Coping Mechanisms

Like all of you Covid-19 is affecting our daily life. I have started working from home this week.

Working from home has it's attractions. The commute for one. But I'm working harder than I have in a long time. I am connecting with my people and colleagues. I have vacation that I need to use before the end of March but I strongly suspect I will lose it. My plan had been to take some afternoons off to ride. I had planned to have a lesson on Tuesday afternoon. But with the move towards our staff working from home there was no way I could take off. So I had to cancel it.

There is a general worry and stress from this pandemic. The news does not help but it is also necessary. So I try to ration it.

The dogs are happy I'm home and it does allow for me to take walks with them at lunch time.

Ripley loves to take the biggest sticks on our walk

Yesterday Guinness was not himself in the morning. As the day went on he became worse and mid-afternoon, when he didn't want to go for a walk I called the vet. They said to bring him right away so we did. This meant I had to cancel a lesson I had booked for 4:30. 

poor Guinness still wanting to supervise despite feeling so lousy

 The vet took some x-rays. He had a lot of gas in his stomach and intestine but not enough for it to be bloat. No temperature, heart normal. It was possible that he was having some early bloat or he ate something that disagreed with him. The vet gave him some barium mixed with food, some drugs to calm his stomach and we took him home. If he wasn't better in the morning we would bring him back, do another x-ray to see if the barium showed any blockage. About an hour after getting home he threw up a bunch of barium so I don't know how much was left in his system. He slept with us all night so we could watch him. This morning he was much better and now he's completely normal.

spiky green ball helps him feel better

We had a slow feed bowl for Guinness but he broke it. And then bit and broke the next one. So recently we had switched him to a regular bowl. Ed has ordered a metal slow feed bowl from Amazon and in the meantime he's being fed in small amounts. I was so relieved this morning- I was really worried. 

Today is technically my day off but there was work to do so I did a few hours. But I also really needed to do something to de-stress. This morning I baked some cookies. I find baking to be relaxing. 

ginger molasses cookies

Later in the afternoon Julia came over and we tacked up the horses (don't worry, we maintained our social distancing and made use of the hand sanitizer). I really really needed to sit in a saddle and do something physical. 

The ride was awesome. Carmen was pretty relaxed despite my cat hunting in the next field. We were albeit work on our shoulder-in/haunches-in and counter canter. For being so early back to work she felt pretty good. Of course I have no media so you just have to believe me. At the end I was walking her out on a long rein. When we walked down by the brush she gave a sudden start. I just sat there and spoke to her and she gave a breath and then carried on. 

In my happy place

After I hosed off her legs while she stood ground tied. Which made me realize how far we've come. it's the first time I've hosed her this year. 

The world seems to be going to hell these days and it seems that no relief is in sight. But everything is temporary. As long as I have my family (4 and 2-legged) and get to spend some time in the saddle I will be okay. 

I found this advice from Skint Dressage Daddy. It looks like great advice to me. 

How are you coping with all this?

Posturing

I wish that the rain would stop.

But as the saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

I hate not being in a regular ride schedule. Work has been really busy too which makes it harder.

Everyone wanted some extra attention from me when I was home.
Note the canine waiting patiently. 

But that's enough whining. Today was sunny and I was determined to get some quality work in.

In the morning I took Carmen up to work on our ground patterns and learning how to deal with pressure. She did really well. Even when I attached the flag to one of the posts in the riding ring. She didn't want it to touch her (it was flapping quite hard) but wasn't frightened or nervous. The goal is for her to learn how to be calm and seek a relaxed posture when stressed, rather than building on the stress and exploding.

just in case I hadn't notice him nobly waiting for me. 

I didn't ride her after our ground work session. Instead I turned her out. I could have ridden her but I am conscious that there is only so much learning to go in before it can be not productive. So I turned her out and went to have lunch.

After a couple hours I brought her out and tacked her up. She was being good until one of the neighbours raced this frankenstein tractor down the road. It was the frame of an old tractor with a different engine on it.

In the ring we did a little in-hand work and then I mounted. Right away she began to get super tight and balky. I tried to help her ride it through but she began to escalate a bit.

