Staying Focused!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks since I started my blog. My job has been more demanding than usual as we have an entirely new management team and there has been a huge effort on their part to get to know us and what we do. This has generated a visit to the corporate office in New York as well as some team meetings at the Baltimore office. I remain hopeful that some good will come out of all this extra work! I manage one of our largest and most profitable contracts so I was able to share what has worked successfully for me. My contributions to the bottom line were recognized in a public forum and that always feels good.

It has been raining like crazy here lately so I have been spending a lot of time riding--the John Deere mower, that is!! I took a little dressage riding hiatus last week as Siobhan prepared to show Ness at PSG at the EEMI show at Morven Park. Shiv was sick all week but "soldiered on" preparing for the show with Ness and a lovely TB she has in training. We had torrential downpours getting to the show. I'm sure the hot, muggy, wet weather didn't help, and Shiv still wasn't feeling great at the show. She ultimately scratched all of her classes except for the first one on Saturday with Ness. They scored a 58% which wasn't bad considering the circumstances. But I know they can both do so much better when Shiv is in top form. Here is one of the pictures I took. Shiv looks lovely on Ness--don't you agree??

The Ransehousens were at the show, so on Sunday morning, before I trailered the horses home, I took the opportunity to school Ness in the warm-up under Missy's watchful eye. The rain on the roof of the indoor made it hard to hear everything Missy had to say, but somehow I caught enough of the pearls of wisdom to do some decent trot and canter half-passes. I'm due a few vacation days so tomorrow I trailer up to the Ransehousens' Blue Hill Farm for a Tuesday and Wednesday lesson (Ness had the day off today) and I know I will get some more great exercises and homework then!

I was absolutely awestruck watching James Dwyer ride PSG with his beautiful Dutch Warmblood, Orlando, aka Ben. James has an above-the-knee amputation of the right leg but he rides flawlessly. It is inspiring to watch him ride and also to pick his brain about he uses his weight and seat aids to take the place of his missing leg. James had a great show with scores in the mid and high 60s! Way to go, James!! Don't these gentlemen look spiffy!

Missy had a nice, but sometimes exuberant ride at Third-1 with her Advanced Event Horse, "Critical Decision." Missy's position is incredible and I am going to keep the following picture in mind whenever I sit the trot.