Wonderful WEG (World Equestrian Games)

The countdown clocks that have been up all over Lexington for about 3 years finally wound down, and the Opening Ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games finally came about with the most beautiful displays of equine pageantry and variety. Paul and I were blessed with free tickets to the Opening at the last minute, and Mirian got to attend with a friend. (Robert is not into horses!)

My pictures won't do it justice, but let me just mention some of what we saw and heard at the Opening: Hundreds of horses representing dozens of breeds, a parade of athletes from 62 countries (much like they do at the Olympics), Wynona Judd singing My Old Kentucky Home as beautifully as I've ever heard it, Mohommad Ali in a glorious antique caddillac, William Shatner driving a buggy, drill teams, horses dancing with the Lexington Ballet, glorious opera singers, governors and mayors and other politicians, a real princess (HRH Princess Haya, president of the FEI), a dozen Fresians "dancing" to New York, New York, a mini horse race with famous jockeys riding, precision drill teams, trick horses, and million dollar circus carriages. It was a display I'll never forget.
There were so many different breeds and styles of horses on display throughout the Games (not just those competing), and it truly was an international event of excellence and diversity with the best of many types represented. All were groomed and trained to the hilt, and I was completely inspired.
Not only REAL horses, there was the most beautiful horse art and sculpture at every turn.Mirian got to meet the actor who played the jockey in the Secretariat movie (just released this weekend, and I got an autographed Breyer model of Secretariat, signed by Ron Turcotte, his real jockey! Painted horses remain all over Lexington, and I still hope to check them all out.
There is more to come, I can't say enough about what a great time I had at the WEG, and like many of my friends I feel that it's come to an end too soon... but we're so lucky to have had it at all. Pin It Now!

Equines on the Equinox

MB and Marti and I headed out to Shaker Village on the first day of fall, though the weather was a far cry from"fall-ish" at 94 degrees! We've ridden the trails of Shaker Village before, but were especially drawn there this time because the United States Equestrian Team's Endurance Team has been training there and we hoped to watch a bit.We didn't get to see much training going on, as apparently this last week before the competition the team mostly just tries to maintain fitness, letting the horses rest up for their 100 mile ride against other mostly Arabian horses and riders from around the world! I'm excited that I'll be volunteering on Endurance Day (Sunday), and hope to have more to report. Yeah, there's going to be a lot of horse activity on this site for a while with the World Equestrian Games countdown at just one more day!They couldn't have picked a nicer place to train, as the trails of Shaker Village are just beautiful! As always, the best parts were being with my good friends and my favorite mount, Sunday.
We always enjoy telling lots of good secrets and stories...lunch and fellowship....
a few good canters...
meeting other horse lovers out on the trail...cooling off in the creek (though there wasn't much flowing water to be found since it's soooo dry)
and giving my sweet boy Sunday a kiss on his soft nose from time to time. It was a hard day to beat! Pin It Now!

A Horsey Time and a Horsey Place!

Lexington, Kentucky... Horse Capital of the World! Yes, that's what has brought myself and so many good friends to this area, and will soon be bringing hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe for the World Equestrian Games! (September 25- October 10th at the Kentucky Horse Park). It's the largest sporting event of any kind in North America this year, and will include athletes from 62 countries! Many of my horse friends and I are volunteering (there are, after all, something like 6,000 volunteers being utilized to help things go smoothly), and we've been attending trainings, picking up our uniforms and credentials, and navigating an online system to schedule our volunteer shifts.
As fun as it is to anticipate the world-class equine activity that will soon be on our home turf, there's just nothing that beats a Sunday afternoon trail ride on our own steeds! We trailered to a neighboring friend's farm the other day. Although she raises and sells exquisite racing thoroughbreds, Rosilyn's preference for a casual ride is the horse she can hop on in just a halter and lead rope... Okie, the farm's "pony", a calming influence on yearlings in training.

