Hopelessly devoted to ribbons

I have ribbons on the brain for a few reasons.  First, with this warm weather (Best. Winter. Ever.), I’m already looking ahead to spring.  And after spring comes the best of all seasons, my glorious summer.

And summer means horse shows!  I can’t wait to get back in the saddle on a regular basis and start pointing Misty towards some shows. 

Misty's like, where am I?

Oh sh*t, a horse show.

I’m also thinking of ribbons because I finally posted some pictures on Facebook of the show I was in last November.  It was Misty’s second of the year (third total) and it was her first dressage schooling show.  Please see the pictures below – she’s a sassy grey star!

My photographer husband comes in handy!

Saluting the judge before my test.

Yay!

Like most riders, I love displaying my ribbons around the house.  When I first brought home these blues, I hung them on my hutch, then they moved to my mantle, and then finally to my home office.  As I was hanging them up with my other ribbons (a variety of 1^st through 6^th places), I started wondering about the colors of the 7^th through 10^th place ribbons.  In your average sized, local horse show, ribbons are given out up to 6^th place, but in larger shows and events, the ribbons go to 10^th.

So I Googled and found this:

1^st – blue
2^nd – red
3^rd – yellow
4^th – white
5^th – pink
6^th – green
7^th – purple
8^th – brown
9^th – grey (must get this one sometime!)
10^th – light blue

Believe it or not, when I was in high school, I liked to shoot for the 6^th place ribbon because it was green and matched the décor of my room at the time.  Yes, that’s right.

yeah girl!!

But as I was doing my research, I found out that in Canada and Britain, the 1^st place ribbon is actually red and the 2^nd place ribbon is blue!  Can you imagine ‘going for the red’ instead of ‘going for the blue?’  What an odd concept to us blue-obsessed Americans! 

Now I just need to bring home some Canadians or Brits – with all the red ribbons I have, they’d think I’m a superstar!

The traditional 1st through 6th.

Some people are creative and put their ribbons and numbers in shadow boxes...I'm looking at you, Kelsey!  Let's hop to!

My New Addiction – The Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge

So my latest and greatest horse addiction comes by the name of the Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge.   This Challenge is the first ever of its kind, and is part of the Retired Racehorse Training Project (RRTP), a non-profit organization developed to increase the demand for recently retired racehorses.  (Basically – let’s turn these puppies into sport horses and give them the second careers they deserve)!

Of course, this is something that is near and dear to my heart since my own mare, Misty (the Sassy Grey), is an OTTB (off-the-track Thoroughbred).   I’ve owned Misty for 3 years now, and I can honestly say that they have been the most challenging, brilliant, turbulent, and utterly fulfilling years in my riding career thus far. 

Until Misty, I had never owned a Thoroughbred – never even ridden one!  But many years of riding my mom’s hot-headed Arabian led me to believe that I had what it took to take a racehorse off the track and make her my own.  And I did.

Though Misty and I have had our moments, (I call them her nightMARE moments), she’s my baby doll.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with her and look forward to us continuing to learn and grow together. 

So would I do this again?  Would I take another horse straight off the track and start from scratch?  Absolutely.

That brings me to my addiction – this Trainers Challenge through the RRTP.  Steuart Pittman, owner of Dodon Farm in Davidsonville, Maryland, was the mastermind behind this organization.  He has done a tremendous job in building this Project and is doing a great service to OTTBs everywhere.  We in the horse community can’t thank him enough.

The Trainers Challenge is quite simple.  In an effort to show the general horse public how trainable OTTBs really are, Steuart began his search for four Thoroughbreds recently off the track.  After he found them, he chose three professional trainers who would, at the Maryland Horse Expo, pick their favorite horse, (with one serving as an alternate).  Each trainer would get to take their chosen horse home to their farm for five weeks of training.  After the five weeks, each trainer will bring their horse to the Pennsylvania Horse Expo in February and show the audience their stuff!

So yesterday the trainers picked their horses: Eric Dierks chose my favorite, Brazilian Wedding (why is she my favorite, you ask?  Oh just something about her grey mare-ness); Tiffany Catledge chose High Level (although he was lame this morning, so she had to ride the alternate); Kerry Blackmer chose Four X The Trouble; and Solidify (my second fave) was the alternate.

The horses and trainers of the first ever Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge.  (Picture courtesy of the RRTP site).

