I didn’t want to make everybody sad and envious b/c we’re having a BALL down here in Aiken.
But, since BBB requested it, I’ll herewith post my daily diary of what we’ll call Heaven, 2010.
Posted following will be days 1-5, then I’ll pick up with daily reports. – We don’t have 'net where we’re staying, so I’m limited to when we come into town, but here’s the first parts.
Day One
We’re here!
Pb, Gabe, Leslie’s horse Leo and Barbara’s horse Farley shipped well on Tuesday - it was an easy trip. We are, literally, AT Full Gallop Farm, one of the fancy big Olympic training centers for three-day eventers. Today they are having a ‘schooling’ horse trials – 150 entries and a lot of the Olympic riders! We helped out with dressage being runners and helpers this morning then rode everybody (my mom met us here with Tip and Oscar) this afternoon. It is SIXTY degrees and sunny and sandy. Wearing a Tshirt. (Sorry … :o) Warm as toast and getting some sun on my face.
Tonight we go to a kickoff party for the hunt week and tomorrow starts the hunting.
Attached is a picture showing Jackie and Leslie getting ready to ride (they’re holding Gabe for me.) Behind them is the stable - cute but we aren’t really using it b/c the paddocks are big and nice and the weather is fair. To the left of them in the photo, in the background, are some of the horse trailers and vendors at the FG horse trials. We ate lunch in the kitchen and watched cross country going on 50 feet away!!
The house is as adorable as a doll house. It is directly behind me in the photo. Everything is small and spare but it’s comfy and plush and literally 10 steps to the pasture where my horses are and 30 steps to the barn – much closer than my stable at home, even.
More tomorrow!
Day Two
Day Two dawned cold and gray - should be the perfect sort of day for hunting.
We met at one of Whiskey Road’s rural fixtures northeast of town about 20 minutes in what passes for farm country (sandy soil hardly grows anything but cotton or chickens. ;o)
Gale rode Pb, Leslie rode Leo, I rode Gabe. They looked handsome and were cool customers even amongst the 100+ horses there. Off we went into the first covert and bam the hounds struck. And off they went! And … we never saw them again. Not even a peep. Not a bark. Not a howl.
Bother.
We rode around for a couple hours but never found them again (they were in the next county, we heard) and came in.
Jackie hacked around the Hitchcock Woods with our ‘neighbor’, a cute girl in Aiken for the season from Gladstone NJ with a bunch of young horses. Jackie rode Tip, who acted as a babysitter for her very fractious and worried thoroughbred. When she got back to the farm she did some dressage on Oscar over at Full Gallop, which was hosting dozens and dozens of upper level eventers who are schooling for the season. Very cool.
Tonight’s party is next door to Full Gallop so we’ll be walking!! Tomorrow’s hunt is in doubt because of a rainy forecast, but we’ll see. Alt. plans are for haunting the 10,000 sf goodwill and all of the 5 tack shops.
Saturday we’re now invited to help our hosts, Ann and Russ Schurtz, as navigators (the people who ride on the back of a carriage) in a combined driving event. They have a Haflinger and a Welsh pony they drive.
And/or the Olympic training session.
And/or the drag hunt.
And/or hacking in the woods.
So many choices.
Uh, enjoy the snow. :o)
They’re calling for a blizzard back home, we see on the Weather Channel, and predicting 3 inches of rain here, but by the time Whiskey Road “had” to decide whether to hunt or not, it’s not even raining.
Still, caution is the better part of valor, and WR brass correctly decided to cancel today’s hunting. They’ve added us a bye day next Friday, after hunt week officially ends, so we’re pretty excited to get to extend our hunting!
We decided to ride, then, as quickly as possible to beat the rain, and to do it next door at Full Gallop since we’d be close if the heavens opened up.
It started to drizzle and Barbara and Jackie begged off riding, but Leslie, Gale and I wanted to ride since our horses were like wild Indians, snorting and tails up – I bet the closing weather front gets their brains bubbling like a stew pot.
After a little warmup (Leslie went out on her own and trotted miles to chill Leo) Gale and I jumped all the beginner novice jumps (which were unflagged) and trotted and cantered thru the water complexes. Pb was jumping well, but Gale was ‘floating’ her hands and I wanted to show her what I was asking for, so I jogged back to the barn and grabbed my camera for some pix.
