Greetings from the inside of a Jet Blue airplane, where I am watching “NCIS,” being force-fed snack food (oh, twist my arm) and returning from a whirlwind 24-hour trip home to teach. It really was a great trip—temps rose from an average in the 20s to a balmy 40 degrees, my mom and I had her house to ourselves, and she made an AMAZING dinner. The place looked great; my girls are doing an amazing job of keeping the farm up and running.

And EVERY ONE of my students rode brilliantly!

It is so, so, so gratifying. I love that my students have been working on what we were working on before I left. And I’m absolutely nuts about the skills Nicole and Lindsey, my working students, have picked up in their time with me—they both have been doing some teaching in my absence and have kept my boarder clients cooking.

Nicole in particular gets a big pat on the back from me, as she’s been riding Fender for me. Of course he decided to be a real squirrel on Sunday, just to intimidate the heck out of her, but when I rode him on Monday he felt fabulous, and when I popped her on him to give her some homework she nailed it. How lucky, lucky, lucky am I to have two incredible employees! Must have done something stellar in another life.

I also got to teach some of my trailer-in regulars, which was fun. We’ve all got horse shows on the brain; with Midgey and Ella facing a light competition year, I’m going to be able to support my riders at shows a lot  more easily than when I’ve got to show my own brood regularly. It’s hard to believe that the first shows in Virginia are only 10 weeks away.

I wish I could have stayed longer, but I’m riding Tres for Lendon Gray tomorrow, and with no one to care for my critters I don’t like to beg favors from the other trainers working out of Double Bridle for the winter. No rest for the wicked!

(Plus, it’s snowing and hailing in Virginia tonight, whereas the high in Welly-world tomorrow is in the upper 70s. I’m no dummy.)