Memorial weekend

This weekend is getting started with some beautiful weather. The dawns have been spectacular the past couple of days. My son is getting married a year from now and it is going to be lovely. I keep looking around to see what is blooming and what is just past- never noticed how one flower fades and another opens - there is always something that is just perfectly ripe at that one moment, you just have to stop and notice. I love that early morning the best, everything is just starting, the spiderwebs are dewy, the cushions are still damp, the birdcalls are soft. You have to pause to really see the unfolding begin.

I moved the older foals down to the big field in back. The mares were delighted to get back to the stream and immediately started pawing and splashing. Watching the foals was hilarious, they were scared to death but desperate to be beside Mom, so had to jump in! And jumped out just as fast! I love that they learn very early how to drink from a stream and, more importantly for a foxhunter, how to cross streams unconcernedly. There are 5 streams on property and all my horses figure out water fast. My friend in Florida, whom I sent the young mare to for training, said when they took a " riding on the beach excursion" that "Polly" was the one who braved the lapping ocean and got the closest. I guess she figured it was just a very big stream!!

Post Op

Tuesday's trip to Va. Equine Medical Ctr. for foal surgery went well. Baby definitely had an umbilical abscess, so they prepped and did the surgery about 2PM. Will and I unhooked trailer and drove around Leesburg, one to find diesel and two, to see a movie and kill four hours. Well , it took us 1 hr to find diesel and the whole time my 20 yr old son is asking, "why don't I have a smart phone that would tell me where to go- to find diesel in a strange town, to find a Chik-fil-A , when we wanted a milkshake, to tell me how to get back to the horse hospital..?" In my head I am wondering why would I want another thing to tell me where to Go when I have a 20 yr old son, who thinks I am old-fashioned! But, I was very appreciative of his company and help. It was a long day and a long trip home around the DC Beltway. We waited until 6:30pm to leave and it still took 2 hrs to get back. The foal is doing well, going crazy in the stall for a week's stall rest. It is very hot here so all foals are coming here and I am taking temps as I am still worried about the rotococcus virus, from last year. I pray we don't have a repeat of that. And I missed book club which was a bummer, but that's horses.

Saw the Blue Angels fly for a bit yesterday. I love them , so impressive. Even if ecologically wasteful, if I was at war or under attack, I can't think of a more welcome sign than those babies streaking by!

Sunday morning

All the babies are here and out in the cool morning. The last still has a little fever so we are still doing antibiotics and watching. She is nursing and gamboling about so I think it is minor. Hope so. Two colts and two fillies - just right for paddock mix later. The two Ecclesistic's babies are very similar, must look like him. Still don't think I will breed anything back which will be weird next year. Still taking it easy for my back, I think pushing and pulling babies does a number on it each year. Waiting for Will to come home from college for the summer. It will be nice to have him around.

TGIF

My back has been really hurting, think I pulled a muscle wrangling with these babies!. I had hoped I was in the clear , now that all babies here, but the latest little one is running a temperature and we are watching closely. You always worry when the littlest ones seem depressed. She is nursing which is very good , so hopefully it is not a big deal. All others seem great, bouncing and jumping all over. I am not going to breed anything back this year- that is a first in about 10 years. The market is still not very good and the two mares I thought about breeding, both foaled too late. So, I am going to get a break next year. Have mixed feelings about that, tho I will have a wedding to help get ready for. My son still thinks he would like to get married on the farm , so that will be awesome. And I will have 4 yearlings to prep which will be a lot! Getting the two yearlings this year ready for the Yearling Show in late June. BTW the sick mare is continuing to improve. She has some dapples and is slowly gaining weight. She was able to stand on bad leg long enough for farrier to trim- that was a big step. Fingers crossed she will come around completely. Two years ago she won the Yearling Show Championship!

