What's been going on

Hey All -

Sky and I are keeping busy... we've been working hard to prepare for the first LRSS Show coming up next Sunday (only a couple of days and it will be 'this coming Sunday'... AHH). We've been trail riding around and we took a trip yesterday to ride with friends...

On the first front, the show prep is going well. We are still working on getting each lead consistantly and on showmanship - at this point I think we have some wiggle room to improve but not much... meaning that there will come a point very soon where we will be who we are for showtime. I keep trying to remember that the first show is only a baseline to guage improvement on and not an end-all-be-all... Lisa says that it's for fun... That is true as I'm sure I'll have a good time but the fun lies in the competition and competition is about winning or losing... truly. Baseline...baseline...baseline...

John came out to have a look at Sky the other day, which was nice. He seems to think that what we are working on is going well which is good. He saw us lope and thinks that we will be good enough to pass for an Adult Class participant... He lauged at me when I told him that I was nervous about doing w/t/c because I had been so nervous about doing w/t last year.

Yesterday Sky and I went with Betsy to Amanda Mix's house to ride. It was our first 'road trip' of the year and it was super fun. Sky did her traditional 'running load' onto the trailer, mainly due to her ongoing addiction to hay that is not hers. She pushes Harvey over to get to his hay rather than take her own... I think it must taste better to share - that and Harvey is 'her man' that she can push around.

We made it up the huge hill in Amanda's driveway and then headed out on the trails. We did a great ride and stopped by a beautiful pond where we could 'swim' with the horses. We didn't get in too deep for fear that they actually would swim given the 90 degree heat and the cool pond. Sky did very well tromping through the water although she was more interested in the grass growing under the waves near the shore than anything.

After some photos and more wading, we boondocked our way around the pond on a trail that was kind of narrow and over-grown. That led to a much better trail and we had lots of hills to condition on! Sky had a great time, as far as I could tell, even leading for a while on a trail that nobody knew where it would come out! We all made it home, safe and sound, and while the horses chilled out in Amanda's stalls, we had lunch. The ride home was uneventful and I'm looking forward to my first Blackwater ride of the year on Sunday.

Today was a day off for Sky - no riding, I mean. I realized from my Ride America log that I have ridden the past 7 days in a row, so I thought today would be a good day for a break. The vet was here this morning to float teeth etc. Sky went first as I was the first one to the barn... We had estimated a cost for everything based on having sedation so when Donna tried first to do her teeth wide awake, I freaked out a little. I didn't realize that it wasn't as uncomfortable for Sky as I imagined. I guess I thought of how I would feel if someone stuck a big file in my mouth to grind my teeth down and put that on Sky. I soon realized, and was explained to, that it wasn't bad for them. Sky even seemed to enjoy it, curious about the feeling and the instraments... Donna loved how good she was and I was proud of her!

The vet also said that her fungus-y mark is a sarcoid and that the best thing to do is leave it alone. She said that she could remove it but it would just come back. So, Sky has an ugly mark that nothing can be done about - just like her mom. I guess it runs in the family - or it's just who we are...

She also had her feet trimmed today - ten weeks (oops) after it was done last. I tried my best to explain to Bethany what John was talking about with regards to the shape of her foot and I think they look better. Bethany said that there is a possibility that her backs are wearing too quickly for barefoot and we'll keep an eye on it, but she might have to have shoes if she isn't growing wall....

So, today seems like it's been a lazy day - I have other things to do and I feel guilty for sitting around, but my guess is that won't last long.

C

"I'm high on life, can't you tell"

Clinton Anderson said that your horse will never stay at the same level, day to day - she is only getting better or getting worse depending on what you do with her.

Today, Sky is getting better.

C

Hey, Look Ma, One Hand!

Yesterday I rode with a couple of goals in mind... I wanted to see where I was if I rode with my reins in one hand, the way you are supposed to for shows, and I wanted to work on transitions.

