Lesson Time

This has been one heckuva week, trying to plan work and personal lives around a day playing hooky to take a riding lesson in a town (theoretically) 2.5 hours away.

On Wednesday, 11/9/11, we loaded up the horses in time for an 8 am departure from Sebastopol to our Colleen Kelly lesson in Gilroy which is, according to Mapquest, 2 hours and 22 minutes away. Mapquest has apparently never made the trip anywhere near the vicinity of commute hour. We made good time until we hit Oakland at a little before 9 a.m.. Supposedly this is after the morning commute, but somebody forgot to notify the rest of the automotive community, and we did a slow crawl all the way south to San Jose and the merge with 101. Three hours later we arrived at Rancho Ruiz just north of Gilroy, still well in advance of our appointed hour of 1 pm. for our lesson. The weather in the North Bay has been brisk and cool, so we wore our winter clothes, but in Gilroy it seems that Indian Summer is lingering and the temp hit the 80s. The horses have their full winter coats and we were in long sleeves so it was a very warm day indeed! But the facility is really beautiful, designed by an architectural team from Oregon specializing in stable/landscape design. I think I may have found my dream job! Check out Equinearchitecture.com.

The horses had taken the trip very well--we love our ponies! I have gotten Cowboy a slow-feed hay bag as he can go through a haybag in record time, and he definitely does not appreciate the gesture. The small openings in the bag cause him to slow down his consumption and it caused him some consternation. We caught him pulling his tie rope through his Blocker tie ring and sneaking around the trailer to steal Dexter's hay. But they were nice and relaxed and happy in their surroundings, which certainly made the lesson a better experience.

Laura got her lesson on Dexter first. Her concern was Dexter's odd "skipping" gait and his reluctance to move forward. Colleen's focus is on "rider biodynamics" so she assessed Laura's riding posture first, and then moved on to Dexter's movement. What I mostly got from the lesson is that we are way over-analyzing the horse issues and sometimes you just have to get after them a bit. Colleen did emphasize tapping the horse's shoulder, not the rump, to get the horse to move out, and soon Dexter was moving nicely forward in response to the tapping. Colleen is from Australia and is very extroverted--she pointed out that at one point Dexter discovered that he has a butt, and that now he must use it! I'll say one thing--this is really a one-hour workout and you get your money's worth.

After Laura and Dexter were done, it was time for Cowboy and me to take our turn. My concerns were that Cowboy is my tenth horse, and that makes 10 horses I've owned that work off the forehand rather than the hind end, and maybe it is not the horse that is the cause of my never achieving a flying lead change. I was also concerned about his saddle fit issues and what I may be doing to contribute to it. Colleen focused on the flying lead changes and assured me that we would achieve it that day. Wow! After 40 years of trying....She also went into some detail about the bit I was using (a thick French link mouthpiece recommended and sold by Parelli)--apparently this is a popular bit with larger horses with wide mouths, but not appropriate for smaller mouths (she referrred to Cowboy's mouth as a "teacup" mouth), and recommends a very inexpensive loose-ring sweet iron snaffle sold by Stateline Tack. Cowboy does tend to fuss a lot with the French link bit, and I do have another bit very similar to the Stateline bit that I intend to try when I have 5 free minutes. Then she recommended abandoning the rope reins in favor of leather (much easier to make subtle adjustments), and then we shortened my stirrups A LOT. She had me trot and canter along the rail, and disengage the hindquarters so that we were moving diagonally across the arena toward the opposite rail. I would have sworn we had this move down, but it was way harder than I would have thought and we kept getting crooked. To correct this, she had us go off the diagonal into a circle--not an intuitive move, but designed to get the correct bend and flexibility. The idea was that when we reached the opposite side, we would do a fairly fast change of direction, so that if we were moving from right to left diagonally across the arena, when we reached the left fence, we would start circling to the right--forcing a lead change from left to right. Sounds good in practice but really hard to do! I kept getting my hands too high so what with correcting my hand height, the newly shortened stirrups, and continued crookedness, we never did achieve a flying lead change, but boy did I learn a lot. I have a western saddle, and I kept getting the reins snagged on the horn. I was not adjusted to the short stirrups, so when Cowboy would slow down abruptly I felt I was going to catapult over his head. But, the fact that she was asking to accomplish so much actually made me feel much better about my riding ability since she would not have been asking for these fairly complex moves if she didn't think we were capable of achieving them. After an hour of this, Cowboy and I were both dripping sweat (did I mention the temp was in the 80's?). We were allowed to set up a video camera so there is a clip from the video here. (I had to compress the file to upload so it looks like the quality is seriously compromised). One useful bit of info that Colleen imparted is that the preferred libation for riding is gin and tonic rather than beer as the gin and tonic tastes good even when warm and the beer does not! Who knows what you will learn at these events.....I also got caught red-handed (red-footed?) in my relentless and mindless kicking of my horse. Feedback--DO NOT kick your horse with your heel! One nudge with the mid-calf or with the knee, and if you don't get a response, go to the crop/whip. The horse should respond to leg pressure, and if you keep after them with the leg, it is just annoying nagging.

