THIS IS HALLOWEEN

So I'm really pumped for Halloween, if you can't tell. This is the pumpkin I carved yesterday. Chelsea and I also rented a week's worth of horror movies, including The Omen, Betelgeuse, The Amityville Horror, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shining, Psycho, and Nosferatu. No plans for the actual night yet, but I'm hoping we can talk some of the boarders into throwing a party, because Halloween just isn't the same without costumes and debauchery!

Rain Suits!

Today, it was 42 degrees and raining when we got up. Chelsea and I decided to document our epic rain gear for posterity. I don't know about her, but I'm wearing two shirts, pants, two pairs of socks, a jacket, coveralls, muck boots, and a rain jacket.
It's gonna be a hard winter y'all.

LAME

This weekend, I found out what a bad idea it is to ride through injuries. I got through my dressage test OK at Jumpstart this weekend, but by the time XC rolled around, my back was all "Fuck you!" and I was all, "Oh, c'mon!" and so I fell off during warm up, further effed up my back, and had to scratch my entry.

Luckily, Megan has given me a few days off, so my gimpiness is starting to clear up. But it looks like Grady is going to have to wait a few months for his premiere, especially since he is still lame! Oh, horseback riding.

Grady So Handsome!

This is from a few weeks ago when I was practicing braiding. Grady was checking out a barn cat that hopped down the ladder.

(Sorry about the) Novel

I have been amiss posting in September, mostly because it has been busy around here and second mostly because I didn't think anyone actually read my posts. So thanks James :)

Last Tuesday was the Oldenburg baby inspection. We took our baby Fizz, who is a sweet, snuggly, stubborn creature, and she was so so good. We were freaking out the day before because it looked like she was sore on her front feet, and the vet told us to wrap them with the (very approximate) equivalent of horsey icy-hot and duct tape.

Emily and I were dreading this process because babies don't like being messed with and they sometimes retaliate pretty violently (see "Ghetto cookout and horse-related injuries"). I went to pick up one of Fizzy's feet, and instead of being angry, she just laid down, stuck out her legs, and waited patiently for us to put on her "pretty princess shoes." It was such a relief! Honestly, it's the little things... not getting kicked in the head by a baby horse can really make your day.

Last Wednesday, we went to the yearling sales at the Keeneland racetrack. Before we walked in the building, Megan warned us not to make eye contact with the Keeneland staff... or wiggle our eyebrows, or touch our noses, or make any sudden moves of any kind... because she didn't want us unknowingly bidding on a 100,000-dollar horse. Whew!

It was a kind of sad experience. All of the one-year-old thoroughbreds looked more like 4-year-old quarterhorses because they were hopped up on steriods and had logged hundreds of hours in an equiciser. Most yearlings spend their days playing bitey-face and eating grass out in a field with their friends.

Megan told us that all of the bids were fairly low this year because of the economy (ie, there were a lot of horses going for 100-200 thousand dollars instead of 400-500 thousand dollars), but we did see the bidding for a million-dollar horse. It was a half-sibling to the filly that won the Kentucky Derby this year.

On the way home from the race track, Megan drove us by a surprisingly not-famous Lexington landmark... a castle! Apparently, some really rich guy started building it as a tribute to his love for his wife. Halfway through the endevor, he went bankrupt and his wife left him! Someone else finished the project and turned it into an "inn" that costs $2500 a night. But I guess if you're flying in to Lexington to buy a million-dollar race horse, that seems like a reasonable price for lodging.

Last weekend, I groomed for Megan at the Flying Cross Horse Trials in Louisville. We took four horses and camped out in the horse trailer for a few nights. I would explain who won what, but eventing jargon is kind of confusing... needless to say, she did really really well on all of her guys.

This week, we're getting ready for the Jumpstart Horse Trials at the Kentucky Horse Park, which thankfully is only two miles from our farm. We're taking a few of Megan's students, and Emily and I are riding. Unforturnately, Emily's horse has been lame since the last show she tried to enter him in, and Grady turned up lame yesterday, so we had to do a switcharoo. So I'm riding her project horse Dolce, and she's riding my project horse Taz.

Now the only problem is that I'VE turned up lame with a pulled back or pinched nerve or something... whatever it is, I can't really walk. So hopefully I can get this under control by Friday, or I can dope myself up enough to get through the weekend. Ugh.

I will post pictures and other more interesting things once our wireless router starts working again. It is truly horrible to live without the internet, let me tell you!

Excursion

Today Emily and I decided to go on a bike ride downtown. First, we had to take Austin's old Fuji to the bike shop to get the tires replaced, and while we were waiting, we found some dog repellent... The best part: "Used by the US postal service for over 30 years."

We biked around the UK campus area for an hour or so... almost got lost, but found ourselves again, got honked at several times, thought about flirting with the bike shop boys, and generally had an awesome time!

Grady's Future

What Molly is doing with her degree:

Spraypainting pinnies for our show... and my stencil didn't even work that well! Pathetic.

Yay Grady!

Grady and I had our first mini trial this weekend... and Grady won his division!! It's a good thing he's starting to earn his keep considering how much I spent at the tack store today...

Ghetto cookout and horse-related injuries

Thursday night, we decided to have a cook out. We set up the grill in the driveway because of the six months worth of hay in the hayloft.

Also, I figured out the initiation for new working students... it involves getting effed up by some horses (and people, haha). Here's the list of injuries from yesterday:
-Grady kicked me
-Baby Mo kicked Emily IN THE FACE
-Kate stepped on my ankle
-Emily accidentally shut my head in the car door

I don't think the last one was part of the initiation, but it's funny, so hey.

And on the plus side, we went for ice cream!

Oh, also, for all you South Carolina people -- it was 79-ish degrees yesterday with a light breeze. Jealous? (Though you probably won't be in a couple months...)

Home sweet barn!

We ain't in Kansas anymore.

So it's day three of my new job, and a busy three days it's been.

I drove up on Saturday with Amber and Margaret. My stuff overflowed onto the roof, even though Rachel and I threw most of our earthly possessions out on Greene Street last week.

Once we got near Lexington, we stopped at Liquor World to buy some Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, and we found out that in KY, you can buy liquor until midnight FROM A DRIVE THRU WINDOW. Amazing.

Sunday, we got up early to watch the girls show at Masterson Park, a state-sponsored equine facility. I got back to the farm around 4, helped muck some stalls, then slept on a futon, as our apartment was packed to capacity.

Monday was pretty laid-back. Katie and I fed and cleaned stalls, then she taught me how to drive the tractor! I felt like a badass cowgirl. I also got to ride one of Megan's horses, Hopper. Talk about frickin' amazing! Although, after 40 straight minutes of posting trot, I was about ready to die.

Today started out soooo slooooow... but around 2 the rain clouds turned especially ominous and we saw some serious lighting and green tinge to the sky. AHHHH! Torrential rains came a'fallin' (but luckily no tornadoes) and we all spent the afternoon soggy, trying to keep the barn from flooding.

Eventually, though, the clouds cleared, we finished the day and now we're watchin effin' Top Gun.

Pictures on the way!