Hello Everyone

Sorry for the long delay in updates.  You see a couple of nights ago I had written a very witty and entertaining update only to have it all lost when my internet connection failed.  Then I got frustrated and since it was way past my bedtime I gave up.  So now I will do my best to bring you up to date.  

Let's see a few jump schools this week lead to a great show at Rocking Horse.  We dusted off the cob webs and had a great weekend.  Maris and Casey were not too wild and Slim Jim jumped great. All the boys jumped double clean.  Now if we could just get them to stop freaking out every time we seperate them. I am not even joking when I tell you that Maris can spot Slim Jim from a mile away! Other than the constant whinnying it was a great weekend.  And the best part was that it finally warmed up.  Now I know how everyone gets all grumpy when I talk about how cold it is here.  But seriously, up until now, it has been FREEZING!  There were a few mornings when we could not brush our teeth because there was no water in camper land, it was frozen.  And let me tell you just how cold it is when you have to run out to the barn in the middle of the night in your PJs to pee. Not so much fun. 

Today, unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to Chelsea and Trey as they are flying back to the frozen tundra as I type.  I am definitely going to miss them tons.  I got a bit spoiled having them around.  And I am sure they will tell you just how pleasant and cherry I am to be around all of the time.  I am especially going to miss Trey when Abbie needs her big butt hefted into the camper or when I need someone to pour me another drink.  I think I already threw my back out.  And I will really miss waking up to the blue glow of Chelsea's phone every 3 minutes as she is texting.  But mostly I am going to miss all of the hysterical moments that probably should never be repeated.  

Tomorrow will be a boring day.  Panda needs to go for a hack, and all of the boys will have a well deserved day off.

Bye for now, 

Kerry, Mary, Abbie, Dewey. and Katy dog.  

Back to Ocala!!

Hello everyone.  We are very happy to be writing to you from not so sunny Florida. Yes, it is cold. Now I know what you are all thinking, but it really is pretty cold. Now I have not lost all feeling in my fingers and toes.  But I am pretty bundled up! 

I will do my best to get everyone up to date in our oh so exciting adventures in Ocala. 

Our drive down was pretty uneventful, that is until we got to Florida!! It seems as if the vet forgot to date my health certificate.  NOT GOOD!!! Of  course, I had a cop with a attitude.  He threatened to throw me in jail and sell all of my horses at auction.  He thought he was being really funny. Me, not so much.  Long story short, over an hour later and signing my life away along with my first born I was able to leave the Ag station.  Oh and while I was in the ag station, Dewey thought it would a good idea to pee on Trey's seat.  Good Boy!!! 

After that, it was smooth sailing to Ocala.  We quickly got our stalls set up and threw Casey out in the field.  He was very happy to be in the Florida sand.  

So day one we turned all of the ponies out and left them alone while we cleaned tack, the trailer, and set up the camper.  Very exciting!!

Day two we plopped around on the ponies so they could stretch their legs.  I managed not to get bucked off anyone so it was a successful day.  Then I began the dreaded chore of clipping.  It really is no fun to clip horses in hurricane force winds.  I had so much hair up my nose and eyes.  Then my clippers decided to stop working. UGH!! But luckily Trey is secretly a welder and managed to get a pair of clippers working.  But alas, I ran out of drugs and was only able to get two clipped.  Two down, two to go.  Tomorrow I promise it will be done!

So today, we rode for real.  We took Maris, Slim Jim, and Casey XC schooling.  Surprisingly all were really good.  Which was a good thing because we had quite the adventure getting there. You see our good friend Mary broke down so I went to pick up her stranded ponies.  Well one of her horses decided to lay down in my trailer and would NOT get up.  Thirty minutes later, after taking my trailer apart the horse finally got up. He was a little stressed but OK.  Thank goodness.  It was not  a great way to start the day, but that's horses.  After XC schooling we came back to the barn and I rode Panda.  She was a little lazy, but good.  After that, it was boring barn chores and showers.  You see when living in a camper with 4 people showering becomes a strategic nightmare.  Well, I go first take up all of the hot water and then let everyone else fend for themselves.  

