Monica and I ventured up north to celebrate the recent Thanksgiving holiday in Niwot with the Olvera-Fischer-Sanchez-Ericksen-Peña clan. As holidays go, this one was fairly routine. The nearest thing to any sort of drama occurred Thursday morning when it was plain the turkey was still partly frozen. My sister-in-law Christina solved that issue by placing the bird in an ice water bath for a couple of hours.
Between addressing the frozen turkey issue and getting the bird in the oven, Christina drove her daughter Julia to Fall River Farm over in Fort Lupton. Julia wanted to get a short workout in with her horse, Amedeo. Monica and I tagged along.
I’m guessing Julia’s been taking part in English-style riding lessons and competitions for nearly three years now. Her interest in things equestrian are more than a passing fancy. Last spring she competed at the Interscholastic Equestrian Association Nationals in Springfield, Mass. She plans to ride Amedeo at the upcoming Western Stock Show in Denver in early 2015, jumping in the three-foot division, and eventually wants to compete at three-foot six-inches. Julia, who is still in Middle School, told me she hopes to make competitive riding part of her college experience. If so, she’s in the right place. Fall River Farm is home to the University of Colorado Equestrian team.
Around the Fischer home, Fall River is called ‘the barn.” I’d been out to the barn on one other occasion, in late summer, with Julia and her dad Kirk. Between my visits, the Fischers had bought a new horse, Amedeo. He hails from Belgium, is eight years-old and stands 17.6 hands high. To get a sense of proportion, consider this: his head is longer than Julia’s torso. Or imagine throwing a saddle on top of a refrigerator. Amedeo is that big. He certainly makes an impression.
I’m not a horse person, so when Julia put Amedeo through his paces in the arena, the nuances of style were lost on me. She related that he was a little “sassy” Thanksgiving morning. I took her at her word.
I was more intrigued with Julia’s tacking of Amedeo. I enjoyed the proximity to rider and horse. It was an interesting process, watching her prep for a workout with her horse in the cross ties. Then there was the coming-and-going of other riders and their horses in and out of the barn, and the accompanying banter. You can learn a thing or two hanging out in the barn, if you keep your eyes and ears opened (however, be sure to watch your step). I shot a time-lapse of Julia prepping Amedeo for their morning workout. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of light in the barn–soft and easy–once you get past the harshness near its south-facing entry.
Later that afternoon, I was again surprised, this time by my brother-in-law Jon’s playing a few bars of “Axel F,” the theme from film “Beverley Hills Cop,” on the Fischer’s piano. I never knew Jon played. “Mom was the piano player for our church,” he said, adding his keyboard skills were rusty. Rusty or not, it dove-tailed nicely with video of Julia and Amedeo.
