Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

If you ever need a lesson in patience, try training a horse. If you have no patience and an inability to learn it, don't. I am NOT, by nature a patient person when it comes to traffic, people, phone calls, boiling water and preheating ovens and a myriad of other things, but I am extremely patient with horses and children. I think God knew that I needed to often learn these lessons in patience, and put horses in my life as part of that plan. My parents might tell you that ever letting me see the inside of a barn and feeling the soft muzzle of a horse was perhaps the biggest (financial) mistake they ever made, but I for one, think that horses have taught me much more than I could ever learn in the inside of a classroom, office, or even on a therapists couch.

When dealing with horses, you have to learn a "way" to conduct yourself that is often counter intuitive to our natural instincts as humans. For example, when threatened with bodily harm, humans most often resort to the "fetal" position to guard our internal organs. When sitting on the back of a bucking and bolting horse however, "fetal" is not a good choice- ask me how I know this :)  Riders work for years to learn to sit up/back and not react to a frightened or naughty horse by leaning over and grabbing onto the saddle etc.  when panicked. When a horse plunges into a fit of bucking, crow hopping etc. at a horse show, you will often hear a chorus of voices around the ring say in a low singing and soothing tone, sit up, sit up, whoaaaaaaa, hooooooo. It's a reflex to me now, but it's part of that education that you can't get anywhere else. You also have to learn to never raise your voice, scream etc. in the presence of a frightened or injured horse- esp. one with a rider still attached. Horse people have major issues with this because our emotions overcome us when something we love so (whether horse or human) much is in danger. To see a horse and rider pair crash and burn over a big cross country fence is not only disheartening, but just plain scary, trying not to "exclaim" in any way is almost impossible, but remaining calm, quiet and in control, will do far more to help the situation than to exacerbate it by acting "human".

Little things like this have changed and influenced the way I handle lots of situations, horse related or not. I once drove up on a wreck that had just happened, and this sweet lady got out of her car to help about the same time I did. As soon as she saw blood, she screamed and literally just started walking around in circles in the middle of a two lane road- helpless. I grabbed her arm, sat her on the curb and gave her an assignment- call 911, which she could barely accomplish- while I spoke to the bleeding driver and kept her company until help arrived. I was SURE in that moment, that my training with horses over the years has taught me to stay calm and quiet in those types of situations- and not freak out at the sight of blood. My adrenaline was pumping and physiologically, my hair stood on end and my body was actually shaking (like when you shiver from cold), but I could stay calm- and for that I am thankful.

Horses teach us how to think outside of ourselves- and not of ourselves and how to take responsibility for things other than ourselves and most of all- how to work- hard. They are not just a pet that we pat and love and take pictures of and throw food at, but a partner that we develop a strong bond of trust with and a relationship- a non-verbal relationship where the needs of both sides must be communicated and met. It's a wonderfully fulfilling challenge to develop a partnership with a horse and although it's tricky to understand if you haven't done it, it's worth the work.

So now to my point, the coolest thing about riding, and perhaps the most frustrating, is that you can ALWAYS learn more, and you can ALWAYS get better. Even Olympic gold medalists take lessons from other riders. Training a horse and developing that partnership is a long journey and there are always bumps in the road. Weather for one, has been putting a damper on a regular riding schedule this winter, and even though Jazz is an entirely different horse now than she was at this time last year, there is always more to be done. When I rode her Saturday, it was for the first time in almost three weeks- which is a lot of lost time! She was great, but a little poky and I could feel that her fitness level, as well as my own, had decreased. Things like transitions and rhythm that should perhaps now be second nature, were difficult, but she was very good and workmanlike and we had a nice ride! The three steps forward that I felt like we had taken around Christmas time (which I still need to write about), were still somewhat intact!

Today, was the two steps back. She was her usual self on the ground, friendly and curious, finding reasons to  prance around in the cross ties. The ride started like any other- and she even stood for a moment for me at the mounting block- which is something we always struggle with (and that I am admittedly too lazy/impatient to spend time working on regularly). She is learning however, the meaning of "STAND" and I try to reward her for her good moments in it! We did a few minutes of walk and changed direction several times and worked on single loop serpentines as well as we could in a field with no dressage letters-  i use piles of poop as markers :o and she was feeling relaxed and light in my hands. I love those moments when our upward transitions are complete with no change in the shape of her neck/back and her ears are split- one trained on me and one pricked forward while in my hands I feel that elasticity/lightness and yo-yo motion like the weight of two shampoo bottles in my hands. That- is our "correct" and we are getting those moments more often now. I used to struggle with just being interesting enough for her to even concentrate on me (the days of giraffe neck on a swivel are coming to an end) so this is big progress. All is well and I decide to get brave and work on canter transitions on a ~20m circle. My plan is this: stretchy but connected and relaxed trot circle, transition up at poop pile "A" without losing the connection and getting "grabby" into the canter (which I know is pretty much a shot in the dark, so I give myself a whole circle to settle into canter and get her back) the canter circle back to "A", then five strides to downward trot transition, then count of ten trot steps and back into canter, five strides, back down etc. until we are getting the hang of it and relaxing into the transitions.

So all is well on the trot circle, I am literally sitting to ask for the canter and BOOM she throws her entire body into the air- shoulders first- like taking a four foot jump from a standstill and then BOLTS while shortening her neck back and up  (so theres nothing to WHOA with my hands because I've already got her ears in my face) and simultaneously crow-hopping as I try to sit deep and whoa her with my body. Out of the corner of my eye (this is during gallop/crow hop interlude) I see what caused this eruption- two men came out of the creek bed wearing bright orange reflective traffic vests and white hard hats (read- very visible to a horse) along our fenceline- where NO ONE ever is. I feel her back come up underneath me as the ground flies by and she lets a pretty decent buck out- which unseats me for a moment so I grab a fistful of mane and look up- it's that moment right before you eat dirt when you think to yourself - "shit- this is probably going to hurt and your eyes start looking for a good place to land"- but at the same time, my mind said "you are fine, just sit down and hold on"- and I did. I didn't fall off- but I almost did. For the first time in a long time.

I have only ever come off of my mare once, and that was right after I got her. I was up on the mounting block and a friend was there with me. Not knowing my mare's eccentricities she tightened my girth right before I got on (too tight- though) and then grabbed the reins just under her bit and popped her one good time and said "whoa" because she doesn't like to stand for mounting. Well- before I could say "dont"- Jazz did. I had one foot in the stirrup and was swinging my leg over when she had had just about enough of this stranger popping her in the mouth and the too tight girth and she let go of a good little rear/bounce/sidestep and I front flipped right off the other side of her! I was fine, but embarrassed, and quickly learned that you DO NOT over tighten her girth or grab her under the mouth to get her to stand- especially not simultaneously! Anyway, Jazz has a pretty decent arsenal of tricks when she gets frustrated and like her mother/owner, she can throw a decent tantrum when pushed to the limit. There's nothing MEAN about her tantrums- she's just saying in Mare, "I don't know what you are asking me and I don't think I like it!" So today it was a big old spook- which she has NEVER done with me before, but I couldn't hold it against her really because those MONSTERS!!!! utility workers came out of nowhere, but she DID use the spook as an excuse to behave badly- the reaction was a tad dramatic...

So after her "moment", I walked her over to the men on the fence line and although she snorted her way allll the way over, acting all incensed about who they were and why the heck they were walking next to her pasture, once she got there- she promptly pops her head over the fence and nudges the man and starts to rub her face on him for a scratch- ho bag.  I spoke to them and they said kudos for staying on and one of them asked if I race her...why do all non-horsey people assume all horses are racehorses?....although perhaps she did look a little like one in her first ten strides of pure BOLT.  We went back to our circle to pick up where we left off and when I asked for the canter transition this time- she threw me another crow-hopping fit just for emphasis. I growled at her and made her do it three decent times- although she never settled into the canter at all- but I wanted to end the day on a good note with her NOT learning that she can be dramatic in order to get out of work. Sigh... two steps back.

