We need water! The hunter pace hits 90 degrees!

Amy, Angie and I had a great time at the hunter pace at Bucks County Horse Park. The course was almost eight miles and baking hot, and we ended up on our knees drinking from a stream halfway through! The horses were great (Itty and Azi have the Arabian trait of being imervious to heat!) and Rusty got to jump a ton of cross country fences, including some of the bigger ones. The heatwave continues, and today found me shampooing Doc outside his stall here at the house. When he was all clean and cool I turned him loose to graze for a minute while I went to get the scissors to give him his Spring haircut. When I came out of the house there he was rolling in the newly rototilled garden!!! Of course when I approached him he took off round the garden and dropped and rolled again, before spotting an escape route and galloping off through the brush in the lower field into the woods (there's no fence, and we back onto thousands of acres of private land!). I could hear him crashing around and sure enough, he came thundering back up through the garden, leaving huge footprints before stopping on the lawn to graze. I finally managed to catch him and found myself caked in dirt as the sweating, mud covered brat shook himself all over me!

Over The Hill Farm show...proud moments!!!

Jenna, Amy, Olivia and Nicole showed off their strengths today at the OTHF show. The girls rode flawlessly and gave folks a glowing impression of the quality of the horses, riders and training at RO-NO Ranch.
I rode Monty first in the jumper class and he felt fluid, flexible and very easy to turn so I was thrilled. He got a second thanks to his quick turns. Jenna took Rusty in a jumper class too and got a second place; once again showing great potential as one to watch in a speed class. She uses her eyes to line up the turns and beat out horses that galloped and knocked fences down by making sure she was clear.
Then Jenna and Rusty did beautifully in the Equitation class against stiffcompetition,winning the flat class. Rusty has turned into the consummate equitation horse...he was so fluid around the course and Jenna and he looked like they were one.
Amy and Ittybit were a picture of calmness and rythm all day. Her flat classes were controlled and he really stood out in the cross rail class for his balanced, pretty style. People kept asking me what breed he was and barely anyone noticed his missing eye!
Kanani continues to improve, as does Nicole. He was calm on the ground and settled very quickly under saddle. He and I won the basic hunter class and then Nicole did very well in her flat class. We were looking for A1 behaviour from him and he delivered.
Olivia and Nick triumphed in a very competitive Long Stirrup Division. The judge was very thorough, asking the girls to sit the trot AND two point in the walk trot class. Our winter drilling paid off as Amy, Olivia and Nicle aced the tests she gave! Olivia was third in the walk trot, and then moved up to first in the canter division. You could tell she felt she and Nick could have done better over fences but she impressed the judge who pinned her first...Champions again!!! All in all it was a relaxed and friendly show which everyone enjoyed. AND the weather co-operated!

Makes you think...

Today I got home from a wonderful day...trail riding, taking care of healthy, happy horses, watching folks enjoy their animals...
Then I get home and watch '60 minutes' where the featured story is a woman who worked hard her whole life and now had her cancer care taken away because her insurance company dropped her when she became too sick to work. Her local hospital had to close their cancer clinic because they didn't have enough money to run it. Then the healthcare provider took away her bed and wheelchair. She's terminally ill. I just wanted to tell her kids to come out here and get some horse therapy. I was so hopping mad at how this woman was treated after paying her taxes all her life. At the end of the story they said the reporter called her insurance company and they reinstated her coverage. What about all the other folks who didn't get featured on TV...?
Anyway...I'll be hugging my humans and animals extra close after hearing her story...