Gabe was perplexed at his new duty as tripod, but he quickly got it and stood like a statue. Gale got Pb jumping really well and did some of the novice jumps once she connected her hands to his crest in a true crest-release-getting-mighty-close-to-an-advanced-following-release!
Gale’s going to be the belle of the ball tonight (Whiskey Road’s annual formal hunt ball) - in her peacock blue sparkly strappy number. The rest of us are tucked in with yoga at the house.
Tomorrow is a big one - hoping for good weather: Breakfast at the track kitchen followed by a hack in the 3000 acre Hitchcock Woods (schooling jumps/Aiken lines – the real ones – if the footing allows). After we’ll watch our hosts at the Combined Driving Event (like a three-day event for carriage horses/ponies) and then go to the World Equestrian Games training session. Sunday’s more hunting.
Attached are pix – Me and Gale on Pb and Gabe, then Gale jumping Pb around the Full Gallop novice jumps. (Note the hands. :o) (Next we’ll tackle that lower leg. :o))))))
********** PS you’ll find some/many of these pix on my Facebook page - search Betsy Burke Parker and you can see them
We’re trying not to think of you guys back home, though we’re tuning in morning and evening to the weather channel. It hurts my head to think of what you’re going through.
Here, today dawned wildly windy with those billowing clouds that show a front scurrying through. The sun came out a bit, but it was quite chilly. We got going early so we could go to the Aiken Training Track and watch horses train. We saw some of Dogwood Stable’s 2 year olds doing their first canter in company, and watched a bunch of what looked like first-time-to-the-track juveniles. Really fancy horses (Kelso and Summer Squall are two famous horses who started their careers here) and really terrific exercise riders.
We went to the world-famous track kitchen afterwards - it it really atmospheric. The same black family (about a dozen of them) has run it for hte past couple decades. You go in and order but then go back into the kitchen yourself to get your own coffee or tea. They do excellent grits, country ham and the like - real country cookin’.
After breakfast we did a drive-by tour of the horse district downtown - wee little paddocks surrounding giant beautiful stables and handsome victorian houses. Every other house is for sale - its a pretty depressed area but for the horse business.
From there we went to a farm east of town to watch our hosts, Ann and Russ Schurtz compete in a schooling carriage trials – a three-phase combined driving event (dressage, ‘cones’ and the marathon) with their ponies. Russ drives a rotund Haflinger, Ann a cute Welsh cross.
From there, we hurried home to get to the Hitchcock Woods. Barbara, Gale, Leslie and me went (Jackie begged off - we rode later). We parked at the South Boundary entrance - you just pull off the road in a wide spot and ride a half mile into the park. We picked up maps on our way in and headed towards the show grounds and the Manege (a clearing in the woods with tons of small to medium sized logs.)
Barbara, Gale nor Leslie had been here before and were enamored with the place – the perfect sandy loamy paths everywhere (2,000 protected acres literally downtown Aiken - a town bigger than Winchester), little, nicely maintained jumps and the famous Aiken Lines everywhere. Aiken Lines are groups of three to eight well constructed wooden jumps, set in a row. They’re really wide across the face – probably 30 feet, so four horses could jump upsides, with two sizes set side by side – one side is 3’, one side is 3’6". The jumps are made from small telephone poles set as a vertical, stuffed with brush and magnolia leaves underneath to make a nice round face (from either side.)
We started by going uphill to the Ridge Mile track and did a little trot and canter to warm up. Gale could hardly wait to jump, so she and I took Pb and Gabe right up over a few of the smaller Aiken jumps. Gale was grinning ear to ear – Pb jumped perfect (and her hands AND lower leg were stuck like glue!) Gabe jumped double perfect, like a little professional, not (we are guessing) like the green jumper he is.
We headed back downhill to the MUCH bigger Cathedral Aisle like (called that because the path there is so much wider, and the mature oaks overhang it like a cathedral.) These we jumped head to head like racehorses (ok, it was at a hack canter, but still…:o) and the two were just perfect.
I could bore you with two hours worth of more reports like that, but suffice it to say they were be rather repetitive!! Barbara had forgotten her jumping bridle, and Leo is not currently doing much jumping, but they were both well behaved and we had a blast. The footing is so amazing, almost impossible to describe how it affects the horses in such a positive manner. They were smiling too!
