high on summertime

i cant believe it's been three months since my last post- time is FLYING by this spring/summer and i feel like i've sort of been on overdrive since aiken.
we got home from aiken after a weekend full of ups and downs at Poplar and I got to spend the weekend sleeping at my parents' house in Hamilton which was nice. even with the flurry of horse show activity it was great to see them and wake up to a view of the lake- i felt very "homeless" in aiken and I'm not great at making transitions with living quarters so it took a big bunch of stress off of my plate to be somewhere i felt so comfortable.

since we got home from Aiken, after a fairly exhausting truck breakdown on Easter sunday, there has pretty much been a show every weekend and i've been living a bit like a gypsy out of suitcases, shopping bags and my car- which is ummm interesting. i survived my 29th birthday without crying about being old and my friends and family were actually really fantastic and kept me quite entertained, full of sugar, and feeling ok about getting so close to the big 3-0! my sweet boyfriend was out of town that day, but we celebrated later with a romantic dinner and he gave me the first light blue Tiffany's box I have ever received with a really pretty infinity necklace inside- which i wear almost every day.

 i decided to take my yearly vacay to Rolex at the end of April and was excited about it but THEN, i got offered a grooming job AT rolex while we were at the Fork, which was even more exciting- so i took it! it was a fabulously wonderful week grooming for Madeline Blackburn and Gordonstown (and her two other non compete horses) and it was so great to experience Rolex from the "inside looking out" this year as it's always been my absolute favorite horse event of the year. Maddie and Gtown rocked the very difficult XC course which took out almost half the field of competitors and also had only one of three double clear show jumping rounds on sunday- SO amazing!

after a quick week at home and much cuddling with the doggies- who surely think our petsitter is perhaps their real daddy since i've been away so much, we were off this past weekend to MCTA which was a beautiful event and a great weekend where Murray won the intermediate, sammy jo was 5th in the prelim and moddy was 7th in the novice. all the ponies arrive home safely and jogged sound and went out to graze and i had a date with my pajamas! we also got to spend a night out in Baltimore, which has some really cute areas and good food and nightlife. we met Steve's brother and sister-in-law (who is super pregnant and super cute) out for dinners and i was happy "as a clam" with my dinner of oysters and beer. it was too cloudy to see the supermoon, but i realized that i really like Maryland!

the next few months are sure to be action packed with lots of shows- possibly Bromont in Canada- which would be super exciting and hopefully a few weekends at home where i can spend saturday morning wandering around the Charlottesville farmers market and hanging out in the garden with the doggies.

jazz was as glad as i was to be home from Aiken- she was not a fan of the "high stress" environment of that farm and has been stellar on the flat and over fences since we got home. with as much as i am travelling it's hard for me to keep her in consistent work, which she prefers, so i'm considering sending her to a friend in Kentucky who said she would gladly take the ride on her and keep her in shape. it would be great for us both since she appreciates a routine and i need a horse that i can come home to after two weeks and bop around a novice course without quite as much "exuberance" as jazz often has to offer. she's much to sound, athletic and talented to be a pasture puff  and although i have dreams of breeding her for my next horse, it's not in the budget at the moment- although i already have a long list of baby daddy's for her.

boyfriend is travelling as much as i am, if not more, so i relish those shows where he is already there doing the course and i get to see him after work. we have a trip planned to GA soon- which will be fun as he's never spent much time there or met my dad etc. or eaten at my brother's restaurant- so we have some adventures in store and hopefully some down time where i can lay around and be sedentary and cuddle with the doggies and him.

the summer nights are getting warmer and i love that the days are getting longer and longer- i feel like i get so much more accomplished when the days are longer and there's nothing that makes me happier than frolicking around the yard barefoot with the dogs and throwing an easy dinner on the grill. i had a day off today- and even though i have spent the majority of it at the DMV finally getting the VA tags for the car and am currently sitting at an auto garage getting my inspection stickers, i'm looking forward to an evening on the porch and probably and early bedtime. im so old- i know.

more later- i have a rant about 3 series BMW's and salt life stickers to share....

-ellie

a breath of fresh air...

I was busy they other night being super lame because I am now "normally" in bed by about 8:30 these days; (Why? Because I'm perilously close to turning 29 and apparently that means I get lamer by the day...)
and I was reading a little magazine on the history of Aiken and learned that originally, people started coming here for the fresh air and to get away from the muggy, buggy, air in Charleston. It was a respite for those with respiratory issues, or those that needed a break from "city life". With the vacationers came the horses, and farms were built all over for polo and foxhunting and other equestrian sport.

