Free Time

As of the end of the work day today, I am on vacation. As is typical with me I have packed it full of horse plans.

Carmen is not sure what she thinks of 'vacation'

This weekend, Carmen and I are headed to CNHP for our second show of the season. We were there last year and I was really pleased with how it went. This time I have booked a hotel instead of camping. Last year I got almost no sleep and I really don't function well without sleep.

not this time

My goals for the show are as follows:

• Keep Carmen straight and on the aids
• don't wait three strides to respond to her tension
• keep my seat engaged not tense
• have fun

the wild roses are taking over the hill by my ring.
The smell is heavenly. 

We also have a clinic the next weekend with Karen on Centered Riding Principles. It should be a lot of fun and full of learning. I am excited. 

In between I shall hang out at home and get some chores done. Including walking the dog and doing all sorts of things that are not work. This includes working on a special project that I am not yet ready to divulge. 

this is my Pussy Willow enjoying the great outdoors

these two <3

I do love summer in Nova Scotia. It is so beautiful here this time of year. I am going to enjoy every minute of my vacation.

Weather Beaten

Yesterday we were hit with yet another Nor'Easter. The original forecast had it starting Weds night and being over by Thursday morning. We were supposed to get mostly rain.

It seems that Mother Nature does not like to be predictable because it started late Thursday morning and we were hammered with snow. Normally I would leave work early to avoid the worst but it was my last day before my 'use it or lose it' vacation and I had a ton of work to do. I ended up working a bit later then planned.

not fun. Winter can piss right off

Fortunately Ed was home and brought the horses in when it got bad. Not that they needed persuasion- they had been hunkered in their stalls anyway.

Upon heading entering the barn I was greeted with grumpy horses and stalls that looked like I hadn't picked them out in a week (honestly I had done them in the morning).

Irish: Thank heavens you're home. This is an OUTRAGE. I've been in my stall all afternoon. I am a TB, I need my FREEDOM. 

Me: Actually you are half QH. Plus all he did was shut the door- you were already hiding in your stall. 

Carmen: And I'm starving. I can see the hay but there's NONE in my stall. Call the SPCA. 

d'Arcy: you need to let the horses out so I can help you bring them in. 

Me: I'm pretty sure that you had hay. You ate it all. 

Irish: Don't you dare deny me my heritage. I identify as all TB thank you very much. Plus you are missing the point- the male servant took my choice away. It's fine if I decide to stay in. It's totally not cool for him to make the decision for me. 

Carmen:  Not one stalk of hay was given to me. You can see for yourself. 

d'Arcy:  that's my job after all. 

Irish: Carmen! Stay on topic- it's about us being prisoners, not you turning yourself into a hippo. 

Carmen:  HOW DARE YOU! I am Rubenesque not some scrawny thing. 

Me: Okay okay you two. Knock it off. Carmen, I will get you more hay. Irish you are in until morning. 

I brought Carmen out into the aisle and parked a wheelbarrow of hay in front of her while I cleaned her stall. 

d'Arcy:  yes, put her out. You can't bring them in without me. It's a rule. 

Carmen: this is more like it. *nom nom nom* You should put this in my stall not that horrible hay net contraption. 

Irish: Morning? Morning? Good lord woman have you lost your mind? I want to go OUTSIDE. This is UNACCEPTABLE. 

Me: Not gonna happen sunshine. It's still snowing and blowing out there. 

my woods after the storm

Carmen: Oh Irish *nom* lighten up.*nom* It's all fine now*nom*. Have you started getting our dinner ready yet? 

Guinness:  Look I found this stick. Isn't it awesome? Doesn't it just make you want to throw it again and again and again? 

Irish:  No, she's lallygagging in the stall and playing with that dog. 

someone loves the snow anyway

Me: I'm going as fast as I can. There princess your stall is clean, I've put in fresh shavings, topped up your hay and freshened your water. 

Carmen: Wait, bring that hay buffet in here! I liked it. 

I bring Irish out and park him by the wheelbarrow. He immediately knocks hay out of it and onto the floor where he picks through it like a food critic who found a hair in his creme brûlée. 

d'Arcy:  ok, leave the grey one in but bring out the brown one. I'm ready to help you. 

Irish: don't you have anything better? I'm really not sure of the quality of hay this year. It's lacking the fresh green flavour that I love. 

Me: Well there's nothing I can do about that- the grass will come in on it's own schedule. 

Irish: Excuses. You're not trying that's what I think. I want to go back in my stall. 

Me: Not yet I'm not done yet. 

Irish:  It really is awful the way you keep taking away my freedom of choice. I'm going to lodge a formal complaint. 

Guinness: Stick stick stick. THROW THE STICK. Pleeeaaassse. 

Me: Who with? 

Irish: I haven't figured that out yet. But when I do you'll be in big trouble missy. 

at least I got to snowshoe today.

Me: There, all clean. Okay Irish you can go back in your stall. 

Irish: good thing- I was just going to get feisty. 

Me: heaven forbid. 

