Happy Canada Day! (a day early)

So, tomorrow is Canada Day - it's our national holiday (like the 4th ) and a very valued day off work! The only bummer is that it falls mid-week this year - it's much better when it is on a Friday or Monday.

I thought I would post it today because I'm going to be up at my in-laws place tomorrow and no where near a computer (yeah!). I took this picture at their place 2 weekends ago, in anticipation of our holiday.

Stay tuned for some hoof talk later in the week - I need some advice on Rusty's hooves...

Like flyspray for peppermints...???

Isn't that the title of that movie with Johnny Depp? Oh, no, wait - that is like Water for Chocolate - my mistake!! lol

I went out to check on Rusty yesterday and he was out in the pasture with his pony buddies. I went out to there with flyspray and handful of peppermints, hoping that I could get Rusty to stand still enough to get some flyspray on him. That horse isn't a big fan of flyspray, normally. It is amazing what the power of the peppermint can do for me. He didn't move an inch while I was spraying him - the lure of the next mint was enough to keep his feet planted! Ha! Victory is mine! ;-)

I also had a little crew of ponies following me around, jonesing for mints. I don't feed other people's horses, so I had to keep pushing them away. They are cute though - if I ever get my own place, I'm going to have a little crew of ponies running around.

So, been pretty quiet around here, eh?

Not much is going on here at all. I really need to get back into the habit of posting regularly because it seems that the longer I leave it, the harder it is to write anything!

More next week - hopefully!!

I need to go buy a lottery ticket

I had a sorta funny and a little depressing (but not a real tragic depressing, so don't worry) thing happen to me this morning. Since it is horse related and probably something most of you might understand, I thought I would share... :-)

The city that I live in is situated east-west. We live in the far west end and work in the east end. This wasn't planned, it was just where our jobs have ended up taking us. My husband is on a long-term contract and there is maybe a 60-40 chance that he will end up working there permanently (we hope!).

I mentioned to a co-worker that is a good friend that if Richard ends up permanent, we would like to move to the east end to cut down on our brutal commute. Since she has lived in the east end all her life, I said half-jokingly that I would need to consult with her to find out the best places to live. She and her family live on a 200 acre dairy farm and she has relatives all over the country-side. So, we laughed about the situation and I didn't think anything more of it.

Lo and behold, this morning she came in and told me that there is a small hobby farm (only 5 acres) for sale across the road from her! There is a small barn, riding ring and a bit of pasture. Her cousin built the house initially for her horses and then needed more room, so they moved next door. My friend's aunt and uncle own the farm "behind" this small farm and my friend and other family members of hers own the acreages across the road! I thought it was so funny that she knew everything about the property, when it had been built, by whom and everything (her uncle built the barn...)...

It is a really cute place - and here's the sad part - it is waaaay out of our price range. We could maybe swing the mortgage with equity in our current house, but we would be house poor for many years to come. It has been on my mind all morning and I thought that by writing about it here, it would help.


It is/will be so frustrating trying to find a home/farm that suits our needs - nice-ish house, barn, fields, etc. and sort of close to work AANNNND within a reasonable price range. We weren't even starting to look for a new house yet, this one just sort of popped up on my radar and got me thinking. Thinking isn't always a good thing for me. I know this isn't the right time or place to consider buying a new house, let alone a farmette, so I need to move on. I'll be ok in a day or two, I'm sure. :-)

I have been dreaming about a small farm to keep a couple of horses - I would love to keep Rusty at home when he is retired, so I know that he has good care. I also long for the days when I could look out my window and see a horse out back.

(Edited to add: upon re-reading this, it sounds a bit whiney. I don't mean it to sound that way, like I'm a spoiled brat that can't afford a $500K mortgage or something... I was more trying to convey the coincidence on the timing of this and the frustration of it all. Also, it is a bit of a wake up call that maybe this dream might not pan out, with the restrictions I happen to have...)

Lousy blogger and bad horse mom!

Just thought I would write a short update to move my grumpy post down a bit! I'm still working on finding time to go throug my NYC pictures to share a few with you guys. I'm hoping to get that out of the way by the weekend.

I have only made it out to the barn 3x in the almost two weeks that I have been home...which isn't so good really. Rusty seems to be faring well during his vacation. They have been finally turned out for some grass and the bugs aren't too bad yet. The barn owner mixed up the small herds a couple of weeks ago just so all of the horses get used to each other.

