Nicole Uphoff-Selke Clinic for August 2009

We had a fantastic weekend with Nicole!!!

We are usually lucky to make it from the airport to the house though. The weekend started off with a latte for Nicole and a hot tea for me from Starbucks, which is outside the International terminal at the airport. I usually bring ‘Nicole’s’ truck – the F350, which is still a novelty for her since there aren’t many of those in Germany.

Once fortified with coffee and tea, we needed to make the trek home.

This time, I told her we couldn’t talk until we got onto the correct highway. Back in April, we were talking so much I wasn’t paying attention to the road --- and we had a nice sightseeing tour of Virginia. We didn’t feel like another tour, so this time we behaved ourselves until we were on the right road. Unfortunately, we got distracted on the Ferry ride, and forgot to get off the ferry right away! Luckily, everyone was patient, and we didn’t end up taking several trips.

The rides went fabulous, as tends to happen when Nicole is ringside. I really needed her help though. Since the last clinic, we were going through a remedial stage – it was as if I had never done one tempis before. When I told her this on the drive from the airport, she knows me so well, that she knew immediately what my problem was.

Once I got back into the correct rhythm, we had it nailed. And I have been able to repeat them this week! We also had to work on keeping the correct rhythm in the piaffe - sometimes it’s hard to get all the pieces (mine) coordinated.

On Friday of the clinic we had a lunch discussion, which was a question and answer period, and on Saturday evening we had a barbeque at the farm.

This weekend was the perfect way to finish the summer. We are looking forward to Nicole’s next visit, which we hope will be Thanksgiving weekend. Stay posted for the confirmed dates.

You can see some pictures of everyone enjoying the barbeque. Here also is a picture of the new Kerrits breeches that I am test wearing.

Summertime Fun!

We are having NO Summertime Blues here in hot, hot, hot Dickerson, MD. Today, Degas, in spite of his monumental size, had plenty of energy and was ready for more (I however, was looking forward to a cold drink). Everyone is hanging in there though, and preferring the heat to the extreme cold winter temperature (well, maybe not everyone).

The summer is just flying by, as usual. We are all eagerly preparing for Nicole’s visit in 1 ½ weeks (Aug 28 -30). Nicole has full lesson days with 9 – 11 riders each day! Friday’s riders, auditors and boarders at Dominion Stables will get to enjoy a question/answer period with Nicole during lunch on Friday, as well as a barbecue on Saturday night.

This past weekend, the Goal Setting Clinic was a ton of fun. It was great to do another format! We had a discussion and workshop on Friday night and the riders set their goal for the following day. The next day’s lesson was focused on the goal for the day and how to carry that out through the warm up, training phase, and cool down portion of the ride. Thanks to Dona Ruth and Ships Quarters Farm for hosting and organizing the clinic!

Jennifer Foulon and Hilary were actually able to get away from the heat. They took the long drive up to New York for Lendon Gray’s Youth Festival. Jennifer and Furley again did an awesome job. Thank you Hilary for taking the long drive and coaching them there! I remember taking several young rider’s there when I was the assistant trainer at Hilltop. It was a great experience for the young riders, and something I wanted Jennifer to experience as many times as possible. I believe Jennifer had a great time, as she is already talking about next year! Her final standings were overall 4^th in the training level and 7^th in the first level division in her age group. Quite an accomplishment for the first time out Jennifer! Congratulations! Jennifer shared a couple of pictures, which you can see here.

On The Road Again

Have to brag about Jennifer and Shannon one more time, they got a 81.45% in their pas de deux last weekend at the Youth Team Competition. We are all so proud of them!!! Here are a few pictures.

I will be signing out for a week! Yes, there are still places in the world where you have no cell phone or internet access.

I think it is about time for a vacation..... Today on our drive I was on the phone to the USPS trying put a hold on our mail. I was following all the instructions just like I was supposed to do, and after about 10 min (at least it seemed like it, or 20 min), I finally lost it. I could feel it welling up, that terrible, terrible feeling of uncontrollable...... LAUGHTER. I am sitting

on the friking phone having a (seems like) 20 min conversation with a COMPUTER! When it finally asked my name, I could barely squeak out the letters... B (ha ha) A (ha ha) R (ha ha). When the computer asked if the name "BAR" was correct, she/it got SO frustrated with me when I couldn't say "NO", that she had to connect me with...guess what? A REAL CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE!

