Let's Meet (part 3?)

[system]

Hi! My REAL name is Sabra, Jaime is my oh-so wonderful 4yr old daughter. I own and run Keerymeade Stables in Elmira, NY. The facility has 40 stalls/indoor/55acres/lots of turnout yadayadayada…Since we just started here, I’m doing everything (stalls for 25,lessons,trying to ride mine-sales horses too) but do come in to chat when I need a break.

Too many horses to mention–Mandarin/babies/sales horses/lesson horses/broodmares/boarders etc.

Oh yeah, I have a BS (definately) in Biochem. and practiced mixology for 10 yrs - to put myself through college, and then to feed the few beasts that I had at that point.

[N_B_T]

Jair, I’m beginning to worry just a tad about your motivation for that tank! Seriously, saltwater tanks are more difficult to maintain but lots more fun (at least IMVHO) and if it all gets too much, you can usually find someone who will provide maintenance services for you…angels were/are my favorites too, but be sure to look at shrimp, crabs and lobsters as well, they add a lot and have really interesting behaviors (if you keep them well fed, the lobsters won’t grab the angels! )

The kitty just arrived on the doorstep, she was irresistable…and, three weeks later, after a night out on the town (apparently having teleported herself through a closed door, an ability developed by cats to humble their human slaves), reappeared with a tom in tow… I keep telling myself, she’s waaay too young! I had to explain that to the tom as well, as he showed signs of wanting to move in too!

Actually, Portia, it’s only in the last year or so that I’ve been cat-less as my ex got custody of our three…see thread one, page one, which does need updating to include the return of my retiree (16yo TB stallion, the most laid-back TB in existence) to my care…it’s wonderful to have him back, though also a little odd as it was such a wrench to part with him initially.

Anyway…

[Canter]

Wow, this is really fun…almost like putting faces to names.

In the real world my name is LJ. I’m 39 and live in Toronto, Ontario somewhere near LCR Scott and heidi should they decide to 'fess up.

I have ridden all my life - got my first pony when I was 6 and had the best time with her. All of my “firsts” hacking, swimming, jumping, volteige, showing, falling into snow banks, playing cowboys - we shared all those wonderful things together.

I’m one of the hundreds of old Eglinton Equestrian Club alumni’s dotting the Ontario landscape and an ex-Prince Phillip Cup Gamer for the old EEC Pony Club.

(I’ll still take on all comers - I’m wicked with a spoon and an egg!)

I’ve had more than my share of wonderful, talented four legged friends over the years. Have won many classes and blown just as many.
I showed hunters, switched to jumpers, tried eventing realised I was out of my mind switched again to jumpers, back to hunters and finally discovered that I don’t need to show anymore to validate my existence - I can use pros to show my babies. Novel concept.

Have loved every minute of my friendship with horses.

I have 2 sons, one of whom rides. They are, in my unbiased opinion, the best kids in the world. I’m truly blessed. Hubby is terrific and spends just as much time at the barn as I do, even though he’s terrified of horses but puts on a brave front when doling out the apples and carrots.

OOps! Amost forgot the critters. One standard Poodle (world’s most perfect dog) named Terra,
2 identical white shedding machine cats, Mr. Bigglesworth and Scarface, 4 goldfish and one gigantic Black Molly named…Molly.

I’m head zookeeper for the Equestrian Management Group discussion boards, at www.equiman.com and love to come here to “play” - no responsibilites! I also work in advertising for a big agency and when I have any free time I sleep.

Nice to meet you all!

[This message has been edited by Canter (edited 10-17-2000).]

[EarthTo]

ClemsonRider – Interesting to read about all the Chantilly HS grads on here. I did not go there (it didn’t exist 152 years ago when I was in HS!!). But I worked for years with a wonderful woman whose daughter graduated from there in 1997 – maybe you were there then? The daughter’s name is Melissa, aka Missy, the mom’s name is Pam. Too bad you ended up at Clemson, though, instead of at a REAL institution of higher learning like, oh, say, Georgia Tech (just to pick one TOTALLY at random). smile

[L_Scott]

Canter, Heidi, Palisades and I can now be known as the Southern Ontario Clique. If I missed anyone, please feel free to join.

