I ♥ Bugsy

I ♥ Bugsy. 

More details later!

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May/June Goals Review

I know, I know!  I'm super late with this, and I thought about just skipping it altogether, but that's just not me.  So here we are, May/June goals review

May/June Goals

• Improve Naughtie's dressage
• I'll say it was a success.  We scored a 36.5 and a 35.5 in her first show.  I'll take that.
• Ride Twinkie
• Big ol' fail on this one.  Just never got the chance to get on her before the end of June.
• Prep Naughtie for her first recognized horse trial
• Well, we did prep for a horse trial, and pretty well.  We did the combined test at South Farm in early June and she was very good for that.  But we never actually made it to a horse trial.  However since the goal was only to prep for it, I'm saying it was a success.
• Ace the PHR Exam
• Well, I don't know that I'd go so far as to say I aced the exam.  But I did pass.  And hopefully that will open some doors for me employment-wise.

July/August Goals

• Ride Twinkie
• Work on improving my own ability to ride Bugsy in dressage
• Work on my own fitness
• Continue to work with Naughtie
• Become more comfortable riding lots of horses

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Moving On

Well, I had plans to write this big catch up post but time has just gotten away from me.  And quite frankly I just can't think of everything that's happened.  So we're just starting fresh.

We have a new boarder in the barn, Courtney.  She just moved here from Texas to work as an engineer at Shell in Cranberry.  Very, very nice.  And she has two very cool horses.  Bucky is her BIG (17.3 h) Dutch Warmblood gelding.  She has shown him through Intermediare and is school Prix St. Georges so it's really neat to watch her work him.  I want to take Twinkie out with him someday and just let her watch.  Maybe she'll learn a thing or two.  :)  Courtney's other horse is her young pony mare, Kiwi.  Kiwi's just been under saddle for about 7 months, so she's still just learning, but oh so cute to watch.  It's nice because Courtney will come out in the evenings after work, so I've been getting in a few extra rides on my days off with her.

I'm starting to get out to the barn super early on Saturdays so I can find time to ride all the horses that Bonnie keeps adding to my string.  I haven't been on Kaye since the combined test at South Farm two months ago, and actually I'm okay with that.  I've got so many other great rides that I don't mind giving her a break from me.  She does enough with all the little kids, especially in this heat.  I'm still riding Bugsy every chance I get.  And after our success at the Boyd Martin clinic I've decided to enter him at Erie Hunt and Saddle Club Horse Trials on August 20th.  Erie is a great local event and I really encourage everyone to support EHSC.  We've been in the process of changing out the arena footing the last couple of weeks.  The new footing is all in now, but we haven't moved the jumps back yet.  We'd like to get them washed before we do that, so it's been a lot of dressage work.  Which I don't mind in the least.  I know Bugsy will jump everything, that's not a problem.  And water will be an option so I won't even attempt that.  And I know that if I can just get a good dressage ride, we have a chance at doing really well this weekend.  I had some real break through moments with Bugsy and I'm really pleased with how well he's going for me.  It's kinda funny actually.  He's really rather agreeable to working for me.  I certainly don't make him do it.  But I bribe him with lots of treats.  I and ride him enough like he likes, as in I know what I'm doing and I know how to ask for it.  But on the other hand I don't have enough leg on him to annoy him, and I don't pick on him, so he likes that.  So he's agreeable to working.  Plus I think he realizes that if I wasn't riding him, no one would be.  And Bugs is not one that enjoys hanging around without a job to do. 

The other horse Bonnie had recently added to my string is none other than Scarey Airy!  I had tried riding Airy in the past and it just wasn't a good match at the time.  I still had the tendency to grab with my legs and of course Airy took that to mean take off.  On the flat it wasn't too bad, but try and jump and she just bolted into the fences.  Fast forward a few years and lots of lunge lessons later, and low and behold, I can actually ride her.  And pretty well too if I do say so myself!  I got on her again for the first time a few weeks ago, originally only intending to ride her on the flat.  But after some good flatwork Bonnie suggested trying her over a couple fences.  We had been getting along well so I figured "why not?"  And Airy was a gem!  No rushing, just nice and easy over the fences.  She's such a change when jumping from Kaye and Bugsy. Both of them are so powerful over a fence, you really feel them sit back and push off into the jump.  With Airy though, you could close your eyes and honestly you wouldn't able to tell when she jumps, she's that smooth.  No less powerful than Bugs or Kaye, she's just a warmblood and jumps like one.

