Dragon's Lair Farm - a horse farm

late January- Pia racing and hunting in the mud

2012-01-26T07:40:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-24T07:06:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-13T06:54:00.001-05:00

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

2012-01-10T07:13:00.000-05:00

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.

last day of 2011

2011-12-31T07:39:00.000-05:00

Upon reflection I think the theme of 2011 has been family. I connected with my sisters and their families more this year than in any past, that is the best part . There were sad times, starting with the passing of my Mom on Jan 2nd, 2011 and two weeks ago, learning of the death of a cousin's wife. But I believe the joy of family will be the best memory of this year. Two weddings brought us together, literally coast to coast. Sarah's in California showed us the beauty of Santa Barbara and why she loves the West Coast, while Sam's in Maryland, down home on the "farm" was a beautiful October day with all the Fall colors of the East. There was something just joyful about having so much family together. Day to day we forget how connected we are, we forget how many people care about us and these two weddings were a huge reminder of the love and joy that we share with family. I want to wish a Happy New Year to all my family near and far. I hope 2012 is an awesome year. I will stay connected. Love to all. Miss you Mom.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T07:42:00.000-05:00

Truly the best part of Christmas is family. Having all the kids and spouses !! here was wonderful. Sarah and Kevin go back to LA today after fun making music and memories for all of us. And Kevin did not bring a huge snowstorm for which we were all grateful. Sam and Stephanie had their first Christmas as a married couple and new homeowners and Sam also celebrated his college graduation. We managed to pack a lot of partying in between 3 in-law households. Will also had a lot to celebrate, although we missed his girlfriend Annie, who was home in Indiana. He will graduate and start a new job this summer. We are very proud of him. And the basketball continues with a New Years weekend tournament in Lexington. Mike and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Day followed by a great foxhunting day on Boxing Day. The hunt at Rosaryville was fast and furious , tho no one ever saw the very wily fox himself. The run was exhausting for horses and riders but very fun! Bob and Red are still lying down.

Sam's Graduation Day!

2011-12-22T16:06:00.001-05:00

Sam, my oldest son, graduated today with his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from UMBC. A red letter day. I am so very proud of him. I think that this degree means more than any other because he took a little longer and climbed a lot of mountains along the way. We were all there to watch him accept his "sheepskin" and we cheered the loudest. Way to go Sam! Tonight we are celebrating with Sam and Stephanie at their new beautiful house. Christmas dinners and cheers are getting stretched out to include lots of households. Tomorrow is at the farm, then the kids share Stephanie's parent's Christmas and Paul and Page's on Christmas Day. We are taking Kevin to the Redskins game on Christmas Eve. Go 'Skins!! There is lots of love to go around and a great deal to be thankful for this year. It is so wonderful to have, Will, Sarah and Kevin here too.

12 days of Christmas ...origins of the song...

2011-12-18T07:31:00.000-05:00

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

This week, I found out.
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

getting in the Christmas spirit....

2011-12-17T06:51:00.002-05:00

A friend sent me a wonderful email about Christmas . I cannot figure out how to post in entirety but will try to add some every day. Joy to the world! I am grateful for all the gifts in my life.

WAR HORSE was great!

2011-12-16T07:46:00.000-05:00

I went to the MD jockey Club and MD Horse Industry's premiere of Speilberg's movie, WAR HORSE last night and it was both a wonderful movie and a memorable night of support for our horse industry. I had heard it was an award-winning play, so was excited to see the movie. Tho' it was not exactly told from horse's point of view( like play) it was a really good heart-warming, uplifting movie. The kind I like. The story is very simple but the cinematography and the directing of the battle scenes were awesome, the horse was charming, straightforward and a star. Don't know how you train a horse to jump over a moving tank!! It is a very touching moving and I highly recommend it. Great Christmas Day movie. Must admit Speilberg has a gift for the simple movie that connects us to each other. It was nice to see Jockey Club President and politicians and Dept. of Ag representatives all supporting something positive for everyone for a chenge. Let's hope Dec 20th that this spirit of cooperation helps end the stand-off in MD racing and we move forward.

Happy Santa Lucia Day

2011-12-13T07:40:00.000-05:00

A friend just told me it was Santa Lucia Day and she would have candles in her hair and be celebrating tonight. Sounds romantic, she has very long, blond hair and I can just picture this long hair under a halo of candles, her in a white dress in a Yuletide setting! Christmas is coming. My daughter and son-in-law are coming from California ( he brought the record snowfall 2 years ago, landed at BWI in sandals just as that blizzard started) and I urged him to wear real shoes this time, and practice his shoveling technique. Just in case, even tho' it has been really nice so far this December. Heavy frost in the mornings but warming to '50's later, perfect hunting weather. The hounds were able to follow several fox last Sunday that were well ahead but scenting was perfect so we had a lovely day and the fields had many views of Mr. Renard. Who was safely in his den at end of day. My oldest son, Sam and his lovely wife Stephanie will be here before Christmas. Now there is the juggling between in-law homes for holiday dinners and ex's also. Sometimes they eat three times!! But it's all part of Christmas. Will is in exam week right now and home for a few days before next basketball tournament. Finding the right Christmas gift is much harder for adult children who do not need the latest video game anymore! It transition right into Home Depot gift cards! Happy shopping everyone - I am getting on board with the buy American, create jobs!

galloping toward Christmas

2011-12-06T06:11:00.000-05:00

It has been unseasonably warm and I am not complaining but hard to feel like Christmas. Can't believe it is just around the corner. I hope to get tree up soon, I did get the lights up and the Christmas shopping is going OK, but the predominant feeling I have is rush, rush. Too much to do. Lay awake last night thinking of slow two-year old racehorses and vet bills, Hunt Balls and party planning, seeing family at Christmas and who sleeps where, there is no food in fridge, the washing machine is still broken after two weeks and how can I kill GE, how can I stop racehorse trainer from spending too much on vet bills and there is soo much to do for hunt ball, and I have to finish my book project!! Yikes. Spent day at horse sale yesterday and the New-York breds , WV breds, PA breds sold pretty well, better than last year, but MD bred horses were dismal. It is so sad that politicians missed the opportunities years ago to help our industry prosper. It is in bad shape here in MD.
However my farm is beautiful, my horses healthy, so is my family and I have lots to be happy and thankful for. This big year is wrapping up and I am going to take stock of my blessings. Happy holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

2011-11-24T06:34:00.000-05:00

I am happy and thankful to be alive and to be part of my wonderful family. I wish you all a happy turkey day. eat, drink and be merry. Give thanks for all you have and be compassionate to the less fortunate. My filly lost her race, trailed actually, but son, Will, won his basketball game and life is good. I am thoroughly enjoying watching his last year playing college ball and cheering madly. I will really miss this after graduation. The filly hopefully runs again soon and will "wakeup " to the racing game . Have a great day with all your families. My turkey is in oven and I am going hunting.

basketball and maiden races....

2011-11-22T07:17:00.000-05:00

My two year old filly, Pia's Hope, races today in her maiden start. Ever hopeful I will be there to cheer her on. She is a very cute, very "testy" filly and I hope she races better than she works in the morning. We will see. My youngest son is playing basketball again tonight at Shenandoah College, never heard of it but love the name. So after watching my youngest race horse I will head out Rt. 66 to see my other youngest!! He may be the faster one! Can't believe it is already Thanksgiving and I have seen lots of Christmas light already. Too much already! I had hoped that something might have been resolved about Maryland racing dates but it still does not look good. I am waiting before making any breeding decisions. I believe next meeting is Dec 20th.

November routines: basketball, and foxhunting

2011-11-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

It is still rainy and cold out. Second day of wet. Hunting cancelled, I stayed in all day working on my book for hunt club and plans for a Diamond Jubilee Hunt Ball. The house feels emptier now than when the kids left first time, so I talk to the dogs! Basketball has resumed and it was an awesome game on Wednesday at Dickinson College. The Washington and Lee Generals ( and son Will) gave a nail-biting performance that had me screaming encouragement and pulling hair in frustration in equal measure. They won by the skin of their teeth! I was the only Generals fan sitting in the 'visitor' bleachers, but I yelled enough for a whole group of parents. This weekend we are going to Amherst, Mass. to support team. Never been, looking forward to weekend with hubby, walking around a little university town in Northeast. In other picture, Will cleans up very well, looking very handsome with Annie at a formal at W&L. Meanwhile, back on the farm, horses have settled into winter routine, broodmares expanding, yearlings playing, foxhunters playing hard -to-get on hunting mornings!

Zen and the art of foxhunting....

2011-11-09T06:37:00.000-05:00

It is a month ago that Sam and Stephanie had their beautiful wedding here on the farm. They have now moved into their new, "first" home and that whole adventure starts for them. I told Sam the first time you cut the grass or shovel the snow from driveway is when home ownership will really hit. Two kids married, the youngest has a job offer and is graduating from Washington & Lee in May. He is planning to be in Charlotte NC next summer working extremely hard. He tells me this job will be like a "financial" internship- 18 hours day- on call all the time etc. They are all grown up!! I do miss telling my mom about all the comings and goings. She passed away in January and I still reach for the phone sometimes. Trying to keep in touch with my sisters instead and the weddings helped to bring us closer. The house is back to being very silent but the weather has been so beautiful that I am giving in to the urge to go foxhunting all the time. I went out with Howard County yesterday and although warm it was fun to say hi to my friends there and watch visiting Kimberton's PennMaryDels hunt their territory. Today we travel across the Bay Bridge to a member's farm and it should be another lovely day. The full moon had Jupiter as a starry companion this morning, very spectacular. Such a full moon means that the foxes will have been up and about all night which means there will be lots of night lines and hopefully some beautiful hound music today. As the new chapters begin in my life, I think riding and foxhunting, in particular, are a Zen-like meditation. One must be present in all your senses to hunt. It is quiet mostly as you walk through the woods and the rhythm of body and horse in unison is soothing. Then there is a terrific gallop through fields or fast tree dodging flight and suddenly it drops back to a relaxing walk. I know nothing better to feel peaceful and alive at the same time!

the rhythms and ripples of life....

