2010
SPRING

Well, I’m back in the saddle again. Although it sounds like a refrain from a Grade B Gene Autry movie, it’s true. Hudson (show name: North 36 Degrees) is back home – where he’ll stay and retire. He’s had a long, convoluted journey, but the Black Beauty story has a happy ending. Fourteen years ago, I had a Thoroughbred mare named Aspen High – with bloodlines from Bold Ruler and Something Royal … and my neighbor had a Dutch Warmblood stallion – Tampa. It seemed like a good idea at the time to breed the two. Why, in a few years, we’d have Lauren’s Young Rider Horse! Time went by, we shipped the mare to a friend’s farm who was experienced at “birthin’ babies,” and so we, Lauren, Shirley and I, were present when he was born. Well, NOT present (who ever is?????); We had a few Margaritas, fell asleep and awoke to hear rustling in the stall from the monitors. We ran to the barn, and lo and behold, we found a gangly brownish-black colt that really wasn’t much to look at. However, we dutifully imprinted him with clippers, umbrellas, bicycles, and every odd thing we could find. (Must have worked, since he is amazingly unruffled in the most bizarre of circumstances!)

My daughter, Lauren, and I worked with him every day and a few years went by. We decided it was time to ride him; after all, we had been tacking him up for months, preparing for the “big day.” I held him and my daughter got on his back. All went well for about 10 seconds – and then he went straight up in the air and executed a magnificent Capriole. Lauren flew 20 feet through the air and was unceremoniously dumped. Hudson landed in his exact footprints and looked around as if to say, “What was that about?????” (Lauren was fine; sore, but fine!) Word got around, and within 24 hours, our friend Susan Edwards had him loaded on her trailer with her horse who was en route to Wayfarer Farm in Georgia. Mike Winter, of the Canadian Olympic Team (3-day Eventing), took on the project of backing Hudson and teaching him your basic “work ethic.” Aside from sending him to a trainer, my other good decision was to tell Mike to take as much time as he needed to make him a solid citizen. And – that he did. Hudson is a little boorish – he likes to throw his weight around if he can get away with it – he always gives it a try. He’s 17h1” and has a sense of humor; he will wear a baseball cap; get on his knees and wheedle out from under the stall guard if he feels like it, and will happily walk by umbrellas, fountains, chase Canadian geese and poke his nose just about anywhere.

He worked through various levels up to Intermediate, and was schooling Advanced with Mike’s Rolex horses. He ultimately competed at various one-star and two-star competitions and does have a passport ; clearly, he had moved past our abilities. It seemed like a good idea to sell him to someone who would “take him further.” Well – we did sell him, but the team didn’t gel, and he ended up as a school horse in Georgia and wouldn’t step over a ground pole. A wonderful woman found him, Abbie Jones, and was curious enough to try to find out why such a wonderful horse had ended up as a school horse. What had happened to him? She found me on the internet, because of photos and his name and contacted me; I shared his history – all that I knew – with her. She and her friend, Anne, worked with him for years and came to love him as a great partner. Unfortunately, he pulled a ligament and after a long rest, it was decided that maybe it would be best for him to come back to North Carolina — back home.

He arrived at Rivendell Farm the first weekend of July, 2009, and after settling in now is feeling right at home. Good thing – because NOW he’s going to have to help me get back in the saddle and start riding again. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a LONG way to the ground – that makes me a little nervous … I don’t bounce like I used to, but he’s a kind soul, and I think we’re going to make a good team. Spring is in the air, now, and I’m thinking that it will be a lovely season to be out riding in Carolina.