I've also started working with Twinkie a little bit again. She has been her usual good self.  I lunged her a bit before I got on her the first time, of course it was completely unnecessary.  I got on her and she was so good for me.  She's still a wiggle worm under saddle, we haven't quite figured out how to move off my leg yet, but she's getting there.  And she's very willing at both the walk and trot.  She really needs her feet done and shoes on the front so we haven't done too much with her yet.  But Ari did get on her and walk her a bit the one day and they got along well.

Let's see, what else has been happening?  Well X decided to scare the crap out of me a couple weeks ago.  It was Saturday and Jim was coming to put hay up in the loft.  So Bonnie, Katie, Victoria and I were upstairs doing that.  While waiting for Jim between bales I poked my head down the trap door into X's stall to say hi and he was laying flat out in his stall.  Very much not like him to do when there are people in the barn.  I called down to him and he lifted his head to look up at me but made no move to get up.  At this point I wasn't too concerned, it was super hot and he was in an inside stall, so I just thought he was stressing because he was overheated.  By the time I got downstairs he was working on getting up, so I snapped on a lead shank and took him out to the arena to hose him off and cool him down.  We go through the whole hose and scrape routine a couple times and I take him into the barn and clip him in the crossties where he can get the cross breeze.  I ask the kids to start working on his stall for me, and then Sarah comes over and tells me there's blood in his stall.  It's a tiny little bit, maybe like an inch in diameter.  I noticed he had a few places where he had rubbed on like his hip so I figured that's what it came from.  But I checked him over again just to be safe.  As I knelt down to feel his legs, I looked up and saw this:

You can imagine the panic I went through.  Well Bonnie managed to get me calmed down and she and Katie took him out to the ring to wash him well while I called Dr. Maro.  He didn't think it was too serious, it wasn't bleeding much and it didn't seem to bother him at all.  Keep it clean and moist and he would be out in the afternoon to stitch him up.   Needless to say it ended up being a long day for me.  Dr. Maro didn't make it out until about 5, and well, the location of the cut made it somewhat difficult to stitch.  But he was taken care of, he'll probably have a scar I'm sure, but he's okay and in one piece, so for that I am grateful.

Buppi is a lightweight!

After the stitches

Other than that it's just been a lot of working at both jobs.  I'm so ready for a break from that, let me tell you.  Erie's coming up this week, so I should have more to report soon!

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Cross Country with Boyd Martin

Well, it time to start moving on with things.  As hard as it is, and as much as I still want to just cry everyday, I'm still here and I still have a life to lead.  And the first step will be recapping the amazing clinic in which I rode with Boyd Martin.

Boyd came back to Northern Ohio at the end of June for a 2 day clinic at White North Stables and South Farm.  When he was last here in October of 2010, I took Miss Kaye and we had a blast riding with him.  Well this year, I was going to pass on the clinic.  $300 is just a lot of money.  But as the date got closer and Katie was getting ready with Kaye, I really wanted to ride.  So I talked to Bonnie and we decided to take Bugsy along for the second day and ride cross country at South Farm.

Wednesday morning we were up nice and early to get on the road.  Katie was scheduled to ride at 7:30 and then I would be in the 9:00 group.  Well when we got there, we heard the sad news that Boyd's father had taken a turn for the worst after his accident and so Boyd was leaving early to catch a flight home to Australia.  So Katie and I both ended up riding at 9:00 with about 5 training/prelim riders.  On one hand it was nice to still get to ride with Boyd.  On the other hand it was kinda disappointing to have to be in a group with the prelim riders, I don't feel we got as much attention.  But what can you do.  The poor guy was just trying to work with as many people as he could.  I give him a lot of credit for still continuing with the clinic after getting that kind of news.