I was quite happy to turn him out with his three little pony friends last night and watch them play and groom each other. It is such a 360 from the other barn - turning him out there meant me going out and chasing the other horses back with a longe whip and someone else letting Rusty out. Sadly, I'm not kidding. Now the other horses respectfully wait a few feet back from the gate and everybody is calm and friendly. That's the way it shoud be!!

I'm planning to get back to riding 3-4 times a week over the coming weeks. Rusty and I were making some good progress before I left. I need to get that momentum going again, because I was a little discouraged with myself after last nights bounce-fest. (edited to add: I felt like a sack of old potatoes at the trot...) I'm also extremely anxious to get my new saddle, which should be here in early July (and I have the money saved up for the balance on it too! yeah me! lol).

Well, that's about it for me today. I have a bunch of half-written posts in my head, but it's hard to say at this point if they will ever see the light of day. I might have to go a bullet point summary or something, just to get the info out of my brain so I can get some fresh material in! :-)

Back and grumpy...

We made it back safely from our trip to NYC. We had a great time and I'll post a few pictures later this week when I have a chance to download and review them. We had two cameras and took hundreds of photos. I won't subject you guys to endless days of photos, don't worry! :-)

It was our tenth anniversary last Friday, so a week in NYC seemed like a pretty good anniversary gift. We had a lot of fun walking the city, along with taking the subway and cabs. You couldn't pay me to drive in that city - it is crazy!

We had the day yesterday to unpack and recover, but it wasn't enough. I'm all groggy and grumpy this morning. I've realized that my co-worker didn't complete a project I left for her that was sort of urgent and I will have to spend the whole day fixing the problems. This whole work thing is a pain in the butt...

I made it out to the barn yesterday for a short ride. Rusty had been moved to a different paddock, so it took me a minute to find him! He came right over to the fence when he saw me, so that was kind of cute. I almost fried myself on electric fence - the setup is different in this new paddock - but luckily the barn owner saw me out there and ran out to tell me the best way to get the gate open!

I like vacations, but I'm looking forward to getting back into a bit of a routine with my riding and exercising and such.

Guess I'd better tackle that screwed up project...

Almost outta here...

Phew! What a week!

I have 22 minutes on the work clock and then I'm free for a week! It's good, but kinda sad that we work so hard for one measley week of vacation(I get three a year...). I guess it is the price I pay for my salary and my cushy government job. :-)

We leave for NYC on Sunday morning. We are driving to a small town in NY state, about 7 hours from here, parking our car and taking the train into the city. I still have to pack and get the dog to the boarding kennel! Yikes! Remind me not to procrastinate so much next time... I have all day tomorrow to do laundry, get organzied and go see Rusty, of course!

We are bringing a laptop and have wireless in the hotel, so I'm sure I will be around online next week. I can't seem to stay away...

Wordy Wednesday

Well, I have a lot going on here in littlekeebler land. I'm super busy with work and we are also getting ready to go on our trip to NYC next week. I tend to procrastinate a weeee bit and now find myself running around like a fool trying to get everything done... Good thing I like to make lists - that is keeping me sane right now.

I had a good ride last night - the weather has been fabulous here - I looove spring! We have been riding outside since mid-March and I really feel like I'm making a lot of progress, finally. I've been cantering alot more and things are really good on the left lead, the right still needs work on both of our parts. I know Rusty is capable of a decent lope, we had one awesome transition from the jog to lope last night, so I'm hoping for more of those as the summer progresses.

He is really thriving at this new barn and I'm really glad I moved him there. The turnout situation is much better and the care is very good. The only thing I miss here is the lack of place to hack on. The other place had lots of hayfields to ride around and a couple of trails in the forest to ride on, as well as groups would go out for long hacks on nearby roads. The new place has hay fields, but the owner is super picky about them. I would never ride all through the hay, only around the edges, but she is adamant about it. Oh well. There is good hacking down a super quiet gravel road, but you have to ride about a mile (give or take) down a busier paved road without much of a shoulder. I'm sure Rusty is fine with traffic, but it makes me a bit nervous not having a shoulder or a field to go off into if things get a bit hairy. Some spots on this mile stretch are fine, but there are a couple of sections with ditches that make me worried. Of course, I'm a total worrywart, so that isn't a big suprise. ;-)

There is only one other boarder and she isn't ready to go out on hacks yet, so I'm on my own most of the time. The barn owner said she would ride on the road with me, but we haven't been able to sync our schedules to make this happen yet. Here's hoping we can do that sometime soon, as I'm starting to get a bit squirrely just riding around in the ring.

