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.

Who’s The Boss Now Huh?

Hey you, lets ride.

but first we have to saddle up.

don’t make me put my fingers in your mouth.

take the bit…

take it I say…

Mom, put the camera away, you’re not helping.

Well, alrighty now, someone’s focused.

Sorry I’m late, where do I go?

Who’s the boss now huh?

The Horsey Coursey

She waits…is it my turn yet?

ho hum…dum de dum dum…

And finally, it’s time…off she goes!

She rips up the course…

And she knows it too…

Posted on Mosaic Monday today. Wow these mosaics are hard for me.

And Gayle’s Monday Memories for tomorrow…because she won’t be 13 forever…

Thank ya ladies. And remember I’m going to have a bloggy-versary giveaway and giving away the kitchen sink next week for all my bloggy friends and regular friends too…stay tuned.

800 Pounds of Love

If you want to wash a 800 pound horse.

And you want that horse to cooperate.

You should give it a treat, like you would your dog.

And you would tease that horse, like she’s a cute little ten pound puppy.

Except she’s not. She’s a horse.

But she falls for the cookie trick anyway.

She loves her. And vice versa. Good Joker.

Posted on Love Thursday.

p.s. I decided to change my blog background to the green that I missed from my old blog. I know it looks odd right now because the other colors don’t match. But I’m going to leave it for a while to see how I like it. It’s like wearing two different socks. Opinions are welcome.

Oakcrest At Home

Now that I have two meets under my belt, I’m a professional equestrian mom. And the husband’s first meet makes him an official barn dad.

The girl has a quiet competence and rides beautifully all day – especially on Cody. Cody’s an older, gentler lesson horse. But she handles him like a pro. Good boy Cody.

Then she draws Brave Mouse and was happy. She didn’t draw Joker at all, but she performs wonderfully anyway even though she missed her.

Miss Wendy makes sure the girl’s boots are clean and shiny. She’s wiping off horse poop.

Then she gets on the phone…

to talk strategy with Miss Tina. Uh huh, yeah, lets put in Mischief on the fences, yeah, and we’ll Hazel on deck, ok lets do it. Hike!

It works because Oakcrest wins again. As evidenced by the extremely sophisticated scoring system.

The strategy includes putting the tiniest girl on the tiniest horse and has them jump the biggest jump. Hazel is the cutest teeny tiny horse. And Alexandra weighs about 20 pounds.

She can fit under an 18 inch fence.

These girls are so cute…

Even if they didn’t win the meet, they would have won the cutest equestrian team contest – if there was one that is.

It was a great day but extremely cold. I had to defrost for about 24 hours before I felt my toes again. Thanks again Danny for letting me borrow your lens. You should have seen me change between the two lenses – like a real photographer.