We were on our own for the flat warm up, which was good.  I wasn't that big of a fan of the way he warmed us up on the flat last year.  Especially with our horses.  Bugs was a little pumped when we first headed out.  He would not stand still so that I could get on even.  But once we got out to the field and started on the small circles, he settled down into the work nicely.

Then Boyd came to get us and we headed out to start jumping.  We started over a small coop, which Bugsy was not at all impressed.  But then as we moved into the next field, Boyd had us string together a couple fences.  A little coop, around to a log, back to a bigger coop and then finishing up over another bigger coop.  Bugs was awesome!  Now that he was jumping some novice fences he was much happier.  He did get moving a bit between some of the fences, just having fun.  But he came back to a nice controlled canter for me when I asked.

Then it was time for banks.  All I can say is I'm getting pissed at myself with my bank issues!  First Boyd asked us to just walk up onto the bank and then step down off the beginner novice bank.  And of course I had a stop the first time.  Turned Bugs around and we did it again.  Then Boyd had us trot down the bank, land in a canter, and with out gathering our reins jump the novice coop that was about 6 or 7 strides away.  Then we turned around and jumped the coop and up the bank.  We did those both a couple times and then headed down to the water.

Bugs was a trooper at the water.  He trotted right through without needing any encouragement, which was nice as water is not his favorite thing.  We trotted through a couple times and then jumped the beginner novice bank up out of the water.  Turned around and jumped it down into the water.  We jumped that bank and swung around to jump a stadium fence that was set up at the edge of the water.  Finally we finished with a little mini course.  Trot through the water, jump the stadium fence, go around the pond and jump a log, loop back around heading towards the water and jump a flower box and then finish up with the novice down bank into the water and across to the stadium fence.  And this is where Bugs made me love him even more.  We jumped the stadium fence and he just settled into this nice hand gallop over to the log, didn't pull didn't try and speed up, he was just content to run at the speed I told him.  He popped over the log nicely and settled back into that nice gallop to the flower box.  Now after the flower box it was kinda funny.  Part of the field next to the water was roped off because it was VERY wet and Sarah was trying to save the footing for the horse trials that next weekend.  So to get to the down bank you had to ride close to the ropes and it still set you up at an angle to the bank.  But it set you up nicely to jump the prelim down bank.  And so that's what Bugsy thought we were doing.  lol  I did manage to get him over to the novice bank, only because I'm not sure I would have made it down the prelim one still on his back!

All in all it was a great clinic.  I learned a lot from Boyd, and I had a blast riding Bugsy.

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Till I See You Again

It's been over 2 weeks now since my world was just completely turned upside down.  And I still can't believe it.

For those of you that don't know yet, my brother, very unexpectedly passed away June 30th from a massive heart attack.  He was 36 years old, the father of two wonderful little girls, ages 11 and 13, and way too young for this to happen.  He was walking home from the grocery store and just collapsed 2 blocks from home.  Someone saw and called 911.  Unfortunately nothing could be done.  It turns out he had severe, chronic, cardiovascular disease.  It built up over a long period of time.  And he had no idea.  At least not as far as we know.  But even if he did have any warning signs, he probably didn't think it was his heart.  I mean who at 36 would?

None of that makes this any easier to get through though.  I don't have a big brother anymore.  I'll never get to see him again.  My niece won't ever get to hug their dad again.  Wednesday night after the funeral, I went to the cemetery with my parents, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Ralph, Uncle Bill, Sara, Kris and the girls.  That's when it really hit me.  Todd won't be around to see Lexy and Kailee graduate high school or get married.  He won't be here to dance with me at my wedding.  My kids will never get to meet their Uncle Todd.  I lost it.

You expect to have to say goodbye to your grandparents or your parents.  But not your brother.  Not now.  And I feel like I have to be so strong for my parents.  I don't know.  This whole thing has just been so hard, it's unreal.  Everyday I wake up wishing that it was all just some really bad dream.  And unfortunately I'm still living that nightmare.  It's not going away anytime soon.

