A little ditty...

Hello All -

I don't have a lot of time so I have to make this short (somehow I've said that before...) Anyway, this week has been a frustrating one for those of us who want to ride.. It's about 90 degrees and the humidity makes you wet with sweat the second you walk out the door... if it's not hot, it's raining, and then the bugs are so awful you must trot to get through the woods these days.

So, it hasn't been a good riding week. It is unfortunate b/c Sky has new shoes this week and I am anxious to try them out.. we broke down on the shoes (fronts only b/c it's so freaking expensive!!!) for two reasons... 1 - so she can stop getting all those bruises and walk comfortably on the dirt roads and 2 - to give her some time to actually grow some foot.

She was shockingly good for Bethany about the nailing.. barely blinked. I was surprised b/c she's never had shoes and I insisted that she would throw a fit... but just like Sky, she took it in stride and trusted those around her... I love her so.

I'm off to a Blackwater meeting in a bit - have to feed early in order to go... oh, I'm sitting out here at Lisa's.. dogsitting, catsitting, fishsitting, horsesitting, house and barn sitting... ha! Seriously it's been fun and quiet - for the most part. There is a nameless boarder who is driving me absolutely batty, though. She is an older lady and has some medical problems that keep her from being entirely mobile, but I do not take that as an excuse to be mean to people... all week she's stopped into the barn and isn't happy if her horse is out or if she's in... wants to continually feed her hay that she doesn't eat and insists that something is 'amiss' at the barn b/c there are "leg problems"... GRRR - as if it's LISA's fault that Onyx has a broken foot or whatever or that Willow's leg blows up and that she will never be entirely normal again.. that Sky got a random abcess...that her horse rammed herself into the roundpen.... yeah - that sounds like a conspericy to me! I am not one who hides my feelings well and if you want to know what I think just have a look at my face.. I stayed quiet, though. This person went as far as to yell at me in the barn for trying to help her the other day and that was it for me! I've been leaving when I know she'll come or hide in the house when she's here... the woman just chaps my ass!

And this is my thought about that. Horses are livestock - they are an animal whose history has been to serve man. They hold a true and honest place in American history and are a noble animal who carries pride with value and purpose... If a person wants a lawn ornament so badly, I personally think they should leave horses alone, and certainly NEVER BREED MORE HORSES, and then go buy a freaking plastic flamingo!

Anyway, I am going to get ready to go to my Blackwater meeting where we'll all talk over each other, complain about bugs and weather, plan rides that will get cancelled, and then I'll get home late. Fun Fun.. At least I made whoopie pies this time!

Good Night.

C

One good ride after another...

Hi All -

As I could only hope, I have not written lately b/c I've been busy riding!

After the show last weekend, I decided immediately that I was going to hang up the show shirt for a while and concentrate on doing some casual, easy, stress-free trail rides!

Luckily right after that choice, an opportunity came up for my go with Hannah on a ride... we voted on going to Maudslay state park in MA... I tried to look up information about it but could only come up with a small website without a lot of information - so I was going blind...but very excited to go in a state park as I can log double hours for my Ride America, and I am closing in on my 500 hour mark.

So I make sure I am all packed and ready and Hannah was right on time. Sky self-loaded perfectly into her two horse step up and got along charmingly with Jim, her Appy/TB cross...

We made it down there to meet up with Denise (with Dublin, the huge, red horse) and Cathy (who I hadn't met before)... Sky was super alert when we first got them off the trailer which was odd for her - not acting badly, just head up and ears and eyes straining to find anything she could possibly be scared of... so a little Clinton Anderson-esk lunging before hand with many changes of direction got her focused on the fact that I was still a part of her world... then we were ready to ride.

She did great on the trails - slightly ouchy on the dirt road at the beginning - but otherwise perfect. We crossed beautiful stone bridges, and rode beside blooming flower bushes, and rode along a river with lovely white boats floating here and there... it was a perfect day - no bugs and a slight breeze and lots of blue sky...

We made a two and half hour trek, miadering through the park - a place no one could get lost... after the ride, we hung out and chatted and found ourselves lazy and happy under a big tree while we watched the horses take afternoon naps while tied to the trailers..

