Author Archives: acrosstheditch

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You’ll have to forgive me if my posts are a bit scrappy at the moment… WordPress really doesn’t want to cooperate with my ipad.

Day three and I was still feeling pretty ordinary, falling asleep after 4am really isn’t agreeing with me, so I was off to a late start. I headed down to South Ferry (finally figured out the subway!!) to go to see the Statue of Liberty. I nearly got myself conned by people claiming to be in charge of official tours, but got away before I handed over any money, and found the real ticketing centre. Liberty Island was quite interesting – the statue is pretty majestic close up. I would have liked to do the crown tour, but they’re booked out until the middle of January.

Once I got back to the mainland, I was absolutely freezing so just decided to start walking around to check out the streets downtown, and to try and warm up a bit. I ended up at the 9/11 memorial so made my way in there. I really wasn’t expecting to be so affected by it, but it’s a seriously emotional place. It’s so heartbreaking reading the names of all the emergency workers.

I kept wandering uptown and did a bit more shopping, and befriended a couple of girls in Sephora. They were going to dinner at McGees, an Irish pub that inspired the McLarens bar from How I Met Your Mother, and invited me to come along. It was a pretty cool little place, different inside from McLarens, but the food, drinks and company were very good!! A bit later on I caught up with a guy I had met earlier in the day and had a few drinks at another cute little bar. It was a nice way to end the day – I’ve been enjoying being on my own most of the time, but it’s always good to socialis!

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New York – day two

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I really need need to stay up to date with writing in this a bit better – I’ve done soo much in the last few days, it’s hard to keep track of it all!

On the second day I was a bit jet lagged, so decided to spend a fairly quiet day at the museums. My first pick was the Met – I’m a massive Egyptophile so their Ancient Egypt exhibit was certainly a highlight.

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I spent hours there, the armoury section and the Greek/Roman history were also really fascinating.

I then made my way back down towards the shops on 5th Avenue and spent a few hours there.. The size of the stores here is just incomprehensible. I feel like such a little country girl! Bought a few good things though, all the clothing is so cheap.

I actually had a bit of trouble finding somewhere for dinner – a few places I liked the look of actually wouldn’t give me a table for one! I suppose it’s fair enough when they’re busy and want to maximise their earning potential with full tables, but it’s a bit depressing when you just want to get a nice meal on your own. I ended up just getting a takeaway salad and headed back home to try and get an early night. It didn’t quite work as planned, because I was still awake at 4am! I think it’s going to take a while for me to try and readjust my sleeping pattern… Better get it sorted before I start working, otherwise I’m going to end up pretty exhausted very quickly!

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New York – day one

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I’m finally here! After a fairly long trip – 15 hours to LA, 4 hours stopover, then 5 more to NY – I was so excited to just get to my hotel and have a shower and fall into bed. I’m staying in a really cute little place, it’s quite far uptown but was so much nicer than similar things further into the city at the same price, so I don’t mind the trade off in regards to distance.

My super cute little room – complete with home baked cookies and the world’s comfiest bed

For my first day, I decided to just have a wander around and get my bearings a bit. I ended up walking nearly 20km throughout the day! Made my first stop at Lululemon to stock up on winter clothes – they have an awesome range compared to what we’ve got back home. Then I wandered through Central Park a bit, and went through the Zoo. It wasn’t bad, much smaller than our zoos back home, but it was interesting to see a few different types of animals.

Central Park

Then I’d made it right down into the city – and it really is just like the movies. Everything is so pretty, the Christmas decorations are incredible. You could walk around for hours and not get bored, there’s so much to see even just in the window displays.

Beautiful Christmas decorations inside Tiffany & Co

Street view of Tiffany & Co

Eventually got to Times Square.. Yikes! It really is so touristy and overwhelming. Certainly worth checking out, but wouldn’t worry about going back for a second look. My next stop was the Rockefeller Centre for the Top of the Rock observation deck tour. i made it up just before sunset, so it was amazing to see the city come alive in the dark. It really is such a massive, beautiful city.