I've gone back to work at both jobs and I'm trying to get back to normal.  Or at least as normal as things will ever be again.  The ponies have been a huge comfort to me, as you can expect.

I've had this post sitting out here as a draft for a while now.   I just haven't been able to hit that publish button, as if it somehow makes things more real.  I know crazy huh?  Like it's any less real just because I haven't blogged about it?

Thank you all for your support, your words mean so much more to me than you can possibly know.

I love you big brother, and I know that someday I'll get to see you again.

~~~~~~In Loving Memory~~~~~~

Todd Michael Pavlinich

April 25, 1975 ~~ June 30, 2011

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Buggers!

Well, it's been a busy few weeks.  Between work and finishing up my studying for the PHR exam, I haven't had a lot of free time.  Of course I still manage to make it out to the barn on Saturday mornings.  Since South Farm I've had some good rides on Naughtie, going to the combined test really did her a ton of good.  And then 3 Saturdays ago (June 11th) I got the chance to ride Bugsy again.

Bonnie had let Astrid ride him a few times and so she was riding in a lesson with Naughtie and I.  And when it came time to jump, Astrid decided that she didn't want to jump.  So Bonnie asked if I wanted to take him over a few fences.  Now I haven't been on Bugsy at all since like August.  But I was game to try him.  Astrid and I switched horses and she took Naughtie in to put away while I got used to Bugs again with a few circles.  Then we headed to the jump and it was so much fun!  It wasn't that big of a fence, only a baby oxer, maybe about 2 feet.  We jumped that a few times and then Bonnie bumped the back rail up a bit.  We didn't do much jumping that day, but it did remind me how much fun Bugsy is and what a blast it is to ride him.

Then I got to thinking.  I wasn't planning to ride in the Boyd Martin clinic this year.  I just couldn't justify spending the money.  But now after riding Bugs, I was itching to go.  So I got in touch with Therese from White North Stables and asked if it would be possible to ride just on Wednesday for cross country.  She said yes and so Bugsy and I will be strutting our stuff for Boyd!

As usual with me, I did take a step back when I rode Bugsy the next week.  I was getting him rushing into his fences and it was just bad in general.  So we scaled things back and went back to jumping cross bars.  We really concentrated on just taking my two point and keeping my legs light and not rushing.  And I got him back to a nice sane jump.  Unfortunately, ending a lesson with cross bars just a week and a half before I'm entered to ride Novice with Boyd is not really all that confidence inspiring.

So fast forward to this weekend.  I was determined to do better.  It ended up being a nice day at the barn, quiet, none of the kids ended up coming out.  So for a while it was just Bonnie and I, then Katie showed up after a while.  I tacked up Bugs and we headed out to the arena for a last lesson before the clinic.  And guess what?  Going back to cross bars the week before was exactly what I needed.  Bugs was listening to me, and I wasn't rushing him into the fences.  We worked up to an oxer that was just shy of 3'.  And then Bonnie added a 2nd fence as a one stride, set at just about 3'.  My first ever combination with Bugsy!  And we nailed it!  We ended the lesson with some canter work, which wasn't the best.  Bugs really needs the half halt before the canter and I was struggling with that a little.  Once again I've just gotten very complacent riding Kaye.  She knows what I want and just does it, regardless of what I'm doing.  Bugsy not so much.  He knows what I want, but he won't do it unless I ask for it right.  But overall, the lesson was great and I was feeling very well prepared for the clinic.

Then on Sunday I was able to get another ride.  So nice, it's been months since I've gotten to ride twice in the same week.  We warmed up on the flat first, including a bit of canter and well, the half halt lesson sank in and my departs were much, much better!  Then Bonnie had us start jumping.  We started out over the same oxer from the day before, novice height the first time.  Boyd won't start us out over little stuff, so need to at home.  The first fence wasn't perfect, but it was much better than I normally do over my first fence so I was pleased with that.  After we jumped the oxer a couple of times Bonnie decided to get creative.  She dragged over the piece of indoor/outdoor carpet and made a "coffin" with it.  