We were pretty tired as we headed out just before 4 pm and put out good thoughts for a speedy trip home. Alas, not to be. We got onto Hwy 880 at San Jose and immediately traffic slowed to a crawl. This continued, with speeds mostly at 5 mph with occasional bursts of dizzying 35 mph, all the way up the East Bay until just before the Richmond-San Rafael bridge almost 3 hours later, when we finally got clear roadways. We had left the trailer windows open so the horses could get maximum air flow and were praying that we would not have 2 horses suffering from exhaust fume poisoning by the time we got home. They took the whole trip in stride (did I mention that we love our tolerant ponies?) and we finally pulled into the driveway at just after 8 pm.

Since we got back it has been nonstop work, but it is now Friday night and although I still have work to do, I don't have any appointments and it isn't supposed to rain tomorrow, so I am crossing my fingers that over the weekend I can try to put to use what I learned on Wednesday.

Been awhile...

It's been busy and I'm surprised to see just how long it's been since the last post. Plenty of work (mixed blessing)

Still working on the saddle fit but with the help of the Parelli saddlemakers, there are vast improvements. Some subtle changes in the shimming pattern and paying more attention to the way I ride have at least stopped the rubbing and he seems to have more back and shoulder freedom. Saddle still seems to sink in the front and wobble in the back though...but the horse seems happier and I'm not getting many offers to buck anymore.

Yesterday we hit the trail to try avoid the terrible rain we heard was coming today. Ironically, it did not rain today but it poured late yesterday. Laura even forced me to get up early to get a head start to beat the weather. It was pretty cool and we got some sprinkles but we did get pretty lucky with the weather. I don't know if it's the change of seasons or something else, but the wildlife was out in force at Pt Reyes yesterday. We were met in the parking lot by a heron who apparently was looking for the Morgan Horse ranch.

There were also deer hanging around, which didn't used to be unusual but a couple years ago there was a movement to eliminate the non-native white and spotted deer, and since then, deer have been in short supply. They were back yeaterday, though, and we even spotted one of the lucky white deer escapees on our way back at the end of the ride.

We kept our eyes open for bobcats and coyotes, which we have spotted before and always like to see, and hoped we didn't spot any of the larger carnivores that live in the park (here kitty, kitty, kitty...). No sightings though, and it it was an uneventful ride to Horse Camp. Horse Camp closes for camping at the end of October, to Cowboy's relief. During the camping season, it's a bustle of activity and the hubbub gives Cowboy the vapors. Thankfully, all was very quiet and we rode through with a minimum of drama. We did spot a doe napping on a knoll in the middle of camp as we headed toward the restrooms, which we were hoping were open but were padlocked shut. But as I was checking out that situation, Laura spotted a fox lounging about behind the bathrooms. This was a new event--we know there are foxes locally, including some that live in our backyard, but we have never actually spotted one during our rides and in fact, I've never seen one at all. We were very quiet so as not to frighten him (her?), but soon it was obvious that the fox was unconcerned about having us so near, and in fact let me circle him quite closely with my iPhone camera. It seemed pretty healthy so I'm hoping it's placid nature and hanging around in broad daylight wasn't a result of being rabid!

 

We finally left him and got to Five Brooks, where the bathrooms were open, and the fox and deer were both still in their spots when we got back about 15 minutes later. Still unconcerned. Obviously the fox could tell our horses were not into fox hunting. He did finally get up and mosey away.

The sky was getting darker and we trotted a good part of the way back, making the horses grumpy as we usually let them do a lot of grazing along the way. Good thing we hustled, though, because the rain started coming down when we were about 50 feet from the horse trailer. The horses never got disrobed so fast! I actually had Cowboy loaded before we remembered the shipping boots, and I will get no points for safety since I put his boots on him while he was in the trailer, with me crouched under his belly. Good thing we have nice horses! It was a wet ride home but we still managed to get them back in their paddocks and fed before it really started dumping. I did have to go shovel some trenches in the downpour though, to keep their paddocks above water, and actually got a lot of water INSIDE my muck boots. They got to dry out in front of the heater overnight.

On Wednesday we are heading to Gilroy for a Colleen Kelly lesson on rider biomechanics. Colleen Kelly is a dressage judge who lectures and teaches on rider biomechanics and has hooked up with the Parellis. Rider biomechanics is the science of natural riding position and analyzes a riders posture and position to improve performance. I'm hoping that in my 1-hour lesson she can help with getting Cowboy even more comfortable with the saddle, help me keep from getting sore during rides, stop bracing in my stirrups and figure out why I have never ever been able to get a horse to do a correct flying lead change (I've gotten changes in the front legs but not the back so I end up with a crossfiring horse). I guess that's a tall order for one hour but let's see what this gal is made of!

more info at http://colleenkellyriderbiomechanics.com/.

Well, it's late (even later than usual with the time change) so I better call it quits.

Ouch!

Well, we're back.  We left Wendover, NV at 4 a.m. Pacific Time (well, it was really 5 a.m. Mountain Time, but since you enter Pacific Time about 20 feet west of Wendover, I'm going with Pacific Time) and streaked across Nevada and California with the minimum possible pit stops to arrive back home at 2 Tuesday afternoon. Getting away is great but getting home is even better. Got unpacked and re-acquainted with the cat, who was happy to see me, and with the horse, who was not quite as enthusiastic. Vacation over for him too! I'm easing back into work--I had planned to hit the ground running but easing back seems a lot more friendly.

