Lucy & Life

I sure fell off the face of the planet, huh? Life is crazy, but for a good reason: I got a new job and I am now working full time again. I love my job and I am treated very well there. I am a graphic designer for a local marketing agency. The work is fast-paced and never-ending, just the way I like it! The day flies by. My coworkers are all incredibly smart people and I am learning a lot from them.

With the addition of a 40-hr work week, my trips to visit Lucy have been limited, but I did go see her last weekend at King Oak's horse trial. I drove 250 miles round trip in one day by myself with a dog and a baby in 93 degree weather. It was a LONG day. Lucy decided to pick a fight with the water complex in XC and was sadly eliminated, but other than that the event was a great experience. She put in her best dressage test to date and looked tense as usual, but very workmanlike, and had some really lovely moments at the canter. I was a proud mom.

Here are some photos:

It was extremely hot and humid that day. We were all sweating!

going through the water....finally

We are down to crunch time with getting her sold, unfortunately. If she doesn't sell by Oct 1, she's coming home to me. I feel both elated and terrified that this may happen. I have been functioning well without the responsibility of a horse, and telling myself it's for the best, but you all know that I adore her and miss her terribly. It was hard enough to send her away the first time; I don't know how I would do it a second time.

Several people are going to see her in the next two weeks, so maybe the perfect home will present itself.

Here is her equine.com ad. Please share it if you know of someone looking for a horse like Lucy. She is priced extremely reasonably.

I have had the opportunity to go riding with Maddy a few times. There is a Haflinger mare at her barn who is hanging around getting fat (as Haffies tend to do) so her owner has allowed Maddy to ride her, and was kind enough to extend the offer to me. We have been out on the trails twice; yesterday was the second time. This mare is a TANK. She can't be more than 14hh and I'll admit it's really weird to be able to see over a horse's back when I'm standing next to it! I had the most fun yesterday. I actually laughed for half the ride. She was a blast to ride.

Hannah is doing so well. She continues to be the best part of my day, every day. I look forward to getting out of bed to see her smiling up at me in the morning, and I rock her to sleep every night. She is almost six months old and is still tiny, but is getting bigger!

Here are a few photos:

With Mini Lucy, made by Alicia from The Redheaded Mare

With my sister-in-law...I love this photo

Orchard Hill Schooling 3 Phase

Lucy went to a schooling 3-phase at Orchard Hill Equestrian Center in Berlin, MA last weekend and kicked butt.

Things were a little hectic in the morning so the only warmup she got for dressage was 3 minutes of trotting. That's it.

Well she went into her test and had one of the most lovely dressage rounds ever. I have no idea what her score was but to me, she looked really wonderful.

Morgan was thrilled with how things went!

Then she went into her jumping round and had a bit of a flail fest. She really needs studs to jump out on grass. She refused the B jump in an A/B combination and Morgan brought her back around, jumped the B jump perfectly, and then was dq'd for not jumping the A and the B jumps. Apparently you have to jump the whole combination again, not just the jump you missed.

Here are some shots from the warmup:

all 4 feet off the ground, and game faces on

This whole venue is on a massive hill; here Morgan was explaining how
to get to the actual jumping ring from the warmup ring

Lucy is a hot tamale warming up, then walks through the woods on the buckle
by herself to get to her jumping round. Go figure.

On course!

They were able to go out and do XC as a schooling opportunity and Lucy was the best she has ever been on XC. She ran out of one jump that was up a steep hill but cruised around the rest of the course. She was in her element!! Morgan was thrilled with her performance. Yes it was a bummer they got disqualified, but they made the best out of the situation and everyone went home happy.

I was really pleased that I got to watch her go at this event. I was in the area visiting my parents and my mum watched Hannah for me so that I could go baby-free. I took Cairo instead, who of course was perfectly behaved, and we had a nice time spectating.

Another cool thing about this event is that Morgan took her new pony, Zen, whom she found chilling out in someone's back yard. Zen is loving her new life as an event pony. This was her first event ever, and her rider's first event ever, and they completed and had a great day! Here they are warming up, though Zen thinks she's warming up for prelim, not elementary:

Grinding my Gears

Boy, horses sure do keep us humble, huh?

After Lucy's super XC schooling round that I last updated about, she went to an unrated schooling 3-phase at Azrael Acres in Uxbridge, MA. In true Lucy fashion, she walked right out of a hind shoe getting on the trailer, but the foot looked perfect and she didn't seem to care, so they opted to go ahead with the show plans. Dressage went better than it ever has, with some beautiful moments. Overall still kind of a tense test, but miles ahead of where she came from.

I was very worried about both jumping phases. Lucy's division was first, so the ground was still quite wet from the night before, and they were both on slick grass. I know how sensitive she is about her feet and I was worried she wouldn't feel secure with one missing hind shoe and not a lot of traction.

Sadly, I was spot on. She had a very tough time getting around SJ and after three XC jumps, told her rider that she was done. We were all so disappointed, but not really in Lucy, just in general.

One XC jump from faaaarrr away

Morgan went back to basics that week, rebuilding Lucy's confidence. They went to Apple Knoll to school in the jumper show on Wednesday and did 2'9" and 3'. Lucy jumped very well. She has never jumped under the lights but she did that day, and it didn't phase her! She had a rail in the jump off in the 2'9" class and just missed the ribbons because of it, and the height in the 3' class surprised her a bit so she pulled two rails very early on, but jumped clean the last half of the class (funny how you actually have to pay attention at 3', horse!) so overall I was very very happy about all of that.

The day after that, they went XC schooling and while it started out great, Lucy got combative with her rider, E, and E kind of decided enough was enough, and got off. I don't blame her. Morgan got on and schooled Lucy and Lu did a lot better. They made the decision that Morgan would ride her at Valinor this weekend, not E, and they dropped her from Novice to BN. I was totally on board with that idea. BN set Lucy up for success, not failure. I was very hopeful that it would be a great event. Plus, it was set to be her first rated show!

Then Morgan found her in her stall with a giant swollen knee this morning. UGH how frustrating!!! So she's scratched for the day and Morgan cold-hosed her. She's a bit ouchy at the walk but sound at the trot. Morgan thinks it may be a bee sting or other insect related injury. Fingers crossed that it goes down asap.

On a happier note, have some Hannah and Cairo pictures: