pics of ride on Wiley

These are from last Friday, May 16 (when I wasn't sick!).

Starting out on the longe. Trying to get him to respond to voice commands. He's doing pretty well so far!

All done with that part! Now let's get ready to ride!

Okay, what exactly are you doing?!
Oh I see!
Ain't he cute?! (Yes my stirrups need to be let down a few holes!)
And this is what Sunshine thought of the whole ordeal. She's SO jealous!

sick again

Thank goodness for chiropracters. I went on Friday and had acupuncture on my shoulder and arm, and man does it feel better now!

My friend Mary-Marshall came down on Friday afternoon, and we rode Sunshine and Junior. Junior was really good for her. I was impressed. She cantered him, and what a mess. Not her fault. I really think he'll be better once he gets adjusted (he has a chiropracter appointment on the 28th). But he listened to her and he behaved perfectly. I love that horse. ( : Sunshine was good, too. Mary-Marshal was impressed with her. She's learning.

After that, I worked Wiley in the round pen, then got on him. On the lunge line, he was PERFECT. So responsive. He actually learned something from the last session. He was good for me to get on him, but then he woudln't move again. So I had Mary-Marshall lead us around. He was fine until I tried to steer him. He's not crazy about the bit. Need to work more on that. I'm so proud of my progress with him, though. Mary-Marshall took pics, which I'll post later.

We went to the beach that night, and Saturday morning I got sick. It got worse and worse all day, so we came home early that night. I went to the doctor yesterday. Severe sinus infection. As usual. It's never come on this fast, and the doctor didn't believe me. I had to practically beg for a Z-pack. I'm a little better today, but I didn't go to work. Yesterday was just awful. I had a fever and I was crying and I thought I was dying. Today I'm just exhausted and light-headed. Bleh. My brain wants to be up doing stuff, but my body says no way. I walked to the mail box earlier and I was exhausted. This sucks.

But have I mentioned that I have the best fiance in the world? Paul's been so good to me. He took me to the doctor tomorrow, and the pharmacy, which took several hours. Then he came back over last night when my fever broke and I felt somewhat more human. I still felt like crap, but he tried his best to cheer me up. I really wanted a hotdog and cheese fries from Andy's last night, but Mama had already fixed some ham and stuff. So today for lunch Paul went to Andy's and brought me what I wanted. How sweet is that? ( :

Many of my friends are - and have been - having problems with their boyfriends or fiances. I've got one friend with a fiance that won't grow up; one's fiance is basically a jerk (I don't get that relationship); one's fiance is so whipped that he practicaly can't do anything on his own (which is okay with the girl, but would drive me crazy!); and one friend's boyfriend of years and years won't propose and she seems to be questioning their relationship. (Ha! I can't believe I was able to do that so vaguely and without mentioning names!) I hear all their problems every day, and I feel for them, I really do. But it makes me SO happy with my relationship. Paul and I don't have problems like that. Our biggest problem right now is that we can't find anywhere to live. Alright, I'll stop being mushy now. ( :

the day after

Well, I really messed my shoulder up this time. It has been throbbing all day. Come ON, all I did was reach down for the stiff stirrup! Geez. I'm falling apart, for real. And of course my lesson student tonight can't get up on Junior by herself, so I had to boost her up there. She's a skinny kid but it still hurt. Hopefully my chiropracter can work me in on Friday and stick some needles in my arm...

Good news is that I have yet another student now! Yay! It's the brother of the girl who came tonight. I knew after last week he'd want to start lessons, but didn't figure the mother would go for two children taking lessons (kinda expensive). But she's letting him start next week. So now I have FIVE students. That is way impressive for a non-professional, backwoods kinda place like Grantham! I'm so happy. Hopefully I'll find an inexpensive saddle so that I can use Junior and Sunshine at the same time if I need to (and I need to soon since I'll have a brother and sister team, so they won't have to be here for 2 hours). Know of one for sale??