I did both - and at the same time even... trotting, stopping, walking, trotting... you know the drill - all reining with my right hand only... it's measurably more difficult considering that the only reason I really will hold my hand this way is for shows - if I'm trail riding I leave my reins crossed and ride with one hand, but am always ready to use two if I need to. For training and schooling, I typically ride with two because I need as many tools as I can get.

But for shows one hand is the way (because you know if I was a cowboy out on the plains, I would need my other hand for roping etc.). So, yesterday I decided it was time that I better make sure I can do it when the time comes... Sky remembers a lot from showing last year and did great at the walk and trot. I concentrated a lot on smooth transitions, using my seat as much as I can to control her speed and get her to listen.

The walk and trot was going so well that I made a choice to go right ahead and ask her to lope while I had a free hand.... she is doing well with her lope but not perfect. She doesn't seem to get it the first time I ask... the second time she does great but the first is always bad... and I don't mean the first time for the session of riding... I mean the first time that I ask her after a little walking and trotting... I have got to get her to know what I mean and I'm sure it is my fault in some way. My big fear is hearing the 'all canter or lope' cue come out of the lould speaker and then be on the wrong lead! I know that there are worse things that could happen, but I think being on the wrong lead is a major faux pas.

We have two weeks left until our first show... well, thirteen days... ewww.. don't say it like that!!! I looked at my 'timeline' last night that I had made when I had five weeks to go and I am pretty much where I said I would be which is a good sign. However, the hardest preperation is ahead... I have to put the pieces together.... practice equitation patterns with the lope, practice trail courses with the lope, lots and lots of showmanship practice... I have to make sure that we are going to be ok to do w/t/c... it's going to be a busy 13 days.

C

Harvey and Sky together again

Today I was not alone. Betsy (YEAH) is back from vacation so today we managed to hook up for a ride. Harvey announced his presence with a whinny as he came up the road and Sky promptly replied. After we met up, I foolishly let Sky and Harvey sniff and she let out one hell of a squeal to him! Oops... I should have known Harvey is the only one she'll push around.

We took quite a jaunt, up the road and through some windy trails. We tried out a new trail off the power lines by Windswept's field, which Marty had found with his dirt bike... this one had a lot of branches and Sky was a fan of branches today - and leaves - and grass - anything green was pretty much attractive to Sky today! At one point she was so distracted by her leaf eating that she dragged me through a mess of branches... dead hard branches... in my face... branch, Branch, BRANCH!!! Ouch is all I can say. I usually try to make her manuver in some way when she eats but when you are going straight downhill on a trail not much wider than you are, there isn't much you can do but get through it...

We wound up coming out by the vegetable farm on Lisa's road, which was good - a full circle. As we came back into the yard, Michelle came back from the store and watched us as we worked on the lope in the yard. She took a little while getting the leads right and then we worked on loping over a pole... she can do it pretty successfully except that she is tending to kick out at the last second.

Tomorrow we (Michelle, Lisa and I) are going to the NH Quarter Horse show to watch the clinic and maybe some classes. Next Sunday Betsy and I have plans to go to Bear Brook to a Blackwater Ride and hopefully Betsy can go with me to ride with Beth in a few weeks. That would be good.

Gotta go watch the Preakness.

C

'all by myself''... (insert melody from sappy song)

So, today I was a brave girl - brave because even though I really don't like to go trail riding by myself (heck I don't like riding by myself, period) I went!

I've been waiting lately - waiting for Betsy to get back from vacation, waiting for Michelle to get out of work (not that I begrudge anyone having a job -gasp!), waiting for Lisa to have a moment to ride with me.... but today I decided to wait no longer. I had plans to ride with Betsy later this afternoon but Karl is insisting that we go watch our friends' son play t-ball (yeah). So, I have decided that if I am to give my ride up tonight then I will certainly go with Betsy tomorrow to the NH Horse and Trail ride at Bear Brook. That will be super fun, I think.