I try not to take it personally, but sometimes we do when the animals we work so hard with/for seem uninterested and uncooperative- but thats just part of the training process and again, that patience thing. After I untacked her turned her out- she trotted off to the round bale and I did barn chores. Before I left I walked out into the pasture to pick up some trash I had seen out there earlier that blew off the road and she followed me over (normally she would just stay at the bale and watch me unless she suspected I had food of any sort) and I stopped and she put her big ole head on my shoulder and rubbed her face on me. I said "oh- are you apologizing?" and she twitched her lips on my jacket (grooming behavior- which she doesn't do often) and so I knew that was a "yes". I scratched her face and rubbed her ears and then she sauntered back off to the round bale. I needed that moment with her- and again, I was thankful that because of horses, I am slow to judge and quick to forgive- horses that is ;), but I'm working on humans too.

Me? Naughty? Never....

2011

happy new year! sort of.

don't get me wrong i am VERY grateful to get to start another year in this somewhat charmed life, but eww eww eww- so far, 2011 has been a test of my patience. it all started at the end of 2010 when my computer got some terrible virus, and although husband was VERY sweet to have bought me this cute little DELL netbook, he failed to inform me that it had NO virus protection included. being somewhat ADD and flighty about these things, i just assumed all computer came with virus protection- well- no- they don't. so for almost a whole year i escaped unscathed, but two days after Christmas, all of my 187 contacts in my yahoo mail account received an e-mail stating that ryan and i had taken a holiday trip to wales, and were stuck there after being robbed at gunpoint and that ryan was beat up and i couldn't get him out of the hospital or check out of the hotel unless my dear family and friends rescued us by sending money via western union. so after 68 text messages most of which said, "umm you have a virus"  or, "are you really in england?" i tried to stop the mass destruction. turns out, some naughty nigerian (thats where the IP address was from that hacked my computer) was just phishing for funds and luckily, he got none, since i sent out mass text messages and called everyone i could think of that would actually fall for that (my parents friends). this naughty nigerian changed my e-mail password and then subsequently also logged on to my facebook and changed my status to London, England- i suppose in an attempt to make the e-mail look legit. not cool. yahoo.com help team is awesome and i quickly regained control of my yahoo account, they never quite got to my gmail account although they tried, and facebook help team (which just FYI you can NEVER talk to an actual person) is moving more slowly and i STILL don't have my facebook account back even after sending them like 48 pieces of requested info that only i would know and proving that my e-mail address is in fact fixed as well. this is week two without facebook- and i feel like lindsay lohan would feel if a big ole bowl of cocaine was locked just outside of her reach. 

to double the facebook withdrawals, i have had what i now call "stage four death cold plus ebola" for the last week or so. i NEVER get sick, i might tell you i'm sick to get out of a social event, but i never actually GET sick- until last week. what started as an annoying dry cough turned into mega cough, headache, sneeze fest with body aches and fever- and this special bonus where when i sneeze, this weird pain shoots from the base of my skull down my arms to my fingertips- thats the ebola part i decided. then add fatigue and stomach issues and voila- you have my last week in a nutshell. so really, theres nothing like sitting at home feeling like absolute CRAP trying to remember the logons and passwords for every website under the sun so that you can change them all before naughty nigerian gets to them, while simultaneously trying to explain to non english speaking CSR on the phone that YES, you do want to keep your account open, you just want to change the password and make sure there hasn't been any unauthorized activity and said non english speaking CSR cannot understand YOU- the native english speaker because of the amount of mucus that has taken over your body. and finally, when you decide that jumping out the window is not really a responsible solution to your problems, you can'e even get on facebook to look at peoples pics from new years and talk to friends without infecting them in person because the facebook security geeks are stilll nursing their new years eve hangovers.

thank goodness for doggies who love it when mom is home for what they think is just to pet them ALL day and for ponies that still snuggle and probably like it when mom is sick because they get to prance around and eat hay instead of work. and also- i am thankful for bad TV- specifically TLC and shows like "my strange addiction" and "toddlers and tiaras" and that one about the Palin family and the rafting guide named "mudflap". i have never felt so normal after watching these shows, and luckily there was no one home to see me throw myself into a coughing fit that made my stomach muscles sore because i started laughing so hard.

now that stage four death cold plus ebola is down to about a stage 1.5, i can finally start thinking about the things i am looking forward to in 2011. specifically, taking the big mare to a little show in february to do some jumper classes and a dressage test, and helping to finish up the chicken coop and getting them moved in so they can start laying eggs in the spring, and starting a whole new part of school- the fun part where i actually learn about things that i will be doing when i graduate, oh and planning for the rolex trip this year- my favorite part of spring!

will be back soon with my winter dressage lesson wrap-up and the story of getting to ride the #4 dressage horse in the nation! yay!

the Break-Up

file this entry under "nothing to do with four-legged children". normally i don't have anything better to write about than the three furry centers of my universe but today, i am getting out my soap box and taking a stand!