But it didn't seem like she was frightened, it felt more like she didn't want to work.

would rather look for snacks

To test this theory I picked up my crop. I asked her lightly with my leg to walk on and she shook her head and gave a little hop. I gave her a smart smack with the crop behind my leg which she kicked at and then went forward. After one other little discussion that was the end of that. I'm thinking I was right.

I spent the rest of the ride just helping her find a soft and relaxed posture. When she did, I let her carry it for a bit and then gave a break. When she got all twisty I kept myself centred and balanced and let her find me. I wasn't worried about what she going to do- I was confident I could ride it out. 

Carmen began to relax when the tractor came back. 

sigh. 

We stopped to watch it and then I asked her to go. With a sigh she gave me a lovely relaxed trot. We trotted a figure 8 and she was great. I then saw the tractor coming dragging a cart with a  flat tire. I halted and called it a day. 

In all we worked about 35 minutes. Which was okay given that we are just getting back to work. 

I am hopeful that that this work on showing her that life is better when she relaxes is going to pay off. 

I just need to work on my own patience. 

I need to take a page out of Guinness' book

Realizations

The good news is that this week we finally we had the rain we so badly needed. The bad news is that it interfered with a lesson I had booked mid-week. It was rebooked for Friday which was supposed to be dry but dawned dark and rainy. It was supposed to clear up so I reassured Shanea that it would be fine for 11.

Which it sorta was. Foggy and misty is fine, right? My farrier also called the night before and said he wanted to come in the morning to do the horses. Which meant that my morning got a whole lot busier.

Before 11 I took Carmen up to the ring to do some lunging and other ground work. I also let her graze in the 'spooky areas'. When Shanea arrived I explained my idea of having me walk beside her and do what I do from the ground if Carmen acted up. She thought that it was a good idea. I am not sure if it worked or not. Carmen was much better over all so maybe it helped?

Anyway, Shanea mounted and asked Carmen to walk off and do some small circles. Suddenly she hopped off. "I'm not happy with how's she feeling, I want to start over." 

I could definitely see Carmen's tension and how she was being over-reactive but I wasn't sure what her plan was. It turned out that her plan was to walk Carmen back to the mounting block  and ask her to relax and get back on. She repeated this two more times when I saw Carmen give a big sigh at the mounting block and release the tension. I never would have thought of that.

The goal was to have Carmen go forward in a relaxed manner- accepting the contact without chomping. It was interesting to watch the process. You can really see when she's tight in her neck and back. Even her lips are tight and curled back from her teeth. I saw it come and go and finally it was just gone. Carmen's stride became swinging and her ears went floppy.

Do you ever watch someone ride your horse and think damn, that horse is stunning? I could see how well Carmen can move. Shanea started playing with her lengthens and,  holy crap, that mare can stride out when she's being ridden but a really good rider.

Shanea just asked for a few strides and then patted Carmen.

What I didn't see was an unhappy horse. I didn't see a mare who hated dressage or was sore. I saw a sensitive mare being ridden with tact and finesse and enjoying what she was doing.

Then it was my turn to get on. I could feel a difference in her right away. She back felt so mobile and I had to really focus on moving with her. Carmen was forward and felt powerful. When I look at the videos of my ride I can see that I'm not terrible but I need to really loosen my shoulders and stop riding so defensively. I think I might have been putting too much pressure on her. Even though I didn't intend to I might have been pushing her more then she was comfortable. I need to find a happy medium.

I think I need to a centred riding lesson. I need to work on myself. I'm not going to a place of self-hatred but more of self-realization. Carmen has a ton of talent and I need to buckle down myself to ride her.

And in today's cute video here's one of Guinness. When I drag the ring he 'heel's beside the tractor until I stop. Then he gives me his toy so I can throw it.

