OK, I confess, I love winter. Cold, dark, and wet weather for some odd reason motivates to work harder, clean more, and do all the things (like cleaning out my closet) that I have been avoiding all year. But heading into this winter, I have been short fused and ready for it to be over. I mean come on did my horse really need to regrow his winter coat a month after clipping him? Of course he did. As the ring is now frozen every morning, I am looking more and more forward to some time spent in Aiken come February.
So how many of you are sharing the “winter blues?” While I have no cure for this temporary seasonal depression, I did come across a site that has provided a good way to have a laugh this winter and possibly occupy any extra time you might have being stuck indoors. Check out 101 Ways to Annoy People and get your Monday off to a kickin’ start. Perhaps you can even try a few of these ideas out on coworkers, friends, or your innocent neighbors. I am planning to try numbers 20 and 28 today.
Now for what really matters, your news and notes…
-Buzzterbrown has newly posted a video of the 2010 Middleburg Christmas parade. It looks like it was a great time and hopefully some of you guys were able to attend.
-Buzzterbrown has also provided everyone a special look at the Washington International Horse Show’s Gambler’s Choice class from a few weeks ago. I think we should start having costumes like these at events around Halloween. Who doesn’t love to dress up? This looks seriously fun.
-In sad news, more than $60,000 raised to help prevent horse slaughter was used to pay personal expenses. Horse Angels and its two trustees, Sharon Catalano-Crumb and Frank Wikoff used social networking sites to raise approximately $145,132 to aid in the prevention of horse slaughter. However, an investigation found that at least $US61,422 of the raised money was used by the trustees for trips to Atlantic City casinos, personal shopping, meals, pre-paid phone cards and cash withdrawals.
-In other sports, retired steeplechase jockey, Michael Traurig, is taking up the reins as a show jumper. Check out Stephanie Diaz’s interview with Michael.
– As previously mentioned, Australia’s team coach, Wayne Roycroft is headed for retirement. Roycroft is planning to return to farming on the NSW central coast and may actually put himself back in the saddle. Roycroft has been directly involved with 8 out of 11 of Australia’s eventing medals.
– In British Columbia two horses had a happy ending after being trapped in a pen and buried in snow for weeks. Two hikers came to their rescue. The people who trapped the horses can join John’s list of people going straight to hell.
– While Snoop Dog has not had an official invite to celebrate William and Kate’s nuptuials, it hasn’t stopped him from dedicating a song to the happy couple. He is also planning hoping to perform at the Prince’s stag party. Thank you to my roommate for the link 😉
– You should all know that one of my favorite things to do while in school is stalk the British event team. In recent stalking, I came across a video of the extremely talented young rider, Laura Collett. Laura has just jumped clean around her first Burghley at the age of 20 and has an impressive string of horses behind her. Check out this short video of the Olympic hopeful.
This time of year the news can be slow. Hopefully this week will bring some more exciting news to keep everyone awake at their desks. If you ever come across an article or breaking news you want share on the site, please feel free to send it to John or you can always send it to me at [email protected].
Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and please let me know if you use any of the above ideas to annoy people today! And if you get really bored this winter, you can always go on a mission to steal one of John’s chinchillas. I might give an award for that.
