Ms. Ponykins McKinnsy

Oh Ponykins! You amaze me sometimes...

It has been about 5 days since I last saw Princess Mare-Face. It has been about 3 weeks since I've really worked Mare-Face. It didn't go well at all 3 weeks ago.... that always makes me nervous.

Today I got to the barn and there was a little girl having a lesson. I decided that I would wait to get Denali since I swear like a sailor, and I don't even notice it. I usually drop the f-bomb 5-6 times just getting her into the barn. It's easy, it could be "You're f!@#ing pissing me off," OR "I f!@#ing love you!" I decided regardless, I'd wait.

My trainer and I talked about my new hypothetical saddle, my current saddle (which she is buying, sweet) and another trainer that I'm going to use to get Denali going under saddle again (her idea! and I'm pretty excited about it.)

Denali had done a number on her paddock grass, so I decided I would throw the rest of the bag of seed down since the weather is about to change and I figured, what's the worse that could happen right?? Funny thing about putting down grass seed. Everyone talks about the little birds eatting the seed, but no one ever mentioned the 1200 pound Hoover Vacuum who follows behind you licking up the seeds as you go....

After the little girl left, and I was free to be myself I decided I would do some ground work with her since I didn't bring clothes to ride. I got out the dreaded flag. The last time we used the dreaded flag I ended up spending a bazillion dollars. I'd be lying if I wasn't a bit nervous, but I wanted to see how she'd react.

She didn't.

Not even a flinch.

I used the flag to move her front end, to move her back end, to make noise to touch her all over.

Nothing.

Nada.

It was awesome! I was so proud of Ms. Ponykins. She stood there looking at me like, "What? Why are you flapping that, I'm bored, where is the food?"

After she then made the mistake of trying to nip food out of my trainers hand. My trainer had done some weeding, and Denali thought that those delicious weeds were for her. No Slewy, NO! Nothing makes me more frustrated than a horse that nips. We had a quick manners lesson and after that then she got an early dinner.

Love my ponykins!

Girls Weekend

My pony life has been slow the past week. This week isn't looking very good either. I've had so many good rides lately that I really wish I could find more time to go ride. This past weekend was a dressage show that I really wanted to go to. A few months ago my non-horsey friends planned a girls weekend. I was excited then got really bummed when I realized that I would miss one of the last dressage shows of the season.

Oh, how to balance non-horsey friends and horsey friends. Well, I luck out right now since I don't have any friends at my barn. I like everyone there, but no one that I plan to go out with and ride with. We're getting new borders and they seem really nice, so who knows. In all actuality, I don't want to work Denali with anyone in the barn since we're still getting her to focus.

Regardless of who is at the barn, I would always rather to be there then anywhere else, so a girls weekend sounded like not so much fun. I'm glad I went, we had a blast and I got to lay out with some real sun for once.

How do you balance horsey friends, with non-horsey friends?? Do your horsey friends like spending time with your horse? My problem (as previously stated) is that I would always rather be at the barn, and often tell my non-horsey friends that I can't make it to this or that because I'd rather be on the back of a horse.

New goal: Balance life, riding, work, and friends.

Tomorrow starts another 4 weeks of 5:50am work outs. I really have no idea what I'm thinking when I sign up for this torture...

Pony vs. Puppy

Today was one of those days. I have been having a difficult time with adults that work with my kids, and have been very frustrated. I haven't been able to get out to the barn since Sunday, and haven't ridden since Friday. Both make me very sad.

I finally got out of work and made my way to the tack shops. My old saddle is on consignment at one of the two tack shops. I stopped in Friday to see how it was doing, and it was out on trial. It was three days overdue to be returned, and the lady assured me that she would find out where it was on Saturday (this past Saturday.) I decided to call today to see if she took it or not, and what do they say? That it's still out on trial. Um.... It has been out on trial since Sept. 5. I'm not really cool with my saddle being ridden in for 18 days on a "trial." Especially since they didn't really seem too concerned. They said they'd call me tomorrow with an offer. Maybe I'll just do that... take saddles out on trial and just ride in those. It seems easier.

I stopped at the other tack shop on my way to the barn and gave them my "wish list" for a saddle. There is a girl who works there who is has a very similar build as I do. She wrote everything down and said she'd keep an eye out for me. I'm like a little kid, I just CAN NOT WAIT for my new saddle!!! There was a Southern Stars saddle on e-bay a few months ago. I really liked that one too, and wish I would have bought that one.

