Yesterday was an interesting day. I worked a little in the morning - had a talk with the owners who seemed concerned about my state of not having a set schedule - it was a good talk but I don't think much got accomplished considering that when I went back to work I still didn't have any assignments to complete. It's a weird job to say the least.

Anyway, I had the privilage of hanging out with John for a bit in the afternoon which was fun. I got to meet his farrier who is cool and chat a bit. He was riding Penny, his very talented mare, and was nice enough to show me a few things and answer some questions while he was on her. It is good to be a little more clear on the things I am working on with Sky and to get reinforced that I am doing the right thing.

So after I hung out with John I went over to the ballpark to surprise Karl and watch his little leauge practice. He was certainly surprised to see me and Sadie which was good. I chatted with his "team mom" who is so nice and played ball with Sadie and some kids who were around... of course children love her and she loves them!

Today I worked Sky for a bit who is getting her correct leads when turning on the fence (more like a rollback in our case as we have no fence but it's more fun that way!). I didn't try her straight from the walk today - only on the rollback, so she could have some more time to get it right. She did get a little, shall I say, pissy at being asked to lope and shot forward one time - I kept her going, though, which was good.

Anyway, I am confident that we will progress - hopefully in time to show and not make a fool out of ourselves! HA!

C

Feeling Blessed

So yesterday morning I will admit I was not a happy camper. It's hard to be in limbo, regarding jobs and life and after being sent home from work after having been there only an hour (a situation which left me paying out more in gas and tolls than I made) I was a little irritated.

Like all bad days I took myself up to the barn to decompress a little. It was a hot one and Michelle was busy grooming Red. We chatted for a bit - poor Lisa was headed out to see about her sore tooth, which has been bugging her forever. So, Michelle and I hung out - made a run to the store - and outlined some plans about what to do to get ready for the shows coming up.

After Michelle left I thought that the heat had been subdued enough by the upcoming wind to ride. I like riding in wind because it reminds me of Texas. In Texas (well in El Paso and Southern NM anyway) it is windy for the whole month of March. I used to be scared of riding in the wind - what if a bag goes flying across the ring or what if the noise spooks her - but I got over that quickly down there because there is really no other choice plus Sky got swiftly over her fears of flying objects while she was at Josh's and they rode sun, sleet, wind or whatever... that reminds me of a great story.

Justin (Justin is Josh's assistant who I took a lot of my lessons from) was riding one day there and it started to cloud in... A few raindrops were coming down but nothing serious and you could hear the thunder in the distance. Josh says to Justin, "I think you should quit about now" and to that Justin says, "It's alright, it's just a little rain". Then Josh replies, "I'm not worried about you getting wet, I'm worried about you getting electrocuted"... It was funny at the time. Maybe you had to be there.

So, after a lot of grain shaking and calling Sky came down (YES!) from the field and after a good grooming I saddled up and headed out into the wind to ride... There are three round bales covered by a blue tarp living in the corner of our riding area right now and the wind was bringing that pile to life - at first I was a little nervous that she would spook at it but after the first go-round I realized she could care less - (AWESOME! - LOVE MY HORSE!!!)

Anyway, we rode for about an hour in the yard - lots of trotting and transitions and some loping both ways - at first we had a bit of a hard time as she is still not clear about the cues or the leads but we are getting there. By the end we were doing really well and had a couple of great stops as she was begging to stop loping (she's got a stop, I'll tell ya!). I felt really accomplished and as I was walking her back up to the barn I felt really blessed. Here I was earlier in the day whining and complaining about the state of my life and in that moment later in the day I was counting myself among the luckiest people around. It was a beautiful day and the wind had made it cool and fresh and bug-less. I had my amazing horse who tries so hard for me and is so talented. I had the time to do the work and get better and feel accomplished. In that moment, life was good.

I hear horse people say all the time that horses are better than therapy. I agree b/c she is a living breathing accomplishment of mine and she reminds me that life is about so much more than the things that drag us down. I didn't figure out any major issues by riding but I did feel better and I did have a much more positive prospective and I think that is better than therapy has ever done for me.

C

Workin' hard or hardly workin'

Hello people, new and old... don't forget to become a Sky Fan - join the cool kids!

Well, I had a great weekend, as you can see from the last post and today was another day off before I have to work tomorrow - this part time thing is a toss-up - on one hand I have time to work with my horse and hang out with my friends but on the other there is, obviously, not as much money and I must deal with the limbo my life continues to be in since getting laid off. It's still rough, I must say.