I got (more) saddle shims while in Colorado in my never-ending quest to get the saddle fit right. We now have not only white spots on his shoulders but actual rubbed-raw spots. NOT good! I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out how to make the horse comfortable.  I tried the suggest shimming and was met with pinned ears and bucking when I requested a canter. I finally had to drop the whole project as I was on the verge of losing it completely.

Enter our veterinarian, who visited on Wednesday to administer rabies shots. A quick eval of Cowboy pointed the problem, not at the shoulders, but at the back end of the saddle. Most saddle fit today is geared toward allowing a lot of freedom at the shoulders and is designed to allow a lot of room for wide horses all the way from the front to the back. Cowboy is not wide, in actuality is quite narrow, and the back end of the saddle tends to float when the front end is shimmed correctly. All the saddle fit suggestions are geared toward allowing enough room for movement and don't address excess movement from a saddle that is actually too wide.  So this may (or may not) be the problem. Yesterday I tackled the problem again with Tere's suggested shimming, and was again met with pinned ears and bucking. Changed the shimming. Same result. Finally, in frustration, took off the saddle completely and hopped on bareback. Same result. Hmmmm.....perhaps this is behavioral and not related to saddle fit.  After a few corrective measures, I got a happy relaxed canter, ears forward, no bucking. Sort of a good thing but doesn't solve the problem of why he is getting white spots and rubbing on the shoulders.  So I remain flummoxed about this.

But Tere did suggest laser therapy and body work for Cowboy, so today Laura and I started working on that. His head should be down for the body work, so we took him out in the pasture. Cowboy is a horse who likes to move his feet, which can drive you a bit crazy if you are trying to keep him still. I followed the suggestion to just let him move around, and we took quite a journey around the pasture. Until he finally jammed his foot in a yellow jacket nest. Talk about exciting! I was trying to apply pressure to his belly to get him to lift his back at the withers, and suddenly the horse was airborne and heading toward me. This was a bit disconcerting but while I was trying to figure out what the horse was up to, I suddenly realized that something tiny was squirming around high in my blue jeans. That was my first hint that the problem was bee-related. OUCH! So now I am trying to control a completely frantic horse, who doesn't know if he should run or roll (opted for rolling) while dealing with a fiery set of stings to my person in a very inconvenient location. We headed toward the barn at high speed and bucked our way through the barn with Laura trying to shut the barn doors on the angry swarm.  We exited on the other side and Cowboy dropped and rolled again. Meanwhile, I am still fighting the bee in my jeans. Laura grabbed Cowboy and I made my way to a nearby stall to drop my drawers and tend to my wounds. Ken conveniently showed up with more beer but he was directed away from the stall I was occupying to honor my modesty, which frankly I didn't much care about at that point. The beer was medicinal though. Cowboy and I both got topical Benadryl and we'll see how we are tomorrow. But if I am sighted wearing baggy pants with absolutely no visible panty line, there's a reason for that.

Tomorrow night I am headed for Dressage in the Wine Country to cover the event for the Horse Journal. I requested, and got, a press pass--my very first press pass! So I get to attend THE horse event of the season for free. Woo Hoo! I guess I better start figuring out which baggy pair of pants I should wear for the occasion.

Last Day in Colorado

Today was the last day of the Parelli Summit. We'll be heading home tomorrow eager to inflict our new learnings on our blissfully unaware horses. As always, the Summit was inspirational, motivating and emotional.

We had a beautiful day for the finale after 2 days of cold, clouds and light rain. This is the view from the covered arena, with a balloon visible in the background.

A moment of silence was observed for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This was followed by a ride by one of the top Parelli instructors, Kalley (the Cowgirl) Krickenberg, a former firefighter, carrying the American flag in a pattern around the arena at a high gallop. All without a bridle, by the way, as the theme for this Summit is Bridleless Riding.  Not a dry eye in the place after that. At least mine weren't.

I always come away from the Summit red-eyed and emotional. In addition to Kalley's ride, we heard from Lauren Barwick who rides with the Parellis and won gold and silver at the 2008 Paralympics in Hong Kong. Lauren is paralyzed below the belly button and has overcome tremendous challenges in her quest for gold, and is going for more gold in London next year. And Pat's son Caton, who has faced challenges since birth and was not expected to ever walk, now rides with the best and competes (and wins) in spite of serious physical and other impediments. Today he and Pat, along with several other Parelli pros, gave a demonstration of working cows during the lunch break. Caton is the closest rider in the picture. He's in his twenties now and riding well. We've been watching him for several years and used to be terrified watching him ride. I still wish the Parellis would endorse helmets.

So after 3 days of hearing about damaged riders and damaged horses who have overcome the odds to become inspirational success stories, I have to say their strategy works. I'm inspired to be a better person, to, if I may borrow the Parelli mission, to make the world a better place for horses, and also for people. I signed up to volunteer for the Parelli Foundation, which offers aid to rescues, therapeutic riding centers, and offers scholarships to Parelli students.

I just hope the inspiration can last as we start our journey back to Normal tomorrow!

Living Large at Parelli Land

It's been a whirlwind last few months, mostly related to work, but Cowboy and I did manage to pass all our Parelli Level 3 assessments and are (well, at least I am) eagerly awaiting the coveted green string. Meanwhile, I've managed to get work (barely) under wraps and am now blissfully on vacation in Pagosa Springs at the Parelli Summit. Laura and I had an uneventful 2-day road trip to get here and are now hanging out in the Rockies surrounded by horses and crazy horse people. Weather has been cloudy and cool with sprinkles of rain occasionally but it's still gorgeous here, even if someone did seem to steal all the oxygen.

The mood here seems to be a bit more subdued than in previous years. The effect of budget cuts are evident but why should the Parellis be any different than the rest of the world? The horsemanship is still top-notch and is, as always, inspiring and motivational.

My neighbor Ann is watching after Jasmine, and Laura's husband Ken is home tending the horses. Cowboy and Dexter are vacationing across the fence at Laura's place to make things easier on Ken at feeding time. Apparently they don't miss us at all since there is no riding, breakfast is considerably earlier than at my place, and Ken is an extremely good carrot supplier (locally famous as Carrot Man). We miss them terribly though. Although we did have to scope out the Atwood Ranch yearlings. After all, our horses are not getting any younger and it might be time to start looking for replacements.

Speaking of which...Here are a couple new friends of ours, Big Ben and Ladybug, who we think would make fabulous additions to the herd. Ladybug is a Dexter twin, a striking strawberry roan, and Big Ben has Cowboy's exuberant and cheerful personality. They are NOT coming home with us but wouldn't it be great...

Two more days of horse heaven and then time to head back home. My cell phone, which rarely rings, has been busy. Apparently I have clients who DO miss me after all.

The Horse Journal is out, and is even posted online, with my article on a local mustang training project the featured article!

http://www.sonomacountyhorsecouncil.org/content/sonoma-county-horse-journal

What the??????

I am trying to respond to comments and am being directed in an endless loop of logins. Huh? Anyway, the whole trophy wife thing is just a joke! Obviously I will never be, and will never strive to be, a trophy wife! But it would sure be sweet to have a trophy hubby with deep pockets!

We are back to rainy weather again. At a time of year when people are planning outdoor graduations and weddings, I'm curling up with hot cocoa instead of firing up the grill. And there is not much riding going on.

So instead of riding, I've been tuning in to RFDTV's horse programs, hoping to at least expand my knowledge base. This morning, Craig Cameron did a segment on developing a brave horse. That seemed like it was made for me after last week's ride on my shrinking violet. So I checked it out. The new princess, who has now been named Jasmine, was in the room, playing with her various cat toys, but when Craig Cameron came on, she was riveted. Seems she likes horses, too. I hope she got some hints so she can help me out.

Jasmine is getting much more comfortable around here and is turning out to be a live-wire. Patches never liked to play with toys, and the few I did get for her have been hidden away for years, as her reaction to them was total disdain. I swear she rolled her eyes whenever I tried to get her interested. Jasmine, on the other hand, loves all of them and gets full mileage from them, and if there are no toys around will chase her tail instead.

This has turned out to be a problem since she is very nocturnal. So am I, usually, but I do like to get to sleep by 1 or 2 in the morning. Jasmine is just warming up about that time and is ready to play. She tries to engage me by patting and licking my face as I try to sleep. She's determined, too. If I pull the sheet over my head, she pulls it off and resumes. After 2 weeks of getting virtually no sleep, I finally resorted to putting a squirt bottle by my bed and spritzing her, which seems to be working and I actually got some sleep last night. And although she is clearly traumatized by it (the horse is not the only drama queen around here), she has not resorted to living under the recliner again.

The sleep is at least as good for the bags under my eyes as the Preparation H or the eye roller. Seems like almost everyone has heard of that Preparation H trick. It is still causing some mascara smudging though, so I'm focusing on using the eye roller. I got the CVS brand rather than the Garnier one as I figured the difference was probably packaging, but I found out that one should not dismiss good packaging too lightly. The roller ball is falling out of the tube--fortunately it's too big to go down the bathroom sink drain but it's pretty annoying.  I also checked out Lifestyle Lifts as I know someone who had this done and thought it might be worthwhile. It seems a bit price-y--average price nationwide is $5,900, and of course it is more expensive here. And that does not include the optional eye lift which I would need.  Now I know that this will not turn me into a true trophy wife due to that baby thing, but I'm willing to settle for being the runner-up award if the price is right. Jessica helpfully noted that even with a lifestyle lift, I am probably not trophy wife material due to some sort of attitude issue, but if I can pony up several thousand for plastic surgery, surely I can kick in a little extra for some sort of immersion program in a good charm school. Hopefully one that involves brainwashing as I don't think I could pull it off without it. Although really, I don't know what the *#^!&(% is wrong with my attitude.

Everyone stay warm and dry!

Happy Memorial Day!

Well, it's Memorial Day and we got out on the trail today. Seems like this should be the beginning of summer, but it's cold and windy and seems more like winter. I've had 4 days off from work, at least in theory, but it sure doesn't seem like enough.

The kitty is settling in, but I took her for her initial vet checkup on Saturday and it seems like I have breached her trust in a big way. She is pretty healthy but she has been scratching her ears, so they cleaned her ears and prescribed ear drops. That seems harmless enough, but between the trip in the kitty carrier, the ear cleaning, and the ear drops, she went over the edge and went into hiding.  This is Monday night and I have had to do a lot of coaxing and kissing up to her, and she is finally out of hiding and back to her vocal self again. What a drama queen!

Speaking of which.....

