beautiful sky

Today feels like perfect riding weather, before the heat, before the deer flies. It is the Maryland Hunt Cup day, 4 miles of the most grueling timber, the most difficult horse race in the world, other than perhaps the Tevis Cup (100 mile endurance race) - England's Grand National is about the same test of a horse. It is also a week out from the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of Triple Crown-the Stanley Cup of horseracing. Actually it is more like the Iron Man triathalon. The Derby is 1 1/8 miles- nice distance, the second leg is the Preakness, 1 1/16 miles  - which favors speed horses, which is why running on the rail and breaking out of gate really well has upset so many times, the third leg is Belmont , at 1 1/2 miles. Separates the real thing from the flashes of brilliance. It is really difficult to run three races in 5 weeks, at these distances. A fresh horse, that runs long, can almost always upset in the Belmont. Triple Crown runners are very rare indeed.  I am going to a lowly little hunter pace today, which is about 4 miles ( same as Hunt Cup), over  about 30 little logs and jumps ( little more than Hunt Cup, but these are only 2 or 2 1/2 feet, not 6 feet tall!  And I will have a tremendously fun day. I won't win $75,000 or get a huge silver trophy, but I will feel accomplished and fit and alive and that's all I need. Watch these races if you can - these horses are the best of the best.

grey cloud morning

You know when you read a book and it says . " The clouds were scudding by fast...". I always thought that was the weirdest word - scudding- but this morning they are doing just that.  Moving very fast, layers of grey clouds are sweeping across the early morning sky. The blue that is glimpsed behind seems happy and soft, while the grey clouds seem like a bad mood that keeps covering up and smothering it. Poetic huh?  The color of the sky sets the tone of the day. I just have to remember that behind the dark cloud there is still the serene, warm blue of a a beautiful, cloudless day. It hasn't gone anywhere, it is merely hidden from the casual view. As I sit and watch this Nantucket -type morning, waiting for the next break in the cloud to see the blue again, I imagine being able to always hang onto that thought. I am the same, no matter which color cloud I am wearing. The blue is the constant, which means if I stay out in the breeze, the dark moods will blow away!!  I am not in a dark mood, just trying to enjoy a grey morning! The flies must be getting bad because the horses are banging on the fence rails and knocking each other about- must want to come in. I was going to go to Pimlico this morning to see two year old, but decided to stay home and work the babies and ride and save gas.  

They won, they won!!!

           Baltimore Bob h (Malibu Moon--Gabby's Love) finished 1st in 7th on 4/23 STK race at LS

Baltimore Belle f (Bowman's Band--Gabby's Love) finished 1st in 10th on 4/23 STK race at Pim

Two stakes winners that Carol and I bred, both from the same mare, Gabby's Love, win on the same day- one in Texas at Lone Star and the other won the Dahlia at Pimlico.  That is so cool and rare and awesome. We are delighted and happy for the owners, but we are even happier about the accomplishment for ourselves! It is hard enough to breed a winner let alone two that win stakes. It is a big deal.  So, I get to jump up and down and shout YES! a bunch today. It is sad that the mare, Gabby's Love, died three years ago from complications foaling, but it is still very special that her babies have done so well. 

The picture today is Wellington's Arch's new baby, born last Tuesday. Here's to another star!

Happy Easter Weekend

Good Friday was rainy and cool, hoping today is better. The mare finally had her baby, a nice big colt. I am glad she foaled away. I would have been worried about such a late foal, but mother and baby are great. Clever Buddha gets rebred tomorrow, we could call this baby Resurrection ! I hope that is not being sacrilegious- no harm intended. When the holidays roll around I miss calling my Mom to wish her Happy Easter or whatever, but I imagine her being able to watch all the family stuff all the time now and not having to wait on phone calls.  Least I like to think that is a part of heaven, sort of a permanent Skype link to your loved ones! She just can't criticize my choices!! I imagine Mom, Dad and Ian (my brother) are having their own Easter dinner and talking about all of us. It makes it me smile to think of them together, she would be so happy to be with both her "men" and having no pain.  Sarah is a married woman now, having her first Easter as a wife! The pictures of  her wedding are so beautiful. Will came home from driving his girlfriend home to Chicago area for spring break, speaking very lovingly of her and her family. I lay in bed last night and realized all three of my kids have someone who loves and cherishes them, who loves them for the wonderful souls that they are. How lucky they are and what an awesome thought that was for me. It was a good Friday.

Purple haze

It is finally warm enough to start the morning back on my little patio, watching the sunrise.  I am excited, it is like going back to a vacation spot that holds wonderful memories. I love sitting here and watching, like this morning, the sky change from black to pink to purple haze. I just realized what Hendricks must have meant. This morning is a lilac colored morning!! Our band of hispanic brothers came last night and mowed finally so the yard looks beautiful, like an English manor house. I was starting to worry that cars would appear on cement blocks in the backyard it was looking so bad. Much prefer the country manor look. Across for my chair, the tulips have bloomed and their bright red heads are a splash of color on a green carpet. I am going to Pimlico this morning to see how my two-year old is progressing. My young Irish trainer likes her, had her galloping in 60 days and took her into track last week. This was the one I was unable to sell at last year's auction, so I hope and pray that she can run a little. I have her full sister and her only hope is that big sis can win a race. I read somewhere once that the no owner of a two-year old ever committed suicide! One just imagines that each year the new  prospect  is going to set the world on fire and the excitement just keeps you going. Good thing because the broodmares in breeding season can depress the heck out of you. Neither mare in Kentucky got pregnant on their first cover and my clients mare is over three weeks late! Thank God I am not having to foal watch that one. She is still at Murmur because of Sarah's wedding, but I can't believe how late she is going. Carol and I have to figure out how to get another  mare up to NY in a few days and it looks like it will be our long drive after the quotes were in the $1500.00 range! A lot is riding on that two -year old!!!

