Feeling chatty

I don't really have anything exciting to write about, but I'm feeling chatty and there is no one around at work to chatter with, so I thought I would bore you guys! hahahaha

I had another great lesson on Monday night - for some reason, some things are starting to sink in! I'm a quick learner when it comes to book stuff, but I have a harder time with more tactile things. Riding and sports kind of fit into that category. I do well at a basic/intermediate level, but when things get more advanced, my coordination goes out the window. I also don't have good spatial skills - parking and backing up my car are a good example of this. I'm sure the barn owner has had a few chuckles watching me back up around her complicated laneways to get out of the barn! I can't imagine ever driving a truck and trailer. It would be good for a laugh, at least!

After my lesson on Monday night, we went for a short walk down the laneway out to the road to cool off. The bugs were bad, but we weren't out long. I took Rusty down the road a bit - a few hundred feet at most. There is a shoulder and a gentle sloping ditch at this part of the road, so I knew it was pretty safe. Rusty is fine with cars going by - 2 went past us on our short jaunt. I'm the one that needs training! If you remember, I need to go about 1/2 a mile down a busy-ish road to get to quiet gravel roads for some hacking/trail riding. I've decided that I'm going to try and go out and back in increasing distances to help build up my nerves. The road isn't a highway or anything, but can be busy at certain times of the day. So, Monday night was my first (short) trip out and it was a success!

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I have been having a bit of a dilemma over board. Due to the hay fiascos of this year and last, my board is going up by $50 as of September 1st. The new amount is manageable, but just. I'm disappointed that her fees are going up, but I also understand. It is hard to run a horse business, so she has to do these things to survive. I may not be able to afford too many lessons in the fall, due to the hubby's work situation, so that is a bit of a bummer.

I have contemplated moving Rusty (again), but I really don't want to if I can avoid it. I like the barn I'm at - there are a lot of pros and only a very few cons. (yes, I actually made a list). If Rusty was younger and didn't have problems with his eyes, I would probably make the decision to move him to a cheaper place and put him on outdoor (pasture) board. However, his eyes and the treatments that he needs require a bit of monitoring and I feel pretty lucky about having my own personal vet help me with that.

So, all of that to say that I probably won't move him unless our financial situation takes a big nose dive. My hubby is just working on a contract right now, so I have been saving a lot of money to cover board and horse expenses in case his contract isn't renewed. We have good reason to believe it will be renewed, but you just never know these days.

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My new saddle STILL isn't here yet. I'm convinced it is being shipped up from Alabama by covered wagon or something. Geez! Summer will be over by the time it gets here.

Told you guys I was chatty today... Kudos to anyone that made it down this far!! We have a long weekend this weekend , so I'm hoping to get out to the barn and get a few summer pictures of Rusty to update this old blog! Hope everyone has a fun weekend...

Rain, rain go away!

It has been raining here almost every day for the past six weeks! I'm starting to get a little tired of it, let me tell you. In fact, it rained 22 days out of 30 in June. July isn't shaping up to be much better. We have had some nice days, but they are few and far between...

It is pouring again today.

(Yes, we have a tipi at work...)

Ugh. The barn and pastures are a mess. I haven't taken any pictures of Rusty lately, because everything is just mud. He will need a canoe soon to get around if this doesn't let up.

This weather has been brutal for local farmers as well. Trying to get hay in with this weather has been a nightmare. Probably half of the fields I pass in my travels (in the past 6 weeks) have hay cut and it has just been left lying in the field. The farmers are slowly working at raking it up or baling it anyway and just tossing the bales in a corner of the field to compost.

My barn owner (whose property is really wet to begin with) hasn't even attempted to cut hay. She needs a couple of dry weeks before she can even take a tractor out on the fields to work. Last year, she cut the hay, but the quality was so poor that she was only able to use it for bedding (instead of straw). Hay and grass are such important commodities in the horse world...

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As I may have mentioned, I was sick for two weeks and wasn't able to ride at all. I had my first real ride on Monday night. We had a lesson and it went surprisingly well. Rusty is so reliable that it is nice to not have to worry about getting on a wild bucking bronco.

As much as he is easy-going, he is a bit stubborn about some things. He really has a hard time moving his shoulders. We can get that big spotted hiney to move without any problem, but the front end is a bit stuck. We aren't sure if he maybe has a bit of arthritis, so he is stiff and his left eye isn't 100%, so he is a bit resistant to turn that way.

We did a lot of work on building the turn on the haunches from a standstill, as well as walking and trotting "square" corners. (Not sure if there is another name for that or not). By the end of the lesson, he was moving much better. I'm sure a percentage of our problems come from my inexperience. I didn't learn the turn on the fore/haunch when I was young, so the cues for that are all new to me.