What the HECK has happened to country music? The only phrase i can think of that properly describes my feelings here is, "I love you, but I'm not IN love with you."

I have been a country fan and listening to country forever; since my parents used to take me out in the boat at night to put me to sleep with a soundtrack of waves and Patsy Cline. I LOVE country and I respect it as a musical genre like no other. Lately, I am just plain disappointed. We have two local country stations here in Atlanta, Kicks 101.5 and 94.9 the Bull and lately I just want to KICK the BULL right out of my life. Ok, I know that was cheesy- but really. It's awful.

Here's a rundown of what I can expect each morning like clockwork on the radio between my house and work (my thoughts added underneath):

1. My Kind of Party- Jason Aldean

    (I love a good GA boy getting famous, but we've already played this song 3 times since 6:30 and really,   

       I'm just not in a party mood)

2. Something ridiculously overplayed by Zac Brown Band

    (Again, all for the GA artists, but he has more than three songs)

3. Back to Decemeber- Taylor Swift

    (Ugh....we all know how I feel about the "praying mantis". She's one hell of a creative songwriter, but

     her voice unnerves me and sometimes I wonder how many songs she is really going to write about

     inappropriate relationships, cough- Dear John, and why women over the age of 18 continue to relate to

     her drivel. Really? Is is illusions of grandeur from the high school days where being a cheerleader,

     thespian or clarinet player was what made you cool? Do we really need to listen to those songs to relive

    all that? I hope the ghost of Patsy Cline haunts her freaky house with the birdcage in it and interrupts her

    40,000 trips to coffee shop day with Jake Gyllenhal which we alll have to hear about on the news.GAG)

4. Stuck Like Glue- Sugarland

    (I LOVE most of Sugarland's music back when it used to be umm, country. But now that she and Britney

     Spears seem to have had a Jamaican love child named "stuck like glue", I am just sad. No part of that

    song is country. none. What happened to the Jennifer Nettles that used to sing bluegrass in the bars in

   Athens? Her strong soulful voice spilling out of her. Now it's just crazy yoga on stage and reggae. Tear.)

5. Felt Good on my Lips- Time McGraw

    (Just EWW. Tim, has Hollywood removed your reasoning skills? That song just screams "sellout" sort

     of like the last Weezer album, and the lyrics are literally ridiculous:

"She ordered us a drink, it was a purple kind of pain

she said its got a shot, a little bit of everything

a little yellow umbrella for a fella like me

it was just a bit mellow for me to be seen with"

       Oh yes, every hates a "purple kind of pain". And who lets Gwyneth Paltrow release a song from this

       same movie soundtrack on country radio? It's called Country Strong but I would name it vocally weak. 

       Just because you are married to a musician does not make you a good one. I love Gwyneth in all

       other roles- but singer- no.)

6. Good to be Me- Uncle Kracker

    (So already he has one strike against him for spelling words with a "k". Second strike is the lyrical

     un-country ness of everything he sings. Third strike is that he once described himself as a gangsta cowboy)

So now that I have changed the channel 6 times between I-75 and 285 W and am clearly driving distracted due to bad music, I start to just think about how many GOOD country songs and artists there are. Why do our two country stations play the same 10 songs over and over? If only I had Pandora in the car. I miss REAL country. Miranda Lambert and Josh Turner may be our only hope for the future.

