[Spoiler: Op Ed Piece] Jacobson Center To Open for 2010 Iowa State Fair

Here's something you don't hear everyday. Work on the new horse arena at the Iowa State Fairgrounds is going to be completed early. Construction. Of a multi-million dollar facility. Finishing early. I had to read the letter from the Iowa State Fair four times to make sure it said the horse shows at the 2010 Fair would be in the Jacobson Center. Was the date a typo? No. Should it have said the facility [which we were told would not be ready until October] would "not" be ready. No. It really is going to be finished and the horse shows are really going to be in it.

Hopefully there will be other positive factors that follow suit. Like the astronomical daily rental fee of the building coming back down to [Iowa] Earth. Meaning if your horse show can't afford to put a zero behind your normal facility rental, you will still be showing horses in the egg shaped Pavilion.

But not to worry. The State Fair Board is not worried. When it is not booked for horse shows, they intend to use the Jacobson Center for concerts, trade shows and [possibly] sporting events. Gosh, when you have to rent the Pavilion for your horse show, where no spectators will come because the metal seats paralyze them from the ilium down after 30 minutes, you can go on over to the State of the Art [Horse] Arena that you couldn't afford to rent and pay $50 to hear Jason Brown. Woo, hoo.

I'm excited to see how this turns out. The Fair Board tells the [horse] industry and the public- with a nudge and a wink- that they want to attract national [horse] shows. This is very thinly veiled. Because they don't have enough stalls to attract national [horse] shows. And I guess the trade show, concert and sports fraternities didn't have $3.5 million from Richard Jacobson to leverage a further $6.5 million from the Blue Ribbon Foundation to build a Not Livestock Related Events Center. I know! Lets knock down that worthless outdoor horse arena that we can't get much rental money from, build a cracking big arena and attach it to the back of the horse barn and say it is going to be a horse arena...

We'll go enjoy the horse shows at the Jacobson Center for the 2010 Fair. But I'll booking seats for the Monster Truck International Finals at the Jacobson Center in 2011. Or at the Brooks and Dunn Out Of Retirement Show in 2012. I doubt very much that I'll ever see you at the Jacobson Center for the Morgan Horse World Championships or say, the New Moon Carriage Classic.

[Big, Heavy Sigh]

Have a great Memorial Day weekend,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity corporation company.

Exceptional Equines and Their Exceptional Gals

The irresistible Cody gets double grooming

A very happy Mickey Hansen and the very adorable Toby

Gypsy Gold: Eli and Maggi Tyler

The Money Shot of Missy [photo and caption courtesy of Maggi Tyler]

It might be the gorgeous setting. It may well be Laurie Renda's hospitality and elan. It is undoubtedly serendipity. I've just returned from another fantastic weekend of carriage driving lessons in Cedar Rapids with a heart full of joy. I made new equine friends, intrigued new clients with my unconventional teaching and ate like a queen.

I've blogged before about Laurie Renda's magnificent house, cooking, and company. She proved it was the rule and not the exception this weekend. She even had a proposal of marriage, albeit dependent on her conversion to Mormonism, but that is another story. On top of catering to our every wish, she also acted as photographer and gave everyone who took lessons a CD full of photos to take home. As a hostess, Ms. Renda raises the bar beyond most mortals. In fact, I think she should be a religion.

The horse lords gave me the opportunity to continue my work with Missy and sent me three new friends: Eli, Toby and Cody. What strikes me most profoundly about going to Cedar Rapids to teach is how perfectly these horses have chosen their humans. Each one of them has greeted me and seemed to say: we've been waiting for you. Missy actually seems to have managed to be born for Laurie. Eli searched all over the country before finding his English mistress, Maggi. Toby and Cody [twins from different dams] somehow networked their way to be re-joined and 'familied' with Mickey.

Exceptional equines, exceptional gals. I am so honored to work with these individuals and can't wait to see them achieve their potential. It will be epic. I guarantee it.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www,hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Antique Prize List

Villa Louis Carriage and Draft Horse Show circa 1981 [click on image for readable size]

Mike Rider posted this on facebook and I had to share it. I have been working on the New Moon Carriage Classic Prize List for a deadline at the end of the month. My initial intention was to limit it to 8 pages of rules, regulations and information. It is now 16 pages and that is squeezing everything into a too small a space as it is. This archive is impressive in its brevity. Ah, the Good Old Days...

