2007 Palm Beach Derby's Daily Dish

Astrid's Journal - March 1, 2007: Derby Desire

When I found out that Mary and JJ were celebrating Horsesdaily/Dressagedaily's 10th year Online anniversary at the 2007 Palm Beach Dressage Derby in Florida, I decided to trade in the cold and snow of the 2007 Danish Warmblood Stallion Licensing in Herning (Denmark) -- where I had planned to go to -- for the 2007 Palm Beach Derby in Loxahatchee, Florida, March 1-4, 2007. Desperately desiring some sun and horse fun, it wasn't really a hard decision to make.

Months in advance, Mary was urging me to book my plane ticket to get a good price, but as I am a deadline driven person, I booked it right after Christmas and paid the price; not for the ticket because that was fine, but I had to suffer a 7 hour lay-over at probably the most boring airport in the United States, John F. Kennedy in New York. There was only one flight out to West Palm Beach and that was at 8.30 PM.

Working for Mary for 10 years has brought many benefits to my life. One of them is the opportunity to travel to special shows all across the United States (I'm thinking of Young Riders in Colorado, Jackson Hole Horse Trials in Wyoming, the Florida shows and, of course, Dressage at Devon). The frequent traveling has made me a Delta Airlines Gold Medallion Member and for my trip to the Derby I got an upgrade to business class. Once you travel business, you get so spoilt. Fortunately, to kill off those 7 hours of lay-over time in New York, I went to the Business lounge where I napped my way through it. It did make me realize that I wasted 7 valuable hours of my life doing absolutely nothing.

JJ picked me up at the airport in West Palm Beach at 12.30 AM and what we usually do then is catch up on family affairs. I also offer JJ an ear to let him rant a bit about the woes of working in the horse world. "Oh how I long to be in Kentucky," JJ kept saying. Mary and JJ bought a huge property there one year ago and it's been a haven for him. In the morning he takes his four-wheeler out and goes out to manage the property and wildlife that lives there. Pure pleasure for him.

Completely whammed from being up 24 hours, I was secretly hoping that Mary would have made my bed so I could crash as soon as possible. Corgis Trooper and Tasha met me at the front door of the R.V., which is parked right near the main office at Equestrian Estates. It was strange not to see Gizmo for the first time in 10 years. But she's here in spirit, for sure.

The bed was made! Hooray! Mary and I caught up on some talking while I lolled myself on the bed. "How's your mom, how are brothers, how's grandma?" she asked. I takes me one minute to tell how they're doing. Mary and I are online on MSN every single day, so even though we are 7,000 miles apart, we're so close and updated on each other's lives. The question"How are you?" is always a bit more complicated to answer with my life being mismanaged by having four jobs at the same time and quite a big social life that socially and emotionally ties me up in the weekend, if I'm not working the shows. But I'm fine and very much looking forward to Derby! It's my 10th year that I've known Mary Phelps and my umpteenth time at the Derby, so I know the drill and am looking forward to the celebration party tonight after the jog.

Stay tuned for more daily dishes...