a good week indeed

Don't you love those weeks where you get to cross several things off that long to-do list all at once! With the arrival of M&M Construction last week, two paddocks are super close to having an awesome new run-in shed, the arena's gutters, monitor, and snowbirds are all back where they should be after last year's very hard winter, and for those who have known the hilariously frustrating saga of the ice maker - there is now a functioning new ice maker in the house! It only took 11 months, and I can't even count the number of visits from the repairmen. I'm hanging onto my three plastic ice trays, though - just in case - I won't believe it's real until we make it thru a major holiday or celebration!! Bruce and the guys weaned calves this week, and so far so good - the bawling has definitely dropped a notch in the last 24 hours, and the mama cows are grazing cheerfully! We have a jam-packed weekend of family fun with cheer competition and Superbowl, Halloween parties, and trick-or-treating! Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend and GO MAROONS!!!

Thank you

I just wanted to thank everyone for your sweet emails and calls about my grandmother. While it is very hard to believe she could be gone so quickly with no warning, I know it was absolutely the best way for her. She was fiercely independent, insisted on staying in her home and taking care of herself, and lived her life exactly as she wanted, so a long illness would just not have suited her at all :). So, thank you again for all of the kind words (and help with the barn, Rachel and John). It's a beautiful morning in Virginia - hope it is where you are, too! Have a great week!

P.S. Little man Rowdy lost his first tooth yesterday - big stuff - he is very proud of his new gap!

More pics

Here are a few more fun moments - happy riders, the famous I. W. warming up, and Ravel leaving the stadium - clear the way!

My Favorite WEG Moment

I've been a fan of Laura B. for a couple of years now - watching her partnership with Alf develop thru Horse Hero has been so fun and educational - so I was pretty thrilled when she pulled up next to us in her golf cart to watch her teammate, and Bruce snapped this pic of us (thanks, Erica, for fixing it for me)!! This one is going in the barn, for sure!!

Favorite Pictures from WEG

So, here are some of my favorite pics. The first day, we were there when the gates opened - in the dark - they said to leave your hotel and get on the shuttle two hours before the event, but our bus driver didn't know he was supposed to pick up at several other hotels and took us straight to the park - so we had plenty of time to scout it all out before the first rides. The second day we found our way to the warm up areas, which was one of my favorite spots for the rest of the week. The victory gallops were absolutely terrifying - I was sure someone was going to have a horrific crash, and Ravel nearly ran over the security guard at the gate trying to get out of the arena! I am not exaggerating when I say it was more insane than any rodeo/PBR event. I told Bruce helmets should at least be required for the awards ceremony, and I was extremely happy to see Steffen in his for the Freestyle awards. I was also happy to see common sense take hold as Laura Bechtolsheimer declined to ride in the gallop after the first team effort when Alf had clearly had all he could take of that loud stadium! We had a wonderful thoroughbred farm tour, took many driving tours ourselves, and found a fantastic sandwich shop out in Versailles with supersized paninis and desserts that were the size of a platter - we had to go twice and would give anything to have Wallace Station out here on Hwy. 52! The riders were constantly coming in and out of the stands to watch, and we made a game of trying to recognize them in plain clothes. At one point, Anabel Balkenhol sat behind us, Steffen Peters was in front of us, and you'll see my close encounter with Laura B. Overall, it was an amazing trip, and we are already making plans for London and Normandy!

A-MAZING TRIP to WEG

We are home again after the trip of a lifetime to the World Equestrian Games! I will post a few of my gazillion pictures, with one fav in particular, as soon as I can, but I just had to say that the week of dressage competition was truly incredible. So inspiring and beautiful to watch - if you watched the freestyle yesterday on NBC, please know that these were, in my opinion, not even the best rides. The GP team and GP Special were AMAZING with hardly a mistake anywhere in the top ten. FEITV.org has all of the rides, and I would highly recommend checking it out.