Whew!

My friend in Baja Mexico has been on watch for the warnings of hurricanes and keeping me posted. I heard from her today, telling us they are expecting some high winds on the Baja with lots of rain. I told her we were experiencing a whirl wind here also, because September just blew through! I know the days are suppose to seem shorter as we age, but at this rate I will be 100 in another year!:o) I can not believe we could have put any more events into the days of September. We finished a very successful 2 weeks with the championships of the World Show and the International. Because of the construction and the planned 2010 games coming to the Horse Park, the International was moved up a week causing the two shows to be back to back. That was two full weeks of early mornings and very late nights (and sometimes ending in the very early morning) shows. Somewhere in all of that I also worked in a photo shoot of our farrier's wedding! Needless to say we were totally ready for a break. I think we have finally recuperated from the shows, but we are into something else...Competitive Trail Rides! Jamie and Dad went to TN last weekend to compete in the ACTHA rides. Jamie won first in his division and Dad won third in his! This is a new venue for us to show-off the Mountain Horse. We have been working on our obstacle trail course and adding new obstacles. S.T. and Alison were working with Duke to teaching him to ride in a sleigh. They were doing this with a 4-wheeler, hoping to be able to switch to a horse later. ( Teaching one animal at a time. ) S.T. has been accepted to compete in the versatile horse challenge at the Equine Affair in Springfield, Massachusetts, so we have lots of challenges ahead. Keep watch for more news on the competitive trail ride we will be hosting at Van Bert Farms. It is in the planning stage, but will be coming soon. Get your horses ready.