Jackie (on Oscar) and me (on Tip) rode next door at Full Gallop after we got back, with Tip jumping all the novice jumps, still set up from Wednesday’s event. He was great. Thru the water complex and up and down the bank. Just great.
Off to dinner in town now.
Hunting tomorrow north of town Supposed to be (oh I am so sorry to report this) 50+ degrees and wall to wall sunshine.
Attached are pix of the driving and the track.
Also attached is a pic from a couple years ago (of X) to show what a real Aiken fence looks like.
Day Five
Hunting today! Sunday dawned, well, sunny and warm. Us Virginians were still madly trying to organize our power-less homes back north, and figure out driveway plowing (me) and generators (Barbara) and childcare (Leslie) but, by day’s end, all our power was back on and we’re much relieved.
Gale (Pb), Barbara (Farley), me (Gabe) and Leslie (Leo) shipped about 20 minutes north of town to the Hunt Club Farm fixture, a neat quail hunting plantation that’s being converted to a horse farm (for sale.) Neat barn and shop, a couple cute cottages, lots of space, railroad tracks crossing the property.
Hounds cast at 10 am (after a nice stirrup cup), and we rode out (me and Gale with first flight, Leslie and Barbara with second flight) with 150 other riders (literally. LITERALLY. It was a huge field.)
Hounds were quiet for a full hour-plus, but they struck in an overgrown field near the railroad tracks, and master Lynn Smith viewed the coyote away, headed towards the power line and a place we’re not allowed to go on. They could not carry, but they worked well, and we ran a little. Farley was perfectly behaved. Pb was doubly perfectly behaved. Gabe was fairly behaved (he sparked up after the big school in the park yesterday, I figure, and thinks he ‘knows it all’ about hunting since he’s now done it a big total of twice (!) Leo was, well, well, let’s just say Leslie didn’t fall off, and she didn’t kill him. She’s comign to the realization that the horse has embraced his semi-solo sport of endurance racing, and no longer appreciates the foxhunting. (Stepahie - I’ll put you on one of mine for hunting - don’t worry - you can still pick up expense$ for Leo as planned.)
It was a long day - we came in after 2 1/2 hours and washed the horses (I’d brought a jug of nice warm water) and then tucked into a scrumptuous breakfast in the stunning barn. There were so many people - including Julie Martin Matheson (Charlie’s wife, from Rose Bank in Markham) and a bunch of nice people from Newmarket Middletown and Goshen in Maryland.
We didn’t get back to the farm until almost 4 pm (did I mention it was a longgggg day). Jackie had gone to the Woods with our neighbor Mindy (she took Oscar - he was great and they ‘went alllll over the place.’ They parked at South Boundary entrance. Mindy’s young horse jumped his first Aiken fence, and Oscar ‘was a good influence’. Tip hacked here around Full Gallop with Jackie, earlier today.
We picked up Bonnie tonight at the Columbia Airport - she’s here the rest of the time (she’ll ride home with me in the van.) Gale leaves in the morning to head home to California - she’s still got that ear to ear grin - she really likes Pb and has had a dream of a time here in SC. Leslie’s flight to Reagan National for tomorrow was cancelled so she’s rebooked for early Wednesday morning so she can do 2 more days’ training/riding on Leo.
Stephanie arrives here tomorrow. She and Leslie will hack out around Full Gallop tomorrow afternoon (she and I have to work in the morning at the library.) Jackie, Bonnie and Barbara are going to hack in the Woods tomorrow morning, then we’re all doing this fancy cocktail 'do at the toney Willcox Hotel to benefit the Hitchcock Woods Foundation (very very chichi) tomorrow night.
Soup for dinner, then early to bed. (Did I mention it was a longgggg day?:o)
Photo is of Leslie, Gale, Barbara and Betsy at the hunt meet
You really know how to hurt a girl…I haven’t been able to hunt since December. I have been to Aiken many times and adore that place. In my fantasy life I buy a second place down there and spend all my winters there. Glad you are having a great time (even though I am turning green as I type this!)
Thanks for the report! I REALLY wanted to do Aiken Hunt Week this year! Maybe next year.
