Horsing Around in Hyderabad

Late Saturday afternoon, we had our driver Naseer take all three of us (yeah, Beloved got to go, too!) out to the Hyderabad Polo and Riding Club - which, if my sense of direction has not totally failed me, is sort of on the road back to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, out on the same road past Gachibowli - and just adjacent to the Deer Sanctuary, about 16 Km from town.  By Southern California standards, the facilities are "pretty rustic" (my words).  Amy Suzanne will tell you that I am being more than generous with that assessment.  I thought it was pretty neat, all these miles from home.  She was pretty disappointed, but I think this had more to do with the fact that we had just had two nights straight of some pretty heavy monsoon showers, and the main "polo field" was closed due to standing water in the corners and some other spots.  Also, Saturday and Sunday afternoons are usually reserved as "Kids Day" - - so - Amy's take on things was: "This is just not going to work.  It was like doing the pony rides at the L.A. County Fair!"

We are all hoping that things will be different once she has had a chance to sit down and have a talk with the polo-playing facilities manager, with whom she seemed to hit it off pretty well.  They both speak the same horse-language and she's gotta step up and let him know what she needs to stay in riding-shape.  If the facilities there are not going to work, we are going to look for further options.  We heard about an ex-pat lady from the HyTEA Association (named Deanna, we think) who "has two horses that she keeps in town".  Also, our driver Naseer said yesterday that he knows of another horse stable and riding area somewhere back down the road toward Banjara Hills.  So we shall see what we shall see in that regard.

Here are four fairly raw videos (but still funny!) that I shot of her afternoon of riding at HPRC.  They are now on my personal YouTube Channel. I hope you enjoy them more than My Loving Wife enjoyed the experience!

VIDEO ONE (0:52)
VIDEO TWO  (0:10)
VIDEO THREE (0:43)
VIDEO FOUR (1:03)

We certainly do hope (please, God, oh PLEASE!!) that we can find a decent equestrian outlet for Suzanne's work-stress while we are here.  It pretty much has to be found!  Because, as any married man knows... "If Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!"

Speaking of God (Who has made all of this possible!) - I still have not heard from Archbishop Samuel P. Prakash, my new Bishop in the Anglican Church of India (TAC).  We did a little "church hunting" on Friday on our way down into the Old City...I saw a couple of steeples, but - we couldn't figure out how to get to them with all of the shops and bazaars being so busy.  I did a bit of Internet surfing, and - during the week upcoming, Naseer and I will find these two beautiful places to see if they will work - at least for the time being.

St. Joseph's Cathedral (RC), Hyderabad

St. George's Anglican, Hyderabad - (unfortunately, still part of the "official" Canterbury Communion, as far as I can tell - - but I still need to check them out as I know for certain that the Liturgy there is in English.)

I'm going to go to the gym this morning.  Suzanne's team has the day-off - but she still needs to go into the office for some meetings.  We'll catch up later.

We love you all and miss you!!