first ride

I need to be in bed but I wanted to post my big news first. I actually RODE Wiley today! Woo-hoo! I lunged him for a while first, tryin to get him to respond to voice commands. He was gettin it, but he needs a lot more work. He was bein so good I decided to hop on him. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder (my bad one) while trying to get the stirrup (very stiff saddle) and had to get off him cause it hurt so bad. I mean, I was sick to my stomach and almost in tears over it. Wiley just stood there like a perfect gentleman. Finally, I got back on and he didn't care. I tried to get him to walk, but he didn't understand. I did manage to get him to take a few steps a couple of times. Yay! He didn't seem to care at all that I was up there while he was moving. I just need to make him understand that he's actually supposed to MOVE when I'm on him! ( :

first lesson

First things first. I pulled Bs in both my classes this semester! So I'm still in grad school. Though I'm about 90% certain that I'm taking the summer off. I have until May 16 to decide.

I had a lesson on Sunshine with our new trainer on Saturday. Love her! And love the place, too. What a beautiful farm. Really nice. You don't see farms like that this close to home. Anyway, Cristie was great. She loved Sunshine, said she was smart and had a nice willing attitude. However, she wasn't quite impressed with where Sunshine is in her training! I kind of expected that, though. But, dang, she's a HECK of a lot better off than she was when I first met her! Anyway, Cristie gave me several things to work on until our next lesson, which is in June.

I haven't done any lateral movements with Sunshine. I know I should be doing them, but I wanted help so that I wouldn't teach her wrongly. What I didn't realize was exactly how important those "little" things are. Well, I knew, but somehow I guess I forgot or something. Anyway. We did leg yeilding yesterday and man that was easy. Sunshine picked that up immediately. Then we tried for haunches in. Not happening. Cristie told me what to do, though, so work up to the haunches in, and Sunshine was progressing. I was so proud of her. She was a little upset to be alone, and kept screaming at every horse, but she was pretty focused during the actual lesson. My friend Leslie got TONS of pictures, but I'll have to post them another day.

All in all, it was a good lesson. We didn't do a WHOLE lot but I knew we needed some fundamentals before we could proceed. And I knew the first lesson would be more about getting to know each other, etc. Can't wait until the next one. Hopefully by then Sunshine will be ready for something new. I'm gonna work hard with her this month.

Tomorrow's my birthday, and I have a lesson to teach immediately after work, so I doubt I'll have time to ride. We always make a big deal out of b-days around here. I have a lesson scheduled for every day this week but Friday. How cool is that? ( :

grad school blues - and update

I'm still in limbo with one of my grades right now. So frustrating. Thursday and Friday were pretty bad, school-wise. I met my hateful professor before my exam on Thursday... she's even meaner in real life than she is on the internet! It's her class that I still don't know about. She doesn't use the 10-point scale - like every other graduate professor at ECU - and I need an 84 to get a B. I currently have an 83.75. Yup, a quarter of a point from a B. I seriously doubt she'll give it to me. If she doesn't, I feel for her. I'm goin to the Dean. She's been ridiculous all semester.

My other class turned out okay. I pulled a solid B. I was worried after the final because it was a lot harder than I anticipated, but I did alright.

I'm just glad it's all over. I ended up taking Friday off since Thursday went so badly. Thursday after the exam I crashed for about 2 hours. Then Paul and I went to the high school soft ball game (their last home game this season - and the last home game ever for my cousin and Paul's sister). Them girls are pretty awsome. I spent all morning Friday studying, which obviously paid off.

Friday afternoon I did Meredith's makeup for the prom. I have to say I did a great job. She looked like a professional had done her face. I was very proud of myself. I did her makeup and stayed to take pics of her and her sister and their dates, then I had a Mary Kay party. That was interesting.

I sold a decent amount, but it was frustrating. The woman's mother was 30 minutes late and we waited on her - in the un-air conditioned house. I was sweating. Then the mother was hateful and refused to even talk to me, much less buy anything. At any rate, my first MK party was overall a success.

Did I mention that my internet went down last week?? I just got it fixed today. Man what a hassle.