She set it up one stride after the oxer and put a ground line to help Bugsy see it.  First time through the combination he did jump it.  Tried going through again and he figured out he could just canter over it.  Put a raised pole over the middle, and he still cantered over it.  So then Bonnie dragged another set of standards over and set up a 3' vertical one stride after the coffin.  Bugsy still just canter the coffin and then jumped the fence.  We tried to get him to actually jump it a couple more times, but no luck.  So we took a bit of a walk break and Bonnie set up a vertical over the carpet.  The last challenge of the day was 3' oxer, one stride to 3' vertical, one stride to 3' vertical.  First time doing a triple with Bugsy.  But Bugsy is awesome.  All I had to do was set him up and ride him to the first fence and then let him do his thing through the combination.  It was great!  Doing that with Bugsy was really just proving to myself how far I've come in my riding in the last couple of years.  It wasn't all that long ago that I was afraid to jump Bugs at all.  Let alone through a novice triple combination.  It was a great way to leave off before the clinic, I feel so ready to go and show Boyd what we can do!

Bugsy trying on his new ECOGOLD xc pad

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Why I Love Ecogold

I know I said I was getting back to regular posting today.  And I am working on a post about Naughtie's first show.  But I just had to put this up.

You've heard me talk about Ecogold on here before.  I was lucky enough to blog for them at Rolex in April and I'm continuing to do so on their new site Horse Junkies United.  I am honored to be connected to them even very loosely through that site.

When word first came out about the fire at True Prospect Farm, my first thought (after I could form coherent thought that is) was how can I help?  But I am also a cautious person.  I didn't want to just donate money to something unless I know that it was going to help Boyd.  As much as I like to believe people are honest, I know there are some who would take advantage.  And I wasn't the only one who felt this way.  When no word had come out by the afternoon of a way to help Boyd and the others, Patricia (marketing VP for Ecogold and our commander in chief for HJU) decided to donate 6 of Ecogold's Secure XC pads, one for each horse.  100% of each of those pads would go directly to Boyd.

As soon as I saw this I jumped on it.  I wanted to help Boyd, and it didn't hurt that I'd been drooling over the Ecogold pads for a while now.  I just couldn't justify spending the money.  But spending the money to help a truly great horseman through such a difficult time, and get a great saddle pad?  That I can justify.

The 6 pads sold out in record time.  So Ecogold is continuing to donate 50% of their sales to Boyd.  Already they have almost $3000 to donate.  This is continuing through this weekend.  So go buy a pad and help Boyd.  As an Ecogold sponsored rider you know he will be getting the money.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I am so proud to be a part of this community.  They way we all band together to help each other is amazing and inspiring.  And to see that not only from individuals, but also from companies like Ecogold and Five Star Tack, who is donating 10% of their sales for the month of June, is just incredible.  Go buy tack, support Boyd. 

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South Farm or how Naughtie Earned Rockstar Status

Memorial Day weekend officially marked the start of the Windhurst Event Team's show season.  We had three horses and four riders entered at the South Farm Combined Test on Saturday, May 28th.  Of course we had a tiny bit of a problem.  Three horses and only a two horse trailer, you do the math.  So Friday night, Bonnie hauled Kaye and Naughtie over and then we took Mystic Saturday morning.

So first thing Saturday morning when we got there, the kids and I fed and watered the two mares while Katie got Mystic ready to ride.  After the marsies finished eating we gave Kaye a bath and the kids got her tacked up for me.  I started to warm Kaye up a bit for Victoria.  She was rather, um, excited to be back at South Farm.  So I worked her down for a while and then got Victoria up.  While I was riding Kaye, Ethan and Astrid were kind enough to bathe Naughtie for me, so I could get started tacking her up.  Since it was Naughtie's first show, and I wasn't sure what she was going to do, I figured it would be a good idea to lunge her in the indoor a bit.

