I’m a huge fan of Ivy. Which is fortuitous given how much Ivy is growing around and about our house. It’s mid-July in Boones Mill, Virginia and the Ivy on the North side of our house is thriving, as usual. This particular variety is not an evergreen. It’s foliage is a deep red in the Autumn – quite stunning. I have evergreen Ivy on the West side that is now beginning to climb the wall and I’m pretty thrilled about that. I have some wall mountable training wires for vines and I hope to get some installed on the West wall this month.

As you can see in the photo, we recently bought some outdoor furniture for the North patio. It only took us 2 years. You know you’re horse people when you dump time and money into your horse facilities for two years before you get around to buying yourself some outdoor furniture! Oh well, have some patience. We’ll be fully civilized eventually.

Back in 2005 I gave the playhouse an extreme makeover but recently it became clear that the sandbox area, located underneath the “house”, needed some fixing up. With no barrier, our cat was, er, leaving hidden treasures in the sand. The girls and their friends really enjoy the sandbox so something had to be done. This is what I came up with. For starters, I had to remove +/– 1,000 pounds of old sand. Then I added 2,000 pounds of brand new sand. I covered the crawlspace with wood lattice panels, cut to size. It took six sheets of 4×8 5/8” wood lattice. I trimmed the corners with 1×6x8 decking boards. On the other side of the playhouse, the center lattice piece is a 40” x 40” door with a 2×4 frame mounted with a 38” piano hinge. I installed a spring on the door and it closes by itself, ensuring that cat burglars will no longer be able to bury any hidden treasures.

With the latticework, the “pole barn” frame is much, much stronger. I was surprised at just how much the latticework contributed to the structural rigidity of the playhouse. Next week I’ll be digging out 12” of old mulch and fill from the swingset area and filling in with brand new mulch.

Big farm projects are fun. But often the most rewarding project is something as simple as a playhouse for imaginative young girls.

Eef’s second Dressage show season is going well. In May, at Dressage at the Sandhills in Pinehurst, NC, Nancy and Eef rode 1^st 1, 1^st 1, 1^st 2, and 1^st 3 and scored 66% (5^th), 65.33% (7^th), 63.611% (2nd) and 69.714% (2^nd) respectively. This July, his performance at Dressage at Lexington was solid as well. Nancy competed Eef for two days and four tests. Eef was a little inactive the first day for 1^st 1, yet scored 64% placing 6^th. Later on in the first day, Eef was tense and spooked briefly triggering a rider error during 1^st 4, scoring 60% and placing 7^th. It was a tough day emotionally for us since this was Eef’s first “bad day” and he had been previously so consistent during the 2006 season. Looking back to the last show of the 2006 season, Eef had ridden 1^st level for the first time at the VADA Fall Competition scoring 74.444% and placing 1^st.

Complicating the matter (in my not so humble opinion) was judging. At Dressage at Lexington this month, for Eef’s first day, both tests were judged by the same person. Before Nancy and Eef entered the ring, the judge blurted out to her scribe, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, “That’s the smallest Friesian I’ve ever seen! Is that a pony Friesian?!?” I believe she meant no offense but to me it clearly indicated that the judge was not entirely comfortable with Friesians in the Dressage show ring. And in Dressage, judging is quite subjective. Much discussion among folks in the sport of Dressage is breed prejudice and it’s something that the USDF and USEF work actively to mitigate. But it remains a notable problem in my opinion. Much more improvement is needed. The second ride on the first day with this judge, the ride that earned a 60% placing Nancy and Eef 7^th was not a bad ride. In my opinion, it was not a 70% ride but it was certainly not a 60% ride. I videotape every ride and we research ridden tests afterwards. The 60% is a harsh judging. Furthermore, I watched the ride prior to Nancy and Eef’s 60% ride. The horse was a large Holsteiner that was quite nice and the rider was, like Nancy, a professional rider. This particular judge had a voice that projected so I was fortunate enough to enjoy the ride and listen to the judge stating notes and associated scores for each sequence of the test. The judge would note resistance and being strung out, something that I myself saw clearly with my own eyes. The resistance during certain movements was quite plain, yet for those sequences, the judge would clearly state “slightly strung out” and then state “Seven” (the score) for the movement. Later, during Nancy and Eef’s ride, a good many of the same comments were being made. To me, even though Eef showed markedly less resistance during certain movements… where the judge gave the Holsteiner a “Seven”, here the judge would state “Six”. In fact, if memory serves, very nearly every movement that Eef the Friesian made was judged to be 1 point lower than the Holsteiner. Now, to be fair, some of those higher scores for the Holsteiner were merited. But I’d make the case that plenty were not. So, while I came away from the first day of the show knowing that every great horse has a bad day, I did leave the grounds regretting that both rides were under the same judge. I would have preferred a different judge for each ride; because diversity of judges is the only way to accurately and reliably assess a horse’s training development.

The second day of this month’s Dressage at Lexington came off much better. Nancy and Eef rode two tests under two different judges. The first ride was 1^st 3 and they scored 67.143% (1st). The second ride was 1^st 2 and they scored 68.889% (1st). It was a great relief to both the trainer and the trainer’s husband

Cahas Green is the latest subdivision to begin development in the Boones Mill, VA zip code. Situated on a 110 acre farm field that has – for quite some time – been poorly managed, Cahas Green promises a sensible and beautiful setting for 31 families. The subdivision is visible in the above photo as the large and wide open terraced field (especially if you enlarge the photo by clicking on it with your mouse). Of the 31 lots, 17 are 5 acres and up to 3 horses will be allowed for each of those lots. The 5 acre lots are on the high ground and promise beautiful mountain and rolling hill views. 14 are +/– 1 acre lots with public road frontage (not visible). So far 6 of the 17 large lots are under contract to families who will be relocating with horses. If you’re interested in living near Roanoke, VA and plan on bringing or buying horses then you’ll want to take a closer look at this new community! Contact Cindy Loyd by by email for more information, and tell her the mad scientist Sean Pecor sent you.

Below is a photo of the excavation and grading work as of July 8^th. Visible is Deerberry Lane currently under construction but nearly complete. Construction of the second road, Roseberry Lane, has just begun though it won’t likely be visible from my web camera.

In farm related news, I’ve gotten a few projects completed and I’ll be posting on those projects later. But I’ll be taking it a bit easier this week as my upper right leg mends itself. I managed to get myself kicked by a nervous visiting horse on Saturday morning while he was being loaded on a trailer. He had loaded fine previously but it was a new place, a new handler and a new trailer for the horse and he was very tense. I’m counting my blessings though; it was a pretty square strike, just above and to the right of my kneecap. Nothing broken, just a partially mangled quadricep and some skin tears. The quad bled quite a bit internally though, so I’ve got a large Hematoma about the size of my fist just above the knee. The E.R. doctor advised me that the chief risk for the next day or to is Compartment Syndrome, and he said to pay special attention to my lower leg, and to head back to the E.R. if I lose sensation in my lower leg or if the lower leg starts to turn funny colors. This was the first time I’ve been kicked by a horse. Hopefully it will be the last