I finally had to put Brian on the phone to make sure we knew what was going to happen to our mail.

OK everyone, have a good week!

Summertime, And The Ridin' Is Easy

Ok…..so you have to have a little fun right???? Judi and I decided the other day to take the horses out to ‘work’ in the field. As we were ‘playing’ one of the boarders comes out with her young daughter and said “we are coming to watch the big girls”, and I looked over and said OK, that’s great, the ‘big’ girls are playing ‘Simon Says’ today!!!! So then the big and little girls continued playing Simon says out in the field together.

Meanwhile, the not so big girls as us, young riders Shannon and Jennifer, were at the Youth Team Championships having a blast! You can see their results in the twitter column to the right. We are ALL so proud of them.

We had two great weekends in a row, with Lexington and then the Youth Team Competition. It has been a great summer so far.

Greetings from Lexington!

The weekend in Lexington has been fun but busy. I'll have some stories to share soon.......in the meantime, check out our progress on Twitter!

Photos from the Ride for Life

Here are some more photos I promised. As you can see, Norma Lynn, Jennifer and Shannon were busy at the Ride for Life, in addition to volunteering for the Dancing Horse Committee. Shannon, Jennifer and I also made an exchange - I coached them for their pas de deux before the show, in exchange for doing all the feeding, mucking

and watching over Degas at the show. As you can see in one of the pictures, they had some early mornings (and/or late nights??)

They also pitched in when Norma Lynn hurt her ankle (yes, she rode and won with a hurt ankle!!). They braided Floete and took care of her. Norma Lynn appreciated this with sponsoring them for Debbie McDonald’s Fireside Chat! Thanks everyone for all of your hard work and generosity. Go Team!

Norma Lynn on Floete

Shannon on Secret

Shannon on Secret

Jennifer on Morgen

More from the Ride for Life

The Ride for Life was such a special event! This year, we were honored to have Debbie McDonald as the guest speaker. She is incredibly generous, something that was wonderful to learn about her while organizing the Ride for Life activities with her. First of all, she donated a one day clinic, all proceeds going to Johns Hopkins. We decided to auction off the clinic on eBay. This turned out to be a great idea! The auction brought in $8500!!!!! The best part is that the clinic will be used for para-equestrian riders.

Of course, she gave in other ways besides taking up 3 days of her time to come to the Ride for Life. The Fireside Chats were a big hit, and everyone seemed to love having some personal time to learn more about Debbie, Brentina and her philosophies. It was also an honor to hear about the little girl who came to Debbie through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and to hear how instrumental Brentina was to her recovery.

Debbie is such a down to earth person. She was so friendly to everyone, and seemed to have a good time being part of the gang. Here is a picture of Debbie, Me and Mercedes (who was the ‘Debbie Minder’ for the weekend). As you look at the picture, I just want to let you all know one thing….. long legs are not always what they are cracked up to be….but Nicole never took this as an excuse from me for not having my leg on the horse (yes, sometimes your legs feel too long for the horse)

You will also see a photo of the Dancing Horse Challenge committee with Debbie. Unfortunately the whole committee couldn’t be there on Sunday during the photos. However, Degas made it and seemed to enjoy being part of the gang and gave Debbie some extra kisses.

The next photo is of the Caravan for the Cure with Debbie. Those of you who don’t know, the Caravan is from North Carolina, and come up every year for the Ride for Life. They raised over $20,000 by themselves!!!! As a thank you for all their dedication and hard work, we arranged a private ‘chat’ with them and Debbie. When I walked out of the Fireside Chat room and found them all waiting in their Caravan t-shirts it was such a great sight!!! What an energetic, positive and fun group of people! Their group inspired many of us during the year as things got busy and tiring.

