Christmas Gifts

Hello everyone- I hope that y'all had a wonderful holiday. We've had a wonderful Christmas despite the weather demons.

Christmas eve was a beautiful and warm sunny day so I decided to ride. Since I had only ridden once in 2 weeks it seemed prudent to lunge first. Carmen was a bit looky but pretty good. That carried over to the riding. She was very very good. I also stayed focussed on making sure that I was giving constant directions and not sitting in the back seat and letting her drive.

I always find it hard to know how much to school when she's not in regular work. I don't want to make her sore and it seems unfair to push her too hard- especially when I can't be sure to ride the next day to help clarify. I decided that I was just going to work on soft and steady contact, smooth transitions and bend.

I could feel a real change in the contact since I did her teeth- she was back to being soft in the contact and no more gaping or pulling. While she was definitely a bit looky she was not that tight ball of dynamite that I had been riding. I am filing that away as useful information- Carmen is far more explosive when she's uncomfortable. I ended our session after 50 minutes. In the barn she was quite happy to have me groom and make a fuss over her. It was a lovely Christmas gift.

That night we had lobster and a whole bunch of snacks.

Picked up the lobster at the wharf

Christmas day was a whole different story in terms of weather. We had freezing rain, followed by rain and then the winds started. Up to 130 km/hr. It was inevitable that we would lose power and we did around 3:45. Fortunately the turkey was done. Ed hooked up the generator but it doesn't run the stove.  I ended up cooking the potatoes and gravy in the microwave.  We were able to have some light with an extension cable and had dinner by the light of the tree and some candles.

Christmas dinner by candlelight

We had a ton of fun playing board games and spending time together. The barn chores are always more challenging by lamplight. I have a battery lantern that I use. It makes me feel like I'm in 'Little House on the Prairie'. 

This morning we rigged up some heavy duty extension cords to run the electric fence but first we needed to repair the fence. We still don't have power but are doing fine. It has been a wonderful Christmas with the kids (2 and 4 legged). Ed gave me a Fitbit Charge 2 which I'm really happy with. My kids appear to know their mother quite well:

From my son. I think that the will be my horse show sweater to protect my show clothes. 

My daughter saw me admiring this and sneakily bought it. 

All of these are lovely gifts but the best one is to slow down and spend time with the people and creatures I love. And eating. I will definitely be putting that Fitbit to use!

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