Today was a good day. I helped Lisa move some pallets with her tractor - good times... then I got on Sky for almost an hour, working on her lope. She is doing better at getting the correct lead both ways - I am working a little harder to the right b/c that is her "bad" side. Lisa helped me out some from the ground while she sat outside with Braeden (her now two-week old little boy). She is the greatest and I don't say that lightly - really, she's the greatest.

Sky was fiercely sweaty when we were finished so I hosed her down and worked on some showmanship stuff (we have a lot of work to do there, as well) while she dried a little.

It's nice to be able spend the day outside and doing some physical work. It's been a while that I've been chained to a desk and I forgot how nice it is to be out in the sun and get your hands dirty - to feel like you are actually DOING something. Not to discount the work I've done as an admin or even in event planning but there is something to be said for doing a physical job and seeing it through to the end... It might be as satisfying as filing a huge stack of paperwork or seeing a nervous bride happy at her reception but those things you don't get to do outside!

Anyway, we are off to get ice cream - a fitting end to a good day. I work for a whopping two hours tomorrow then I will be back to another adventure - hopefully another good trail ride with Betsy.

C

A Busy Weekend.

Hello All. So this weekend was jammed packed - our friends, Scott & Nikki, along with their baby, Isaac, came to visit while they looked for a house in the area. Nikki is a lawyer and she found a new job here in Concord, so they have about a month to move from Syracuse to here!

So I spend most of Friday night and Saturday morning cleaning like a madwoman to make our little apartment look like a page out of Better Homes & Gardens as well as planning and prepping Saturday night's dinner.

I did manage to ride a little bit on Saturday - despite the record-breaking heat. Everyone else was busy or otherwise desposed so Sky and I took a jaunt across the road on the power lines. It was interesting because I usually ride Sky alone only for a little while to meet someone, so this was our first adventure truly alone in a while. I was surprised at how willingly she went a long and I did a lot of walk/trot transitions to include some 'training on the trail'. We loped up some of the hills and walked others to build muscle as well!

It was hot so it was the perfect day to give the first bath of the year! Being tobiano, Sky tends to get pretty dirty so it was a good thing all around. Part of me was wishing I could be hosed down too - it was hot!

So today after Scott & Nikki headed out I headed myself up to the barn and met Michelle to ride. We made plans to meet Betsy at her house and we were on and going after I had to go chase Sky away from the new round bale everyone was happily munching on in the pasture!

We had a great ride - about two hours around Windswept and through the wooded trails, connecting to the beautiful ones that Betsy and I found the other day. The bugs are definately out and they were swarming around Sky's ears so next time we go out I am going to have to scrounge to find her ear bonnet. I felt bad for her as they were giving her a hard time, but she did ok. We did some trotting and a little loping and crossed quite a bit of puddles and streams... all good things from a training perspective.

Tomorrow I will work in the yard again and see where we can get with the program. I did lope her on Saturday in the yard and she did pretty well. I have to do some showmanship work as well as possibly lope over a pole in order to start lopeover work.

Take care and we'll talk to you soon - I'm off to eat dinner and take Sadie home

C

Pre-Season Workouts and Pre-Season Jitters

Today is Day 1. After John's visit yesterday and the enormous amount of work I have realized I have thirty-something days until the first LRSS Show, I have put myself in 'pre-season training' mode.

I've decided to approach getting ready for the shows like I would approach any other sport - by practice and planning and proper preperation (I know you love the P's there!!)... See, I used to be an athlete - I cheered all through college and any of you out there that think that's not being an athlete I'd love to see you survive the boot-camp style pre-seasons I endured.

Now in my old age, I am (sadly) no longer in the shape I once was... but I have spent years coaching as well and I do remember how one gets ones butt in gear.

So last night I spent some time going through all the old horse magazines I refuse to throw away, thought about what John had told me, and wrote down a plan in my trusty notebook. It's kind of like when I made a plan for coaching cheerleading but instead of pike pushups and toe touches Sky was going to be doing the following:

1. Warm Up by lunging to get her energy out (John's suggestion)
2. Get on and flex both sides to stretch her neck.
3. Walk large and small circles - stretch and make her use her back legs
4. Walk/Trot/Stop transitions - lots of this - both ways, including shoulder in exercises
5. Trotting - circles, spirals, serpentines etc.
6. Turns into the 'fence' at walk and trot
7. Turns into the 'fence' and cue to lope - both directions - lope on correct lead three times around and then transition to walk or trot.
8. More trotting, walking to cool down
9. some work on trail type stuff - trot overs, back-throughs, sidepassing pole and to the mailbox.
10. Short jaunt down the road and back to relax and cool down.

