laterally and literally

jazz and i enjoyed a great dressage lesson this week, right before the monsoon hit on wednesday. it was one of those lessons where i left feeling invigorated, motivated, and proud of my mare. i even called my mom to tell her about it, even though after all these years of me riding, she still insists that you hold on and steer a horse with your knees, and once my mom has an idea in her head, it's hard to convince her otherwise. so i may as well have been talking to the one year old twins i nanny,  but it was nice to have someone to tell about it, since all my horsey friends were busy at work.

since our last lesson, we have been working on making transitions, especially the upwards transition into canter, less of a "big deal". i tend to overanalyze sometimes and the old mantra "perfect practice makes perfect" rings continuously in my head. so when our transitions into canter were jumpy, bucky, or wrong-leady, i would get all mentally frazzled about what i am doing wrong and how to better and more clearly communicate to jazz, who was probably just wondering why mom is all frazzled up there and why our canter transitions were such a "BIG.DEAL!!!". so our lovely dressage trainer brought this to my attention and said she could see my body language changing as soon as she asked for a canter, so i was busted... and thank God she busted me! So for the last two weeks, i just pick a spot, a random spot, and ask quietly. If she gets the wrong lead we just come back down to trot , put ourselves back together, and ask again- no fuss and no worry. The other thing is that i cannot ask in the same place twice, if i do, ms. smarty pants mare will literally canter at that exact spot every time we pass over that spot for the rest of the ride. maybe i should just tape our dressage tests up in her stall and she can learn them instead of me?!

anyway, the other exercise that has really helped us lately with transitions and maintaining a rythym are shoulder-ins. for the first 6 months i rode jazz, my biggest issue was keeping her attention on me, we've solved that issue now and she is quite willing to work, but now we need the consistency in our gaits and consistency in her body (and mine) so that every time i ask for a lengthening or shortening or transition or i reach up to swish my bangs out of my eyes, it doesnt go like this: lovely trot...mom, youre moving your body...hollow back, head up, tail swish, choppy steps, mom! what do you want??....oh, you were just scratching your nose....head down, back up, lengthen stride...lovely trot....
so although i LOVE that my mare is sensitive to my aids and to my body, sometimes we both have to learn to overlook eachothers mistakes (i.e. extraneous movements). i truly dont know whether she is sometimes using my subtle shifts as an excuse, or if she is truly trying really hard- but i like to think it's the latter. so the shoulder- in, although some would argue it's too early to be working these since we are still working on rythym in the training scale, has been beneficial for us in more ways that one. first, it's made me more cognizant of riding her front end and hind end differently, but in unison, and has made me much more efficient in riding BOTH sides of the horse well and simultaneuously, and also, she really looks for the contact to understand what i am asking of her and i have seen her grow much more relaxed lately. in an even more pleasantly unexpected result, it has helped me to unlock her sometimes "strong" shoulders and get her weight off of my inside leg and allow her to take larger steps, instead of quicker ones.  the mare is a pretty good faker sometimes, and will look like she's on the bit and relaxed and round through her back and neck, but secretly, her inside shoulder is pushing at my leg and her body seems "locked" to me, even though it will fool an eye on the ground. so the shoulder-in and beginnings of lateral work in general have helped us in that now it's too hard for her to "punk" me with her shoulder, because it has to be active! yay!

on to the literally part of this post- we literally actually and realistically started working on trot lengthenings and shortenings- well mostly shortenings!!! i feel like dressage is suddenly much more fun. not because we are learning "tricks", but because i can tell what a difference it's making in my horse and me- and dang it- it's fun to see work pay off!
so again, kudos to my dressage trainer for explaining the beginnings of this process in a not so esoteric way to me because, i just read "practical horseman", i still can't understand "dressage today" and it makes me fall asleep!  so this is how i thought about it after she explained it: think of the trot as a scale from 1 to 10. one being the most collected trot ever (i saw passage in my head), and ten being a super extended trot (i saw phillip dutton and connaught from rolex 2009). once i have my mare in a real working trot, she naturally falls at about a 6 on the scale for cadence and length of step, so my job was to make her a 3, without losing the cadence (the hard part!) and turning into a western pleasure looking trot. and we actually did it! jazz was soo soo good about listening to me and even though it used to seem counterproductive to "click" at her with my mouth while asking her to "stay" underneath me, all of the sudden it seem natural and the aids made sense, she really was able to do it and it was a very proud moment for me because she is strong enough to and athletic enough to- and i can't wait to work on it more! it was neat to feel the normally very forward energy underneath me change from the feeling of (trying to make this an analogy that the non horsey folks can understand) water squirting out of a hose, to water spinning in a front load washer. i wasn't losing any energy, it was just recirculating underneath me.