tree house days

This is a photo of my kids old tree house. It is sadly in disrepair, but I turned while watching a sunrise and thought it looked like an astonished treehouse! The expression made me smile and remember the shouts and laughter that came from it years ago. I can't quite bring myself to have it removed from tree and I laugh whenever I look at it. Maybe I am leaving it for grandkids! The spring is rolling in, yesterday was really lovely, beautiful and sunny after a really yucky Saturday. The tulips are opening up, in fact, the blossoms this year have been fantastic. We wandered around downtown Annapolis yesterday, just window shopping with a lot of other people, tourists. Annapolis is just not the small town I once knew anymore. Anybody remember Muelhmeisters ice cream at 2AM? I used to go there after writing really late night papers at St. John's College. All the strange people came out about then and you knew everyone who was walking around Main Street. How about the old T-shirt someone had printed with " Annapolis- 200 die in lover's quarrel". I think I am really dating myself!!

is it really April 15th already?

They say ( the infamous "they") that all your wages to date have been just to pay Uncle Sam. From today on, it is more or less all yours, so enjoy the fruits of your labor and have a good time paying your bills!! I just spent about $6000 fertilizing, reseeding and dragging all my pastures. Some needed herbicide to kill the chickweed that was choking out the grass and then I have to no-till seed and rest for 6 months. It was not an expense in my plans, but without pasture I am even more screwed. In that dollar figure was another 200 bales of hay to feed while I am resting pasture. Please let it rain in May, when the new grass is coming up. My farm bureau guy says sometimes it is just like this. We had a drought last summer and the weeds had just gotten to bad to ignore.  I have immense sympathy for true farmers who deal with the vagaries of Mother Nature all the time. I would look at dry corn in the fields and say, "Oh , that's tough". Now I am looking at my pastures and saying, "Oh, that's bad".   But I am still enjoying my cherry trees in bloom and the greening of the trees. I love this time of year. Before flies, before stink bugs, before really hot days.

Monday was a wonderful day

Yesterday was just a great day! It was super lovely outside, warm and a record breaker. I spent the day helping re-seed and drag all my pastures. Even tho' the fields look sad and bare after dragging I enjoyed being a farmer and getting my hands in the dirt (so to speak). Sometimes the sun on your shoulders, walking in fields and just being rooted to the earth is better than a million massages. The tension just drains out and you b-r-e-a-t-h-e.  Sarah came back from her Jamaican honeymoon, called from Charlotte enroute to California, and my world felt right again. I had not liked that I did not know where she was. I understood their fairy tale honeymoon of disappearing on an island retreat but I was delighted and relieved to hear her happy voice saying, "We're back!" She said they had a wonderful time, it was a romantic and a perfect way to start their  married life- full of memories.  My shoulders came down a little further. And my friend brought over our first and second !! place ribbons from this weekend's hunter pace. I had taken a very leisurely pace because I was on  my four year old ( the one who tried very hard to die last year), who has not done very much at all. She was terrific, jumped both high and low, quietly and in perfect form. I was so pleased with her.  I am off today to see my two-year old at Pimlico, who has gone into the track. Trainer says she is doing great, which is good because she actually was a bit of a witch as a baby. Glad he broke her, not me. And to round out all this good feeling news, another breeder friend of mine, who is on the Maryland Horse Breeders board, said he voted for Carol (my partner) and I , as Breeder of the Year!!!, for our horses we bred,  Baltimore Bob and Baltimore Belle. We were the only breeders to have two stakes winners in this past year, not most money, but pretty good. I didn't even know we were nominated!!  Have to note these little victories, sometimes it is these little milestones that are the bright lights in a dull day. Yesterday was very sparkly!!!

back home

It was such a fabulous wedding and weekend with family that it is definitely a let down to come home. Nice to be back tho' and now it is really fun to start going through all the photos and reliving the moments. We had a really fun rehearsal dinner on a mountaintop in Santa Barbara. It was a sunny, warm day that ended with a perfect sunset. Then the wedding day was slightly cooler, cloudy which turned out to be perfect for the pictures. Sarah was so beautiful. We walked early on the beach that morning and the day just continued to be perfect. Garden wedding and then we danced and danced. It really is all about family and the love and support that is given to the "start" of a new family unit, Sarah and Kevin. Fathers and mothers wedding toasts and the loving tributes to brothers and sisters were just a few examples of the emotional ties that remind of us of the love that is FAMILY. Sarah and Kevin came together to be married, each supported by their families to bind together their love. The symbol of the different colored sand sifting together into a tall pillar, representing their new life as a couple, reminded me that each of our lives is made  up of a million acts of love like grains of sand.  Weddings just make us stop and celebrate the scooping up of those moments and cherishing them.

Yes I DO !!!

It was the most wonderful, beautiful, magical wedding ever.  Sarah is starting her new chapter and the love abounds. It was awesome.