Benny, on the day we bought him.

Benny, on the day we bought him.

Today was lovely because Woody’s owners came to visit. It is always a good day when John and Judy Rumble come by. Sunday is also the day we jump everything at home…Sunday Funday as it is known. All the horses and riders take a turn at a course or a gymnastic exercise on a Sunday morning. Sunday Funday runs all year round, indoors or out, show dates permitting. It is my favourite lesson set of the week, I must admit.

Woody is huffing and puffing along in full work. With the American dollar gobbling up the Canadian dollar, we have had to decide who goes to Florida and who stays home this year. I imagine we are not the only Canadian snowbirds who are having to budget carefully this year. As an Olympic hopeful it’s an important year for Selena to put everything she has into Foxwood High, and she is looking forward to getting the show on the road in the next few days and giving it her all.

Benny and Rummy are in limbo. It would be awfully nice to take them both down with us, but we are not sure how practical that is. We are having the health papers set aside and made ready just in case we find there is a space for them somewhere.

Meanwhile the packing lists have started. We take vast amounts of Omega Alpha supplements, enough to cover Woody and Rather Boldly for four months. Woody is on several of their supplements and so are all the other horses. In addition we take about half a ton of Purina Trimax with us. We HATE Woody changing his diet for any reason, I am a huge believer in routine for horses and we make changes to their diet very reluctantly.

Last year we were given beautiful new Voltaire girths to go with Selena’s saddles. The new Voltaire girths seem to be very comfortable for the horses and they don’t shift at all. I think they are the nicest girths we have ever had and a fitting compliment to our lovely Voltaire saddles.

Everything on the lists has to be checked, cleaned, wrapped, oiled, polished, double checked and then finally packed. Sometimes the packing can be so zealous that I have to ensure we are left here with enough saddles and bridles for the winter!