She's just, you know... Luba

The endurance community lost an icon this week: Kathy Brunjes (1953 to 2012). I met Kathy this summer in Maine at the Pine Tree Ride, put on by her and her husband, Tom Hutchinson.  Despite recently being diagnosed with cancer, Kathy was everywhere, making sure all the ducks were in a row for the ride. She put Luba's number on after we vetted in for the 100.

We were the only ones to stay over an extra night after the ride. She and Tom checked on us often to make sure we were all doing okay.

Of all the tributes I have seen to Kathy in the past few days, this one resonated with me today:

Steph Teeter said, "Kathy was very special, I have some great memories of her. Especially of her and her horse Theatric at the World Championship in Malaysia. At the start, he was acting up, beautifully as always, rearing slightly. She sat him calmly and I asked if she was ok, she said "oh yes, he's fine. He's just, you know.... theatric". "

Between cold, rainy weather and an unfortunate sneeze that put my back out, Luba was left to her own devices to settle in at Horses of the Sun this week. I popped out a couple times to see her and give her a scratch, but did not ride.

Charlotte and I went out on Saturday for her riding lesson, so I decided to just walk Luba around and give us both a chance to settle at the farm. I also wanted to make sure that my back was feeling strong enough for riding.  We had a lovely time wandering through the woods at the back of the property. Luba wanted to trot, but we kept it under wraps.

Today, we joined in a group lesson in the sand ring. Luba was quite well-behaved all things considered. All 7 of us rode precision figures. As usual, the far end of the ring was scary.  We also had some interesting canter moments - Luba was like a coiled spring and just wanted to go fast! Sonja put us behind Cadance, a large horse who does everything slowly.  A couple of times, Luba felt like she was going to buck in the canter, so I shouted, "Hey! Stop that!". I did have the presence of mind to sit and push her forward.  And to sit and take both reins in one hand and we rode through.

After the lesson, Sonja told me that it must have felt worse that it looked, because when I shouted, she wasn't sure who it was at first. Neither of us was out of control. Just ride.

Next time this happens, I am going to think of Kathy Brunjes. I can't imagine a classy lady like her shouting at her horse. I will sit Luba calmly and say to myself, "Oh yes, she's fine. She's just you know...Luba".