2011-11-02T06:54:00.000-04:00

I am back to my "real" life, after the fun of hunting in Virginia. The weddings are done and Sam and Stephanie have moved into their new house!! Life on the farm is slowly resuming its old rhythm. I need to start planning a few matings, check the broodmare stall camera, finish my book on the Hunt Club. I am prepping a yearling for the December sale and watching the broodmares 'grow'. All important things, just not as exciting as the past few months. Christmas promises to be fun with Sarah and Kevin visiting and we are all looking forward to seeing Sam and Steph celebrate in their new home. I had dinner with Stephanie in the new house last night, sitting on one of the two pieces of furniture, listening to her plans for decorating and watching the delight on her face. They are at the beginning of such a great adventure and I couldn't help but compare where I was 25 years ago, buying that first house and thinking about kids etc. Now two of those kids are married and the youngest is looking forward to living in Charlotte NC, starting a great job after graduating. Some much happened in those years and the joy is in seeing the dream in your children come to fruition and ripple outward for another generation. Amazing!

Whipping -in with Barclay Rives at Keswick

2011-10-27T07:35:00.001-04:00

Day 9 was my grande finale. I decided to skip Bedford County (too far away) and was invited to come back to Keswick on Wednesday. This is a premier hunt in North America and I was delighted to have the chance to hunt with them again. To my surprise, Tony Gammell, their wonderful and talented huntsman, offered to let me ride up with their equally renown whipper-in Barclay Rives. I accepted and had a great day following one of the best whippers- in in the country. We followed Tony and their fast American pack, exchanging comments about PennMaryDels and American/Crossbred hounds. Barclay was wearing a video cam for a documentary they are making. It was a slower day than Monday but it was a great honor for me to whip with one of the best hunts in the country! At one point Barclay took me deep into a lovely woods we were hunting through and showed me a lone headstone, in the middle of nowhere that said, "Here lies three Confederate soldiers. Deserters. Shot and Buried. May God Rest Their Souls 1864." Wow, it was amazing. I wondered about the soldier who came back to mark their final resting place. It was a quiet woods, just birdsong and the sounds of Tony hunting his hounds through the covert. I felt transported back 150 years and felt a deep love for this sport that has changed little in centuries. I thanked Keswick for a lovely day, a couple good runs, big jumps and the honor to go out with Barclay. It has been an awesome 10 days of hunting in the most beautiful hunt country in the land. Thanks to the organizers, it was great!!

Farmington Hunt -Day 8

2011-10-25T17:24:00.000-04:00

Farmington Hunt is close to Charlottesville and was the largest turnout so far I think. A lot of riders. Another picture perfect fall day along the Blue Ridge, we spent most of the day in lovely woods, up and down hills and back and forth across a big stream (little river?). American hounds worked very well for the huntsman and wife whipper-in Irish duo who have been at Farmington for 11 years I was told.They didn't look that old, must have been very young when they started here! Nice big jumps and a couple of decent runs. I think I liked the river fording the best , as we entered the stream and walked several hundred feet downriver ( or up) each time to exit riverbed. It was very beautiful. I wonder what trout think of horses? I can't believe it has been 8 days of beautiful weather, this trip has been fantastic.

Keswick Hunt- Day 7

2011-10-24T20:52:00.000-04:00

Today was the BEST!! We galloped and jumped lots of fences and saw some awesome hound work. Today was fantastic, exactly what hunting in Virginia should be like. I have a humongous smile on my face that will not stop. I realized that this really is an adrenaline junkie sport. In the first twenty miutes at Keswick we were galloping so fast I was hard pressed to keep up and I was riding first flight, right behind Jennifer Nesbitt, our terrific fieldmaster. She and I met at the Field Hunter Championship this year and it was great to ride together again. She has a faster Thoroughbred than me and mine's fast! After the first wild gallop trying to keep up with Tony Gammell and Keswick's American pack, I asked Jennifer about worrying about holes. She said, " I was watching." Yeah, right, the tears were flying out of my eyes we were going so fast!. Slightly, well maybe more than slightly, out of control, this is what fast, hard hunting is really like. I think it compares to ocean surfing big waves, or skiing black diamonds or white water kayaking- out of control, exhilarating, mind-blowing sensation. Going downhill at a gallop is like skiing big mountains and you hope you don't fall in either. The jumps were great, fairly big coops but very inviting and the thrill of jumping at speed and it just being right is awesome. I had fun today. Weather was also perfect, the countryside is big pastures and ponds and lovely woods. I wish I lived here and could hunt this country all the time. I did not have time to take many photos today, just at opening and coming home!

Oak Ridge Foxhound Hunt Club -Day 6

2011-10-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

Ms. Rita Mae Brown hosted us today at her Oak Ridge Foxhounds Hunt Club, in Afton, VA. The mountains and pine woods we rode through were spectacular. The air was crystal clear, that same heartbreak blue sky we have had most of the week was overhead and the pine trees were cool and fragrant. Scenting was difficult again, I don’t know if it is something about the leaves falling or the temperature but none of the days has been rip-roaring hunts, but the scenery has been incredible. I have had a great time seeing the different hunts, both hound –wise and country side hunted. I will never hear an owl hoot again and not think of Rita Mae Brown. As she weaves through the mountainside or swampy pastures she softly “hoots” to her hounds, calling them “ Good children! “. All huntsmen are unique but Ms. Brown is very entertaining. Announced at the start that, “ (she) hunts the old way! I let my hounds go and trust them. Sometimes it seems they have gotten away but I trust them and let them hunt”. I am not sure what that means, although she only uses one whip. Our fieldmaster was excellent and kept us very close to Ms. Brown and her hounds. It was really fun to watch her, with all the stories from her books in my imagination. The fieldmaster did whisper to me that she watches her “P’s and Q’s” for fear that she will end up as a character meeting a bad end in one of Rita Mae’s books

Middlebrook Hunt - Day 5

2011-10-22T08:08:00.000-04:00

This was another PennMaryDel pack, almost exclusively bluetick and black and tan hounds. The master, who hunted the hounds was an energetic, brusk fellow who announced himself by saying, "Welcome, ride anywhere you want , just keep up!" The few of us who were from Hunt Week sort of looked at each other and wondered, "What now?" The day started very promising with a fast run on the first fox, who went to ground after about 20 min. Their countryside is another incredibly beautiful range of pastures and woodlands. More hilly than Glenmore, but we enjoyed vast panoramic views of the mountains. Reminded me of Ireland in that you were on one hillside and could see very far across the valley to other farms and distant beautiful green pastures. Lots of cows. Not too many fox. I am not sure if these hunts are experiencing a downturn in fox population or if the scenting has just been very tough, but I have been surprised at the lack of fox. I remember years past when foxes would jump out of covers everywhere in Virginia. Not the case on this trip. But we had a good day and I hope these members realize how fortunate they are to have this beautiful countryside.

Glenmore Hunt- Day 4

2011-10-20T19:42:00.000-04:00

Today was windy and cold. I did not bring warm enough clothes for this wind. We were hunting near a place called Buffalo Gap with Glenmore Hunt in the Shenandoah Valley and the members said it is windy there most of the time. Yikes! The best part was they have PenMaryDel hounds like Marlborough (my hunt) and it was very nice to hear their beautiful voices again. I have been hunting with Crossbreds and American hounds these past few hunts and I love PenMaryDels the best. The former do not have the deep voice that you can hear all over a covert or a pasture. The Crossbreds are fast, but that just means they disappear fast and then you can't hear them!! In the kind of windy conditions we had today the Penmarydels were perfect. Glenmore even has some drafts from Marlborough, so I was able to see some old faces, Nimble, Lansdale, Leia and Oprah to mention a few. They were doing very well and are beloved! The country is so gorgeous, open and unending views of the mountains. We really have nothing like it in Maryland so I am enjoying the beauty of these different hunts and everyone is so friendly and inviting. I saw some old friends also, Hugh Brown and his friend Jim. They were respectively field secretary and fieldmaster!. I remember loaning them a horse for their first hunts with Marlborough quite a few years ago. Tomorrow is Middlebrook, another hunt in the Shenandoah. The colors of the fall leaves are peaking right now, so it is spectacular.

Old Dominion Hounds -Day 3

2011-10-18T17:29:00.000-04:00

Another fabulous fall day. We have been so lucky with this weather so far. Today was with Old Dominion in Flint Hill, Virginia. They have a mostly American pack, very consistent in coloring (tan and white). That is the legendary Melvin Poe in the foreground of photo,talking to Old Dominion's huntsman. We hunted with bitch pack today and they gave us several good runs. It warmed up very quickly again today and I think scent diminishes as the temperature goes up. The countryside is so incredibly lovely with large tracts of pastures, cool wooded trails and trout streams that both hounds and horses are happy to traverse and get a drink during the morning.We hunted about 3 hours and called it a day after putting one fox of a brace we jumped to ground. The landowner came out to watch and was relieved that "her" fox was safely into his den! I came home this afternoon to rest horses, wash clothes and see my husband ( not in that order!). Tomorrow is off and Thursday it is down to Staunton area and the other side of the Blue Ridge. Someone said it is the Shenandoah Valley, so I am looking forward to some more beautiful scenery.

Day 2- Bull Run Hunt

2011-10-17T20:28:00.000-04:00

Today was another gorgeous fall day, the kind you wait all year for. We met at The Hill and everyone had said how wonderful this fixture would be. Well, I don't know if it was the late start (10AM) or just a tough scenting day, but it was a fairly tame hunting day. We had one good run but that was it; but beautiful views of the Blue Ridge and lovely, large pastures to gallop in although the hounds really only fixed on the one run. We did jump some decent size coops and some large logs but all in all it was just a pleasant fall day of hunting. They have tremendous country in Virginia and Bull Run is no exception. The hounds were Crossbred and this time we did not lose them but they had a tough time following a line. Our fieldmaster, Jerry, was a delightful Southern gentleman who declared that we had not lost the rest of the field, but they had lost us, after a fall and a loose horse had derailed the majority of the first field. The five of us left, myself, two women from Dallas ,Texas, and a member of Bull Run had a fast run for about 10 min and then spent the rest of the morning just enjoying the day.

