Selena left at 7:15 a.m. for the border. The vet is not there until 8:00 a.m. and Selena had made an appointment to take the horses through at 8:00 a.m. Everything ran according to schedule and the trip across the border was smooth sailing. The last time I heard from her was at 5:29 p.m. to say she was on the Washington beltway at rush hour. Bad news…it can take four hours to get across Washington at rush hour.
Here at the barn we are down to 14 horses. Normally running between 24 and 27 in the barn, 14 is a whole new level of organization. It’s the little things, like everybody out at once. The weekend is forecast to be wickedly cold and tonight I am researching what videos we will watch on Saturday. With a forecast high of -21, we will be crowding in front of the fire to be inspired by the likes of Ingrid Klimke and Mark Todd. You gotta love YouTube.
The place seems quiet and the riding list is seriously reduced with the removal of the OTTBs and Solo. After the two days of bedlam, lessons from morning until evening, while Selena was here, today was mellow. We are trying out some new bedding. We are bedded with wood pellets and have been for a several years. However the price has gone up a huge amount over the years and they have to be soaked in wheelbarrows, which is pretty easy in the summer but a real pain in the butt in the winter when everything freezes. Today we are test driving a new pellet which is a mix of wood and natural plant fibres from grass and flax hulls. The flax hulls look lovely, but I think they might end up being too expensive. We are also going to retry shavings (not my favourite) and I am considering baled shredded paper. I will let you know the results of my experiments.
Today’s first photo is during one of Selena’s many lessons yesterday. She is riding a rather cute appendix quarter horse called Noah. Noah belongs to Sian Phillips and he can be very opinionated, Selena loves riding him and was giving him a little talking to while she was here. He has that “game is up” look. In the background is one of our working students, Jacline Gnidec riding ‘Song of Songs.’
The second one is Riley (Rather Boldly),who is the most laid back thoroughbred that ever was. This is his afternoon nap time in Florida.