He also has a few old school horse tricks that get me from time to time. I'm often so busy worrying about cues or my leg position, that he will pull something else and get me off balance. He likes to stick his nose out, let himself hit the bit and use that as an excuse to slow down. I have to work at catching him before he does that. When I focus on paying more attention, he stops trying that and we can get some nicer gaits going. I can't get mad at him when he does stuff like that, because he is just so cute. He really does try hard - he's like a kid in school that doesn't really want to be bad but can't help himself sometimes. These little tricks of his are really helping me learn to pay attention more and how to work around little problems.

I have also been cantering a fair bit and working on my trot-canter transitions. It is satisfying to feel that starting to come together more as well. We can only canter a half circle well before things start to fall apart, but I still feel like I am making lots of progress.

My new saddle is due any day now and I realllllly hope it fits, after this long wait. I'm hoping that a better fit for both of us will help in many ways. I'm also planning to buy a nice black wool saddle blanket to go with the black suede seat. Rusty looks really good in black for some reason. Although, I'm sure the white horse hairs on the black blanket will drive me to drink, but I'm sure I'll survive.

It's supposed to rain all weekend, so I may have to go back in time and post some pictures of my New York trip that I meant to post a month ago! I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Honest Scrap Award

So, it took a blog award to get me out of my posting slump.

I haven't been feeling well for the past week and a half, which has prevented me from riding, so I've been a little down. This award cheered me up and has motivated me to get back to regular posting!

In accordance with the award rules I have to let you all know who gave me this award, 10 things about me you didn’t know before, and pass it along to 10 other blogs.

The wonderful Onthebit from A Horse and a Half gave me this award. Her blog is so honest and real, that I can't help but feel her struggles and triumphs as we follow along with her showing and taking care of Gennyral.

Ok - here are 10 more horse-related things about me - some might not be completely new, but I'll do my best.

1. I'm left handed and always tie up my western cinch the wrong way. It has confused people since I was a kid. My current instructor/barn owner comments on it every time I ride with her! I totally don't see the big deal about which way a knot goes, as long as it is correct and secure! I continue to be a rebel and tie up my cinch the wrong way. I also pick hooves left-handed and have had several comments about "doing it wrong"! Silly non-left-handed people! lol

2. I'm not a very good rider. My balance is sometimes off and my cues are a bit fuzzy. I don't mean this in a negative way - just that I'm not naturally gifted at riding and have to work hard at it. It takes me a while to learn the finer details or "feel". This frustrates me a bit because I'm a quick learner. My brain knows what to do, but my body doesn't always co-operate.

3. I collect information and probably only use about 10% of it. I have horse training books, videos, magazine articles, etc. etc. I also have mountians of cookbooks, home decor books - you name it. I love having all of this info around and read it all once, then carefully file it all away in binders and on my bookshelves. I tend to gather lots of information and then not do anything constructive with it, except organize it!

4. I would really love to buy a nicely bred mare to breed. I would love to raise and train a foal. I know nothing about training young horses (except what I've read ;-0 ). I don't expect this will happen until I retire, as I just don't have much extra time to put into training.

5. Like Onthebit, I would love to ride in a hunter pace. It just sounds fun - riding out on different trails, without the formality of hunt attire. Our local hunt has two of these rides a year and you don't even have to jump to particpate - every jump has a way around.

6. I love boots. Western boots, English boots and pretty much every other kind of boot there is. My collection is very small, as I'm trying to be good and not spend money. But I have about 1o pairs on my list to buy when I feel like splurging.

7. I'm really torn between English and Western riding. My goal is to do both moderately well to someday show in our local schooling shows. I love the attire that goes with both disciplines (especially the boots!). Right now I'm focusing on western and will buy an english saddle again someday.

8. I just sold my beautiful hand-made in Europe english saddle. I was sad to see it go, but I just wasn't using it and it was too nice to sit in the basement and collect dust. It will probably be years before I own one half as nice, but that is ok.

9. I have an old english saddle in the basement that my Dad bought for me when I was 14. It is small (if only my butt was the same size as when I was 14...) and in rough shape, but I can't bear to part with it. Someday, when I have a bigger house with a little office or a den, I plan to put it out on a nice rack, with an old leather bridle or something.

10. Wow - this list is hard! Ok - last one... I ask alot of questions. You guys maybe don't see it here on the blog much, but I ask questions ALL the time. My poor barn owner (who is a vet) gets a bunch of questions every time I see her on a range of topics. I try to refrain myself and space out my questions so it doesn't get annoying (I hope!). I just feel like there is so much to learn in the horse world and I'm a bit of a nerd that way. I grill my farrier, vet and any horsey friends with more or different experience than me.

So that's it! Now, I have to pick 10 blogs to pass this award on to - if anyone has already received this, I apologize...but hey, receiving an award more than once is a compliment, right? :-)

Not Quite Home on the Range
The School of Life with Horses
Oh Horsefeathers
NuzzlingMuzzles
BrownEyedCowgirls
AOHCM
A Year with Horses
Diary of the Over-anxious horse owner
Of Horses and Men
Laughing Orca Ranch