Mother and child

The last foal came this morning at 6:30 AM. I checked mare -she was fine , went downstairs and made coffee. Checked again and she was delivering!. Big , beautiful baby girl. Stood up quickly but took awhile to nurse. My back is really sore now, mare needed a little help. Filly is lovely. We are all sleepy now- going back to bed!

Waiting on blacksmith

Its is a rainy, cool morning and I am waiting on the blacksmith. I had a lovely weekend with Sarah and Will both coming home for birthdays. No more teenagers, Will is 20! And today is our Anniversary. The third is traditionally a gift of leather!. Mike found some new shoes he liked and I requested a new pair of half-chaps. I'm sure my horsey friends approve. But my back is hurting today, so I will try new half-chaps later. I must have twisted or strained it somehow- 3 Advil and a muscle relaxer later, I did my stalls slowly. The rest of today I am taking it easy, tho' will go to visit a friend in hospital. And whenever I feel like complaining I remember a little girl I saw this weekend at a local horse show. She was about 10 maybe and was missing her arm from above the elbow. She was in a hunter over fences class. There was an attachment from her "stump" area (above elbow!) to the rein, connected with a double-end snap to rein on that side. She rode so well that I never would have even noticed except I was standing beside her at in-gate. She was so cool and not fazed in the least. My back is not so bad, no complaints.

Mares and foals are well, waiting on the last. Soon I hope.

foals

It is getting busier. My life is walking foals in , walking foals out. Mucking stalls, bedding stalls, working yearlings in round pen, grooming yearlings. Checking last mare for dripping teats, grooming on yearlings some more, feeding, riding hunter occasionally..... But today is Sarah's birthday, she is 23. Last year at this time we were watching her walk to graduation at USC and Gov. Schwartznegger spoke. Then we went to Hawaii for her birthday. It was the best time. Now we are going to dinner in Annapolis and Will is driving up from W&L to see his big sis. Sam and Stephanie will be here, telling us plans for wedding next year. Life is amazing and I can't believe how grown up my kids are. Where did the time go? Sarah and I went to see "Babies", the movie, last night. It was OK but what was remarkable to me was how hard it all seemed looking back on it. Raising babies is/was wonderful but all-consuming hard work and I did it three times! Truly, the love affair with your child is the most powerful thing in the world. And I am glad they are grown up- much more fun to watch their lives unfolding (than folding laundry)!

I have a horse that I bred with my partner running in the Black Eyed Susan Stakes today at Pimlico. Isn't that cool! Her name is Baltimore Belle and I hope she knocks 'em dead. I will be at birthday dinner so my friends at Pimlico, please cheer for me.

New Baby

My big grey mare foaled last night about 11PM. I did not want to miss this one, because it was her first and I didn't want her to be alone. Everything was fine, though she had seemed really anxious about 10:30 when I went out to be with her. Once I was there she seemed to calm down a little, just kept checking in with me- a nose nudge or a deep breath to the face - and continued pacing and having contractions. Nice to know that sometimes we do make a difference to their world, for the better. She was definitely reassured by my presence. Nice big bay colt with a big white blaze like his mama and four white socks. . You can definitely see them in the dark- two white blazes looming in the darkness (on the video screen). What was really funny was the nightlife in the barn after midnight. My two friendly ( manner of speaking-one is the cat that bit me) cats were there , then the tabby showed up who I had thought was dead and then the raccoon appeared. He sauntered up the aisle, not caring I was there, looking for the cat food. Well, the white cat said,"I don't think so!" and they had a Mexican stand-off that was hilarious to watch. A marauding raccoon and my nicest cat looked like gunslingers at the OK corral. I was amazed . Then the tabby gets acrobatic and is jumping on the rafters trying to catch the barn swallows. It was like a three ring circus, between the cat-coon fight , the swallows dive-bombing the ghost cat and the maiden mare having a baby!! I had no idea it was such a busy place in the dead of night. I waited 'til about 1AM, made sure the foal nursed and went to bed. Now I can relax with my daughter and not foal watch. Yippee!

Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day. My kids are spread out across the country but everyone called and I went riding with a friend. We rode "High and Fast" at a local hunter pace- a type of low key cross-country riding event. The jumps were high and we were fast! We had a blast, there is nothing better than successfully navigating a difficult course of fences and safely galloping over hill and dale. The jumps were the highest we did this year, a couple of coops that looked 4' ( I was told they were only 3'6", but going uphill they looked BIG. Anyway, my chestnut was wonderful. He is not a pretty jumper but he gets me there safely. "Polly", my 5 yr old was a star. This was a first for her and she led over these big jumps, happily and effortlessly. You Go Girl! Check out her knees in the picture, tucked up like a champ. I was so delighted with her. She is going to go to FL and hang with Julia for some schooling. Now, I am looking forward to my daughter's birthday visit on Wednesday. Maybe one of the foals will come while she is home.

may days

Today is another gorgeous May morning. The weather has been so incredibly lovely these past couple of days. Yes, I agree with a friend, we were due after this winter. Mother's Day is Sunday and I am going riding! Last hunter pace and that's all this mother wants- a day away to have some fun on my nice chestnut horse! Speaking of chestnuts, to update people on my sick chestnut mare, she is slowly getting better. I have her on some Bute and low dose of sulpha and the swelling is slowly reducing and inch by inch she is putting more weight on that hind leg. The vet and I are still mystified, but we agree it is/was probably a severe case of cellulitis. I finally just put her out during the day on nice spring grass and hoped she healed herself. So far, fingers crossed, she is regaining her health. Amazing actually, at least three times I had said goodbye and prepared for the worst. She is a testament to believing in the power of a very strong will to live.

The foals are thriving and I am still waiting on the next two- back to sleeping with one eye open, which is sort of exhausting.

Cinco de Mayo

May 5th- the year is flying by. It has been a beautiful warm, breezy May day. I think this is why people live in southern California, because it is like this everyday. Absolutely gorgeous and not too hot. I worked the yearlings. They have started their round pen education and coats are getting glossy. They are learning about baths, all that scary stuff and now they walk around the ring quietly , not jumping on me or biting me- it was a good day. Rode the two thoroughbreds that I am doing hunter paces with. Found out couple of days ago, that my team and I won the high course at Goshen, which is very funny because that is the one course where we went the wrong way, had to retrace our path, regroup and find the right way. We figured at that point we were well out of contention for a ribbon. I quess everybody went to fast for optimum time because we won the blue!! Go figure. I am leaving in a moment to walk hounds at the club. Also, that time of year again. The puppy show is done, so we are taking the whole pack out ( actually we take dogs and bitches separately most of the time- seems to keep the peace better). I can never believe how quickly I forget hound names when I do not see them all the time (i.e. hunting). The poor huntsman gets annoyed when I say " who is that " all the time. Only way to learn is hound walk so I am off to kennels.

Happiness

My son and his fiance came to dinner and continued their wedding plans. It was a lovely day and I took some cute pictures of them walking and talking. Remember planning your wedding! Those are wonderful memories. At the club we walked to water and watched some beavers cruising the Patuxent, it was very peaceful and their wedding is going to be beautiful. I am so happy that my son has reached such a spot in his life, in love and looking forward to a " wonder" full life. Love you both.

lazy Sunday morning

Marlborough's Hunter Pace was yesterday and it was a hot, nice day. Red and I did high and fast with Kara Levin and got a second. Polly schooled and is going to Julia in about 2 weeks. They will have fun together. I picked Calvin Borel and Supersaver to win Derby. Wish I had been the fellow who did the same at Churchill Downs, but he made $900,000!! As much as I am lukewarm about Todd Pletcher it was time for him to win the Derby and the horse was given a perfect ride by Calvin Borel- again. It is fun to watch all the hoopla, as much as they say horseracing is dead, they make a very big deal out of two minutes of racing- I love it. The foals and mares are all doing fine. I have to go and do stalls now before it gets any hotter.