Cathy & Liz - Together Again!

"....many moons ago, when I was a very young adult and boarding my Thoroughbred, Funny Girl (a/k/a Brandie), at Fred and Bev Pearson's Trailmare Farm in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, I met a young woman who would turn out to be a very pivotal force in my life.  One of my fellow boarders, Ruben Dawkins, appeared to ride one day when I was there and he brought a like-minded friend along to watch.  Her name was Liz Wool and somehow, by chance, we ended up getting introduced to one another and like magic, a friendship was forged!  However, I believe that we clicked immediately because both of us were non-stop talkers, we were able to hit equine topics with the speed of a lear jet, covering said topic from A - Z within seconds and most important, we shared a special affinity for the Thoroughbred.  And from there, that very first day, the bond deepened, we found that we had other people in common and the "Team of Liz and Cathy" was formed! 

I eventually moved Brandie to Ann Geoghegan's, Sunshine Farm, in Sherborn, MA and Liz brought a Thoroughbred along for the summer.  This Thoroughbred was named Eggroute (yup, you heard that right!) and Liz and Eggroute and Brandie and I hit the trails with reckless abandon.  Ohhhhh, how I remember those rides, ambling along and talking about millions of different things, the kind of talk that only good friends can share and then the fun of trail exploration, canters that turned into gallops and a tons of schooling under the tutelage of Ann.  The knowledge that Ann brought to us from her natural ability as a Trainer/Instructor and from her trips to Eventer Bruce Davidson's farm in PA; well, we shall never forget those days.  And finally, when I was 6 months pregnant with my son, Ricky, and still in the saddle, I remember one exciting trial ride!  My TB Brandie, although a very good mare and very bombproof, had a bit of a jolting, throw-you-out-of-the-saddle trot and as such, with my pregnancy in mind, Ann suggested that I take her horse, Dree, out on the trail as she was a smooth ride and Liz would ride Brandie.  Dree was just as promised, so smooth and a real pleasure to be on but......as we passed over the railroad tracks to the first trail, I suddenly felt like something was not right.  I don't know, call it a sense of possible trouble ahead but I immediately dismounted and told Liz that she was going to ride Dree and I would get on my own horse!  Well, thank God I did because no sooner than we were mounted and underway again, Dree went into a bronco busting, bucking fit that would have surely unseated me and my prego-belly right out of the saddle.  But, as luck and skill would have, Liz sat those flying-high-in-the-air bucks better than any rodeo rider I had ever seen!  Ahhhh, what memories!

So, let's fast forward to several years ago and let me say that Liz and I lost touch over some issues that will remain between the two of us and approximately 20 years later, she found me on the New England website, Equinesite www.equinesite.com.  Then, lo and behold, within seconds of meeting for dinner, we easily fell back into the very same level of friendship and with the very same "gift of non-stop gabbing" that we had experienced so many years before.  The moral of this story is that very deep friendships never die, they may go on hiatus but they return as if no time had ever lapsed!  Lastly, the very special nature of this story is that Liz (BTW, she's Liz Morris now, married to the comedian, David Morris) has her very own horse farm and Valie and I have joined her herd.  He and I could not be happier or have better care.  We are looking forward to many new riding adventures together and as we move forward with these plans, you will find me blogging about my adventures with Valie and with Liz and her horse Justin or Alex or Rosie or any of the other horse or farm animals on the property!" 

....here are a couple of photos of Liz at a Dressage show with Justin, thought you guys should get an introduction to her since you will be hearing so much about her as time goes on!  So without further adieu, heeeeeeere's Liz: