Rolex-Day One-Dressage

Boyd Martin on Ying Yang Yo
Phillip Dutton on Connaught
Phillip Dutton and Connaught


Boyd Martin and Ying Yang Yo

The Flower Basket

There was a terrible accident here on Saturday

The Sunken Road

It will be incredible to watch this tomorrow!



We are at Rolex! The ulitimate in Eventing. Thursday and Friday were the Dressage tests, Saturday is Cross Country Jumping and Sunday the Stadium Jumping, and awards ceremony. The winner has the best over all scores of the three tests. We watched Dressage today (rather boring) and walked the cross country course...I can't imagine what tomorrow will be like...33 jumps, 3.5 miles. Minimum time of completion is 11 minutes with a max time of 22 minutes. These jumps are SOLID...only an earth quake will move them. Up to 4' tall and some with a spread of more that 6 '. The horses will be averaging 21 miles an hour!

Rolex-Day Two- Cross Country

The horses legs are greased to help them slide easier if they hit the jump.

Hawley Bennett on Livingston

Hawley and Livingston over the Double Diamonds
Waylon Roberts on Paleface
Blair King on Kings Whisper going over the Picnic Table

Philip Dutton and Connaught finished the Xcountry in 10:59 and after show jumping won Rolex!

Julia Steinberg and Mr. Big sail over the Stair-Step Table

Day Two was amazing and very sad.

The beauty and the force of these animals and riders are beyond anything I had ever seen. The sound of their hooves pounding the ground, heading off to the next jump at 21 miles an hour is incredible. To see the jubilation of the rider cross the finish line, to hear the horse's breathing at the end and the congratulations of the groomers and vets, is something we hope to witness again. To have the guts to do something like this...truely beyond words.

We witnessed and photographed a fall at jump 13. The Quiet Man didn't get his right forleg over the fence and shattered his shoulder. Near the end of the day, Frodo Baggins didn't clear the Flower Basket and sommersaulted over the jump and on top of his rider, Laine Ashker. Laine remains in critical condition at the University of Kentucky Hospital. Both the Quiet Man and Frodo Baggins suffered injuries that were beyond repair and humanly euthanized.

A beautiful and dangerous sport. Both horse and rider are elite athletes, training and competing together at top level. Horse and rider become one.

Laine and Frodo Baggins were on their way to the Olympics.

As in any sport, there is always risk involved.

On my poor planning, we left Sunday before the stadium jumping and awards ceremony. That was really frustrating not to see the end! Next year we will be there until the end...can't wait!

Amazing Arizona

Nope, not West Virginia!
Yeah, don't lean on the cactus for support!
Red Rock Canyon
The Chapel of the Holy Cross, Sedona

Slide Rock State Park

Tortillia Flat
Somewhere on the left formation is a nest of Condors.

Simply Amazing!

This entire trip was inspired by a contest. An old friend was giving away a set of tickets to watch the Mountaineers play the Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl, so I started checking out Phoenix and entered the contest. I didn't win the tickets but the Mountaineers won the Fiesta Bowl and we spent Spring Break between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon.

We should have spent more time in spectacular Sedona. Just another reason to go back!

when in rome?

when you wish upon a star

unwanted guest

The other evening I was closing up the house, locking the door into the garage. I noticed something sticking out from the door molding, went to pull at it and it withdrew, on closer inspection, I noticed that it was hissing with a forked tongue...it was a snake! OK, I could only see about an inch (the rest was between the door moulding and wall) of it's head, it wasn't much bigger than a worm, but it for sure had a forked tongue! This is at 11pm...fortunately, my daughter got out of bed...for this I was greatful because I needed a witness! We stared at it, zoomed in on it with the camera, shined the flash light on it, googled it and laughed about it. At 12:30 we were exhausted and had no choice but to go to bed. Yep, with a snake in the house, we went to bed! The next morning, no sign of the snake but no time to worry...kids to school, me to work. I came home from work, flew into the house and something fell on my head onto the ground. OMG it was the snake! Luckily, the door was till opened and the snake had fallen onto the entry mat. (He must have been not well because he didn't slither away) I picked up the mat and flipped him into the garage and then grabbed my camera...couldn't miss this photo op! He was a bit larger than a worm and about 7 inches long...not sure how he got in my house but I don't need him to come back

Almost Heaven

Not "Open for Business"...who came up with that stupid idea anyway? It is great to be back in WV. Although I could never move back, I love to visit. The mountains are amazing! I had a friend that moved to SC when I was 6, when she would come to visit, she would always say, "I miss the mountains", I was like, "what are you talking about?" Now I understand! There are still some colored leaves, mostly yellow and that makes me smile. Seeing family and maybe some friends, jumping in piled leaves, hoping for snow and can't wait for the WVU game on Saturday!

I love college football, especially the Mountaineers!