Astrid and I took Naughtie over to the indoor and started her on the lunge line.  She was a little perky for all of about 2 laps and then settled right into the routine.  I lunged her about 25 laps each direction, just in case. And then I got on.  She was as god as gold.  We walked some small circles around the indoor and she just relaxed and walked.  It was almost time for Victoria to ride her dressage and since Naughtie was being so good, I figured we could head over to the dressage ring and watch.  Well, just as we were leaving the indoor, some birds flew out the door right above us.  Naughtie spooked a bit, and by spook I mean she trotted off about 4 or 5 strides.  Then she realized it was nothing and settled back into a walk.  Good girl!

So we headed over to the dressage ring and got there in time to watch both of Victoria's tests.  And she rocked them!  She had very nice, relaxed rides.  Really proud of how well she did.  After that we had a bit of time before the rest of us rode.  So the marsies got to chill in their stalls for a bit and get some water.  And I was able to change into my show clothes. Naughtie and I hung out in the barn for a bit and then we headed back over to the dressage rings.  Ethan, Katie and I all rode our test right around the same time, so I was able to watch their tests.  Naughtie was a rockstar for dressage really.  The first test we rode was USDF Intro B for the very green division.  She was a little fast in her trot work.  But that was my fault, so I can't really be mad at her for it.  Our figures we good and symmetrical, our transitions accurate.  Really I couldn't have asked for a better first test from her.  We had a few minutes then to pull off the running martingale and take a few canter departs and then it was back in the ring for USEA Beginner Novice Test A for the baby beginner novice division.  The trot work was much better and the canter work was pretty good.  Our second canter depart was a little ah, explosive.  But again, entirely my fault.  I was asking for way too much for the depart.  After the depart though she settled into a nice forward canter. And we finished up with a fairly nice test.

We headed back to the stalls, and Naughtie got a chance to drink and chill in her stall for a bit before it was time to jump.  Victoria and Ethan were up first for jumping.  And well it was eventful.  Ethan was up first in the cross rail division.  And he had a nice round, Kaye was listening and just trotting around like she usually does with the kids.  Then it was Victoria's turn, and well, she did the same thing she has a tendency to do at home.  She grabbed with her legs and did nothing to slow Kaye down.  And so Kaye went faster and faster and faster.  And Victoria got scared and bailed.  Right into the wooden fence around the ring.  She was ok luckily, scraped up and bruised a bit, but mostly ok.  So I borrowed Ethan's helmet and got on Kaye to settle her down.  Lots of walking and s-l-o-o-o-o-w sitting trot around the warm up.  Finally Bonnie and Victoria come back (with my helmet, so I could see!) and since Victoria wasn't going to ride her second Bonnie suggested I take her in and do a schooling round at the 2 foot height.  Which actually really exciting me since I had the chance to take Bonnie up on a challenge. 

The stadium course was a very twisty, turning course.  And there was this one section between fences 7 and 8.  Sarah intended for it to ridden with a large looping circle around to 8 like so:

Well you know Bonnie, why take a longer route when you can go shorter?  And so her challenge was to ride a direct line between the two fences:

While I wasn't quite sure I'd be able to do it on Naughtie, I knew on Kaye I'd have no trouble.

Kaye was her usual awesome self for me in the ring, and so Ethan felt ready to try his 2 foot round.  And Kaye was great for him.  He jumped everything well and then after he crossed the finish he leaned forward to pat her, and accidentally kicked her.  So Kaye took off a bit and Ethan bailed in pretty much the same spot.  So Kaye was in the doghouse, and Sarah was none to happy. 

Well by this time I needed to get Naughtie ready to go, ran back to the barn, threw her bridle back on and we made our way to the jumping ring.  She warmed up great, and soon we were ready to head into the ring.  She was Awesome!  She jumped everything for me.  At first she was a little confused by all the colored jumps and everything being crammed in the ring, but she listened well.  We finished the very green division with a double clear round to land us in 2nd place.   A couple minutes to rest and it was time for a return trip.  Unfortunately I let her get a little flat coming into the first fence and we pulled a rail, but with no other mistakes it was enough to keep us in 4th place.  Not too shabby for her first show. 

