Melissa, the Mummy Sleep and the Mare

Well, I was in Toronto for part of the weekend with my sister. We went to see Melissa Etheridge perform at Massey Hall. We caught the 5:45 a.m. train on Friday morning. With the train leaving that early in the morning, I had to do the Mummy Sleep. What is the Mummy Sleep, you ask? Well, it means that I shower, reapply my make up and fix my hair before I go to bed and then sleep in the same position (on my back) until the alarm goes off (in this case 4:15 a.m.). The Mummy Sleep allows me to sleep up to the last possible moment. All I have to do is throw on my clothes (ironed the night before), brush my teeth and apply lipstick when I get up. When I arrive at the train station, I am the best looking one there. :-)

Business class is very civilized. I love it. You get served a hot breakfast and fresh coffee. The seats are big and adjustable. When you have to spend about 4 hours on the train, it's nice to be comfortable.

Wow. What a performance. Melissa really knows how to rock it out. She did every one of my favourites and they sounded pretty much like the recorded version. Quite an accomplishment considering she had a drummer and two guitarists backing her up. She sang and played solid for over two hours. Where does she get the energy????

Serena Ryder, a very talented young lady, opened for Melissa. I believe she is touring in the U.S., so if she comes to a place near you I would highly recommend you go see her. It was evident that Melissa and Serena shared a professional affection for each other. Melissa called Serena back out on the stage a few times. Serena said, when she first came out to the cheers of her home-town audience, that this experience was a dream come true and never in a million years did she think that she would be touring with someone like Melissa. Serena proves that wishes do come true if you wish hard enough and work hard enough. :-)

The train going home Saturday night was just as delightful and I pulled into my driveway around midnight. I got up as usual Sunday morning to go riding, but 8 hours of sitting in a train, 3 hours sitting at a concert, hours of sitting in pubs and restaurants and shopping on Saturday afternoon had taken it's toll on my back. I went out to the stables with the intent of just grooming my boy. When I arrived, half of the parking lot was a swamp, a result of the warmer temperatures and pouring rain last week. I was sinking up to my ankles in places.

As I was brushing Gem, a retired couple arrived. The woman had on a white micro-fiber ski jacket, with suede boots. The man had on a nice windbreaker and leather shoes. Not appropriate barn wear, and I wondered how they managed to get to the barn without getting a speck of mud on their clothing or shoes. I found out when I went to the clean room and saw their car parked in the private parking space next to the house; they bypassed the mud by driving right up the lane way. Who were these people?? As it turns out, they are the owners of a 3-year old mare that LA is training for them. The mare is gorgeous and has the stall right across from Gem. She very friendly, but apparently has not been exposed to a lot and can be very spooky. I have a rescue dog like that and it's taken almost 3 years to get him to the point that he doesn't go absolutely crazy when we have company over or the door bell is rung.

They cooed over their pretty girl, but didn't touch her very much, I guess because they didn't want to get dirty. :-) LA arrived and saddled up their horse and off they went to the arena. Yep, everyone got muddy. :-) LA showed the couple what she had been working on. I found out that the woman had bought this mare for herself! I get the impression that the woman and her husband bought property when they retired and I guess they would like to keep horses and ride. The horse was an impulse buy; she is pretty.

LA has worked with the mare for six weeks and was now finished with her evaluation. Although there have been vast improvements with the mare's ground manners, there are still issues when being ridden. She told this couple that the mare was too much horse for the woman. LA suggested that she sell the mare to a more experienced rider (LA would recommend someone) that could provide the training required to work the mare through her issues and that she buy horse for herself that was really broke. Or, she could leave the mare with LA (or another trainer) to train over the next 6 months and then re-evaluate. It's got to be tough to hear, but LA wants what's best for both the horse and the woman. The pretty mare, at this point, would be a dangerous ride for the woman. It makes me a little angry at the irresponsible person who sold them the mare. Clearly this couple did not understand what they were getting into and they were taken advantage of. I will give the couple credit, though, for recognizing after the fact that they needed help.

Personally, if that mare was mine, I know what my decision would be; I would continue having LA train her. I would look at it as an investment in my future with her. But, this couple are a little bit older than me, so are they willing to give up at least a year of their plans? Time seems to be in shorter supply after you cross the 50 mark...at least in my opinion. :-) I think either way, the mare will come out the winner. I am wondering what the mare's owner will decide.....

What was I thinking....