Anyway, Lisa and Josh are off getting tattooed so I was on my own. Sky cooperated well enough to come in, considering there isn't a round bale out right now. She lost about three pounds of pin hairs being groomed, a good thing, and I am noticing that she is getting 'beat up' again, a bad thing. As I got her ready, I mentally thought about whether or not I was to ride out alone... I set up peramiders in my mind like if she didn't hesitate out the driveway I would definately go. Silly me - of course she headed right out the driveway - she's actually pretty good riding out alone. That I think is a product of all the rides we did when I first got back to NH as well as the jaunts with Sadie in Texas. When you are the only one riding somwhere you get used to going out alone.

We only had one small altercation with a harley bike on the road and made it past the group of small children and the barking dog on the corner before we were home free down the dirt roads across from Boyce Road. It was pretty quiet and so was Sky once she realized that, yes, we are still going 'that' way. I trotted quite a bit from the left turn and down that road to the trail... stopping once only to get an offer from the mail man to join the pony express!

Sky did pretty well with that - we got some nice, easy jogging in which I have wanted to do for a while for conditioning purposes. Once we got to the trail that leads to across from Winswept, I figured it was best to go the way I knew for our first time out alone on these trails. Sky was more than happy to go the way she knew as well and the trail proved to be very nice. It has dried up a lot since the last time we went out on it, and she tromped through the one puddle perfectly. I had to push her a little bit once we crossed 132 (a breathless experience) and into Windswept's driveway. She hesitated a lot as we cut across to the field behind Betsy's field and spooked once at the mountain lion disguised as a rock! After that I pushed her a little harder to pay attention and stop looking for something to be scared of!

We made it to the back of Betsy's field and as I tried to remember the way to cut across to the power lines both Sky and I spotted a group of rather large turkeys.... Sky stopped dead in her tracks and picked her head up so high I thought she was doing an impression of a llama.... but as I told her, turkeys are a much better thing to be scared of than rocks... so we watched them as they trotted up the old logging trail and I spooked them along with my impression of a turkey... Once they disappeared I pointed Sky down the trail and we found our way along to the way to the power lines.

I had great hopes of finding a way to boondock across the woods by the power lines into the development next to Lisa's in order to avoid coming in the back gate... but the brush has grown up a lot since Betsy and I had tried it before and I couldn't find a way... So, we picked our way through the downed trees and I wrestled with the electric fence gate. It works out ok but it's not exactly the easiest thing either.

So Sky and I truly did a loop as we came back in the same stall and she walked right into the cross ties that she left about an hour + ago. I decided since it was so warm today to give her a bath (scrub a dub dub) and I must say she is looking very spiffy. Hopefully it lasts until the ride tomorrow. :)

Now I am headed to go grocery shopping, I suppose. I highly doubt that will beat out this ride as the highlight of my day.

C

oh money... money is the root of all evil.

So, there are a lot of things to pay for - I am finally paying the farrier for the two trims Sky got over the winter, we have teeth floating coming up which will include having the vet look at her nasty circle of fungus she's had for a long time and then I have the show coming up, not to mention the numerous trail rides I'd like to do.

These, and others, are countless reminders that by now my severance is gone and even though I am starting to get weekly unemployment checks, it will not be enough. Today I plan to submit an application to try to be a server for the rest of the summer - something I swore when I got laid off that I wouldn't do - but after having been pretty much out of work for two months I am realizing that it wouldn't be so bad. At the very least I have to support my equine habit and beyond that I should be contributing to my household!

It's a hard thing, in this day and age, to be a horseperson. I'm not going to talk about the economy like I am some kind of expert but as someone who has been personally affected by a drastic change in income... and not that I ever spent excuberently on my horse to start with but I do miss being able to buy the things I need. Here's my list: Sky needs a decent new working pad, baby pads for underneath so I don't ruin said working pad, I'd love myself a new turquoise show shirt and blanket, more fly spray, more grooming stuff, a sheet for show days...etc.. you get the picture. It's not really about stuff I "need" - need is a relative term. What we really need is to keep her healthy and that includes the above mentioned vet visit as well as another hoof trim and shots ... that list never ends... It's bad enough to hear it from my husband regarding board but after the tyraid of a fight we had a while back I think he knows that it's either me and the horse or neither of us. I would like to think he's learned to live with that fact.

