The Latest...Parts 1 and 2

Part 1 - Driving a Standard

So, I am doing my very best to think of what to do with my horse. Part of me feels like I'm expecting too much out of her b/c I'm like a college kid who can't pick a major! I think about this summer and all the possibilities of things I want to do and I can't decide...I want to trail ride, I want to camp, I want to do team sorting and push cows around, I want to ride Western Pleasure shows, I want to do showmanship, I want to ride English, I want to do gymkhana.... phew...no wonder she's ok at a lot of things and not really good at anything...

So, in the spirit of trying to do one thing at a time (something that's working at my new job), I rode her and thought about what I needed first... First I needed her to stop flipping out on the trail when she can't go as fast as she wants and second, I want to work on getting her reining one handed for when we do our ranch work clinic in May.

After her escapade on the trail a couple of weekends ago, I had Lisa ride her a little bit and we started working her in a snaffle and working on 'long and low'..getting her to stretch her neck out and down rather than just tucking her chin to her chest to avoid the bit. In riding her a few times working on this, I realized a few things about my horse...the most important of which is that she will do a lot to avoid having to do things the hard way... she's funny.. she'll avoid the bit, throw out a shoulder or hip, lean on the rein pressure..all to avoid doing the work... but she tries and the more I work with her the more she seems to get it.

But in doing this I'm looking at her and I wonder... am I pushing her the right way? Is she a "pleasure horse"...does she look stupid with her head low and trotting super slowly? Am I wasting a lot of time getting her to hold herself a certain way if down the road I want to do something else?

My car broke the other day. I couldn't see how fast I was going or how much gas I had... So I flipped out and had visions of big mechanic bills but Dave took it all in stride...just like he always does and he suggested I might take his car to work the next day if he couldn't fix it right away. Now, I can drive a standard..I did it for two weeks once.. but I don't do it every day so I am out of practice. It's more thinking than driving automatic...it takes more steps...gas, clutch, shift, gas...brakes, clutch, shift, gas....on and on.. with an automatic you just drive ...faster, slower, but with a standard there's more. You can shift down and go slower and never touch the brake...you can shift up and get more power...

So, my point is that Sky is a standard and I've been driving her automatic...She needs shifting... she knows more than just driving... There's SO MUCH to think of but I have to have faith that when I put the clutch in at the right moment, and when I learn to shift at the right time, she's going to feel like the sports car she is and not the sedan I've been riding... :)

Part 2 - Peer Pressure

So, I have officially bowed to peer pressure. I broke down and ordered a helmet. I am getting old and old people stop being stupid. I love my life and people who love their lives want to stay alive. I get scared sometimes and a little security is a glorious thing, so I've found.

I mainly want to stop being the only person on organized rides NOT wearing a helmet and want to have it around for other times.

But today I decided not only am I going to have a helmet, I'm going to actually wear it! Sky and I were tooling around in the front yard, doing a rollback or two against the fence, when I walked her up parallel to the fence, facing down the road...I stopped her, I paused and as I was about to turn her into the fence and get her to turn on her butt, I heard the familiar and expected squeal of brakes of the UPS truck Josh was waiting for! I knew it was going to carrean to a halt right behind me beside the road... I knew it was going to be loud and that Sky couldn't see it. And in the moment that I thought "I'm FUCKED!" the sounds came and Sky was gone...She bolted across the yard and for a moment I thought I would stay on and then she hopped a little and I slid around my saddle and just when I had it so I thought I might be ok, she tripped HARD and although she didn't fall to her knees, I was suddenly on the ground... Back first, then head and by the time I stopped saying "ow ow" and looked up, the UPS guy was halfway down the driveway carrying two large boxes... he half-heartedly asked if I was ok and I'm not sure if it was Sky or myself who gave him the dirtier look. She was standing across the yard, not far from where I fell, reins under her feet, breathing hard and staring down the UPS guy with a look that I can only describe as scared disdain. She was easy to catch and I thank Lisa for getting on her again while I found an ice pack.

I am grateful I am ok. I am grateful Sky is ok and I'm still pissed at the UPS guy, but I guess that there are less people who know about horses than those who don't and I can't blame a person for ignorance.

The super ironic part is that I had a package from State Line Tack waiting for me at home and had I had it sent to Josh and Lisa's rather than home like I'd thought to, the UPS guy who scared the shit out of my horse and \caused me to fall would've been carrying my new helmet!

Now that's irony!

Love to you all.

C