Sunday's hunt

We had a great hunt yesterday, chasing a large red from one end of our country to the other. I was galloping flat out on Red to stay abreast of hounds as they followed Mr. Renard thru a ravine deep in woods that border Rte. 2! I kept hoping he was making wide circle but as I burst out into last clearing beside the road I thought , "you know, maybe he crossed the road"! I was sure it was a coyote because of the speed, but several other whips viewed the wily fellow and were sure it was the same red. We stopped the hounds at the road and left that fellow to find him another day. I do think that he made that circle but sometimes, especially with puppies and hounds getting strung out, we have to break them off that close to a road. Once in a while I am very happy that I have a very fast horse and a gun! It was a lovely, sunny day and the kind of exhilarating run that leaves me grinning.
I may have a new foxhunter as my three year old filly is coming home from racetrack. She needs a new job! I think she just really did not like racing, never wanting to burst past the leaders. When they become content to gallop in the back, it is time to seek new employment!!  So, I have a very attractive black TB looking for a new home. She is lovely, not too fast and would make a great hunter. Call me!
I am going down to see Will's basketball game tonight  and it always makes me happy to see him. Had dinner with Sam last Friday and talked with Sarah last night. She was "on set" and happy.  All's good.
The Hunt Ball is sold out and going to be fabulous.

late January- Pia racing and hunting in the mud

It has been remarkably warm this January, tomorrow morning it is supposed to be 60 degrees! And raining.  I love the warmer weather and I will take mud over cold anytime, but yesterday was a muddy hunt with Howard County-Iron Bridge. We had canceled and I was tacked up and ready, so said , Heck, I'm going hunting". Their Master of Foxhounds asked everyone to try to stay off the muddy paths to "save" them !! The mud was ankle deep on most paths and in a few places my little mare was knee deep in sloggy mush! Save the path! I have no idea what he meant. We had one good run which ended under the power line on grass!, which was a welcome change. I love going to see my friends at HCIB, but they do have some rocky, rough trails. Our members think our crossings are tough, they have some that should be on a cross-country course.  Good event training.
I hope we actually manage to dodge any big snow or ice this year. Our hunt ball is scheduled in March and I am praying for a lovely evening. It is going to be a magical night, our 75th Diamond Jubilee, and to be held at a member's home, historic Tulip Hill. It is a sold-out affair that I have chaired with a great committee.
My filly is running again on Saturday. I have a wedding to attend at 3PM,  the race goes off about 5:20 and the wedding reception starts at the same time. I am going to try to do it all!! My little Mini will be racing up 97 itself.

foggy morning

I will take fog any day, it is going to be above 50 degrees today, mid January! The blankets come off the broodmares and you know they are all going to roll in the mud. I'll be watching the foaling video cam in about a month, so am sleeping lots now!  This is a photo from last year. The champion Rachel Alexander had her first colt on Jan 22, by Curlin. Talk about horse royalty! They posted a video on FB and it was a little gratifying to see the little fellow has a "crooked" front leg. Goes to prove you can have all the money in the world and the best horse in the world and it is still about luck! They will straighten that leg out real fast, you can bet!

I watch these Presidential debates and the only thing I really am struck by is how easily these guys all LIE!
You know Newt Gingrich probably did ask his wife for an open marriage and now he is saying he was only a historian for Freddie Mac- pul-leese- who pays a "historian" $25K a MONTH. And why does Freddie Mac need a historian who is also running for president. I concerns me how easily they just lie whenever it is convenient.  I dislike all the Republican candidates and I really want somebody to beat Obama and I think there are lots of people are like me. I would vote for Hilary Clinton at this point!