Anyway, money troubles are rough. But the only comfort is knowing that unless the powerball jackpot falls into my lap there won't be much end to the things I want (not need, per say). Even if I had all the things I needed to not worry about showing and riding for the summer, I'd want to finish the work on the Explorer, find myself a trailer, go to Arcadia... you know.... 'needs'...:)

So, wish me luck in finding a job - any job - and be sure to sign up to be a sky fan - if I get enough followers I can put advertisements on my blog and maybe that could become my job! Right!!!

C

Ahhh, progress....

So, I promised an update on Sky so here it is...

We are doing much better than the day that I insisted that everything stunk (sorry about that). Today is Monday - I rode Saturday and Sunday and both days were amazing. She is doing much better on picking up her correct leads and her transitions are much better. I made a vow to not just school the whole time, so I took her across the road by herself.

Sunday Michelle was up for a ride, so we took ourselves a pretty uneventful stroll around Betsy's trail, by Windswept and down the road. We schooled in the yard for a while and Sky got her leads right again! We even loped over another pole which is exciting.

As this week unfolds, I'd really like to start loping with one handed reining and set up from fun trail course obstacles. Michelle is interested in getting into a 'real' ring, as am I, and Windswept quoted her 25 bucks an hour so I am thinking we might ask John if we can come down to Oak Rise sometime and use that ring. That way he'd get to see Sky go.

In other news, I got a cryptic email today saying that I no longer had a job - the part time one that I had picked up. I'm not all together that heartbroken about it b/c it wasn't that much money but I was counting on it for some horse $ but I'm sure I will find another way. As Scott was saying, I can always go back to waitressing! (we will see)

So, today I will ride a little bit and hang out with my good friends and co-miserate about all the crap we have to deal with. Maybe we will get around to the good stuff that we should be grateful for but as my good friend, Marcia, would say, "it's our nature to bitch".

I see a good future on the horizon. I can feel possibility around me and I know that my skills and my potential is going to have the opportunity to brim to the surface soon. How it materializes is yet to be seen.

C

Happy Mother's Day

Hello all...

just a quick post b/c I have an ansy butt right now - it's a nice day and I have the house to myself at home for the afternoon...

Sky is doing really well. The last two days I have worked her in the yard as well as gone out on the trail and she is getting slower at the lope and taking off much better! Yeah... I'll go into detail about that later.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, horse moms and dog moms out there. All women, really, because you know you are out there taking care of somebody's lazy bum.


C

the importance of being home...

I don't have a lot of riding post to say today, just because I haven't ridden since Wednesday but that's only b/c we've had friends in town and I figured that Sky would be fine for a couple of days while I spent some time with them.

Scott & Nikki live in NY currently and are moving here (Super YEAH inserted here) b/c Nikki got a new job. It's very exciting. We've known them forever, it seems. Scott cheered with me and Karl in college and has been Karl's best friend nearly as long as I've known him. I can barely remember a time when I haven't seen them together and haven't considered them brothers, really. I've gotten to know Nikki just the past few years but they've been together longer than Karl and I, I think.

Anyway, it's exciting that they will be back in the area because they have a young baby now and it's cool to be a part of his life and see him grow. And it's wonderful to have people who understand you and really know you around too. Karl and I are happy to have them stay with us while they have the inspections done on their new house and figure out all the paperwork. They will more likely than not spend anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks with us coming up while Nikki starts her job and they wait to close on their new house. Exciting.

I am working today - looks like I am simply babysitting the showroom just in case anyone wants to walk in off the street and buy a new bathroom. I can barely contain my enthusiasm....

After this I am going up to the barn, hoping it won't be raining, and get on my horse again. I would like to get her out on the trail and allow her to relax a little.. it's been work, work, work for her lately. But with Betsy having been gone on va-ca my pool of trail buddies has gotten significantly smaller. (Ah, there's another good reason why not getting this job is good- I will still be able to ride with Betsy! Yeah!) So, Sky and I might have to go it alone or stick to the yard, depending. Maybe... maybe, I can convince Josh to watch B for a bit while Lisa goes down the road with me. That might be a longshot.

