My very good friend, Amy Richardson, writes a family-based blog called Bliss Happens.  This weekend Amy and her daughter, Amanda, were my “guests” at the King Oak Horse Trials. This was their first EVER event and here is what she wrote about her experience. (This is taken from her blog Bliss Happens).

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My friend Debbie is a mother mucker. you see, there is a whole lot of work that goes in to having a daughter who rides horses and competes in Equestrian Eventing.

She hauls trailors…

She carries hay, shavings, saddles, tack and other gear to and from the barn.   She mucks the stall (scoops the poop), cleans the tack, and assists Emily in preparing the horse for competition. 

Debbie walks the cross country course with Emily…all two miles of it!  While trying to remain calm about the fact that her teenager will be sitting on the back of a large animal who’s attempting to jump over these giant obstacles.

on the walk through, Amanda jumped almost half of the 28 jumps.  This was a “fairly easy” one.

Emily in the Dressage

I now have a deep appreciation for not only what Emily does, but what her mom does to support her.

Thankfully, after this weekend at the King Oak Horse Trials in Massachusetts, my own daughter is not begging for a pony!

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It was so much fun – AND SO MUCH HELP – to have Amy along. And Amanda was FANTASTIC for her first time around such excitement. NEXT UP: GMHA … last show of the season.

HAVE A GREAT RIDE!

Friends, Horses, Shows / Events

Last week I had the pleasure of being invited to attend a fund-raising event for a local Maine organization for young boys & girls known as Opportunity Farm. Opportunity Farm has provided a safe, nurturing home for boys and girls who have no where else to turn. The Farm has successfully served countless numbers of young people and helped them find the path to stable, productive lives.

While sitting at one of the tables with my friend, out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar face. I did a double take, as this is a person I have always seen in relation to horses … an adult rider whose company I have enjoyed at a number of shows.

Her eye caught mine and we both stood up, hugged, laughed and giggled at the joy of seeing each other. But mostly it was because neither of us had seen the other without being in some form of “mother-mucker” attire.

Risa, my friend, “YOU CLEAN UP GOOD!”

Friends Friends, Horses, opportunity farm