Day 2 at Casanova Hunt

Tuesday was at Casanova and the best thing about Casanova is Tommy lee Jones. My husband asks me every year, " you mean, the actor?"  No, but this Tommy Lee is a great huntsman and a legend in his own time. Beloved for his Jack Russell races, he is like a character out of Jorrocks. A little rotund ( hope he doesn't read this) and very fun to watch. The staff all wear red polos and they were all mounted on greys- very polished looking. The day started very slowly, we walked for about 1hr 1/2, which was fine after Middleburg's mad dash. Ground was very wet  and flat, also nice after rocks and hills. Unfortunately, as soon as Tommy Lee and hounds found their fox, the fieldmaster couldn't keep up and we lost them! Bummer. But it was fun anyway, some jumps, some big ones and lots of nice people. It is so fun to meet fellow hunt fiends from other places and reconnect with friends that you only see at the Field Hunter Championship. Tailgate breakfast was lovely and the four who qualified truly had lovely horses.  I never get picked, probably because I ride OTT racehorses who want to run and my gag bridles are never perfectly clean!  But I have the most fun!

 Today I was home and Marlborough  hunted on the Eastern shore. After waiting for the rain and lightning to pass I thought I was going to be carried off by the mosquitos!! Lots of fox, sweaty horses and riders. 80 degrees is too hot to foxhunt I am convinced - can't wait for cold front to get here. I am skipping Blue Ridge on Thursday but am going to Piedmont on Friday, for the final Field Hunter Hunt  . Their fixture is lovely and my mare should be ready! Yippee. I did post the picture of the Scottish Highland cattle where I stayed Monday night . So cute.

North American Field Hunter Championship

First day. We hunted with Middleburg this morning, met at 7:30Am at Glenwood. Started slowly, the judges checking out how quietly the horses stood and if boots were polished etc.  Then once hounds struck we just ran up and down hills for about an hour and a half. My poor mare, Polly, was exhausted. Not quite fit enough, high humidity and lots of hills took a toll. I think most of the entries all dropped back to Jeff Blue's hilltoppers! after our first check. I chose to go in with the judges after two hours but enjoyed the run immensely. Not too many fences, but they were inviting walls and couple coops. Polly was great and she stood quietly. I must admit I rarely get "picked" because I do not ever have perfect tack or a horse that uses a snaffle and never twitches! but I have the most fun. Tomorrow is Casanova with Tommy Lee Jones,a charming Southern gentleman. Tonight I am staying at a horsey "bed, breakfast and stable" in Flint Hill, Virginia. Very convenient and a most gracious host, a fieldmaster with Old Dominion Hounds. The horse is tucked in and I am going to cheer on the Redskins for about an hour then goodnight. Forgot my phone charger, so can't upload pictures of the Scottish Highland cows at this farm. Impressive horns, but this is photo of Polly.

my favorite time of year

My favorite time of year is here, foxhunting, football and friends! I am riding couple of horses every day trying to get them fit and am looking forward to Field Hunter Championship, which is next week! and Virginia Hunt week in October. Squeezed in there is my son's wedding and my Hunt Club's 75th Anniversary Opening Hunt. I think I am glad that I do not have any yearlings in this year's Yearling sale. It would have been too much. I am doing a retrospective book about Marlborough's last 75 years and the research has been very interesting. We have been doing the same thing basically every fall for a long time, just different players. Puts all our problems in perspective when the same themes run through the club in all era's, same money problems, same membership issues etc. It is nice to be part of something that endures. This photo from 1955.

beautiful morning

It is a beautiful morning, lots of birdsong, tho' have not heard any more geese. Those few must have been confused or fooled by hurricanes! Want to keep enjoying coffee but need to go feed horses in barn. I am so sick of hoof abscesses, "scratches", yearlings with eye ulcers. Why, when you are planning for sales yearlings or hunting in Virginia for days, they find a way to sabotage all that effort. I am grateful for beautiful days and my lovely farm, but hurt horses, not to mention tons of moldy hay after Hurricane Irene have me slightly p*** ed off .  Hubby is away, far away, and wants to Skype just when I am under a mare, plopping Icthamol on hoof and trying not to get stepped on while trying to open a vetwrap with my teeth. Sound familiar to anyone! Needless to say I didn't want to Skype at that moment, sorry honey, just come home soon. Son's wedding plans are going pretty well, it is going to be beautiful. Pray for a lovely first weekend in October! We did start cubbing yesterday which was lovely and so nice to be back on horseback, listening to hounds. Penn Mary-dels really have the most beautiful voices. We had a couple runs, I viewed twice, ran thru a development hoping to turn fox back into woods (worked) and found two completely overgrown paths  (had to turn around and pray fox turned again- he did). It was a good morning. I was tired but happy and I took my mother-in-law to dinner. Big points with hubby!

9/11/11

The sun has just broken the horizon at 7:08 AM and I just remembered it is the anniversary. Ten years after a day of disbelief and incredulity that we  were so vulnerable and that some people hated us that much. Ten years of looking for the madman that caused such a terrible thing to happen. We found him and stopped him from hurting anyone else. How have we all changed in that ten years? I believe we are smarter, stronger and more compassionate. The world became united in horror for a time and forever showed us that despite our differences we are one race and we all want our children to live without fear. That is why madmen will never win in the long run.  Because courage is made stronger by adversity. Courage and the desire to protect, to help, to run and lend a hand to a stranger in a burning building is stronger than fear.  Love of family is the common bond between all humanity, it is the universal language, and it will always defeat evil in the end.  We are all firemen who sacrifice themselves to save another, we are all mothers who lift a car off a child, we are all strangers that jump terrorists to prevent an attack. We are what a hero is because we care about one another . I am proud to be an American and to know that ten years later we are still helping the unfortunate, still trying to protect the weak, and giving aid when asked. That is what makes us a great nation.

I need sunshine

This is a lot of rain. I am almost afraid to go look at the trees, their roots are saturated. I am posting a sunny picture as a form of "sunshine" dance. Hope it clears up before Sunday- I want to go hunting!

rainy Wednesday

Well, the first day of cubbing got rain canceled. Bummer. It is quiet right now but the radar is showing lots more on the way and the ground is so saturated I am sure more trees are coming down. I am just hoping the wind stays away. On a good note the grass seed I put down after cleaning up the last tree mess will surely come up now. And, as I am looking forward to the Virginia Field Hunter Championship, all this rain will ensure that the ground is not too hard as it has been in years past. I am looking for the silver lining here! I even pulled out fall clothes and put away the real skimpy summer clothes yesterday. Feel bad for those Texans, wish we could send them some rain.

September is here

September is here, which means it is Christmas tomorrow!  Just kidding, but it feels like the year is flying by. Roading hounds was fun last night. Red was a complete idiot and so excited to see hounds. He reared and wheeled and said Yes, then No then Oh Boy. I was saying curse words. He eventually calmed, gave a big sigh, then resigned himself to being  a whipper-in's horse for another year. Will and Annie were here for a few days and just left- senior year for them at WLU. Spent the day at State Fair , Will won a huge pig playing basketball!!! Wedding preparations are going well and hopefully this lovely fall weather will stay around .  I even got all the downed trees removed yesterday. The right tool for the job, Ike showed up with an amazing "bobcat" with a big gripper attachment. He just picked up those big trees and moved them around like Lincoln logs. Every boys dream- to grow up and play all day with really big toys! He was having fun. The yearling colt is about to leave and start his education and the baby is about to be weaned, as soon as I get fence fixed. And the Redskins play tonight- all a girl can ask for.