Okay HR, now I’ll tell you about a day in Hume VA!
Puppy with broken paw wakes up at 1 AM, let her out and wait for her to come back. Puppy and grown dog wake up for good at 4 AM, let them out and leave them. 5 AM, puppy stands outside on porch and WOOFS until I let them back in.
Start the coffee, have breakfast and head to barn to feed, turnout and muck 11 stalls. Horses are very impatient and a little miffed that their hay is being rationed since they are hoovering down much more than I ever anticipated. They scarcely give me the time of day; they've gone feral. It's been weeks since they've been ridden and several haven't hunted since November.
Turnout takes a while since some of the gates still need to be dug out in order to open/shut them. The snow on the roof of the babies' stalls slid off yesterday afternoon and made a wall in front of their dutch doors. They were troopers though, and eagerly clambered over the rock hard wall to their waiting round bale.
Then the mucking, not too bad except it’s become cold enough for the sawdust to freeze so it’s hard to tell whether you’re throwing out manure or perfectly good sawdust. Pushing the full wheelbarrow through the snow up to the muck pile is very good for working butt muscles, I better be losing weight doing all this! Take the frozen water buckets out to the sun to melt, sweep the aisle. Drag hay out to horses who are boycotting their round bale and head back inside.
Decide we need to go to PO for mail, which hasn’t been delivered since last Friday, and to Marshall to buy more diesel so the tractor (we worship the tractor!) can keep plowing us out. It takes over 30 mins to get to Hume, dirt road is barely one track wide and snow has drifted badly. 688 is pretty good, actual pavement showing but hardly one lane wide. Big tractors are everywhere digging out driveways. Get to Hume, no mail delivered today.
So on to Marshall. 635 is white the entire way. Very packed snow. Not many people thank goodness, just a couple random power trucks sitting on the road with hazard lights on. 647 is bizarre, very clear, then totally snow-covered and deep. Marshall is busy, main road is all brown slush. Get diesel and food and head home, arrive 2:30pm. A 4 1/2 half hour trip to town!
Now tell them about today’s weather:)
Day Seven
My head hurts from watching the weather channel while we sat there, lingering over our early breakfast and coffee, sun filtering thru the picture window, birds chattering their morning songs. We’re watching the new storm bearing down on the mid Atlantic, and praying for a miracle.
At any rate, we’re making hay while the sun shines – Whiskey Road met today at another New Holland fixture. We parked along an old power line and had a delicious hunt breakfast hosted by the farm owners where we’re staying. Hounds moved off promptly at 9 am – getting an early start to beat the allegedly looming rainstorm. Game must have been about due to the pressure changes, because hte hounds struck on a gray fox (I think Jackie and Bonnie, cartopping, saw it.) Barbara rode Farley, Betsy rode Oscar and Stephanie rode Pb and we stayed right up with the hounds as they tried to work out that line. A bit later we overheard on the radio that a coyote had been viewed ‘again’, they said, on the power line, and we galloped around a bit to stick with them. The game never seemed to want to ‘go away’ though, so us 3 packed it in after an hour and a half to conserve our horses for the other 2 days of hunting Thursday and Friday.
The master from Hamilton Hunt in Canada rode back with us, and said he’d spoken to Vanessa Keal at ODH – I’d put him onto her to buy a new masters’ horse for himself. He said they touched base and he might stop in on his way home and have a look.
At the rate the Virginia weather is going, he might not be headed home until June.
We came back to the farm and found Leslie (Leo), Bonnie (Gabe) and Jackie (Tip) doing flatwork in front of the house. I took some pix of them and then Leslie asked me to ride Leo to ‘assess’ his condition. I found that he is backed off from the pelham he’s been working in and we’re going to try him in one of my gag snaffles tomorrow. He is terribly strong and difficult to handle/stop, so Leslie had tried him in the pelham. It works well for stopping power but he seemed scared from the curb chain so we’ll try him in the gag on our Hitchcock Woods trail ride tomorrow.
After riding a pack of us came into town for a leisurely late lunch at Malia’s (mmmmm) and a bit of shopping.