Here we are today and Aiken is still a cute very horse centered town. I have to agree the air is often quite crisp and it's strangely breezy most of the time- for the very flat terrain anyway. So this weekend, my very own breath of fresh air rolled into town in the form of my two doggies- brought down by one very cute course builder/boyfriend. I cannot even describe my excitement when I woke up on Friday morning and knew it was only a matter of hours until I got to hug those two precious furry faces that would surely be accompanied by Steve and that smile that gives me butterflies. As the day went on, it became apparent that my gloriously imagined reunion with my three favorites was not going to go quite as planned. Steve got called to do some work out on the course at Sporting Days, and I got busier and busier- as the day before horse shows alway seems chaotic- no matter how organized you think you are! Finally- I had to jet out to Buckleigh to get the dogs- who were with his sister and her horses that she brought down for the show and I would just have to catch up with him later. When I finally arrived after what seemed like the longest 25 minutes ever (bear in mind I have NEVER been away from my dogs for 3 weeks before), I already had tears in my eyes as I opened the tack room door on the horse trailer and Doodle literally came shooting out in all of her fat black dog excitement and tackled me to the ground. I hugged her and rolled around on the dusty ground a bit with her as she squealed and cried with excitement and poodle was jumping in my face and licking me between barks. I missed them more than I realized and I was so glad to see those sweet faces. I sat with them in the dirt for a few minutes and then had to throw them in the truck and jet back to the farm because there was still a set of horses to hack, evening feeds and two to braid!

Steve arrived later luckily catching a ride back to the farm with Lucia who went to walk her courses and we had a relaxing night in. I snuggled incessantly with Rylie Boo and was happy as ever to drift off to sleep with her little brown furry body nestled next to me and the soundtrack of Doodle breathing/snoring on the floor next to the bed. As good weekends always do, time flew and before I knew it, it was Sunday morning and I had to load them back into the truck and drop them with Steve, his sister and mom for the drive back to Virginia. I drove there basically in silence, knowing that if I talked too much about saying good bye to the girls and Steve, my throat would tighten up and my eyes would well with tears. I managed to squeak out a good bye to everyone and hug the girls before trotting back to the truck without a major breakdown.

Dont' get me wrong- life in Aiken is fab and horse filled, but I miss my dogs and I had no idea how attached I had already become to the tall blonde boy. My dogs are literally my "four-legged children" and I can only imagine how hard it is to be separated for any length of time from your human children, if being separated from my canine children is this tough. They seemed very happy though and Rylie Boo is ridiculously attached to Steve, literally whining for him every time he left the room or the car. I was a little jealous...

So my breath of fresh air blew out of Aiken as quickly as it blew in. I needed some time with my doggies and I'm so grateful they got to come down for a visit. Hopefully they can come again for the Pine Top advanced weekend. Until then, I'm breathing the crisp air outside and missing them a lot, but remaining thankful for all the good friends and family I have- long distance or close, I'm grateful for all of them.

Horse related updates coming soon. Jazzy has something to tell you.
-Ellie

The blink of an eye

I can pretty much safely navigate the stairs from our over-the-barn apartment down to the main barn aisle in complete darkness now. I've found if I don't turn the lights on the stairs on, then my eyes adjust to the darkness faster once I'm outside and I like that better than waiting and almost walking into the fence while everything still looks pitch black.

The reason I have developed this preference, is that it simply isn't cold enough when we feed around 4:30 or 5:00 for the horses to have their "pajamas" on yet and I can't stand the thought of them standing out there at dusk, sweating, then as soon as it gets dark the air gets crisp and they are standing damp under their blankets. All of them except Jazz and Stanley are fully clipped so they wear a variety of clothes on any given evening/morning and sometimes we change blanket weights up to three times a day- and on those days I wish for summer!

Anyway, although I am often tired at the end of the day and it's hard to wait to put on my pajamas until 10:00 or so because I don't want my pajamas to be covered in sand and smell like horse pee (the perpetual perfume of blankets), I really don't mind the blanketing in the darkness ritual. There's something about visiting each one of them and giving them one last pat on the neck or rub on the face at night. They sniff and snuff me up and down to see if I brought them anything and most of them stand quite nicely to be blanketed without making me halter them or catch them at all. Usually Jazz is the most difficult one of course, because she hates wearing clothes, but once she's still, she puts up with me and just makes ugly faces in the dark about it.