I am 36 and live in Toronto. I have two of the most gorgeous and wonderful children I know. Funny, that! My husband is not horsey and refuses to be(allergies, attitude). I work in retail and institutional brokerage at what is now another bank owned brokerage firm.

I have been riding since I was about 7, but didn’t own my own horse until I was 20. I did the Adult hunter(3’), a little DQ work and dabbled in breeding with success. I have not been consistant in my riding since having my second child, but plan on riding more in the next year.

I sold my large pony to an american last dec and she has done really well, south of the border. My family owns a wonderful jumper named Hello Newman(Weltmeyer grandson) and I just bought a dutch/tb filly(4 1/2 months old) out of Sauvage Diamont that is completely gorgeous(not biased, no, no, no).

My daughter starts taking riding lessons this sunday and I am very excited, although I think it is my asthmatic son that is going to love it more. He has that passion for animals where she is more reserved. Husband is very depressed about it all(hehe).

Good to meet you all.

How was that, Canter?

[Blinky]

Oh my god! A Starbucks in Chantilly! Heaven. I worked at Dominion right after Allen sold it. Worked there for several years until I decided it was time for college. Now, I’m working on my MBA from Miss. State- a necessary evil to support my horse habit!

[RumoursFollow]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RodeoGirl:
Ahhhh weddings!!! I’m addicted! My roomate this summer got me started…we always bought wedding magazines…Martha Stewart Wedding and Southern Living Wedding were the BEST!! I’ve got everything for my wedding picked out…except the man!!! Can anyone give me a little help on this one?!?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My roommates and I all have ours planned too. LOL. There are 2 of us that have already met our… lesser halves … and we have our dresses and everything. Lotsa fun. I gave Brent (the infamous boyfriend) a picture of the ring that I want for my engagement ring… and his only reply was “note to self: win lottery!” haha. Weddings are fun. I’m helping my brother and sister in law to be plan theirs right now! They just booked their honeymoon to Hawaii!

[Portia]

Welcom Morrissey, and all the other new folks who have joined us or come out of lurkerdom! I love reading these stories.

[HSM]

Well, since this seems to be the correct place to post introductions (unlike my own redundant thread, which has unfortunately been a dud ) I figured I’d do a little cut & paste and put my intro into this one, where maybe someone will see it:

"Ok, now that this huge crew of E-searchers has invaded COTH, it seems only appropriate, polite and friendly that we should all introduce ourselves to you, lest you might think we are pushy or something. I’ll start:
I am HSM, which stand of course for HorseShowMom. (this, btw, is one of the reasons I left e-search - they took away my screen name! I am HSM, dagnabbit!) I have been hanging around here reading for quite some time, but haven’t said much because I mostly come to learn. You see, I do not ride horses shudder. I didn’t even used to like horses. But then, something strange happened… I became a mother, with a dtr (almost 14 yrs. old now) who has been horse crazy from the git-go. It’s been a growing obsession since she was old enough to talk, and when she was 7 we gave in and got her her 1st lesson. The rest is history.

For the past few years I’ve been tagging along, playing mom/chaueffer/groom when my dtr does the local circuit. In spite of saying “No! Never! Won’t consider it!!!”, we ended up buying her a horse in Feb., a sweet, moochy, still-learning grey (white to me ) mare. The advice of my e-search pals was invaluable through this process. Now I am tail-shampooer extraordinaire and find myself looking for treats to give “our” horsie. Go figure.

