Friday

friday I was up bright and early getting everything packed for our weekend.  The horses ignored me initially but then Carmen came into watch me. Irish knew something was up so he just tried to make himself inconspicuous.  When I brought the trailer up I could see him mutter "I knew it" under his breath.

When Cynthia arrived we brought them in.  Irish thought about making a fuss but followed me and loaded with an air of resignation.  He then became frantic for Carmen. When I brought her out she became excited too. I gave Carmen to Cynthia to hold and walked up to Irish.  I gave him a sharp tap with the butt of the crop "smarten up" I growled and he stopped. I then took the lead from Cynthia, threw it up over Carmen's neck and she walked right on like she'd been self loading her whole life.

The trip was uneventful (yay for boring trailer trips). When we arrived Irish was standing on three legs in the trailer.  I waited for him to stand up but he kept it cocked under him at a weird angle and was not weight bearing.

Uh oh.  I thought I saw blood on the inside of his fetlock.  Stifling panic I unloaded Carmen.  She backed off cool as a cucumber and looked around calmly.  I then asked Irish to back off.  He came off sound and I saw that what I thought was blood was just poo.

Ha! Just kidding. I swear he was messing with me.

We put them in their stalls and they settled right in.  After a bit I tacked up Carmen.  She was tense but very well behaved.  I mounted and we had some good work. Although tight she was listening and trying.  I was so proud of how far we'd come.  A little while in as she came around the corner she gave a big fart and scared herself. As she scooted forward I collapsed into giggles while Janet and Karen dissolved into a fit of snickers.  Carmen came to a halt while I was laughing so hard that I almost fell off.

It's not funny. 
Oh honey, it's VERY funny.  
HMMMF!

Although a bit miffed at our laughter she carried on. Karen came out and helped me unlock my hips.  That helped immensely.  After a nice ride we fed the horses and then had dinner.  Karen's husband, Jim, had cooked a multiple course meal that was truly incredible. I asked him to write it out for me for the blog and here it is:

Muse: Young and old Manchego with Spanish olive oil and red clay salt

Appetizer: Maple poached oyster in a steamed bok choy leaf on smoked vegetable broth.

Tapa: Beef Pate wrapped in seaweed with a water chestnut and gooseberry snowball

Tapa: Quail egg and pork belly "Pain and Destruction" with caramelized onion Naan lattice

Main: Grilled striploin steak with peppercorn Bordelaise, baked potato and chef's vegetables

Sweet: Chocolate pound cake

Wines: 2011 White Rioja, 2014 Sicilian Grillo, 2008 Priorat

The food and conversation kept us at the table for a while.  There's nothing like spending time with people you truly like.

Is it any wonder that I could barely keep my eyes open? I fell asleep within five minutes of going to bed. Which was a good thing because the next day was going to be busy.