Horse tales are freely shared, and the valuable equine athletes in high-end competitions make no better stories than those we tell of our own horses- of those that won't get in a trailer and will instead jump into the back of a pickup truck (as one of Paul's old show horses would do when he was a kid), their sicknesses or injuries, funny personality quirks, or of a particular fall or foible. It's pretty hard to beat the accounts of horse adventures told by Debra, our other neighbor friend that comes along. She's been on several international horse treks, and a recent blog post on her beautiful blog, Foxlily, about her adventures in Tibet make our story of getting lost along Horse Lick creek earlier this summer seem quite lame!
We cross over parched cow pastures that were just 6 weeks ago unseasonably green- Central Kentucky is now in a severe drought.We stop at beautiful Glen's Creek to water the horses; fortunately it's still running, though its much more shallow than usual.
We're visited by curious horses at a neighboring farm. Our own horses pick up their heads and try to look lively, and they all quickly bore of each other as we amble by.
Although I still love the equine activities at the Kentucky Horse Park and racing at Keeneland, on a day like Sunday I know that THIS is why I came to Kentucky.... to enjoy my own horse on a lovely day with friends and family. I know I'm very lucky. Pin It Now!

Vacation Memories

Playing in the creek, Zion National Park

So, it's been a long time since I've written! It seems like forever since we were in Utah and there's been a lot of water under the bridge since.... our son was in an accident (he's okay now), school started, and we made the decision for me to home school our daughter (more on that later..). Utah left a big impression on me, and provided the space and inspiration that I'd hoped to have with extended time away. Especially the hiking! Walking those sandy trails with castles of rock rising all around helped clear away lots of cobwebs in the way that beach walking does for many. Since I've been letting my memories simmer for so long, I think I'll leave out the details of our trip for now and catch up with my current life.My camera broke on the first day of our trip (I fell on it when my scooter skidded out in deep sand), and when I returned it was hard to get excited about blogging without a decent camera! After a lot of research, I decided to buy a used duplicate of the Sony DSC H50 on eBay (for less than a minimum repair bill), and it is working out great.The first hat I made upon our return- definitely Utah-inspired colors!

I found some time for fiber arts, but not enough yet since the Midway Festival and other good selling opportunities are fast approaching! I'm enjoying making jewelry using alpaca fiber beads, and it's nice to have another alpaca product that's not dependent on cool weather! Speaking of.... it's supposed to be a cool and beautiful Labor Day weekend, hope you have a nice one.

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Destination: Moab, Utah

We finally got away from the farm after all of the lists and preparations, details after details, and extra training of our helpers who will be caring for our animals and home while we take a good long trip for the first time in ages! Our somewhat unreliable motor coach was finally fixed and we left the same day, anxious to start chewing away at the many miles we hoped to cover.

Munchie and Sushi, of course, got to come along! Some friends have expressed surprise that we would bring the pets with us (not the teens!), but after the third day I can attest that they are, um, a bit easier than the teens can sometimes be.... Spousal harmony has been tested to the max, too, as we have driven many hours a day and experienced the frustration of discovering things still not fixed on the coach as promised.A few rare minutes of sibling cooperation at a rest area near Vail, CO

Sometimes it does become about the destination, and we were all excited as we approached Moab, Utah and pulled into our lovely campsite to stay for at least 4 nights (a big improvement over the Walmart parking lots we parked at for free in Missouri and Kansas). Colorado was gorgeous as we drove through, but Moab is sooo different than anyplace we've ever experienced. We had a great Mexican dinner in town and all had a decent night's rest, finally.We set out today on our dirt bikes (and I on a Honda Reflex scooter), with the goal of getting acclimated and finding some petroglyphs which are in the immediate area. The first place we identified to look for a brochure was actually near a golf course in the back of a cool subdivision of desert adobe homes- not really where you'd expect to find an ancient archeological site. I had become intrigued by these ancient rock drawings while researching a felting commission earlier in the summer. I thought they were awesome!
This lizard wasn't especially impressed.We then rode up a road beside the town's McDonald's to find some more, and within just a mile or two this is what we began to see...We plan to go back to locate the petroglyphs, but for today the beauty of Moon Flower Canyon just kept beckoning us further, despite the heat. Moab has been on Paul's "bucket list" for a long time, and from what we experienced here on our first day it's been a very worthy destination! We still look forward to visiting Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, which are only a few miles from here... it's gonna be a great trip.The kids climbing around on one of many water breaks- it's HOT, but so NOT humid!
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