An early start at the barn on Saturday was needed to ship horses to North East, Md. We took the boys for their last gallop before the mandatory outing to Michael Dickinson’s. WOW! is the word that comes to mind. I have never been to his property, and it is truly breathtaking. The farm is actually up for sale due to Michael and his wife deciding to follow other paths in life. 

Boyd came with his two horses, and Buck Davidson was already there with his dad. We used the Tapeta all weather track, which has a good pull up the hill and is 3/4 mile long. You could hardly hear the horses passing up the track—talk about being spoiled for footing! The farm has three other grass tracks, all seeded with different grasses. When training, Michael used these tracks according to weather. One was for dry, one for wet and another for “normal” weather. If only eventing could have a similar system!

Even though for sale, the grounds are being kept in immaculate condition. If anyone has a few million to spare, this would make an amazing training facility! The now empty barn looks a little lonely without horses peering out of the half windows. When in operation this yard had around 50 horses in training.

Having gone over the horses on Sunday with our amazing vet, Dr. Kevin Keane, the decision was made to withdraw Danny (Kheops du Quesnay) from the short list. Although he went well at Richland and looked good on Sunday, Phillip made the decision to concentrate more on his other four listed and more experienced horses. I do believe that Danny will have his day, but for right now it’s in his (and the team’s) best interest for him to take a back seat.

Monday will be a crazy day at TPF, packing for a Tuesday getaway. I’m not particularly looking forward to the 15-hour trip, but having just spoken with a friend from Boston, Mass., who is going to make the drive, I don’t think I should be complaining too much.

On a personal note, I have made a decision to try and run the Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll half marathon in December. This means I have to make a very serious effort to start training. I am hoping that having a month with fewer horses will give me the time to fit in running. Any good tips will be received gratefully!

The next time I write will be from Chattahoochee. For you guys going, I hope you all have safe travels, and I look forward to seeing you there.