This is a little late in posting.  Jeremy and I flew out to the Canadian Championship to crew for Deborah Reich on the FEI 100 and also for a few of her horse's on the FEI and open 50.  Just before we left for the ride, I found out that Deborah actually had an extra horse for the open 50 and that I was going to be able to ride as well.

We flew out on Tuesday just after returning from the time trial.  We drove home and were home for just a day and then flew to Canada.  We arrived late at night.  But found our way after some confusion as to where we were headed.

On Wednesday we went to a local breakfast place and then Jeremy glued on all of the Easyboots for the ride.  While we were working on this there was a very elaborate parade happening.  The mayor of the town was even there!  It was the Canadian equivalent of the 4th of July on the weekend of the ride so there was a lot of celebrating.

As the day went on, Deborah went to weigh in and we all got our paperwork and vetting out of the way.  Then we went for a pre ride.  The horse that I rode was named Comet.  He was really fun.  He is a sporty, zippy horse.  Very fun to ride.

On Thursday the 50 started at 5 am!! 30 mins ahead of the 100 mile start.  What the heck??  I rode with Deborah's trainer, Kim and Deborah's son Amos.  It was a very beautiful ride.  We had a great time.

Unfortunately Deborah's ride was cut short from a very mild lameness (that wasn't there within a few hours).  All three of the 50 mile horses that were in our group completed. 

Since we were all flying out of Toronto on Friday it was decided to head in to town a day early and have a look around.  We packed up and said our good byes to Amelio.  He would trailer the horses back to New York on Friday.

We all went to dinner in Toronto.  The town is incredibly clean.  Jeremy and I walked down an old street that was not the nice part of town and in 10 city blocks we only saw one piece of trash, a coffee cup.  That was it, one cup!!  Pretty cool.

The next day, Friday, we all flew to Frank and Deborah's farm in up state New York.  Another very pretty place.  We all got settled and then met for dinner, followed by a swim and soak in the hot tub with a fireworks show in the background over the Hudson river.  I can't complain:)  It was really fun visiting with Frank and Deborah.

On Saturday, the 4th, we woke up early and got to work.   Jeremy was doing all the hooves on the place.  He trimmed and put shoes on a few too.  I think he worked on about 12 horses and 3 mini donkeys in all.  It was a busy day.  After that we still had time to go for a ride around the farm on a few of Deborah's mounts.

By the time we got onto our 7 pm Saturday night flight back to CA we were ready to sleep!  What a fun time.

On the 4th we were home and headed up to a local fair to watch our newest prospect run a game race on the race track.  She is going to be very cool.  We will get her in October when her racing season is over and her new racing career begins:)  She and Smitty have the same sire.

Well, we will be getting ready for Tevis now.  Maybe we will see you there.
Heather