I know I mustn’t but I just can’t help myself. I cherish my VW Westphalia so unreservedly (and with absolutely no common sense) that I am now buying its third engine. As one of my more sympathetic and understanding (read: fellow VW owner) friends says, ‘third time is the charm’. The van is getting an Audi transplant while my bank account prepares for a one way transfusion in which it will be depleted by some four thousand dollars. But hey – who can buy a vehicle that is almost as easy to parallel park as a Smart Car but sleeps four and has a German engineered fridge and stove, for four grand? Hm?
I’m so darned grateful to the lovely people at my freestyle clinic in Bend, OR for not only putting up with my distraught and distracted state last weekend, but for actually making me forget my troubles. Less than an hour after standing at the side of the highway, belongings and wiener dog unloaded while watching afore-mentioned vehicular-love-of-my-life get loaded onto a flat bed truck, there was my first rider with an expectant smile on her face, waiting for me to make her dance with her horse. Nothing for it but to give the head a shake and pull out the metronome and music. It was a reminder to me that real, living and breathing loved ones are so much more important than a machine that I can either turn my back on or throw money at (latter being chosen this time around). The message was brought one level closer to my heart today when a very close friend told me her horse will not be dancing to his freestyle for a little while as he (fingers crossed!) recovers from an injury. The next time your toaster stops working or your car overheats, just be grateful it’s only a machine causing you the day’s grief.
I came back on line from a week’s absence to discover that the horse world is as much a soap opera as we sometimes accuse it of being. Apart from my guest editorial being posted on Eurodressage (http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2010/08/30/robinsons-rave-trouble-ten), nothing really happened while I was away. That’s a lie. Something pretty big did go down. Several of Canada’s eventing team hopefuls did a little fine tuning last weekend at Richland Park. Fine, indeed. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo won the three star and my would-be adopted daughter Steph Rhodes-Bosch won the Advanced Horse Trials on her good ol’ Maple Ridge boy Port Authority. Way to keep kicking it ladies! Can’t wait to see you in Kentucky at the end of the month.