Today was awesome!  Today the trainers rode their chosen horses for the first time in front of a very large, excited MD Horse Expo audience.  The three horses, Brazilian Wedding, Solidify, and Four X The Trouble were exceptional.  I honestly expected some fireworks, but was pleasantly surprised!  Each trainer walked, trotted, and cantered around the ring as if they had been on their chosen mount for years.  It was most impressive!

So what happens next?  Each trainer will take their horse home and work with him/her for five weeks, taking their training in any direction they’d like.  The trainers will keep everyone updated through FB posts and blogs and videos – I can’t wait to see the progress!

We’ll get to see these babies again in person on February 25^th at the Pennsylvania Horse Expo in Harrisburg where they’ll be evaluated by a panel of judges; a winner will be selected.  (Though we all know – they’re all winners)!

I. Can’t. Wait.

For more information about the Retired Racehorse Training Project, please visit their website here: http://www.retiredracehorsetraining.org/ or on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/RetiredRacehorseTrainingProject.

Follow Cupcakes by Clara

One of the best things about my job is working with my co-worker, Clara.  Not only is she a fantastic proposal writer, but she likes to talk books as much as I do.  She also loves to bake cupcakes…and I love to eat them!  It’s the perfect friendship.

Mmmmmmm.........

Clara started making cupcakes occasionally when it was someone’s birthday or work anniversary.  She then began researching fun recipes and bringing in her delicious treats for us, her delighted, greedy guinea pigs, to try.  Now she has just started her own blog where she’ll share some cupcake baking tips and post beautiful pictures of her creations.

Follow it here: http://www.cupcakesbyclara.com/blog/

Again I’ll reiterate, I have the best co-workers ever.  Be jealous!

Happy New Year’s

If you’re like me, you’re scratching your head wondering what happened to the summer…wasn’t it July 4^th just last week?   I can’t believe it’s the end of the year already, that the holidays are just about over and we have a long winter ahead of us.

So to keep myself from falling into a deep depression (because I seriously hate the cold weather…especially after we say goodbye to Christmas when there’s nothing else to look forward to), I’m going to make some New Year’s Resolutions.

I usually avoid making resolutions (minus one you’ll see below) because I can get a little obsessive about holding myself accountable…and quite honestly, I put enough pressure on myself as it is.  But this year I’ve decided to make some open-ended resolutions – no due dates!

1.  To have fun with Misty

Every year I say things like, I’m going to take Misty to at least five shows…take biweekly lessons…be at this level of competition by this date, etc. and these things NEVER happen.  With horses, the only thing you can count on is…that you can’t count on anything!!  I’m finally learning this lesson…nothing with those crazy equines ever goes according to plan.  If I say I want to do X number of shows, something will surely happen that with throw everything off.  Misty will start having back pain…she’ll throw a shoe and the farrier won’t be able to get out right away…I’ll have a bad day/confidence buster and talk myself out of doing whatever I had planned for the following week.

Misty Mystique lives to ruin my plans.

So instead of making concrete plans with a Misty Mystique who lives to break them, I’m just going to set this simple resolution.  This way I won’t (hopefully, anyway) beat myself up if I’m not bringing home the blue ribbons every weekend.  I have finally recognized that horses are unpredictable, and I can’t always control every aspect of our mommy-horsey relationship.  Therefore, I vow not to get down on myself if I’m not where I’d like to be at a specific point.  Overall, Misty and I have come SO far, further than I ever thought we’d get.  So as long as I’m having fun and enjoying her company…and she’s a happy and healthy horse, then I’m okay.

2. To streamline my house/life

As a child, I was an extreme packrat.  I would keep everything because I thought “I might need it someday.”  In recent years, I’ve gotten over this.  Instead, I think – if I haven’t thought of this/worn this in over a year, it’s gone.  James and I are constantly putting bags of clothes and household goods aside for Purple Heart. 

Because clutter is scary...

This year, I want to continue that trend and give my whole house, thus, life, a makeover.  I want to continue going through my closet and keep only nice pieces that I wear on a regular basis.  I want to go through my house, room by room, and streamline everything, keeping only the necessities.  Everything else will go to Purple Heart…or the trash.

By doing this, I will be clearing the clutter from my life (although I wouldn’t really classify my house as cluttered, for the most part), and feeling more comfortable in my surroundings.  Also, I will be readying myself in case I move in the next year or two, which is the goal.  When we finally do move, I don’t want to be packing up boxes of useless crap…so if I sort things beforehand, I’ll be ahead of the game!