Look soon for more photos of the Tribute ride.

Pictures From An Exhibition

As promised, here are some pictures from the Dancing Horse Challenge. As you can imagine, there were many details to be tended to prior to the show! In this first shot, Brian is helping me get ready for the tribute ride. Part of the fun is being able to dress up in costume for the performance - something we never get to do in competition!

Of course, my arena companion, Degas, had quite a costume fitting of his own for the ride! Here you can see the wonderful touches done by Lauren to make Degas look perfect for his ride during the tribute's "Fields of Gold".

Finally, here is Lauren Sirrine proudly displaying her ribbon awarded from the Dancing Horse Challenge - we are so grateful to her and the other wonderful riders who helped make the evening a special and unforgettable one!

Memories from the Ride for Life

There were so many memorable events during this year’s Ride for Life. I want to share a few special moments from the horse show. We had a few students showing this year in addition to us all organizing the Dancing Horse Challenge.

Norma Lynn won all of her Intro classes! But the special one was the last class on Sunday when Norma Lynn and Floete had their best test ever. Congratulations Norma Lynn! It is so great coming out of the ring with this feeling!

The other really exciting class was ridden by Jennifer Foulon on Janice Alperin’s Morgan, and Shannon Zik, on her own Secret. Yes, they performed their first pas de deux! I felt like a proud parent watching both of them perform. I got all teary eyed when they nailed all their transitions. I walked out of there not caring what score they got, but thought it had to be good…………and it sure was - they got a 78%!!!!!!!!!!!! How exciting!!!

The weekend ended with a flourish as both Paulette Ziegler and Donna Fortuna each received a 64% in the Second level test 4 and placing 2nd! We were all so excited. Paulette joined us from Ohio for the whole week before the Ride for Life and came with us to the show. We had such a good time having her with us and it was great to see her rewarded for all her hard work. With that performance hopefully she had enough adrenalin to help her make the 7 hour trip home that night.

The Ride for Life

The Ride for Life and in particular, the Dancing Horse Challenge, was a night to remember. It is amazing to have months of work play out in one short night.

As hard as I could have imagined, I would never have guessed how much hard work and

dedication went into organizing something like this. At each turn I was amazed at the people on my committee - amazed at their dedication, tenacity, patience and creativity. My deepest heartfelt thanks go out to everyone on our committee who made this evening possible.

As much as we planned, we could not have imagined what things could possibly happen. Up until minutes before show time, everyone on the committee was coming up with new plans…. We had gotten to plan Z, and then started the alphabet again with plan AA! As with horses and life in general, anything can happen, and we feel like everything was thrown at us! Up un

til the day before the performance, we had injured horses, riders and much more. But with the creativity, dedication, and generosity of many people, we were able to put on a great performance.

I would like to congratulate Belinda Nairn-Wertmann who was the Land Rover Trophy first place winner, and Jennifer Sirrine, who was the Dover/Nutrena People’s Choice winner. I would also like to thank and congratulate each rider who made this the best Dancing Horse Challenge Performance yet. Many thanks to Courtney King-Dye, Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel, Lauren Sprieser, Jules Anderson, Becky Langwost-Barlow and Jaralyn Finn. Also many thanks to Betsy Steiner, Michael Barisone, and Cathy Morelli who were scheduled to perform and for reasons out of their control were unable to attend. We appreciate that Betsy and Jessie Steiner were able to attend without their horse!

My special thanks go to those who worked together to create the tribute. It was such an honor to perform the tribute with Degas and also with our very special guests, the dancers from Bowen McCauley Dance. Degas made new friends in Dustin Kimball, Alicia Curtis, Brooke Urguhart, Suzanne Creedon and their choreographer Fran Ichijo. We hope to see them again soon! It was amazing how Degas took to the Dancers. He seemed to love every minute. It was such an inspiration to work together with these artists. Of course, my very special thanks go to Frank and Cece Maddlone of Equichord who created such an awe-inspiring tribute.