The show season is gearing up here now that the nice weather is with us. A few students from the barn are doing shows in June and July and I'm planning on going along to groom and take pictures. Part of me would like to start showing again, but I'm just not ready for that at this point. I want it to be worth the time and money that goes into all of it. Maybe next year! I enjoy being at shows and looking at all of the nice horses and riders in their best gear.

June is coming up fast and I need to start planning out things on a calendar so I don't forget! I've been so preoccupied with work and our upcoming trip that I didn't realize summer was coming. I've started doing a bit of yard work and I have my first pot garden (heh!) up and running. The "herb" on the left is parsley, honest!

Max likes to lay on the patio and bake in the sun. He is keeping an eye on the neighbourhood in this picture.
And, my favourite spring flower - the lilac. My lilac tree in the back yard is about to burst with flowers. I hope they flower a bit before we leave on Saturday, so I don't miss it!

My little break is over, better get back to my long lists of things to do before I get behind again!

Tired Thursday?

I don't have much to report on the horse front these days. Rusty is doing well and we have been riding a fair bit. I haven't had time for a lesson for awhile, but I still feel that we have been making some progress. Rusty has a vet appt. tomorrow for his vaccinations and a teeth float, so riding will be out for us.

I meant to post these pictures yesterday for Wordless Wednesday, but once again, I'm a day late and a dollar short. :-)

I was able to watch the annual inspection of the musical ride yesterday. Guess I shouldn't complain about work too much, when I get to see things like that. I know I've posted pictures of the ride before, but I wanted to share a few photos from this year. It was a cloudy day, so the pictures aren't quite as clear as I had hoped. Oh well - you guys get the idea! (edited to add: blogger never lets me make the pictures bigger when you click on them. I'll try and fix it tonight...)

Making Some Progress

I contacted the saddle fitter/maker that I had been told about. He was very polite and helpful on the phone and offered to come out and fit Rusty this weekend! (He also knows my barn owner somehow, so that helped!). I just got home from my session with him and I have a saddle on order!

Turns out that Rusty needs semi-QH bars. The guy put a few bare trees on Rusty and very patiently explained to me how they fit/didn't fit and why. It was very informative. So, I bit the bullet and order a semi-custom saddle from a company he deals with in Alabama called Rocking R Saddles. The saddle was only a couple of hundred more than the Billy Cook (which has been sent back), so that damage wasn't too bad. I have been so frustrated with saddle searching and testing, so this visit came at a good time. The only kicker is that I have to wait about 3 months to get the saddle. Oh well - my guy guarantees the fit, so it will be worth the wait.

I've ordered the trail saddle in the chestnut colour shown in the slightly crappy picture on the left. It will have a black suede seat instead of the reddish one pictured. I was even able to order short fenders for my stubby little legs. That makes me very happy, for some strange reason. lol

There is some floral tooling on the saddle, but not all over the whole saddle. There are 3 silver conchos and a silver brand badge, so I have a tiny bit of bling. I was tempted to order one with more silver, but that just seemed very silly for someone that will probably never show! I just need (hahaha - I don't really need, more like want!!) to order a nice chestnut bridle to match. My justification for ordering another bridle is that I'm riding Rusty with two different bits, depending on what we are working on and I'm getting tired of taking my bridle apart each time. So, I'll have one bridle for the loose ring snaffle and another for his western bit.

I managed to sneak in a short ride after the saddle fitter left. It was super windy outside, but Rusty didn't bat an eye. We did a fair bit of cantering, which is really great for me. My confidence is back up to about 85% and my balance is catching up fast. I really feel like I am doing a better job at being consisten with my cues as well. We are getting the left lead canter from a jog most of the time and the right one is coming along. My balance is all wonky to the right, so I really have to focus on that alot. It is nice to feel like I'm making a bit of progress, regardless of how small.

Welcome to Saddle Fitting Hell

So, the shiny new saddle? Doesn't really fit. It fits him really well standing in the barn, but after lots of trotting and cantering, it rode up on his shoulders. :-( The barn owner rode him for me and got him all sweaty - and the sweat marks were only far forward on his shoulder. I feel for NuzzlingMuzzles - she is going through saddle fitting problems with her arabian mare too!