Saturday was the first really good day I've had in a while. And Sunday was even better. Saturday I got up early and had an awesome ride on Sunshine - she was so light in my hands. Maybe she just needs to be ridden in the morning. I taught a lesson on Junior - who was not that great, so I schooled him yesterday - then went to teach another lesson on the kid's pony (love that kid). Got a call from someone else who's bringing her daughter out for her first lesson tomorrow - woohoo!

After all that I drove up to Raleigh to see two of my girl friends. We watched the Derby - which sucked, I'm still extremely sad about that. Well, it didn't suck, it was an awesome race, but I can't believe Eight Belles died. Just awful. Despite that tragedy my friends and I ended up having a good time. Went to Olive Garden for supper - man I wish we had one of those closer to home! Overall it was a nice night. I don't get to see those girls often, it's nice to catch up.

Then Sunday Paul and I went to the beach. And had a perfect day. The weather was absolutely perfect - not too hot, but warm enough to wear a bikini and not get cold. It was nice to spend the whole day with him - and no one else!

Yesterday after work I actually was able to ride both Sunshine and Junior. That never happens! I felt so accomplished. Junior seriously needs to see a chiropracter, though. This was the first time I've ridden him english and worked him in a while. His back is way out of line. He was struggling to trot in circles to the left. As soon as I switched my posting diagonal to go to the left, he felt twisted and off a little. Poor thing. Hopefully we'll get an appointment this month. I didn't realize how bad he was. I have switched his bit from a full-check snaffle to a rubber eggbutt mullen mouth. He seems to prefer it to the jointed bits I usually ride him in.

Back to grad school: If I get a C in this other class, I'm done with grad school. Technically, they won't kick me out until I make a third C, but I can't live with that stress of knowing my degree is always on the line. I may be done with school for the summer, anyway. I think I need a break from all the stress. I've been trying to think of what else I'd like to do with my life, something that will actually make some money to support my horse habit. Haven't figured it out yet. Paul's being very supportive. Mama's telling everyone I'm flunking out of grad school. Um, I don't think an 83.75 is flunking! Grr.

This was really long. Sorry. But jeez. SO much is goin on right now. And the rest of the week is gonna be crazy, too. Thank goodness I have no schoolwork to do! Of course, it's supposed to rain the next four or five days. It'll probably rain out my lesson scheduled for tomorrow, any riding time I might have, and my own lesson on Saturday. Blech.

...

Man. I'm so tired. If I can just make it through these next two days...

I have an exam tomorrow at 3 and one on Friday at 1. Please pray for me. I REALLY need it. I'm borderline C in both classes, and that's NOT good. You're only allowed 3 Cs in ECU's MBA program, and I've already got one. :(

Today's been a challenge. My DSL's down at the house - of course. The "support staff" was not helpful at all. I had to go out to eat for my uncle's birthday, too. And even though Mama KNEW how stressed out I was tonight and she KNEW that I had no internet in which to access any of my class stuff, she still made me go. Blech. My cousin's internet is down too. GRR. My other aunt has dial-up. Ugh. I started to go over there, but Paul called and said his parents were cool with me comin over here to get my stuff. So I've been here since about 9:30. Fixin to go home and study the non-internet stuff.

Wish I'd taken off work tomorrow and Friday....might have to.

lazy day

Well, I'm not doing much of anything today. Feels good not to have too much going on. I did put some flowers in plants, that's about it. I need to post some pics of all my pretty flowers. I have a lot this year. (:

Yesterday I taught one lesson, to Morgan. She was really ON. I was so proud of her. She usually tires really easily, but yesterday she said she didn't need a break and wanted to keep trotting. She says now trotting is her favorite thing. ( : She hasn't learned to canter yet. She's finally getting better about steering Junior, and she's really getting the posting trot. Yesterday I even set up a half of a cross rail (at the 18" hole) and let her trot over that. Junior didn't jump, but Morgan was excited about it. So cute.

I rode Sunshine yesterday, too. She was good but still having a problem picking up the correct lead. Now it's both ways, not just to the left. She was very dressage-y, though. Very light in my hands and forward.

I also worked with Wiley. What a riot. I put the saddle on him and lunged him in the round pen. He was fine with it, so I added the bridle (with no reins - eventually I'll add reins and tie them to the saddle). He was okay with that, too. I was trying to get him to understand the difference when I say "walk" and "trot." Basically, right now when I cluck to him he trots and usually won't walk. I haven't used a longe line on him yet, but I guess I might have to.

Well, after about 15 minutes I figured he'd had enough so I stopped and asked him to woah, then went up to him. He took off away from me. So I sent him on. I kept trying to get to him several times, and every time he'd run, so I encouraged him to run. Finally, he gave up when I stopped pushing him, and he walked right up to me. Silly colt. Of course, he was extremely sweaty (thankfully I waited until almost 6pm before I did any of this), so I decided it was time for his first lesson with the water hose.

He was actually really good. I could tell he was freaked out, but he trusts me with new stuff. I let him listen to the water coming out of the hose, then I inched up his front legs and onto his chest. He didn't mind that at all, but when I moved the spray to his right side, he jumped forward. But after that he was fine. Wasn't too happy when I sprayed between his hind legs, but that's okay. I was proud of him. It's possible that next weekend I'll get on him and actually ride. Hopefully by then he'll understand a few more verbal commands to make it easier.

the word of the day..

Sometimes in the mornings on the way to work I listen to the local radio show. I really hate it, but sometimes I get bored and don't want to hear music. Anyway, they have this really annoying guy on there and he always does a long spiel about basically nothing. At the end of his spiel he says something then picks out one word and says its the "word of the day" and that's what "people are talking about." What a wierdo. Today's word was "sky." oooookay!

Anyway. There is a topic that seems to be on several people's minds lately, especially mine and Crystal's: what to do with your life. It's interesting to me how my goals in life have changed over the years. My horse-related goals, that is. For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of being on the US Olympic Dressage Team. Or whatever it's called. I didn't want to be an eventer - those guys are crazy with them humongous jumps - but I have always loved dressage and that harmony between horse and rider. When I first started taking riding lessons I learned dressage, though we didn't call it that. I didn't learn until years later that my fundamental learnings were in dressage. It was just all my instructor knew. I worked for about 6 months with a great dressage rider/trainer in New Hill while I was at State, Elizabeth Moore with Victory Hill Farms. That was an amazing experience. I learned SO much with Elizabeth. I should have continued riding with her, but I was in school full-time and working at Pepperwood and didn't want to quit there, and I just couldn't fit in another job. But I should have made the time for it. Think where I'd be now...man. Okay, that's one regret for me.

Not that I regret my time at Pepperwood. There I learned an appreciation - and love - for huntseat riding. I'd never ridden huntseat, just dressage and jumping and cross-country like for eventing. Huntseat is totally different if you don't know. Way more....prim and proper. It was a challenge for me, but it was fun to learn and I eventually got pretty good at it. Also at Pepperwood I got experience riding a wide variety of horses - always a good thing. (I did that at Victory Hill, too, just a different class of horse.)

I've held on to my dressage dreams all these years. And I've finally found a trainer that can work with me and I don't have to travel hours and hours and pay hundreds of dollars. (If I can ever actually get to her farm! Oh, and have the money for a lesson - buying a trailor really depleted my funds.) But now my dreams are changing. I still want to ride dressage and see how far I can go, but it's no longer a great desire of mine to be on the top. Now I have something else on my mind, and I posted about it last week (I think).

A secondary dream of mine has always been to have a therapeautic riding program. In fact, when I was at State I toyed with the idea of majoring in physical therapy and creating my own degree, mixing PT with business courses and equine courses. But I didn't know if I could ever support myself and my horses (and my future children) like that. And that dream just seemed kind of...incomplete.