This quote sent about the tribute says it all…….” The tribute was stunning and something I will always remember. Maybe because I am a person of faith, the spiritual aspect that the dancers brought made it so special. To me they were angels or spirits and represented those gone to a better place. The symbolism of Degas acknowledging and saying farewell to each of them is still replaying in my mind. I'm sure that many - as I did - mentally placed their lost loved one in that circle. As Degas rode between the dancers it was a great joining of one of God's greatest creatures with man and angels.”

I am posting what pictures I have for the moment. Please come back to see more photos and hear more about the Ride for Life Weekend!

The Twitterverse

I have joined the Twitterverse! Frank sent detailed instructions on how to join, so it was very simple to do. When I found out I can update it with text messages from my phone, I got really excited (I like text messages). So we have started. In Twitter, all you have to do is fill in the box that says “what are you doing”. I have to admit that it was quite fun tweeting while I was at the TV station telling everyone ‘what I was doing’. You can now see my most recent "tweets" right here on my blog (over there, on the right). Or, if you'd like, you can join me over on Twitter - see you there!

One Week Until the Ride for Life!

I can’t believe it is less than one week until the Ride for Life! Everyone is working so hard to make it such a great show, their dedication is just amazing.

We had the Tribute practice today with the dancers. Degas proved once again just what an amazing being he is. He watched them perform with such curiosity. When the dancers showed him their lifts, Degas just perked up his ears and started to walk toward them like he wanted to join in.

We watched the dancers perform before we did it all together. I have to say that I just lost it - the song is so beautiful and the dancers looked so beautiful performing it. It looked like they were acting out the song. Degas joined in with them like a champ.

Hopefully you will be able to join us at the Prince George's Equestrian Center on June 27^th!

Barb's TV Blitz!

Frank and Cece and Hilary have been working their hearts out marketing the Ride for Life. They have set up all sorts of things for me to do - you can check out my news page to see the busy schedule that they have me on! Thank goodness for them and everyone else in the barn who have prepared me and given me pep talks about being on TV.

You might have already read about my first interview with HorseGirlTV, and now it is up and running! It is strange to see the finished version. I think Angelea did a great job.

Our next adventure was Channel 25 in Hagerstown. I have to

admit I was pretty nervous. Frank and Cece ‘held my hand’ the whole way through, except of course when the cameras were rolling and then I had to be on my own. Well, it sounds a little like riding a dressage test doesn’t it????? They said it sounded great (good answer), but we will know for sure this coming Tuesday (June 23rd) at 9:55am - don't miss it!

Thank goodness I had done this taped interview before I had to do the live one on Channel 9 in DC! This was pretty nerve-racking, but I survived. It was kind of like a roller coaster ride - you don’t want to do it, you do want to do it, you’re scared, and after it is all over you say…”that was kind of fun, let’s do it again”. Hilary had the interview organized, and Judi came with me as my consultant. You know, she had to tell me a million times that my shirt was in place, my lipstick was ok, my hair was in place etc… etc…. etc…. It had to be a tough job. She got me there on time and kept me calm….even when my phone broke and I wanted to send a text message with a smiley face. Well, I couldn’t get the smiley face to work and I was getting upset. Judi assured me it was fine to send the message without the smiley face, and of course I assured her that “I want the da___ smiley face!”

We actually had a great time. The weather man Howard was bouncing around being friendly to everyone. We met Andrea Roane as soon as we arrived, and she and her assistant seemed happy to meet the dressage ladies. Andrea was so nice before and after the interview. She loved the Ride for Life pin I was wearing and mentioned it on the air. Afterward, she took time to talk with Judi and I about a few things, especially some of the breast cancer research.

It was exciting to see how the news room worked, with everyone running around and cameras running around by themselves. It has to be a pretty exciting, but pretty stressful job. I felt like a kid on the school field trip.

It was also fun to hear that people we don’t know saw it! Yesterday, Janice told me that she was talking to someone about the Ride for Life, and they said, "Oh, I just saw a woman on the news the other day talking about it……………!"

Summertime is Here!

It’s the longest day of the year! I always love summertime..…especially the warm weather and extra daylight. The summer is getting off to a great start.