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Speaking in Hooves

Theresa Burns came yesterday to help me hitch the pair and add an extra dimension of wonderfulness to my day. We were talking about how to decode Ace's displeasure with the pair business. She said it would be so much easier if he would just point to what was upsetting him. As I was harnessing him, he had one back foot way out behind him. I noted this to Theresa, as asked her if he thought the breeching might be too tight. So we loosened it.

Theresa brought us a Berry bit to try and we asked him to choose which bridle he wanted. He chose the pair bridle with the Berry bit. I felt we were making headway. Yeah, I said that. While we were hooking the horses, Theresa climbed on the box seat to drive the first stage [I'm full of them this morning] so I could watch to see if Ace had settled with the loosened breeching and Berry bit.

As she took up the reins, Ace bit me. Little monster. So much for speaking in hooves, talk to the teeth. After that, did he settle? Nope. Is the price of domestication too high to include pair driving? We'll see about that.

I hope this beautiful weather is keeping you outside as much as it is for me. Sorry about the randomness of the blogs, but I do have good material coming up. Another weekend of lessons at Laurie Renda's, new New Moon developments, and show season just around the corner should provide good, albeit short blog fodder.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Iowa Horse Fair 2010

Laurie Renda modeling one of Judy McClure's marvelous Classic

Hats in the Serendipity booth at the Varied Industry Building.

Laurie and I take a peek at an original copy of Driving For Pleasure by Francis Underhill.

Bob and Don Pecos cut a dash while demonstrating Body Awareness For the Whip in the Pavilion at the Iowa Horse Fair.

Thanks to Kathy Nervig for acting as photographer and historian for the 2010 Iowa Horse Fair.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Favorite Quotes of Serendipity

Grooming the horses today and admiring their satin spring coats, I was reminded of the following quote, which just about defines it all...

You cannot remain unmoved by the gentleness and conformation of a well bred and well

trained horse- a big boned, well muscled animal, slick of coat, sweet of smell, obedient and

mannerly, yet forever a menace with its innocent power and ineradicable inclination to seek

refuge in flight...But when it greets you with a nicker, nuzzles you and regards you with a large

and liquid eye, the question of where you want to be and what you want to do has been

answered.

-Albert Borgmann, Crossing the Postmodern Divide

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

New Moon Carriage Classic: A Letter from Perry's Mayor

I first met Jay Pattee as a result of a broken hame. Smucker's told me they could fix it in time for whatever show I needed it for, but I had to mail it immediately. As in before the post office closed that day. Which was in 15 minutes. So I went tearing off to the post office, hoping they would have a box in which I could ship the hame. Nope. They suggested I go to Ben Franklin. Sprinting up the street, hame in hand, I flew open the door and frantically looked around. Jay, the proprietor of Ben Franklin, asked me if he could help, looked at the hame, went into the store room, procured a box of exactly the right dimensions, inserted hame, taped it up, ready to post and sent me scurrying back to the post office, several minutes to spare without accepting a dime.

Another example of accidental sagacity for the New Moon Carriage Classic and Perry. How better to illustrate this than with the following letter from Perry's mayor, the right honorable, Jay Pattee:

Dear Michelle,

On behalf of the city of Perry I can’t tell you how excited I am about the prospect of the New Moon Carriage Classic being held here in our city. We are anxious to share our diverse community, rich heritage (including horses) and our hometown Iowa hospitality.

What better place to hold the Carriage Classic than Perry, a town full of examples of historic architecture including Victorian and Art and Crafts. Visitors will be welcomed at the Hotel Pattee, centerpiece of our cultural and historic district. A plethora of shops and restaurants provide ample diversions for participants and guests. Our residents certainly look forward to the entertainment that the New Moon Carriage Classic will provide. Finally the former historic home of our roundhouse, which turned the train engines around and pointed them in the right direction, is the perfect location for this event, providing acres of usable, accessible space for the Classic and spectators.

