Last year Kristin, then aged 12, and Bellinger, then aged 21, won just about everything they tried their hand at, including several awards at the Lendon Youth Dressage Festival. One of those awards garnered her a very handsome plaque, which I told her I'd be happy to hang in the barn when it was done being engraved. Apparently Billy (now 22) overheard this conversation, and this morning, he asked Kristin (now 13) to pass me this note.

My dearest Lauren - 

I am so, So, SO happy to be here.

It's not just the weather (though yes, that's really very lovely.) It's the training. It's getting at least one, if not two, lessons a day. It's getting to catch up with my friends from all over the country. And more than anything it's feeling like I'm moving forward.

There's a girl here at the barn who's riding a client's horse, a 7- or 8-year-old who was a real success at the lower levels, and now as she moves him up she's contending with a pretty major self-carriage issue. The previous rider of the horse had him really "broken" farther back down his neck, and so she's spending a few weeks with him, as she joked, "like he's in the English Pleasure class"—neck way up, poll the highest point and nose well, well in front of the vertical. It's not the long term strategy, of course.

I know it's of little solace to all my friends and family freezing their collective butts off as the Polar Vortex sweeps through much of the country, but here's a little snippet from the Floridian life for you all to laugh at.

My lessons are all this afternoon today, so I took advantage of my little morning gap to hop on my bike. I've been running a fair amount while here, and was due for a spin session. So out I went.

I've been in Florida a whole whopping week, but it's been enough. All the doldrums, all the lethargy and stagnation I felt before coming south are gone. The fire's back in my belly. And it is Good.

The trip down was easy, as was the move in. The horses' trip was slow with crummy weather, but once they arrived, I couldn't believe how quickly everyone rallied. I gave them all the first 24 hours off, of course, and just hacked everyone around on Day Two, but by Day Three everyone was revved and ready, and I started up my lessons with Michael right away.