Anyone know of any good books for a beginning dressage rider?  

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HI, Maureen

I recognized your name...how are you doing these days? It has been a very long time since I've seen you. Thanks for the comments about Bardi, he was an amazing little guy; he was so intelligent it was unbelievable. Of course, he got way too good for me to ride him anymore! LOL

How did you hear about my Mom? She passed away on Christmas Day 2009. She'd been fighting Alzheimers Disease for 5 years; things started to become really noticeable once Don had had a massive stroke (while they lived on Herald Road) and Don had to be admitted to a long term care facility after being discharged from the hospital. I moved my Mom to a little apartment in Beaverton (close to the LTC facility Don was in) so she could visit Don every day. I had to find homes for all of the horses; it was really tough. Holberg is still with Ruth Armstrong just outside of Orangeville; he's in very good hands with her. She is great with stallions. The rest of the horses were sold to good homes; the horse market was pretty bad at that time, but we did get some money and I made sure they went to good homes where they'd be worked and loved. We did manage to keep Hadrian (do you remember him, the chestnut TB gelding they used as a school horse?). My daughter Lizzie took him and boarded him at the stable across the road from her place until 2 years ago, when she got laid off her job and Hadrian became too old to ride and then he came to my place in Caledon as a retirement home. I had the joy of looking after him for the last 2 years of his life. He was very difficult to keep weight on and was fighting a nasty infection in the past few weeks. We just had him put down on October 22nd. He'd either fallen down or laid down in the run in shed in the early AM and he couldn't get back up. We tried all day to get him up but by 6 pm, I had to call the vet to come euthanize him. It was very sad,but I got to sit with him while the vet gave him the injection and he was gone very quickly. He is buried here on our farm, about 15 feet from the paddock where he used to graze.

We have two other horses here, I just bought a 7 year old Haflinger/Paint cross mare last summer. She's very cute and reminds me of Bardi, that same inquisitive intelligent personality. We also have a 23 year old TB mare which belongs to my stepdaughter.

Are you still riding much? What's new with your family? I can always remember your children, they were so cute.

Deborah
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for filling me in.
I had some great times with Don & Vicky, they were a big part of my life. Is Don still alive? We enjoyed chatting about Scotland & having a wee goldie + your Mum made the best shortbread for the Xmas party!
Hadrian was a very handsome horse, good to hear he lived to a good age. How about Hailey?
I had Hector, Hope's half brother, but he tied up also & had to be put down @ 7 years old.
I now part-board an 8 yr old appendix gelding & enjoy trail riding & putting some training on him.
Daniel is 28 & works in the IT field. Colin is 26 & finishing Uni in Montreal. Wolf is almost retired & I work @ Southlake Hospital.
Good to hear from & lots of luck with your horses.
Maureen
Hi, Maureen

Nice to get your update. I am so sorry to have to tell you that Don passed away in Feb. 2008. He had been in the LTC facility after his stroke and sadly he was not able to recover to any extent. He was totally paralyzed on the left side and he was in a wheelchair the whole time. The only good thing was that my Mom was admitted to the same LTC facility (Lakeview Manor in Beaverton) about 6 months after Don was as it became apparent that she could not live on her own without supervision. She had several mishaps and accidents and sadly I wasn't in a position to be able to look after her 24/7. So Don and my Mom were in adjoining rooms (joined by a bathroom) so they could visit all day and go back to their respective rooms to sleep. It was making the best of a bad situation, I guess. They were happy to be together, I do know that. After Don passed away, my Mom fell and broke her hip and had to have surgery to have some pins put in. During the last year of her life, she didn't speak anymore and couldn't really communicate. I was thankful that I was able to spend her last 2 days by her side at Lakeview Manor (December 23rd & 24th). They called me on Christmas Day at noon to tell me she'd passed away. One of the nurses she'd worked with at River Glen Haven in Sutton was sitting with her when she passed away. She knew a lot of the girls who worked at Lakeview Manor (as they'd been at River Glen Haven when she was) and she got excellent care there, I think, better than most. I really do miss both of them, Don and I were very close. And, my Mom, well, she was my Mom. I wish both of them were still around, they could help me so much with horses!

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I decided to return to riding and horses, so I am trying to get my rusty body (and mind) to work in sync. I am not sure what happened to Hailey, just before Don had his stroke, they'd downsized their horses and they always had horses coming and going so I couldn't always keep track of them. Holly (Holberg's daughter) ended up going back to Leacock Hill Stables (now Sandelwood Stables). Quincy and Czarina, the two Arabs, went to a girl I knew in Sunderland. When Don had his stroke, they had one colt (Holberg's grandson) who was eventually sold and Holly was about to foal at that time, so we boarded her out in Pefferlaw until she foaled and then the foal was sold as a yearling. We kept Hadrian, since my daughter Lizzie used to ride him so much and she had a special bond with him. At that time, I was living in an apartment (before I met my husband) otherwise I would have tried to keep more of their horses.

Thanks for the comments about Hadrian, he was a handsome boy, even in his last days. Our farrier used to comment about his beautiful floating trot. 26 1/2 years is pretty good age; he gave and received a lot of love in his lifetime! Even on his last day, he managed to eat some hay and senior feed and I was giving his apples because he would not drink. We all miss him.

Sorry to hear about Hector, I do remember him. Your appendix sounds really nice. I am just happy to do some hacking and light riding. I can see the horses from our kitchen window and I am thrilled to be able to go outside and be with them every day.

I can't believe your boys are 26 and 28! My son Dave, is 31 and married with one daughter and a son on the way. He has a contracting/construction business in Stouffville. My daughter, Lizzie, is 29 and just got married this past summer. She and her husband bought a house in Raglan (between Oshawa and Port Perry) last spring and she is a lab technician for a veterinary company. She processes tissue samples onto slides (from dogs, cats and horses) sent in from vet clinics.

My husband (he's almost retired from his computer business) and I live in Caledon and have a small farm. We grow garlic and some other veggies which we sell to restaurants and at local farmers markets. I also work at a physiotherapy clinic in Orangeville (front office). So we keep busy and we enjoy the horses, the dogs and growing stuff.

Both Don and my Mom were cremated. I had a small ash scattering ceremony last August at St. George's Church in Jacksons Point for my Mom. Just family and a couple of friends she used to work with. When Don passed away, his daughter Kate got involved and took his ashes, so we weren't able to have a service for him, even though I was the executor of his estate but I figured it wasn't worth a court battle. I do intend to have some sort of Memorial Service for both of them together at some point. I did speak to Nancy Briggs just after my Mom passed away.

I am so sorry for the long message. Maureen, please do keep in touch! Glad to hear you're well.

Deborah

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