Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Weber Wins 8th National Championship
At the 2010 Live Oaks International: Chester Weber can even make driving cones in the rain sexy!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Countdown to the Iowa Horse Fair
Tired, tired muscles- poor lethargic, winter weakened things have been getting a workout this week. The body just can't keep up with the mind, which is so very excited about everything.
Iowa Horse Fair preparations are speeding up, since the date is rapidly approaching. I have made several summer weight, reversible lap aprons that I'm very proud of to put in the booth. I have acquired 6 horse related antique prints, the rare and out of print book list is coming along and when I get all the details sorted out, I will list them. Martha Stover is feverishly working on sample rain covers for the gig seat to promote her talents. Judy McClure of The Hat Shop is choosing a selection of superb men's hats, including a grey top hat, several Panamas, Fedoras and natty woolen News Boy Caps to place on consignment.
And you're hearing it here first: Harold is placing some antique furniture on consignment! I am most excited about this, not only will it make the booth look marvelous, he is going to actually sell something. What was that noise? Dear readers' jaws dropping on the desk? Probably. One of the best pieces he said I could take [which I loaded into the horse trailer and packed other things in back of as fast as my aforementioned tired muscles could before he changed his mind] is an antique toboggan. Harold's take on it is that someone took the runners off a full sized sleigh, fashioned a long toboggan seat and attached pony thills, so the pony could pull the children around. Unfortunately the thills [shafts] are missing, but you can see where they attached. It is soooooo sweet.
Harold has also lent me two antique glass display cabinets that I will put all of Judy's fabulous hats in, a few of the rarer books and a pair of carriage lamps that I took while Harold wasn't looking. I didn't steal them. Exactly. But, I am in possession of them and currently trying to persuade him to part with them. He did say, "Maybe."
Mark your calendars! April 10 & 11th, Varied Industry Building, Iowa State Fairgrounds. Come see the booty! Bring your checkbooks: carriage booths stocked like this don't happen very often!
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Spring and a New Carriage Driving Training Curriculum
Ahhhhh, Spring, you capricious, coquettish little season; so daintily you beguile woolly winter coated earth with promises of flowers and verdant views, albeit quick to retreat behind a contemptuous wind, or vainglorious snow storm. Who could be affronted for long, when the wind and snow shift hemispheres for fresh saps to freeze and your warm breath tickles the darling blossoms at your decolletage?
Oh, yeah, I got Spring bad. Which is good. Very good.
My new carriage training curriculum is really producing results. Just in a week, I can see substantial improvement in the horses. They are capable of more elasticity and suppleness than they were in months of training under my old regime. Their minds are much more eager, too. They seem to sense something is up with this new training model and I am seeing my excitement mirrored back to me.
Morgan horses always thrive on variety and I think they will merge seamlessly into the combined driving format. Now whether my mid-aged mind and body can relate so easily to the new paradigm stay tuned, but I am animate.
Hoping to take a leaf from the insatiable Morgan horses that I know and love, I must remain animate about all the projects I've agreed to take on this year and figure out how to fit in all this variety. The T Cart, the Horse Fair, the CDEs, Columbus Carriage Classic, Villa Louis' 30th Anniversary, and New Moon Carriage Classic. Stay in the Buggy! It won't be boring!
Go out and catch a bad dose of Spring!
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Trisomy Awareness Month
Michele, Don Pecos and Lucy welcome Morgan to his therapeutic riding lesson
Morgan came for his therapeutic riding lesson on Wednesday. We had two special treats: the weather was fine and Morgan's Dad, Mike came to watch. Michele was able to join us as Don Pecos's leader and everyone was in great form. Morgan was smiling and shifting his seat to encourage Don Pecos to extend the walk. Pecos obliged and Michele got a good workout, too.
I've talked about Morgan in the past, but as March is Trisomy Awareness month, I wanted to add some information about this condition. In Trisomy 18 there are three chromosome #18 instead of the usual two. It is a life threatening anomaly in which 90% of children born with it will not survive. Trisomy 18 is diagnosed in one in 3,000 births.
Morgan is in the 10% of children with Trisomy 18 who live past their first birthday. He has many other challenges including Type I Diabetes and epilepsy, but he is a living miracle and reason for the rest of us to marvel at the beauty of life, in all its incantations.
He has taught me many lessons and my life is a richer place because Morgan is in it. When he laughs, the world is a better place. When you look for joy in unlikely places, like Trisomy 18, you find even greater wonder.
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Limerick to Dublin by Stagecoach
Limerick to Dublin by Stagecoach
Tim Malloy's film of George Bowman and family making a coaching run on the Molly Malone in Ireland. Post St. Pat's Day, this is a film of homage to our carriage driving history.
Congratulations, Tim and thank you for sharing your talent with us.
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Some Very Exciting News
NEW MOON CARRIAGE CLASSIC
SEPTEMBER 18, 19, 2010
IOWA STATE FAIRGROUNDS
Well, we've done it: taken the plunge into the pleasure driving show arena, this time as organizers instead of exhibitors. Harold Ault and I are very excited about announcing this news. The New Moon Carriage Classic will offer the typical pleasure show classes: turnout, reinsmanship, working pleasure, gambler's choice, pick your route and fault obstacles. It will also offer training and preliminary dressage classes and a marathon vehicle division for those who normally show in combined driving events. Sadly, for Edward Cullen fans, there will be no vampires.
This is a gargantuan undertaking, but both Harold and I feel it is time. We both have experience in organizing large scale events and look forward to producing a top competition. The judges are hired, the classes defined, but we still have more details to confirm. There will be plenty of volunteer opportunities available and you will be hearing a lot more about this in the coming months as the needs are determined. If you would like to be involved, please let me know.
While I would rather continue to blog about exciting things like shows, horse fairs, driving pairs, my 2009 corporate taxes are staring derisively at me. Ouch. Must go. Hope you have a sublime day.
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Fabulous Mens Hats
Oh, Gentlemen, let me tell you how much you need a hat and how badly you need to go see Judy McClure at the Hat Shop in Sherman Hill. Judy is sending a bunch of her stock with me to the Iowa Horse Fair and I couldn't be more tickled. The hats she has are of a quality that is hard to find, both in design and texture. Her shop, in the front of her 1895 Victorian house is a time machine and certifiably organic as real class always is. Judy is full of lovely temperament, easy charm and quiet gentility. And so are her hats. They are perfect for carriage driving- from informal to sporting to formal, Judy can fit a hat for it.
We were talking about what styles flattered what face types and or personalities and Judy told me that the hat could define a personality trait that the wearer might not have known they had. Mens hats are so much plainer than womens hats- or so I thought. I got an excellent education from Judy who showed me how a bigger brim completely changed the style of the hat. Or how the Italian interpretation of the hat completely differed from the English.
I was transfixed and picked out about 25 hats for the Horse Fair. I did tell Judy to scale it down if she wanted to, my eyes were so wide I just kept wanting more. So, I hope will gentlemen whips!
Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.
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