Friday, August 14, 2009

Fall Clinic....is that Foreshadowing?

I enjoyed working with Nick Larkin so much this spring at Greenwood that, when I heard he was coming to Roadrunner Farm, I jumped (ha) at the chance to work with him again. Karen LeKashmand and Jan Micchie went the extra mile for me, since I had mentioned I might bring two horses, then realized I could only ride one well....they are the salt of the earth. Good folks.

Because it's still summer (though summer is waning, alas), I was able to leave Friday after several delays (re-packing the trailer after un-packing from the Greenwood schooling, making sure kids were ok for the weekend, etc.). Donna was kind enough to let me borrow her Stackhouse again, the only saddle I've ridden in that fits Paddy, and when I picked it up, I realized I was on the "high road" to Argyle...the one that goes through East J. Nowhere, with no cell service, and no one to help you if you have a flat at night (see KOC clinic blog!). But it was day time, I have new tires, and I was feeling lucky. So on I went, even indulging myself by stopping in Dickens, for fuel and the BEST BBQ in TX (thanks to Donna for the heads up on that one!).

I got to Roadrunner w/o trouble, other than driving through some pretty narrow almost city streets, and I was greeted by Jan and Karen, along with Kelli and Keith. And Kelli was sporting a LOVELY tummy, one that will come to fruition in December....Congratulations, Keith and Kelli!!!

Paddy settled in well, I was able to park my trailer by Jan's lovely house and hook up, and I even got to go our w/ Nick and Jan, Keith, Kelli, and Karen for dinner.

At dinner, while we talked about horses we loved, who were special, etc., someone mentioned horses with really short ears, and Nick talked about "the X factor" in TBs. According to Nick, TBs with big hearts (literally) like Secretariat, Man O' War, have that tendency from their X chromosome. Ear size is also determined by the X chromosome. So horses with smaller ears are more likely to have a big heart.

Sigh. Almost all of my horses have large ears.

When I got back to the trailer that evening, I made up some goals for this clinic:

1. Work on my partnership with Paddy--building trust on both sides
2. BE QUIET and effective
3. Be secure in my seat--that means heels DOWN, let ON
4. Think after the jump!

Here's to a great clinic!

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