So, that's what we did today. I expect that as we go along I will make up a plan for each day - slightly different in progression so that she doesn't expect anything or get bored (hopefully).

I did give her a good brushing after this day of work and did notice she is somewhat sore on her left side near the center of her back. She seemed sensitive to it while I was currying it, especially when I used more pressure. I took some linament to it as well as put corona on her boo boos which include a new one where it looks like she skinned her knee a little. Poor Sky.

So coming up it is supposed to be warm so I am looking forward to riding more and giving her a bath. I will probably try Josh's saddle to see if that fits her better than mine and see if that is the cause of her pain. Lisa said b/c it is only on one side, then I might be riding crooked... I'll watch out for that too.

I can only hope that we can get in shape and feel good about how we are riding before the shows start. I am nervous about showing this year. I think last year I felt a little ok b/c I had done w/t before and after realizing that there weren't that many people in the classes and that I could do well, I relaxed about it. But this year is the land of the unknown - playing with the big boys (or girls, more acurately). Yeah, yeah, there is all that we like to say about personal best and showing for fun and how it doesn't matter if you do well as long as you have a good time, but anyone that knows me knows that I have a streak of competitiveness. I cannot play a board game without personally wanting to take somebody down - it's just a thing. I like to win and I'm not scared to say so. It's not that I'm evil or anything, I just like to do well - when I don't I take it personally b/c I know there is no one to blame but myself.

So, this year I am feeling the crunch b/c I know that I am the small fish in the big pond and no longer the big fish in the small pond. That's a scary leap to make. I think that as adults it is a pretty brave thing to put yourself (and in this case your horse) out there to be judged. As kids we are expected to - sports and dance recietals and science fairs - but after you enter the land of the working stiffs, you are allowed to fade into the background... go to work, go home and veg out infront of the TV, hang out with friends on the weekend, and do it all again....

But I think it takes a driven person to not only keep working at a skill (doesn't have to be riding but you know what I mean) and then actually ask to be judged on it. I think it brings back our childhood need to be acknowledged and validated. It also brings back our adolescent fear of not getting either!

I was thinking this morning about being in line after a class and waiting to hear what the judge's results and how I would feel if I didn't do well or (gasp) didn't place at all! I am sure I will need to embrace the idea soon enough - we are small fish after all, and I do know that I will have to add a pink and/or green ribbon to my collection at some point, and that's ok because it will be a big pond ribbon and isn't that worth more than a blue in the small pond? Is it? I know it is more valuable but I have to wait to find out if it feels just as sweet or if it will be a bitter pill to swallow.

C

New Developments

Hello All! First I must tell you about the new feature! You can now become a "SKY FAN" and officially follow my blog! Please add yourself to the list as a reader so I can figure out who is reading about Sky and I. I have decided my goal this summer is to see how many people I can get to read my blog and follow our crazy adventures!

So, this morning I was woken up by a man who wasn't my husband - now that I have your attention... Yeah - it was Frank. Frank rides with the clan when we go to East Corinth.. He has ridden with others there for years and I have had the privilage to get to know him in the past few seasons. Frank is in his 80s and puts every single one of you to shame with his time spent in the saddle. He is the only person I know, retired or not, who can ride 5 hours and call that a short ride! He even broke his ribs last year and was riding six weeks after... he's a super character and one hell of a guy and when he is driving through for one reason or another he calls me up and we meet up. So, this morning I was woken up by Frank and he invited me to meet him for coffee. After grudgingly taking Sadie out to pee, I managed to drag my unshowered, dragged out of bed, creases still on my face self down the road!

It was well worth it, as Frank is always full of stories and great to get a laugh. We chatted about his possibly joining the few I am trying to get togehter to camp out near Marsh Billings sometime in June, about when he is headed to Otter Creek in NY in May (I am SO JEALOUS - I've wanted to go there forever... if only I had a trailer of my own!) and about people who we both know... but of course, never in a gossipy way! :)

Anyway, after that I nursed my sore wrist, which Lisa swears is sore b/c of the recent rain... I refuse to believe I am that decrepit yet! Then it was up to Lisa's b/c John called and had a few minutes to spend with Sky and I regarding her troubles at the lope.