Hannah and I chatted non-stop on the way home and I was so happy to get to know her better... it was kind of her to bring me along.

Then we had a blackwater ride on Sunday, which Betsy picked us up for... Inever stop laughing at Sky when she does her speed-walking trek from the barn onto Betsy's trailer! I swear, I could let her out of her stall and she'd head straight on next to Harvey... I'm not sure if it's Harvey or his hay that she likes more - despite the large haybag full infront of her, she insists on pushing poor Harvey over to steal his! It's funny considering she doesn't push ANYONE around.

We rode at Profile Falls - another perfect day and perfect ride... down the long, straight carraige road and wandered off onto wooded trails and open fields (which haven't been mowed and are like an all you can eat buffet to the horses, at mouth height!!!) We saw lots of wild brown eyed susans and took lots of photos --- including photos of others taking photos! It was funny!

The best was as we were riding back to the trailers on the long road, Sky decided more than once to turn her butt around and go the other way! I'm not sure if her homing device was broken or if she was just up for a longer ride, but she had no qualms about hoofing it away from the whole crew of horses and foraging her own path... i nearly cried I laughed so hard at her!

We had a good lunch back at the trailers... at the picnic tables by the river... the Mix's, Betsy and I are way ahead of the group in planning an overnight excursion at the end of the month.... I'm fired up for some more good rides and am glad to be taking a break from the constant worries about slow canters and correct headsets... although we did get a great lope behind a trotting Kosh and Hannah in a long stretch by the river... funny how that happens!

It looks like I will be putting shoes - fronts to start - on Sky by the end of the week. The farrier looked at her today and shaped her up and she has too many bruises for me to ignore any longer... if I'm going to be doing the riding I don't want to have to worry about her.

So, I will keep you posted on the goings-on. I'm watching Lisa's house next week while they are away and taking care of all the animals - then LRSS 3 isn't too far off. Hopefully Amanda and I will be doing Riverfare's know and go clinic on the 1st... Karl did tell me to include it in my b'day present....

Take care, all,

C

Experience is a good thing...

Sunday, I used up all my birthday money to go to a show - could've done a couple of other things but I liked the idea of getting some more time in the ring and I had been invited to trek down to Oak Rise with Ashleigh and Amanda, so I bit the bullet of $12 a class and went.

I was excited to be going back and doing the w/t/c classes and I mentally prepped for it to be a long day. When we got there, I started to think that the economy was picking up, considering that the place was packed! There were trailers bumper to bumper taking up the whole place! We got scrunched between "Mack Hill Riding Acadamy" and another kid-oriented barn with an array of activity...

Sky did relatively well - much better feeling than last weekend at LRSS... at least I "felt" like I wasn't about to reach moc-ten at the lope but I think that had a lot to do with the work Lisa helped me with on Saturday.... so, we get into the Eq. class and it was 7 ppl, including Ashleigh and Tom (who showed with Lisa last year) - Tom and I were the only Western-ers... I was pretty excited to get the correct leads out of Sky and only be lapping Tom... at least being with a lot of English riders I didn't feel like I was riding a race horse when everyone else had an old farm-plug! We wound up placing 4th of 7... better than I figured.. the judge told me I corrected her too much... oh well.

So I worked hard to stop messing wtih her face and slow her down with my body and in Pleasure we managed 3 of 7 - the best we did all day! Not enough for a PAC point but good, just the same. I felt badly for Ashleigh b/c she got two 6ths but I thought she did well!

Then we waited - and waited - and waited... UHGGG - By the time that we got on for Disp. Rail etc. I was baked from the beating sun and so tired I had to muster the energy just to get back on! It was three classes in a row - Adult Disp. Rail - Western Pleasure & Open Pleasure horse 15 and under... it was a rough three classes - we placed 4 of 6 - 2 of 2 and 2 of 3... Not particularly good but overall for the lateness of the day, I thought we got around pretty well. The judge was picking on us quite a bit - he kept talking about how he's a blah, blah, blah western judge and he told me to change my bit and was picky about how my reins were held... by the fourth time he picked at me, I was done.. I wanted out of that ring BAD - I appreciated the feedback, but enough already! I was happy to go home.. especially after I heard I got 4 of 6 in Trail! WHAT?! We had done great in trail and I couldn't believe 3 ppl did better than me! That is the worst I've done in trail in a long time w/o seriously messing up...