I leave you with this ;)

turkey day

here comes the parade of food and family! obviously, if you have seen me lately, there is no doubt that i can find my way to a good meal. especially ever since my brother became a chef, and i have felt compelled to educate myself about food, wine and where what i eat is coming from.  but admittedly, i am a little bit of a black sheep in the family when it comes to food.

let me explain further. there are a few reasons that i don't quite fit in to my little family of four (pre-husband family). first of all, they all have gorgeously thick, wavy/curly hair and i didn't even HAVE hair until i was two, and even though it is thicker than mom gives me credit for, it is super baby fine and straight as a board. so while my mom spends hours a day taming her mane, my dad has no hint of a receding hairline, and my brother literally needs a haircut every two weeks, i am like the little hairless chihuahua in the corner- shivering from cold. and although i am permanently scarred for life by the memory of sitting on the bathroom counter EVERY morning while my mom curled my hair for school and secured it with some gigantic bow perfectly coordinated to my outfit, i now appreciate my genetic anomaly hair, which i can throw in a ponytail without looking in a mirror, or secure into a bun with a pencil, or just wash and then let dry on the the way to work! 

the other reason i am the "weird" one is all about food. my family and family gatherings, both immediate and extended REVOLVE around food and the preparation of it. i love to cook and try new things, but i have to admit, when mom starts prepping the dinner as we put away breakfast, it is sometimes a little too much for me. the smell of a roast being browned at 9:30 am just makes my stomach turn. as i said before, my little brother is a fabulous chef that graduated at the top of his class from culinary school and received several awards. he is amazing! i am far more tentative about food. i have always hated anything orange; carrots, sweet potatoes, anything orange flavored or glazed with orange, cheetos, orange soda... 
i also HATE nuts. they make me cringe. the best way i can explain it is that if i eat one it feels like the inside of my teeth start to itch. mom is famous for putting them in everything good- like brownies and cookies and dips and on vegetables so even if i try to pick around them, i inevitably get that terrible teeth itch feeling when one escapes my careful hunting. so i long ago gave up on eating any holiday goodies at all.  my food hatred also extends to anything that is all mixed up and cooked together with eggs- like, breakfast casseroles. i love bacon, and cheese and eggs, but if you blend them all up and cook them together it makes me want to vomit. i know that this doesn't make any sense, but i just cant handle it. so casseroles in general are usually out for me, although i have learned to like squash casserole over the years, and can probably stomach a few bites of spinach quiche without having a panic attack. i have gotten a LOT better over the years. i used to eat everything out of bowls because i hated when the juices touched each other and i was even a vegetarian for a while, which elicited disgusted responses from my family that were probably equivalent to if i decided not to shower for a year. i also love seafood now, which i spent most of my childhood avoiding- and quickly learned to smell everything that was put on my plate and described as "chicken". still, my family thinks that my food preferences are HORRIFYING. you might as well tell them you don't believe in America or Santa Claus.

mom has FINALLY (i'm 27) come to accept some of my food preferences and on Christmas morning she makes me a little corner of the monkey bread without nuts and eventually gave up on forcing me to eat sweet potatoes or carrots. (sitting at the table and gagging repeatedly when forced to try carrots glazed in orange juice, which is basically the worst combination of foods i can EVER imagine, worked pretty well since i can be overly dramatic when the situation calls for it) even though i still get the occasional eye roll from my family about my eating preferences, i have just learned to make things that i DO like for the holidays.

so while they get all giddy about eating disgusting things like lamb covered with rosemary (eww and eww) and sweet potatoes cooked for hours in cinnamon (eww) and brown sugar and of course topped with pecans (shiver), i look forward to contributing to the Thanksgiving meal in my own way. this year, i am making my customary favorite, green bean casserole- there's just something heavenly about something made with three simple ingredients- and even though my fancy schmancy chef brother scoffs at my delight over onions that come out of a can, he always still eats it, when he thinks i'm not looking. over the years, my sweet aunt sometimes sends me gently worded e-mails about possible "additions" to the green bean casserole, like chinese vegetables, or pearl onions, or mixing the toppings up, and even though i know that she has the best of intentions and has the amazing cook gene, like most of my family, i just cannot budge on that one. ya know, if it ain't broke...

this year i am also making Ryan's mom's recipe for squash casserole- which I LOVE and so does he. since he won't be with his family this year for the meal and there surely won't be any left by the time we get to the in-laws house for the weekend, i thought it would be nice to give him a taste of home. it's harder than people realize to be plucked from your family traditions and get used to new ones when you get married, so i always try to do something special for him- and not so selflessly- that squash casserole is amazing. even though it has vegetables and cheese and eggs all cooked together, there's something about the ratio of all the ingredients that doesn't set off my "mixed up together" food alarm. and i could eat squash every day of the year so it gets extra points for yummy-ness!

