I must be horse crazy. September is the busiest month of the year for me, yet on my one weekend of free evenings this month what do I choose to do? Something horsey! Last night I went with a group of girlfriends for a soggy evening at Dressage at Devon to watch the freestyle competition. Low and behold, we sat right in front of the entire Monastery Stables crew! We tailgated in style with wine and delicious cheese and were somewhat protected from the steady drizzle by the overhang, but nonetheless came home damp and little chilly. Even with the less than ideal weather the grandstands were packed, which was wonderful to see. The competition had its highs and lows. Some of the horses were lovely. One of the rides was inspiring, some were good, and others were a little bit painful at times! This week I am taking music to my lessons. My adult amateurs will get a huge kick out of riding to a beat. Any suggestions on music?

On Friday afternoon I volunteered my time at Sebastian's, a therapeutic riding center located near Collegeville, PA (www.sebastianriding.org). My student Marti Gauvreau volunteers there every Tuesday afternoon as a horse handler, so I asked her this summer to put me in touch with them so that I could lend them some of my skills. At the beginning of September I went for an afternoon to help them work with three of their more difficult horses. On Friday I gave lessons to eight of their instructors. We focused on correct riding technique as well as how to deal with specific problems during a lesson. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time. I will go back to teach again in October.

I have also been driving to Unionville every day. Jet is stabled at Chesterland, Bruce Davidson's farm, until Fair Hill. I am using this time for intensive training under Bruce's knowledgeable eye. I do not lesson with him every day, but I am taking the opportunity to learn his program leading up to a three day. He has an amazing facility, with beautiful hills to trot and gallop on, an indoor ring with mirrors, and plenty of gymnastics and jumping exercises. I am very pleased with Jet. He has such a great mind. He is going to come out of this experience at a new level. He is not the most physically talented horse that I have ever ridden, but he loves the work and comes out every day wanting to learn. I have always been drawn to tricky horses, but I have to say that Jet is really winning me over. He is just a pleasure to work with. We do our final prep before Fair Hill at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia next weekend.

Speaking of tricky horses, Doc is doing phenomenally well in his recovery. He is doing basic dressage at the walk, trot, and canter. I have also let him jump a few small jumps. He doesn't feel quite like himself behind over the jumps yet, so I am mainly doing it to keep his brain happy. He gets very tired of dressage. It remains to be seen how much jumping he will be able to do in the long run, but I will know more in a few more months. In the mean time I am just letting the fibers of the damaged ligament fill in before we do anything too taxing on the flat or with jumps. For the most part he seems to be enjoying his time off. He is noticeably happier with Jet gone, because he is top dog again. Ah, sibling rivalry!

Ashley