We took Dexter and Cowboy today. Cowboy's feet are healing and I put front boots on him. But it was windy, and he has been overfed and he went into full drama queen mode. Getting him by the Morgan Horse farm at Pt Reyes was a challenge and had me on foot for a bit. I did get back on him but we put Dexter in front. Usually Cowboy leads the way and Dexter follows, but today Dexter had to pony up and become lead horse, which he did admirably albeit very slowly.  Dexter is in no hurry to go anywhere. Turned out this was good for Cowboy as he was forced to slow down and think a bit.  We did well until the very end portion of the trip, when Cowboy was once again in the lead as Dexter was setting an excruciatingly slow pace, and we got to the Morgan Horse farm and, heaven forbid, some of the Morgans were getting their feet trimmed. Apparently more than Cowboy could bear and we had a major meltdown at a very narrow portion of the trail. He finally backed into a nettle patch and I wound up getting off and leading him as I was not up for a jackrabbit retreat.

As a side note, I have been looking into an alternate career as a trophy wife. It certainly seem easier than working for a living. I actually found an online test to see what your potential is, and sadly, I scored 22%. It seems that 97% of all those who have taken the test scored higher than me. I guess that is not surprising, all things considered, but it is still discouraging. I think the only thing I have going for me is that I wear sunglasses with plastic rims.  Working against me:
-staying in shape
-not wearing makeup to run to the corner store
-a complete lack of interest in cooking and entertaining
-and, most convincingly, a total lack of interest and ability to produce trophy children.

That last one is really the kicker, because it doesn't matter what you have surgically lifted or cosmetically spackled, it's pretty hard to argue with that biological clock.

Still, it does seem like there must be some middle ground out there somewhere.  There must be a tycoon out there somewhere who does not have the urge to spawn. So I'm looking into ways to just look better without actually needing to reproduce. Enter Doctor Oz, who did a show the other night on ways to fight aging. Amazingly, one of the options for combatting undereye bags and dark circles is, believe it or not, Preparation H. After all, it does shrink tissues. Many years ago, almost 40 years ago in fact, a coworker of mine confessed that her mother used Preparation H to combat wrinkles. It was the source of much hilarity at the time, but now it seems that her mother knew her stuff.

Since undereye circles and bags are one of my biggest challenges, I am rising to that challenge to conduct a controlled test. I purchased 2 products: an undereye roller  under the CVS pharmacy label, and also their version of Preparation H. I do tend to go with store brands whenever possible because they are usually cheaper. Although the undereye roller has already literally dropped the ball, and I'm wondering if the Garnier version might be more tightly put together. But I did apply both products this morning, one to each eye, and they both appear to be somewhat effective. I was rooting for the Preparation H camp as it's cheaper and so ludicrous that who could resist it? But on the Preparation H eye, although the bags and circles did decrease, it also caused my mascara to run. So I am sad to report that the undereye roller may be more effective, although Preparation H may be effective as an eye makeup remover. I will keep you posted, and please let me know if you know of a potential trophy husband who does not want to reproduce, likes women with a little meat on their bones, and is in favor of the earthy look.

And if you doubt the power of Doctor Oz, when I went looking for Preparation H (which I am happy to report that I have never needed to purchase before), the shelves were practically bare. Lots of empty shelf space devoted to Preparation H. I felt privileged to obtain the final tube. I hope Doctor Oz gets a commission for this. Or maybe there is just a massive outbreak of hemorrhoids.

Everybody stay safe on the trails, and keep up the efforts to look Marvelous!

There's a New Princess in Town

The empty house finally got a little too empty, so today I adopted a cat from Forgotten Felines. I've been checking her out online at their website, and she has been fostered at Animal Hospital of Cotati, so today I went to check her out. She's listed on the website as "Hyacinth" but has been re-named by her fosters as "Princess Chatty Cathy" because she likes to talk. And talk. And talk. So this should be interesting. Not sure if that name will stick, but I haven't come up with a new one yet.

She is settling in nicely, although she did not take over the house quite as quickly as Patches did. But she arrived home about 3 this afternoon, and now, 8 hours later, she has been released from the quiet back bedroom and has toured the rest of the house and is pretty comfortable at this point. We'll see how the first night goes!

Tomorrow we'll (not the cat) head to Pt Reyes. Cowboy got his hooves trimmed a few days ago and it seems he got a little over-trimmed, because he is sore-footed. So he gets the day off and I'll ride Dexter and Laura will take Lady.

Perfect Day for a Ride

Cowboy enjoying lunch amid the forget-me-knots

After several weeks of bad weather, holidays and a sick kitty, we finally got the chance to go for a ride yesterday. And what a great day it was! Summer-like weather, blooming hillsides, happy horses--a great lift after a few really bad weeks. The boys have been out on a lot of grass and Cowboy, who is always energetic, was beside himself about the chance for an outing. We started out with a hackamore but within 40 feet of the trailhead he earned a bit after yanking the reins out of my hands grabbing for grass. Much more cooperative, if chagrined, with the bit on! We went up Horse Trail (Pt Reyes), which was awash with blue forget-me-nots and little irises. Got a great view of the point from Sky Trail, although taking the picture was a little challenging with Cowboy being antsy and looking for grass. Finally pointed the camera in the general direction and snapped the shutter.

