Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

There is a lot to catch up on. However, this is not an equine entry.  I should write about Fred's lesson with Julio Mendoza and his current hiatus, but honestly, I don't want to.  

For my fellow IBMers, I ask you not share this blog with let's say, my current project PMs or my SAM.  I'll do some document work for you in return.

My current project is in the DC area.  Due to some schedule changes Rob and I have some extra time on our hands.  (Oh yeah, Rob and I are working together again.  I think he must have been on some seriously hard core cold meds when he agreed to work with me again.)  Extra time for us is very dangerous.  It's especially bad in DC considering Rob majored in anthropology and as much as he calls me a dork for my Mobile work he is a dork for history.  I don't mind history, so off we went.  

Today I told him I was picking our lunch location.  It just so happened to be by the Pentagon.  It really doesn't matter what landmark you pick, Rob is cool with it.  We passed the Air Force monument but we couldn't stop to admire it.  On the way back to the office, I decided the weather was nice and I that I was wearing the right shoes and that we should walk around the cemetery.  

The visitor center is spectacular.  We had a bit of time but not all day so I asked if we could see the Tomb of the Unknowns.  There was a lot more to see but our field trips can't take all day.  I wanted to see JFK's grave site and walk around.  I thought the Milwaukee VA cemetery was big.  Turns out that is nothing compared to Arlington.  One of the facts Rob taught me to today is that the cemetery was once General Lee's plantation.  


As we walked up to the tomb, we heard a military band and marching.  A procession was coming down the hill.  The band was in the front followed by rows, maybe 15 or 20, of a military branch I couldn't identify.

Then it hit me.  This isn't a happy affair passing us.  The formality of the situation was due to a funeral service.  The cemetery does more than 20 services each weekday.  Yes, read that sentence again.  According to the details of a military funeral, an enlisted personnel earns a casket team, firing party, and bugler.  This procession also included the caisson, band, and escorting troops.  

The caparisoned (riderless) horse marched proudly down the path.  The funeral we were watching was for either an Army or Marine Colonel or higher.  

I hate that feeling when your throat closes and you feel the tears about to spill over.  As the casket passed and the caparisoned horse strutted by, you could feel the sorrow, respect, and pride that thousands have felt on that sacred ground.  It was hard not to mourn someone I will never know who spent most of his life saving and protecting mine and yours.  The strangers around us moved on.  I watched the movement turn at the bottom of the hill and go on.  The moment was stunning to the eye and heart, but I felt it was disrespectful to capture it by photos. 

I put myself back in working order.  We watched the changing of the guard ritual.  The tomb's setting is remarkable.  On a brisk, clear December day, you can see from a top the hill out over DC.  The trees were bare and sad, but stood tall in respect.  Our backs were to the Memorial Amphitheater.  I've never seen the ruins in Greece, but I think this structure is about as close as I can get in the US.  The amphitheater is made of marble. Above the west entrance is a Latin phrase (the title of this post) which is translated to "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country."

On our way back to the visitor center and ultimately to the office, I knew I should write down how I felt today.  I read a quote the other day, "If you won't stand behind our troops, stand in front of them."  There is not a strong military identity in my family.  Both of my grandfathers served as did my dad, but I can't say we consider ourselves very loyal to one particular branch.  Being in the Maximo practice I have met a lot military men and their families.  What I was strongly reminded of today was that these people are not Republican or Democratic or Tea Party or Independent.  The military from the past, present, and future give of themselves for the rest of us.  Whether it is right to send troops into battle or not, we must support them and their families.  

 

 Few of the many headstones.

 Tomb of the Unknowns - Changing of the Guard Ritual

 Memorial Amphitheater.

 

Holiday wreaths. 

Snow make-up day.

It only took me two weeks catch up on blogs.  I've returned to the normal travel work week and it has severely impacted my blog.  Fail! 

Since we were snowed out at Plantation, I squeezed Fred into Waredaca's starter trial that was rescheduled.  I had only been to Waredaca once before, maybe 2 years ago, but always liked the facility.  Amanda was so very wonderful to accompany me to the event.  This was her second HT and I couldn't ask for a better companion! It was a long day and Amanda made it much easier.  Amanda also captured some great photos. 

Dressage was fantastic.  We had one small bobble during a down transition.  We had a 35.5 which put us in 5th or 6th after dressage.  I was quite pleased.

Stadium was a little crazy.  Fred was calm and happy until warm up.  Then his frisky fun side let loose.  We had an energetic and clean ride through the stadium course, which rode great.  We almost crashed the Ravens' oxer but somehow left it up.  You'll see below what I mean.

The cross country course was a great BN challenge.  There were 16 jumps and some were more than I had seen in a while.  Fred was really good on the XC course until I started losing some brake control at the end.  Again, see below. That was a minor complaint as I was thrilled to end our first season together on such a great note.  We have lots of homework in front of us and the potential for a lot of fun.

 Probably our only quiet jump.

 Entering the two stride that we rode just right.

 Yeah...

 Over the last and clear.

 First XC jump.  Fred says "la de da..."

 Headed to the finish and Fred can't hear my request to half halt.

We finished third and we earned it.  I can't believe Fred and I did six event this year.  We had three not so great outings and three that ended better than expected.  

I learned a lot about riding, maintaining, and training horses this year.  The lessons about motivation, perseverance, patience, and dedication are what will stick with me for a long time.  I look forward to many more good days with Fred in and out of the saddle.  I also look forward to the simple visits with Tyler where I can forget about everything else and hang out with my friend. 

Sally's Aiken 2012 Letter

Sally Cousins sent out her 2012 Aiken letter. As it asks, I am passing the info along.

When my computer was knocked off the couch earlier this year by a dog who shall not be named ( ok I shouldn't have had it on the couch) I lost all my Aiken records so please pass this  information along to anyone who might be interested.

Our place in Aiken is set on 27 acres 5 1/2 miles out of the center of town. It is convenient to many hotels , stores and restaurants.  We have lots of show jumps, some cross country jumps and a dressage ring.  We have lots of turn out available in individual paddocks.  Lessons are available daily and we go cross country schooling many times a week.  Pine Top is an hour away and all the other events are within 20 minutes.  There are 5 cross country courses nearby that we use to school.  There are many derbies ,combined tests and some unrecognized events held in Aiken while we are down there. Hitchcock Woods is close to our place. It is a  2000 acre park that is great for trail riding.  We are 25 minutes from the Augusta airport and an hour and 15 minutes from Columbia airport. Megan Papler also rents a house 5 miles from the farm and that is a great place to stay especially for the young riders.

Many people have mentioned that they are concerned that their horse is not far enough along in its training to come down, but Aiken is a great experience for greener horses.  The footing is sand so we are able to school more in good footing and the environment is relaxed.  I try to get my babies far  enough along to be able to cross country school them while we are down there. For example,  Walle was concerned about water at first and he was able to get out to many different water jumps and is now quite confident.  At the time he wasn't even doing much jumping. 

Costs:
self care
- under 30 days  $15 a night per stall
- over 30 days  $10 a night per stall
lessons $65
training board $400 a week (shipping to local events and schools included)
there is a discounted rate in January
I will be taking a deposit of $5 per night to hold a stall.
If you have any questions please let me know.  Thanks,  Sally  sallycousins@aol.com

I couldn't help but add Walle's horse trial debut video.  (Wall-E, like the robot in the movie) Walle is one of the biggest and sweetest horses I have ever encountered. 

Starter Trials at MDHT

Sunday, October 16 was the MDHT starter trial.  2 days before closing, I decided to enter Fred in the BN division.  LClark and Scotch (PB/PonyBoy) joined us for the fun.

In the week leading up to the event, Fred and I prepared every way we could.  Cindy helped us through show jumping, Wende gave Fred a fabulous massage on Saturday, and Sarah was super patience with us during our dressage lesson.  

Canter departs.  GAH! My brain understands them, my body doesn't.  We tackled my nemesis on Friday with Sarah.  Sarah's fix is easy once I get it. We practiced, and practiced, and practiced!  It's a work in progress.  On a really good note, Sarah says Fred's trot work is improving.

The PB stayed over at HVS Saturday night as we left for MDHT at 5am.  Fred was a smart horse and loaded on to the trailer with no issue.  (Big thanks to Lauren Gress for helping Fred practice loading and unloading.)  

MDHT ran the HT in a reverse order this time, elementary to training.  There were 5 divisions of senior BN and LClark was in the first one.  Her dressage time was at 8:30.  We left the barn at 5am.  The schedule worked well as LClark was completely done before I started and we were done by 12:30.  The weather couldn't have been any better.

The PB is so much to fun watch.  He is cuuuuuuuuuuute!  Lauren and Scotch finished third in a division of twelve.

 Lauren and Scotch.

Fred was excellent the entire day.  The dressage warm up was in between three dressage rings and the elementary/intro stadium course.  The XC start and finish was just on the other side of the fence.  Fred was all focus and lovely in warm up.  He held it together until the first lap around the dressage ring.  Behind the judge's booth was the concession area with lots of people and things moving in the breeze.  Fred wasn't afraid but he would have rather watched those going-ons instead of doing his test.  

 

  Moments like this make me feel very lucky to own this horse.

 What are they doing over there?  Let's go over there!

Ending a great test.

We had  two 8s in the test!  The trot and canter circles to the left were 8s.  The right side needs to be more supple and finesse.  I like the progress we're making.

Stadium started out really well and then I let him get backed off at the fan jump before the two stride combination.  We managed to leave all the rails up.  There was a red fabric bag blowing through the course during our round and Fred never blinked about it.  He's a good boy.

XC was fast!  The course was stunning.  Great fences and room between some to actually go forward.  Fred was focused and with me through the first 8 fences.  By fence 9 Fred the FreightTrain arrived.  Fred cruises pretty easily so it isn't scary but it makes my approach to the fences difficult.  We had a few awkward jumps but nothing to worry about.  The two water crossings went well. 

We also finished third in our division of twelve.  I was thrilled with how well we did.  Besides the small freight train run, I felt Fred and I are finally working together.  

In case you haven't seen enough, here are my photos and GRC's professional photos.

The day before MDHT was the two and three star at Fair Hill.  Here's my link to the photos I took. 


It turns out going to MDHT was a good plan.  We were snowed out at Plantation today.  Yes, snowed out.  As I type I'm trying to figure out if I can enter us in something for next weekend. 

Week recap in photos

 The Herndon, VA IBM office.  White room with bright orange chairs.  Must be a Feng Shui thing.

A souvenir as a result to my Montgomery, Alabama trip a few weeks ago.  Guess I have my SEC team now.  Thanks, Fitz! ;)

Paige helped me work on Teeny Tiny's sensitive nose. 

 Paige shared her anguish with Fwed and he seemed to relate to her.

 Lauren and Paige were very helpful in loading Fred.  He's been in trailer training this week.

The Diesel in a Washington, DC parking garage with 6'6 clearance.  I was terrified.

 Me and Fred, Lauren and Napoleon, and Paige and Bootz.  

Red, white, and crazy!

 Fwed being good.

 Fwed being sassy.

Fwed being good.

Fwed being very sassy!

Fair Hill International CCI **/***

Fair Hill blog

Official Fair Hill website

Tickets are $15 a person for Saturday or Sunday.  Living Social has a deal!

The Fair Hill fall event is one of the biggest events on the east coast each fall.  Tyler and I were outriders twice and had an amazing time.  This year I plan on going to watch XC as a spectator.  If you'd like to join me and a my friends, let me know!  On Saturday, the two star begins between 8 and 9am and the three star runs right after lunch and goes until about 4.  It is an outrageously cool event.

There will be family fun activities, shopping, dog events, pony club activities, and of course amazing eventing.  Check out the links above for all the info. 

It all changes from day to day.

Some days you need comfort food.  I'm battling a cold and went driving in Herndon, VA to find some food.  I'm having a great scrambled egg and ham sandwich as I think about what to blog.  There's a lot to catch up on.

Bad news first.  Almost six months to the day, Tyler had another neuro episode.  One second he was fine, the next he wasn't.  There was no obvious trigger.  Tyler lost control of his back end first and then his front end.  He was able to balance himself until he had control again.  It lasted about 30 minutes.  Probably 20 minutes into the episode, he tried to move towards the stall door and lost his balance.  He fell, but was up immediately and uninjured.  There isn't much I can do but monitor Tyler's quality of life.  I know what's coming but we aren't at that place yet.

Now onto the lighter notes.  