the last thing i am making this year is a new addition to the family's traditional menu. each person has a few dishes they are famous for and are pretty much required to bring every year, but i added this one to my list since the morning of thanksgiving starts when everyone arrives with  several breakfast casseroles strewn about and some kind of sketchy dead animal sausages that Landon procured from a local farm and then cured himself (props for buying local), i just can't ever trust that what they tell me about the ingredients will be true- therefore better to avoid all-together. for example, i would say something like, "dad, what kind of sausage is this?" and he would casually reply, "oh just regular pork sausage that landon made from a pig he bought and had butchered up in north GA from an organic farm" (thats a totally normal response in my family) and then AFTER i sniffed it and then took a bite, he would giggle and say "actually that was alligator/goat brain sausage that i had overnighted from louisiana from a 96 year old swamp farmer that raises his own goats to feed to the alligators and his wife harvests the seasonings and then marinates them for three years in mason jars in their backyard". im serious- responses like these would not surprise me. i am totally ok with trying new things- and all for supporting small farmers, but sometimes, i just want some plain old carolina pride sausage from publix- is that too much to ask?? every meal does not have to be an adventure for me in order to be satisfying. so i just decided to make some cinnamon rolls last year from a recipe i found from (don't tell my family!) sandra lee's semi-homemade show on food network. they absolutely LOVED them, and i secretly basked in their success even though i didn't mill my own flour to make them or import the sugar from a farm in puerto rico... so they are back on the menu again. even though mom mentioned how delicious they would be with a crushed pecan topping... ugh.

all food issues aside, the thing i look forward to most is the time spent with family. watching everyone gather in the kitchen and cook together all day and share recipes and critiques of foods and wines and restaurants and just talk about life. my family for the most part all have a funny sense of humor. you will get made fun of and prodded for information since we are all nosy, and your thoughts about how cumin can be used as a marinade for whatever will be thoroughly discussed. your dog training methods will be picked apart and i will get ribbed for not believing in "spanking" dogs while house training while meanwhile, my moms cavapoo is off peeing on a rug somewhere even though her method is "clearly" superior... we will talk about everyone's latest interior design choices, and whisper about some cousin's bad wardrobe choice etc. and there will be unceasing chatter and laughter and a beautiful prayer and lots to be thankful for. 

things i'm thankful for this year:

a family that's never dull and full of love

my four legged children and their health and affection

the little barn/farm that i love and hope to never have to live without

the chance to live in a place where i am safe and comfortable

living in a country where i get to be picky about food because there's plenty of it

a great job and the chance to go to school as well

a husband that i love and look forward to making squash casserole for every year

getting to be part of a family that supports and encourages you to do your best in whatever you do 

the generosity of others, both financial and otherwise

traditions both new and old

and lots more...

Happy Thanksgiving!

the police women of dallas

"the police women of dallas" is one of those shows that if you asked on any given day, i may or may not admit to watching- sort of like "dog the bounty hunter"- which is just not really describable in words but totally addictive. so anyway, the other night husband and i were flipping channels and stopped upon this show and one of the police women of dallas was being called out to a code (insert numbers here) which meant that a large group of people were fighting- it turned out to be a large group of "ladies" fighting in the parkling lot of an apartment complex.

this lovely little officer arrived all on her own, before back-up and began to attempt to break up the fight. the women were shouting profanities and spitting at eachother and weave was flying every which a way and lots of words like "respeck" and questions about who "knows" who were being tossed around.... i was scared for this officer. i would much rather try to break up a fight between men than one between a group of enraged women this large!

so after her back-up arrived and she handed out citations to several of the fighters and told them they were getting on her nerves she said the funniest thing i have heard in ages... i literally started coughing from laughing so hard! i can't help but share it and it's probably not nearly as funny if you didnt see the show but here we go!

as she was getting back into her car she said simply, "good Lord Jesus I need a sno-cone!"

and.... scene.

and so it begins!