I got their dinner ready and they both seemed much happier.  I then headed into the house to make dinner for Ed. It was his birthday and our rule is that you don't need to cook on your birthday. I had picked up some samosas and pakoras on the way home (best time to go to the grocery store is during a storm) and made a red curry. 

This morning I strapped on my snowshoes to take Guinness for a walk (d'Arcy can't handle the snow anymore). 

Guinness showing off how much faster he is in the snow

The woods were like a cathedral. I am always so grateful
for this small patch of forest that I own. 

I figure that if it had to storm it was best on the day I had to work. Now I have 11 glorious days in front of me to enjoy.

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Something is Better Than Nothing

We finally got our power turned on Thursday morning. It is always such a relief when it comes back even though we were doing fine.

Thursday was a sunny day- sort of. It was one of those March days that goes from sunny to flurries to windy every 20 minutes. I had hopes to ride but when I got home the wind was fierce again. Carmen was positively vibrating in the cross ties and really struggling to listen to me. So I decided that a groundwork session would be time better spent.

I'm really glad that I made that decision. Carmen clearly wanted to listen but was wound tight. She had a few bolts on the lunge. I don't think that she was afraid though- more just full of piss and vinegar. I let her canter a bit and then asked her to slow down. She totally ignored me and was starting to get too wound up.  I summoned my best 'Royce voice' and said 'WHOA'. She came to a screeching halt and faced me looking quite relieved. We had some really nice moments of her tuning into me and other moments of her coming back when I insisted. Overall I was happy with our session. I am finding that I get the same level of satisfaction in our progress in the ground work as I do with the under saddle. I so wish I had learned about this years ago.

Carmen practicing her whoa- note how her mane is blowing
(also not that I managed to keep her from getting too chunky over the winter)

 Friday however fell firmly into the category of 'okay' weather. Julia arranged to come out to ride Irish and Ashley decided to come and take photos and hang out. I had been hoping for more sun but it wasn't simply breezy and not bitter cold so that was something. I just put on my layers and decided to get on with it.

I hopped on Carmen and we walked off. There was none of the shenanigans as our last ride. Not that there wasn't tension- there was but it wasn't like before.  I did my best to not shorten the reins but instead put on my legs and asked her to walk into the contact. There were patches of snow in the ring but the footing was good. The snow was a great training tool.

I'm really making progress in keeping my legs on when she gets tight and asking her to do something. I've learned that I'm much better off doing something rather then nothing. Even if that something is a mistake. Like the poster says:

When she gets tight and feels like she's going to spook I simply wrap my leg around her and ask her to do something -bend through the corner,  go straight, transition, leg yied. It doesn't matter what I ask. I will see what has her attention but I won't focus on- instead I say on the task at hand. And it's really working for us.

When she started to feel relaxed at the walk I asked her to trot. I could feel her whole body stiffen as she considered her options:
 A. canter off
B. buck
C. spook
D. throw haunches in
E. all of the above

Me: Easy girl, do not do any of the things you are thinking of. 
I kept my leg soft, I let the rein stay the same and I just rode her without fussing. She settled into work. Through the ride I could feel the tightness in her back and I just kept asking her to stretch out. I gave lots of praise (when warranted).

Funnily enough she didn't spook once. But she had moments of sass. Those I rather enjoy to be honest. I'm starting to appreciate her for who she is- sassy, opinionated, perfectionistic and easily thrown off her balance (she kind of sounds familiar but who could that be???).

sassy Carmen- but hey look I'M NOT PULLING ON THE REIN!
(ignore the leg that is too curled up)

We picked up a canter and it was lovely and forward. Well, until I asked her to go up through troll corner. Which also had a pile of snow there. That caused her to really sit back and I had to sit up and ride her through.

I love this photo: Julia and Irish are clearly having a ball. Meanwhile, in the background, Carmen is clearly reviewing her life choices that brought her to live with this crazy Canadian.

hey look- I'm not leaning forward. Irish is ignoring our shenanigans and
focussing on being saintly (yes he lost a bell boot in the ride)

After our canter we walked for a bit and then I asked for a trot. And BAM there it was- a forward, flowing trot. It was beautiful to ride and one that I have felt only a few times riding her. I tried to ride it and not interfere. A few times I could feel her lose control of the power from her hind end - she would get faster and fall on her forehand. I would ask her to half-halt and she would come back. 

It was a great way to end the ride. 

Today was the return of bitter cold winds so no riding for us. 

But that's okay because I got some riding in. And that's better than nothing.

Comfort Food

Happy February everyone! I'm hearing all sorts of different predictions from Groundhog day. Here, our own 'Shubenacadie Sam' made a break for it and bit a reporter. Not sure what that means- maybe he was saying 'we're all doomed, I'm outta here suckers!' 

I hate being trapped inside. I always have. I can putter outside and not be bored but once I'm in the house puttering I'm completely bored. I needed to find a way to amuse myself that was different then scrolling through FB posts.

So I turned to cooking and baking.

It started with me making a stew and wanting some sort of bread to go with it. I decided to try making my own bread.