Almost finished my tax "data entry" compiling. I enter all my expenses at year-end into my Quicken and take a look at "where the money went". It is always a surprise to see how expensive groceries have become  and how much I spend on gas  etc. Glad the weddings are done and that I had a client with a couple of broodmares this year. Also a mare I co-bred, Baltimore Belle,  did very well this year and earned me almost $20K  in breeder's bonuses. A life -saver for a small breeder. I hope the fact that the foal crop is dropping will help this small breeder in the future. Still trying to figure out to whom to breed couple of mares. Maryland is almost gone as a TB breeding state-sad.

a year later

A year ago I was off to California to pick wedding cakes and wedding flowers with Sarah. We were planning a wedding shower for Sam and Stephanie. It was a very big year. Now I have a quieter year and truly looking at the next chapter of my life. The horses are still a primary focus, but with the capital funds needed to pursue horse breeding on a big profitable scale still somewhat outside my realm, I am thinking about other thing. I want to finish my book about the history of the Hunt Club. As soon as taxes are done I am back to researching and doing that. It is really interesting and I love reading all the old Tally-Ho's and stories from the old members. The 75th Anniversary Hunt Ball that I spearheaded this month has been fully subscribed and we are planning a wonderful Ball. The magazine, Garden and Gun, has been invited and I am hoping they will come and do a story. That would be so cool. It is going to be a great night!
Sarah is starting to look at buying a house with Kevin and I am trying to figure out how to regularly see Sam and Steph. Everyone is so busy. We are getting together for Mike's Mom's birthday on Saturday. A year ago she had a pacemaker and defibrillator put in and has been doing well all year. Amazing modern medicine!
Will's basketball tournament is at end of Feb. Looking forward to some more games in Lexington.
The foals are going to start coming also at the end of February- I have 5 coming! It will be a busy spring. We have sent Primequest down to Paddy O'Prado and I will breed only one other as some are retiring this year.

mid January

Mid - January and the weather is still surprising. Yesterday was 60 degrees and today is 30 and very windy. Beats 2 feet of snow any day!! Alaska is digging out of over 14 feet! of snow. My three year old filly is running for one mile for the first time today- ninth race at Laurel. She doesn't like the slop so bring on that wind, hopefully it will stop everybody else coming down the stretch! These are pretty cheap claimers , so fingers crossed or there will be one more Retired Racehorse!
Hunting has been really nice actually with this warmer weather in Jan. It was an Irish hunt on Wednesday as it sprinkled all day. Scenting was great because hounds ran the whole time in really big circles. At one point, after galloping for a solid 40 min in a huge circle trying to stay with hounds , I realized if I had just stayed put when I was "lost" deep in the woods, I would have been at the epicenter and spared my poor hunter all that galloping. Oh well!  He is very fit now! We finally picked up hounds about 5 hours later. When back at trailers I discovered I had locked keys in truck!. Happily for me , my AAA membership paid off and he opened my truck about 45 min. later.  It was a guy out of DC I guess who was wide-eyed when I met him on road and said truck was way back in woods , down a lane  and there were 30 hounds and horses waiting. I think he thought we were very weird, but was too polite to say it!
Looking forward to a football weekend.

snow still here

After a few flakes yesterday, I thought, "how pretty, but I will wait a little to feed".  After waiting couple hours there were now 2 inches on the fields and it was coming down much harder. I fed before it got worse, wondering how did I miss a snow announcement.  Everybody missed it! Still pretty  but I hope it disappears. I was really enjoying our warmer January. It has been in the 50's and 60's even, spoiling us I'm afraid. I have been planning out this year, in my mind, since the first of the year. We are going to Canada for a summer vacation, taking a train thru the Canadian Rockies, maybe a cruise next Jan and in between finishing my Hunt Club book, starting back on my college class and raising horses. The big event this year will be Will's graduation and starting his job in Charlotte NC.  Sam and Stephanie are loving their new house and shorter commutes. Sarah is working on new jobs and maybe house hunting? Michael has also started the stretch run for his Master's degree in the counter-terroism field. Kevin also doing his Master's in Geo-physics.  "Love, and do what thou wilt". Saint Augustine. I like that.