Three for All

I hope that I didn't sound down in my last post- to be honest I'm not. I believe that I am chasing the last of Carmen's demons and am pretty sure that I am on the right track. In a fit of bravery I sent in the entry form for the last show. We're doing First Level 2 &3. If we're going to crash and burn we might as well go down swinging. 

down in the scary part, not sure she could retract her neck any further

Saturday it rained all day- which was good because we really needed it. I used the day to catch up on some household chores and I made a batch of bread & butter pickles. 

love the sweet and salty flavour of these pickles. 

Sunday I had to wait for the drizzle to stop. It didn't completely but I decided to go out and ride anyway. My first plan was to leave Irish out but as I was bringing her in he decided that life was far too exciting and began to gallop about, charging at us and then ducking away. Carmen and I had a discussion about what she was to do when that happened but she was pretty good. So Irish was locked in his stall for the duration. I also realized that he probably needed a workout since he hasn't been ridden in over a week. 

I decided to lunge Carmen first. Usually I lunge to see her 'mood' and if she's quiet I stop. This time I decided to push her a bit to see how she would react. I worked her from the ground until I was confident that she was tuned in. It took a while but I was patient. That meant that when I rode she was more prepared to listen. She was difficult about the far end and I just rode her through it, relaxing and rewarding her tries. We did some canter departs and changes of lead and some lengthens and they were pretty good. 

After that I sent Ed a text telling him that I was done with Carmen but was going to ride Irish and I asked him to send Guinness out. I've been wanting to work on G being out while I ride and hack but haven't been able to prioritize it. Irish is well used to dogs being around so it seemed like a good time to try it. 

Guinness was a bit confused but really well behaved. He came in the ring but I sent him out and he sat outside. Interestingly enough Irish was freaked out by the same side of the ring as Carmen was. I am thinking that something has moved into the brush there. I will have to take the brush out and discourage this- I don't want any burrowing creatures near my ring. Down the road there are two cattle (cows or steers, not sure) and a sheep. I suspect it's a 4H project. Anyway we heard the sheep start to bleat and Irish kind of lost his mind over that. I realized the sheep was having issues because one hers (his?) herd mates was gone- a guy was walking one of the cows down the road. So I had to focus on keeping Irish's focus. No one does ADHD like Irish. In his younger days I would have been at risk and frankly I had a few moments when I thought I was going to be dumped by the 'old guy' after surviving the young one. 

Guinness came in to 'help' when I was getting after Irish and I shooed him out. He went out and thought about it for a bit and then came back in and tried 'heeling' to me. I let him do that because A) it was adorable and B) it is a useful thing for him to do. 

After I took Irish and Guinness for a short walk around the field. G was really good and stayed right behind us.  Irish was a bit stiff but tried to behave. I let him trot up the hill and he was all 'whee'. Carmen was less impressed with all this and was not happy being left behind. 

Not sure who is more bemused by this new development

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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Welcome Spring!

Today is the first day of spring and for once it wasn't bitter cold or rainy or snowy or blowing a gale. Instead it was calm and sunny. Guinness and I went for a walk in the morning and the light was so pretty. I could feel the earth beginning to wake up.

Guinness is becoming the perfect walkng companion

Unfortunately, I had to go to the city for the day butI managed to get home close to five and the sun was still shining.  Ed had a meeting that evening but he knew I wanted to ride so we decided to not have supper at the same time (we usually eat together). I wanted him home since Carmen and I were still early in getting back to work.

I brought her in and got her ready. She was a bit bemused as this is normally dinner time but she was happy enough to follow me up to the ring. I started her on the lunge but she was so calm and tuned in that we didn't spend a lot of time on it. I asked her to whoa and she stopped and regarded me with a calm and quiet gaze. I'm ready. Are you? 

I hopped on we started to walk out. She felt a bit tight so we spent a lot of time at the walk just stretching and relaxing.

Actually, the truth is that we were just toodling around - I was unwinding from my day and she was stretching out muscles that were just getting back to work. While I could feel her looking around and I knew that if I 'dropped' her she would likely spook there really was nothing to be stressed about.

no media for this ride, so enjoy this one from Friday. (PC Ashley)

I have been missing having a horse that I could hop on and just relax. So I fully appreciated how nice this was. Carmen would alert to something but I'm getting so much better about not reacting to it defensively that she's starting to trust me (mostly). Irish hung out in his paddock near by, the sun was shining and the birds were singing.  I could feel myself breathe in and relax. 

