The Big Crash

Well,everyone's been asking.....here's the story of the big crash.

Life was going along really well at Paradise. Horses were training properly,we had a super group of people coming for lessons,the spring horse trial was filling up and it looked like 2012 was going to have a smooth start.

It was about 4.30 on Tuesday afternoon,when I told a great friend Sallie Perry,I'll just trot this mare around for twenty minutes or so while you get tacked up for your lesson.She smiled and off I went on this lovely Irish filly.I walked around my barn and out into my sand arena.It was a beautiful day and I was looking forward to my ride.I walked across the arena to the other side and began gathering up everything to go into a trot ,when WHAM,she put her head straight down and I torpedoed off her front end like a missile straight into the ground ,face first.I hit square on my forehead,did not see stars, but instantly knew I had cut my face as I felt the blood and the separations in my top and bottom lip.I did not try to move at all. I knew I had done my spine.I knew I had concussed my spine and knew better than to mess about.

Instantly I felt tingling pins and needles right down the length of my back,both arms and legs.I knew what day it was. I knew what had happened. I knew I could breath. And I knew I had feeling in my fingers and toes,so that was all good.

Sallie saw the filly run off back to the stable(fortunately unhurt) and expected to see me come puffing around the corner ready to get back on......But I was nowhere to be found.I saw her looking for me and tried to call out but I could not make a sound loud enough for her to hear.She looked over to the ring and sprinted right over.Poor Sallie ,by then I was a real mess.I assured her I was alright it was just my lips bleeding ,that I had feeling etc.She could not make my phone work so she ran back to the barn to get Barbie's phone.I called 911 and mumbled into the phone my location.

Sirens came very shortly afterwards.Backboards,straps and velcro started flying about
everywhere.I was packed up like a sausage in seconds and off we went to MCG (Medical College of Georgia) sirens and lights a blazing.

I asked Ray the ambulance man to turn on the AC full blast,which he did. You could see your breath in the meat wagon by the time we got there. But it made me feel much better.I kept counting out loud,"one,two ,threee......." over and over again,while Ray set me up with heart monitors and IV'S."why are you counting?"he asked.I replied,"to keep the rythm and not think of you with those damn needles!"

As we flew down the road,the usual medical jargon flew and radio talk,then the drivers started yelling,,,"Oh my God,Look at that,Oh my God!!!!!!!What is she doing?"
I knew exactly what was happening......"Is the car light blue"I asked with a bloody smile?

Good old Nanu (My super mother)was in hot pursuit,right on the bumper of our screaming ambulance!God help the cop that try's to stop her I thought. I have never been prouder of my mommy.No one stops Nanu.

The doors flew open and I was the main actor in an ER episode.Trauma status gets you in there fast. Off came the clothes with 4 people each weilding those geat scissors that cut anything.Out came more monitors,Ivs bright lights etc.

After the initial acessment, I had x rays and Ct scans,then came back for about 30-40 stitches.Mom and barbie were allowed in after I was sewn up.I was very concious and awake. My hands were turning into small claws by then and the pain was excruciating.There was some swelling on my spinal cord that was creating this pain.Nothing they gave me touched it.

I am a good patient and unfortunately have a lot of experience at being hurt.I knew that all I could do was lay still. And I just kept counting. Over and over.You have to put yourself in a zone where the pain does not rule you. You rule it.

I was sent upstairs to a room about 2.30 am.in stable condition.Poor mom and Barbie went home.I slept on and off,stayed in my no pain zone as best I could till 6 am then got drugged up for an MRI.Fortunately the valium worked and I didn't panic in the wretched tube.Even more fortunate was the fact that little showed up on the scan.

I was released that afternoon to go home to chateau Nanu.I have been here over a week already. I may never leave.My mother is without question my best friend. We have had a wonderful time in these crazy circumstances.

So I have about 5 fractured vertebrea and one broken rib and a broken bone in my hand and a few stitches.My hands are getting better each day.Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

Barbie ands friends are running next weeks horse trials. Yikes.Stay tuned.All is well.....

Paradise Fall Horse Trials

Another month has come and gone my my.Zoom Zoom.