We tried a new trail, Woodward Valley, that is usually our turning-around spot on Sky Trail. Nice trail! We didn't go far on it as we were running out of time (that's the problem with being the slowest riders on the trail), and turned back before we got to what we hear is a steep drop down to Coast Trail. Then back to the trailer. Cowboy was a happy guy the whole trip and was really making tracks on the way back to the parking lot. No signs of soreness. I've been reading Sally Swift's "Centered Riding 2" and it has really helped me stop bracing in the stirrups, and I think Cowboy's back is much better for it.

Dexter's enjoying lunch, too

We got home safely (the most dangerous part of our rides is the trip to and from the trail) and congratulated ourselves on another successful ride. We know someone whose idea of a successful ride is one where nobody gets hurt, so we've jokingly adopted that as our criteria for success as well. When we unloaded the horses, I was checking out the height of the step down from the trailer, which seemed a bit high, and pulled myself into the trailer at the same time, not noticing that the butt bar was still up. I took it full on the nose, breaking my sunglasses and seeing a lot of stars in the process. So much for success, although technically we were done with the ride at that point, so success or failure is up for debate. Luckily, I seem to have escaped with a red mark on my nose and a mild case of whiplash--no black eye, concussion or broken nose.

Thanks for all the kind expressions of sympathy over the loss of Patches. I've moved from grief to relief that her suffering is over to forgetfulness--I keep looking for the cat when I get the feeling she's missing. Today Laura gave me a clay cast of her pawprint and a bit of her fur (she had been taken to the vet hospital for cremation) so a bit of her will always be here.

That's it for now--enjoy the nice weather this week!

Goodbye Miss Patches

Patches let me know that it was time to let go, and late this afternoon we said our final goodbye. Dr. Mary Ellen Leavey, a co-worker of Laura's at Animal Hospital of Cotati, was kind enough to make a house call to set Patches' spirit free from her failing body. As these things go, it went well, although I'm sure Dr. Leavey will never recognize me without tears streaming from bright red eyes. So ends a 13-year, very special relationship.

Patches came to me as a 6-month-old stray who took up residence with a kindly family in Ukiah. They had also rescued numerous other cats, and as I had recently moved into my house and was cat-less, my sister made the match between us. When I brought her home, I opened the kitty carrier expecting to see her again in about 3 days when she came out of hiding. Instead, she strolled in a leisurely fashion throughout the house, then ate a full meal and settled down in my lap for a nap. At the time, I had 2 dogs who had been banished to their outside pen while the cat settled in--but since it seemed she settled in immediately, I brought in the dogs to meet Patches. Sofie, my little mother dog, was overjoyed to find another family member and greeted her by pinning her in a corner and washing her face. Patches put up with it for a couple minutes, then slapped Sofie aside, went over to Bart and slapped him for good measure, then settled in my lap again. The pecking order in the house was established at that moment. Patches reigned from then on as Princess in Residence.

It's only been about 3 hours, but the change in the household is already noticeable. It didn't take long to hit me that I was actually alone in the house for the first time in 13 years. There has always been a dog or cat in residence, and it's astonishing how empty the house feels. Not that Patches was always under my feet, but I always knew that she was around somewhere and was good for a snuggle if I needed one. (Now don't go thinking that I'm substituting cats for men. I'm open to a relationship with a man--as long as he loves cats. And is willing to love, honor and obey, especially obey. And has lots of money. Oh never mind, I'm just going to get another cat). Walking into the bedroom and seeing the empty spot where her kitty bed used to be was jarring. I have space in my cupboard now where the big bag of cat food was (I sent it home with Laura). So this is going to be an adjustment. There is undoubtedly another cat or two in my future, but I need a little time before I try to fill the space that Patches has left. Besides, I think her spirit is still here, and she would never tolerate another cat in the house.

So farewell, my Princess, and happy travels.

Apple Blossom Time

This last weekend was the local Apple Blossom Festival, and this year it earned its name as the apple blossoms are really abundant right now. Cowboy and Dexter aren't particularly impressed with the blossoms, but they sure like eating the grass that grows under the trees. This is the tree behind my house, where they get to graze under supervision as they only thing keeping them there is that little string in the picture. Sure it's electric but it still wouldn't hold them back if they really made a break for it!

Got an exciting Facebook connection today--Cowboy's breeder! I'm still not sure exactly how or why she found me but I got a friend invite. It took a while before I realized why the name was familiar, but sure enough, she was Cowboy's first owner and in fact, still owns his mother and 2 of his siblings. She is going to try to find his baby pictures which will really be fun! Sounds like he's always been a fun, friendly kind of guy.

He's doing well under saddle, so I think the saddle fit is good. Getting a nice relaxed canter on both leads. So I'm starting to work on our Parelli Level 3 Freestyle, and if we can pass that, we'll be official Level 3 graduates. We've passed most of the self-assessment, although I'm not quite ready to try 4 laps at a canter with just carrot sticks. He's not that relaxed! But I did drop the reins a few times to see what he'd do and he maintained his gait better than I expected, so we may be close.

On a sad note, my kitty Patches has been diagnosed with cancer. She's on excellent "comfort care" thanks to Dr Laura, although it means I'm risking life and limb by giving her 6 pills a day (anyone got a Band-Aid?), but it's pretty clear that we're looking at a short window of time for the Princess. She's been my faithful little buddy for almost 13 years so this is a tough time.

Signs of Spring--Not So Much...