I asked her to trot and she was quite tight. I didn't get after her or pick a fight (I could feel her getting ready for one). The truth is is that a quick tap with the crop would have settled it but I didn't want to mess with the mood. I trusted that she was feeling tight and just calmly worked on getting her to stretch out and relax into it. This required me to be steady in the tack and to give my rein (but not drop it). Within a few minutes she was beginnign to loosen up and give me her back. 

we didn't do anything other then walk and trot for about 30 minutes. It was enough to wash away the tensions of the day for both us. I hopped off and fed her supper (Carmen: thank heavens, I was starving to death). 

We're scheduled to get some weather Weds/Thurs (some mix of rain/snow/sleet/wind) so I was really happy that I had ridden when I got home. 

One more cute photo from Friday: Julia had hung her vest on the rail and Carmen was reacting to it. I brought her to a walk and she marched right up and put her nose on it. I love that she's trusting me enough to do this sort of thing with minimal fuss.

I shall slobber on this

The Big Meanie

Hi Everyone, Guinness here.

Mom said that I could do a post and so I want to share with you how mean she can be sometimes.

You see I love sticks. Like, I REALLY love sticks.

mom's friend, Cynthia throwing a stick for me. 

It's silly but mom says that I go after sticks too hard sometimes so I might get hurt if I'm not careful.

I mean, really. I'm a dog. What does careful even mean?

careful is for sissies. 

But Dad went and bought this stick that is 'safe'. 

I love my new stick. 

Mom shrugged and said 'that won't last'.  And then she made it that I could only have it when we went on our walks. That made me really want the stick. I was a dog obsessed. 

Today I had my chance. I managed to work my big brown eyes and convince mom to let me have it when she went out to do 'barn chores'. Now I don't really understand the point of 'barn chores'. Mostly it seems to me to be all about moving horse poo from one place to another. But it gets me outside and it seems to make her happy. 

I was so happy to have my stick and I showed my love in the traditional way of chewing. 

But I might have gone too far though and she took it away from me and put it on her green machine. 

um, what just happened? 

I tried the big brown eyes. They usually make her melt. 

pleeease, I'll be good. I promise. Just look at my face.
(you can see my sick by the big wheel)

She just said 'leave it alone'. 

but but but that's my stick

I couldn't believe that she could be so mean. It's not like I was going to swallow those pieces. (well not many of them anyway). 

I tried to get Ripley's help. She's pretty good at stealing stuff, I figured she could get it for me. 

hmm, she put it up here?
yes! Quick get it for me

 But she said that it wasn't worth it.

It was worth it to me.

Ripley going back to hunting stupid squirrels. 

so close and yet so far

I had to give up. Mom was being really really unreasonable about it. 

Fortunately I live in the land of sticks. 

Which just goes to show that you can't keep a good dog down. 

Not for long anyway. 

Working on the Foundation

Before I get into the post let me share with you this adorable video of Guinness. I was watching Jacqueline Brook's freestyle and it caught his attention ( you should totally watch it too she does it to the Sound of Silence and it's beautiful):

I can't believe that I actually was able to ride twice this week! Wednesday was a beautiful day and my work day ended up opening up in the afternoon. I sent an email to my boss and she gave me permission to take a few hours off. Today was warm and we were able to ride again. Ashley was able to join me on Sunday.

I have been finding my focus on riding actively really paying off. On Wednesday I had a mini-epiphany. Carmen gave a 3 part spook. You know what I mean- you are trotting along and then something catches your horse's eye:
*stutter step* WHAT'S THAT?!
*horse starts to go forward and then* 'OMG it MOVED'
*bounce in place* 'WE MUST FLEE' 
During this I  suddenly realized how I freeze and don't do anything (other then tighten every single muscle in my bod).  I could feel how Carmen was really looking to me for help and I was doing nothing.

