Krissy's pictures go NATIONAL

I have gotten to know Greta Van Susteren from Fox News a bit -- she is my email buddy. Today she asked for some pics of the animals and now they are a featured slide show on her blog. Check out www.gretawire.com. Of course, Patty gets top billing (and I think the Patty picture was actually taken by my mom not Krissy, but all the rest are definitely Krissy's work).

Put one of Krissy's pictures here ... not one that is on Gretawire, but a good example of why I was proud to post her pictures in such a public forum! She is really talented. Then here is a pic I took of the elusive Krissy and Chuck ... of course, with the star, Patty!

The Fun AND the Work ....

Big farm day for me today. I actually rode a horse! Jacki and I had a lesson from Linda and it was great. My first time on Buck and I loved him. I could 'keep my seat' in the sitting trot and once I got the rhythm it was really enjoyable. We must have done well because Linda let us walk them out down around the track. It was one of those truly glorious afternoons and the horses were great and the company was fun ... couldn't have been a better summer afternoon.

No sooner were the horses put away then the hay wagons were filling up from the hay Kim cut in our field this week. It has been a harrowing hay season so far. So much rain that the fields are high and ready to be cut, but you can't get two or three days in a row to cut, dry, bale and put it in the barn. If hay gets wet it is ruined. The economics of hay and their intersection with weather are really interesting. Because the weather pattern is basically the same over an entire region, everyone has the same hay challenge which restricts supply and starts to drive up the price. Also, if you don't cut your field the first time (it is actually called 'first cutting hay' and you don't mix first and second cuts when you are feeding horses because they are different) early enough, you won't get a very significant second cut. That is what folks were starting to worry about. Optimally, you'd get your first cutting in the barn before the 4th of July.

Kim decided to cut Wednesday night -- taking the chance that the scattered showers would miss us. I sweated it out (especially yesterday with all the black clouds and light rain in Pittsfield) ... but it never did get wet and we now have about 750 bales of really nice hay. My hands are blistered from putting it in (even though I wore gloves!) and I am EXHAUSTED. And the daunting reality is we probably need a total of 4 or 5 THOUSAND bales of hay this year.

But right now I am a good tired ....

Patty is the star of camp

I am so glad I got to spend the last two days on the farm and especially that I participated in the activity with Patty and Vixen in the indoor arena today! Now I know why Jacki loved it so much. I took some pictures with Krissy's camera and will post them soon.

Not just horses

In addition to the wonderful horses -- our school horses and our boarders -- we also have our Boston Terrier, Buddy, who keeps everyone in the barn amused. His most favorite activity is to chase after the bailing twine that has been discarded from the hay bales! Although barking at and chasing away the birds would probably qualify as a close second as a favorite past time. Then, last week while I was in San Diego, the girls convinced Chuck to get a kitten!!!! Sammee is named after their cousin Sam (although spelled in a very 8 year old kind of way) and is living in the 'quiet' tack room. The theory is he will rid the barn of mice ..... at the moment though he is simply another toy. A cute one though. And here is a NEW picture of Sammee and a great one of Buddy (the most photogenic guy in our family!) -- both done by Krissy.

Emma and Maradith were going to do a video today for me to post with some text tomorrow so we shall see!

Running the Farm on a busy week

Jacki, Chuck and Linda were more than busy with all the activity this week. It takes a lot of effort to plan and execute having 14 different youth riders in a summer program. And on top of that, we continued all our regular lessons and welcomed twin four year olds for rides three days in a row too! Here are Chuck and Linda trying to work out the schedule. One of the best parts of living and working here is that when it all gets too hectic, you can find a quiet spot and take in the views -- that is obviously what Krissy was doing when she took this shot.

Ally was a huge help with the new riders!

Here Ally shows the first time riders the various responsibilities of riding: picking the hoofs of the horse, using the right equipment -- each horse responds differently to a different bridle. Ally was great as a side walker and I'm sure all the first-timers were grateful for her caring attention! And don't worry, Mom, she did ride, too!

"Emma, Maradith and Lulu" cantering

It was amazing to see the increased confidence and ability of the girls who did the first week of the full access lease. The full access lease allows the girls to ride for an hour every day and to be in the barn helping with farm and barn chores, assisting with the summer programs for newer riders and grooming horses. But the real attraction is the riding. Here are three great shots of the first week riders.

Project GARDEN

Annie, Ally and a few of the other girls took on the project of beautifying the front of the barn while they were here on their full lease this week. Here is Annie working on it and with the final results, of which she is rightfully proud!

Rider Blogs!!!

Seems like all the riders doing summer programs are having a blast. Here, in their own words, is what they've been doing:

"I jumped for my first time that was not in a show!" Lulu

"I did my first flying changes on sir, Buck a lot." Maradith

"Emma and I, Mary, are planning a show that takes place tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:00 in the morning. We are very excited to get up early and get our horses ready. We planned it all on our own, and are very proud of it. We will keep you posted on how it goes." Mary & Emma

"Bam and I did a lot of jumping; he did really well, (note: I ALWAYS USE Bittles Bridle.)" Maradith (Mary)

"Prime Package and I were in a horse show and we kicked dariyair, so dis, dis and disidydis DIS!" Emma

Lots of riders

While I've been working in California, lots of riders have been enjoying Cobble Hill! We've had a really nice mix of our mainstays and a healthy batch of new riders. On top of that, we are starting to attract folks who are visiting the area. Today, the full-time leasers were able to hold the 'show' that they'd been planning. I wish I'd been there to see it. It is really nice to have some of the older girls helping to manage independent activities with the other riders. And we are finally getting interest from some boys to come and ride! Poor Chuck has been feeling like it is his fate to forever be surrounded by girls, girls and more girls.

Can't wait to be home -- I'll be doing a campfire snack with many of the riders tomorrow -- I am thinking banana boats. The Brownie troop loved that!