Other than that, camper life is great.  Well, except that Abbie can't get up the steps so we have to lift her big butt in and out of the camper 10 times a day.  Boy, I'm going to miss Trey. 

I hope everyone is doing well. We miss you tons and hope you can visit because it is too cold to come home.

Bye for now,

Chelsea, Trey, Kerry, Mary, Dewey, Abbie, and Katy dog.  Yes we are all cozy in the camper together!! One big happy family.

Oprah is worse than chapstick!!!

It's true, today in Ocala, it rained and then got amazingly warm.  This is Krista by the way; Kerry's taking a sabbatical from the blog for a bit.  This morning we did barn chores in the rain.  Kalin and I also washed Marise (who's tail looks amazing) and Gizmo (who was not happy about it and took a few vigorous scrubbings to look gentlemanly).  Ash and Slim Jim went for a well deserved trot set.  The rain cleared in the early afternoon for braiding and tack cleaning.  We were finished early so we headed to Shell's for dinner.  Margaritas were the drink of choice for me and Kerry; Kalin had a Sprite (law-abiding and all legal here in Florida).  We ate a lot of fried assorted water fauna - I think we ate the whole ocean honestly.  Fried food really is the way to go after a long day.  We're hoping to drink more tomorrow night; well actually, I'm hoping to drink more tomorrow night.  I'm gonna hand this entry over to Kalin now; I've been censored for writing too much.  :)  Here's Kalin.

Kalin here. Well for those of you who do not know what fauna is (you'll have to forgive Krista and her overactive vocabulary) it means animals. On another note, we had a bit of a debate as to whether the peanut is a nut or legume. I said it was a legume, but Kerry and Krista are skeptical. The conversation then progressed to what food items peanut butter wasn't good with and things just went downhill from there. As for Shell's, the food was great, but our server, Vicky... well let's just say "It's a beautiful thing." She was about as enthusiastic  as one could be afraid of and was clearly disgruntled when we didn't finish all of our food and were wavering on getting dessert. When we decided to split a banana's foster, she nearly knocked Kerry over and rushed to take the order. Needless to say the laughter situation was a little out of control (the exhaustion didn't help). For the most part, we haven't had too many adventures, although I did leave for about 5 minutes in the airport and came back to find Krista chatting with some very rich-looking business guy from Lockheed Martin... that wasn't awkward...? Other than that she's behaved for the most part, although tomorrow is show day and it is sure to be promising, seeing as Krista is on a mission to have someone sign her hat. Stay tuned to find out who the ruffled rider is!   

Salutations from Florida!

The 3 K's, Merdley, Ashy-poo, Skinny James, and Casey/Wonder Pony

We're Back!!

Hello Everybody.  I know I have been a blog slacker, but I have had a few late nights.  I will do my best to recap the events of the past few days.  Be prepared to be entertained.  Let's see. Monday was boring.  Casey, Marise, and Skinny James had a much deserved day off.  Ash and Merdely went for a nice long trot.  Those boys need to get in shape.  Mary Beth and Hercules left on Monday for the long depressing drive home.  I am happy to report that they made it home safely and are back to the "real world".  On Tuesday, um actually I don't really remember.  Must not have been a very exciting day, so we'll just skip on to Wednesday.  Casey did some flat work and was really good.  Merdely got to go XC.  He was great and really happy to be galloping.  Also on Wednesday I headed to Orlando to pick up part of the Dream Team, Kalin and Krista.  It's so fun to have friends visiting.  And it's pretty nice to have someone help out with all of the barn work. Krista has not quite figured out how to hang water buckets without getting herself soaking wet. But don't worry, we'll train her up. Since I have visitors, we thought it would only be appropriate to have a guest blogger. Get ready for Krista!!