My parents and I ventured to Happy Valley on Sept 24 for the game versus Eastern Michigan.  I was able to visit with Jackie before the game.  We were prepared for rain and left with sunburn!  PSU came out with the win (it wasn't impressive but it was a win.)  Our seats were 11 rows from the field and we had two touchdown plays in our endzone corner.  

 Jackie and me. :)

 Mom and Dad.

THE LION!

The day after the game, I taught a few lessons and asked Gale to stick around the barn so I could jump Fred.  I measured the fences after I jumped them.  Many were about 3' and two were a little higher than 3'.  It was good for Fred and I to go jump something bigger without the reassurance from Cindy or Sally.  When I compete, they aren't there holding my hand through the course.  Their lessons have paid off!  We had a good ride.

In fact, the ride was so good I entered the Burgundy Hollow HT at the last minute.  BH offers a neat option to mix and match levels.  I did the novice dressage test, beginner novice XC, and novice stadium course.  But we'll get to that in a minute.

I returned from working in Herndon, VA on Friday (9/30) in time to jump with Lauren and Napoleon.  It's a little too much fun jumping our crazy red heads.  Cindy helped us feel ready for Sunday.

Saturday was a crazy day.  I rode Fred, taught lessons, and then picked up Aileen, Stephanie, and LClark (Lauren) for our adventure to Devon.  Connie, (I may get this wrong and I apologize), my mom's cousin had tickets for Dressage at Devon.  She has offered to take me for years and I usually had to decline for other plans.  I finally took her offer this year.  WOW!  It was spectacular.  Our seats were perfect and the rain held off while we went shopping and for the first half of the freestyle rides.  How about a stock pin for Christmas?  The shopping was great and we only saw half of it.  Stephanie had onion dip and chicken salad.  Aileen brought champagne, cheese and crackers, and fruit.  Lauren brought cupcakes in honor of Aileen's birthday.  :)  I brought my mom's really cute and handy picnic basket.  We enjoyed a great night of wine, food, and dressage.  

 LClark and I bundled up.  It was a chilly evening.

 Aileen, the birthday girl, and Stephanie.  Life is good.

 

I was home by Saturday night at midnight and up at 5 to get ready for BH on Sunday.  Fred, since his trailer ejection, has not been the easiest to load.  He had a rough time on Sunday.  Not a big surprise seeing as his owner doesn't practice loading and unloading.  Fred finally loaded and we were off.


Our dressage warmup was very nice.  The test went really well until I saw one of Fred's shoes laying along the chains at C.  The canter departs were explosive and nervous, thanks to a mental block with the rider.  At the end of the test the judge handed me the shoe and wished me luck.  G


I went asking for opinions.  The footing was very soft, but it was a front shoe.  Fred is a bit delicate, unlike Tyler, so I was concerned.  A very nice woman came by to tell me that she had enjoyed watching Fred and I during dressage.  That was a very generous compliment.  The best thing she did was point me towards a man who was spectating and also happened to be a Cornell farrier.  He was so very wonderful to tack Fred's shoe back on.  Fred hadn't done too much damage so we returned to action.


XC went well.  It was probably only the seventh or eighth time we've gone XC.  The first little log had Fred a bit confused, but we got our act together at the second fence.  We had three fences that we weren't quite together but we made it.  We had a moment of odd spooking between a pasture with horses and the 4wheeler.  After we got past that it was smooth sailing to the end.


The novice show jumping round that followed was not as smooth.  The first fence was ok and then it when down from there.  Fred and I haven't been out in mud before and we learned a lot.  He lost his confidence and I didn't rebuild it.  He fell behind my leg and we crawled through the course.  We had two rails and a technical refusal because I circled on a bending line.  I'll take the 4 points to save me and the horse.  However... it's been a year since I did a novice SJ course and I've had Fred for 8 months so I'm not too upset.  We have accomplished more this year than I expected.

I dropped an entry for BN at the MDHT starter trial on 10/16 in the mail today.  Let's hope Fred keeps himself in one piece until then. Obviously my plan to only do Plantation this fall has changed.  I'm back to traveling for work again and finally have some extra funds in the pipeline.  If I can go to MDHT again on Nov 12, I will.  Yay for fall eventing!  


Last, but certainly not least, please search for TACK Culture on FB and like the page.  My fried, Annemarie, has an amazing website for equestrians (Tack, Apparel, Culture, Knowledge.)  Annemarie is a fellow eventer and fabulous business woman.