Build it and they will come??? My Visa hopes so.

So, the weather has been wonderful in the upper 70’s or lower 80’s with little rain.  Barry likes being a one-person horse again.  He’s beginning to develop more muscle, and he’s getting a bit spicier and even more expressive in the trot.  Sitting that bouncy trot is going to be a real challenge to show second level, which does not permit posting.  Now, who would think a horse that bombed around the upper levels in eventing would look askance at the judge’s box in the sand ring?  Maybe it's self-preservation. Anyway, taking a cue from Eric Dierks, I am working on developing his curiosity so he goes forward to the ‘scary stuff’ with confidence instead of teleporting 5 feet to the right.

Galatea is steadily improving.  Now that (nearly) every joint has been injected, she is moving much better and is slowly being brought back into work. Her allergies also seem to be less of a problem, but we will nonetheless start her on immuntherapy to desensitize her to whatever allergens are making her miserable. I will get results of the testing next week.  After that we start injecting little doses of the allergens building to larger doses – just like people.  In the meantime, I have built my own hay steamer for a fraction of the cost of the Hay Gain system (which, by the way, you can no longer order because it has gone into receivership in the UK).  Steaming the hay will kill the mold spores, bacteria, etc and wet down any dust/pollen that can contribute to her allergies.  The vet is very interested in the DIY hay steamer. She has quite a few clients with horses suffering from allergies this year.  Who knows, maybe I can recoup some of the vet costs through a little entrepreneurship?  It is pretty straightforward to make.  Picture of the completed project in the next blog.

Last week, Susanne Branson and her daughter Sara visited.  We had a fun time doing all the Wellington “things”, which included Friday Night Lights dressage at Global, a tour of the hunter/jumpers at Wellington Equestrian Festival on Saturday and attending a polo match on Sunday afternoon.  Can you discern which pictures were taken at Global and which were taken at WEF where everything is over the top?  When we arrived for polo, the first few rows of the stadium seating were vacant so we took seats right by the field.  It also put us close by the table with all the glasses of champagne that you drink while you walk out on the field mid-match to stomp on the divets the horses’ hooves have churned up.  We also learned why only newbies sit in the bottom rows.  See below for a

video of 8 riders, 8 mallets and 32 legs milling around a white ball the size of a baseball, not counting the referees.  At one point in the game, the ball flew straight into the stadium seating. Hence forth, I’ll be sitting higher up.  However, the game was fascinating and there was a nail-biting finish in overtime.  I'll be back for more. The athleticism of horses and riders was amazing.  And for those really interested, you too can learn to play polo – horses provided.  😊.