Virginia Hunt week- Day 1: Rappahannock

2011-10-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

Today was a gorgeous fall day, one of those kind when the air is crystal clear and the sky is heartbreak blue. We met at Red Oak Mountain to hunt with Rappahannock. There were three fields, about 40 riders I think. I went first flight and our fieldmaster, Virginia did a great job. The jumps were fairly big coops , a couple of timber rail things (bigger) and just pasture after pasture with incredible views of the Blue Ridge mountains. We topped Red Oak Mt. after about 1 hour and enjoyed some picture -taking of Old Rag. I know this mountain because my kids have all climbed it with school trips. It is tall but it felt like we were equally as high. We went up and down the mountain twice, no bears thank you ( always mentioned) and the scenery was really spectacular. The hounds, Crossbreds mainly, ranged far ahead it seemed. We were on a different mountaintop than the hounds several times it seemed. The huntsman called for quiet and we listened, hoping they were circling back. Which they did a couple of times, then the last time they booked it out of country. The huntsman remarked that " Wouldn't you know, they had 2000 acres on the north side of the mountain and the fox and hounds went south - where we could not follow!". But it was actually a great day, five hours long. We did not come in until 2Pm, our group picking up 11 hounds as we went. I loved it . Tomorrow is Bull Run and now after a shower and rest, there is a cocktail party in Culpepper.

2011: Two weddings and a funeral

2011-10-14T07:49:00.000-04:00

After two weddings and a funeral this year I am taking a break. Can't believe it was a week ago that I was preparing for Sam's rehearsal dinner and then wedding. It was a beautiful wedding with gorgeous weather and all a dream wedding should be. Seeing family together and your child so happy makes all the work and effort so worth it. Sarah was married in April, Sam a week ago and the funeral was that my Mom died in January. 2011 has been a very big year. I want to just chill for a bit. Decided to do Virginia Hunt Week, which means I am trying to do 10 hunts in about as many days. The first one was Casanova this Saturday but was unfortunately canceled due to Tommy Lee having pneumonia I heard. Hope he feels better soon. So now it starts with Rappahannock on Sunday. I am taking two horses and staying at Hunter's Rest, a horse B& B near Warrenton. Bull Run on Monday and Old Dominion on Tuesday. Can't wait. I will post a picture or two and a description of each hunt if I can.

wedding day

2011-10-11T07:57:00.000-04:00

It is here and it is a gorgeous day. All is done and there is a moment to enjoy and wait. My eldest son is getting married in three hours and embarking on his biggest and best adventure. I think the best part of weddings may be that I get to see my family. They have come from Edmonton and Los Angeles, even Hawaii! We cram so much catching up in a few days, I wish I lived closer to all of them ( kinda impossible) So I will now ENJOY today.

after wedding

2011-10-11T07:52:00.000-04:00

It was a wonderful, beautiful wedding. We are finally catching our breath after all the festivities and clean-up. It was a whirlwind and now I can relive it in all the photos. Sam and Stephanie shone like bright stars, beautiful and beaming. Family and love were themes that reached through the whole wedding, from the farm ceremony to the wonderful dinner setting and dancing to the wee hours.

Piedmont Hounds- Day 4

2011-10-01T07:24:00.000-04:00

Well, they saved the best for last. We had the most awesome run yesterday at Piedmont. We met at Atoka which is one of their best fixtures I was told and we ran and ran and jumped and saw the most beautiful scenery. The Piedmont is gorgeous. Everyone needs to hunt with this group once in their life. Once may be enough for some but it is an exhilarating experience. They have a lot of fox, hounds never seem to check for long. The last run of the day was miles of galloping through manicured farms and estates (seemed like golf course type manicuring). We ended up and Ben Zohar's estate, beautiful red fox ahead by 100 yards, all hounds on, stretched out with maybe 40 riders galloping in a row behind. Gregg Ryan said to me later, "looked like a National Geographic photo", I wished my friend Isabel had been there for that photo op. I did not get picked , seems ex-racehorses are not quite the type that wins but it was so much fun. Polly banged her knee on one big wall, it blew up, we lost a shoe and I still have a sh**-eating grin on my face. I guess you can tell I loved it. Now to focus on son's wedding plans . One more week! Can't wait to see my family too!

Day 2 at Casanova Hunt

2011-09-28T20:11:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-26T20:37:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-20T06:32:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-15T07:48:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-11T07:49:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-08T07:02:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-07T07:02:00.000-04:00

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

2011-09-01T06:43:00.001-04:00

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.

fall is coming

2011-08-31T06:45:00.000-04:00

Foxhunting preparation 101. I have oiled all my tack, dusted helmet off. I am cleaning my gun ( my 'rat' shot gun for whipping -in), recharging my radio, pulling out stock ties and deciding if I need to polish boots. I am getting there. The dew is very heavy in the mornings and the sun does not break my horizon until almost 7AM. I saw my first V of geese yesterday, truly early birds but honking and in formation already. That is the sound of fall- the geese calling overhead. The cicadas are still humming so it is a transition but I love these cool mornings. The blacksmith put borium on all my foxhunters yesterday and the horse dentist gave them all a 'float' checkup. Some were pretty bad but hopefully they are all set now too. So, another season begins. We are roading hounds tonight on horseback and I am back in the mood. This season is going to be wonderful. Actually every season is wonderful.

post Irene

2011-08-29T10:36:00.000-04:00

Monday morning is beautiful. Spent Sunday cleaning up after Mother Nature. Michael worked so hard, we were dead by afternoon. And why is it always cherry trees, that have to be picked up right away. Many, many trees down. I think a mini tornado went thru the bottom of back pasture during Irene's worst because 6 or 7 big trees were laid flat, all along my fence in a neat row! Moved all the horses in that field to the back. Will have to wait on weaning for a bit. I think it may be too big a job for our chainsaws, best if I could let it wait through winter and all the sap descends. Then it is much easier to cut up, but I need the field so we will see. The cherry tree, that I inadvertently poisoned, lost all its leaves, so does not look quite as sad anymore just into early fall! Now it is cool and a beautiful sunrise, feels like California. I was just there and remarked on how blue the sky was. Well it only took a hurricane to duplicate here. Gorgeous. Mother Nature sure is multi-faceted, but I like the sunny side best. May try to ride thru the back today and see the extend of tree damage in the woods!

feeling safer in LA!....

2011-08-24T15:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a trip. My plane was delayed 5 hours because of a lightning strike earlier ( had to change planes) and while waiting at BWI, we had a 5.9 earthquake in MD. I thought a plane had hit the terminal, Michael thought it was a terrorist attack, Will thought a very large hay truck was too close to the house . It was over as soon as everyone realized it as actually an earthquake. A woman from LA standing beside me in airport said," Crazy, I leave LA and find an earthquake in the East." Everyone's sentiment- crazy. And now I hear a hurricane is aimed for MD just when I am supposed to fly back this weekend. Too much. The funny thing was I sent my son down to check on farm manager, who was mowing back horse pasture during quake. He said he never noticed or felt a thing, tho he thought the field was bumpier than usual! I was afraid the big John Deere might have dumped him, but nope- not a thing!!! I wonder what it would have felt like if we had been riding?
I am now sitting in a Starbucks in Santa Monica, about to go to Rodeo Drive and window shopping with Sarah, like Pretty Women. It is beautiful and very Californian.

misty morning

2011-08-20T07:30:00.000-04:00

After fierce storms last night with lots of lightning and thunder, it is a cooler misty morning. The dew fog is low on the fields as the sun comes up. All the broodmares are quietly at the stream at the bottom of field, in twos, lazily scratching each other's withers. It is very peaceful, the hawk was by earlier and is now silent too. It is Sam's batchelor party tonight. He and Will bought all the stuff for a great BBG cookout and his friends are going to spend the night cooking and playing poker. Mike and I are decampng to another wedding and his fiance is wisely going to friends. All he has to remember is fed the dogs! Next week I am going out to LA to see Sarah. I miss my daughter and will be happy to spend a few days roaming Hollywood!! Stephanie gave me a beautiful locket with family photos, for my birthday: a picture of my parent's wedding, myself and my Dad hand-in-hand at the Calgary Stampede and my sisters and I as teenagers. She found one of my brother and I to add also. My first thought was to show it to my Mom and the second was to realize I could not. That brought a heart pain for a moment. So as I sometimes miss my mom, I am happy to go see my daughter and make sure we have lots of memories to share. Thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes. Facebook friends are wonderful and it is so nice to know others think of one.
Connections are everything.

August 16th

2011-08-16T06:32:00.000-04:00

It is a beautiful dawn after lots of rain the past couple of days. Everything smells wet, kinda moldy almost but after such record heat this summer I appreciate the cool. I am blessed to enjoy another birthday and to begin another year. A friend wished me a Happy BirthYear and I intend to take his advice and have a great year. Everyone is healthy, people and horses both. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, say a little prayer, thank you God. I love my life, my family, friends, animals; everyone enriches me and I cherish it all. I have another wedding to look forward to, when all my family will come to visit. I am going to do both the Field Hunter Championship and Virginia Hunt Week this year. This is about 15 hunts in about as many days. I can't wait. It is my birthday present to myself. The Virginia Hunt week only happens every two years and is an awesome two weeks of the baddest Virginia hunts. I decided to do it this year, just because I have 4 horses that can now and I am physically able to- doesn't always coincide so, taking Nike's advice I am just gonna Do It. I will regale you all with my adventures as they unfold in October. Love to all.

Football, foxhunting and.....

2011-08-12T07:23:00.000-04:00

Football is back! I love football, I love the sound of the announcer as I have a game on the TV that I am not really watching, just for background noise. It is comforting and a sound I associate with the coming fall and the start of foxhunting. When I hear football I know I have to get back in the saddle and start legging up, even if it is hot. I am so glad they solved their differences, if not, my whole rhythm would have been off, I would have been out of whack for weeks. Fall means football and foxhunting. I love cubbing and then having a Sunday football game to watch. The best kind of day! I watched the Eagles and Ravens last night, just checking out new players, gasping when one took a bad step or fall, hoping no injuries so early. It is a little like watching 2 yr old racing, testing the new talents and you hope everyone stays sound. Who will be the new superstar? Who will return? Who didn't make it? I am a diehard Redskins fan and even tho' I am not very excited about Beck or Grossman , I hope we do well. My Friday night date is in front of the TV tonight and I am happy. Sore from riding 4 lazy, fat foxhunters too.

Back from Saratoga

2011-08-11T07:34:00.001-04:00

Saratoga was fun. We peopled watched, saw the best looking yearlings in the country and hobnobbed with the rich and famous. It is one long two-day cocktail party, and that is if you only go for two days! We went over to racetrack in the morning and watched workouts. It is a truly lovely spot, having nice weather makes it even nicer. Long drive but a fun break from the normal routine. Don't know that it helps me pick stallions for next year as the ones represented are the same few, very top ones. I saw many Bernardini's, Malibu Moon's, Hard Spun, one Curlin, etc. The prices were definitely propped up by the Sheik, who bought all the Bernardini's, but it was still a good sale I believe.

misty morning

2011-08-04T06:49:00.000-04:00

It is a misty damp dawn. At 5:30 AM there were a couple of little bats flying around. Catching mosquitos I hope. Fog is slowly lifting and I can see the mare and foal at bottom of field. We have had enough rain this summer to keep the fields green, they look great actually. Now the crepe myrtles are really blooming. I love these trees, a sign of August. They always remind me of going to the beach because we always went the first week of August! The roads south through Virginia towards Nags Head are lined with huge magenta tipped crepe myrtles. Fruit stands, football practice camps, fireflies, all F's that mean August. Has anyone else noticed that the flies are not very bad this year. Lots of horseflies but not so many regular flies. Strange. I have wondered if the extreme heat did them in, wouldn't that be nice. Maybe killed the stink bugs too, fingers crossed. We do not do the beach trip any more 'cause little kids are all big with own families and all over country. Will is going to visit girlfriend in Chicago again, and Sarah is in LA. Speaking of LA , I get to visit. Can't wait . So, now instead of beach, August means Saratoga!! Going to make it after all. Love those high priced horses and hobnobbing with the uber -rich. The best cocktail party in the East.

Mom would have been 87 today...

2011-08-01T06:32:00.001-04:00

August 1st. Mom would have been 87 today. Ian would have had his 62nd birthday on July 1st and the baby of the family, Patti, has a birthday on September 1st. I always liked the symmetry of these summer birthdays. Every month began with a party! Well I hope Mom, Ian and Dad are having a scotch and a beer to celebrate together. They are missed by their three girls. It is a cloudless, beautiful day to begin August. I hope it is not as hot as July though. I am ready for the early part of Fall and another wedding. August always seemed to go by fast. Years ago it was getting school clothes, now it is getting horses ready for hunting . Yay!! I do feel the urge coming back. I am so ready to stop riding by April and closing hunt, but August rolls around and I am ready to get back in action. Happy Birthday Mom.

end of july

2011-07-31T06:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful fiery sunrise. Today the sky is simply open, pale blue and cloudless. It's not too hot right now but that could change, tho weatherman says this coming week is mid 90'straight across the board. I fear the stream may dry up, it is very low. I did drop hoses last month and fill a trough . It is funny to watch the horses go into stream and paw and paw like they are digging to China. I believe it is an instinct to rid a watering hole of snakes, but I swear some are just playing, They are like little motor boats, churning away. Then they try it in the trough and just make a muddy mess that I have to dump. Then I am not amused anymore! We are going to go skeet shooting today, Mike and I. This should be fun. We have worked together the last couple of days painting. The inside of the house was needing some TLC and weddings are the best reason to spruce up, so we decided to spackle, tape, prep, cut-in and roll paint, roll! It looks wonderful now, a lovely sandy warm beige, called Renoir Bisque. I do believe Renoir himself would like it!. Now we are going to decompress and go shoot things. Not each other.

little cooler

2011-07-27T05:56:00.000-04:00

The last two days have been a little less humid and cooler. It took the heat of last week for me to say 90 degrees is cooler! It is actually pleasant to sit out this morning, there is a sliver of moon in the dawning sky and lots of birdcalls. I think even the birds were depressed in that heat. My filly at the track has "bucked shins", so training is taken down a notch and we wait. Wait for bone to fill in and smooth again. She probably won't run until Laurel in fall. Oh well, that's racing. I am not going to go to Saratoga this year for the sales. Carol has some lawyer agendas that cannot be changed and we are both sad about it. The Saratoga sales has become an annual rite of passage. We get to watch the fancy yearlings and spend time together planning the next breeding year. We have less money than ideas and plan, but we still dream big. I decided to hop out and visit Sarah at that time. I miss my daughter a lot and it will be really great to see her for a couple of days. Short and very sweet. I hope Kevin can deal with "mother-in-law" for a visit! Can't wait. Sam and Steph are gearing up for their wedding and I am getting excited about it too. The hydrangeas that I planted actually bloomed and filled in, the little wedding grove will look beautiful.

inspiration comes from the strangest places....

2011-07-23T06:55:00.000-04:00

"It is easier to kill at night I have found, although my instincts and energy are at their lowest, emotionally it is more detached. As I pass through these lives, detachment has become my friend. A century ago there were more people around at night, parties continued into wee hours, not only for the very young lusty hormone -driven pre-adults, but for the jaded sophisticates looking for a jump start. They were my crowd, always have been, and certainly the easiest to drift in and out of over the centuries. They live for the rise and fall of each other's fortunes, never really caring, almost happy at another's misdeeds or folly. So, to be in their lives for a decade or two and then vanish was simple, unremarkable, and how I have managed to continue."
The sky was "bluer" this morning. Still hot, the sun is up and cooking. This will be the third day in a row of record-breaking temperatures. The horses just stand and sweat, even in the trees at the bottom of the hill. There is the tiniest of breezes and they seem OK. I check a couple times during day and feel bad for them , but it is cooler out of the barn at 100 degrees! The stream is still running , so I leave them out. The above "story" is how I might start my tale of a day-walking centuries old vampire. Look for installments. My crazy hawk was at the door this morning. Swooped past as I walked out to patio, and has been crying at treetop ever since. There is a strange connection here, I feel bad for him if the rest of his family has departed. He seems lost, calling and staying close to the house. I see him all day in various parts of the farm, 'tho he only cries at the dawning of day. Remember "Ladyhawke" - perhaps this lonely bird is inspiring my story. Getting hot, I am off to chores, Stay cool.

second sauna soaker

2011-07-22T06:37:00.002-04:00

This heat is sultry, exotic. It feels like another place, a more intriguing, tropical, menacing place. Anyone remember "A year of Living Dangerously", with Siguorney Weaver and a sexy, sane Mel Gibson, it is that kind of hotness ! And the cicadas are really loud this morning, the lone hawk is crying and crashing in the trees. I could really get into describing a scene from my tormented day-walking vampire story set in a smoldering Southern Maryland! Let the tension build along with the temperature , as the lonely vamp, Wicked, sweats and soaks in the humid, hot dawn. What do you think? ...
The sky is completely cloudless this morning, almost colorless, with the barest hint of pink edging the treetops. The crazy hawk is still calling for mom, actually its cry somehow personifies the angst I think the female vampire would feel, when her kind descends into dark sleep at dawn, and she is alone in her world, to face the sunlight, every morning. I can feel the quickening as the glow rises on the horizon. It is simply a stronger pulse throughout my body as I "wake-up". This warmth also reminds me of the heated blankets that you are put into before surgery. Before you are "put under" with anaesthesia, they lay you into these soft blankets, with pumped hot air and the last thoughts I have always had was "Oh this feels good", as all your muscles relax in the warmth. My muscles are very relaxed in this humidity, there is no other way to walk through the day. Languid, that's the word. This heat is languid; if I don't want to complain, I need to relax and enjoy the differentness of this. Remember the freezing January cold and I can deal with the heat!
So, as I muck stalls and feed hot horses, I will see myself as Siguorney, in a sexy tank top and short, shorts, flirting with Mel Gibson as the living gets dangerous. But I need another cup of coffee first.

sauna morning

2011-07-21T06:35:00.000-04:00

It is 6Am, sun has not quite made the horizon and I am sitting in the world's biggest sauna. The new patio doors were completely steamed over this morning and when I stepped outside it was really remarkable how hot and humid it was BEFORE daybreak! The cicada thrumming is very loud, they must love this heat although the birds seem subdued. I love their company in the dawn as we sit to witness the break of day. They are very quietly, just perched way at the tops of the dead branches, all facing the sun just like me. We are the dawn witness brigade! I am a true Leo, as the sun breaks cover I can feel the blood quicken ever so slightly and my energy level rises like liquid in a test tube. At night my eyes close as the sun goes down. My husband thinks I am part vampire, can't stand garlic, I like to bite, and Lestat is my true hero, but the big problem with this is I am dead to the world in the darkest part of night. I must be a daywalker vampire!!- could be a whole new series. Sun-worshipping blood suckers. The sun has just crested looking like a beautiful red hot disc, very worthy of worship, I think. I could be a tormented female vampire, condemned to live in daylight when the rest of my species is "dead", looking for a soul mate but only connecting with horses!!!! This would have a target audience of horse crazy "Twilight" fans- might be a small fan base. Hmmm, I think I better get going on chores as it is starting to "look" wickedly hot. That could be a good name for my character- Wicked- knew a horse by that name once, seemed a little crazy!