Anyway, I didn't stick around (or, really, make A&A stick around) to collect my 4th place day end that I assumed I would get... I took my experience and got out of dodge.

Once home I was SOOOO tired... I got a little sun and a lot of experience... glad to get them both but I think I am done showing for a little bit - I am highly interested in some easy trail rides and some relaxing days hanging out... today I started tying my BIG quilt together and reading a book (that is until I got the call to get hay in but that is a summer-time necessity)...

Thanks to those who helped me prepare for the show, get to the show, and survive the trama that is the show... thanks to John, who I got to see there... nice to see you and am glad you are doing well. I will be sure to let you know how things are going.

Talk to you soon, guys... I am hoping to snag a spot in Hannah's trailer on Friday for a jaunt and hopefully will go with Betsy to Profile Falls Sunday.

C

Great Expectations

So we finally got to show on Sunday. It was a perfect day - sunny (shocker of all shockers, huh?) and slightly breezy as to keep the bazillions of bugs away.

I was pretty nervous considering there hasn't been a lot of time given all the rain and the condition of Sky's feet, which are soft and saseptable to new problems and still relatively short. But I was ready to give it a go and she was pretty clean too.

Showmanship turned out to the be one of the highlights of my day - it's a wonder considering that I had fought against it for so long that I would actually enjoy it. There were 11 ppl in the class and we placed 6th under one judge, and 3rd under another. Not too bad.

By the time we were riding, I was pretty frustrated - only b/c Sky fought me at the lope all over, not being used to working so hard. She either would try to break or run a buck-ninety around the ring. The pattern was difficult - trotting a circle, then loping a circle, then changing leads and loping the other way at a lope again. After a lot of practice and frustration, we did do a great pattern - or at least one that didn't break gait or get the wrong lead - we went to rail work. On the rail I managed to get nearly all the way around the ring before realizing we were one the wrong lead! CRAP! So, there went that class - 5 of 5.

Pleasure didn't go much better considering we were circling everyone and not doing it in a very pretty manner. Lisa rode her in between classes and although she looked better for her, it didn't exactly translate over. At this point, knowing the day was shot, I tried my best to keep my chin up and do my personal best. Discipline rail was a mess - being asked to counter-canter when you are still working on the right leads to start with is rough! Then Senior Horse Pleasure came and I did manage to get a decent lope at the very end, which I was proud of, and we placed 4 of 5 under one judge - a serious victory given the way we were doing.

I have a problem. I feel fine in the warm up ring and do ok with her at home, but being in the ring with others who are experienced on experienced horses, I get physched out and compare too much. I feel like Sky is a lunatic b/c she isn't nearly as slow as the other horses and we are not as collected. This feeling makes me upset b/c I don't understand how, after all the work we've done, we do not measure up against these others. I do feel that this summer stinks b/c of all the rain and I haven't ridden NEARLY as much as I have wanted to, but I also don't think that is an excuse.

Trail was a decent experience. Adult Trail we did well - probably b/c we got one part of the course correct where others did the wrong thing and that is only b/c Lisa asked the judges... someone was a little ticked until she found out that they didn't take off for doing it the way EVERYONE did it and not the correct way. But I managed to get 1st under one judge nad 3rd under another, so that was good - it was trotting poles, sidepassing and a mailbox, lope into a box, spin, lope after the box, go to a bridge, walk over, and back. The second time we were on the incorrect lead (it was an "incorrect" one they asked for) so we placed last again. I was happy to do well in SOMETHING though!

Anyway, I suppose I have to learn to expect to do good for myself, and not good against others. I have come to expect to do well with Sky and this is a learning year, so I have to learn to back away from that. I know it should be enough to do better than last time and improve, it's just hard to do that and have it still not be enough!