I'm going to try and send it back to the tack shop - they have a decent trial policy. I have to say that I'm really disappointed with this tack shop and their attitude. I called on Saturday to see if they had any ideas for other saddles that might fit him instead. The lady I spoke to was really rude on the phone and her advice was to try another saddle pad! She asked me to describe the situation with the saddle fit. I tried to explain his back shape and what the saddle was doing - she then said "Well, what am I supposed to do, I can't see your horse, you know..." Oh really? You are in another town 7 hours away and you can't see my horse? What is wrong with you? I quickly ended the conversation before I said something rude back to her.

I'm calling today to get a return authorization to send the saddle back. I really don't get rude people in retail - I'm trying to give you alot of money and if you are just nice with me, I'll buy stuff! Pretty simple, really.

So, I'm back to square one. I just found out about a tack shop in the area and the owner makes and repairs western saddles. How I didn't know this place existed is beyond me! I have every tack shop in the area, with several alternate routes, their hours and brands they sell all permanently etched in my mind! lol. I'm going to call this guy today and see if he has any ideas. It will be much easier to deal with a shop within driving distance. I just hope he is nice and helpful for a change!

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On more positive note, have you guys heard of or been watching Britain's Got Talent? I think this piece has also been all over the news, but if you haven't seen/heard it, you have to check it out. Safe for work...

The embedding option has been disabled, so you'll have to go over to Youtube to watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-KiGva9dV4

I won't say anything more on it - you just have to watch it!

Oh boy!Ohboy!Ohboy!

Guess what arrived today??

My bad-ass photography skills make the box look way smaller than it actually is...

Keep your fingers crossed that it fits ol' Rusty! I'm going out tonight to test it.

Got mints??

Here is a video of Rusty sucking on his mints - he is totally crazy about them. I only give him a couple of mints after he is untacked and in his stall. He was getting way too pushy about them, pawing in the cross ties if he didn't get one. We do not tolerate behaviour like that, so the treats (if any) wait until I'm ready to go home. The other boarder thinks I'm terribly mean for doing this, but I think Rusty will survive!

You might have to turn up your sound to hear him sucking on the mints - he was a little distracted with me pointing the camera in his face...


Got mints? from Laura Jones on Vimeo.

Things are on a roll...

I made it out to the barn to visit Rusty last night. He was his usual laid-back self. The weather was beautiful and it was great to be outside and enjoying the fresh air. I arrived just as a lesson was starting, so I decided to watch the lesson outside instead of riding in the indoor. I just can't stand to ride inside when it is so nice outside. I sat on the mounting block in the sun and had 2 cats on my lap - not too rough!

Two teenage girls were getting a lesson on riding barrels so I learned alot from watching that. It was interesting to watch the girls try and figure out the placements for the turns. The turn on 3rd seemed to be especially hard for them. The horses were also taking advantage of them a bit and going really wide if the girls didn't give good cues. After a few times around the pattern, the girls relaxed and were laughing and wooping it up - it must've been a nice break from their regular lesson.

I got Rusty ready and warmed him up a bit and I couldn't resist the barrels. We trotted the pattern a few times and after that went ok, I would canter between 2nd and 3rd, trot the turn and then canter home. It was pretty damn fun, let me tell you! Sorry there are no pictures yet again, but I was alone... I can totally see why some of you love barrels so much! I'm sure Rusty has done games before, he seemed really willing to take the turns and once he got warmed up was cantering along nicely. He isn't particularly fast, but it sure was a fun break from the regular rides we do. I'll be sure to mess around with the barrels a couple of times a week from now on.

I had a pretty big smile on my face when I was done riding - I haven't felt that comfortable cantering (on any horse) in quite some time. I wasn't worried about falling, my seat or Rusty taking off. I guess I'm starting to trust him a bit more. Here's to progress!

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On an unrelated note, I found this cute picture online or in an email someone sent me and thought I'd post it...

Back to the Grind...

I am back from my vacation. Not too pleased to be back at work, but what can you do? There are bills to be paid and new saddles to buy!

Coming back to work after 10 days off sure is tough though. I was wearing comfy capris and track pants and running shoes last week, now I am in stupid grown up work clothes and heels. Blech! lol. I was pretty grumpy this morning, but it is wearing off as the day goes on.

We had a good shopping trip in Michigan - found some good deals on spring/summer clothes and a couple of pairs of new shoes. No handbags this time around though. I took about 3 pictures all of last week (and none of them turned out) so unfortunately I don't have anything to post for you guys! I always have a good time with my family on our shopping trips - there is lots of laughter and silliness, which is good to help wash away the stress of work and things.

I didn't plan to not take photos or blog last week, but I think I needed a total break from computers and cameras and things. I read books, did some crafts with my Mom and just spent alot of time relaxing and decompressing.

I did make it to the tack shop that I mentioned in my last post. It was huge (by my standards)!!! Much bigger and well-stocked than my local tack shops. They had a lot of western clothing and cool stuff, although, their cowboy boot selection was really quite crappy. If you can believe it, all I bought was a western bit and a curb chain for Rusty! I went in there giving myself permission to buy all kinds of stuff and it turns out there was nothing that really caught my fancy - well, except for the new saddles, that is.

Now, I didn't buy one on the spot, but I talked to the staff and sat in about 10 or so. I really like the Billy Cook pleasure saddles - and get this - the stirrups actually adjusted to be short enough for me! That is a pretty big deal, as several other brands that I've tried/borrowed just can't be adjusted enough for my stubby little legs. So, this week I'm going to talk to my barn owner about the fit, get a wither tracing of the old boy and then call the shop back and probably order a saddle!!!!

I'm really quite excited, I hope one of them fits. I'm really not happy with my current saddle, so I could sure use a break in that department! There isn't alot of brand selection in my budget in my local area, so if the Billy Cooks don't fit, I won't have a lot of other options. I really don't want to order from the US, since he is so hard to fit. Trying to return a saddle to the US with shipping fees, currency conversion and duty charges would be no fun at all. A couple of local shops can order other brands, such as Tucker and Circle Y, but they are special order only - no returns... So, you have to be 100% sure that you order what you need. With Rusty's fit issues, that scares me a bit. Note to self: make sure the next horse you purchase is a normal size in the back for saddle fitting

I won't get out to the barn to see ol' Rusty until tomorrow night as I have a family thing tonight. The weather is beautiful, so you can bet I'll be grumpy sitting at dinner, wishing I was out riding instead!

Packing up and Heading out

Well, I'm almost ready to go on my little trip to visit my family. I fly out tomorrow night after work (woo!) and first thing Saturday morning we pack up the minivan and drive to the exciting town of Saginaw MI. It's about a 2 hr trip from where I grew up, so not too far. I have a wallet bursting with cash and my passport and I'm chomping at the bit to get going.

I'm guessing tomorrow is going to be a long day at work!

I probably won't be posting much while I'm away, as I'll be away from Rusty. I had two great rides this week, so that will have to carry me over till I get back. The outdoor riding ring is in perfect shape, so I rode out there both Tuesday and tonight. I also went out for a hack with the barn owner both nights! We rode down a long laneway and around the hay fields. The laneway was super wet and it turns out that Rusty has no problems going through water! What a good horse he is.

I'm also planning to hit a big (for around here) tack shop sometime next week. It's about 1.5 hour drive from my Mom's house. I may suck her in to going with me to keep me company, but she may not want to wander around a tack shop for a few hours! On my list - cowboy boots, a western shank bit for Rusty, maaaaybbeee a nice western bridle - wouldn't mind a bit of bling and I'm going to talk to them about saddles. I'm really not happy with my saddle and this store has the best western saddle selection in the province!! Yipppeeee!!!! I spent some time on the phone a few months ago talking to someone in the saddle department and she was really knowledgeable, so I'm hoping to get a lot more info in person.

That about wraps it up for me - I hope everyone has a good week. I probably won't be able to resist checking in and commenting, so I'll be around...

Rainy Monday update

We have had 2-3 weeks of beautiful sunny weather, so a couple of days of rain isn't so bad. I didn't ride yesterday, because I don't like the sound of the pouring rain on the arena roof - that sounds kind of silly, I know. A light rain isn't a problem, it can actually sound quite nice.

I forgot my rain boots (aren't these ones with the horses cute?) and as I went out to bring Rusty in to be groomed, I noticed that he was tucked in his shelter on the opposite side of the field.

The field is super muddy and I really didn't want to slop all the way out to get him. He usually comes when he is called, so I was hoping that was the case yesterday. Sure enough, after calling him a few times, he came over the the fence. Good boy Rusty! I was very pleased with myself that I wouldn't get soaked and muddy. Hah - that'll teach me! I let Rusty into the sand riding ring so I didn't have to halter him in the field. The brat walked over the where the remnants of an old round bale we sitting next to a giant deep puddle.

Can you see where this is going?

My clever scheme was foiled. Every time I went to grab Rusty from the hay, he would turn and stand in the middle of this giant puddle! I would try and shoo him out, but he just ignored the lead line whacking that big butt of his!! What a brat. After a few minutes of this, I was soaked already from the rain, so I just waded in to get him. My boots held up to the water, but my pants were soaked almost to the knee! What a rotten horse!

I was definitely not in the mood to do much after that, so he got a quick grooming and was tucked into his dry stall with some hay. I may have caved and given him a few peppermints as well. I should really try and get a video of him eating mints - he crunches them and then sucks on his tongue - I'm not sure if they make his tongue tingle, or what, but it sure is funny. He closes his eyes, lets his ears get all floppy and has his tongue sticking out while he makes a funny sucking noise.

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The other boarder at the barn is thinking of breeding her pinto mare. She has picked out a few APHA studs locally, but doesn't know anything about bloodlines or show records. I'm no expert, but thanks to all of the posts from my wonderful fellow bloggers, I have been able to explain a lot of stuff to her. I was able to help her develop a bunch of questions to ask the breeders, so I hope that has helped her a bit. I gave her a bunch of my old APHA journals and showed her how to use allbreedpedigree.com - she hadn't heard of the web site.

I would really love to have a nice mare some day that I could breed. I think training a foal would be just so interesting. I'm sure someday I'll get to this, it is on my bucket list. Maybe when I am closer to retirement I'll have more time (and money...) to devote to that endeavour.

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This post is all over the place - sorry... It just seems that I need to get all of this stuff out of my head! Putting it down in the blog is a great way to help my overcluttered brain sort things out.

OK - this section is where I could use some help from readers:

We are planning two trips to the US this year, both on the East coast (no West Coast for us this year...).

The first trip will be in late May and we are planning to go to NYC for our 10th anniversary! We will probably be driving, since it is only 8-10 hours away. We were thinking of spending 3-4 days in the city itself and then driving home via Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. I somehow haven't visited those three states yet, so it'll be fun to check them off my list! Does anyone have any suggestions on places to go/visit and of course, any good tack shops ???? My hubby has agreed to stop at tack shops, so I don't want to miss that opportunity!

The second trip will be in September. The hubby is in the World Duathlon (run-bike-run) championships (in his age group, he isn't a pro athlete) and it is being held in Concord, North Carolina. We are thinking of driving down - it will probably take 1.5 - 2 days to get there if we take our time. I'm not sure if we will have extra time to tour around or not, but any tips again on tack shops, outlet malls or cool places to visit would be greatly appreciated!!!

Well, my lunch break is over, better get back to work!

Do these pictures make my butt look big???

Friday update

Things have been busy around here, so my blog has been a bit neglected. Work was really busy and just yesterday things backed off a bit, so today should be a nice relaxing day for a change.

Rusty's eye update - his eyes are doing really well - the steroid eye ointment has helped alot. Here's hoping we get a few months or more without a flare-up!

We have had 2 weeks of fantastic weather - sunny and up to a high of 10 C ( Google tells me that is around 50F). Most of the snow is gone (woooot!!) and there are even a few buds coming out on the trees. This is about a month earlier than normal, so I'm trying not to get too excited. We could still have snow and crappy weather this time of year. I took this picture on Tuesday - this is our outdoor riding ring - it is very close to being usable. Almost all of the snow you see on the left was gone last night when I was there. The water had mostly drained off as well. Luckily, since it has a stone dust base and good sand, the water doesn't make it muddy and too slippery. I like riding through the puddles as training for Rusty.
I have been riding alot - about 4 times a week for the past two weeks. What a novelty! I even took Rusty for a walk/jog up and down the laneway a few times just to get outside. I'm tired of riding in circles inside. He was really good - he doesn't spook or anything - just looks around at the scenery. I can't wait to go for a ride around the hay fields when everything dries up!

My last regular riding lesson is next Thursday. The barn owner was sick alot this winter, so she is cutting back on her lessons. I'm disappointed, but a bit happy that I will be saving a bit of money each month There is a chance to do one-off lessons if she has extra time.

