Today is Selena’s birthday. She started it nice and early with an 8:00 a.m. lesson at Clayton’s Florida base. She had a good school and says she and Woody are ready to rock at the CIC*** this coming week. This is at the Carolina Horse Park. Woody will do the three star and Zephyr the one star. Unfortunately Derg Boru is still wait-listed for the two star, but we haven’t given up hope that a spot will become available. Zephyr has had a Carolina’s, go faster, sweat less haircut. We prefer not to have to clip this late into spring, but sometimes there is just no way around it. He grows quite a heavy coat and always has to be clipped late in the year for the Spring events. He looks pretty spiffy!
Selena has been asked to ride one of the test rides at The Fork this year. She has never been asked to do this before and she is rather looking forward to it, dressage without stress. She will either ride Solo (A First Romance) or Riley (Rather Boldly) for the test ride for the two star. The Fork is on the first weekend in April so not long now. Solo and Riley have been on a rather casual program as they will not be competing seriously until they come back to Canada. However, they have been doing the show jumping schooling shows at Longwood on a Tuesday and have had some wonderful schools with Bruce Davidson while they are at Chesterland South. I can’t wait to see how far they have come since I last saw them.
I am at the stage of craving for the horses to return, Zephyr, Woody and my four thoroughbreds (I am a sucker for a thoroughbred and now own four), Solo, Riley, Benny and Rummy. Anne Marie (who is the O’Hanlon Eventing organizer extraordinaire) has already started the paperwork to bring them home. King Brian (Derg Boru) will stay in Ocala and his owner Megan Woods will ride him in the Ocala two star, I can’t wait to watch her. Thunderstruck will go to his new home in Maine at the end of March. Woody and Riley will go to Bruce Davidson’s Chesterland North in Pennsylvania so that Woody can be tuned up on the Chesterland hills, and Zephyr, Benny, Rummy and Solo will come home from The Fork. It’s only a couple of weeks now, I hope the weather warms up a bit for them, especially poor nude Zephyr.
We had a rotten weekend here at Balsam Hall. One of our very best friends lost a horse at her home barn to colic over the weekend. It was an older horse who was enjoying a very well deserved retirement and as everyone knows it never comes easy. First there is the hoping and praying and then the slow knowledge that it’s not going well. We all felt the loss deeply, we are a very strong ‘barn family’ and when one of us is hurting, we are all hurting so Sunday wasn’t much of a Funday at Balsam Hall. It has made me terribly nervous about our own geriatric. Selena’s first YR horse, a horse I bred myself by my own stallion is 32 this year. ‘The Main Man’ carried Selena to multiple successes at Training and Preliminary and was the first horse she rode at those levels. He was her first team horse – Ontario Young Riders and she was only three when he was born, so he has really been with her her whole life. He is VERY cheerful and drags everyone in and out to the paddocks but I have noticed that he doesn’t drink very well when the weather gets cold and I am working myself up to the decision that he should not go through this upcoming winter. I don’t want to wait too long but it’s hard to put down a horse that his still dragging the girls to the paddock. I don’t think there is ever an easy time to make the decision that we all have to make eventually.