it seems as soon as fall came, it went. we got about four gorgeous days of fall and then the gray sky and brisk chilly edged breeze of winter blew in. you know they say, "if you don't like the weather in Georgia, wait five minutes", which is partially true and especially confusing when trying to decide what to dress the horses in each morning/evening- or even how to dress yourself! this time of year the back of my car is covered up in boots of every shape and size, jackets, fleeces and t-shirts, because i just never know what i might need! there is my hidden pair of gloves in the console and a trusty flashlight for evening barn chores, since the time change has put us in the dark at 6pm. although i am a summer girl, fall is my second favorite, and i'm feeling a little shorted!

all negativity aside, fall/winter brings the beginning of something else which excites me down to my core and somehow allows me to propel myself from bed at 4am with energy and delight- FOXHUNTING!!!

now anyone who has known me for a Looooong time knows that I have somewhat of a storied history when it comes to the little creature called the fox. in general, i am NOT.A.FAN. of those sketchy little red or gray creatures that look at you like they are deciding whether or not to eat your brain with a side of fava beans. perhaps its because i was attacked by one of the little buggers that had rabies when i was 12- or maybe it's because another rabid one spent two nights torturing me by hanging out just outside of my townhouse in athens before animal control got tired of me calling them 86 times a minute and screaming in a supersonic pitch to come catch it, or maybe it's because while driving home to the river a few weeks ago one of them watched us from the side of the road and then proceeded to CHASE the car for a minute. it's like as a species, they are out to get me. i used to burst into tears every time i saw one, which totally prevented me from participating in a foxhunt, but now, i've decided that if they are going to spend their little lives chasing me for sport- then i will return the favor!

so I have owned Jazz since last December, so almost a year, and from day one I just felt like she really loved being outside of the arena. little did i know her first mommy spent lots of time taking her on trail rides when she had just come off the track and boy did it make a difference for her. she relishes being "out" so i have been thinking that she really might enjoy hunting. because i don't have a trailer at the moment, all of my plans to take her out hound walking and cubbing before the season "formally" begins, were dashed, so i just decided that she has been out enough with me and in the company of other horses that i trust her to at least not try to kill me in the hunt field. i was little worried about the hounds, but she has been around a few dogs and never tried to bowl them over, which was promising so I took a little risk and accepted the invite to attend opening hunt from a dear friend! my goal for the day was simple: "don't make a spectacle of yourself!"

after a long week of work, she was bathed and braided and the night before the hunt i hugged her neck and whispered to her that we were going to have tons of fun and she didn't have to do any dressage but she couldn't kick anyone or anything. she seemed to agree. bright and early my alarm sounded at 3:30am, which doesn't even count as morning- it's just really the middle of the night, but i leapt out of bed and into the shower and i was at the barn by 4:30 to feed the mares and get everything ready for the day. when we pulled into the lovely Bear Creek Farms, it was chilly chilly chilly, but dry and sunny. i tacked her up and as soon as she heard the hounds her ears perked in that direction as if she knew exactly what they were saying. after about 18 circles around the mounting block, i pretty much just jumped in a heap onto her back and she took off trotting towards the kennels. she was going to like this hunting business i think! i turned her back towards the trailer and the rest of our party and she showed me her distaste for that by throwing one of her crow hopping spinning fits RIGHT as who walked by in his bright red coat? of course, one of our masters. the goal of not making a spectacle of myself was on the brink of destruction, but after a very serious growl at her to "quit" from me- she obliged and decided to behave! she was just excited- as was i!

we paraded behind the masters and the hounds up to the breakfast area and the masters spoke and the hounds were blessed. i sat there taking in the scene- the horses that knew exactly what was going on, and those, like mine that could just feel the electricity in the air, the men on the ground dressed in barbour coats and wellies ready to drive the tally-ho wagons behind the hunt, the pony club kids passing out little shots of hounds blood (port/brandy mix), and the steam already rising from the braided necks of all the horses, and the backs of each of us that were mounted. the hounds pranced around expectantly, watching and listening for the master to cast them off to hunt.

