Christmas came and went.  We had a great time in CA seeing family.  Other than me getting a sore throat and then losing my voice on Christmas day.

We flew home on the red eye on the 27th and landed at 5 am on the 28th.  We had our car waiting for us in the lot as Rebecca had flown out the day before and had left it there for us.

It was nice to be back in Florida.  We drove home with Merlin as he flew with us on our trip.  We were pretty tired, luckily I had packed our trailer before we left and we would have very little to do today to get over to vet in at the Greenway ride.

Erebus and Dust still had their easyboot glue on shoes on from the Goethe LD ride so we were pretty much all set.

We went in and took care of a few pressing issues, then Jeremy took care of our new horse, Elvis's feet so he could be turned out with our herd and then we caught our guys and loaded up.

(Elvis arrived while we were in CA.  He was our good friend and client's horse, Carole Kraft Edwards.  He was born and raised at Jan Worthington and Grace Ramsey's farm in Illinois and was purchased by Carole after we spent the summer in 2010 with them and recommended him.)

The weather was pretty nice, especially compared with CA where it had been in the 40's mostly.  (As I write this it is 5 pm and it is 72 outside!) We vetted our guys in and then went on a very short ride.  They felt great.  Then we were off to dinner with the Olson's.  We had a fun time at Sonny's BB-Q, ribs are always great!!

That night we went to bed super early as we had been operating on about 1:30 hours of sleep all that day.  It started raining shortly after we went to sleep.  It rained all night long.  When it was time to get up it was still pouring and there were high winds and thunder and lightening.  We saddled up and headed to the start.  Jeremy noticed that there was no one else warming up.  We asked around and the start had been delayed by 30 mins. due to lightening.  So nice that they told everyone!

I rechecked in 30 mins and it was delayed another 30 mins.  At 8 am we started.  The rain had stopped and we actually did not get rained on at all!!

The day went very well, both of our first time 50 mile horses did great.  They both recovered well and ate and drank well.  I am very happy with the two of them.

At the end of the day they both looked good and they finished 4th and 5th.  A pretty good start to their careers.

Have a Happy New Years and hope to see you at the Gator Run 2 day ride.

Heather

Well Goethe has come and gone and I am tardy on writing this. I am also in CA on Holiday for Christmas, and more info: we did the Goethe Saturday, packed up went home that night, went back for awards Sunday, unpacked the trailer, repacked the trailer for a 50 with Dust and Erebus on the 29th (we get back from CA the morning of the 28th) then packed for CA and flew out Monday.

All 7 horses vetted in fine for the Goethe ride.  Saturday morning was nice after Fridays chilliness.  I was able to start in a T-Shirt without too much discomfort.

Stirgess and Cleo warmed up together and Vegas and Chanses warmed up together.  It was an uneventful start.

The loops flew by and Cleo and Stirgess got to do the first 2 loops together as the 100 and 75 were common to that point.  It was nice and relaxing. 

When we got into vet check one we had a great crew waiting for us.  Skip, Lynn and Mark Ashby, Mark DeVoti and Brett Lain.  Super awesome.  Both horses pulsed down although Cleo is a freak and out pulsed us by a minute or two!  Stirgess didn't mind her leaving to go pulse.

As we were getting ready to leave Rachel and Chanses and Erica and Vegas came in.  They were doing well also.

On loop two Jeremy and I were only about a mile out of the vet check when it became obvious that we were coming up on the LD riders that had just started their ride!  What a drag for everyone!  We had to now pass the 44 LD riders while racing our race, the poor riders on green horses that had tried to start in the back were now going to be passed by all of the front runners from the 75 and 100.  Bad planning.  Oh well, we slowed down each time and made sure no one got dumped.

We did get to see Erebus and Dust because of this though as they were both on the LD.

After the first two loops Jeremy and I headed separate ways on different loops.  Stirgess is really fun and he was just cantering along.  This loop got really hot and humid so it was our slowest loop of the ride, we averaged 11 mph.  We had been averaging 11.4. 

At the next vet check I saw Sarah and Nixon and they looked great doing the 1*. 

So far all were doing well. At the last vet check for my 75, mile 60, I trotted Stirgess out and he wasn't right.  The vets said to come back for a recheck so we went and crewed for him and then I did some practice trot outs and he looked questionable.  I represented him and  he vetted out lame.  The vets couldn't decide on a leg as it was subtle, so I guess that is better than being super lame.

In the meantime the 2 rookies finished the LD, Erebus and Dust.  They looked great, Rebecca and Elaine took great care of them.

Cleo came in and had her vet check and then headed out on her second to last loop.  Rachel left for her last loop and it was going to be common with Jeremy's so she went out to catch up to him.  Erica and Vegas had slowed down so weren't riding with Rachel and Chanses any more.

I took care of Stirgess and then went back to see everyone else finish.

At Cleo's last vet check at mile 85 she passed her vet check and Jeremy Rider Optioned.  He felt like she was not feeling like herself and it was better to save it for another day.

Chanses finished 10th and looked super.  Vegas finished a while later and Erica was all smiles.  It was the pairs first 2*.  All in all 5 of 7 finishing isn't too shabby, it's just a drag to prepare all the beasts and then not finish yourself!!  Oh well, horses.

We will be at the Greenway Getaway with the two rookies, Dust and Erebus for their first 50's. 

We sold Bailey last week to Barbara Hershberger.  They will make a great pair.

See you all soon, and Merry Christmas,
Heather

Well the busy week of prep is coming to a close.  Rachel Shackelford, now Rachel Lain, and her husband Brett arrived on Monday.  We have been busy getting all the horses ready, trailer loaded, 7 horses booted, tack organized, etc. 

Last week the Olson's got here and their new house had a paperwork issue to handle so they parked it here and kept us company in the meantime.  It was super fun to visit with them and see their 8 horses they brought with them.  It has been busy for all.  They have been fencing and getting a new house ready this week in addition to getting ready for the race, I remember doing that last year!

It is raining but the race is calling for 79 degrees and I have no idea how humid it might get, hopefully it won't be like two days ago when it was 80 degrees and 82% humidity at 4PM!!!

We are taking 7 horses from our place.  Dust and Erebus will do the LD with Rebecca Silva and Elaine Lemieux on board.  Nixon and Sarah Schick will do the FEI 1*.  Vegas and Erica DeVoti, Chanses and Rachel, Stirgess and myself will do the FEI 2*.  Cleo (the one who crashed off the edge of the Tevis trail and cut her foot so badly) and Jeremy will do the 3*.

Luckily the race is only 15 min away from our house.  Today all of the missing people from our group arrive.  Lynn and Mark Ashby are driving in from Delaware, Erica and Mark DeVoti are flying in from CO, Sarah Schick is driving down from VA and Skip Lightfoot is flying in from CA.  So basically it's party time:) 

I will keep you posted.
Heather