When not driving to and from the barn, or to and from music lessons and rehearsals (I have a son too) I am a part-time PR/outreach person/grant writer for a small social service agency. And…a bonafide resident of “The Porch”, where I was welcomed and brought along patiently until now I can (occasionally) help a new HSM along. "

[DMK]

Oh, I’m just speculating, but it is entirely possible that may be just the very beginning of the problem, LOL…

Ain’t nothin’ like catching a cat in, or worse yet causing a cat to have an “ungraceful” moment

Your fish are doomed…

[CBoylen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rockstar:

Chanda… how do you like Hopkins? Do Hopkins kids go out a lot downtown? I have always wondered that. I used to live right next door in Guilford… but with her “empty nest” my mom just bought a condo in Roland Park. Didn’t Elizabeth and Rodney get married at the church across from the lacrosse field? I think remember Mary Lisa (my trainer) telling me that when she was a bridesmaid…<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well…Hopkins is okay…my main thing about going here was obviously the fact that it was near my trainer, an added bonus is that classes run MTW or ThF; so I can leave on W nights for FL in the winters. I personally go out in Fells Point, and I think quite a few other Hopkins kids do, but PJ’s Pub across from campus is the real deal. Rodney and Elizabeth got married in the Cathedral of the Incarnation which is down from the lacrosse field, the church directly across from the lacrosse field is a christian scientist church (no offence intended to anyone)

[Heather]

Just had to throw in my two cents about dogs and cats (I have both). I heard a fantastic quote on TV the other day about our relationship with the two beasties from an animal behavior professor at Harvard. He said:
“A dog looks at you and says, ‘You give food, shelter, warmth, love, and affection . . .you must be a god!’ A cat looks at you and says, 'You give me food, shelter, warmth, love and affection . . .I must be a god!”

Love that quote.

[sjh]

I never posted on the Let’s meet threads either.

My name is Sarah and I am a college student at a local college. I ALMOST went to the University of Michigan, even held my spot there and was all ready but at last minute I backed out because it was a terrible commute and I wasn’t planning on living in the dorms. I may go there next year if I get an apartment in Ann Arbor. Well, enough rambling about that!

I have two thoroughbred mares, one is 16.2h and is 11, Sunset is my jumper that I have put through everything in the past 5 years. My other mare (Tail) I have only had for 2 months. She flunked off the track and decided that life would be better as a hunter. Er, maybe I decided that one. She is still VERY green.

I will be showing in the A/A jumpers most likely next year on my Sunset and the super green hunter classes on Tail. (first year as an adult, scary!)

Tail needs a name, do you have any names that begin with T that would be cute for a little bay mare with a blaze and white in her tail?

[Regalmeans]

I’m Sarah aka Regalmeans in honor of my beloved gelding Of Regal Means (17 hand 15 year old TB hunter), see http://www.geocities.com/sarah_regal/regal_pics.html

I’m 17 and a senior in HS, applying early decision to Drew University in North NJ. I’m a history/political science student and thanks to a good HS Im able to focus on these areas this year (no science or other annoying courses!)

I live in Southern NJ (Camden County), Regal resides in Shamong. We show locally in the 2’6-2’9 divions - Regal has arthitis and leg problems which limit how high he can jump. But he’s my boy and he rules. He’s my first horse and the only one I actually own (although I have the luxury of being about to ride a few other horses @ my barn, on of whom Derby I refer to as ‘my mare’ ) -

I got into the whole riding seriously and showing thing a little late so I’m not doing the big stuff yet - but I love riding and learning about stuff. Hunters are my first love but I also do equ and dressage and next year I wanna ride IHSA for Drew.

Thats me in a nutshell - if you want more - http://www.geocities.com/sarah_regal

Sarah

[EarthTo]

