In our attempt to get our heads on straight after Ralph was hurt we spent Sun. morning walking through the gardens at Callaway Gardens. This is a photo of the butterfly conservatory. My favorite place was Mr. Cason's Vegetable Garden.
It was a nice distraction even though as Ashley put it "It feels like I have swallowed a rock."

Ralph remains unconscious at this time. His doctors say they expect he will wake up soon. Ashley and I are waiting for the report that says he is needing to be restrained. That will be a happy day.

Our weekend at Poplar Place Farm:

Dressage went smoothly with a score of 39.5.

Stadium was double clear but perhaps a little too enthusiastic on the part of Retto. He seems to be looking for bigger fences.

It was during Ashley's stadium round that her much loved trainer was injured when his horse hit a jump on the advanced cross country course. He was airlifted to the Columbus trauma unit and placed in ICU. He suffered multiple fractures but no brain, spinal or internal injury. His horse was fine. The mother in me said "load the kid up and get out of Dodge" but the daughter convinced me that she needed to ride. Sunday she rode her cross country and had another double clear round.

Ralph is still in intensive care at this time and remains heavily sedated. His two surgeries have reportedly gone well. We check his progress daily along with his thousands of adoring fans on his care page. We hope to have him back in Florida soon.

Ralph Hill on Independence Day at Poplar Place 2007.

Music Codes - MySpace Layouts

Off to Poplar!

Good Luck to these two! They head to the mountains of Georgia for a competition tomorrow. Anyone wishing to follow their progress can go to http://www.poplarplacefarm.com/ and check results for horse trials.

Hanging at the:

Spring Break...bring it on!

Buff Boy


LOL

Just a few glimpses of Ashley's lesson with Ralph yesterday.
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Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Brothers: boat building.

The brother challenge:

This is me with brothers Kirk and Doug 1968. We were on the top bunk in a sleeping car. The train was bound for Disneyland.

Tennis anyone?

Photos from Ashley's training session with Ralph Hill.

Next Event Feb 23-25.

Simply Irresistible

I would like you to meet Fez. He/she is the newest resident at Lucky Trail Stables. Favorite hobbies: climbing on Andrew while he reads, snuggling with Eowyn and exploring the haystack. Fave foods: grass and hay, not a big fan of sweets and treats. (He has two ears they just aren't always synchronized:)

Austin News:

Austin is now on the weightlifting team at LMHS. Workouts just started so check back for photos of meets.

Super Bowl Sunday

The JAST was there making noise and breaking stuff..

Thanks to Uncle John for the great Dairy Queen cake.

Couldn't resist...they are all on the couch at the same time!

Amy stressing her point.


Umm..Ok.

Not sure what this conversation was about.
Ashley won the first pot!

And the second pot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She looked as happy as Tony Dungy.

This recent show was a test of fortitude. It started within hours of the devastating tornadoes in the area and slogged through delays due to lack of medical personnel, more delays due to lightning and then struggled on through torrential downpours. Cold, wet, and disappointed that her cross country was cancelled, she still did some of her finest riding.

Fortitude is definitely something this kid has.

Field Trip!
Austin is writing a report for his chemistry class about polycarbonate resin. This prompted a trip to Critical Disposables where our friends the Custers demonstrated how they use this product to produce surgical supplies. Very interesting!