 I know that may sound stupid but I never really was able to analyze what I was doing during  one of her big spooks. After when the dust settled it was a blank to me. So this was huge for me and it underlined how I need to be an active rider not a passive one. I pulled my socks up (figuratively speaking) and made sure that I never stopped riding. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.

I was excited to have Ashley come out to ride Irish today. I don't mind riding by myself but it's fun to ride with others every now and then. I was curious to see how Irish went because he's been looking really good. His incontinence is continuing to improve which is really making me happy. He's continuing to eat everything in sight too.

Both horses seemed happy to come in. Irish is always pretty happy to be fussed with but Carmen was being very mellow and reached for the bridle. Ash noted that she was a lot whiter and I told her that she was becoming a unicorn. I looked at Carmen with her ears back (not down, just her look when she thinks I'm being foolish) and laughed
Me: 'you don't need a horn you'd just stab people with it'. 
Carmen: 'humph'
Ashley: 'She would totally stab people with it' 

I didn't lunge her before I got on. I honestly didn't think I would need it. And I was right. Carmen was forward and relaxed. There was one incident as be headed to Troll Corner but I put on my inside leg and got her marching through. And that was it. A few times she wanted to look but it really was nothing. I am feeling optimistic about conquering that corner this year.

Carmen was really forward in the ride in a way that I rarely feel. She was all 'let's go do the thing' and I was 'could we half-halt?  and she told me I was a 'spoilsport'.  I wanted to make sure the footing was okay and it was a bit mushy in places. The far end was best so I finally said 'okay fine go canter' and she leapt into it with enthusiasm.

And you should have seen Irish- he was carrying himself better then I have seen in a long long time. He was clearly feeling as good as Carmen and was there to play the game. I stopped Carmen to watch them go and she was convinced we were done. Which led to a bit of a discussion when I wanted to go back to work.
Carmen: We're done. 
Me: No, that was just a break. We can do more. 
Carmen: Nope, your quarter is up. 
Me: C'mon let's do a little more. 

She got herself into a bit of tizzy over going back to work and I just stayed quiet and clear and didn't back down. I asked her to canter and she couldn't decide whether to kick, buck or canter so it was a bit spazzy and made me giggle. We got the canter rhythm and then I brought her back to walk, relaxed and then asked again. Ashley was watching and said 'she launched straight up into that'. It definitely felt uphill.

We didn't work on anything new- with such sporadic schooling sessions it's just about confirming stuff already established. What's neat about that is that I can feel that getting more and more solid.

I love riding when the horses are having as much fun as the people.

from before Christmas but it still represents how I feel

A Rose by Any Other Name...

There was a surprise waiting for me when I got home from work- Guinness' registration papers!

I was beginning to worry that they would not come. Ed wondered why they were even necessary- it's not like I am planning to show him and the breeding thing is off the table. But I paid a lot for a well bred registered dog and I wanted his papers.

I opened the envelope and I started to laugh.

You see, a few months ago the breeder said that I needed to pick a name for his papers that started with 'A'. All of the puppies had to be registered that way. I remember giving a few names but saying it really didn't matter as long as Guinness was his second name.

So here is what arrived today:

 I give you 'Awesome Guinness Von Narnia.'

That's right. My Guinness is officially awesome.

He's getting a big head over it.

That's Mr. Awesome if you please

Holding Patterns

I was unable to ride again this weekend. Yesterday was torrential rain, but I am grateful that it was not snow. The thaw took the frost out of the ground so the rain could be absorbed somewhat. I could have ridden today but I had so many chores to do that I ended up doing those first. Normally I will ride first and then do chores but I am okay with not riding today. January is rarely a time where I make great strides in training. But now my barn looks much better with all the old hay cleaned up. 

My son is away for work and so we have his dog until the middle of March. I was a bit worried about it driving us crazy like it did last time but it's going really well. Being a year old makes a huge difference. 

She loves me 

 She and Guinness are great friends. I am getting lots of walking in.