I am just recently on this BB, but this introducing ourselves thing seems like a good idea! My wife and I (married 26 years) are in the over-40 crowd – hmmm, let me amend that for my own self-preservation, I may be over 40, but SHE was a child bride! We live in Fairfax VA, a suburb of Washington DC. We’ve been interested in horses forever, but have had long periods in our lives when we were not actively involved with them.
We both come from non-horsey families. She started at 6 in Georgia at a local pony club where she owned a mare, very informal kind of situation. I started at 7 in Colorado Springs where my Air Force officer father was stationed, when the wife of the commanding General at a nearby army base decided to offer riding lessons to the children of officers and commandeered the post’s cavalry horses (yes, the Army still had them for ceremonial purposes at the time) to do so!
After my dad was transferred to Germany I continued riding at a very formal dressage facility there, gaining valuable experience in being yelled at in German for my (undoubtedly many)mistakes while unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) barely understanding the language. Upon returning to the states, I learned to jump at a riding academy in the hills behind Berkley CA.
I then gave up riding for about 15 years. I started again as an adult with my wife, mostly hacking OPH (“other people’s horses”) cross country in then-undeveloped northern Montgomery County MD. After several years we stopped riding again for reasons that must have made sense at the time although we can’t quite remember them now.
Then five years ago, we were attending the annual bench-bar dinner dance here (I’m the lawyer in the family, my wife earns an honest living as a contracts administrator) and there was a silent auction for charity. We noticed that one of the items being auctioned was riding lessons at a place out in Fauquier County VA (unlike Fairfax, Fauquier still has unpaved land). To our surprise, we were the high bidders, so that started us riding again. We have ridden regularly since then.
Most recently we again began riding cross-country with the same people we rode with years ago in Maryland, only now their barn is in Fauquier west of Warrenton VA . Now that we have “mellowed” a bit with age we aren’t as competitive as we used to be – we just love the sheer pleasure of being out on a willing horse cantering across field and over fence in the glorious Northern Virginia countryside. All in all, life is good!

[Nylar]

I’m 19, I go to Wilson College in PA (sophmore), and I’m majoring in Equestrian Studies with a minor in English. They make me ride dressage here, which I would probably end up doing anyway since my trainer does it, but it’s not my first choice. I do some jumping too, but it’s not specific as to hunters or jumpers or equitation.

I started riding at age 9, and showing at 13. I leased an 18 y/o TB police reject named Nylar during high school, and did the local hunters and a little bit of the rated Childrens’ with him. I just bought Dunn By Picasso (Dunn) in June with the help of my parents He’s 11 going on 5, but my trainer and I have full faith in him being a nice A/A or A/O hunter. We’re going to stay at the local level for most of this season, but we’re hoping to move up soon.

I also did TSEL and NCEL (junior versions of IHSA) and started as an Intermediate rider on Wilson’s IHSA team, but had to quit when I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel and had to cut down on the amount of activity I was using my hand for. And I ride the brat ponies at our barn, along with just about everything else that comes in!

Pictures can be found here: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1269407&a=9396127

Alright, definately enough talking for one night!

[DMK]

Jair, hopefully rescuemom’s explanation cleared up your canadian confusion And of course Morris was watching which tulips YOU planted…

Nancey (or anyone fascinated by cats) - since you have recently been adopted by a stray kitten, I highly recommend Paul Gallico’s “The Silent Miaow, a Manual for Homeless Kittens and Strays”, as Required Reading. It is a great book!

Jair - I think you should just skip straight to Eric Gurney’s “How to Live with a Calculating Cat”

[JRG]

Although I have make my oppinion known once or twice, I too am an e-search defector.

I am a transplanted Canadian by way of Oklahoma to Pennsylvania, what a change eh? sorry coulnt’ resist.

My new TB gelding has turned 5. He is a dark bay with small star/snip and ring around his coronet and stands at 16.2. I started his show career this year and hope to breeze through the hunters(for the experience) to my ultimate goal the Jumpers. But we will see how he does. My barn mates take great pride in calling him a “Hunter” and then they giggle themselves silly.

I have a husband and a lab/border collie mix, and between the two of them I don’t know which one is more needy…LOL but I love them both to death.

I am a semi-retired standard bred farrier, now I do my own and some others just to keep my feet wet. Actually that is how I met my husband. Shoeing horses in OK, he was amazed at a women doing that kind of work. I asked him where he got HIS truck, out of a cracker jack box? It was love.

Now I help out in a tack shop, and ride everyday I can. I have big goals for this new horse and he shows potential.

I have enjoyed talking and getting to know people on these boards and hope to get a chance to meet some of you.

[JB]

Hey Aubreyuga - glad to see you here!

[Canter]

LOL. If we had audio, you’d hear clapping!

To the Southern Ontario clique (and anyone else brave enough to join us at the Royal):

I expect to see all these bio’s neatly pinned to your “Hello My Name Is Poo” sticker-tags at the Fox and Hound next month.

[This message has been edited by Canter (edited 10-17-2000).]