we were introduced to the fieldmasters for each flight. a big crowd demanded at least three, and my orginal intention of just hilltopping to introduce her to hunting was quickly changed as she pranced in place and threw her nose in the air over and over to say "let's goooooo mom". i knew keeping her at a pace that could follow the big drafties and the ponies being led just wasn't fair to her. she was pumped- she was trying to tell me that she was ok, and if i would just let her go 2nd flight where the pace was up, but the jumps were optional- that she could be trusted. so i did. her BFF horse, Ember was going 2nd flight as well, and i can only imagine the cacophony of whinnies if we had tried to separate them! again, "don't make a spectacle" echoed in my head. i was nervous like i hadn't been in a long time. what idiotic human takes a first time hunter 2nd flight? on opening hunt? when EVERYONE was there? me. yep. me.

as first flight trotted off towards the woods and we followed behind she was like a coiled spring underneath me- i could feel her energy and i took just a second to close my eyes and breathe out my nerves. heels down, sit up and breathe....

second flight, otherwise known as first flight- part B, was off! we had lots of good trots and canters and several rather exhilarating full out gallops across the open pastures and hay fields. we never lost sight of 1st flight and we cantered past the tally-ho wagoners, then, as if to show off, she took the bit and dropped her back and we were galloping like i never have before- my half halts were futile and i may have been i daresay, muttering an expletive or two, but not because i don't trust her, but just because i didn't want to be the one with the horse that won't rate, apologetically shouting "no brakes!" as you pass your field- which is a no no! thank the Lord, as the field slowed, so did she. after getting over the initial shock of that gallop which is BIG and FAST and unlike any other horse I have ever ridden, i started to smile because really, it was awesome. one of those moments never forgotten; full of adrenaline and the feeling of a blessing that most people never get to experience, much less on a regular basis.

for the rest of the hunt, she was a star. she was bombproof and stood at checks- only her nose flicking to remind me not to forget the rein stops for a running martingale next time, and she was sound and surefooted and smart. she got the idea about going when everyone goes and stopping when everyone stops. she popped over the big log with glee and jumped ditches and crossed water without a second thought. she is one hell of a hunt horse in the making because the has that 'thing' they need- it's a safety and a fifth leg that kicks in when you need it. instead of me riding her, we were just there together and i knew the move she would make before she made it and she read my mind before i gave her the aids. our big flight was full of lots of green horses and inexperienced hunters- we were cut off and passed and bumped into and hounds were running underneath and along as we got the scent of a coyote and they worked the woods we were in. the footing was dodgy sometimes and deep other times and wet and muddy and dry and hard!! it was everything in one day- and nothing overwhelmed her.

as we galloped up a clay trail in the woods, the land changed and became steeply banked with wet Georgia clay on each side- the trail dictated the we be in single file and then out of nowhere, a little horse came up beside us and cut right in front. we were easily at a good hand gallop and there was a crowd behind us too that prevented us from slowing. my mind thought, "there's no where safe for me to put her, we are about to crush a quarter horse!  it was one of those moments when my human brain did NOT know best and many years of riding left me with no good answer. in a split second as all of this was racing through my brain, all i could imagine happening next was us getting pushed sideways into the slippery clay banks on each side of the trail, her slipping and then... i just gave her the reins and she saved my butt- as i was being stupid and panicky she just took one big stride and jumped UP to the top of the big clay bank and rounded the turn and found a spot to parallel park between a big grey and the little quarter horse. that bank was huge and i have no idea how, while at a gallop, she jumped up and moved laterally all at once, kept her footing and kept us safe. all of that happened in probably a total of 5 seconds, but in my mind, it was slow motion. as the field slowed to a trot i rubbed her neck and told her "thank you". i was useless to her and she saved my butt. she has that 'thing' that makes a great horse- a lifetime horse that you can always trust. even when she is crow-hopping and spinning to argue her point with me- i can always trust her.

we finished the day and although i thought after about 30 miles she might be tired, we galloped (she decided to) across the polo field back to the trailers and when i turned her out at home she trotted off while flipping her head and celebrated herself with tail flagged to take a tour of her pasture and find a suitable spot to roll.

jazz has a boo boo

and not of the halloween sort of boo :(
poor little pony
i will be cleaning this and caring for it incessantly this week! it's in a tricky spot to keep clean and free of debris and i don't want her hoof to get infected!
she and ember are in today, out of the rain and because of her boo boo. she is not going to like being in for long! wish me luck!