an ending. And closure. A conclusion to a long, hard but rewarding season of riding.

But then the girl informed me last week that the summer season was beginning. And it began today.

I wasn’t ready mentally but I suppose that doesn’t matter.

The sun was out and all was good. The girl had a good day today. I could write an entire post on what a difference two weeks make but right now, I feel like I need to shower to get some horse slobber off of me.

Look at them fly!

Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful

And you thought styling a woman’s hair was difficult.

Try being on this side of a horse. I had to put the flowers over Ella’s bum to protect her modesty.

I wrote check after check for this horse meet, the finale of the year for the equestrian league in which the girl rides. As such, everyone had to look their best, particularly the breed of horse that requires their manes to be coiffed. Apparently some breeds are “required” to be braided and other breeds do not. Of course the girl would ride the kind that does. Go figure.

So this post is just as much about money as it is about horses, competition, or a teenage girl’s desire to spend as much of her parents’ money as she can. It’s about all of that.

As I said before, I wrote a check for the entry fee, one for the trailering fee, one for the training fee, one for the hoof polish (no lie) and etc when the girl said, “It’s $25 to braid Ella’s mane and Sophie’s mom is paying for the tail.” Notice it was a statement, not a question.

Apparently we’re splitting it because Sophie-girl will be riding Ella in the finale as well.

Cha-ching.

Another equestrian mom found out that her daughter volunteered her resources for braiding the horse that she was riding. The mom said to me, “What? This weekend has cost me enough. I’m not paying to braid a horse.” And she marched off to state her case with the trainers and then with the girls.

At that moment, my admiration for her climbed astronomically. I was in awe. I thought, “Why can’t I be like that? Why am I such a sucker?” Internally I cheered her on, “Yeah! Take that you cute little girls who think horse money falls from the sky! Take that!”

But I stayed mum because I have no courage.

But Ella looked beautiful all made up for the prom. I tried to focus on that instead of the $25.

It didn’t really help.

Now it’s time for the girls to get ready. Do you know what it cost to have your friend do your hair for the finale of the year? It’s FREE.

See? I saved money! I’d rather be ignorant because it’s bliss.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

The Forecast Calls For Rain

And boy did it. All day. Freezing, bone-chilling, unforgiving rain.

I had to take the last couple of days to thaw out physically and gather myself mentally. I felt a little like I’ve been through combat. I know it’s a slightly dramatic statement – but true.

Why do I do it? Why do I drive for hours behind a horse trailer, stomp through the mud and gook, endure mind numbing boredom between the girl’s riding events, and shiver uncontrollably in the freezing cold as I run between stable and riding ring?

For one reason only. For the girl. Look at her the poor thing. She was cold too.

I have a funny story about being behind the horse trailer on the highway. I have a little more thawing out to do first . . .

On The Road Again ~

Today the girl and I hit the road for the finale of the league season.

It will be a weekend full of fun, competition, and horse poop. Since the girl has had some limited riding time lately, I told her she need to focus this week on riding and not much else. I wanted her to be prepared so that she would do well of course.

But really I wanted to not be worried about her falling off. And I will worry nonetheless but if she had some saddle time, I would worry less.

So she rode hard this week but then Ella fell ill.

So we thought we would have to take Brave Mouse. He’s a great horse but can be somewhat unpredictable. Little Madison rides Brave the best I think. But she’s not on the team this year.

Brave can be finicky. This was at a show last summer. It was not a good day for Brave Mouse.

I heard he misbehaved quite a bit at the finale last year. So I started praying for Ella’s health.

And there she is being lead by the girl. Ahhhh . . . relief.

The boys will join us tomorrow for the show but today is travel and preparation day. I will walk around with my camera so I don’t have to do things like shovel horse poop. I always leave the really hard work to the moms who know what they are doing. I’m content to run in food and shine girls’ boots.

I better go pack my barn shoes . . .

Lessons From The Cold & Lost

Baby it’s cold outside. And that ain’t no lie. I picked up a couple of the boy’s friends from school Monday night and they were in shorts. Shorts! Boys.

It was cold last weekend during the equestrian meet that almost wasn’t. I should have known that the cold was a foreshadowing of things to come. I couldn’t sleep a wink the night before. The husband decided to go with the girl and I to the meet at the last moment because he said he “had a bad feeling.”

We drove two hours to the farm. Except it wasn’t the right farm. The team wasn’t there, the horses weren’t there, no one was there. Except for the girl and her confused parents.

I called Miss Tina and she said, “Where are you?” I said, “Thurmont.” She said, “Thurmont?!?!”

“Don’t panic,” she says, “Tell the girl not to panic. It’s not time to panic.”

“I’m not panicked,” I said, as the girl started to panic behind me.

She gave me the correct address and as it turns out, we were another hour and a half away. Don’t panic.