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I have 2 more weeks of work before I get a little vacation. I'm taking the week off before Easter to go and see my family. I could really use a vacation.

• We are going on our annual shopping trip to some outlet malls in Michigan - it is about 2 hours from where my family lives. There aren't any good tack shops in the area, so I will be able to resist shopping for more tack I don't need! This trip will be the first of four trips to the US that we have tentatively planned for this year. I think I might do a post on my trips, as I need some advice from readers on tack shops on the East Coast!

I really wish I had bought and saved some US $$$$ when our dollar was at par last year. The exchange rate is kind of crappy now and that sucks. Oh well. Next time I will be smarter about that!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Fitness for riders

Just a note - thanks for the comments on the pictures - I will keep the one with Rusty's reflection in the puddle - I didn't notice that until it was pointed out! I'm also keeping the headless rolling horse -probably couldn't recreate that if I tried! The "horse of the damned" with the glowing eyes and the others will not survive the cut though!

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On a topic totally unrelated to my bad-ish pictures, I have been thinking alot of about fitness and getting into shape. Generally speaking and for improving my riding. The two go hand in hand, in my opinion. For various reasons, I have let my workouts and my health suffer a bit over the past couple of years. Starting back into riding again has made that painfully obvious!

I'm sure there are lots of people that work outside and/or ride a bunch of horses a day - those people probably don't have the fitness problems that your average-stuck-in-an-office-ride-3x-a-week folks do. I'm sure some people feel that the best training for riding is riding - I can't disagree with that, but I also feel that there is room for specific improvements to overall fitness that can benefit riding ability.

There are a few books geared towards fitness and flexibility for riding - a quick search on amazon.ca lists quite a few - Flexibility and Fitness for Riders, Fitness for Horse & Rider, Pilates for the Dressage Rider, Yoga on Horseback: A Guide to Mounted Yoga Exercises for Riders, The Rider's Fitness Program, etc. etc. Are some of these books a bit gimicky? I'm guessing maybe...

Several magazines have run articles on fitness as well, the APHA journal had a big series on it in 2008 (I think) and I've seen articles in Dressage Today and some British riding magazines, to name a few.

I haven't purchased any of these books yet, as I happen to know a great lady that specializes in equestrian fitness. I've been saving up a bit of money so that I can set up a small program with her and work at getting back in shape. I seem to do better with someone helping to motivate me.

Check out her web site when you get a chance - you can sign up for free monthly fit-tips related to riding and training. Equifitt.com is also writing a weekly blog on specific exercises for riding positions - each week she critiques (in a nice way) someone's basic riding position and then makes suggestions for exercises that could help. I plan to start reading these posts regularly - any way to learn is good, in my opinion! I'm too chicken to send her pics of my riding right now - but maybe someday...

I think all types of riders could benefit from specific training like this - someone who is out of shape like me will benefit from any exercise program at all and someone who is quite fit and advanced may be able to add some specific core strengthening exercises to their existing workout to help their riding get to the next level. Strengthening your core muscles - abs and back can go a long way in making your riding more balanced and strong.

Photo bloopers

I love seeing pictures on other people's blogs - I think it really gives an extra "oomph" to the post. Now, not every post requires 12 pictures or anything, but it seems to give the readers a bit more of a connection to the writer. I can see the fears of privacy playing a part in things - maybe posting too many pictures can endanger that sense of self in some way...

As we all know, photographing animals can be really tough - they tend to move around alot! Also, the colour of their hair/fur makes for a challenging shot. Anyone tried to photograph a black lab lately??

I personally enjoy taking pictures - I'm not particularly good at it, but I'll usually get one or two good ones out of that. I have been working at cleaning and archiving all of the stuff on my hard drive and as I have been going through all of my pictures, I realized that there were LOTS that I needed to delete! Closed eyes, glowing eyes, blurriness, animals looking the wrong way, headless horses, bad angles, overexposure, underexposure - you name it - I've captured it all! lol

So, in an effort at some humour, I offer you the best of my horse photo bloopers. I'm deleting all of these and hundres of others that I won't subject you guys to. A few people have done posts on how not to list a horse for sale - using bad pictures like these is a good start!! I won't put commentary on each picture - I'll leave it to your imagination! My personal favourite is the headless rolling horse... :-)