The show season is continuing to go great. We are all really excited because, at the last show at Morven Park, Hilary and Furley won their First Third level class ever! (Furley’s first, not Hilary’s). As a matter of fact, with this score, Hilary has gotten her USDF Bronze Medal! You go Hilary! I am very proud of them both.

That weekend Judi rode Zivona and got

her first qualifying scores for the regional finals; she also did a fantastic job of riding Zivona - and

she has just barely turned 5. I also rode Norma Lynn’s horse, Floete; she got her first qualifying score for her mare performance test, in addition to qualifying for the BLMs. We hope she will get more 70% at Lexington in July!

Final Results from the NC CDI

The weekend ended with a bang! We got a 69.650 and 3rd place in the Intermediare I Freestyle.

I was excited about this, especially after our Intermediare I ride on Saturday, where Degas had a very uncharacteristic spook and we blew two scores. Our full pirouettes also weren't what I would like (nor the judges). We ended up getting a 63% in this class, and 9th place.

After studying my videos of the clinic with Nicole on Saturday night, I was happy we were able to refocus our efforts, improve our pirouettes (7s on both sides) and have a really nice freestyle.

Here are some pictures of the awards ceremony, as well as the best groom of the whole weekend!!

It was a great weekend overall, and I was really happy to have another chance to get out there on the 'small tour'. We ended the day with a celebration dinner with my Dad and sister.

You Never Look at a Tree the Same Way Again

We had a great night that I just had to share. Brian and I were on our way to the competitor?s party before the Grand Prix competition tonight, when we ran into THE CARAVAN FOR THE CURE!!!!

The Caravan for the cure is an awesome group from North Carolina who are raising money for breast cancer research in support of the Ride for Life. They are doing all kinds of fund raisers. For example they have had a schooling show, sold t-shirts and more!!! As you will see in the picture, we are all wearing Caravan For the Cure armbands which they are selling here at the Raleigh CDI. One woman said she made $106 from the armbands today. They wholeheartedly welcomed Brian and I and gave me an armband. The good groom that he is, Brian bought his own armband.

Later in the evening they found us, so they could give us the Caravan for the Cure T-Shirts. You will see those in the pictures also - front and back. If you were wondering what the pink writing is, you will have to buy a shirt. Just kidding?.. well, not, please buy a shirt!

The shirt says "Maryland is for Breasts"? oh, I mean crabs?The best part, is when we went back to the barn, and asked our neighbor to take our picture, she was so happy to see what we were all doing, that she shared her story about being an 11 year cancer survivor.

She told us several times through the story that after you go through that, you "never look at a tree the same way again". A good reminder to all of us to cherish each moment. She also encouraged all survivors to tell their stories, to give people hope. Giving people hope was the reason she loved this year's Ride for Life theme the "Celebration of Life".

News from the Raleigh CDI

We had a great morning! Degas and I ended up 3rd in the Prix St George at the Raleigh CDI. I was the second rider to go, so was very pleased with my 66.491%, just a breadth away from second! I told Brian, who also happens to be my groom for the weekend, that Degas didnt feel as 'Zippy' as he has been feeling at home. So I was pretty happy for not being too 'zippy'.

Speaking of grooming, I happen to have a very good one this weekend (however, Lauren is a very tough act to follow). He did a superb job of setting up Degas' fan in the corner of the stall facing down. So good that all the other husbands are being asked to do the fans "just like that one". Brian is worried that all the husband and fathers will hate him now!

Speaking of fathers, the reason I say this, is that we happen to be in the Young Rider Isle. We are surrounded by young riders with their families. I must be there because of my 'glowing and young complexion'....

Yesterday was a great day. Frank filled you in on my HorsegirlTV experience. I had a great time, and it was great practice for being on the news on June 17th!

I will find out my ride times later tonight. If I don't ride at the crack of dawn my father and sister will come up to see!

Lights, Camera - Action!

Hi everyone. We made it safely down to NC! You won't believe that I ride at 8:09 on friday AM, like I had to at the FL CDIs.