It was delicious. 

 From there banana bread and muffins seemed like a good choice.

Then oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips.

Then last weekend a couple girlfriends and I went to a Wine and Lobster event at a local winery. 

The joys of living on the coast

It was amazing. 

Each little course was accompanied by a different wine. The chef came out to describe the dish and then the wine owner described the wine and why they chose it. Each taste of wine was about 1.5 ounces. But they were pretty liberal with the wine and topped up freely. 

Part way through no one was listening to the chef or wine owner oner anymore. We were all having too much fun. I tried to listen but honestly I don't remember. 

This lobster taco was my favourite. I thought of 'L' while I was  devouring eating it. 

The local community college is putting on a series of dinners by their students. The food is amazing and beautifully presented.

Spring better come soon. Poor Shanea will be teaching two marshmallows.  How are you passing the winter? 

Accomplishments

A few weeks ago I received an email from our Provincial Association inviting me to an awards reception. At first I thought it was a generic one inviting all members but on re-reading I realized that they were saying that I had won an award. I spoke to Ed and we made plans to go (apparently if you need me to go somewhere just send me an email that I have won something). 

I actually didn't know what I had one and when I was sitting there listening to all the awards I thought that I had misunderstood the email and was going to have to explain to Ed that this was a mistake, but hey we had a nice day together. Plus we went to Ikea so it's really a win. 

Then I heard my name. Not once but twice:

Champion for my 'region' and Reserve Champ for the Province in
Training Level for the Provincial Scotia Series

I was, of course quite chuffed about the whole thing (NB: 'chuffed' is a word meaning very pleased).  But not because of the ribbons (although those are very nice and going on my wall) but about what they represent- the work that I put in. 

Back in January i wrote a post about my goals for 2017. I met all of them. Well, except for going to Hobby Horse but we did lots of other things. Carmen and I went off property to show, do clinics and to play. My main goal was to have fun with her and enjoy the experience. As the season unfolded we gained in confidence in ourselves and each other. 

So I will celebrate these ribbons- not because I won, but because I went out there and did the things.  And we totally slayed it. 

And didn't look half-bad either: 

one of my favourite things

Another Storm Day

There is a blizzard hitting the east coast of Canada today. It started last night and is still going strong at noon today. Police are advising people to stay off the roads and a lot of businesses, colleges, daycares and public offices are closed. It is a day to hunker inside and wait for it to all be over.

Unless you have animals. They need to be cared for no matter how you feel or whatever the weather. Responsibility is getting up and donning 4 layers of clothing to head out to the barn to feed, clean and otherwise take care of the horses. Love is not minding doing it. Don't get me wrong. The weather has been very very cold: -29 with the wind chill. For those of you on the Farenheit system that translates to freaking cold. So cold that the ends of your fingers get numb despite the gloves and when you come in you start to get feeling back in your face and it doesn't feel good. But despite that I don't mind having to do it. It comes with the territory.

from the kitchen window this morning. Turns out this was a lull in weather

So I put on my layers and trudged though the drifts to the barn. I made sure that their hay racks and water buckets were full and came in for coffee. (let me just say that with these frigid temperatures I am glad I have the heated buckets).

I went out again around 10:45 to check on them. Turns out that horses are not as impressed with the concept of a 'snow day'.

I went into Steele's stall to put on his halter. I wanted to put him in the cross ties to clean out his stall.
uh uh
He backed away. I came to his head again and started to put the halter on.
NO!
This time he shook his head, backed up and gave a little rear.

hmm. I don't think so. I don't really care that he probably wanted to go out and that this was not typical for a morning routine. The reality is that he had no choice in this. The halter was going on and he was coming out to stand in the cross ties. period. I approached him and he reared up a bit higher. This time I was ready and smacked him on hte belly with the halter. He came down with surprise. I stood very still and waited for him to think about this for a second. He blew softly and I came up to him calmly and cooly and put on the halter. Once it was on I led him out and put him in the cross ties. I then carried on with my plans. He pawed while I cleaned out his stall but I ignored that. I did not want to do anything that would escalate. Instead I waited for him to stop pawing and then spoke to him softly.
'good boy'
His ears came forward and he looked at me. I carried on with the cleaning. He started pawing again but this time stopped much sooner. I spoke again. And that was it. He stood there giving the impression of a well behaved equine.

I know that he feels like this being all cooped up:

But that doesn't mean that he can be bratty. I wasn't angry with him, there's no point. I believe that you get much farther just carrying on and being calm then getting upset. It's days like this though that I wish I could win the lottery (of course that would entail actually buying a ticket) so I could build an indoor. It would come in handy.

After Steele, I brought Irish out. He too was not impressed but knows how to express his feelings without getting into too much trouble (that comes from being older and more mature he says). I then refilled the bird feeders and hung them back up outside. I wasn't expecting the birds today but they came and I want to make sure that they have some seeds. I threw them a couple of chopped apples too. 

In the meantime, I've put a roast in the slowcooker and plan to stay inside.

What do you do on bad weather days?