Cocktail 'do at ‘The Pink House’ over on Coker Springs beside the park tonight. Horse trials starts at 7 am at Full Gallop tomorrow - early start because they have more than 200 entries – beginner novice all the way thru intermediate. We’re helping in the morning, then riding in the afternoon. Part of us might cap with the Hatchaway Bridge Hounds, an outlaw pack near the house, and Stephanie and I will hack in the Woods.
I can’t see your photos?
What do I need to do?
thanks
Thanks for the update and stories, HR. 
Great reads–thanks so much for posting as I really needed a fix with this darn weather! :)
I’m green
with envy. Exactly how jealous are you trying to make us?
But really, thank you for the diaries. This is fun to read and informative.
Bah humbug, lucky you…
I hate you and hope you fall off…:mad:
Thigh deep snow and today another 8-10 inches with blizzard warning. Snowing sideways…no power for 3 days after first storm. No phone/no batteries. Broke only snowshovel, horses broke into feed room and tore it up, hay everywhere, water hydrant frozen, hoses frozen, stranded up here until neighbors plowed me out 1 hr before this storm hit…every inch of me hurts from shoveling, lugging, grunting, falling, lifting…I want outa here!!! Somebody save me!!!
Honestly enjoying reading your adventures. I mean, SOMEBODY’S gotta have 'em! Mine are just somehow “different”.
Day Nine – Bustin’ the Bobcat
(Photos aren’t posted here - I don’t think I have privileges, but they’re on my facebook page if you go to Betsy Burke Parker, I think.)
Whiskey Road set their meet back an hour to 11 am - very
civil - because it was supposed to be 30 degrees here this
morning (gasp!) It probably was, but someone finally
remembered to turn off the wind, and, with wall to wall
sunshine, it wasn’t all that cold early.
Still, we were nearly late to the meet because our
leisurely start turned into a late start, and then I
realized, while driving, that the Blackville fixture was
actually a good half hour away from here - not as close at
the other WRFH meets.
Still, we arrived in time to head out with the 75 or so
other riders, me on Leo (to begin with), Leslie on Gabe,
Stephanie on Pb and Barbara on Farley. Stephanie and
Barbara tucked in towards the front of the field while
Leslie and I tried to hang back. Gabe pranced a little and
made Leslie quite nervous (she’s not ridden a horse other
than Leo for many years) so we ended up trading horses and
getting a late start, not getting out of the meet until
about 5 minutes after the others were gone.
That proved sublime, turns out. We tracked the field up
Holman Bridge Road a couple miles, before one of the wheel
whips passed us with her radio collar tracking device
turned towards a nearby piney woods. Leslie and I pulled
off onto a sandy driveway and listened - the entire pack
(18 couple) suddenly erupted into beautiful music, just 50
yards from us. We were well out of the way, and well in the
open, so we were ‘safe’ to be where we were, and we stayed
still and enjoyed the chorus. The hounds sounded like they
were turning a very tight circle in the woods - light
woodland of mature pines with little undergrowth to dampen
the music. They sounded like they took a hard right in the
woods, then another - like they were chasing their tails.
Suddenly, though, they (obviously, from the sound of it)
straightened out and headed west. Leslie and I followed one
of the whips (mounted) back out to the road and stood while
the huntsman galloped (literally) down the middle of the
hardtop road to get past us to where the hounds were
roaring away at a rapid rate. Two other whips followed him
closely, and, a couple minutes later, the entire field. We
tried not to look smug (or guilty) and tucked into the back
of the line.
Later, we heard what had happened in that wood - the hounds
had struck, hard, on a fresh bobcat trail, and he took them
on a winding, small circuit of the woods before scampering
(probably) up a tree. The huntsman, Joe Hardiman, later
said that’s how bobcats run - round in circles. In the same
wood, though, they picked up another trail, probably a
coyote, master David Smith said, and were off towards the
(Edisto) river.
The lead hounds got away from the main pack and ended up
five miles away, literally, where David picked them up in
the hound truck. The huntsman lifted the hounds that’d
stayed with him and put them into another covert closer to
the meet. Out popped a pair of gray foxes (David said) and
hounds split on the pair of them. Since we were so close to
the meet, and since Stephanie and Barbara were looking back
for us, we decided to pack it in. David joined us shortly
(with the hound truck full of the errant hounds) and pulled
out a bottle of port which we worked on while the horses
hand-grazed (it was their first taste of green grass since
we’re here - the soil around Blackville has plenty of clay
so it grows fescue well.)
