Aiken Updates and Guest Bloggers!!!

It's been well over a week since my last blog update and it feels like much longer!  We've had a whirlwind of activity down here in the last ten days:  epic ice storms, power outages, earthquakes (really!), visitors from the north, two more horses to add to the ranks (welcome Cobbles and Stewart), and two horse trials!  While I organize my thoughts to write a post that will make us current, here's a Guest Blogger Submission from Abby who was one of the visitors this week!

GUEST BLOG

Hi everyone! Guest blogger Abby here- it has been such a great week here in Aiken!  The weather was amazing, sunny and 60s-80s almost every day!  After a few days, Cobbles settled in nicely, and we had a great dressage and show  jump lesson.  Later we had two good cross country schools, one at Sandy Hills and one at Paradise.  Sam also had some great rides on Devi!  One of my favorite rides was when Sam and I got to do canter sets on the track with Ari and Devi. 

One exciting adventure was walking around the shops in downtown Aiken, where Sam and I came very close to adopting a cat :) The next day we went to Alison Springers barn where we got to see Arthur and Copycat Chloe! Then one morning we got to go to the track kitchen, and watch the horses run. Also, thanks to Marissa, we got a great tour of USC Aiken! (definitely coming to college in the south). Friday we were off to Pine Top to see Erin and Beacon compete in the Intermediate division.  It was so much fun to watch them and they did a great job!

Down here at Valinor South, every day must be somehow educational in some way.  Being the amazing teacher that she is, here is a list of everything that we learned from Erin this week.  From Astrology to Witchcraft, some pretty unique topics were covered...

• The anatomy of a deer skull: (All parts of the skull were then labeled and numbered with correct names. Also, after being born, plates in your head fuse together to make sutures.)
• Vocab words such as concentric and cattywampus.
• An astrology lesson which included the north star (the star straight across from a parallelogram of stars in the sky), the seven sisters, and the little and big dipper.
• Moss grows on the north side of trees, which is how slaves found their way out of the south. 
• GHOSTS DO EXIST! ( especially ones named George)
• Dung beetles can roll balls of manure for many miles.
• Witchcraft is actually a religion called wiccan, and they think they can do spells, and if you get the chance, take a college class on it. 
• How to give tips at restaurants.
• The seven deadly sins are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
• Crab legs are the best seafood ever!
• Evolution of horses legs/toes/hooves.

It was the best week ever! Can't wait to come back in March!