WOODSIDE AUGUST 8-10/ HORSE SHOPPING ADVENTURE

FROM FELLOW SAPPHIRE-ER MICHELLE "DISCO" C ---

I’m awakened by the 80’s sound of Huey Lewis and The News and my husband asking, snooze button? My answer is a emphatic yes! It’s early, too early but the next time the alarm goes off I pull myself from my toasty cocoon and stumble towards the bathroom. By the time I get out of the shower, make myself presentable and pack up the last few things, my phone rings. It’s our fearless leader, I’m late. How can this be, I’m never late and Michelle is never on time. I tell her I’m leaving in 5 and will be to her place in 15, and so it was and they journey began. Next stop is Camille’s who has literally been standing outside her home for a ½ hour, oops. So now the truck is fully loaded, Michelle, Camille, myself and of course the dogs, Oscar, Toast, and Mojito.

Team Katleman was headed straight to Woodside while we were going further north to look at a horse. The long trip is passing quickly as we talk about what else, horses. Not long after we get off the 5 Mojito gives us something that we’ll be talking about for the rest of the trip. Camille made mention that she thought that she smelled fertilizer. I was hoping she was right but my nose knew better. Instead the lovely unmistakable aroma we were all enjoying was anal glands. Windows down, heads out! We’re still not sure what Camille was doing to that dog but the end result was one very stinky fleece jacket that quickly found its way to the back of the truck. The horse was nice, but nothing special so we now reverse direction back to Woodside. Team Katleman has called to let us know they have arrived safely, although they nearly ran out of gas causing Nick a small panic attack, but all's well and the horses were settling in nicely. The trip down the coast proves to be quite picturesque as we travel over the Golden Gate Bridge and the outskirts of San Fran. We arrive at Woodside and it’s time to get to work.

Eddie had decided it was going to be a long day at the office. Sara did her best to not fight with him but when he kept on flipping his head we were all ready to change his name to Elmer. Sara struggled through and was able to end on a decent note and hope he got it out of his system. Nick and Buck had a lovely ride with no incident.

After dinner at Hobee’s we came away knowing a little more about Nick in particular. Apparently he’s accident prone and is also very good at inflicting pain on his loved ones. Did I mention he shut his mothers fingers in the truck door earlier in the day? Clearly we’ll have to keep an eye on him.

It’s D day -- what were you thinking? I’m talking about dressage. The horses look great scrubbed, brushed and braided and the kids don’t look half bad either. Sara is up first, warm-up was much better that the day before and Sara is well focused at not engaging with any of Eddie’s antics. If he wants to lift his head she’s going to push him forward into her hand. Sara succeeds with her plan and is able to measure her success with her own knowledge of just how hard he is to ride in dressage. Now Nick, one might think he could have easily been distracted because his girlfriend is warming up at the same time, but Nick has his game face on and I don’t even catch him give his girlfriend a quick smile. He’s hardcore! Success also finds Nick and Buck. When the standings are posted Nick is tied for 3rd and Sara is just outside the ribbons… for now. The rest of the day continues without incident until Michelle and Camille open a bottle of wine and realize they have no glasses. With the classic eventer ingenuity glasses are formed out of containers that previously contained cake and everyone is happy. Later in the evening we join Nick’s girlfriend Hanna and her mother and trainer for dinner. The subject of Janet’s bruised fingers come up in discussion and again in typical eventer style it’s decided that the cure is traumeel. You’ll have to ask Janet if it worked. Just as we pulled into the hotel parking lot Mojito reminded us just who’s in control. Yep, you guessed it that familiar smell filled the truck once more, it must be Camille’s doing because I know my driving was impeccable. Lucky for us he kept on getting it on clothing, things easily cleaned and not on the truck interior.

Time to jump! Camille and I find our seats and watch the open novice and it’s a train wreck. Not until the last rider and finally a double clean. By this time Camille and I have tried to get our timing down for pictures (tried). Sara is the first to go in junior novice and sets the standard with a double clean. WAHOOO!!! You should know there were very few double cleans. Nick was up next and rode a great round with just one rail. Thankfully those rounds go quickly because Janet was seriously going to need the paramedics with her show mom nerves. When the standings were posted Nick was in 3rd alone and Sara was now in 5th. The kids quickly walked there x-country course and Nick being a good brother said he would take care of Eddie for Sara so we could head out to Petaluma to continue horse shopping. Once again the truck was full with the five of us and yes three dogs. An hour and a half later we arrived to find some very nice horses. Prince (aka Bonehead) proved to be a real contender for Sara just as soon as Eddie is sold. After a few hours we were back in the truck headed back to Woodside. Later that night we ate dinner at the hotel and as we talked, to the dismay of the kids it was revealed that my family history includes some, I hate to say it, redneck stories. I would just like to remind them that I cannot be held responsible if my family members chose to eat road kill. After dinner Michelle decided it would be a good idea to bath her dogs in the hotel bathtub, by morning they smelled good but that evening as we drifted off to sleep eau d' wet dog is all I could smell.

It’s time for x-country, what’s there to say, it’s the day we all wait for. Nick and Sara both did fantastic and stayed in the same place. With another long drive ahead of us the horses were taken care of and the things were loaded up quickly. We decided not to caravan seeing how we were not hauling and left around 11:00, contrary to the ride up, the ride home was quiet evidence of a long successful show. Even Mojito made it home with no more incidents. So congratulations to team Katleman on a job well done and hopefully we’ll see everyone at the barn cookout.