I am working on that with K too... we are working on things and spending more time together... I am standing up for myself and expecting to get out what I put in. I guess that is all anyone can ask for in life.

C

PS - I might go to Oak Rise Sunday if $$$ works out.... I was offered a ride from some Blackwater folks.

Gnats, Deerflies, Rain, and Hurt Feet (and hurt feelings)

So we finally had a Blackwater ride yesterday! Yeah - after Sky being out of commission and all the rain we've had, I was very excited to go to Betsy's for a ride. That being said, I cannot wait to catch a ride in Betsy's new truck on Thursday when we go to Bear Brook.

Anyway, I wake up yesterday to drizzle... YUK! But I plan to grab my raincoat and head out anyway. This is the part in my story when my husband, Karl, gets home from work and we get into a huge fight regarding some wrongs he has done to me in the past week. I am not going to get into this in detail b/c this blog is not about my marraige, but about my time with Sky... but for those of you who know me, you probably know about this anyway... my husband did something stupid and hurtful and it's been done before and this time sorry is not enough.

Needless to say the yelling made me late getting to the barn and I had to pull Sky away from her big pile of hay to go for a ride. Considering that Sky hasn't been ridden much in the past weeks b/c of the rain and her gravel, I was excited for the ride but also a little aprehensive that she wouldn't be ok... She turned out to be a trooper on the road (per usual) and once I got to Betsy's I was doing my best to get in a better mood.

STOP! How can anyone be in a good mood with little, tiny, black bugs flying in your ears and your eyes and your nose - not to mention swarming your head in general and seemingly attempting to drag your horse away! The same bugs that keep us from doing any speed less than a trot in Lisa's yard are at home in Betsy's yard as well... I kept Sky moving to avoid being eaten alive and my bad mood continued... after all the time and efffort and waiting out of the rain we did this is what I get!

Sky did pretty well once we got going but the overgrowth of vegetation everywhere you looked was all and all too tempting for her... she lunged, open mouthed and teeth bared, at every branch, clover, grass and tree we happened to be near.. needless to say, this gets old after a while and usually I would be doing some schooling - making her work somehow once she took a bite (something Clinton Anderson calls, "letting her commit to the mistake) but in a group of trail riders and on sometimes narrow trails, I resorted to simply pulling her away from each tempting leaf.

On the rocks, Sky was obviously "ouchy" and it broke my heart again. I have come to the conclusion that the best thing for her will be to put shoes on for the rest of the summer. I just cannot stand that she is so uncomfortable.

So, these factors contribute to my mood - greatly. I am trying very hard to smile through the swarms of bugs and the hurt feelings I have and listen to the chit-chat going on ahead of me. It's hard. At one point I thought I was literally going to cry on my horse! Luckily that is when Betsy turned around and smiled at me which made me feel better that at least someone noticed I was having a rough time of it.

Anway, into the woods we go and the deerflies start in - yuk yuk yuk! Boy, do those things hurt when they bite! Especially they hurt when you are pushing your horse to step first into a mucky stream that she cannot see the bottom to - but she did it - first through water!!! I was insanely proud of her despite being attacked by deerflies while we waited for everyone to get through.

Yesterday was not my best day. I was not myself. I couldn't wait to get off my horse and that is wrong! Lately I am so sad and angry that I can barely ride at all, for fear that my temper will flair and I will take it out on Sky. But again and again she gives me another chance that this time when I take her out she will be the thing that makes me smile and make me feel better. She always is it's just that lately it doesn't last. That is scary.

I'm sorry that I cannot report a wonderful experience. It was a nice ride and I did enjoy getting out... it's just that the circumstances were not so great. I am hoping that we will get to ride enough this week that I will feel comfortable showing Sunday.... I hope that we will get to do something cool for my birthday, which is usually a non-event. Anyway, we will see.

C

Reasons that Sky and I need to go play with cows...