Mid-summer morn

2011-07-18T07:20:00.000-04:00

It is mid -summer and going to be very hot this week. The cicadas are humming already and the heat is filling up all the space. I should be doing stalls already but am slow to get moving. Stung by something a couple of days ago , took a Benadryl last night , hoping the swelling in arm would diminish but all that diminished was my ability to bounce out of bed and start. I wanted to sleep in this morning which is very rare for me but must be the drug! Kentucky was also hot. I felt very sorry for those consigners and yearlings. They were very mannered or dog-tired from days of walking and showing. Very good -looking, but the sales have still not really rebounded. Maybe they never will. We bought a breeding right to Paddy O'Prado who was gorgeous and we hope becomes a stellar stud!! The only way to make money now is with the "right" horse and black-type mares. My two-year old bucked her shins and is going easy for awhile. Hopefully will start at Laurel this fall. The one great thing this summer and I probably shouldn't say it, is that we have had enough rain to keep the grass green thus far. The horses are fat and lazy and I am just starting to think about legging up for cubbing. Which I will just keep thinking about until next month!! Wedding plans are gearing up for Sam and Stephanie. Sam likes his new job, Steph is making awesome jewelry, Will is researching investments and juggling 2 homes and a girlfriend in Chicago. I skyped with Sarah last night and marvelled at the technology that lets us do that. I actually remember musing about a hand held device that would let you see the person you were talking to many years ago when the first cumbersome mobile phones came out. Remember those big boxy phones that we thought were so cool. I still want my Star Trek communicator tho'.

summertime, summertime

2011-07-08T06:21:00.000-04:00

The dawn is very pretty in pink this morning. However, I was actually hoping for a grey dawn today because I want rain, buckets of it. The pastures are getting all crunchy again, the clover is drying up, turning brown and the horses are eating it all down too far. The little stream, barely a trickle now anyway, may dry up which means I have to drop hoses from forever down to the broodmares. I am going to Kentucky to the Select Thoroughbred sale on Monday and had hoped for coolness and rain. Fat chance. We go down to look at the hot young sires ( I know that sounds remarkably obscene for two 50 yr olds) but before the next breeding season it is fun and educational to see what is selling well, what the offspring of Big Brown and Into Mischief look like. These are the big boys and the very expensive yearlings, but it is fun to hobnob with the rich and famous. As much as the horses and sires change fashion, so do the players in the horse racing world. There is the very old money, quiet and understated and there is always the monied nouveau riche who pay way too much for a horse someone else tells them is going to be the next Secretariat. There are the ones who dislike each other and pay into ridiculous seven figures, solely so the other one doesn't get that horse! The auctioneers really like them! Anyway I was hoping to leave horses out but when the humidity and temperature get too high they really want to come into the barn and under the fans. Hard on the help!
I went skeet shooting yesterday, actually trap shooting as it was only one clay, and it was a blast! I found out I can shoot just as well with both eyes open. Apparently most people close one eye, usually the left one, but it didn't matter as I believe I shut both eyes every time I pulled the trigger!. Couldn't bear to watch the clay die! Reaction I suppose to the sound. The very charming instructor said I hit almost every target but suggested I try to keep my eyes open. Afterwards I bought a very sexy Beretta shooting vest to match my girlfriend's, blue with pink trim. Isn't that hysterical, we want to look good to shoot those little orange beasts! Now, I am pretty in pink and I have a shotgun . A lethal combination.

Happy Independence Day America!

2011-07-04T10:21:00.000-04:00

Happy July 4th . We won our independence 235 years ago and have continued to champion the right to freedoms of all sorts. We represent Freedom and Liberty and Equality to the whole world. Thanks to the military and the people who fight still for our freedoms. We are grateful and never take our privileges for granted. Never will. Thank you America !!!

Happy Canada Day

2011-07-01T08:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day to my northern family. 144 years young!

cooler today

2011-06-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

It is halfway through the year. The older I get it never ceases to amaze me how fast the time seems to go by. Summers were endless as a kid, you finally looked forward to school starting. Now, as July 1st approaches, I think, "It is almost September, that means Thanksgiving and Christmas are around the corner!! and I have a wedding in there too...". But this morning I will enjoy this cooler day. I thought I was going to melt yesterday, it was sooo humid. The horses were waiting at the gate by 6AM to come in. Today is supposed to be less humid, so I am trying to leave yearling fillies and some mares out so I have fewer stalls. The show is over, they can just go be horses for awhile. I may even ride today it is so nice. It is Michael's birthday today and we are going to Cheesecake Factory with his mom. I brought a big cake home last night and we started already to enjoy his birthday- nothing like chocolate cake and ice cream before bed!

post yearling show

2011-06-27T06:32:00.000-04:00

The yearling show was yesterday, long day. A friend brought her groom who saved my life, my feet anyway. He was kind enough to walk ll three yearlings and as this judge was a slow one, it would have killed me to be standing in the sun with rank babies. Thank you Alex, thank you. We made the first cut with two of the yearlings but this year my entries were not the judges' "type". He was looking for perfect "sales" yearlings and bumpy knees and on the small side kept me out of the ribbons. Oh well, it makes me realize how lucky I was the year I won the championship with Chessie. It is a big accomplishment to win and losing makes you cherish the win even more. It is always interesting to see which new sires have the winners. Corinthian was the sire of this year's champion. Scipion and Cherokee's Boy had good looking individuals as did Latent Heat. It helps in future breeding decisions to really spend the day looking at the next generation's yearlings. But there are fewer and fewer Maryland sires worth looking at. Sad for the future I am afraid. This morning has dawned grey and overcast which I am thankful for, as I have a whole barn to clean and sort out this morning as nothing got done yesterday. The horses can all stay out for a while! Now I can look forward to next project , which will hopefully be completing the Hunt Club calendar and book about our 75th anniversary.

Summer solstice

2011-06-21T15:39:00.000-04:00

This picture is a sunset several nights ago, so beautiful. Appropriate for today, I thought, because it is summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Maybe will do a movie with a friend, though I might prefer martinis with the hubby and stay out on patio to watch a sun set about 9:30??? or so. Might just finally make the s'mores that are in the cupboard. I am very busy working the yearlings for the MD yearling show this Sunday. I won it a couple of years ago and it was very gratifying to actually get a ribbon! for all the hard work. It is lonely, unacknowledged work with babies most of the time. You sell them as yearlings and hope they go on to race well, but nobody really notices the long hours put into mare and foal care. A client of mine was asked why he had bought racehorses and broodmares and he told me he answered that he loved watching them in the field and it was a stress- reliever. I think that is true for all of us. We love them and love watching them. I know I love the unspoken communication and I take it for granted most of the time because it is what I do. It is only when I am around other people who do not speak "horse" that I realize it is a language made of of inflection and postures and the tilt of an ear or the glance of a warm, liquid eye. It is "spoken" by the wrinkle of a soft nose or the warm breath snorted gently at my face. I love to watch the boss mare warn the newcomer of the rules or the bitchy mare just be bitchy because.... I have seen foals play "hide and seek" with each other and I currently have a yearling that loves his soccer ball! He kicks it, throws it and just plain enjoys it. But it is time to feed this afternoon, so, I hope you all enjoy this long evening!

a Maryland Nantucket morning

2011-06-15T06:34:00.000-04:00

It is the most perfect morning. I would call this a Nantucket morning, cool and clear and brilliant- just missing the water ( in my backyard anyway). This is the weather that generations ago, everyone went north for, to Nantucket and Maine, to escape the humidity and heat of DC and the South. From DC and Baltimore they went to Campobello Island (FDR) and the breezes of Nantucket. Farther south they left the rice plantations of the SC and Georgia coasts and went to the mountains, the Smoky Mountains and the Appalachian coolness. The magnificent estates like Biltmore and Greenbrier were all built by a generation with no air conditioning. I wonder if the summer economies have slowly dwindle in these retreats as a younger generation with cold blasting in their homes all summer looked for other pleasures, not simply to escape heat. I have never gone to Nantucket because I wanted warmer ocean waters to play in. I went to Nag's Head. But I have friends, who grew up going to the northern beaches because they did as children. These friends had wealthier parents than mine. It is just interesting that they (or we) continue the pattern set as children and take our kids to the same summer places. Nobody swims in Maine or Nantucket, the water is freezing but you do eat great lobsters. Swimming off NC is one of the best memories I have and I can close my eyes sitting in my backyard and relax for a bit replaying those walks on the beach. So, today, this is a morning for my Nantucket friends to relax, have a cup of coffee and smell that salt air with a preppy sweater thrown around your shoulders as you sit and enjoy New England memories.

beautiful sunrise

2011-06-10T11:36:00.000-04:00

The sunrise was gorgeous this morning. My final snapshot almost looks like molten pools of lava in the sky, as though standing on the rim of a volcano looking down into the heart of fire. I love the dawn. It is a moment of meditation when everything seems to pause to watch the sunball break the horizon. The birds sing, the dogs sit and watch with me, and the world seems alright again. I think it is that it rises everyday at the exact moment it is expected. How strange would it be to be waiting for the sunrise and have it not appear!!. That must have been the hysteria that came with an eclipse, the fear of what that could portend for the world. Anyway . all is right. The sun came up and lit up the world.
On a somber note, a friend told me of an English friend who was arrested 6 months ago off the horn of Africa and since then has been detained for possible "spying" in Eritrea. Diplomatic help has been very slow and she is distraught for her friend. Send a prayer for their release.

June hot

2011-06-09T06:36:00.003-04:00

The fireball has topped the trees and it is going to be a hot one. Was supposed to replace patio doors today, all three large glass ones, but I postponed it when I realized it was going to be a record breaking hot day. Did not want to try to air-condition the whole back yard! Hopefully it is cooler next week. Going to do stalls and only work one yearling today. Polly has an abscess and it out for awhile, so horses can chill too. Mares try to stay cool down by stream, under the trees but they are still dripping with sweat by mid afternoon. Tho' it is still cooler out with little breeze than all in barn. I am glad that I don't have babies this year, it is so hard to keep babies with furry coats cool in these temperatures. Thankfully next year they should all be foaled by late April. When the blacksmith was paring Polly's hoof , looking for cause of lameness, we were both peering down and I said , " It's so nice when something just pops and the pus comes right out, then you at least know what it was!" No sooner had I said it that his knife released a stream of black, tarry, yucky something. Not exactly what I was mentioning when I said pus but at least it is probably the cause of her lameness. It looks really old and gross so, hopefully, soaking and drawing with icthyamol and wrapping will do the job. She is still off but not as bad so fingers crossed.

Chessie's trail rides

2011-06-05T07:04:00.000-04:00

The sky is ominously grey at the moment, 6:45 AM, but I am about to go get Chessie and trail ride. I actually love this weather, reminiscent of a stormy beach morning when the ocean is quietly roiling. Silver on top but you just know it would be a bad idea to go swimming. I hope it does not actually storm on our ride. Chessie is the mare who was very sick last year. She is the most laid-back, laziest horse, let alone TB that I have ever had. Trail riding is the only way to get her to go. Her normal speed, alone, at home, is walk -slowly. She has a lovely canter but she seems to only want to do it with others horses around to see. Reminds me of a prima donna . She will only perform when there is an audience or she is like a dog that thinks "fetch " is only for stupid owners. "You threw it, you go get it!", is written all over her face. When doing the hunter paces this spring Chessie was smart enough to figure out very quickly that there is no reason in the world to jump a free standing coop, log, whatever. If the jump was in the middle of a field with no wings or fence line she went around. If it was a jump in a tree line, fence , any sort of perimeter she was happy to jump 4 ft . This is one smart horse.
Have to mention something funny that happened yesterday. I like to get a little sunbathing done once in awhile, just to get some color on these pale legs. I only lie outside when I am home alone, it is 80 degrees, not 95, and it is about noon. I take a little siesta on the lounger behind the house, looking at the back field. Yesterday I opened my eyes after resting quietly for about 20 min. I was probably pretty motionless but was still horrified to open my eyes, squint at the sun and watch 5 or 6 vultures circling high above me. I knew I was white but was shocked to think I looked dead! I looked around for a dead animal but didn't see anything. Maybe it wasn't me they were checking out but I have a bad feeling it was - creepy. I need more suntan or I need to quit altogether! Only on a horse farm do the vultures check out anything white, lying still.

memorials

2011-06-01T06:24:00.000-04:00

We went to see Rolling Thunder this Memorial Day Sunday in DC. I have driven passed them many times on my way to the hound show at Morven Park, which always falls on the same Sunday. But this year we went with son Will and girlfriend, Annie, into DC and those bikes just kept coming - for three hours they rolled around the Capital. It was pretty incredible. After 1 hr of a picnic on the Mall and watching curbside where it was patriotic and moving, we wandered into a Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show's photographic history in the International Museum. After reading "Empire of the Summer Moon" it was very interesting to see these old prints of Sioux Indians in full dress- albeit in Buffalo Bill's show- but they are a very noble looking people. We came out and the motorcycles were still rumbling around. I couldn't believe there were so many! I had a momentary vision of being circled by thousands of Indians on horseback if it had been 150 years earlier.
It has gotten so hot so fast. I only have energy to work the yearlings early before retreating to the air conditioning. Yesterday I watched the Oprah Winfrey finale that I had missed while in Charleston and was surprised at how very moving a tribute it was. Maybe I was just tired but I found myself in tears, choked up many times by the 'thank you's' she was receiving from the thousands of people she has inspired. Especially moving as the Morehead University's tribute from 400 young black men who received her scholarship and their words about that life -changing experience. It was truly awe inspiring that, as she put it , "a lonely little black girl, from backwoods Mississippi, has changed the lives of so many people", and that her example has forever changed the expectations of a generation of women. Beyonce's song about women ruling the world seems prophetic- I bet we do have a woman president before long! A very fitting memorial to Oprah and I didn't even watch her very much!

mini vacation

2011-05-27T06:37:00.000-04:00

Michael and I had a couple of lovely days and a break from routine in Charleston, SC. Wandered South of Broad! and enjoyed southern food, charm and a slower pace of life. We ate, walked, talked, ate some more, drank, took afternoon naps and didn't do much! Very nice. This is a picture of the two hundred and fifty year old live oaks at the Boone Plantation. That is where they filmed the series North and South. Very beautiful, old and looks like Gone with the Wind. Another house we visited in Charleston was the Calhoun Mansion. I do not think I have ever seen a house with more stuff inside- fabulous wood interiors and trim etc, more antiques and collectibles than I would have thought was possible to acquire in one lifetime and the owner is still collecting! Went to the beach one day and biked around the Citadel another. Now, we are back to routine and it is finally hot. Be careful what you ask for, I guess. I need to get stalls done before 8AM and work yearlings before 9:30 or it is really yucky. It is Memorial Day weekend and I am glad oldest son and fiance moved wedding to October. Youngest son and his girlfriend are here for a visit. Very fun to have a full house. Thanks to all the veterans and have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

Shackleford wins the Preakness

2011-05-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

Shackleford ran an awesome race. The only horse I bet on all day. I saw him Thursday when I went to see my two-year old train and I watched him gallop all around that way. He was wayyy cool! Big, strong with huge gallop. I knew he was going to win today and a $10.00 to win wager made me $137.00 bucks. I am not a big bettor, you can tell , but it was very exciting to see him fight down the stretch. The day was great, sunny and everyone was having a good time.

winner's circle

2011-05-20T19:44:00.000-04:00

This may be as close to the winner's circle as we get on Black Eyed Susan Day, at least this year! It was a gorgeous day and I must admit, Pimlico looks pretty good in pink- it is a very flattering color, even for ole Hilltop! Everyone was out in their finery and the lady jockey legends did a good job. Carol and I were both galloping horses when Jennifer Rowland was racing( before she added Small to her name) and we looked at each other, shaking our heads, saying," No way , could we ride a 6 furlongs race. Even to try we would be riding l-o-n-g. Jennifer was out there, stirrups jacked and finished really well. Impressive! Wasn't on the best horse but finished strongly, tho' few of them looked a little wobbly. Royal Delta won the Black Eyed Susan, looking magnificent, running the fractions as fast as the sprint one race before. She is by Empire Maker, out of an A.P.Indy mare - that is horse royalty for those who don't know, and she did the royals proud. Beat Todd Pletcher's horse, who was also pretty nice. We watched the media have a camera trained on him the whole 1/2 hour before the stakes race. Literally, they ( the cameramen) were crouched one row behind us, one row in front of Pletcher, with the camera 12 inches from his face. He seemed nonplussed, ignored them and keeps a private look on his face- but what if you have to scratch your nose or something? I had a wonderful phone call as I arrived at Pimlico this morning. My trainer announced my little two year old got her gate card and worked her first breeze- 3/8th in .37 sec. This is very respectable, even if Pimlico is very fast track right now. I am happy and there is no camera watching me smile!

Black Eyed Susan Day

2011-05-20T07:11:00.000-04:00

I am off to Pimlico racetrack for the next two days. These are Maryland's biggest racing days and the festivities are really fun. Yesterday, Carol and I went to the Alibi breakfast to hobnob with the racing elite. Had breakfast with Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas (sort off) and listened for some racing tips! Then we walked over to the stakes barn and oohed and aahed over the Budweiser giants. Takes a lot of horse to impress these jaded horsewomen, and we were impressed. They are huge, just imaging one of those hooves coming down on a foot makes me cringe. But they are kindest horses, standing quietly for all those pets. Thoroughbreds would be biting all those hands after about 10 minutes. The team manager told us they can get the whole 8 horse team, fully harnessed and ready to pull in 20 minutes!! Can you imagine getting 8 Thoroughbreds to stand in two rows, head to tail, side by side, while 4 guys rushed about tacking you up with all this jangly, shiny harness. We might find those racehorses in the next county at the end of the day!! He also said it cost that beer company about $1,400,000 each horse, yearly, to showcase the team around the country. Yikes. That's a lot of beer. The mare we bred 5 years ago, Baltimore Belle, now 4, is running tomorrow in the 4th race on Preakness Day. She is up against very elite company. Remember Life At Ten, the Breeder's Cup runner who was distressed in post parade and ran badly ( she "tied up"). She will break out of the gate beside Belle! But it is fun to have a horse in, on Preakness Day and we hope she runs big! I come home at night and look at the yearlings in the paddocks and go , "One day...."

anniversaries...

2011-05-18T10:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Anniversary to my husband. Four years ago we were looking at Mt. Etna and marveling at old Roman ruined amphitheaters, eating granita in the little villages above Pompeii. This was the beginning of our Mediterranean honeymoon and it was a wonderful vacation. I hope we can have many more such adventures. The day to day grind doesn't really help foster or support the intimacy of marriage. But after days of just hanging out together on vacation, experiencing the same funny little moments and just talking we seem to regain the closeness and friendship that is the cement of our lives. Just have to find the time and priority to always make them happen. Two years ago it was an Alaskan adventure. Right now some family weddings are the adventures and they have been and will be magnificent. The expanding of family that happens with weddings is very enriching and I am enjoying immensely getting to know husbands, fiances and girlfriends. I am proud of my kids and love watching the love unfold in their lives.

after the rain

2011-05-15T07:50:00.002-04:00

It rained buckets and buckets yesterday and this morning it is beautifully green and damp. The rail fencing is dark chocolate brown against the kelly green pastures. Lush. That is the word for this carpet this morning. Enough rain to soak the seed and really drench the new grass. The mist is rising to the treetops, the blue sky is now visible high above and the birds are welcoming me. Yesterday was my daughter's 24th birthday and I miss her. I think it may be the first birthday that there was no effort on my end to bring her home or go out to LA. She is grown and married and I guess subconsciously I knew she now belongs in LA with her new traditions and birthdays. Kinda sad for me. Tomorrow is my youngest son's 21st birthday. He is also far afield, visiting his lady love in Colorado. Though he will return tonight to celebrate briefly with us for a dinner. I was going through old photographs yesterday and sorting when I realized, while holding a tourist memento of the twin World Trade Towers, that 10 years ago we had taken this same son to New York City for his 11th birthday. We have a picture of Mom, Dad and son on top of one of the Towers where you had a panoramic view of Manhattan. We still have the ticket stubs- May 16th, 2001. So strange to think it is gone.
The horses are moving slowly up towards the barn, walking with their heads buried in wet grass but being pulled towards their morning feed and the lure of fresh sawdust to sleep in after a rainy night. It is so peaceful. Life goes on, no matter what. Even Bin Laden's death was but a blip in the rhythm.

my favorite time of day

2011-05-10T06:17:00.000-04:00

It is dawn and the morning promises another beautiful day. The pale blue washes the sky above the softest gold, the few clouds are lit from beneath by the same gold. I absolutely love this time of day. I sit, drink my coffee and, I suppose it is a form of meditation, I am just quiet, watching this moment of promise. Today I had a strange thought, as I listened to the few early birds, and watched the edge of the woods on the far side of the pasture, change from very dark to a shadowed green. I have just finished reading a wonderful and powerful, historical book about the Comanches, called, "Quanah Parker, Empire of the Summer Moon". At times graphically difficult to read, because of their cruel customs, it chronicles the rise and demise of the Comanche nation as the white settlers pushed into the Great Plains. What flashed into my mind this morning as I watched the edge of the wood was that 150 years ago, I might have been sitting quietly, sipping coffee watching the dawn and hoping no Indians showed up to kill me! All I worry about is the deer flies and how slow my internet connection is at times. I watch the tree line hoping to see a fox or deer and my counterpart wife/ mother of the 1850's may have woken and watched her husband or son leave to work in fields or whatever and then never see them again. It was a brutally hard life on the frontier ( not that this is the frontier, just the image of the field and woods) but I can only image the thoughts that would go through "her" mind as the same kind of morning dawned on a similar beautiful May morning. The book was fascinating and I recommend it to anyone who loves a glimpse into another lifetime.

