Get back to work slacker!

We got home from a weeks’ vacation this past Sunday night, driving a rental car from Boston through what, at that time, was the latest winter weather blast to hit the northeast. I have to say that landing at Logan in falling snow with little more than a 500′ cloud ceiling was rather disconcerting. At least one of us, our student pilot Sam, was able to enjoy the spectacle and skill of it all! We had been visiting my parents at the villa we all share on the island of St. Barths, so it’s safe to say that the shock of getting off of the plane and walking right into a winter storm was rather well…unpleasant. Back to reality boys and girls! I have to admit that though my liver has obviously rejoiced to be back home and away from the temptation of the delicious wine and cheese at virtually every meal, the readjustment for the rest of my body was not necessarily so smooth. Walk on the white sandy beach with turquoise water or walk on the treadmill for an hour and 20 minutes? Guess which one I prefer? Perhaps it was the firm knowledge that having had our time at play over the winter months, we were now looking down the barrel of the spring show season. Again, as I have been fond of pointing out to no one in particular lately — and often just to that slightly tired looking guy in the mirror in fact — those are uptown problems though. It’s cliche of course but life really is pretty awesome if those are my major worries. Enough goofing off, back to work!

The weaning of the 2012 cria class has continued apace over the past couple of months here and we will in the not too distant future reach the tipping point where there will be more weaners at the Main Barn then there are crias still up nursing off of their dams at the Arena. In any case 2013 promises be an interesting year on the show circuit. With so many excellent youngsters being born last year, including many who are too young to show this spring, there is for the first time the very real possibility that the show strings that go out this April will differ quite profoundly from the strings that makes an appearance in the fall. Time will tell of course and talk is always cheap. In any case Jen and I will be making final selections of the show strings for the NAAS and the Futurity in the coming days, if we can just get the sun to come out long enough to let us get a realistic look at the fleeces. The specialty look en vogue since we first laid eyes on our crew this past Monday morning post-February vacation has been frumpy. They all remind me of the episode of Seinfeld where the showers broke so no one could wash their hair properly.

Jen and Kimmy were up at the barns earlier today with the trusty old ultrasound machine and the results were very good. The one thing we can say right now about the upcoming birthing season, is that the last cria born on this farm in 2013 will hopefully belong to Ascension. That cria will be Elixir’s full sibling and with a little luck will be born in the Arena’s warm room sometime in the weeks before Christmas. Having sworn off winter births just over a year ago (never say never?), we had to make an exception just one more time with Elite Legend leaving us for good earlier this month.  The chance to repeat EL’s greatest feat here was just too tempting. In the mean time Elixir and his kid brother from 2012, Centurion (whose sire is Matrix Majesty), will continue to represent their mama on the show circuit this coming Spring and Fall.

Next week we will have the final toenail-centric round of herd health before shearing in May, where we get to do it all again albeit with the entire herd all comfortably restrained one at a time. Circumstances and the wacky winter weather of January mean that I still haven’t made it out onto the ski slopes with the my kids yet this year. I think that just this once I’d be willing to trade working in the cold next week trimming toe nails if old man winter will just do us the favor of sticking around long enough to grant us a ski weekend or two? I know, I know: cue the rain. What about a reverse-double jinx?

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