that is where our horses are. we are staying on the other property shown in the photos. Longwood. beautiful. huge, huge fields of cross country jumps. four of them. and missy (ransehousen for those not in the know) is putting us through the most fun bootcamp ever. so that may disqualify it from being dubbed bootcamp. but whatever.
anyway. its been beautiful here. and its amazing how many top level riders are here. today i acted as a wing for a jump while darren chaichai schooled a horse over it and one of the U.S.A. eventing team members who competed at the world equestrian games was zooming around on two different mounts today as well.
soooo coool.
anyway. enjoy.
OH and in the last few photos are of a cross coutry lesson jen and i took with missy over at longwood. missy tried to take some photos... so there are the usable ones. im the one with the neon blue vest. we jumped all over the place in the first of five fields at our disposal. all chock full of beautiful, varyingly huge, and impeccably maintained jumps. we schooled over a ditch, a bank or two, some water combos, huge logs, crazy brush jumps with colorful foliage growing out of them etc etc. SOOOOOO fun. sometimes you need a little excitement to remind you why you got into this whole crazy lifestyle. seriously.
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| thats me and winton! the jump only looks small cause he is GIGANTIC! |
So here, it is a horse persons mecca. next door are breeding stallions, and on the other side the O'Conor's place. i mean, dozens of advanced level event horses and every single one is more impressive than the last.
across the street is a race horse training facility with a full track, and its not unusual to be driving past and see horses breezing down the stretch.
then, ever few hundred feet, a couple dozen acres, is another farm: fresians, morgans, thoroughbreds, sport horses, everything.
its close to heaven. and really, I have never met so many upper level riders in my whole life, let alone, just jumping around the same cross country course as me. Seriously? how did i get here? how did this happen to me?
so. freeeeeaking awesome.
oh, today i was officially introduced to david oconor and got to watch their newest equine addition to the oconnor event team get her first lesson in manners.
karen standing next to me narrating what was going on in the ring. yup. this is my life, apparently. still trying to figure out what i did right exactly, but also trying not to look a gift horse in the mouth. harharhar.
and not to be flippant, but i really feel for everyone at home. I mean, i need to be here, but i wish you all could be too. its that beautiful and wonderful of an experience.
and the snow stinks. and apparently this thing.... of me leaving and the sky dumping down snow was not just a one time deal last winter. and for that. i am sorry.
love and miss you all at home. painfully so and i cant wait to see you. but i am definitely not wishing away my time here.
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