Skyline view from the Rockefeller Center

Then I was off to a cute little bar for dinner, whilst waiting to go and see Chicago on Broadway.  Had a few wines and got pretty tipsy… Is American wine stronger or something??  Eventually made it to Chicago, which was incredible. I’ve seen the movie a million times and know all the words to the songs, but seeing it live is an entirely different experience. i still haven’t really figured out the whole subway thing, so I decided to begin walking home and just catch a taxi when I got too tired. I ended up just walking the entire way home – amazingly enough it does feel really safe here, even after midnight. It helps that there are people and cops everywhere all the time. i was paying for all my walking a bit by the time I got home though.. very sore and crampy, found it really hard to fall asleep. I think I might have a more relaxed day tomorrow and just check out museum mile, and try to plan for more exciting stuff on Wednesday and Thursday before I head down to Pennsylvania.

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Berrima Spring ODE – My last Australian Event

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Being my last weekend in Australia, I was relieved of volunteer duties at Berrima so I could get myself organised for my big trip. Of course, that meant socialising all day,and waiting til midnight before panicking and packing my suitcase.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and I got to catch up with lots of good friends – the perfect way to spend my last day here.

A few happy snaps from yesterday –

Being a backseat dressage judge with a couple of good friends

Showjumping about to get underway

Our recently renovated water jump ready for action

Freddy’s Fence – dressed and ready for its debut in the 1*

I just want to say a big thank you to all those who have supported me over the past 12 months. It’s been a bit of a rough year, but I’m so excited for the things to come.

I board my plane to LA in just over 6 hours – and on that note, I had better finish packing!

x

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A special dedication to my Freddy

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A number of my friends recently got together and gathered donations to put towards the construction of a new cross country jump at Berrima Horse Trials, in memory of my darling Freddy.

The first phase of the jump was completed earlier this week, in time for the Spring event this weekend. It is currently a 1* and 2* complex, but eventually it will be furthered developed to include all the grades.

We had a dedication ceremony last night to celebrate the completion of the jump, and to remember Freddy. There was plenty of wine, a few tears and lots of laughs – it such a lovely evening spent with some wonderful friends, and I’m so touched by their generosity and support!

A few photos from the evening:

Pink decorations & refreshments – inspired by Freddy’s cross country colours

The jump – 1* corner on the left, 2* corner on the right

The memorial plaque & a very cheesy grin

Sharing a drink with my lovely mother (and super groom!)

Some of the wonderful people who made this all possible!

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The Final Countdown!

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Apologies for the complete lack of updates lately – life has just been soo busy.

I’ve finished uni for the year, made it through exams, and have been flat out packing and planning for my USA trip. I’ve also been doing as much riding as possible on a few lovely horses belonging to friends.. I’m a bit rusty after so much time out of the saddle!

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Riding my friend’s lovely WB gelding, Luke

 

I fly to LA this Sunday, and then onto New York, where I’m planning on spending a few touristy days before heading down to True Prospect Farm in PA. After the beautiful early summer weather we’ve been having, the snow is going to come as a bit of a shock! Looking forward to doing some serious shopping in NYC, it’s been pretty tricky trying to find decent winter clothes here.

 

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The packing begins!

 

The rest of this week will be spent trying to catch up with as many friends as possible before I leave. It’s all getting very exciting!

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Busy busy..

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I’ve been very quiet on the home front here, haven’t had much time to do anything worth writing about while heading into my last week of uni for the year… and cramming for exams!! I’m pretty pleased with my progress so far, with HDs on most assessments, so hopefully I can maintain those kind of grades throughout the exam period.

Along with the uni grind, the recent bushfires in my area have resulted in very little riding time, because the horses I’ve been riding have been located to a safer area until the threat dies down. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will be a little less hectic and I can get my butt in the saddle a little more often. Less than 40 days until I leave for the US now!

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Making plans!

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There are now only 65 days, 23 hours and 38 minutes until I leave on my big USA adventure.. not that I’m counting or anything 😉 For those who don’t yet know, I’m going to be spending my uni holidays in the States with Phillip Dutton. I’ve spent this week booking and paying for boring things like travel insurance, flights and hotels. It’s depressing watching those thousands of dollars disappearing from my bank account when I’d rather be spending it on all the beautiful winter riding clothes I’ll be needing over there. It’s also taking a lot of self-restraint to stay on top of my uni work when I’d rather be looking up all the must-sees and must-dos which I’m hoping to squeeze in on my way to Phillip’s!

