December at Aspen Farms

Merry Christmas to everyone! I am sitting at my mother in laws house in Gig Harbor looking out at the water, relaxing after a hectic week trying to get organized for Christmas.  Last week was our Aspen Farms Christmas Party which left several people, including myself, not feeling too perky the next day! I think I might have to hand over the bartending duties to someone else next year, I made the drinks a bit srtong;) Oh well, I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time! The horses have all been good and have earned their Christmas holiday. Now that winter is here, we have gone back to working on some basics and weak points so we have done our homework before next season. I had a humbling moment the other day when I decided to challenge myself to riding 2 point and posting canter with no stirrups....I'm embarassed to admit I was exhausted after a few minutes! I am now determined to get stronger and fitter so will be making that part of my routine. Which of course means those of you that ride with me could be in trouble...better start practicing!! We said goodbye to Jade last week after her 3 month stay at Aspen Farms. We will really miss her but know she has a full agenda for her year off. Jade and Gatsby made huge progress in their time here and hopefully have many more tools to practice with now. We hope to lure her back for a summer at some point! Claire has been fun with her new lease, Art, who competed preliminary level with Jackie Burch before coming to AF for Claire to play with. He is very honest and uncomplicated but has just enough spark to keep things interesting! Chelsey and I have several nice younguns between the two of us so it will be fun to see them progress over the winter. January brings the return of Laramie ( yippee) and the beginning of body clipping ( ick). Jon and I will be visiting my family in BC from Boxing Day ( Dec.26 for all you Americans!) through New Years so should get a little skiing in before returning to the horses. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, see you in 2011!