Vegas baby!

Henry and I are spending the weekend in Las Vegas. I ran the half marathon this morning which was fun as always. Best costume was a costume of Sponge Bob in an Elvis costume. Best sign "your feet hurt because you are kicking so much ass". As always, dining opportunities. Twist by Pierre Gagnaire was trying a bit too hard. Atelier Roubchon was very good, including my salad which went beyond food presentation into a work of art. Sadly, Michael had to spend the weekend back in the zoo, so we've missed seeing him. On the upside, Jon is here from Michigan and ran the full marathon. We will be meeting him for dinner at Bradley Ogden this evening. I need to make some running goals for 2011. I am focused on Tag's eventing debut in Aiken so haven't really thought about yhe running. Debi is pleased with Tag and says he is a good boy with only slight ADD tendencies. He has destroyed a turnout sheet already which I have replaced with one of the Bit of Britain 1680D high neck sheets. Tag will be getting a new jumping girth and breastplate formthe holidays. I got myself a new saddle. Total score of a buffalo leather Ryde saddlery Vantage at a great price. Now the Devoucoux I have consigned with Malvern needs to sell and I need to get the 5 extra dressage saddles over to Skylands for their consignment. Yes, I have 6 dressage saddles, but have picked the one I am keeping, althouggh am liking e County I am riding Feivel in enoughnthat I will be keeping an eye out once something sells. The holidays are good as I can focus my shopping on non-horsey gifts for everyone.

Lessons

So, I sent Tag off to Debi Crowley so that he could be in routine work and so that I could focus on getting my riding skills back in order before eventing him in the winter/spring. That plan has been working out pretty well and yesterday, it really came together in two lessons. The first, a dressage lesson with Jessica Ransehousen on the wonderful Feivel. Feivel is for sale, but until he is sold, I am able to take some lessons on him. He is trained through 4th level dressage and is both kind and sensitive, so I feel rather as if I just think about what I want to do and he does it. We worked on walk-canter transitions, shoulder in and half pass during the course of the lesson. Then, a jumping lesson on the wonderful Lucky. Lucky is a school pony at Cairn O'Mount. He is super easy to jump, quite athletic and scopey and it is nice to be jumping around a little course working on distances and rhythm. The two are quite different. Feivel is a 16.2 hand chestnut warmblood and Lucky is a 14.2 hand quarter pony, but each excel at their jobs. To top it off, the weather was nearly perfect and then yesterday night, the Eagles beat the Giants. Happy Sunday.

Off to camp

Tag has just headed off to Debi Crowley's place to be in dressage boot camp for a couple of months. I am looking for a trained horse to ride so I can be in dressage boot camp with Missy and Jessica for a couple of months. Meanwhile, baseball is over, football is happening, yeah!!! and I've started doing a little bit of teaching at Cairn O'Mount. This means that I have relinquished my official amateur status with the USEA and USEF (getting free jumping lessons in exchange for the teaching). I really like the teaching, though I probably don't have time to do it.

Tag updates to follow as well as my potential adventures with a horse that knows what it is doing.

I was there!!!!

Tuesday, Henry told me he had been offered tix for the Wednesday Phillies game. With a 5 pm start, it seemed a stretch, but I decided the playoffs don't come along every year (although for the past 4 years, they have). Off we went to very good seats along third base line with the bonus of being under the second deck overhang, keeping us perfectly dry during the rain.

Roy Halladay, 2nd no-hitter in post-season baseball history and I was there!! On the radio this morning, they were joking about how the 46,000 fans who were there will expand in the story telling until what you hear in 5 years will lead you to believe that everyone Phildelphia, plus a bunch of people from Delaware and NJ all were there.

It was a really fabulous experience and we have tickets for tomorrow as well.

My WEG experience

So, if you want to hear about WEGs generally, check out www.eventingnation.com, the chronicle of the horse forums or any other eventing blog or publication. Here, I just want to put down a couple of my thoughts and experiences.

The good:
In a rare disagreement with something said by Jimmy Wofford, I totally loved the Kentucky Bourbon Cask Ale.

The KHP hospitality suite was incredible. Great folks, free food and drink, wi-fi, baggage check and even some tickets. I'm really glad to have been a part of supporting the KHP in the run-up to WEG and intend to continue my support.

Far fewer lines, less distance, etc. I personally scored in a major way on the associated reservations, getting a hotel room for $48 per night, a rental car for $22 dollars a day and a round trip flight into the Lexington airport for $178.

Unexpected room mate Lisa Thomas was great and I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with her.

Bumping into friends and acquaintances from all over the country. Practically the first people I saw when I walked in on Thursday were Denis and Bambi Glacum, but also saw many others.

Cross-Country Day!!! need I say more. I was honored to volunteer as an area steward and the team was amazing. Some communications confusion (a scheduled Thursday rehearsal was canceled, leaving the day available for shopping and spectating). Beautiful day, beautiful horses. I was particularly drawn to the Japanese horses.

The less good:

They had run out of uniforms in many sizes so I ended up with a polo shirt I was swimming in, though it is comfy tech fabric.

Getting out of the park after XC Saturday evening.

Maps that only had parts of things on them, making it hard to figure out the overall orientation, despite the fairly large amount of time I have spent at the KHP over the years.

The ridiculous food prices and low quality of the food. Thank goodness for the hospitality suite and great dinners. They fed the volunteers quite well, although thank goodness it wasn't hot as they ran out of water.

All in all, a great opportunity

Tag's first show

I took Tag to his first little show over the weekend. It was one of the DVCTA schooling shows at nearby Springdale Farm. James Dwyer was kind enough to drive me (and serve as my support person for the afternoon). Tag loaded uneventfully (first trip off the farm since arriving in early April). He unloaded quietly and stood while I tacked him up and then warmed up at the end of the indoor totally quietly (in fact, it was hard to get him sufficiently forward. Given that it was over 90 degrees, this may have been unsurprising). We did Intro tests A and B as I still don't trust his canter sufficiently to be willing to exhibit it in public, but he was a star. The judge commented on how obedient and correct he was and he scored a 67.0% on A and a 67.5% on B, gathering a 3rd and a 2nd place ribbon. More impressive, was how quiet and matter of fact he was about the whole thing. No drama at all. In between tests, we went for a hack around the property, during which he was also quiet and happy to go wherever I pointed him. Definitely thinking about more shows with him, need to get the jumping in hand so we can start eventing. What a good boy!

Tag jumps

Yes, I think it counts even when the fences are all under 14" high. He has jumped two little white cavaletti, a cross rail, a skinny vertical, and a three jump "grid" with the middle fence including two mini-brick-wall blocks. He is quite clever with his feet (until he figures out he doesn't actually need to jump and just trots over the caveletti) and other than an occasional first time seeing the fence spook, seems brave. I'm looking forward to his progress over the next couple of months.