After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...
Back in 2013, my friend Ellen Harvey, who works for the USTA, asked if I would be willing to be a part of her new book, Standardbred Old Friends , which she was writing together the famed photographer Barbara Livingston. Of course, I said YES! She decided to include Dreamy with McKeever Hanover, my friend Shelly's gelding. The book was designed after Barbara's Old Friends books she had done for Thoroughbreds. The Standardbred book features forty three distinguished horses of the breed in the twilight of their careers. We spent a gorgeous fall day at Popham Beach at sunset. We had so much fun and Barbara got some really great shots. Ellen wrote the narratives to accompany the photos. So being in a cool book clearly wasn't enough! Ellen asked us if we would like to guest marshal/outride at the historic track in Goshen, NY over July 4, 2014. Another resounding YES! Sadly, it was POURING on July...