Cob Jockey

Hello from California!  I'm on day 7 of a 10 day work trip that had me staying this past weekend in Palo Alto with nothing to do, so I reached out to see what the Bay Area bloggers were up to and was not disappointed!

On Saturday, Kate picked me up from my hotel at 7am so we could drive to meet Megan and Nicole at a rated Dressage show a couple of hours away.

There was a PSG Haffie!

Watching Dressage is, of course, watching Dressage, but I had so much fun chatting with those three, meeting one of Megan and Kate's trainers, and marveling over how EVERYONE knows EVERYONE in California Dressage.  And I did genuinely enjoy watching the tests.  Not to knock the successes any of us have back home, but California Dressage is a whole other level of competition from what I'm used to.

Murieta Ranch snack bar wins for weirdest spelling of my name with "Jeniffet"

Kate and I left the show later than we intended, and she apologized as she asked me if I'd mind accompanying her to teach two lessons so she could make it on time.  I loved her hillside (mountainside?) barn and her lesson kids last time I saw them two years ago, and that sounded like way more fun than going back to the hotel to watch HGTV anyway, so I cheerfully tagged along.

Her new arena that was in the process of being built last time I was here!  The views are incredible when they're not socked in with fog/mist/rain, you'll just have to trust me on that.

It was sunny and hot at the Dressage show, so it was a total shock that it was 52, misty/rainy and windy at the barn.  Her kids were troopers though and no one complained.  It was especially cool to see how much three of them have grown as riders since the last lesson I saw Kate teach those three two years ago last month.  Kate's an incredible instructor and is quietly building a program that turns out kids with great fundamentals, instincts and work ethics.


After that, Kate and I went out for dinner and drinks and as she dropped me off at my hotel after 8pm, I realized we'd spent 13 hours together talking almost non-stop about tons of things, not just horses, and I think we both could have kept going.  It was so much fun, I can't even tell you.

I genuinely needed alcohol to warm up after getting chilled to the bone at the barn!

The next morning I headed out to a combined test that Kate's lesson students and David and Olivia would be competing in.  I won't spoil how they did, but it was awesome to see David and Olivia again, and it was especially cool to see how much progress Eugene and Levi have made in the year since I last saw them.

Pretty nice facility, located just a couple of miles from my company's HQ.

I knew Eugene was now a jumping machine, so that was very cool to see him eating up those Novice fences in person, but even Olivia's blog didn't prepare me for how much progress Levi has made. Last time I saw him at the winery trail ride last year, he was still trying to figure out contact and cantering.  He's made so much progress since then, and they looked great together.  Plus, he's still just so freakin' beautiful, I mean, come on, look at him:

Pictures do not do that amazing color justice, but I tried! #eyecandy

Over dinner last night, my orientation classmates were asking each other what we did all weekend - "Napa", "Half Moon Bay", "Golfing", "Beach".  Then they got to me.  "What'd you do Saturday?"  "Went to a horse show."  "How about Sunday?"  "...went to another horse show."  "Again?!"

Tough to explain to non-horse people, but I can't imagine a more perfect California weekend than the one I just had!  Thanks again for the amazing time, California bloggers!