'Hai. We see you are making lunch. We also like lunch"

One of my battles this year is keeping Carmen from her life goal of turning into a marshmallow. When she first arrived she was a bit skinny and (probably) ulcery. That is gone and she's maturing into a solid horse. Which is fine when she's in work. She does not appear to have any desire to run around the field and exercise herself. So, in addition to the slow feeder, I have taken to putting loose hay out in various parts of the field to get her to walk around. However, at night in the stall she is literally gobbling her hay. After much deliberation I decided to try one of the Tough 1 hay hoops:

I figure that at least it will make her hay last longer. I put it up yesterday and loaded it. As you can see by her expression she is not impressed with this development. 

Her position is that if she's going through her hay too fast that is evidence that I need to give her more hay. Simple equine logic. That evening as I filling her bucket she tipped over my bucket. Something she's never done but her look spoke volumes. Oh well. 

Despite the mild weather, Martin refuses to go outside for very long. 

I don't know what happens when we die but I'm pretty sure that Martin is going to become one with my sofa. 

Being Present

I swear that Mother Nature is messing with us this year. After bitterly cold temperatures we are having a bit of a reprieve. Yesterday was about 6 and today was a balmy 17 degrees (celsius).  Because we have no snow, yesterday was enough to thaw out my ring so I had some high hopes for today.  While it was a bit soft in places and had a few puddles, the footing was actually pretty good.  

I tacked her up and she was reaching for the bit before I had the bridle ready. Given that the the last time I rode was Christmas eve lunging seemed to be a good life choice. I've become very good at reading her so that while she started off pretty calm and obedient I was sure that there was a layer of tension under it all. Sure enough she suddenly bolted in response to...something. A bird? Waving grass? Invisible trolls? Who knows. I immediately stopped moving and stood calmly. Funnily enough I wasn't worried at all. I knew that was in there so it was more of 'I knew that was in there'. We worked a bit in the spooky corner (between E and C, which surprises no one).  We just kept working until she seemed to be more 'with' me. It took somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes. I decided that riding would be fine so I took off the lunge line and took down the stirrups. 

I also needed to think about my goals for the ride. I decided that it made sense to work on my riding goals (from January 10th post). Mostly I wanted to focus on the first two: having a relaxed and effective seat and being 'present' in the saddle so that I was always giving her directions. 

And do you know what? That really worked out well for us. Keeping my brain on what I was doing and giving her directions seemed to help me stay relaxed. Carmen started out tense but nothing too major. Whenever I felt her attention shift away from me I insisted that it return. I played a bit with riding a diamond pattern in half of the ring. This required me to keep her straight and then execute a 1/4 turn on the haunches at the pivot points. I could feel her becoming curious about what we were doing which was fun. We only walked and trotted. I had done some canter on the lunge but wanted to keep this easy.  Whenever I felt her bulge her body away I made sure that my seat was clear that I needed her to go back. She did give one big spin/spook (yes between E and C)  but I was prepared and actually leg yielded her back in mid-spook. That was the end of it. 

We finished by practicing a few shoulder ins to haunches in and vice versa. She did really well. Probably because I was present and giving clear directions. I could really feel how my seat needed to adjust to help her position her body. I rode for about 25 minutes and called it a day. 

#nobodydied

After I gave her a good groom and she gave a shake like they do after they roll. That's when I knew that she had enjoyed it all too.

this is how spent the rest of the day because she exercised and
was without food for almost a whole hour! 

I don't know if I'll get t ride again, even though it's staying warmer until Sunday night. Tonight into tomorrow we're going to get torrential rain so I will have to check the ring. I spent the afternoon making sure that the rain had a way to drain away. Guinness 'helped':

Domestic Goddessing

The weather has turned cold and bitter. Which I guess is fair since it's winter. But any riding has come to an abrupt halt.

not ready to stop 

There's nothing I can do about it and I'm pretty sure that Santa is not going to bring me an indoor for Christmas no matter how good I've been.

The horses stand outside at the hay feeder and eat all day. I am sure that they are muttering about the 1.5"holes in the net. Irish can eat with attitude! I've cut Carmen's feed and hay since she's not in work and she is not taking it well at all. Last night we had a chat about what is an appropriate way to express her emotions about this and what is not. I suspect we will have this conversation again.