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring but it's hard to tell that by looking outside. In fact, I got that first sentence typed, and the power went off (again) for about 3 minutes, so this is attempt 2 at this post. Last night we had high winds and torrential rains, and the power went out around 1 a.m.--but was back on by sunrise, so that could have been lots worse. One big branch from one of the old apple trees is downed and needs cleanup and of course the horses, especially Cowboy, are swimming in their paddocks but all in all, not much damage. Mostly dampened spirits and cabin fever.

As wet as it's been, there has been very little riding or horse activity beyond feeding, blanketing and poop-scooping. Not the parts we horse-owners look forward to, but it goes with the territory! So I've turned my attentions inward, specifically toward my office. I'm not the tidy type, and I like to claim that I have ADD but I'm probably just lazy. In any event, my office finally reached the point of being non-functional. I will probably regret this, especially if any clients see this, but I'm going to post the "before" pictures of my office:

I'm working with the local Small Business Development Council to turn my business into something that actually looks like a business, and was lamenting the office situation to the counselor I'm working with, who suggested getting a professional organizer in. As luck would have it, I have a new neighbor who, providentially, is a professional organizer. So I set up an appointment with Teresa (of Organizing Solutions), whose motto is "I Love A Challenge", and here are the results:

I suppose I have to admit that this is better. One of the valuable services that Teresa provided was to pull "stuff" off the shelf, put it in front of me, and force me to make a decision about what to do with it. As a result, my recycle and trash bins are now full, and I'm exhausted. The "letting go" process will really take it out of you! I still have some work to do, getting the old records boxes out of the office and into some other sort of storage (the garage maybe?) but at least I have work space and can find things.

To wrap up a few things, my friend Kathy and I braved the rains yesterday to drive to Corte Madera to The Container Store to get office supplies. I had never been there, or even heard of them, but one of their items was featured in "O" magazine, so I checked their website and OMG! What a great place! So I got lots of filing and cord management accessories for a very reasonable amount, and as a bonus I got out of the house for an afternoon.

I'm also reading a book "Getting Things Done" that has been recommended by 2 people so I'll give that a shot. It makes sense but it's the sort of thing that makes my little ADD brain shut down. But the system has to be better than my current one of letting all the notes, phone messages, bills to pay, and interesting and not-so-interesting reading pile up into one enormous "in" pile on my desk until it's just an amorphous blob of paperwork.

So...these are the types of things I do in inclement weather and I must say that I just can't wait for things to dry out and warm up so I can get back to the real business of life that includes Fun With Horses!

Dental Day

Today was Dental Day for the horses in the neighborhood. I always love this day because I get to see my livewire pony get totally stoned and start drooling and snoring. Plus of course it is really excellent for his dental health and therefore his overall health. Thanks to the marvel of iPhone technology, I was able to capture a few of the moments to share with all.

Starts off with Cowboy, having received his happy shot, getting an exam by Dr. Crocker, checking out his bite and teeth to see what needs to be done. That is one stoned pony. Don't try this with Cowboy unless there are sedatives on board.

Next comes the speculum to hold his mouth open for the real work to begin. This apparatus, combined with sedation, allows access for a thorough exam and extensive work with both hand and power tools.

And when I say power tools, I'm not kidding.  Here is Cowboy getting some serious grinding done on his molars. This grinds down sharp points and helps to correct malocclusions (misalignments). Horse's teeth don't actually grow all during their life, but they do continually erupt as tooth surface is worn down. If the alignment isn't correct, misalignments just tend to get worse as time goes by, with upper tooth wear affected by abnormalities in the opposing lower tooth, and vice versa. Addressing issues on a regular basis (annually with our horses) keeps problems in check.

I didn't time this procedure but it probably took around an hour, after which Cowboy was still somewhat groggy and bore watching for a bit. As long as he was still sedated, he got his intranasal flu vaccine which he finds unpleasant, and also both boys got their sheaths cleaned. I did not photograph that procedure!

Cowboy had a little sore on his tongue, possibly caused by a point on one of his incisors, so my homework assignment is to rinse his mouth out with saline for a few days and to examine his teeth and mouth. Which means honing those Parelli skills so that he will allow this, preferably without biting me. He's a mouthy guy and his first reaction to being messed with is to defend himself with his teeth. That goes double if his teeth are what need defending. One of the Parelli tasks I needed to accomplish was to reach into his mouth and hold his tongue, just for occasions such as today's exam. That was the most difficult thing I've had to do, and got bitten twice in the process. Maybe I'm a wimp but I have to say that it really really hurt and was a bit of a bloodbath. So this will be a good test of my skills. I must think positive and regard it as an opportunity for growth.

In other news, I got word that Cowboy and I passed our Level 3 Liberty audition. We scored a 3++, just shy of level 4! Apparently the video quality was good enough for an evaluation. Cowboy got high marks on his Sideways work and his ability to weave through the barrels at a trot. We received lower marks on Respect. Not a surprise, since he decided to take a little break in the middle of the video to roll several times, and when he went up on the pedestal he decided to hang out there for a bit in spite of my requests for him to get down. Of course, Cowboy thinks he belongs on a pedestal anyway so why should he get off? He also doesn't think we have any issues with respect as he is quite certain that I do respect him.

I've started another blog that is a sort of general interest blog for recreational riders and people who just love horses. First post will arrive shortly on (what else) equine dental care. Check it out at equineconnection.blogspot.com.