We are getting close to the first show... let's see... almost three weeks excactly. Ouch. Not that we are SO far off from where we need to be, I just don't feel as prepared as I could be. We need to get that lope consistant and under control, we have to work on reining one-handed and we have to work on showmanship - those are the main things... beyond that we should do some more trail work, work our transitions, do some patterns and general conditioning... so, not a lot at all, really (sarcastic tone resignating).

Besides the worry that we are not good enough for show there is the worry about paying for everything! Between shots and teeth floating and old farrier bills I have a lot to pay for coming up and then there's the money just to enter the show... the new show shirt and pad I was eyeballing will have to wait, maybe until my birthday if I beg hard enough. So, I don't suppose sitting here and being paid for it is that bad after all.. especially consdiering that Karl has been generous enough lately to let me keep my piddily paychecks rather than adding them to the family bank account and I'm managing to save toward the above mentioned bills. I hope I can find a way to get to Marsh Billings coming up. I really want to do that.

Ayway, I gotta go... possibly do some real work. As everyone tells me keep your chin up.

C

I suck, I stink, I have no business riding at all!

So, those of you who are waiting for my truthful, angy rant about the job that I didn't get, I did write it but I am not posting it - I am trying to be above that and move on. Josh and Lisa took me out for a Cinco de Mayo pity dinner which washed my blues away (well, to the side) and today is a new day. Today I am (well, I was) looking forward to getting back on my own horse and starting anew.

After realizing I was going to have to ride alone, I got on Sky and gave it a shot. After a day off and a lot of 'working' she was pretty pissy. I tried my best to get her in line - going back to what I know and trying again - but she was still trying to get her head down at the lope and pretty much taking off with me! She is getting too far behind the bit so I was trying very hard not to bug her head every second and use my seat to slow her down but it wasn't working very well. We kept getting the incorrect lead which is frustrating (more to her than me and I was pretty frustrated) and after a while I could feel myself getting upset and worked up, which is never a good thing!

So I gave up and went in search of Lisa for help. Again. After the past few days of stress that I have had I had I am not surprised that I was frustrated with something going wrong - sometimes you hit the final straw and the camel goes splat!

Anyway, Lisa geared up and with Braeden in tow came down to give us her wisdom. Again. She helped me to calm down and to figure out how to slow her down without yanking on her and making her tuck her nose to her friggin chest! (GRRR.... feel the frustration...) After that she had me try to set her up and lope her... telling me not to 'goose' her - oh, you mean I shouldn't walk, walk, walk all calm, calm, calm and then BOOM ask her to lope! I did know that somewhere in my brain.. it just wasn't working today!

We managed to get the correct lead after a few tries and I realized. Again. that poor Sky is simply trying to do what I ask her to do and not being a b.i. - that she simply has no idea what I a asking her half the time b/c I cannot remember the training I've had for years and spass out.

Sky did a good job in the end. again. and I am disappointed in myself. John tells me not to be down on myself b/c he thinks I am a good rider (praise I do not deserve) and Lisa says I am just stressed about the past few days... Either way I suck, I stink and I have no business riding... I should pack it up now and pick some other hobby that I can actually do! I do not understand why I keep trying to do this thing that I am obviously no good at and I certainly don't deserve a horse as well trained and talented and full of heart as Sky is. She deserves a rider who knows what the hell she is doing! But, of course, I don't have the heart myself to let her go and I, somewhere deep inside and not at all on the surface right now, do have the drive to keep going and keep trying to learn and keep trying to make myself better than I am. Otherwise, I am just giving up and that is what a classless and small person would do and somewhere deep inside and not at all on the surface right now, I know I can make it happen.

Anyway, thanks. again. to Lisa for her help. We'll try this all again tomorrow at some point.

Oh, and we did lope over a pole today. She didn't kill me.

