Thanksgiving

Well, this week marks the start of the holiday season, and the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving. I am a big fan of Thanksgiving and I'll tell you why - it is the ONLY holiday that there are no gifts! Now, don't get me wrong, I like Christmas and I am not one to turn down a gift, but as an adult, I have come to be jaded by obligational gift-giving... I suppose I don't understand the concept that we have fully celebrated a holiday if I buy you a gift card and you buy me a gift card - why didn't we each just keep our twenty bucks!?

Anyway, my aversion to over-commercialized Hallmark Holidays is a topic for another day... Thanksgiving is my favorite because it's a great excuse to get a family together, with nothing more than a simple meal and togetherness. I also love that there are no expectations. And the thanking - I am a big fan of the Thanking!

So, in honor of Thanksgiving, and in the true spirit of being thankful for all of the blessings in the past year, I have compiled a short list of things I am thankful for - Thanks for reading.

- Thanks for the great family I have. I might not see them as much as I should or always appreciate them, but at the heart of my existence are two parents who raised me right and have always supported me, and an extended family that is super strong and full of love.
- Thanks to my husband, who is the only person who can drive me to the brink of insanity and still be the only person I want to be around! Thanks to him for being strong, putting up with my crazy schemes, and for always being calm when I am not.
- Thanks to Lisa, who has welcomed Sky and I into her barn and her life, being a good friend and letting me tag along with her to every show I could muster this year. Thanks to her for not thinking less of me when I was scared to get Sky off the trailer in the middle of a rainstorm, for instantly offering to let me live with her and Josh upon learning Karl was to go to Iraq, and for always being a phone call/text/email/ away.
- Thanks to John, who spent the majority of this year giving me free advice rather than lessons, which I couldn't always afford. John has been the Yoda of Sky and I this year - without him our progression certainly wouldn't have been so smooth.
- Thanks for Sadie, who although she is just a dog, is the most loyal person I know. Thanks for all the kisses, Sadie, and all the cuddling in a chair that shouldn't fit two of us, and for sleeping with me when Karl is gone, and for the wags... I so love the wags.
- Thanks, to SHA - Sanborn, Head & Associates gave me a job when I was not sure what was going to happen next, and now that I've been there almost ten months, thanks for being there to anchor me down when not much else was making sense. It's not always the most fun place to be, but it's constent and that's good sometimes.
- Thanks for Sky - I have said a lot on this blog about how important Sky is to me, and I could go on and on again but I'll just say this... she makes a great Kleenex when I need to cry - all things about her presense make me feel better by the time I leave her stall.
- Thanks for the roof over my head, and the food in my lunchbox, and the shower I took yesterday. Thanks for the second car (finally!) and for gas being under two dollars, thanks for things that I take for granted everyday.
- Thanks to Christina, who is my kindred spirit and my margarita buddy.
- Thanks for Beth (and Marcia) and for another great year at East Corinth... Thanks for another great year of trails.
- Thanks for Betsy, and Harvey, for leading us out on such great rides this year - and for allowing us a spot in the trailer!
- Thanks for everywhere I have been and everywhere I am going... thanks for the bad days that led to better ones and thanks for the messes that led to successes... I am so thankful that I have so much - but most of all I am thankful for the opportunity that lays ahead of me. I have the power in my life to make tomorrow better than today - there is SO MUCH ahead in life for me and that is what I am most thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to all - I hope you take time to remember what you are thankful for - don't give gifts, don't send cards, don't make Thanksgiving something it's not - eat Turkey, laugh with your family, and be thankful... that's all Thanksgiving wants.

:)

Oh, the Equine Affaire… a glorious excuse for horse people all over New England to take time off of work, spend too much money, and sneer at other horse people who certainly cannot be nearly as knowledgeable/talented/dedicated as you.

This year was a little different for me b/c I went with Lisa, instead of hooking up with Beth and the Keene gang. Despite the rain we had a good time, although the mystique of the event is wearing off for me. I know too much what to expect, I suppose. There’s the buildings full of vendors selling everything there is horse – from the latest vitamin supplement sure to cure all your equine’s ailments to manure forks guaranteed to cut your barn chore time in half. There are the clinics – trainers from all over who all think they have the magic answer. And then there’s my personal favorite, a parade of horse trailers (as I told Lisa, this section is my “crack”) that are all too expensive and out of reach but yet I always wander through, smelling the “new trailer smell” and visioning me and Sky camping and showing and going to clinics in.

There was one trailer (see the photos) that I loved. Lisa and I thought it was great, but of course my husband was unimpressed considering he doesn’t understand that the only other one-horse alternatives are flimsy European jobs… I love this trailer – it’s SO CUTE. I loved that it had a dressing room and was so slim and cute…. I could totally see Sky self-loading on it and me setting up my bed in the back on camping trips (don’t laugh, it can be done!). My only beef about it is that it’s $8500!! Now, here’s my philosophy on this. If the four-horse is twice as much as the two-horse, then why isn’t the one-horse half the price of the two-horse! I think it’s only logical, don’t you?

Lisa was more interested in shopping than the clinics, which was fine with me considering there wasn’t anything I was dying to see that day. I bought Sky a winter blanket and myself a new vest. I got a Paint decal for the Explorer, which I am waiting to see how long it takes until Karl notices its presence (he won’t be happy about it).

We bumped into a lot of people we knew - Beth and her daughter, John and Lisa Toli, Marty from East Corinth – and of course lots of people Lisa knew and I think I may have met before. There seems to be a lot of drama surrounding the upcoming election for NHQHA which I’m a little glad I’m not involved in (sorry to those of you who are).

It wasn’t as crowded as I remember it being, which is good b/c after an hour or two pushing and shoving in a crowd of people, I am not as pleasant as I am normally. Lisa got tired pretty quickly, which I can understand, so we cut out around three.

Seasons change

Well, now that it’s officially fall and officially cold and officially dark at 5:00, I am not doing much riding. I didn’t ride for two weeks and then Sunday Betsy and I headed out to the last Blackwater Trail Rider ride of the year, at Marsh-Billings Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock. I think neither one of us really wanted to drive the hour away but did really want to see the park.

We met up with about six or seven women, some from our group and some from a northern NH group, I think from Canaan. It was a beautiful town and the rumors that there is a lot of money there are not false, according to the stately buildings and cute shops. We parked in a great little lot and after crossing someone’s backyard, headed into the park. The trails were lovely – mostly gravel packed roads, big enough to ride two-by-two on. It was easy to see that the trails were made carefully… all the drainage went off the trails and they followed loops around the woods so would be difficult to get lost.

We headed up a gradual slope to a great lookout. On the way we passed through a couple of gorgeous fields and someone’s horse decided to roll in the yellowing grass! (see photo!) The lookout was beautiful and there were even hitching posts there! The ride just made me want to bring Beth and Marcia, who I know would appreciate the trails… some of the ladies said this place was better than Arcadia, and that made me think an overnight trip might be in order! I think it would be a cool place to go for a weekend!

Anyway, we rode for about two hours and my favorite part was the pond which we circled. We met a young family there and when the kids asked to pet a horse, I was surprised no one said anything… so I offered Sky for them to meet and they were really grateful. I think it’s important to share horses with kids… especially nowadays when kids don’t seem to care about anything that isn’t a video game!

I thought it was a long trip for such a short ride, but it was fun. Sky did great, although she was a little excited to be near Harvey. I can’t blame her. Overall she behaved really well. I need to ride more but it is dark by the time I get out of work, which is just leaving the weekend.

Other than that, I am doing well. I started going to the chiropractor, which is interesting. Karl is working a few jobs and is doing well. Thanksgiving is coming and we’re having a passel of people at our house! The Equine Affaire is Friday and I’m taking a day off… it’s fall… I’m already counting down to Spring!
C

Sky’s Grand Adventure

When one gets a phone call on a Saturday morning from a friend who is not the friend who keeps one’s horse saying that said horse is in this friend’s yard, one tends to panic.

Betsy called me and left a message on Saturday morning. I was in the middle of frantically finishing a baby quilt for a friend’s shower the next day, so I did not hear the phone ring. Immediately I thought that Betsy wanted to ride and as I checked the message, I felt badly b/c again there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. However, upon listening to this message I realized it was a whole other story.

Betsy said something to the effect that “a horse that looked likes Sky and a Chestnut that she didn’t know” were in her yard and that she was going to call Lisa and then try to catch them… I immediately call Lisa who had no idea what I was talking about and ran outside to count horses…. Here I am on the phone and she’s calmly going... “One, two, three… Scarlet, Onyx, Willow…” It was pretty funny.

So, we agree that she’s going to call Betsy and call me back and when she does I find out that Sky is caught over there and in their paddock but the other horse, who we determine to have been Gypsy, found her way back on her own.

Without much drama, Lisa takes a halter over to Betsy’s and walks Sky home. Other than Harvey being upset that his houseguest was leaving, there was no harm done. After laughing about how silly Sky is to have gotten out and found her way to Betsy’s house, where’s she’s been on more than one occasion, I realize I am lucky. If she had gone up the power lines instead of down the trail to Betsy’s she could have been really lost – she could have gotten out to the highway. It made me think of all those people whose horses get lost in forests, never to be seen again.