Today is the 28th of November.I have really slowed down on my writing.But we haven't slowed down with anything on the farm.

My Horse trials ran perfectly smoothly ,thanks to the great team we have here at Paradise.Karen Kelly's abcense was huge.I can't believe I made it through an event without her. But Marcia,her best friend kept Karen o the go and she handled the volunteer coodinating and ,fence judge placements from afar.Keeping all the volunteer stuff organized is a huge job as the names seem to shift constantly.Communication is always the key. We like everyone to be notified way in advance but the way eventing has evolved,things seem to really pile up at the last minute which always adds to the stress.

We had a beautiful day and all the courses looked great as we had a ton of bright green brush on many jumps and restained lots of fences to make them have an upgraded look to the course.We added stabling this year and had 23 stablers. I hope the added onsite stabling will help increase interest in this nice event.We started 83 horses.75 horses breaks even. The man hours of labour and the hours I lose riding my own horses and teaching hardly makes the event seem worthwhile.Putting on a competition is a huge effort.The spring event here is a gas to put on as we know we have entries on an early date. Therefore we can put money into the event and hire the proper labour necessary.When an event runs on a complete shoestring due to lack of entries it is a sad state of affairs where everyone knows there can be no improvements done or additions to the event.We keep going as we want to support the sport. We just wish more riders would support the event.Paradise farm Horse trials has excellent footing I challenge anyone anywhere to contest the quality. We have super technical show jumping courses and state of the art dressage rings.We do not have permanent stabling with rubber mats and electricity but neither do Fair Hill International,Burghley or Blenheim Horse Trials.

So the Horse trials was in fact not the great positive I had hoped it would be.But it's now gone to bed and we are already working on the next one.I wish there had been funds left over for my next project here but now that will have to wait.I can assure all riders if you help us by entering this great competition we will not dissappoint with great additions to the courses!SO COME AND ENTER PLEASE!

Spelling

I am very sorry. I do not have control of this blog. Sometimes it lets me correct things and other times it won't. So sorry. I do try.Thanks for your patience

Aiken Hunter Trials

We had the MOST beautiful day on October 1 for our third annual Hunter Trial. This yearwe shortened the outside course and made it much easier with fewer hills.This not only decreased the degree of difficulty but let riders go a bit quicker,to avoid endless waiting around. The new jumps and the new system worked well.

The Hunter Trial really should be aimed at Fox Hunting horses but it is my intention (having learned in England) that these trials are incredibly valuable to all to have a nice slow go round over excellent fences and JUST SCHOOL AND BOND with one's horse.
All courses and jumps were open to school the day before. Most people that came to ride in the Hunter Trial came and schooled to familiarize themselves with these more open courses. They all had a great time. AS schooling was only $15.00,One can not get a better opportunity anywhere to school such beautiful jumps.

We also had a hunter ring that started with cross rails and then went to more substantial courses with gates,walls ,roll tops from 2'3 to 2'9 and then culminated with a three foot Hunter Derby. The course was fabulous with a mixture of hunter show jumps and a few cross country jumps and a ditch.

The riders in all classes were amazing and I have to say that this is what Paradiuse farm is all about. EDUCATION! These people came out here and rode WAY out of their element and had a fabulous time.

Paradise Farm offers the most perfect venue for horses with a huge variety of jumps and terrain and PERFECT footing but also A venue whereby owners trainer,parents and all supporters can stand on a hillside and watch every step of their horse.

My heart sings with joy to see these people realize their own huge accomplishments.This is not about high powered eventing or high powered anything. I am just so happy to be able to offer an INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL facility for these people to learn about themselves and their wonderful horses.

The dog show was a HUGE hit with 20 in the prettiest eyes,16 in the best wagger and 6 costumers.To see the children have so much fun was almost as good as winning ROLEX. (Not that I really know what that's like)

I have to Thank out loud my dear friends,without them,none of this would have happened. Barbie,Antonio,Nanu,Mimi(cook)Barry Doss(cook),Penny Kaster(painter ),Marsha Styger(painter)Bob Shellhouse for his trailer,Rose Hill as a class sponsor,Our great judges Susan Timmerman and Grace Vance,Anne Kinney,Betsey Minton,Lynn and Joe Kramp. A Huge thanks to Mike Sharp for being our announcer again!

