Day One

Day One
It seems hard to believe that I left New England only a little over 24 hours ago. My flight from Boston to Tampa was uneventful other than the fact that there is a big dog show in Tampa this weekend. More than a few dogs came along for the ride. I picked up the rental car and headed out for the two plus hour ride only to be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for about the first 20 minutes of the drive. About half way to Morriston, I called Larry to find out what time was Dawna Lisa’s dressage test. It was slated for 9:32
Jodi had given me excellent direction to find her neighbor’s house. I rented a small house from her neighbor, Vicky. I called Jodi and we made plans to meet at her place at 7:30 am and she was going to show me the way to Black Prong. I settled in and tried to go to sleep. I NEVER sleep well on my first night on any trip and this was no exception. I did get some sleep but…
I followed Jodi to Black Prong and after a minor detour, we found Larry’s barn. As Jodi and I walked into the barn talking, a certain mare heard my voice and gave me a welcoming nicker. It was hard to miss my girl even though she is an odd shade of mousey brown. Larry greeted us and Jodi helped me clean up DL. Evil Claudia started working on DL’s mane since it had got a little ragged around the edge. Jodi worked on brushing her and remarkable quickly, we a decent looking Cob mare. Larry’s assistant, Natalie, came over and put DL’s harness on. When Larry appeared, I ask him IF it was Count’s harness. “Yes, it is and fits her perfectly.” It is a lovely leather harness and I particular liked the saddle. Nice and wide but not too wide. The workmanship on the harness was outstanding and I was also very fond of the lovely brass brow band that very suited DL’s head.
Larry had borrowed a Running Brook road cart very similar to my vehicle but had a wooden dash with a brass rein rail. Hitching went well and was uneventful. DL and Larry stepped off gingerly with DL’s ear pricked forward in enjoyment. As Larry headed out he said “Feels really odd. I haven’t competed with a single in over 23 years.” Larry headed for the safety check and Jodi and I followed on foot. DL got in front of me since I never could walk as fast as this mare. When I finally made it to the safety check, Larry was just about finished. Larry was a tad annoyed because the safety check judge stated that Larry might get nicked 5 points for NOT having reflectors on the rear of the carriage. Larry said “I don’t like given up even one point for such. I wonder if we can find something to be a reflector or someone with reflector tape.” At this point, it was hard to do anything!
Larry warmed DL up and then with the walkie talkie call came, we headed over. There had been a scratch before us so Larry could either go early or wait for his time. As Larry walked over, he spied some of those little orange reflectors that you put in the ground to mark underground cables. Yankee ingenuity spawned having a couple of them removed from the ground and neatly placed on the axle with the addition of some duck tape borrowed from a Black Prong truck (thanks to Jodi’s pleading) . Viola! Home made reflectors for presentation on the fly.
The bell rang and Larry entered the dressage area. I dropped my bag and handed Jodi my still camera and I took my video camera. DUE to the fact I hadn’t used my video camera since Europe, the first of my videoing taping was mostly trees in the air and some of the ground until I figured it out. While driving your dressage test may be four of the longest minutes of your life, taping it isn’t. After getting my hands steady, I was able to get SOME footage of the event. Poor Jodi ran over to get a good place on the sidelines BUT had a small problem! I hadn’t showed her the ON OFF button. No matter what, Jodi figured it out and got a couple of good shots.
IT was over. As Larry exited, he was rather laughing. I guess the dash and rein rail that I mentioned came loose and half fell off (bolt came out)! Larry had to hold it up and keep it from rattling too much with his right foot. (You can see it in the second picture I am posting). I guess that is the sign of a true professional. I NEVER noticed the minor mishap until he exited!
I was pleased. I think Larry was pleased. DL looked very obedient, bent well into the corners, kept a great cadence and her walk was lovely as were her transitions. The halt was near perfect as her back. Larry drove her perfectly. What more can you ask for the first test.
I stuck around for a bit to help Larry and find out what time Larry’s pair had their dressage test. I then headed back to the little house in Morriston with Jodi’s great direction. I did stop at the vendor’s that were at the cross road out. Here I found true reflectors for the carriage and LOW and behold on the table checking out, I saw Larry’s video tape on driven dressage with Kennebec Count on the cover WITH the harness on. Needless to say, I bought it and plan to watch it later this evening. I also found a marvelous new hat that is being shipped to me.
After a short rest, I went over to Jodi’s and got to see her marvelous Welsh. I will talk about this in another letter. BUT I need to mention HOW incredibly helpful Jodi has been with this whole thing. It shows how supportive the whole Welsh community is to ALL of us. I then headed back to Black Prong.
I was of very minor assistance helping with Larry’s pair. I did stand down by the warm-up ring making sure all went well. As I stood there, Larry mentioned there was another partbred Cob in the ring. This is how I got to meet Sterling Graburn for the first time. I said something as the animal walked by stating my name and Sterling answered “Yes, this pony is by Julie Mahoney’s Welsh Cob stallion. I thought it might be you watching Larry.” A couple of other quips were exchanged with chuckles on both sides. I hope to get to talk to Sterling more over the weekend.
What a great day. Don’t let anyone say Friday the 13th is a bad day because it isn’t. Well off to cook dinner at my cute little house while watching Larry’s video. I will over at Black Prong about 8am to clean my girl up for her first marathon. I think I will sleep better tonight. I walked numerous miles today. Later….