My panic didn’t last b/c my horse was back in her pasture eating a new round bale before I knew it. Lisa felt pretty badly about the whole thing, which she didn’t need to – stuff happens. I am just glad my horse is smart enough to go visiting through the woods, and not down the road!
I will hopefully get to ride tonight – it gets dark out so fast!

C

Rewards

Some things happened this weekend that got me thinking about hard work and what comes out of it. Sadly, sometimes you get nothing. However, I think that in life one of the only guarantees is that if you actually put effort into something, for better or for worse there will be a result.

The Oak Rise Year End Awards Banquet was yesterday. As you can see, Sky and I got some stuff. Mainly we got awards b/c we showed up to enough shows, but we did do some winning this year, so I can’t say I was surprised. We got W/T Adult Champion, which I knew was coming but it still felt good to hear them call Rose second and me first. We got a big ribbon and a garment bag with embroidery for that. I have to say, I am a little bummed I didn’t get the director’s chair, but you don’t get to pick your prize.

Then we had some surprises. I won a trophy for Overall Adult Champion, which I had no idea I would get – I was expecting to get fourth or fifth on that – and Overall Adult Pleasure Champion, which yielded a very cool trophy with a horse who looks like Sky on top! Of course I was thrilled to be recognized for doing well, although I cannot shake from my mind that, considering how much money I put into the shows, I simply paid for all of this stuff instead of winning it. But the stuff wasn’t the good part.

The good part was having Karl sitting next to me during the banquet when he, if it were not for a bum shoulder, would be in Iraq in danger of being killed. The good part was having John and Lisa Toli call us over to sit with them and John getting excited over my photos from E. Corinth. The good part was having my good friend Lisa calling and texting me, asking how we did. The good part is the people that I have met through the shows and seeing them be recognized too.

John had us go to look at the new place in Bedford. We toured the house being built by John’s new boss for the Toli’s to live in, and the barn that is in construction for the three horses and four miniature donkeys they will be in charge of. To say that it will be nice is a dramatic understatement. The barn is literally nicer than any house I will ever live in. It’s beautiful in a way that art is beautiful (only a horse person would say that). The owner’s house is up on hill, visible through trees from the barn and from what I could see, could be classified a mansion.

During the tour I learned that the owners started their company and have become very successful. Despite my insane jealousy over all they have, I was happy for them that their hard work paid off. I imagine that the journey to where they are now in life wasn’t easy and that life wasn’t always so comfortable. Their barn, the land, and the horses, are their rewards.

My rewards are simple, really. When I think of Sky and the hard work we’ve done, I think of riding in the heat of summer in New Mexico at Josh’s. I think of the first trail rides in NH when I had to go out alone and feared spooks at everything! I think of the hours practicing what John had given us for “homework”. I think of when she was two and was literally afraid of her own shadow.

My reward is not trophies but really the trail ride I took with Betsy on Saturday - when we were on the road and a tarp flew off a passing truck and she didn’t freak out… and when she bravely stepped over a bridge Harvey wouldn’t… and when she trotted along the trail collected and under control, despite not being ridden for nearly two weeks. Those are rewards for my hard work – ones that will last a long time. My hard work to come with her will pay off when we show w/t/c next year and when we go to EC again and she’ll be even calmer and more experienced.

I might never have a big house or my own barn. There are a lot of things I don’t have, and I’ll admit sometimes it bums me out. However, I will also admit that most of what I do have, I have gotten through hard work and in my book that counts for something.

The rest is just luck and life – a great trainer who believes in us and is willing to stick with us despite all else he has going on, a good husband who is supportive, and a good friend who cares enough to have bad dreams that I left her when I don’t call her back! The luckiest might be the horse who backed off the nastiest trailer at the nastiest stable in all of Texas and has since given me her whole heart and all her best effort.

C

What will happen when it's our turn?

Well, I have not ridden once since my trip to VT, something that is becoming tradition because after last year’s ride I left her alone for a week, too. But after dinner out with friend’s tonight, I’ll be back to a normal schedule. Things have been busy with Karl coming home…

This weekend we drove out to Syracuse to see some friends of ours that we don’t see too often (obviously due to the 5.5 hour drive).

They had a baby in July and – like all the other couples we know who have had babies – I was amazed at how much they have changed because of it. This free-wheeling, always traveling, designer label wearing couple has been instantly transformed into one wipes drool up with sleeves, centers conversations on feeding schedules and is adamantly against daycare.
Now, do not get me wrong here – there is absolutely nothing wrong with your child being the center of your universe – in fact, I believe that’s the way it should be. And my thirty-year-old-self is definitely feeling the baby-pangs. While most of our friends are “finished” after their second successful attempt at parenthood, Karl and I have yet to buy a house, have a second car, or go on a cruise – the many milestones of early marriage we have yet to conquer before one has children, although I’m slowly getting over the life-progression timeline I had in my head at age 18.