I love the quiet of nights here at the farm, and the "horses at night" sounds that are so familiar to me now. I can hear horses underneath me in the stalls nosing at the their sometimes empty water buckets, or the few paws at the stall floor before they lay down. Outside, where our horses are turned out at night, I can hear the swish of their tails against their blankets and the perfect grind of their teeth against their evening hay and that soft sound of their hooves in the grass. Before my eyes have adjusted completely to the darkness and I'm still scanning the paddocks for a dark shape against the lighter sky, I can usually find them by these little sounds. Each horse has it's own little profile of sounds, Fi snorts all the time, Mod's teeth grind louder when he eats hay, Jazz snuffs out big breaths before she walks my way, Oudo licks his lips while he gets blanketed, Gibbie lets out soft nickers if he thinks I have treats and sometimes clacks his teeth together when he's not in the mood to be messed with, Stan sniffs the most- just like a puppy... the list goes on. It's funny to me how comfortable I am with them in the complete darkness. I know each one of them and their body and their gait and their smell and even their individual whinnies just by the sound. After a few minutes I can see much better and I don't have to fasten the surcingles by feel- I can see them pretty well. As I say goodnight to each of them and climb out of their paddocks over the fences in my mishmash of blanketing outfits that is usually made up of Uggs- yoga pants and t-shirts with a jacket thrown on top, I wonder what they all think about the clumsy humans that come to dress them every night. Horses of course see much better than I do at night, and if I take the time to really notice the beauty of the darkness and the stars and the crisp air and the sweet perfume of warm horse, I'm glad that I'm not missing it and I wonder again what they see that I can't- how much there is that they don't miss that we do. 

In the blink of an eye, we can miss so many details of our day- the mundane things that are really beautiful and lovely and special because we are always in such a hurry to get things accomplished. Efficiency and accomplishment are noble goals, but sometimes so is simple observation. How many people will go their entire lives without knowing the pleasure of a night walking through horse paddocks in the darkness- taking in the brightness of the stars in a country sky and the smells and the breeze.I'm glad I know that pleasure, but what else am I missing? I'm adding appreciating more simple and beautiful details of my day to my resolutions for 2012- hope you'll join me!

-Ellie

P.S.- USET winter training sessions are here at the farm on Monday- I'll try to maintain my composure and not act like a 13 year old girl at the sight of Justin Bieber- I'll try... and maybe I can sneak in some auditing because either Capt. Mark Phillips or Katie Prudent will be teaching. Yay.

2012 begins in a whirlwind...

As usual, I can't believe it's already the 19th of January and my last post seems like a lifetime ago. I started this blog as an online diary of sorts for my "one day" family to have and to remind myself of who I am and why- so in 2012 I resolve to continue, and hopefully more often! Suprisingly, every once in a while I get a txt, e-mail or FB message from someone reminding me to blog- and although I am stunned that anyone really reads this thing, I'm honored to be your entertainment of sorts. So- here we go!

2012 started in a literal whirlwind of activity. I went home for a bit over Christmas and it was nice to see my family and friends in Georgia and catch up and relax. I did miss the horses, the farm and VA though, and even after that 10 hour drive, I was glad to be back home at Pine Cottage. Speaking of "home", my last post was a lot about "home", and finally feeling like VA was it. When I got back from GA, we immediately started packing for Aiken, SC- which is where we move all the competition horses and effectively, the whole operation, for the winter so that we can get all the horses in shape and start competing earlier down where the weather is mild. "Home" it's not- but it's our temporary home base for now! The eventing world seems to migrate south for the winter, just as the birds do, and they either land in Aiken or Ocala. We landed at a fabulous farm called Stable View, and we share it with Kim Severson Eventing and crew and a few other students and eventers that come in and out from California etc.
We are here until mid March and literally every moment of every day is consumed by horses and all that they entail- which is basically my idea of heaven, but it is HARD work and long hours! My hands are cut up and chapped and I'm a bit sun/wind burned and every muscle in my body is literally tired by the end of the day. I sometimes fall asleep before nine because I'm just plain worn out! I'm not complaining though, I still love every minute of what I do, and I love the seven horses we have down here (plus Jazz) as if they were my own and I literally go to sleep and wake up sometimes thinking of ways to make sure they are happy, safe, and sound. So things are busy busy busy- between feeding, hay, blanketing, stalls, walks, grooming, riding, hacking, hauling to lessons and XC schooling- plus shows- we are like three tornados of activity (Lucia, Benita and me)! Even on the coldest and windyest of days here with the horses, I still don't wish for an office and I still feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. We live at the farm in an apartment above the main barn, which is lovely. My two current biggest wishes are for some better sheets- we all know how i feel about good linens, and some really cushiony bedroom slippers. So I was thinking today that if those are really the only two things I need right now- I am pretty lucky. Onto the children:

I got to bring Jazz down and she transitioned very well and is feeling good under saddle. She is by far the most neglected looking horse on the property- unclipped and a bit unkempt since I don't have a ton of extra time to spend with her right now, but even being the worst looking horse on the property isn't much of an insult since she is surrounded by lovely world class eventers and she's keeping her weight on this winter and feels nice a fit and slightly exhuberant at times. I am toying with the idea of selling her as a hunt horse since that's really where she's at her happiest, but it would take an incredible home and a pretty sweet check to get me to part with her. Here's a little pic of her enjoying her turnout time after we went on a canter/gallop today around the farm on our hack trails:

As far the doggies, this is where it gets interesting...
They are in VA- without me. As in not here- not with me. I miss them so much thats it's hard to describe in actual words- but it's whats best for them and me right now because I barely have time to even groom Jazz on a daily basis and I work in the barn where she resides, so the doggies would be fairly miserable locked in my room in the apartment all day. They aren't "farm dog" enough to run free all day without poodle getting herself into trouble and barking incessantly at every passerby. Doodle would acclimate quickly but would worry herself in to a tizzy for about the first week trying to protect me from every horse, person and other dog that came near. So- they are at home because I have failed as a mother to socialze them properly. Really, I just never had a job that was conducive to them being around before, so they never really learned that barn dog- everything is cool and i don't need to chase it/bark at it/roll in it- kind of behavior.

Who? on EARTH, you ask would I leave my dogs with? A boy, that's who. Yes, there is a boy in my life currently, although I'm pretty much expecting him to run for the hills any day now because Rylie Boo and Doodle can be a bit consuming. Cuddles and cuteness can only get you so far when you shed 48 pounds of black hair a day and sometimes decide that spreading trash alllllll over the house is perhaps the best trick ever. So he's pretty much a saint in my book for taking care of them, and it was all VERY last minute- because they were originally supposed to come down with me, but as they often do, things change at the last minute and it was determined to be best that they stay in VA. So as I sort of choked back tears after thinking of leaving them, he offered to keep them at my house, and I immediately declined his offer. After thinking on it for a day and swiftly running out of other ideas and considering how much they like him and how much better they would be at home with their normal routine, I brought it up again and he didn't "suddenly have to go out of town" or anything like that and just calmly assured me that they would all get along just fine. I have NEVER been away from my doggies for more than a week and today marks seven days, so I'm getting pretty misty eyed when I think about them, and continually more grateful to him that I haven't yet gotten the phone call that says, "umm, I need you to figure out something for your dogs" while simultaneously getting a Facebook relationship status change update.

Since about June 2011, I had decided that it was probably best to just never ever fall in love, since that means that I would never get my heart broken. Strangely enough, I wasn't totally sad and heartbroken after my last relationship ended because it was/is what's best for both of us. However, the hardest words I have ever heard in my life were, "you are impossible to love" and hearing that did break my heart- although I didn't quite get it at the time, that pain instantaneously erected what I would describe as a steel reinforced, concrete, electrified, barbed wire coated force field around my capacity to ever allow myself to feel emotion for another human again. So yes, I've been happier than ever in the last 6 months, and yes, I am literally excited to get up every morning and live my life, and yes, I've been dating a lot, but NO, I have not allowed myself to form any sort of any kind of attachment to any boy of any sort. I tend to date them for a bit, and then when they start to talk about getting serious, or I catch myself thinking about them being around long-term, I end it.
I realize that's an unhealthy way to conduct an adult relaionship and it's selfish and a tad immature- but I realized why I was doing it- so there's some progress.

What the heck does this have to do with anything? Well, this boy is keeping my dogs, and this boy makes me laugh and smile and I just want to always be near him- like every second of every day. Anyone who knows me knows that I am normally not clingy, and have even been accused to being a little standoffish at times, even with my closest family and friends- so this is all quite new to me. I am officially being coached by a few good friends to "not screw this one up" and "return phone calls and texts" and "actually call him", and I have and the funny thing is, I actually want to. So that's good. The fact that I left my dogs with him at all is a huge indicator that he perhaps has made me change my mind about some things and although I don't know where this will go or how long it will last, I have enjoyed every minute of it and plan to continue doing so. And so here I sit, in Aiken, missing him more than I think I have ever missed anyone, even more than I miss the dogs. Blissfully happy with life and work and where I am, but missing him. (Thank God he doesnt know this blog exists because I sound SO lame) He says he's coming down in February to a horse show and hopefully I can resist the urge to leap into his arms and knock him over when I see him, and hopefully I won't die without my doggies before then. We shall see!

More to come from all that is Aiken, and perhaps the center of the horsey universe...
-Ellie