3. To eat healthier

This is my resolution every single year.  I love sugar…love love sugar…but I really need to eat it in moderation.  Some days are better than others as I really try to be conscious of what’s going in my mouth, but each year I still find myself hitting the sweets hard.  So…again…I’ll make this resolution.  I’ll feel like I’m eating healthier when I cut back on the sugar and add more fruits and veggies to my diet.  Fingers crossed I actually stick to this one for once…but given my track record, I’m not very hopeful!

Misty lives by the apple a day rule...I need to as well...

So there you have it…my resolutions.  Each is designed to make me a better, healthier person.  I know that I put a ton of pressure on myself in almost every aspect of my life, so I’m really hoping to put an end to that pattern and learn to relax and live in the moment a little more.  What are your resolutions?

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!  And thanks for sticking with my blog during its first year! 

  

Baltimore Horse Examiner

For those of you who don’t know, The Sassy Grey blog is not the only place I share my wit and wisdom.  I am also the Baltimore Horse Examiner and maintain a page through Examiner Online.

This is Rachel Alexandra - I write about her a lot!

This page is a little different than my blog in that it’s strictly about horses and horse-happenings in the Baltimore area.  I can post reviews (like book/event/movie reviews), but these articles are mostly how-to in nature.   My blog is a bit of a loose cannon compared to this page!

I don’t update my Examiner page as often as I’d like (maybe once or twice a month), but I invite you to follow it nonetheless!  The link is below!

http://www.examiner.com/horse-in-baltimore/laurie-berglie

Thanks and happy reading!

It's Not Too Late To Give

Tis the season to be generous!!  This time of year, James and I like to donate to our favorite charities, and I’m sure it will come as no surprise that animal-related rescues are always on the list. 

One rescue that’s on my list every year is Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc.  This year I donated $100 and got to pick a horse to sponsor.  While I follow all the horses’ stories and love them all, I ended up picking Buildmeup Buttercup Baby.  As soon as I get a farm of my own (fingers crossed that next year is the year), this sweet mare is mine!

I think I can speak on behalf of the entire Maryland horse community when I say Days End is a dream come true.  Words simply cannot describe the amazing gift they give neglected and abused horses.  “Days End Farm was established in 1989 to ensure quality care and treatment of horses through intervention, education, and outreach.”  If you visit their website at: www. defhr.org, you’ll see that they take on some of the absolute worst cases of horse abuse, cases that some might turn away from, and use their love and knowledge to rehab these animals into the brilliant stars they once were.

They do more than give second changes, they give life.

Please add Days End to your list of charitable donations – every little bit helps.  (A bale of hay is only $3 or $4!!).  Once on their website, just click the Donate Now button at the top right corner and help a horse in need.

Thanks to all and Merry Christmas!

Misty’s Christmas List

Misty’s a bit of a diva.  She likes the finer things in life and dreams big.  As I have had the privilege of being her mom for more than three years now, I was not surprised to receive her extravagant Christmas list.  Please see below.

Recently, Misty and I have gotten into dressage.  We have been taking lessons at Thornridge Manor and even showed in a small schooling show this past November.  I purchased a dressage saddle (well, my birthday present from Misty – she’s occasionally quite generous), but didn’t have the extra money for a bridle.  Misty wants one for Christmas so she can have matching tack.  She’s a very particular fashionista.

Misty has requested treats…but not just any kind of treats, organic treats from Withers & Withers.  She likes the fancy tin with the grey horse on it…figures.

A stall ball.  Misty lives outside 24/7 because she has a run-in…but she will occasionally come indoors to her stall during extreme weather.  Though she isn’t inside often, she wants to be entertained when she is.  She wants a stall ball in either purple or blue.

Since Misty and I are traveling a lot more (to lessons, shows, etc.), she wants a horse trailer.  We already have one…but she wants another one.  A newer one.  The bigger, the better.  Girlfriend wants to travel comfortably in style.  See the picture below…classic Misty.  She’ll have a grande white chocolate mocha with 2% milk and whip, please!

Misty really likes her current barn, but she’s asked for another…one on MY farm.  I haven’t had the heart to tell her that we haven’t bought the farm yet, but she’s not the best listener anyway so I probably won’t even mention it.  She wants a barn like the ones I saw in Kentucky.  She says she deserves it.

And finally, Misty has asked for some shoes.  And no, not horseshoes.  She wants two pairs of Manolo Bhalniks.  What can I say?  She’s sassy!