We are mostly without a baby at this time b/c of all the moving and Army stuff we’ve gone through, and that’s ok – I would not trade my trips to Korea, my time in El Paso, or the past year for anything else. I am very glad we did not rush into becoming parents. However, I believe the time is coming for it to be our turn.

And that thought makes me wonder, how will we change – past experience with my many child-rearing friends is telling me that babies change everything so I can only ponder at my own 180-degree change.

This makes me think of Sky, and how my life with her will be affected. I’ve already seen horses go without riding b/c their owner is now a parent and I’ve seen much-loved dogs go ignored after the new arrival comes. What will happen to my horse? I know I’ll ride as long as I can while pregnant, something some people in my life will understand and others won’t – but what about after? Aside from the obvious monetary issues, will Sky be as important to me? Will I have time for her? Will I ever show again after I’m a mom?

I know I have visions of an imagined little girl winning lead-line ribbons aboard my beautiful mare – and of my beautiful mare’s baby becoming the horse said little girl rides someday… but experience tells me that kids fill up a life and that there isn’t room for much else… I also know what everyone reading this will say to me – that life is what you make it and if you make room for the horses, there will be. I know it is possible to have both, but is it really feasible? I have never been one to like letting a horse be a lawn ornament and I will not stand for my own to be one. But the thought of giving her up is nearly as bad.

Anyway, that’s the thought for the day – what happens to my horse life when babies are in the mix? I hope someday I get an answer – a good one.

C

Rain, Rain go away!

Well, after a long wait, I finally got to go on my vacation – a week in beautiful Vermont! I was so excited to ride and ride and ride – and think of not much else…

Lisa brought me and Sky down to Beth’s house in Swanzey on Sunday – about an hour’s drive. We then hit the Cheshire Horse – the best tack shop in the state – and spent WAY too much money… well worth it, though as Lisa found the blanket she wanted for Onyx and one for Lance (the great dane) too. I splurged on two new saddle pads for Sky (like I needed those!) and some other supplies.

After a night at Beth’s, we packed up horses and hay and camping gear in Beth’s trailer and headed out on Monday. We made it to the farm ok, and then on our way over to the other field, we had a little mishap… well, when I say we I mean Beth ‘cause she was driving, but it was all our problem! She got herself stuck on a rock – the footboard of the trailer was wedged over it and the rock was winning (there are photos!) – so Beth and Marcia and I pilfered a shovel and crowbar out of the shed and after a lot of grunting and swearing moved the rock out from under the trailer… Eventually we got the trailer parked and our campsite set up and we were grateful no one was around to see that we were the ones that made the rut in the grass!

We rode without incident on Monday and Tuesday, although we saw a shower on Tuesday morning. Wednesday was a complete wash of rain – we tried during a small lull in the rain to saddle up and get out, but it started to fall again and all of us but Beth changed our minds! She threw on her Outback jacket and hat and was off by herself!

Part of Thursday rained, but we got out for a ride anyway and met up with Marty on the trail. Friday Betsy showed up (in the rain) and brought some good weather… we got out on Friday afternoon but got rained on for about 15 minutes before the sun came out and dried us! Saturday was the parade and the ride to Tucker Mountain which was a little cold and windy, but rain free. Sunday we took Betsy on the Juniper Hill ride and that was nice too.

The week was good. We sat around and told and heard stories (the best ones from Frank!) and laughed and snacked and drank. We sat around the big fire for chats and games and the auction on Saturday. It was so fun to see people I saw last year, like the Kelly’s and Roger and Ken and Sue… it’s neat to see the same folks every year. I could have done without Marcia’s snoring but that’s a small detail.

Everyone loved Sky again! She was really good overall – she did a little bit of jigging here and there, but nothing major – wanted to be out in front more than I expected, which is good. After she jigged me one time, I rode her in the field afterward, but on the later days there were too many trailers to have much room for that.

I tried to make her do both the back and the front and most of the time she was good. She seemed to love getting to lope and really stretched out on some of the hills! She got along good with Harvey, who became her pen-mate after Betsy arrived. They did figure out the fence wasn’t on and broke out on Saturday night, so we wound up hooking up the electric (in the dark, mind you!)

So, Karl got back on Tuesday and seems to be doing ok. He’s pretty hopeful about finding a good job – is interested in substitute teaching but doesn’t quite have a resume together that he feels good about. We’ll all hope for the best!

Life will get back to normal now – whatever normal is! I suppose it will be a new normal.