Big Welcome to the newest Sapphire ponies

Congrats to Sapphirians Sherry H. and Carolyn B. for buying their next perfect event partners last Wednesday!

Sherry found the regal Poznan after months of searching and several heartbreaking close calls with failed vet checks, etc. Pozer may easily be the biggest horse in our barn, which is fitting since Sherry is easily the tallest rider! He's been with Michelle for a while and has some amazing gaits as well as a very cuddly personality. He also has this absurd amount of mane and tail that will satisfy Sherry's need to groom for hours on end!

Carolyn found Junior, a skinny diamond in the rough, after hours of grueling horse shopping. (Yes, hours... and that's really only if you count the drive down to look at him.) She sat on, er.... just one horse. Lucky for her he's exactly the right horse, with a big canter, a trot that's got potential once he gets used to his new digs, and lots of chrome. The big question of "will he jump" was answered this week as he nonchalantly went over the scary Sapphire plank as if he's been doing it for years. Ok, there were a few baubles at first but what an amazing baby to figure it out in just a few trips (and I do mean trips) over the fence.

Can't wait to see both ladies competing their horses soon!

Wine tasting fund raiser benefit for In Defense of Animals

Wine tasting fund raiser benefit for In Defense of Animals

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Twin Rivers Aptly Named???

The first day of the Twin Rivers show started off with a peak of sunshine just long enough for Nahmi to get in her 4th place dressage test. The overcast skies grew more threatening as the day went on, prompting the show folks to run the upper levels of cross country a day ahead of time before rain made the footing too dangerous. The Advanced, Intermediate riders were able to complete their rides but the last few got a little damp as the rain refused to hold off for just a little longer.

Fortunately, Tina got her dressage ride on Destino done in the nick of time. The rain held off really coming down until she was back in her stall. Of course, Nahmi and Carolyn decided to talk their ponies out for a hand walk just as the heavens opened and rain of biblical proportions fell right on top of their heads.

Rainy Day Blues

Overnight, wind and rain wreaked havoc with the cross-country course as well as, sadly, Tina’s County Saddle tent. The lower level cross-country rounds were postponed until Sunday, pending a decision about the footing then.

Tina, being the hard-core eventer that she is, rode Destino in the off-and-onish rain to have an extraordinary round with no jump penalties and two time faults. After an appropriate amount of time to allow a little shopping, the heavens opened up once again. And who do you think was out walking their horses at the time? You guessed it, Carolyn and Nahmi!!

Wine tasting seemed like a really good idea for the rest of the afternoon…

So that’s what we did! The rain seemed to conspire against Nahmi getting to jump her round so we all took off and tasted some really great local wines. Many thanks to the good folks at Tobin James Winery, Clautiere (the wigs were a blast!) and ESO Winery for the generous pours and interesting recommendations.

It’s the end of the day, the sun is out (as are the neighbors sheep) and it’s a brilliant sunset. Fingers crossed about Nahmi’s rides tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it’s bull-riding for all but the decrepit (me) and savoring our excellent wine purchases back at the hotel before an early lights out.

No Joy In Mudville – literally

Sunday morning brought a huge blanket of mist but no more rain. Still, the ring hadn’t dried out enough to make it worth risking Sparky’s legs, especially since the event suddenly (and very responsibly) turned into a Combined Test with no cross-country for anyone but the big boys. On the up-side, Cappa bought a suuuuper cool cross-country jump that’s a bench on one side and a roll top on the other. Donations more than welcome to pay for this really sturdy well made jump.

To see the slide show of the weekend,click here and hit "slideshow".

Party Wars: Sapphire Vs. Equites

Carolyn & I went down to Temecula to audit the always amazing Ian Stark clinic (more on that at a later post) and made a side trip to 3 Day Ranch to see honorary Sapphirian Larry Sawyer and his new horse Caboose. It was the Holsteiner's first cross-country foray in this country and he was a super star.



Take a look at the size of their "refreshment" cups vs. ours, however. Honestly, who would you rather go to a horse show with? All kidding aside, the Equites folks were a lot of fun and great to hang out with. Best to all of them in the coming year.

Blue Moon brings New Moon to Day Creek

The year started off with a bang so far. Not only was there a (relatively) rare "Blue Moon" on New Year's Eve, Michelle brought her new horse, Moon, home to Day Creek Ranch.

A (nearly) 5-yr-old Irish TB, his official name is Race the Moon (I think). Michelle is open to any and all suggestions of show name that use "Moon" but haven't been done to death. Ideas?

Click here to see the whole Moon-shot album...

Winter hits Day Creek!

Brrrr! It must have been 50 degrees on Sunday when Carolyn and Ceilidh bundled up in their matching winter attire. See, it does get cold in CA!

Ram Tap: Sunday, Nov. 15

Its late on Sunday and I'm happy to report that the day went spectacularly well overall.

Sara and Calvin were the first up. They took a rail or two but after the show was over the two of them schooled some cross-country fences and they looked AWESOME. Whatever imperfections showed up in the show jump arena they clearly worked it out in the field.

Reese was a superstar (she says modestly about her own horse) but his success didn't come without Michelle working her buttocks off to keep Captain Klutzy from stalling out completely. Oddly, he was pretty calm in the morning but after the show was over and people started schooling the cross-country ski-jump he could see, he went BERZERK just like yesterday. Either he's anxious to prove he can do the big boy jumps or he's thinking "are you freaking crazy?".

Still, I couldn't be happier that he finished on his dressage score to take a third place ribbon.

Next up was Carolyn and Ceilidh. To quote Carolyn, "I don't bounce as well as I used to." 'Nuff said.

Ok, not quite enough... Her one boot with the broken zipper was fashionably held together with black duct tape. It looked a little odd to have one shiny, almost patent leather boot and one normal one, but later we saw that her fashion statement is becoming all the rage. There was one other competitor following in her fashion statement today with the bold slash of silvery tape! It's the look that's sweeping the nation!

Nick and Buck pulled a rail and had some time faults but still managed to stay in second place to win Training Level Reserve Champion for Area VI. Way to go boys!

Breaking down was, as always, filled with a little sadness and a little relief. Sad that the fun was over but some relief that, after four days of 5am - 7pm days fighting the damp cold of Fresno, we were going home. It was great to be showing with Nick and Sara, who were super helpful every single step of the way. It was also great of Dusty and her friend Sherri to come up and cheer the riders on with food, drink and moral support. Their sometimes bawdy revelations kept the mood light, that's for sure!

Sorry there's no pictures; the one tragedy of the weekend is that I can't find my digital camera (yet) so no more pics until Carolyn can pull them off the videos or Dusty can forward to me what she took.

Off to bed now for me, it's been a long but fantastic weekend. Thanks to one and all for their help and support!