This just in, the Quality hotel room included a list of fun facts about Florida in its Guest Information Directory - some of these facts suggest that Florida has a lot more to offer than just Disney World.  For instance, the average number of visitors reaches over 41 million a year!  Wow!  Alright, I know, this is just like talking to me in person.  Kalin and I met at the airport on Wednesday evening without too much hassle.  Kalin was a bit frazzled by the flight delay, but as long as the flight took off, I didn't care.  Alright, I can't lie.  I always get antsy when I fly.  A can of soda, and a bag of wheat thins later, Kalin and I were in Orlando.  Kerry slept in her car while our plane landed - what a hero.  On the way to Ocala, Kerry told a us a story about how Leslie Law fell off of his horse when his young horse took a fall into some deeper water.  She said she thought of me when she saw it happen - yeah, we all laughed.  The traffic coming from the airport was long and constant, bringing us to the hotel room around 2 or so.  I'm a morning person, but 2 am, that's really considered late rather than early.  Kerry was easy on us though, we got at 7 to get to the barn.  Buck's farm is very nice.  It was great to see some familiar horses.  Kerry introduced us around and even confused our names, just so we could feel like we were at home.  I saw some four star horses go stadium.  I haven't talked to Buck yet, despite Kerry's encouragement.  I figure grander adventures are yet to come - speaking of which, I have a challenge for you avid / loyal blog checkers.  I got a new baseball cap today and I'm figuring that I could get a top-level rider to sign it.  So here's your assignment, check out the Rocking Horse website through useventing.com and post your pick for who I should get to sign my new hat.  Kalin, Kerry, and I will discuss your votes and pick the rider on Friday night.  :)  Yeah, I missed Historical Swordsmanship League for Florida.  Instead of class today, I cleaned tack, filled water *yeah I got soaked* and watched four star riders have lessons from Buck Davidson, how's that for practical education?  :)

That's all for now, we're going to bed early.

Krista, Kalin, Kerry, Merdley, Marise, Casey, Ashe, Skinny James, and Krista's new hat

MB, Casey, and Kerry getting ready for showjumping
Casey looking handsome

All fired up

Marise in dressage
Casey in dressage
Ash napping
Merdely jumping

Top Ten Reasons to Come to Florida!

The Top Ten Reasons to Come to Florida

10.  Aunt Bubs leaves out doughnuts every morning.

9.  People here complain that it is too cold when it is 60 degrees.

8.  Sand is much easier to groom off your horse than mud.

7.  All you can eat breadsticks at Fazollis.

6.  Getting rid of your horse's fungus is the biggest worry of the day.

5.  Sun burn is so much better than frost bite.

4.  Even dressage is fun when you are riding next to a palm tree.

3.  Going to a horse show is considered working.

2.  You can wear your boots an breeches to the grocery store and no one looks at you funny.

1.  No matter how cold it gets in Florida, its always warmer here than it is in Maryland!!!

Ant Eaters or Bears

Hello All.  We are very sorry that we have not updated you in a while.  We have had some very late nights and some very early mornings.  Let's see if I can recap all of the oh so exciting events of the past couple of days.  On Friday all of the boys did dressage except for Merdely who got to jump.  He was great!!! Katy may have to fight me for him when we get home.  

On Saturday we were up at 4 am to go to our first show at Rocking Horse.  Casey started out pretty excited but managed to settle down.  So what if he spooked at all of the dressage letters. They are pretty scary.  Marise thought he should whinny throughout his entire warm up. Though he did shut up once he was in the ring.  I was really happy with him for our first test together. Next was Slim Jim, who will now be referred to as Thin James.  He was green, but a really good boy.  His canter transitions still need work.  Once we sort those out, look out.  He and Marise have gotten a bit too attached.  We may have to ween them before long.  

