Bromont is sneaking up on us and we only have one gallop left before shipping, we are going to do it Saturday. Normally we would be galloping Friday and Tuesday but as we are shipping on the Tuesday, that is enough stress and the two one star horses will miss that gallop, Woody will go XC on the Sunday so his last gallop on the Wednesday will not happen either since he will already be ensconced at Bromont and worrying about dressage not fitness. At this point we have to rely on our fitness program having brought them to a point that they can gallop up that mountain. Every gallop in an Olympic year is part of a very careful and thoughtful program. It’s just as important not to do too much as it is, not to do too little. The hard ground this month has been a bit of a worry. Woody is a ‘good doer’ and gets chubby easily. At the same time he is a huge horse and needs a lot of fuel to maintain that big body at high speeds. It’s always a balancing act between feed and exercise and the bigger the competition the harder it is to balance things.

Bizzy could 'nap' for Canada

Bizzy could ‘nap’ for Canada

We have noticed that the dogs really like the Draper Therapy saddle pads and the Draper Therapy coolers. They snuggle down on them as soon as we lay them down. The horses certainly enjoy using them so it’s no wonder that the dogs do. We have been using Draper Therapy pads on our International horses since 2007, it was a life saver for Colombo who had a really sensitive back. Woody is very fond of his Draper Pad and would prefer that Bizzy found somewhere else for her naps.

Anne Marie Duarte took three of our boarders over to Emma Rafuse’s lovely farm to school water last night. Emma has some lovely little jumps and a great water splash and we get invited over once or twice a year. We would like to thank Emma and he family for their generosity in letting us come and have fun on the farm. Everyone had a blast.

This morning the trailer is off again on it’s travels. This time Selena and Woody are going to Toronto to take lessons with Clayton Fredericks as part of her build up to Bromont. They are there until Saturday when they will come back in time for the trailer to go to Ottawa Horse Trials on Sunday. Sometimes I think we need two trailers….sigh.

Getting measured by La Mundail

Getting measured by La Mundail

Selena’s stretched boots came back from La Mundial. Her beautiful show breeches from FITS have leather inserts and they were too thick for Selena’s snug boots. She thought she was going to have to use different boots when she wore those particular breeches, but La Mundial took the boots and stretched them for her so that they will fit. Thank you La Mundial, you are awesome.