C

Drama, Messes and Successes

Well, a lot is going on... or not a lot depending on how you look at it. I went back for Day Two of the interview for the barn manager job. It was a nerve-racking experience only because I am not used to auditioning my riding skills, especially to those I don't know on horses I don't know in saddles that don't fit me! That's all I'll say about it for now because I am not sure how it will turn out. All I can say is that I did my best and was myself and if that is not good enough then the job was not meant to be mine in the first place. I have been praying since I was laid off to be put on the path that God intends for me, and I have tried my best to take every opportunity as far as I can to see what happens. I don't think I would understand why God would want me to go through all this worry and talk and interviewing if I don't get the job, but I have never been one to question why things happen, only to know I am to learn from it in some way.

So, I'm supposed to hear about it shortly. One can only wait and see. Karl and I want to try to get them to let us do the job as a team - it's too much for one person to do.

Anyway, I have been riding which is fabulous. Sky is finally getting her leads down, which is exciting. Lisa has helped me a bit and it's been really cool to ask and get the right lead more and more consistantly. She is obviously less frustrated b/c she is doing the correct thing... I love it. I am still a bit nervous about being ready to do w/t/c by May 31st - I have to begin working with one hand soon and start thinking about lope-overs and then working more on showmanship. It's a lot of work to do but hopefully it will pay off.

Speaking of pay-offs Karl's team won their game last night. He was so proud of them and of himself, which he should be... I felt really bad I wasn't there to see them win.

Anyway, I just talked to Beth and am now all distracted so I will let you, my loyal readers, go for now. I promise to keep you posted on everything.

C

Make Plans and God Laughs....

So yesterday was a full day - started out full and got fuller. I had planned to ride in the morning, go to Karl's first baseball game of the year (coaching, not playing) and then make an appearance at John's Kentucky Derby party... a full day.

So when Karl headed off to his opening cerimonies I went up to the barn. Lisa was getting motivated to head outside with the baby so it was a good time to be around. I worked Sky in the yard - wishing I had a trail ride companion for the day as I figure she is ready for some trail riding after all the work we've been doing, but oh, well. We had a little trouble as I was trying to get her to be on the correct lead and I could tell Sky was getting frustrated with not knowing what I was asking. Luckily Lisa stopped in to see how we were doing and offer her advice. She watched me for a moment and then had me try. Then I saw that look - that look that says, "I haven't been on a horse in 7 months and I know I can fix this problem.. let me on her, let me on her..."... so when she asked I was happy to hop off and see what she could get.

She showed me a little about how the idea of having her canter from the rollback was to have her cross her legs over in order to lift her shoulder and be able to push from her outer back leg. Lisa worked Sky laterally and then started asking her to lope off. She got the correct lead each time and despite being a little insecure that she could get it and I couldn't, I asked questions and tried to learn - after all, that's what it is about, not competing or showing each other up...

So I had to get back on and get it right for myself. Lisa tutored me a bit in how I was sitting in order to ask her for the lope - and boom - we get it right! YES! I love to get stuff right... Yeah... Hopefully next time will be just as successful.

Then I bolted down to Manchester to make it to Karl's game - I was a bit late but it was ok. His team looks really good except that they lost, but they did well. I have to say that it was cool to see him in charge and talking to the kids... very sexy... love the husband...

While we were still hanging out at the ballfield I got a call from a strange number... ok... it turned out to be Grace from the job in Bedford - the one that I had stopped obsessing over two days ago with an 'oh well' and a big glass of wine b/c it had been almost a month and I hadn't heard back from her.

So we make an appointment to meet in an hour and Karl and I went down to John's. He thought that it would be good for Karl to meet them too so he came along, despite being nearly alseep from having been up for so long!

The interview (if that's what you call it) was long - but good. They are nice people and I can understand why they want to keep that barn so nice - it's nicer than any house I will ever live in! We talked for about an hour with Karl and then another hour with just me and went over my background etc. and what I expected the job to be like. I think that they likes us/me and that I had the abilities that they are looking for. Today they want me to come and 'ride a couple of the horses for them' so I am nervous. I don't like to be on the spot - like the first class at a show - it's hard to get to relax. I only hope I can do okay for them. The only thing I can do is my best which is what I do every time anyway so we will see.

I'll let you know how it goes...

C