A Visit from Santa Horse

If Jessica thinks it's early for lights, I wonder what she thinks of our early visit from Santa Cowboy and his ReinDexter?

It's a good thing they work for carrots, or they would never put up with this humiliation. But as long as the carrots and hay keep coming, they are remarkably good sports. Cowboy is an incredible ham and really turns it on for the camera. Dexter is usually agreeable, but I did figure out how to use the fill flash, and that had him a bit edgy. Cowboy is willing to put up with the flash as long as he looks good in the end.

Before I get too far into this, that was an "owl" in my driveway last night, not an "own"...

It was nice to see the sunshine today, and I got to not only clean paddocks, but actually ride my horse. Still bareback, but he was moving very nicely. Got the extended trot back, and the right lead is improving. He'll pick it up now with minimum fussing, and stays in it for a reasonable length of time. Maybe after the holidays I can put the saddle back on again.

Got word from Parelli today that we have officially achieved Level 3 On-Line! We filmed the audition in May, then it took a while to get around to transferring the clip to a VHS tape, which I promptly taped over because my VCR, which I haven't used in ages, is apparently broken. Then Laura and I had to figure out how to transfer the video from the camcorder to the computer, and then edit it so that it was compressed enough to upload to YouTube. That learning experience was worth a YouTube video all by itself. But we achieved it in September. After all that, I wasn't really all that happy with the audition as I felt Cowboy looked totally bored and disinterested, and I didn't want to get after him because, after all, we are supposed to look like we are in total harmony. Plus I hated the music I had selected (well, I actually love the music but it was a very poor choice for this purpose). So I put off submitting the audition until a couple weeks ago because I wasn't sure it was going to pass muster. I was quite surprised to find that we not only passed, but we were rated at Level 4 in five areas, including Relationship, Rapport, Exuberance (!), Squeeze Game and Draw. We also had a lot of checks in the Level 3++ and Level 3+ columns. The only area we were rated a straight Level 3 was in Assertiveness. So apparently I should have gotten after him a bit anyway. Anyway, I guess they didn't think he looked as bored as I thought he did, and I'm especially happy with those Level 4s in Relationship and Rapport. So we still have to submit auditions for Freestyle (riding) and Liberty, but now I'm really encouraged that at least we're on the right track.

Here's the link to the audition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmPjssZgQ1A

I need to remind myself to dress better next time, and lose about 50 pounds...

I think that's it for now. Back to work tomorrow.

It's Holiday Time!

Thanksgiving is over and we are officially in holiday mode. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of family and food. Mine was good even with the Incredible Shrinking Family--we lost Dad just a year ago right before last Thanksgiving and my niece was sick, so we were down to 5 people. A generous former client, whose food business grew to the point of hiring a staff finance person, still gives me a turkey each Thanksgiving and this year it was a 20-pounder. For five people. Lots of leftovers and today I made soup for the first time in years.

What am I thankful for? Family of course, good health, charming horses in my backyard, a bossy cat in the house, etc. Also, I am ever so thankful that I got the Christmas lights up today. I must make a note on next year's calendar to check out the lights on November 15 and go buy replacements BEFORE I have ladders set up and extension cords all over the place. This year I had to get especially creative with piecing strings of lights together and we'll see how they hold together. I also light up the blue spruce in my yard. Twelve years ago, it was a cute 3-foot live Christmas tree that I planted outside in the mistaken belief that these were slow-growing trees. I'm not sure exactly how tall it is now, but it uses way, way more lights than it used to, and reaching the vicinity of the top is more challenging every year. This year I used my 8-foot ladder and the extension poles for my tree pruner with a hook fastened to the top. And STILL didn't quite get to the top. Plus it was raining on and off, and the gopher holes add a little challenge to placing the ladder. But, the lights are up and working. Thank goodness. I am also glad I had brandy in the house for afterward.


Here's the evidence that the lights are working. I used my Nikon SLR that has pretty much been abandoned since I got the ever-so-convenient iPhone, but I was pretty sure the Nikon would do a better job of this. Which fortunately it did because I couldn't find the manual and just blindly messed with the settings to turn off the flash. As I was packing up the tripod, an own started hooting very very close--on top of the utility pole at the end of my driveway about 30 feet away. I could see him outlined against the sky. What a photo op! But do you think I could figure out how to turn the flash back on? Nope.

I did find the manual eventually, for which I am also thankful. I now have flash cards made up to keep with the camera so that I can perform a few basic operations. Stuff that I used to be able to do blindfolded with my 35mm but I am reduced to tears trying to figure it out on the digital. Must practice until it becomes second nature. Must be time to start on New Year's resolutions.

Tomorrow is supposed to be clear so the plan is to at least ride in the arena. The year of health and fitness is ending up about as usual, but I'm back to working on Cowboy's saddle fit. This year, we did make progress in that his entire back did not roan out, but he did roan out pretty spectacularly right behind the withers and he is getting very cranky about cantering and going down hills. His right lead has completely disappeared, which is concerning to me because he never had trouble picking up either lead. I've been in discussions with the saddle maker and am trying different shim patterns to try to lift the front of the saddle and get the pressure off those spots. The hair is actually rubbed off in those spots. I finally decided to just leave the saddle off completely until the hair grows back and the thickened skin areas heal. Then at least we'll be getting a fresh start. Meanwhile, he gets massages and ridden with the bareback pad.