Time flies when you're having fun or even if you're not, and it looks like it's been a while since I've been here. Work, which had been worrisomely slow, suddenly picked up in January and left me with little time for riding or blogging. But winter is letting up and we have gotten a few really nice days in the last few weeks. Not right now--it's been cold and rainy, and we can see snow on the nearby hills, which only happens about once a year. But we have been able to get out on the trail several times in nice weather, which has been a treat. Cowboy's saddle fit problems may be solved but it will be some time before we know for sure.

A new feature on Rift Zone trail at Pt Reyes is the great blue heron that has taken up residence near the trail. He's been there the last couple of rides, posing motionless until you approach, then taking off like an enormous prehistoric bird. The first time we were pretty apprehensive about how the horses would react to this but they were completely nonplussed. Probably helped that the bird was flying away from us rather than toward us. I suspect we would have had a different outcome if it seemed the heron was attacking!

Here are Dexter and Laura on Sky Trail close to the Mt Wittenburg summit a couple weeks ago on a gorgeous spring-like day. We happened upon a group of women enjoying the sunshine close to here and struck up a conversation. Turns out two of them live down the street from us and we often see one of them out walking her dog. Small world!

One thing I got done during one nice weekend was videotaping Cowboy for our Parelli Level 3 Liberty audition. And unlike the last time, it got edited and uploaded to YouTube in just a few weeks rather than the 6 months it took to get the last one posted. Unfortunately, the quality was a bit poor to start with because of the sunny and shady spots in the arena, and when it was compressed to upload to YouTube the quality degraded further so it is a bit difficult to follow. But it's called "Joan Cowboy Parelli Audition" if you want to take a peek. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRvnikcIZlQ

Looks like the cold and rain are here to stay for a bit so there probably won't be a lot of riding going on. Good opportunity to catch up on the mountains of paperwork in my office that have gotten away from me.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, which for some reason seems to mean new opportunities even though it is just a flip of the calendar page. But we all love the idea of a fresh start and we love to write "1/1", especially when it's really "1/1/11". It's also a time to take a look at last year's hopes for the year we just finished and be either amused or appalled by how things turned out compared to plan. For example, just looking at last year's entry on this blog, Cowboy and I were both going to be ever so much fitter by now. Hmmmm. Well, at least I don't think I actually gained any weight. Can't say the same for Cowboy, but he needed to gain some weight, so I guess that was a success.

Fitness aside, there were some "missions accomplished" this year:
-Parelli Level 3 online achieved
-I got published! That was a biggie, something I had wanted for years, and amazingly easy once I made the effort. In fact, I see by the masthead that I am now the "editor at large" for the Sonoma County Horse Journal. I don't have any idea what that means but I hope it doesn't involve too much work. Running amok, dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s with wild abandon, I guess.
-Got my business website up and running. Not quite as spectacular as I had wanted but functional. www.inbalancebk.com.

Laura and I started out the new year in a couple of equine-inspiring ways. On New Year's Day, we, along with Laura's friend Tina, visited the nice folks at Black Sterling Friesians in Sonoma and got to ride 3 of their fabulous horses: Macho, Magnifiek and Sterling. Tina went for the lively Macho, while Laura and I traded off on the more mellow Magnifiek and Sterling. Sterling is the venerable namesake of the stable and the first horse the Goldmans bought several years when their daughter wanted a horse. Laura and Tina are below on Magnifiek and Macho.

Then on Sunday evening, Laura and I went to the city to see Cavalia! We had each wanted to go but were reluctant to spend the money--but last week we both got, from separate sources, the word that if we loved horses, we HAD to see this. And the show was extended a few days. So we got last-minute tickets and found our way through the city like a couple of country bumpkins to the parking lot next to AT&T park. Once we were in the general vicinity, it was hard to miss the pristine white tents glowing in the night. The tent city alone was almost worth the trip. It's mind-boggling to think that this is put up and taken down for each venue. The procedures manual must be impressive! But nothing like the show. The stage was a bit smaller than I had imagined but what a lot was accomplished in a small space. The show is a surreal combination of horsemanship, showmanship, costuming, set design, choreography, acrobatics, lighting, music...the complexity and sheer beauty of the production is astounding. There were two or three teams of horses ridden Roman-style at a gallop around a tiny track up and down a ramp in a tent in front of a thousand or more cheering spectators with music blaring. Acrobatics tethered to bungees dropping from the ceiling onto the horses. A woman working eight white horses completely at liberty, including having all of them do simultaneous pirhouettes. And ending up with a pretty spectacular display of rodeo-style trick riding. Fifty two horses in all--all of them male. Twenty three stallions, the rest geldings. I'm sure there is a discrimination suit there somewhere. Although in reality, if you have 23 performing stallions stabled together, you probably don't want to throw a mare into the mix. It would be like, well, your average office building.

Anyway, we are freshly inspired to do fabulous work with the horses again. Assuming we ever get enough time and good weather. We did get to ride this evening. It was the first time in a couple months that I put the saddle back on Cowboy. The pressure sores by his withers have healed and I have re-shimmed the saddle and am trying to work on my sitting posture to shift weight back, so we shall see how this goes. Weather permitting, we are planning on riding on Sunday. My iPhone says good weather so we're probably good to go.