Enter MacNair's. I know a lot of people who absoultely love MacNair's and I know a lot of people who really hate it. I learned a lot there, and I am eternally grateful for all I was taught in my time there. There I learned how to teach other people how to ride. I'd done it casually before, just helping out here and there, but now I was given the opportunity to teach a whole class by myself. And I loved it. And it's ignited in me a passion for teaching others what I know and giving the gift of horses to others. And what a gift it is. The benefits of horse riding are countless, from physical therapy to emotional therapy. I want other people to learn how to ride, how to handle a horse, and how to take care of a horse because it's all important to me. And like I said in an earlier post, I have a talent with working with people who are willing to learn.

So I have a new dream. A dream to share my love of horses with others, to let them experience what I've experience for so many years, and reap the benefits. A dream to teach people how to properly care for a horse - that horse ownership is about more than just riding and feeding twice a day - so that maybe there will be one less ignorant horse owner in the world who inadverdently abuses their horse.

And that's it. I dream of teaching. All the time. Western, english, huntseat, dressage, it doesn't matter as long as you have a good foundation. And since I believe that you should never stop learning, I will continue to take lessons. I will continue to improve myself. I want others to learn, but I want to further myself as well. And who knows? Maybe some day I will make it to the top. ( :

animal communicator

Today Junior spoke with an animal communicator. I've been researching on these people for several months now, and have heard numerous accounts of how amazing they were. A lot of the people I've spoken to said their horses (or other animals) revealed extraordinary things about themselves or things they want done differently. I wasn't really expecting anything extraordinary out of Junior, I was mainly just curious to see what he had to say and try to determine if I actually believed in this or not. I think I do. I told the communicator very little about Junior. Basically just his name, size, and color. I also told her a few of his annoying habits, such as cribbing. But that's it. You decide for yourself if you think it's for real. Here are a few excerpts:

"He said that he likes company and where he lives he enjoys watching what is going on around him. He said that most of all he likes it when you are with him because he knows that he is very special to you and this makes him feel good.

"Junior said that he really likes his life as it is. He told me that he gets to work with you and he enjoys this and he also likes the variety in his life. He told me that he doesn’t think he would like his life if he was only doing one thing because he might get bored. He said that the shows are interesting and he likes to ride on the trails too because this is a different type of work. Junior said that he likes to improve himself and he appreciates the efforts you put into him to make him a better horse. He also told me that he likes his work but he also likes his relaxing time because he feels he has a very good, safe home and this allows him to put his attention to his work when it’s time to work.

"I told Junior that you also said he acts up when you ask him to canter and you wonder if he is in pain. Junior said that sometimes when you ask him to jog, he does hurt and when you ask him to canter this can hurt too. I asked him to describe what is going on. Junior said that in the canter when he stretches his back, there is a slight pain that takes him by surprise many times and this is why he doesn’t like to do this. He said that he does not feel balanced because of this. I mentioned to Junior that you had a massage therapist work on him and he seemed better after this. I asked him what his thoughts were on this. He told me that he did feel better but he thinks that he needs more than this because it did not last too long. Junior said that the problem feels like it is deeper than what this person can help him with.

"Junior said that he likes that you take him places because to him this means he is special. Junior also said that these times are for just the two of you, so he likes this. He told me that he likes feeling special and getting extra attention from you aside from the regular times that you are together.

"I asked Junior if he likes the way you ride him including how you use your hands and legs and the comfort of the saddle. Junior said that you are sensitive to him, so you are kind in how you use your body. He told me that sometimes you have to get his attention and this is fine, but he feels that you use your body well to communicate with him.

"Junior told me that he feels very fortunate to have such a good life, as he knows that not all horses are so fortunate. He said that he knows that you are the one who makes his life be so good, so he wants to tell you how grateful he is for all you do for him. Junior said that he was very lucky to have been chosen to be part of your family. He said that he is honored to be your horse."

Ain't he sweet? Now I want to know, if he loves being on trails with me so much, why does he always act like a jerk? :P

I'm going to make an appointment with a chiropracter and see how that goes. Hopefully we can straighten his back out so he'll be pain-free for real. I'm just glad he appreciates me. ( :

What do you think of all this?