There was nothing to do except to start driving. The next hour and a half was filled with tension. Apparently one of the other equestrian moms almost did the same thing. She asked me if there was swearing. I said, “No, but we were all quietly stressed.”

And we were.

The trainer switched the girl to a later class but we didn’t know if we would make it in time. I’m sure if we didn’t it wouldn’t be the end of the world – except for one little girl.

We pulled up to the correct farm, the girl hopped out of the car and onto the horse and was in the ring 30 seconds later. She placed. Go figure.

There was no tack room for the girls and it was a frigid mid-30’s degrees with a ton of wind. For the next 5 hours, the husband and I alternated between the car and the ring but couldn’t stay outside for an extended period of time. The girls were frozen solid but they seemed to fare better than the parents. It’s the warm blooded horses that they love that kept them warm I guess.

It was so cold that I didn’t feel much like shooting. Most of my photos turned out like this.

Several lessons learned from all of this.

- Don’t host a Christmas party the night before you have to get up early for an equestrian meet.
- Get the correct address to the horse farm before driving two hours out of your way.
- Never panic.
- Have lots of hand warmers handy. You never know if there is a tack room or not.

These tips probably won’t help most of you out there but trust me, we’ve learned our lesson! This makes you want to start riding lessons for your child doesn’t it? So glad to help.

The Meet To End All Meets

This girl . . . she’s just a doll.

Last week was her very first B Team meet. After all the uncertainty of the make up of the teams – the day was here.

And she rode beautifully.

She was so graceful.

And confident.

It’s hard to describe – but she just goes out there and – does it. No whining. No “what ifs.” No excuses.

Which begs the question -

Why can’t I be that way?

I will question, analyze, re-live, re-try (in the litigal sense), and regurgitate every situation. The husband will often say to me, “You worry about the oddest things.”

Back to the meet.

I was working the concession stand and didn’t have much time to spend on over-analyzing the meet so I missed quite a lot of it. It was a good thing.

Another part of my brain was on Miss Shannon who was running the Marine Corps Marathon the same day. I could track her splits on my phone; it was the coolest thing. She was at the half marathon point at less than two hours. It was unconscious.

The day went like this – “A hot dog? Coming right up.” – “Wow, 1:59 at the half? Incredible!” – “Wait! Have to get photos of Camille-girl!” – “That will be two dollars please.”

All the while, the husband was listening to the race on the radio.

The girl did well and the team won. Congratulations all around!

We were so proud.

It was the most relaxed we had seen the girl in a while. I think field hockey was stressful. Sometimes it’s hard to get a read on what she’s thinking and feeling. I just wait patiently for a sign. I’m just her mom.

Equestrian meets are an all day affair so we had to break up the day somehow. I went to church, then came back. The husband did the same thing. And we all played with the farm animals.

Fred was sitting on the bench next to the husband and he looked the worse for wear.

I came upon a photo that the girl took of Fred a while ago. He looked much more cute and – intact.

Life as a barn cat must be hard. I guess I don’t have it so tough. Poor Fred.

The first meet of the year is our one and only home meet. From now on, our meets are away. Away from home. Away from warmth. Away from a real bathroom. I was told that B Team meets are mostly at farms in Virginia. Which means early mornings and long drives. I’m getting together a survival pack, one that will help me get through the rest of the season. Have coffee pot will travel!

A Horse Named Delilah

There are days – like today – where you have no idea what life will bring you next. As I drove from one end of the county to the next with an upset stomach (I had to lay down for 20 minutes when I got home) I thought about the girl last Sunday.

She rode a horse named Delilah that she had never ridden before. It was a disaster. I don’t think either of them got along very well and the horse went round and round and kept refusing jumps and I almost jumped into the ring and forced her off the horse.

I know that would have gone over really well.

After much angst and gnashing of teeth, it was determined – by someone else other than me -  that she would move up from her Short Stirrup Team to the B Team this year.

It means that there will be less control over which horses she will ride. The Short Stirrup Team had a measure of control whereas the B Team is strictly based on the draw. You get the horse you draw and that’s that.

There was a lot of talk this summer about how the teams would shake out this fall/winter and without going into any detail, I’ll just say that I conveyed to the girl that she stayed where she was, on the Short Stirrup Team.

I underestimated the influence that a mom has over her daughter because it didn’t matter at all what I wanted.

She’s on the B Team now.

I wonder that I worry so much that I’m doing something bad to my abdominal – or perhaps more accurately – to my big colon. Once again – TMI. I know you are thinking that if I worry so much then perhaps I shouldn’t let the girl ride. The alternative to that would be a whiny, bitter, disrespectful child.

And who wants that? So an upset stomach it is. I will continue to commiserate on this blog about my angst but I’ll give you plenty of warning at the beginning before I do so you can change the channel if you like.

Oh me.

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