Kentucky Derby party

2011-05-08T03:19:00.000-04:00

Animal Kingdom ran a great race, won the 137th Derby and it was not his fault that I had never heard of him! It was definitely a wide open Derby and my friend who came to our annual Derby party at the last minute, was the lucky soul to win the "calcutta" and go home with more money than he came with!!. Now that's a good party he must be saying. Animal Kingdom has a connection to the Mid-Atlantic, he is Graham Motion's horse and Graham is a great fellow and trainer. So hats off to the Motion team. Speaking of hats, mine was a big hit at my own party. Almost like the royals at a wedding! And I am now up at 3AM writing my blog because I had perhaps one too many Cosmopolitans. The martinis and cosmos were such a big hit we were running out of the fixings and the end of the party, we realized all the white wine was still in the fridge! No wonder everyone was loving the martinis and cosmos! My pick to win the race, Soldat, came in 6th. The English invader, Master of Hounds ran 5th and because of our calcutta ( the only reason) I know that Comma to the Top ran last- takes 10% of our "pool". We had the best time and I love a good occasion to wear a hat.

beautiful morning

2011-05-06T11:18:00.000-04:00

Went to Pimlico yesterday and watched my two year old filly train. She is going very well, I was impressed. My young Irish trainer has done a great job with her and let's hope her nasty streak translates into a competitive race mare. He says she eats well and has done every thing asked of her, so I hope I can have some fun with her - maybe race by late summer? The fields are finally looking very lush after an expensive re-do with herbicide, seed and fertilizer. Had not been in the budget plans but oh well, they are now looking great. The yearling colt is blooming and the hunters are very lazily enjoying their summer off. The mare that tried to die last year is looking fantastic and jumping three foot. She has done all the hunter paces and is the most natural, effortless jumper I have ever had. She is truly a miracle horse, I never would have believed she could make such a recovery if I had not been a witness. Life is good today and I am looking forward to Kentucky Derby.

very sad day

2011-05-04T17:14:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine buried his son today. This young man was the same age as my oldest, in fact we car-pooled for a while in middle school years. I cannot imagine how difficult and sad a day this is for him and the family. We love our children unconditionally and yet there are times when love is not enough. This son had his own demons and addictions that in the end took him away from all the people that loved him. And left them with guilt and sorrow and questions. It is so sad. The only comfort I could offer is that he is no longer fighting a demon that lies and steals your soul and, that now, he is at peace and hopefully with his grandpa. The family pictures showed a young man, smiling, teasing, serving his country in the armed forces, handsome and laughing. This is the memory that I have and I hope that is the one that his parents have to comfort them. We have all known each other for so long and we truly hurt and ache when tragedy happens to any of us. I came home wanting to hug my own son. But he was busy and rushing off to work, didn't want to hug Mom. Oh well, we love unconditionally and hope and pray our children are safe. I called the other ones and listened to busy lives and felt connected.

Infinite justice

2011-05-02T07:23:00.000-04:00

What a coup for the US intelligence world! Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world was captured and killed last night. It had been in the works for months and according to Mike, was the result of diligent, meticulous analysis and years of never quitting the search. While we all wondered if Bin Laden would ever be caught, the intelligence world had never stopped tracking him down and for months had been closing in on the compound in Pakistan. We cracked open a bottle of Dom Perignon and listening to a song that Mike had promised Special Forces he would play on this day, we drank a toast to those Delta Forces and the Navy Seals and all the ones who helped find him. It is a day that was a long time coming, and I am sure the families of the victims of 9-11 have breathed a sigh of justice and closure. Congratulations and thank you. God Bless America.

beautiful sky

2011-04-30T07:06:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-27T07:23:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2011-04-24T07:32:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-23T07:38:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-20T06:35:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-18T08:03:00.000-04:00

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?

2011-04-15T11:28:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-12T06:51:00.000-04:00

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

2011-04-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

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 !!!

2011-04-04T10:41:00.000-04:00

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

wedding day minus 3

2011-03-30T07:27:00.000-04:00

I am squeezing in one last day to go hunting , hopefully, with Howard County. And then it is off to California for Sarah's wedding!!! I am so excited, find myself waking up every few hours during the night and going over all the details in my mind. In hindsight I wish I had gone out sooner because it will all go by so fast. Sarah has been up and down with equal joy, excitement and anxiety, the full gamut of pre-wedding emotions! One reason I am going to try to go hunting is my own excitement . I keep buying clothes to go out to wedding. Hunting will be cheaper than staying home, I really just want to be in LA with my daughter!! Can't believe my little girl is all grown up.

end of season

2011-03-28T07:19:00.000-04:00

Closing hunt was a day of contrasts. Started with a blanket of snow thrown over the grass and forsythia blooms and ended with a warm sunny afternoon that was a perfect end to season. We had an early run but it seemed to be a tough scenting day as the hounds were hard pressed to really lock on to a line. Huntsman moved through country very fast and eventually all members were happy to wrap up about 1PM to get ready for Closing Breakfast. It is always bittersweet to hunt the last day. I enjoy seeing everyone for Paula's delicious breakfast - I wait all year for that bread pudding!- but I am ready to stop for awhile and have fun at hunter paces. This year, especially, I am ready for a wedding!! Leaving soon for LA and Sarah's wedding. Then I will start working on the 75th MHC Anniversary book, hoping to hear some fun stories from bygone days.

March snow coming!

2011-03-25T07:08:00.000-04:00

Cherry blossom festival and snow! I believe this has happened before but I was so ready for spring warmth. I am going to be laughing on Sunday afternoon as members sit down to our closing Breakfast that will be decorated with Easter and spring in mind. Pansies, daffodils, Easter candies, white and yellow accents- all to a backdrop of late spring snow and freezing cold!!! Oh well, the tables will look warm. I am trying to squeeze in 3 last days of hunting in a row, starting today. And I hope there are no more late night phone calls from kids with challenging concerns. This is my last hunting hurrah, tho' the hunter paces are coming up. We had a terrific run on Wednesday with the best running fox of the season. He just kept going and going, thankfully kept looping back into country. If he had been a "visitor" and left country we would've been in a bad way because the local road crew had taken out our bridge access to another territory. The other whip and I and huntsman all said a silent thank you that this lovely big red kept turning left!! He took us on two huge circles and after several hours we were all dog tired!

Spring springs eternal

2011-03-24T08:24:00.000-04:00

Even tho' it is cold and rainy this morning, I smile when I see the blossoms on the Thundercloud plum trees and the weeping cherries. The black wet branches end in the prettiest softest pink- they all look like Japanese wood cuts or prints. Set against a cold grey sky, it is the perfect counterpoint to showcase the Spring and rebirth of beauty. You can smell the earth and the warm scent of spring even while bundled up. The earthworms are all out wiggling in the puddles from last nights storms. They better go back down because those puddles may freeze tonight. We leave in a week for LA and Sarah's wedding. I am so excited and hopeful for a lovely weekend affair. Will said his house damages may be more reasonable than the first figure of $50,000!!!! I am still speechless about that one. Sam is working hard on his college work and math degree, then job hunting, then another wedding!! In my horse breeding world two mares have been bred, two to go. That also springs eternal. I sent two to Kentucky, one to Maryland and we think the fourth is going to New York. My partner is sending most to Kentucky. I hope Maryland racing sorts itself out, what a loss if the land and legacy of famous race horses leaves Maryland forever. I miss the babies this year, tho' I am definitely not missing the foal watch nights!

wedding showers and spring showers, both bringing flowers!

2011-03-22T07:04:00.000-04:00

Busy, busy, busy. My son and his lovely fiance Stephanie had their engagement party/shower this weekend. It was really fun to meet everyone and it really is a great way for the families to meet before the actual wedding. It is now a fall wedding, October, which is going to be beautiful. Sarah's wedding is next weekend !!!! We are already to fly to LA and do the ceremonial " giving our daughter's hand in marriage" to Kevin, our handsome soon to be son-in-law. So exciting and so hard to believe she is old enough to get married. I have my hanky already in hand. Though I think your children are your "kids " forever. William called in the dead of night last night from college to say the water was pouring out of toilet all over the house. I love that the first reaction is call Mom, who is hours away, because she will fix it! I sleepily suggested turning the water off- hope he remembers to turn it back on!! He told me the landowner is not happy with them because they trashed the house in a frat party this weekend- well "Duh!" My sister, Margaret and I shared a martini over the phone last Friday night, commiserating on kids growing up and leaving and how the concerns and "Mom's worrying" never grows up and leaves. Wouldn't have it any other way, tho'! I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of my children's lives and cherish every moment.
I am also squeezing in all the last hunts possible. Our closing is this Sunday and I will try to go out with HCIB a few more times. All the foxhunters are finishing season healthy and sound- knock on wood. Still trying to get out with Piedmont, maybe this Thursday. Today I am off to tax preparation appointment and then taking mare to Northview for a date with Lionhearted. Some how it seems like taxes and horse business are always intwined!

our unconscious fears......

