Catching Up

So many of you have asked me why I have not been "Blogging". Who made up that word anyway? It's like :"Facebook and Twitter or Tweeting?"Any way the simple answer is that I had once again lost all faith in humanity and myself and thought it best to keep my opinions on things to myself.

So I watched the Godfather over and over again and a few other good movies that inspired me,yet todays feature film was one of my all time favorites,The Karate Kid.Once again,Mr. Miagi pulled me from the depths I so often visit and regave me the will to live.I wish I could stand like that pelican or whatever it is and kick my leg up that high and make the same sound as it did when it hit the bad guy straight on,but I am afraid I would tear something and I'd be back on crutches again. I had better not.

2010 hasn't been the greatest of years.The loss of quite a few great friends,4 four legged and one two legged.(Boy would I like to do the pelican dance with that Dummy!)A few more broken bones and the recent BS with the AH .But out of bad always comes good and almost always when one doesn't expect it.

We had a magical day here at Paradise yesterday with the Hunter Trial. A lot of great people came to support the farm and had a wonderful time. It was perfect weather and the field was emerald green after the great rains we had.The courses rode well.We had lots of children on ponies and adults on their ponies. Smiles were everywhere.I will get Miss Ann to put pictures up on this blog when she feels better cause I do not know how to do it.We had teams and pairs and braids and ribbons and lots of dogs in the dog show!

Many people were beautifully turned out.There were shadbellies,tweed and colors galour. I think that sets a great example for the future.Horses were sparkling.Sadly not a lot of hunting people came which this event was aimed for but we had so many other enthusiasts I don't know how it could have been better .

Nanu's famous sandwhiches,magic cookies, hamburgers , Hotdogs,and fabulous meatball sandwhiches made by a REAL FIREMAN were a big hit as was the rest of the food. Next year we'll have a better stock of beverages on hand. I MUST Get a bigger tent!

The Hunter Trials are a day of fun. There should be something for everyone. The Hunter Pace is about 2 miles long and goes all over the farm,making use of all the terrain Paradise has to offer.Hills,Ditches, water and small banks.Perfect footing and not so perfect footing. One can go at ones own pace and just enjoy the ride. It is an excellent warm up for the rest of the day or just a great experience to enjoy ones horse in a party atmosphere.

The cross rails are a good starting point to jumping. Next year there will be an entire division and several low jumping classes in the ring as we had so many requests already!We have already decided we need more judges as well to move things along as there is so much to do.

We had 5 different courses and the classes were beautiful to watch. Thanks to all that helped decorated the jumps,put out numbers and cut brush.The Hillside at Paradise offers unparallelled viewing and our spectators were VERY enthusiastic. Mike Sharp had his FABULOUS music playing along with his great voice doing the announcing.

Everyone was a huge winner but it was Chis Powers and Olive that piped out Lynn Kramp and Earnie as the adult grand Champion!Our Junior champion was Rebecca Beaudry with her lovely horse Daisy and Madeline Eves was reserve. A tight competition decided in the last class!

There are already huge plan for next year's Hunter Trial. So save the first Saturday in October.We are planning a fun party the Friday night before so clear your calanders! Stay tuned