I’m heading there via New York, and returning home via LA, with about 5 days in each place on the way. So if I have any American followers, or anyone else who has travelled through these areas, I’d love to hear your suggestions!

I’m currently on my mid-semester break and have soo much to try to fit into this week.. it’s Thursday already and I’ve barely ticked off a third of the list! The best news is that my lovely old dog, Willow, went in for surgery yesterday which we were all a bit worried about, but she pulled through fine and is now home and recovering well.

 

Pre-surgery cuddles.. she’s not quite as pretty post-surgery, but I’m very happy to have her home in one piece!

I’m feeling terribly over-committed to so many things in the next couple of months. I made a lot of plans for October and November before I made the decision to head to the US, and nearly every weekend is packed out with events and other commitments between now and December. I’m also trying to fit in as much riding as possible between now and then, so I don’t humiliate myself when I arrive! So it will be challenging trying to stay on top of it all and do well in my exams in the weeks before I leave… I don’t think I’ll have a spare moment to relax until I get on that first plane!

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The Joys of Jump Judging

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I’ve done a lot of volunteering at events over the years, either before or after my own ride times, or on those disappointing weekends where you’re not in the saddle for one reason or another… you know the ones, where Darling Horse has managed to appear slightly off-colour or sore in the lead-up, just enough to make you question their health and withdraw from the event. Of course, they then end up 110% sound and happy on dressage morning after you’ve scratched. Sigh.

This year though, I’ve tried to fit in a lot more so that I can keep up with all the eventing news and give back to the sport a bit whilst I don’t have a horse to ride. I really miss being out there riding, but helping out is definitely the next best thing. I spent this past weekend jump-judging at Eventing Equestriad in Camden – one of my favourite events on the calendar. The courses are always beautifully built and a bit challenging, and even though they receive masses of entries, they manage to fit everyone in and keep the weekend running with military precision. The VIP tent is always well patronised at Camden – it’s great to see Australian eventing trying to encourage more spectators and supporter involvement.  I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone who is thinking about volunteering to check out this event, because you are always very well looked after… I think I needed to run the cross country course myself to burn off all the snacks and food that was provided to the jump judges!

Cross country jump judging is my favourite volunteering past-time – I certainly can’t complain about soaking up some sunshine and watching all my friends gallop round! You get to see the best and the worst of eventing, from the perfectly ridden lines where horse and rider don’t seem to exert any extra effort at all, to the near misses and catastrophes from those less-than-stellar approaches, horse & rider arguments, or just plain bad luck. You can definitely learn a lot about what not to do!

I was fortunate enough to only have to deal with a couple of minor falls this weekend, with both riders up on their feet immediately and needing no assistance. The serious crashes are certainly the worst part of the job. There’s nothing more chilling than trying to keep a rider conscious while waiting for the ambulance… the dangerous nature of our sport really hits home at times like that. Fortunately, those moments are few and far between, and every event committee does their best to get riders home as safely as possible.

All in all, it was a great weekend, with a number of my friends bringing home ribbons. Huge props must go to Shane Rose who flew back in from England in time to win the 3* and both 1* classes, as well as being an instrumental part of the organising committee!

Check out the wrap-up from An Eventful Life here – http://www.an-eventful-life.com.au/eventing-news/eventing-equestriad-camden-nsw/shane-rose-human-dynamo …

…and the full results here – http://www.nominate.com.au/equest/results/Equestriad_Sept.html .

Unfortunately only a couple of photos from this event – I managed to leave the camera battery sitting on its charger at home, so had to make do with crummy phone photos.

My friend Ali, jumping her way to 1st in her Pre-Novice class with Throsby Park Sonnet

And my friend Bella flying around the 3* on Star Vision

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A Farewell

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This weekend has brought some very sad news.. my good friend lost a very special mare in a freak accident. M was only 6yo, with a very bright future ahead of her. She was one of those genuinely sweet and affectionate horses – I don’t think anyone who met her could have resisted falling in love with her.
M and my dear Fred used to live and travel together to a lot of events and clinics – and he was quite besotted with her! We had some fantastic times competing together, as well as lovely trail rides and gallops at home, and out and about. I hope the two of them have found each other in pony heaven.

It’s a sad reminder that accidents can happen, no matter how careful we are. We should all take the time to appreciate our horses each and every day – you just don’t know when it might be the last chance you’ve got to do so.