2011-03-15T07:12:00.000-04:00

I woke this morning, sleepily saying goodbye to hubby and laughingly reported my dreams. Our unconscious must process those daytime fears and worries we have everyday and perhaps do not process at the time. As most of you know I whip for our foxhunt. One of my "duties" is to be ahead of huntsman as he draws through the woods and "coverts", so if there is any problem I can flank him and help the hounds. So, I woke from a dream that involved being way out of position hunting. My huntsman was yelling at me to cover one side while giving his location. Aghast ( in a dream) I realize he is miles from me and I need to get there yesterday! So, in the dream , I am madly galloping along roads and through fields, that look vaguely familiar, all the while trying to figure out how to get there from here!!. Complicating this dream sequence is the fact that the whole field has gotten lost and is now trying to follow me. They all think I know where to go, even tho' I am just "galloping " by the seat of my pants, because in the dream nothing looks right and actual hunting locations are all mixed up in the dream. The fears of a "whipper-in"! The other really funny thing was that I was doing taxes just before bed last night and I remember, before being suddenly on my horse, I was doing double-entry accounting. I was thoroughly stumped on how to offset one entry and just going over columns and ledgers in my head- in my dream! This is what accountants must dream about !
On a somber note, I cannot imagine the nightmares that the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami must have. Can you imagine reliving a wall of water coming at you! Unbearable. My prayers continue for the Japanese and I hope the powers that be can contain the nuclear problem.

best buddies

2011-03-14T08:16:00.000-04:00

My heart goes out to the Japanese people. Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear explosions, and I heard last night that a volcano is erupting in southern Japan! Another reactor explosion, hoping to avoid a meltdown- this seems like wrath of God stuff. The rays of good news are the survivors rescued off rooftops at sea, little kids plucked from the waters, families reunited. Everyone is coming together to help. I pray that the reactor does not create another calamity. Families can survive if they have each other and new families are created by strangers just coming together. In the face of such hardship all that is really important is staying close and hugging the ones you love.

earthshaking....

2011-03-13T08:11:00.000-04:00

The world has actually changed since the Japan quake. Apparently their coastline is different by 8 feet- not sure in which direction?- and the length of the day was shortened! These concepts boggle my mind. I know they say it is milliseconds but something so concrete as the length of our day changing in the fraction of an eye is deeply unnerving. I felt an earthquake once in Alaska and I remember being very disoriented by the shaking of the ground. It is not supposed to move! I feel so sad for the people of Japan, especially those villages that apparently were swept away. They can't find a train, a whole train- that is hard to get your brain around. The pictures that really shocked me were the day after, when the sun was peeking out again and these poor people were picking through the mud and massive debris. Ordinary people in little rubber boots, wrapped in blankets, looking at utter devastation. How can, what, 6 hours of Mother Nature's mayhem, destroy your world so completely and then, next morning, the sun comes back out, the wind dies down, the water recedes and everywhere else in the world, everyone just starts a new normal day, while you are looking at the end of everything you knew. That is man's fragility handed to him on a platter. We are so unheeding of the forces of the natural world until they bring us to our knees. We are all Japanese in those moments of complete vulnerability to destruction. Yesterday I checked the forsythia for yellow buds - yes they are budding- but what I saw, was a bird's nest built of twigs, twine, plastic bags, a little bit of everything. I was struck by the fact that it was still there after the very high winds we have had this past month . I have had lots of big tree limbs down after this month's rain and storms, but this little nest stayed put in a forsythia shrub. Go figure. I wish the Japanese much sunshine and I hope the world helps them recover.

Fairfax and lots of rain today

2011-03-10T07:16:00.000-05:00

Fairfax was a lot of fun, though a long way to drive and a relatively short hunt. The first fox we jumped ran 2/3rd of the country's perimeter. Lucky for us, he kept turning right ( they must feed this fellow well) and stayed in-country. Lovely big rolling hills and scenery. Rain was coming in so we cut it short and Fairfax members hosted a lovely tailgate. It is always nice to say Hi to friends who live over on that side of beltway now. This morning it is pouring. The rain is here to stay for a day or so but at least it is warm enough. I took blankets off broodmares a while ago. Very, very muddy but the sap is rising and it will be greener after this. Looks like parts of the country got hit very hard by this storm. Sam and Stephanie are looking at an early October wedding now. Funny how the universe works, this time of year was her initial choice last year!

last hunts of this year

2011-03-09T06:21:00.001-05:00

I am going to hunt with Fairfax today, possibly Piedmont on Saturday and Andrews Bridge next week , as well as our last March hunts on Wednesdays and Sundays. The weather is OK, rain holding off, I hope and warm enough. I love this time of year. The horses are fit and happy, eating the early spring grass and running around for the pleasure of it. Sarah is back in LA, wedding around the corner. Will is doing awesome with his interviews for summer internships and Sam and Stephanie are figuring out the next plan. Sam is a very lucky man, Stephanie's true devotion and support for him is a lovely thing to witness. I see wonderful lives unfolding all around me, not without their trials, but the journeys that my kids have begun fill me with joy for them. It is awesome indeed to see your children loved and loving in return!

early March spring rising

2011-03-08T06:52:00.000-05:00

Spring madness. Basketball is coming but I am talking about a whirlwind visit by Sarah for her East Coast bridal shower. It was a wonderful few days and we packed lots of last minute wedding planning into it. Sunday night ended with a game of "fish bowl" enjoyed by all, sitting in the living room being silly. Lots of love and laughter, just the perfect way to wrap up. Will had come home too. Love you all. Sunday was a very rainy, warm but lots of rain and then Monday dawned with the green promise of spring around the corner. The willow tree had changed from bare branches to green overnight. Everyone noticed the peepers sound and the forsythia is dusted with yellow buds. The pregnant mare has been sent to foaling farm ( too close to Sarah's wedding to foal here), the other mares are due to ship to Kentucky in a week. I still go back and forth about breeding last mare in Maryland. I know stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Am I being stupid or being smart by breeding when everyone else has stopped? Wish I had a crystal ball. I will wait until after March 15-16 when Maryland legislature has to approve changes in racing/slot money allocation. If it isn't approved I may want to still wait. So sad that Maryland racing has declined to this point. NO support from Maryland lawmakers at all it seems.

I heard the peepers yesterday!!!!

2011-03-01T07:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was warm and beautiful in the morning. Hunting was cancelled with HCIB because of impending rain so I rode the girls through the woods and I heard the spring peepers! Deep in the woods, in the boggy marsh they were in full throated roar. It was softer than usual but definitely there. DA-DA - they are my first harbingers of Spring, the sound that gives me a boost when it is still cold. Today is the first of March. As I changed the calendar page on my birthday calendar, the one where I record important milestones, I realized it has been eleven years since my brother died. I was hunting that day at Dodon. It was a lovely morning and I will never forget breaking fingers in a crazy bucking horse incident and then learning he had passed away, losing his cancer battle. Today I paused and thought, my Mom, Dad and brother, Ian, are now together in heaven or wherever, watching the three of us girls, my sisters and I, and all the love and drama of our lives. I miss you and am really glad that you are together. I know that you will all be watching when my girl and boy walk down the aisle with respective spouses in the next two months. We will be smiling and thinking of you three angels, knowing you are not far away at all. Love and miss you.

countdown to weddings

2011-02-28T06:56:00.000-05:00

I know the economy played the biggest part in not breeding last spring but I am still thankful for the break this year. As the two weddings get closer, I feel like I am juggling and that one ball is sure to drop! I, so, do not want to forget anything. So I am taking the one mare who is foaling up to Murmur because her due date is too close to Sarah's wedding. Trying to fit the last foxhunting days into schedule also. There is a chance to go out with HCIB today but rain is forecast? Yesterday we had a good day at Morelands, the weather is warm and the foxes are pairing up which can make for interesting splits. You wonder which one will run, which one goes to ground? As we roaded home yesterday, just before the trailers, a large red jumped out of cover and took off in front of everyone. Most of the field went in but we turned to follow. Tough scenting on the muddy fields with warm breeze; the hounds couldn't follow, tho' several landowners out walking thanked us for a lovely view of the fox! This week Sarah is coming home for her "shower" and it will be wonderful to see her and celebrate the big event! And I am still listening for the spring peepers. The daffodills are pushing up and the forsythia is budding. I do love the smell of impending spring - it smells new!

Dragon's Lair Farm - a horse farm

late January- Pia racing and hunting in the mud

foggy morning

a year later

mid January

snow still here

last day of 2011

Christmas 2011

Sam's Graduation Day!

more Christmas heart-warming stories....

12 days of Christmas ...origins of the song...

getting in the Christmas spirit....

WAR HORSE was great!

Happy Santa Lucia Day

galloping toward Christmas

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

basketball and maiden races....

November routines: basketball, and foxhunting

Zen and the art of foxhunting....

the rhythms and ripples of life....

Whipping -in with Barclay Rives at Keswick

Farmington Hunt -Day 8

Keswick Hunt- Day 7

Oak Ridge Foxhound Hunt Club -Day 6

Middlebrook Hunt - Day 5

Glenmore Hunt- Day 4

Old Dominion Hounds -Day 3

Day 2- Bull Run Hunt

Virginia Hunt week- Day 1: Rappahannock

2011: Two weddings and a funeral

wedding day

after wedding

Piedmont Hounds- Day 4

Day 2 at Casanova Hunt

North American Field Hunter Championship

my favorite time of year

beautiful morning

9/11/11

I need sunshine

rainy Wednesday

September is here

fall is coming

post Irene

feeling safer in LA!....

misty morning

August 16th

Football, foxhunting and.....

Back from Saratoga

misty morning

Mom would have been 87 today...

end of july

little cooler

inspiration comes from the strangest places....

second sauna soaker

sauna morning

Mid-summer morn

summertime, summertime

Happy Independence Day America!

Happy Canada Day

cooler today

post yearling show

Summer solstice

a Maryland Nantucket morning

beautiful sunrise

June hot

Chessie's trail rides

memorials

mini vacation

Shackleford wins the Preakness

winner's circle

Black Eyed Susan Day

anniversaries...

after the rain

my favorite time of day

Kentucky Derby party

beautiful morning

very sad day

Infinite justice

beautiful sky

grey cloud morning