Afterwards we caravaned to the Aiken Bed Breakfast and Barn
for a great breakfast.
Jackie and Bonnie toured the Woods with Tip and Oscar and
had a beautiful ride. Bonnie said it was heavenly in the
Woods, sunny and toasty warm. They ran into Ted Gregory
(formerly from Middleburg, some of you will recall. :o) and
rode with him for a while.
Pb and Farley, naturally, were foot-perfect, and Gabe was
pretty good at his ‘trainer’s hack’ job, once he got the
message we were serving a higher calling today. :o) Leo
kept it together pretty well, until the field galloped past
us late in the day.
We’re staying in for supper tonight (our first time in a
week) and trying not to chortle – or cry - with Leslie as
she tries to find another way home because her flight was
cancelled, AGAIN, for the FIFTH time. She meant to fly home
on Sunday, but was cancelled then due to snow, and again
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And now Friday. At
this point, she might as well just ride home with me on
Tuesday, if we get out then. Her husband needs to leave
on a business trip on Monday, though, so she’s sweating
bullets trying to find a way home. She has 3 tween kids at
home at Fort Belvoir and no one home to take care of them
when her husband takes off. Its a problem equal to ours out
in the Piedmont hoping to get home early next week.
Bye day with WRFH tomorrow, to make up for our cancelled
Friday last week (from rain) north of town. Dinner with
(Olympic medalist and neighbor from The Plains) Nina Fout
tomorrow night. Stephanie is leaving in the morning and
maybe taking Leslie with her to catch a flight from Raleigh
to BWI (she’s finding out, it seems, that its Delta into
Reagan that is the problem on the flight front.) Barbara’s
staying the duration, so is Bonnie. We’re negotiating
hunting for tomorrow now. I’m reclaiming Pb for hunting.
Barbara says our host Russ has offered to give her a stick
and ball polo lesson (he’s a former 1-goal player/patron)
and the others might school in the Woods.
Photo is of Leslie on Gabe, Stephanie on Pb and Barbara on
Farley at the Blackville fixture
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Betsy Burke Parker
Hunter’s Rest
Flint Hill, Virginia
www.HuntersRest.net
BetsyP@crosslink.net
Farm: (540) 364-2929
Cell: (540) 229-2048
I cannot teach anybody anything.
I can only make them think. – Socrates
Day Ten - with the Toronto North York hounds
Stephanie and Leslie got off early this morning - They’re going to Stephanie’s house in Greensboro, NC. Leslie catches a plane (we hope!) (at last!!) home to Fort Belvoir via BWI early Saturday morning. With six cancelled flights already, we’re sort of holding our breath.
Jackie, Barbara and Bonnie elected to hack around Full Gallop this morning (they wanted to see the ducks.) So I headed out alone to the Whiskey Road meet at their Bridge Creek fixture northeast of town. It was a cold raw morning, but with lowering barometric pressure, I figured it might be a good day. When I saw Toronto North York huntsman Antony Gaylard and his lovely lemon and white English hounds, I knew we were in for it. I tightened my girth and snapped a few pix, then cantered to join the first flight.
TNY masters Wolf von Teichman and Mike Belcourt led the field, which was fairly small relative to the other Hunt Week days, maybe just 30 or so. TNY is 158 years old (one of the oldest North American packs) and they have an active membership north of Toronto, many of which relocate – including the three masters, huntsman and hounds – to Aiken when snow/ice/cold shuts them down up north around Christmas.
Antony cast hounds first adjacent to the fixture, and they found immediately. We followed slowly down Wills Lane, a sand road (they call them ‘dirt roads’ around here.) We had a lovely sidecar seat for their work, then followed them into a young planted pine forest as the game straightened out.
I think the hounds split, and Wolf led us into a thicket he couldn’t get out of (ended up with tons of scratches down his handsome Canadian face!) so we got a little behind, but soon caught up to Antony calling in the hounds on a sand track in a more mature pine forest. We crossed a handsome little covered bridge several times – reminiscent of one in the old Rollling Rock (Penn.) country near Ligonier.
The hounds never found again, so with a looming snow storm (you could feel it in your bones) we called it a day.
