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| Savannah sidewalk to hotel |
*pauses to accept shaming for being so many stories behind*
I had been emailing Beka (yes, THE Beka, unerringly witty author of “The Owls Approve”) at the beginning of the year when she worried that Archie may need surgery for his irritatingly persistent leg wound (not that I would know aaaanything about those, ahem, orange money-eaters…). Perfect chance to use one of the top perks of being a member of your USEA Adult Riders program: hidden opt-in membership to what I have named Eventer Mafia, aka whatever help you need, wherever you are.
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| My view while writing, hence distraction! |
The credit for the name goes to BFF, who applied it to another organization her husband was heavily involved in. Both groups follow the classic model, though: participate, volunteer for jobs, you meet people, they know people, people know people…and before long, everyone in EventLand becomes Kevin Bacon. Although it’s usually far fewer than six degrees in this microcosm of HorseWorld (why do I like to name things like theme parks?).
Bet you didn’t think a horse blog post could connect owls, Kevin Bacon, & the Mafia. Hey, a motto of mine is that we all have to be good at something.
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| Classic |
As she was concerned about Archie having to stand in a trailer post-op, should that occasion arise, I immediately whipped out one of my other skills of questionable merit: attempting to solve everyone else’s problems.
Although in HorseWorld (“Tiger Trap” would be a great roller coaster name), it’s what we do, asking is not a pre-requisite! I consider it paying it forward; there aren’t enough fingers in the noses of the world’s toddlers to count the number of people who have helped & taught me over the years decades.
I did at least email Beka with the offer before I threw resources at her, to slightly reduce creep-factor. As I sent a quick text to find the contact information for several great vets & farm owners in GA, my brain had a rare moment of remembering something useful.
“Hey Beka – don’t you live in Savannah??”
Yes, yes she does.
Of Course We Did!
World tiny-ness: Beka’s office was two block from our conference hotel by the Port. Archie was a 45 minute ride from downtown, did I still want to meet him? ABSOLUTELY! One cannot meet a Beka without an Archie, it would just be wrong.
She walked over to my hotel & after a dinner date, we headed out to Archie’s home. Beka herself was even more awesome in person than I suspected. Not only hilarious, but compassionate, saavy, & unfazed by my habit of talking without pausing for breath. I loved her immediately.
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| Beautiful portrait by Beka |
There was little moonlight when we parked under the Spanish moss at the farm. My kind of place, casual, practical, organized, with nice, airy facilities for our southern summers. I’d of course seen pictures of Beka’s incredibly sexy beast online, but I was in no way expecting what she brought back from the paddock.
You may have noticed I’ve become a teeeeensy bit of a TB nerd. I’m moderately competent at guessing major bloodlines based on build & type. However, when Archie stepped into the light, all I could say was, “Wow.”
Bold, intelligent eyes sized me up from a gorgeous, classic head, the kind I haven’t seen in a long time. Archie looked like he was chiseled from a perfect model of the old British Thoroughbreds & he moved with a gliding confidence & precision that was simply stunning. I believe my response was something tasteful & eloquent, along the lines of, “Holy shit, Beka, you have an incredible horse!” Yeah, I’m much better in writing, LOL.
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| Photo shamelessly lifted from Beka's lovely work; pics in the dark suck. :-( |
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| No drugs were involved in the making of this picture |
“Don’t worry,” she answered, “I don’t even remember it anyway, LOL!” Sweet, no accidental clues!
Did You Win In The Game With Yourself?
Nope. The closest I could get was “some ooold, high-end European blood.” Then I
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| The Prince |
No wonder – I’m not sure I’ve ever knowingly met a horse in the last decade who had Princequillo on the first page. That exquisite British stud who
nearly died on the ship carrying he & his dam to the US, away from
the war where his sire died in artillery fire. He was so sickly when the ship landed, he sold
cheap...and became the greatest distance runner in
US history alongside Kelso & was grandsire to Secretariat.
Not only that, but he was bred to the phenomenal mare, Baby League – I would have loved to have met La Dauphine, the filly that resulted! Add in the strong lines of Nashua through Archie’s damsire, Seattle Slew on top (along with the obviously epic stallion, Chop Chop, nooo, I’m not biased at alllll…. ;P), & the fact that he’s a Storm Bird grandson, who are known for their athleticism & grit…no wonder I stopped breathing for a second!!
Wrap It Up, Rambling (Wo)Man
Classy woman. Classy horse. I am now part of yet another fandom (although sorry, Beka, Cumberbatch might outrank you on the fangirl list, but not on the awesome People Who Live In Normal World list!). Does this mean I have to start a G+ group or something?
By the way, you now need to move to NC so we can hang out & compile unbeatable sarcastic comebacks while