A few months from now I hope to be offering the New Moon Classic the keys to our city. We were not designated a “Great Place” by the state of Iowa for nothing. Please know you are welcomed to “Make Yourself At Home.”

Sincerely,

Jay Pattee, Mayor

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Over the Cornfields To Laurie Renda's House We Go

Here are some photos I pirated from facebook to prove how much I loved being at Laurie Renda's house this past weekend. Accidental sagacity: discovering Laurie Renda...

Laurie's Tack Room, yep I typed that correctly. This is not Laurie's living room.

Laurie's Dining Room

Laurie's Deck

Believe me now? If you need an interior designer, you know where to go.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

Unforgettable Driving & Dining Weekend

Missy and I in the drive at Laurie Renda's fabulous property.

Nothing is higher on my list than working with people and their driving horses, eating great food and meeting new whips. So, all my dreams came true this weekend at Laurie Renda's beautiful farm. I started working with Laurie and her horse Missy last fall. Laurie offered to organize a Serendipity Carriage Driving Clinic for fellow whips in the area, but it wasn't going to happen until May 22-24 and she was chomping on the bit. So, I told her I'd come out early. I remembered that Maggi Tyler, an internet friend lived nearby and sent her an email inviting her to join us so we could meet in person.

I expected a great weekend, but I had no idea I was going to spend it in a five star house, eating five star food as well. Laurie was an interior designer and furniture store owner in a former incantation and her house is probably about the most perfect house I've ever been in. She has such style and ability to layer all aspects of that style together for a result that would be the envy of HGTV or Better Homes and Gardens. Laurie is also a foodie to rival me. It was heaven.

The Saturday weather was perfect, albeit a little breezy, but it blew in the freshness of Maggi Tyler's friendship and camaraderie. [Maggi has the most extraordinary Gypsy Cobbs that are just plain: WOW. Check them out: www.harkawaygypsies.com] I knew I'd like Maggi from emailing her, but at first sight, I loved her. She is bubbling over with good humor that is completely contagious.

Maggi audited Laurie and Missy's lessons of ground work and driving. Laurie has been diligently working on cadence and correctness of Missy's stride all winter. I could see the benefit of that work, although I noticed Missy has that Freisian tendency to work off her front end instead of from behind. Although she was tracking correctly, she was a little long in front and short behind. I worked with Laurie to get Missy up under herself, raise through her topline and finish on the bit. Maggi and I cheered. Laurie beamed. Missy decided she really was beautiful.

After a break for iced tea on the five star deck overlooking the all weather grass arena, effervescent conversation, we went back to work and hitched Missy. Laurie was a little nervous: is was windy, Missy had only been hooked 6 times. I was not: Missy was sensible from a long winter's groundwork, Laurie showed considerable ability. It went superbly. We worked to clean up Missy's bending with Laurie's bending. So many whips think you turn to the right by pulling back on the right rein, but they don't consider using their own body to participate in the turn. It is the difference between adequate and excellent.

Laurie is a quick study and soon she and Missy were cutting quite a dash. Maggi and I cheered. Again. Laurie beamed. Again. Missy started really fitting in her skin. The birth of a phaeton horse, aaahhhhhh.

Maggi left chomping on her own bit to go home and drive her horse with what she had learned from Laurie and Missy. She plans on joining us for the formal clinic on the 22nd of May. Laurie, Missy and I continued to build consistency on Sunday and finished with a written training curriculum for the next few weeks. We went turnout shopping in Laurie's closet and discovered she already had six or more blue ribbon outfits hanging there. Then Laurie fed me. Again.

I left with an intoxicating feeling that this was the first of many great weekends, working with gals who want to be partners with their driving horses, not passengers. Gals who are supportive of their fellow whips, not suspicious. I'm still getting goose bumps thinking about it.

If you are interested in joining us on the 22-24 of May, let me know. I will also be doing a clinic this month in Buffalo, Minnesota, which I intend to lace with the spirit of this one.

Thanks again to Laurie and Maggi for an unforgettable weekend.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.