so for those of us on a journey with a horse where we learn together to be correct in our movements, it was a big deal! i have only ever ridden an upper level dressage horse twice, so it's hard sometimes to teach something to your horse when you've never felt it yourself! yay for the good lessons, and yay for the horses that teach us as much as we teach them.

thats all for now!

weather

dear weather,
  you have been so lovely all week, and i have been basking in your sunshine and warmth, thinking happy thoughts and frolicking around the farm patting the ponies and carrying the hens around in my arms while considering plans for my spring veggie garden. i feel like our relationship this week has been mutually fulfilling, and even when the gas prices rose out of control and rylie boo chewed a snap off of my favorite jacket, i never whined, not even a whimper, all because you made me so happy dear weather.

and now this??? i wake up this morning and the skies are back to middle grey and theres this heaviness to the air and its COLD! like 40 degrees! the weatherman calls you a "wedge" and says that you'll be here all weekend to rain on my hunt plans and pasture fence installation plans and i quote, he said this morning, that you will in fact "dump buckets" of rain starting tomorrow morning. and now that my two day thin mint binge is over and clearly my high has worn off, he may call you a "wedge" but i can think of a few other things to call you!

we better have some dang pretty hay this summer, because that is the ONLY benefit i am seeing right now of having you around, mr "wedge". i mean really, why can't you arrive during the work week when we are all trapped inside at work and school- it's always the weeeeeekend! not cool.

considering a break-up,
ellie

flying changes

there has been a lot going on around here lately! changes everywhere and big plans being made.

for starters, i changed my career path, once again, from nursing to surgical technology. i came to this conclusion after watching a few surgeries at a nearby hospital, there is one thing i have always known since i went back to school, its that i want to work in the OR. i love blood, and guts, and the vascular system and dissecting things etc. so when i watched, i noticed that the nurses in the OR milled about checking out vitals and stats etc and writing all kinds of things down, and filling out paperwork, coming in and out of the OR and in general missing all the fun! meanwhile, these other people (which i had never really heard of up until this point) were establishing the sterile field, holding retractors, suctioning blood, handing the instruments to the surgeons etc. and just in general RIGHT in the MIDDLE of all the fun. i asked a nurse, "who is that?" while pointing to the busy woman in scrubs and she said, "the surgical tech". and that was it- my life was changed. after mulling it over, and convincing my husband that i was in fact going to eventually finish school and i swear i wasn't going to change my career path again and that i would in fact still be finished on the same timeline- i did it. now happily plodding away in my classes, i realized that this is where i should have been all along. after all, we all know i love animals, with people always having been in second place- now i get to love them while they are anesthetized AND see their insides- what could be better?