I have a lot to share from today, but since I have to get my beauty rest for 2mrw, I will let Frank give you a preview...

Thanks, Barb! Well, her trip started out with a "Hollywood" treatment over at HorseGirlTV Headquarters, where Barb was interviewed by Angelea Kelly Walkup - the host and CEO (Chief Equine Officer) at HorseGirlTV. The webisode is all about the upcoming Ride for Life and Dancing Horse Challenge being held at the Prince George's Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro MD, and about ways that you can help to give back to your community through wonderful associations like the Ride for Life. The webisode will be coming out soon, so stay posted for details!

As Barb noted above, she'll be hitting the arena tomorrow @ 8:09am - stay tuned for further developments from NC!

More from the Nicole Uphoff-Selke Clinic

Here are a couple of great shots taken during Nicole's clinic this past April. We all had a wonderful time, and are looking forward to Nicole's next visit!

Barb on Degas - with Nicole's reflection in the mirror.

(Photo courtesy of BS Photography)

Jennifer Foulon on Furley with Nicole

(Photo courtesy of BS Photography)

Strawson's Spring News

I can’t believe how the time flies! So much has happened in the past few weeks that I want to share. I will try and be brief.

First we have to announce the safe arrival of Janice Alperin’s new partner Legacy! He arrived on May 1^st, and is settling in wonderfully. They are going to make a great team. Congratulations.

Janice, Lauren & Hilary on Legacy's first day!

The whole team with Legacy: Barb, Janice, Lauren & Hilary (Photo courtesy of Judi Rosenfeld)

Congratulations are also due to Hilary, who is now a qualified USDF Associate Instructor after completing her USDF Workshops in Riding, Lungeing, and Teaching.

There are still more congratulations for the results of our team this past weekend at the PVDA !

Jennifer Foulon rode Janice Alperin’s Morgan and her own horse, Ferrero in training level test 3 and 4. Jennifer did a wonderful job with Morgan and was 5^th in the Training for one day, and the second day got a 64.4% and placed 4^th, giving her one qualifying score for the Regional finals.

Jennifer had amazing results on Furley, placing in 4^th in 2 classes with a very large field of riders! But we are especially excited about her 76.8%, which brought her also the Training level high score of the show. Congrats to Jennifer and Hilary (her main instructor)! (she also qualified for the BLMs and has one score for the Region 1 finals)

I was lucky to ride Judi Rosenfeld’s horse, Zivona ISF in first 1 and 2. She won 3 out of her 4 classes. We were especially happy with the 69.444% in First 2. Judi will have her first outing of the season the first weekend of June.

Jennifer, Hilary & Judi at Morven Park

The next show will be the Raleigh CDI for Degas and I. We will do the PSG, Intermediare I and Intermediare Freestyle. Brian will be driving down with me, and will be my groom for the weekend.

The next show for our group will be the Morven Park show the weekend of June 6 and 7.

There is one more really important thing I want to share. We are in full swing preparing for this year's Ride for Life, and we need everyone's support. You can help us and the cause in several ways:

1. Check out the IRide Million hits campaign!!!! Please view these videos, subscribe to the Youtube channel and post comments! www.youtube.com/user/iride4l

2. Come to the Jill Hassler-Scoop Dancing Horse Challenge on June 27^th and bring several friends with you! It is at the Prince George's Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. There is a $15 suggested donation at the door. Check it out at www.pvdarideforlife.org

A Weekend of Firsts from the Nicole Uphoff-Selke Clinic

The clinic with Nicole was an inspiration as always! Everyone had done their homework so well, Nicole was impressed with the progress everyone had made. Usually there is a theme which runs through many of the lessons…. this was the weekend of ‘firsts’… I will share some of them starting with Degas

Degas and I did 11 one tempis and piaffe-passage transitions for the first time! Yea!

Judi and Zivona did their first walk canter transitions!

Norma Lynn and Floete did their first leg yields!

Jennifer and Furley did their first canter-walk-canter transitions AND their first counter canter!

There were many more fabulous rides and everyone did a fantastic job.

Ginger Dietsch did a superb job of organizing the clinic and EquiChord organized the sound and is producing edited videos for the riders. One professional said that this was the best training video/tool they had ever had.

One other exciting event of the weekend, was that our training assistant, Hilary Moore attended her teaching workshop with Lendon Gray. This is in preparation for her USDF Instructors certification. Hilary passed the teaching exam with flying colors, and has now passed all workshops and will be able to go for her testing! We are very proud of her.

Go Team!

We have one more exciting thing to share. We are getting a new addition today. Janice Alperin has found her partner in Legacy. A Hanoverian gelding she has purchased from Esther Noiles of WoodsLane Farm. We are excited for all of them and wait for his arrival today! Pictures will follow.

Nicole Uphoff-Selke Clinic

The first day of Nicole’s clinic was a great success. We had a full day with 8 riders. Here is a photo of several of us at the end of the day. Will send more details later. It is always interesting to see how the common themes of the rides develop.

Degas had a great ride. Nicole wanted to review the Prix St. George and Intermediare I, the basics as she put it, so we could focus on the Grand Prix the rest of the weekend. Degas felt better than ever. We got huge changes. He has always had really nice changes, and gets 7s and sometimes 8s. So now I will set my expectations even higher!

More later.

It has been a full week now since Degas and I have been settled back in at home. While the FL weather was wonderful and the show circuit exciting, I am happy to be home!

Before continuing, I want to thank everyone again for their support. You can’t imagine how much everyone’s well wishes, belief in me, and support inspire me each day. I want to especially thank Hilary Moore, and Lauren Peacox for keeping up the home front while I was gone. They did a fabulous job of seeing to the training of the horses and riders. Every horse and rider showed significant improvements while I was gone, so I was happy to see that EVERYONE did their homework.

I wanted to give a summary of my last days in Florida. In addition to the exciting show results, it was a great weekend all around. It was wonderful to have part of the team with me in Florida this last weekend. Lauren, our apprentice trainer and groom, came down to help at the show, and help with the drive home. Frank and Cece Maddlone (Equichord) also came down to help with a special video project. Our special project was for the PVDA Ride for Life, Dressage show to benefit breast cancer.

Kris Zagoria of Moxie Interactive, a digital advertising agency, graciously offered to feature the Riders who will be in the Dancing Horse Challenge, in a high tech video. She sent a video team (Doug and Erik of UpThink) for the weekend, and Frank and Cece of Equichord came to conduct the interviews and help with the videoing. It is hard to describe what a great experience it was working together with such a great team of professionals. The creative teams of Doug and Erik, with Frank and Cece, brought out candidness and a sense of fun in the riders. We were privileged to interview Cesar Parra, Betsy Steiner, Courtney King, Jane Hannigan and Michael Barrisone who is Kris’ trainer. The riders, while busy competing at ‘Dressage at Equestrian Estates’ were so generous with their time and are so dedicated to the cause. It is wonderful to see how all of these professionals appreciate the importance of giving back!

I also need to share a very exciting part of my trip to FL. Every day in FL, I passed the entrance to the Lion Country Safari, which was right next door to where I was living. I was excited to see it, but hadn’t made the time yet. Well, it wasn’t too hard to convince Lauren, Frank and Cece to come with me on the Monday after the show. We spent Monday morning finishing up videos, packing and getting ready for the trip. Then we were able to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon enjoying the ‘wild’ animals. We hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Now that this installment of Barb and Degas Excellent Adventure is over, we will look forward to the next part of the journey. Please continue to check my blog to see the exciting things we are doing at Barbara Strawson, LLC! I will be sharing about the upcoming show season and other exciting events and happenings on Team Strawson’s journey. Frank and Cece Maddlone of Equichord and Hilary Moore will be keeping me on the ‘cutting edge’ of technology. Stay tuned while I learn to ‘vlog’ and ‘tweet’.

We arrived home VERY late on Tuesday night, after hitting a lot of traffic on our way up.
I will post more photos from the trip and Degas settling back in at home, once we unpack.

What a great time in Florida!

Stop in South Carolina! 10 am