Guinness is getting a lot of walks which he's enjoying quite a bit.

someone has figured out the warm place to lay while he waits for me to be finished

On the up side I am more ready for Christmas then I have been in years. All the presents are wrapped and placed under the tree.

who is this woman?

Last year a blogger posted a recipe for candy cane bark but I can't remember who (Hawk maybe?). Anyway, I've been playing with the recipe this year. 

dark chocolate, salted caramel with milk chocolate drizzled on top

I find myself googling 'things to do with candied ginger'. 

Part of it is my free time. The other part is that I am really looking forward to this Christmas. the last few ones have not been great- there's been a shadow thrown by death and illness the past few years. This year I feel in a good place and I want to make the most of it. Snow might be coming so I can snow shoe. 

Do you have times you can't ride because of the weather? What do you do instead? 

Holiday Hijinks

Me: Come on guys, it's time for our Christmas Photo Shoot!

Guinness: What's a photo shoot? Does it involve sticks? Because I have a great one! 

d'Arcy: Maybe if I don't make eye contact.....

Carmen: Oh- a camera! I am very photogenic. Let's go. 

Irish: Don't fall for it- it's a trap

Me: Martin? Chester? Where are you?

***crickets***

d'Arcy: I really think I'm too old for this. 

Guinness: This is boring. Where's my stick? 

 Me: You look adorable d'Arcy. Please do it for me. 

d'Arcy: Ok, but don't show any other border collies- I'll be a laughing stock. 

Guinness: STICKS ARE MORE FUN THAN PHOTO SHOOTS!

Me: GET BACK HERE YOUNG MAN! 

Guinness: *whine*

Me: Okay, try to look festive. 

Guinness: This is my festive face

Me: I guess I can live with that. 

Guinness:  Okay, back to the important stuff- STICKS

Me: Okay, that's the dogs, now for the horses.....

Irish: You put silly antlers on my head but you can't make me like it. 

Irish:  do I hear a cat snickering? 

Me: For a horse that requires so much maintenance from me you could do this ONE THING. 

Irish: Oh, sure, play the guilt card. How's this: 

Me: You look like a llama reindeer. 

Irish: But I'm smiling. What more do you want? 

Me: Try again. 

Me: This is perfect. *click*

Irish: Where's my carrot?

Carmen: It's my turn! Here's my sultry look

Me: ummm, well it's very , um, exotic but not really Christmassy. Try for less 'dramatic-spanish-mare' and more angelic. 

Carmen: Okay, here's what I call my 'Downton Abbey' look:

Me: I love it! 

Okay, now who am I missing...Oh right the cats! 

Me: Martin- there you are. Not sure why I'm surprised this is where you spend winter! 

Martin: You woke me for this? 

Me: So...how about we try for a look that is a bit less murderous? 

Martin: This is the best I can do, take it or leave it. 

Me: uh, I'll take it! 
Martin: Good call. Now go bug the fluffy squirt. zzzz

Chester: I'm no expert but I don't think that this is right. 

Me: Your neck is too small, let me try again. 

Chester: I kind of hate you right now. 

Me: You can't do that- it's almost Christmas- a time of love and forgiveness. 

Chester: I think I can work up just a bit of Christmas spirit but don't tell Martin. 

Me: That is an awesome pose. Thank you! 

Me: That's a wrap. I can't believe how exhausted I am. Now to just pull it all together. 

******
several hours later
******

Me: Okay everyone are you ready?

 Ta-dah!

Irish: Well I guess it's okay. Why is that cat riding me?
Martin: This card would be nothing without me. 
Carmen: Shouldn't I be in the centre?
Guinness: Where's my stick? It needs more sticks.
Chester: I do look adorable.
d'Arcy: Border collies don't read your blog do they?

Me: c'mon guys- let's say it all together:

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANNUKAH, HAPPY KWANZAA, HAPPY SATURNALIA. "

Or Whatever it is that you celebrate. May it be filled with love and laughter and light.