I was very excited, mostly b/c John hasn't seen her since the fall and I was anxious to get a starting point to really kick off my hard work to get us into a w/t/c class this year. So, I rode her in the yard to warm her up and when he arrived, he hopped on her and started some work...

OH, SKY - she is a character like no person I know! It was obvious from my unique vantage point on the ground that she was wondering in her horsey mind what this guy was doing up there! I think it became clear to her soon enough that 'this guy' was there to make her work and although she did great, she wasn't too thrilled about it at first.

He showed me how to use a 'railing'. (I use quotes here b/c we don't have any fence in the yard yet so we used poles on the ground to simulate where a railing would be) He would turn Sky into the railing so she had to spin on her haunches to turn her body the other way which makes her push off with her outside hind leg and reach forward with her inside front leg - perfect timing there to ask for the lope.... Ok this is where I felt like a retard b/c we did a TON of that at all gaits in NM at Joshs'! I cannot for the life of me think of why I didn't think to do that!

So he showed me how to get her to stretch and use her outside hind leg, from sidepassing off the rail, then turning, to simply doing small circles at the walk in order to get her to use it. This all made sense to me and I was patiently waiting for my turn to try, but I think John got into a groove and as humid as it is today, Sky was getting all the workout she needed. He loped her quite a bit and got her very collected.

He told me that she needed a lot of work - lots of wet saddle pads... this I knew but I wasn't sure where to start. Now I have some skills to do - lots of transition work and lots of trotting and working at the lope both ways... I should and probably will write down the excersises I want to do and plan ahead a little better.

Because I cannot resist starting right away I plan to ride her this afternoon after a few hours of rest for her... Should be good.

So don't forget to become a "sky fan" and I'll see you next time!

Thanks John for the time - I appreciate it a lot!

C

I'd Rather Ride...

So, yesterday was a good day. Overall, anyway... it was nice weather and I didn't have to do anything in particular (well I was supposed to go to Easter do-over at my parents but we'll get to that later.)...

I decided I would ride in the morning and then head up to said family activity, which I really didn't want to go to in the first place. It's not that I am anti-family it's just that it's an hour long drive and I've driven it about once a week lately.

So after getting to the barn and chatting with Lisa in person and with my friend Scott online (who is moving with his wife and baby back to NH soon - yeah!) I headed out to round up Sky. On this day, luckily, rounding up Sky simply involved calling her and holding a stall door open for her to sprint through! Some days we are not so lucky.

Anyway, Michelle was out in the yard lunging Red when we started out to ride. I invited her to go for a short jaunt, considering I didn't have a lot of time but she insisted Red had worked enough for the day. Oh well.

So Sky and I rode in the yard for about a half hour. I loped her both ways after swallowing my fears that it would go badly. John told me after my last post that she was trying to give me what I was asking for, not being the snot I thought she was... This, I think might be a matter of attitude - not Sky's - mine. If I concentrated more on whether or not I get the result I had asked for then I can concentrate less on the manner in which it is given... so I asked for the lope, let her head come up some (who cares, really at this point), ignored the pinned ears, and went for it. At first she did get off on the wrong lead, but I simply pulled her up and started again, from the walk.

Anyway, after riding for a bit, I got off and checked my phone before untacking... good think b/c Betsy had called and wanted to ride.. good timing that I could hop back on and go to meet her... had to call my mom to tell her I'd be late, but hey, I didn't really want to go anyway and it's going to rain all week, so I figured I better get in while the getting is good.

So, I meet Betsy and we did a reverse of a ride we did the other day, making it a little shorter and doing a little less tresspassing than last time... overall it was uneventful but nice - we did some slow trotting and managed to have no real incidents...

But by the time we got back it was 130 and I was supposed to be at my parent's house for 100, so I called my mom and told her I wasn't coming... I felt bad but was happy to be able to have the rest of the day to not rush.

So, I will hopefully get on today - depending on how cold it is (I know I'm a wuss). Then I work tomorrow (like the sound of that) and it's supposed to rain, so I imagine we won't ride for a while.

Oh - and we are in the works to camp out near Marsh Billings around the beginning of June - yeah - something to look forward to!

C