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I'm Amazed

I'm still in shock.  I have lost count of the number of times I have started crying when I think of what happened early Tuesday morning.  Yesterday Boyd posted on his blog, thanking everyone for their support.  He said, "Your support has lifted our spirits in this very dark time."  Of course reading his post brought on a new round of tears.  When I saw that he and Phillip had gone into the barn after being ordered not to by the fire chief, to drag Neville out, I couldn't help but cry.  Because anyone of us would have done the same thing for our animals.  I would not hesitate to rush into a burning building for my horses, regardless of the danger to me. 

But as Boyd said, Life goes on.  It's hard, and it still hurts but we must move on.  And so in that vein, I will be resuming with the posts I had planned for this week.  Naughtie made her showing debut this past weekend, and we kicked off the open show season at Canfield.  I'll be back later to tell you all about our trip to South Farm.

One last thing, I would just like to say how proud I am of the eventing community.  And the equine community as a whole.  The quick way everyone moved to support Boyd and everyone involved at True Prospect Farm was just inspiring and amazing.  I'm proud to say I am part of that.  As tragic as it is, I'm sure it must bring some comfort to them to know how much everyone is here for them.  Stay strong.

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Our Hearts Reach Out

Like many of us I spend a good part of my morning procrastinating by reading Eventing Nation.  Words cannot describe the heartache when I saw the news of the barn fire at True Prospect Farm.  A barn fire is one of those things I can't even think about.  To see the pictures of that barn ablaze and know that 6 horses did not make it out is just devastating.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Boyd and Silva, his team, the owners and everyone else connected with them.  4 horses are currently being treated at New Bolton; Neville Bardos, Otis Barbotiere, Catch A Star and Ambassador's Rose.  I'm sending healing thoughts their way.

While I am still grieving for the loss of those horses, I am amazed and inspired by the way the eventing community has rallied to show their support.  Within hours Denny Emerson announced he was donating 50% from the sale of his book to Boyd.  Ecogold has announced they are donating 6 pads, one in memory of each horse, 100% of the proceeds going to him.  Both Boyd and True Prospect Farm have ways to donate on their websites.  Check out Eventing Nation for more information on how to help.

In the mean time, go hug your horses.  Be grateful everyday you have with them.  Tonight, I know I for one will be fighting the urge to sleep in the barn.

**UPDATE**

The Ecogold saddle pads quickly sold out (one will be on it's way to me) but they have announced that 50% of all sales in June will be going to Boyd.  Visit their site: Boyd Martin Fund

You can purchase Denny's book through Amazon.com and like I said, he is donating 50% of the proceeds through December to Boyd.

The True Prospect Fire Recovery Fund has been set up to help everyone affected by the fire.

Boyd has set up a tax deductible donation fund through SCES.

Doug Payne is donating half of the proceeds from his Rider's Eye DVD.  The DVD can be purchased through his online store.

Five Star Tack is donating 10% of all sales in the month of June to the True Prospect Farm Fire Recovery Fund.

As for the horses being treated at New Bolton, Ambassador's Rose has been released.  Both Catch a Star and Otis Barbotiere are still there, but they are comfortable and doing well.  They have changed Neville's medication and he is much more comfortable.  Minataure Du Passoir, the fifth horse rescued from the barn, has been transported to New Bolton for observation but he is doing well.  In good news.  Remington was turned out for the night and so he was safely away from the fire.

To Boyd, Silva, Caitlin, Lillian, Ryan, Faye Woolf, Abbie Golden, Bonnie Stedt, Anne Hennessey, the Juvonen's and everyone at True Prospect Farm-We are here for you.  I can't even imagaine what you must be going through, but I hope it helps just a little to know how much you are all loved and supported by not only me, but the entire eventing community.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.

In Loving Memory

Call Me Ollie ~ Charla ~ Ariel ~ Phantom Pursuit ~ Cagney Herself ~ Summer Breeze

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