as for a four legged update:
back in december, a dear friend of mine got the opportunity of a lifetime to be a working student for a very big name dressage farm for a year. although i was a bit disappointed that i could no longer bribe her with japanese food in exchange for lessons, i was excited about her year up there, getting to take her fabulous horse with her to learn, and hopefully seeing her succeed again in competitions this year and the North American Junior Young Rider competitions and Gladstone etc. they were 4th in the nation last year- which is incredible, and I even got the chance to ride her horse, which was very enlightening for me and quite an honor! she even says i rode him well, and he did in fact do everything i asked, (apparently she let another friend get on him and he would only passage) so i was sort of impressed with myself and inspired to ride Jazz the same way until she felt as "correct" as he does. this young rider has come so very far from the first time i met her about three years ago, and her horse, who was trained and made by HER, is turning out to be a very special guy- and he's only 7! although sometimes it's funny to think that you can learn so much from someone younger than you, and often just by watching, i have learned a few very important things from this pair. -
-first, dream big and expect the best of your partner. this pair exemplifies that- they have met nearly every goal they have set and when at dinner she announced to me that she plans to ride in the olympics in 2016, i don't for a minute doubt that she will. she rides every ride with high expectations of herself and her horse and that is something i have tried to emulate lately.
-second, discipline. um, the level of discipline this young lady has is surprising and a little scary. after hearing what her life is like day in and day out at her working student position, it's even more than i think i could stomach- and i'm pretty willing to be disciplined and work hard.  before she left, she got up every morning and drove an hour to the barn, rode- in a disciplined manner, cleaned her tack (daily), and was never shy about disciplining her horse if needed, or me in lessons when i was letting my mare get away with murder. for such a young person, she knows the true meaning of discipline, she loves her horse more than life, and would never be unfair to him or lose her cool, but at the same time, she is very workmanlike with him when he is creatively throwing his body into the air to avoid work, and he doesn't get away with it. this was so good for me to see, because i am admittedly a little "soft" on my mare. i love her and know every single hair, lump and bump on her body, and sometimes my emotions about "oh she raced for so long and doesn't deserve to be made to have a second career if it doesn't suit her" get in the way of the reality of "yes she raced for so long because she is extraordinarily athletic and likes to work and if you don't develop her natural talents then you are wasting a gift". so i have taken a cue from my friend, and demanded discipline of us both lately- and it's actually been very beneficial.
third- ride ride ride the horsey. along the same lines as the previous two, this young lady rides her horse like the postal service delivers the mail- rain, snow, sleet or hail. although she does have access to a fabulous indoor arena and i don't, i have stopped using weather as an excuse for inconsistent training. even if we just get on and walk for 20 minutes because its slippery, or lunge cuz i have the stomach flu, i am trying to be consistent in my training- and the mare loves it.

so after my little "emulate what is successful since she moved away and left you all alone" epiphany, i have tried to slowly put these things into practice little by little. and here is what has happened:
1. i work three days a week and by the time i get to the barn after work, its too dark to ride, so on the other four days of the week- i ride- no excuses. i consider it a standing appointment with myself and my horse. not, ride after i finish the barn chores or after i get groceries, it's get up, go ride, and then do your errands. husband may have to eat hot dogs sometimes because i forget to defrost meat for dinner in my rush to get to the barn, but he likes hot dogs. thank god.
2. when we ride, we ride for a reason. i usually set some kind of little goal for us and work towards it. i had a jumper show to attend in february and i knew we needed to actually jump before the show. with the snow melting and our field (with one jump) still muddy, i just had to get off and move the jump after every few jumps so the footing was safe. and i made an appointment with my friend to borrow her arena and schooled my mare over her fences a few days before. it REALLY made a difference. we were struggling a lot with refusals the week before the show- riding by yourself in a slippery field on a strong frisky mare who's lesbian lover is calling to her from the barn can be intimidating. when i get nervous (which is rare-honestly) my mare does not respond well. after two days of jump, buck, bolt, stop, spin... i was a little scared. that's when the refusing started. she was refusing some because she was unsure of how to use her body and mostly because i wasn't confident- and why would a green horse choose to jump when the rider's emotions are saying "this is scary?!" i was intimidated to try to train a green bean over fences who can throw a huge temper tantrum when she wants to and i was having visions of myself lying in a field alone until someone drove by and noticed a random tacked up horse munching at a round bale- and then add the refusal to that, where i am thrown up her neck and tasting ear hair, and it just doubled my trouble. THIS is when you need a jumping trainer- even when you have been riding a long time and the jump is only 2'3" and you have trained greenies before. now if only i could find a sane one, we'd be in business! so i prayed about our troubles and whispered to my mare that everything was ok and made myself change my attitude and go school with a fresh perspective in my friends arena WITH a crop (channeling the discipline here), and voila- after one refusal, she started jumping everything. i still told my friends they might want to act like they didn't know me at the show, but it all turned out well. we went to the show and the refusals we had were not dirty and they weren't coming from my insecurities, she was simply looking at the natural colored fence that was over in the shady corner of the ring- which is a perfectly acceptable move for a green horse over fences. by the end of the show she was jumping everything without a second look- and we learned so much and went home with lots to work on- which was the original goal. i was happy and proud.
3. i now ride with a crop over fences- i needed to because the dang smart mare is a master manipulator and i am a pushover. it is working well. sometimes, i even tap her with it ;)
4. we are pushing ourselves physically and mentally. the crazy GA winter weather and double snowmageddon allowed us both to get a bit out of shape- so we are pushing ourselves. when no one is around to see me, i ride in two point and try to do it with no stirrups- something i used to be able to do easily before i turned 27 and old and fat and lame. the mare, is being made to use her body correctly- taking cues from my ride on mr.4th in the nation- we are working constantly on stepping under more and using her hind end more and consistently. popping in and out of her correct frame (and i am NOT just referring to her head/neck) at the trot and canter because she is saying "but mom, it's haaarrrddd to work" is not being tolerated as much. of course, i understand it's a process and she needs breaks too, but she also needs a topline and butt muscles and it takes hard work to get them. we are also working on quiet and correct canter transitions and probably will be until the year 2099. my astute dressage trainer however, pointed out that i am over thinking the transitions and making them a big deal- then my drama queen mare gets to make them a big deal- so we are working on making them "no thang" as much as we are working on correct.
5. ummm we have lead changes?  so i know track horses do them while racing and training and i have seen her execute gorgeous ones in the field, but not undersaddle. we have tried them once before, but when i asked, she was like "oh ok, change and GALLOP" (which is the cue at the track), which wasn't lovely, so i just put them on the back burner and told myself we would revisit them after more canter work. the canter is still our stumbling block- she HAS the ability for a very nice canter and an elastic canter and an extended, working and collected canter, but our lines of communication for getting those had perhaps been cut??? like regenerating a neuron (excuse my nerdiness), the process has been slow and steady and sometimes absent. unbeknownst to me, riding over fences and in an arena with actual walls, would benefit us here. i let a friend hop on jazz and pop her over a fence because shes a good rider and she is working on riding all sorts of different horses and i like to see my mare jump, so they pop over the fence and get to the corner and boom- perfect and seamless lead change! i say "did u ask for that?" and she says no. i was impressed! next day, i am jumping her and she throws lovely changes at every corner every time and all i am doing really is shifting my weight into my stirrup. im not kidding they were seamless- like could barely feel her change seamless!  i was riding with friends, otherwise i think i might have cried with joy. it was one of those AHA moments that you don't forget in the process of training a horse. i think our canter work this winter, plus jumping and finally "getting it" at the show, and me seeing my friend get one that was so lovely and then remembering to get her balanced enough to be able to do one- just all fell together. it's not like we have tempis- but we have progress!