I want to THANK EVERYONE that came to support Paradise farm. It was SUCH a fun day.Laura Hall brought all the children. We need MORE. WHERE WERE YOU GUYS?


Paradise offers a very unique opportunity and it is our wish to give this to the horse community here in AIKEN.WHERE WERE YOU GUYS? We miss you and hope you will come next year. You are quarantied fun and a great day.So put on your calanders for next year the first saturday in October. See you then

Where is the time?

I used to be able to write almost weekly,now it seems to be a monthly occurrance. I apologize for that.Thank you to all that have been so complimentary about this blog.It is always fun hearing from you.

So Southern Pines turned out to be a dissappointment for me ,mostly because I rode SO badly in the show jumping. I seem to be getting consumed with all that bad stuff again. i was gone for awhile but.....I know it will go away again.

The AEC's were next. WE had great times. I think I was second to last to go in the OI champs. Peter is a definate afternoon boy. I was pleased with his dressage. It's coming. Another year and I think we might be OK.A couple of small blips but his attitude was good and he was very workmanlike.Cross country was a perfect ride. He never ever picked up the bridle one time. My intention was just to jump around and have a very settled ride and he made the time easily bringing us to show Jumping in 7th place.My nerves got the better of me again although I have to say these current nerves are not so much riding nerves but other demonic possesions that are taking me away from riding a clear round.That being said I had three rails and finished 13th.Watching the video I know what I have to do to fix the riding which is good,but the other stuff is a little harder.

Poplar PLace CiC 2 * was next. Again I was pleased with Peters dressage. He's going to be the real deal in time and I have to be patient.Cross country I had a stop by overchecking to the water ,trying to prevent (in my mind) over jumping a brush to a one stride. Of course I kicked myself as I shouldhave left Peter alone and LET HIM JUMP!!!! DUH!Peter is a definate goer and very good with his feet. I have to say it was a REAL error on my part and I paid the price. Other than that he pinged around and the big A is not far away as far as dressage or cross country goes. ON THE OTHER HAND, Lellie will not be going anywhere fast until a few things at home get settled so I can show jump better.

I chose to show jump in a hackamore. WE had practiced in it and were very happy with it.Peter got progressively stronger during the duration of the course. I actually dropped my right rein after the triple and Peter took off and ran away with me for a good ten minutes. Flat out.It was a clasic run away. Not at all funny. I was completely helples and he ran as fast as he could without the slightest fatigue. It was very unsafe and I was not a happy camper but knew from my racing days eventually it would have to end so I sat chilly but terrified everyone watching. I apologize for that as it was truely scary.

I was very upset but again more with non riding issues than Peter and went home with my tail between my legs.So we have decided not to run the two star CCI as planned and step back a little till other things can settle down.I will never put the horses at risk and I need to get a few things sorted to ride better in the future.Al;ways something!!!

So I am now officially done with eventing for a while and going back to show Jumping again for some more education.

Not the way I wanted it to go but the horses cme first. WE have since Jumped Peter at home with the help of a good friend and all is very well. So stay tuned we'll beback.!

Work In Progress

How things change. Two years ago,I had the amazing luxury of riding three strapping young thoroughbred horses around events every other week.And they were rarely out of the money. It was a great feeling of success and accomplishment that gave me great strength and the fortitude to fulfill all the challenges this sport requires.

It takes tremendous willpower not to equate ones self worth as a human being with how one ends up on the weekend.I am currently down to one eventer,Peter Pan.Ninety Nine percent of this darn game is confidence. I am currently standing on about 10% in my ability.

Show Jumping once again seems to be eating me alive. Even though I had a great summers jumping at proper shows with Peter and Zidaan.For some reason my last event brought me to my kneees with a charming 5 rails down. And this week ,,,well I'll start at the beginning.

Peter is entering into the power stage of his career and it is not an easy one.I always tell everyone riding well is an illusion.(Except if you watched the top 5 at Burghley this week!OMG do they ever miss?)(Another blog entirely)

I was very pleased with my dressage warm up and test this week only to be hammered by the judge.Hurrumph!Grump Grump.

The cross country looked great,although I said to Barbie at a small ditch /bounce combination...."I hope they read this....This ditch is not much to look at." Peter pinged around inside his minute markers easily until,splat ...that darn little ditch.He Left both his hind legs in it and I pulled out quickly to avoid hitting the skinny out. There was no room to do anything except pop back out over that ditch the wrong way and represent to the combination. Well
he saw it that time and off we went. He finished the course with 20 jumping and 20 time as there was no point in running his legs off at that point.I was not happy.

Most importantly I had to make sure he was OK. He had some pretty good scrapes on the inside of his hind legs. I felt I had let him down in my presentation.

Show Jumping on Sunday I had another disappointing 4 down and felt I rode really badly.UGH. WE forgot the camera. My only source of info.

So It was a long ride home. I miss Pickles. I miss River Dance and Harry too.I need to clean up my game. AGAIN!

Upon arrival at Paradise,the grass is long and untidy. It looks overrun. Ugh. We are killing ourselves to keep it all going.Doom and Gloom.

We leave again in two days for The AEC's.Hopefully things will go better there.I can't stay in a slump for too long.I look at Peter and I see great things. I feel it.Just not this week.Karen O'Conner's groom Max told me to go to the movies and forget about it.Good advice.

So we'll be washing,mowing ,jumping and teaching again till we leave and see what happens the next time... Stay tuned...I am going to keep telling myself it's going to get better and remind myself how lucky I am to be this miserable at times.. Horses are great levelers!

Any of you guys ever feel this way?

Bare Bones Farm

Last weekend Jack and I zoomed our way down to Shorter, Alabama to judge a dressage and show jumping on the Saturday and teach a clinic on Sunday at Lorna,Duffy and Erika Aho's FANTASTIC Bare Bones Farm.

It is a PERFECT venue with great footing,similar to Paradise.Duffy has built super jumps. WE had tons of ideas for new banks and the future cross country course. Lorna has her sights on stabling and ALL SORTS of stuff in the future.

Lorna and I have been great pals for over twenty years. WE have blasted through England together,bought out Badminton,and traveled extensively together while eventing in the past.She has a n excellent eye and was bread to event. Her auntie is Dame Maxwell of famed Badminton dressage commentary'.

Lorna knows her stuff.She put on this show with aplomb,managing all the secretarial stuff as well as the layout etc. Duffy does GREAT FOOD and all the mowing and all the other STUFF.Erika rides around like a mini Lorna. Look out world ,she comin' on strong, getting the BEST experience on millions of hairy ponies.(the best kind!)

The dressage classes were great. Lorna brilliantly left enough time for me to pop out after every test and elaborate on the goods ,bads, and how to get betters.A great group of people and nice caliber of horses too! Great Fun for me. I LOVE travelling around seeing all these different places and people enjoying their horses.A few brave dressage riders even opted to have a chance flat lesson the next day. They were GREAT!(And very very brave....)

The Show jumping was fun. Courses were challenging enough. There was a fault and out class,Power and Speed and jump off rounds . Lorna also had a super derby class that had a few extra questions(bonus fences and skinnies). She plans to have lights up so evening classes can be a great addition. Her Show Jumping is in a natural amphitheater type setting, so there is ample room for all sorts of banks and terrain questions.There is a super flat place for a Hunter Ring ,that can double for a large dressage arena. She already has one super large arena now.

The clinic was well attended. Everyone worked very hard on my usual themes. Safety,Balance ,Control,Confidence and FUN!Gatorade was the word of the day.I had them jumping over the ice chest so they could only drink if they went clear!(Just kidding)

It is always an honor and a pleasure to be invited to Judge and then teach. It is as much fun for me as for the people.It is very inspiring to be able to give back to the sport.

So stay tuned for news of this great venue. I have ridden all over the world and I can recommend this place!

Thank you Lorna,Duffy and Erika! Thank you to all that came to support Bare Bones Farm and me.