Today they all got to go XC.  Casey was first, and yup you guessed it, he was wild.  He was not very impressed with all of the little training level jumps.  Nor was he happy about having to go training speed.  He will be much happier going Prelim next weekend. After Casey got back from XC, Stephanie one of Buck's grooms, attacked him with glitter.  I guess no one thought I would notice that he had glitter all over his head. I think it made him feel fancy. All good ponies need a little sparkle in their life.  Marise was next.  He had his head up in the clouds for most of the course.  A silly spook caused us to run out of an easy jump.  He must have seen one of those killer squirrels up in the trees.  Thin James was last. He was such a good boy.  He started out a little nervous, but by the 4th fence he was a pro. So it was a pretty good weekend.  Hopefully we got all of the kinks worked out before next weekend. 

I am sad to report that tomorrow Mary Beth and Hercules head for home.  They have been a ton of help and I a going to miss them.  I have to say that they have given the "dream team" a run for their money.  But don't worry Krista, no one can handle the toweling as professionally as you do.  At one point in dressage warm up there was a towel emergency but there was no towel!! Trey had to wipe the slobber off with his sleeve.  I just know that will not happen once you are here.  

Oh, I almost forgot.  The braiding went great.  You should have seen them.  You would have thought that a professional groom did them.

I hope you are all staying warm,

Kerry, MB, Hercules, Flash the wonder pony, Ash, Thin James, and Marise

Pictures

Ash jumping out of the water

Casey very happy to be outside

Gizzard warming up to jump

OK. not a Florida picture, but isn't she cute?!

I miss my puppies :(

So our photography is not quite as good as Jane's, but were trying.

3,2,1 Hold On!!

Hello All. Today all of the boys went on a trot set. I am happy to report that we did not encounter any killer squirrels.  And the real shocker, Gizzard trotted past not one but two herds of cows without spooking, spinning, or running for home.  We were so proud of Merdely!! Casey, however, thought that the trot set was a race.  No surprise:  he won.  It is amazing how fast a horse can trot when it is going sideways.  Ash found the trotting a bit too much like work. He had to stop and take a few brakes. Geeesh, you would think that Hercules' noble steed would be a little more fit.  

We spent the rest of the day cleaning tack, clipping the ponies and just trying to make them look more presentable.  It takes a while to get all those layers of Maryland mud off of your horse. Slim Jim no longer has striped ears, finally got them clipped. Now the fungus issue, well were working on that.  Merdely still has a very furry head.  No worries we saved plenty of ace for that one.  

Tomorrow we are getting ready for our first show.  This weekend Slim Jim. Casey, and Marise have their first outing. This promises to be entertaining.  Let's see, I know how this is going to go: Casey is going to be wild, Slim Jim is going to jump me out of my tack, and Marise won't leave the trailer as he and Slim Jim have become BFF.  

Oh, I forgot to mention last night we went to the Melting Pot for dinner.  Don't worry Jo, Rhonda, Vicki, Amy, Jody, and Heidi I thought of you as I ate my pot of cheese and chocolate.  

That's all for now. 

Kerry, MB, Hercules, Casey, Marise, Ash, Merdely, and Slim Jim

XC extravaganza

Hello everyone.  Just wanted to give you a quick update on XC schooling.  All ponies were great. Maybe a little wild at times,  (ok Casey was the only one that was wild) but good. I managed to stay on Slim Jim who has not quite figured out that he does not have to clear every jump by 5 feet.  Like I said before, he's just an over achiever.  Ash was very brave, even though Trey thought he had to make time at Rolex. I guess Hercules does not know his own strength.  I will update more tomorrow, but right now I am very sleepy.  It is way past my bed time.  I hope that the weather warms up a bit.   Jo feel free to throw out some hay and put a big CLOSED sign on the front gate. I am sure no one would mind.  I think the whole farm should just move to Florida for the rest of the winter.  Everyone pack your bags and get down here, it is just too cold in Maryland!!

Good Night,

Kerry, MB, Hercules, Ash, Marise, Slim Jim, Gizzard, and Cassey (who would now like to be referred to as FLASH the wonder pony)

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