and with that- i am inspired to work harder and learn more and ask for more.

art+horses= perfection

when it comes to equine art, i have to say i am a bit of a snob. after all, how many of us have seen cheesy paintings of rearing arabians with flowing manes and bulging blood vessels painted on velvet with a lightning bolt in the background and sold in hotel lobbies as "art"? its frightening the majority of the time, when you hear about horses in art. if it's not rearing arabians, its bucking broncos or loping paint horses with native american faces in silhouette peeping out of the corners. of course, there are some WONDERFUL artists that paint horses and equestrian sport in a classic and realistic fashion- and that is the art i appreciate, however, i don't find a lot of those artists that aren't dead old white guys (like Degas, who did my favorite race horse scenes) so it's refreshing to find a young artist who works in a classic fashion.

melissa works primarily in graphite and watercolor and her latest work is in chalk pastel. those familiar with our tight knit little equestrian community in and around Atlanta are buying up her work as fast as she can finish it. i am currently on her waiting list, and am beyond excited to have a piece of her work based on my mare. she works primarily on commission and does lovely horse portraits, which i would have to say, look EXACTLY like the actual horse, not just a photo of the horse, but she is able to capture the movement and mannerisms of the horse as well. when she has time, she likes to do freelance work and is often attracted to classic baroque breeds and dressage based images for inspiration. this is her latest work, currently still for sale since she only just finished it. titled twilight and dawn in german, the work is based on two lusitano stallions and each one measures about 16x22. whether alone or in a set, each work is stunning and is sure to be the focal point of it's eventual home. i have to add that her prices are ridiculously low, and i keep trying to talk her into raising them, but all the money she earns from the works goes straight towards dressage lessons, so get a piece of her work before she realizes what they're worth!

zweilicht and anbruch
$150 each or $275 for the set

here are a few more examples of her work- all sold of course:

and my personal favorite, currently residing in the private collection of the marketing director for Atlanta Steeplechase, at least until I get invited to her house and start my career as an art thief:

every time i see her work, i am just refreshed by it, and re-inspired by the beauty and strength of the horse. i can't wait to walk up my stairs and get to feel that feeling every day! if you are interested in commissioning a work, or are interested in the work for sale, please contact the artist at melissa_syfert@hotmail.com, and tell her Ellie sent you!

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 ;)