1. Chasing anything away makes one feel powerful. I could use a little power right about now.
2. Cows remind me of New Mexico and Josh Armstrong's place. I miss 'ol El Paso sometimes.
3. Sky needs a change of pace - something to perk her ears up at.
4. Someday, I might have to chase down a loose cow and I want to make sure I'm ready.
5. It's a great excuse to wear my white cowboy hat and a cute western shirt
6. It is more interesting than going in circles
7. I will not just do pleasure shows forever... we will need new challenges.
8. You never know when you might have to herd a random cat or dog away from danger.
9. I need a reason to smile and the last time we chased cows I had a cheek-ache for days.
10. My birthday is coming!

Rain, Rain go away....

So, I've spent three weeks going crazy over my horse as she blows a gravel out her heel and now that she is rideable and fine it WILL NOT stop raining! That is some kind of horrid karma, I imagine. I wonder what I did in a past life to deserve this.

We have ridden... we rode in the yard a few times and yesterday we went on a short trail ride with Lisa - who was getting a horse ready to go to camp for a few weeks. That was fun - we haven't ridden together since just after Lisa found out she was pregnant... so it was good to get out.

The good news is that they rescheduled the show for July 5th which means that we have a week and a half to get our stuff together and we should be able to do all of our classes - if I can get that amount of money together. We are now left with a lot of work to do and rainy days to do it in... if I'm lucky the rain will stop long enough for the bugs to come and eat us alive! Yesterday I worked on her trot in the yard, getting her to slow it down and trying very hard not to fuss with her head so much... I think that is where we went wrong at the first show - she was fired up and her head was up and I spent the whole day messing with her mouth and not trying anything else to slow her down and that pissed us both off.

I am still worried about her feet - she had another pocket where she was shedding off some frog on her front feet and we are putting benadyne on it every day to keep it hard and clean. She is back to being sound but after the multitude of opinions that I got about her feet when she was off, I worry that I am not doing the right thing. What I have decided to do is give her some more time... She still isn't growing wall on her back feet as much as she should, according to Bethany, so I am considering shoes for the rest of the summer - could pull them off after E. Corinth and then let her get back to normal over the winter. That way I wouldn't have to worry about her being 'ouchy' on the rocks, etc. and it would give her feet some time to strenghten and grow.

In any case, I have a lot of riding to do before I will know exactly how she is doing and where we are... I feel so stalled - stalled in riding, yes, but stalled in life too. I am starting to get very frustrated with being laid off... I try so hard to stay in a routine and take care of myself and be good to the people around me but at times I think the turn that things have taken is dramatically unfair. I hate not having the sense of purpose that goes with having a place you 'must' be everyday. I hate getting up in the morning and knowing that this is another day that I don't have a job. I cannot stand going to bed at night and that it doesn't matter what time it is b/c I do not have a commitment for the next day - it's not that I don't enjoy the time I get to spend doing other things... if it wasn't for Lisa, who is off work on maternity leave, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. We've been taking care of the barn and of the baby and I like to think that I am useful at times. There are so many things I am grateful to have had the time to do - like ride at Amanda's and trail ride with Betsy in the middle of the week... but each thing I do and each day that goes by is one day farther away from my being a marketable employee... I cannot help but wonder if my value is diminishing as we go.

I am hoping to get a school job for the fall and be able to relax for the rest of the summer. There is less to apply for than when I got laid off and I am frustrated with how little I've accomplished in getting resumes out.

The monotony of the last few weeks has been broken up by having our houseguests, Scott and Nikki, and their baby, Isaac, staying with us. Scott is a great cook and is making us dinners and Isaac is walking now and is into everything. It's nice to have the company as Karl is either doing baseball stuff or is at work or sleeping... I wonder is this third shift job will wear us all out or just him.

I guess despite Sky being better, I am just sad... not sure if it's the weather or if it's not having a job or if it's the lack of time I spend with my husband. I think the more I get into the saddle the less I will worry about where money is going to come from or what will happen next. I will be happy, I think, when sitting on Sky feels normal again as riding feels so strange after three weeks away. My faith in the future is thin, except that I know there is another day coming.

C

PS - sorry - this wasn't meant to be depressing!