I rode in with one of Aiken’s best hunt/event/race trainers Richard Lamb, and we tentatively set a lesson for all of us Saturday afternoon at Full Gallop.
Driving home, my truck’s speedometer wasn’t working, and the shifting was erratic, leading, finally, to the whole damned thing just cutting off (alarming, since I was driving 50 mph down a four lane highway pulling a loaded horse trailer. Losing power steering and power brakes, let me tell you, leaves you shaking.) But I got it off the road into a gas station parking lot and speed dialed the local Ford dealer for advice. They listened to the diagnostic rundown and said I could try to turn it on and limp home, then bring it in for service.
I gulped and turned the key. It turned on at first asking, and I drove gently home. The speedometer even started magically working again. Russ and Ann said to take it to ‘their guy’ over at Aiken Tire so I’ve dropped it there while we shop this afternoon. I am pretty scared to find out what’s wrong with it.
Nina Fout (Olympic bronze medalist and Virginia neighbor) called and we’re meeting her for dinner later at Linda’s bistro, a local joint we’ve heard about. She competes at the Pine Top event tomorrow with her two young horses (in Thomson, Georgia, just past Augusta). Barbara might groom for her, so we’re not sure if she’ll ride in the lesson with Richard Lamb. At the rate the snow’s going now (its pouring snow, though its not sticking yet) I’m not sure if anyone will be doing anything!
Day Eleven – Snow way. Snow flippin’ way.
Who’d’a thunk it, but we’re, um, snowed in here in Aiken. For the first time in more than 20 years, locals say, we got measurable snow that stuck around 18+ hours. Started yesterday afternoon and went on until about 10 pm. At the farm we got about 5 inches, enough the bend the big live oak in the driveway, and enough to practically shut down the highways. We begged off dinner in town with Nina Fout last night and made do with homecooked bbq from Dave’s pitstop shop near the farm and tucked in to watch the winter Olympics opening ceremony, where in Canada they have – mystifyingly – no snow! (they can have some of ours!)
Today’s carriage event (Ann and Russ wanted us to go and help navigate their marathons – each carriage has an ‘extra’ person aboard for the marathon, called a navigator.) The Pine Top horse trials went ahead, though, over in Thomson, Georgia, so Barbara went with her to help with the two young horses she’s competing. (I thought long and hard about it last night – when an Olympic level rider says she’s competing ‘a young horse’, it means she’s going Intermediate. When us mortals say we’re competing ‘a young horse,’ we mean we’re going in the Amoeba division!!)
Bonnie and I came into town to browse and nosh. Met up with Lizzie Beer from Unionville, Penn. in the New Moon Cafe (she is a sporting artist and lifelong foxhunter with Cheshire in Pa., with ties to Potomac, Md.; she judged the Junior North American Field Hunter Championships in Virginia last fall.) She’s exhibiting some foxhunt oils and pastels at the Essence of Aiken Art Show at the Aiken Art Center downtown next weekend. All original work by ‘emerging’ artists. We’ll go take a look later, and might ride with Lizzie in the Woods later today or tomorrow.
We’re headed this afternoon to Ash Stables west of town to audit the Jean Luc Cornille clinic that Jackie will participate in tomorrow. Jean Luc was the former chief rider at the French Cavalry School, the Cadre Noir at Saumur, France, and he is here to teach a dressage clinic. We’re going to watch a few riders then attend a lecture he’s giving – on the biomechanics of horses and riding – then attending a dinner at the farm.
Our lesson with Richard Lamb this afternoon was postponed 'til Monday. There’s a hunter pace on Monday, too, but my vote is for a proper cross country school with Richard at Full Gallop.
Beginning to eyeball the weather and road reports for our planned departure on Tuesday, but also might make an appointment with Nelson Gunnell’s sister – a local real estate agent – if we can’t get out. :o) I’m assured this is how much of the Aiken “Winter Colony” got established – northern horsemen came down ‘for the season’ with horses and just … stayed.
SnowMyGod!!!
I wonder who would put a curse on you guys down yonder like this! Snow of all things! Wonder where they dug that one up from? 
:rolleyes:
Gorgeous picture! How come YOUR snow looks charming and OURS looks like Snowmageddon?!! But you don’t have drifts down in Aiken now do ya!!?
Enjoying your blogs! Really!!!