Got to the barn in an extra grumpy mood, but my trainer told me to go get a horse and ride. I'm so glad I did. This is the third time I've ridden and can honestly say that I actually feel like I know what I'm doing. I had to cut it short, but it went really well on the Paint Mare.

After riding the Paint, I went to get princess. She came barrelling up to the gait (great Denali, just great) and was super excited to see me. We walked calmly into the barn when the trainers new puppy jumped down from where she was sitting. Ms. Slew lost it and cow kicked. She didn't get the puppy, but it must have been VERY close. The poor thing was shaking so hard for at least 20 minutes. I felt so bad!! We think that D kicked the chain the puppy was on. My trainer was really nice about it and said it wasn't my fault. It was a good lesson of "what not to do."

After the puppy incident I put D into her stall and checked her hind legs. They still feel "bumpy" but there is no heat or swelling!! YAY!! She looks good to trot out. Keeping my fingers crossed. In the middle of checking her legs she decided it was in her best interest to kick me. Yes, Princess decided to kick the hand that pays her bills. I WAS SO PISSED (understatement of the year!) I gave Ms. D an attitude adjustment and introduced a new little girl who was tacking up a lesson horse to some new vocabulary words. I threw Denali's halter on her and made her stand in the cross ties for a while because I think she was pissed that her dinner was being interrupted.

Stupid Mare. You are SOOO lucky that you are so cute!

She's BACK!!

It was the Regional Dressage Championships this past week near Seattle, and I spent the weekend there hanging out with a friend who was competing. Big, beautiful, amazing horses. I loved watching the Musical Freestyle, although some of the music choices... well, they were not what I would pick. I've said since the beginning, SOMEDAY I will do a musical freestyle to old school rap. It night just be in our arena, and it might not be fancy, but it will be hilarious!!

I was able to buy a new pair of 3 season full seat breaches for 1/2 off. I was pretty excited, and had a good time. I wish I would have had more time to hang out. On my way home from the show I had one of my two "life flash before your eyes" moments that I had today. Driving up I-5, and all of the sudden the skies opened up and I couldn't see ANYTHING. It was super scary. I had to slow down and just pray that I didn't hit anyone, and that no one hit me. LUCKILY, that only was a few seconds, and the rain let up enough that I could see where my car was going (at 20 MPH) I'm just glad everyone else slowed down, because if there was an asshole driving it would have been much scarier.

After my scary drive home my husband and I went out to take care of the giant warmbloods. There is an 18 hh warmblood, who is huge! He is super cute and super sweet when you don't get between him and his food. Tonight when I was putting his mash in his stall and I got on the wrong side of the food bin, and so I had him between me and the door. When I tried to push him back he turned around and tried to double barrel kick me. I screamed so loud at him, I gave my husband a heart attack, myself, and I think the horse. He stopped and ran out the door of his stall. That would be life flash before my eyes moment two of the day. Super scary. He was just sold, so he is leaving soon. His owner had warned me about his sometime naughty behavior, I just let my guard down. The horses were not turned out today because of the rain,so my job was cut in half.

After we finished at the Giant Warmblood Barn my hubby and I stopped at our barn to check on Denali. Well, let's just say that the She-Devil is back. She was eatting grass, so I called her name and she went NUTS!! Running and bucking, and stopping, and spinning. My trainer came running over and we both yelled at her. She started doing it faster so we walked away. She likes an audience so we didn't want to give that to her. My vet had said she could be in a bigger paddock, but still, I don't think she expected this. D finally calmed down enough that I was able to get her halter on her. You would have thought she was going to the track. Bouncing in place and head held high. She tried to run into me so I tried a new trick that a friend of mine told me she learned from a John Lyons clinic. I kicked her in the chest. You would have thought that I beat her with a whip for half an hour. The look of shock in her eyes, but she instantly backed off and quickly calmed down. We hosed the mud off her legs and groomed her. There was no swelling or heat. I asked my trainer to check her in the am. I decided to do a little walking and trotting with her.... exciting news!!! Not a single lame step!!!!! She looked as good as she did a year ago! I am so happy. I no longer need to say "well, if she's ever sound agian." She is sound, so hopefully as we do more work she'll remain sound, but I have a good feeling this time!

Hope you had a good weekend!!

Wanted: Passier Grand Gilbert, MW, 18 inch Seat, Long Flap

So we went saddle shopping! It was fun, but of course nothing fit me, why would it? Although there is hope that I might be able to find a saddle that fits me that is not custom made (aka, cheaper.) I sat in the Passier Grand Gilbert and liked the way it felt. The saddle fitter suggested trying to find a used one (super nice people) for now with a long flap (Damn long legs.) SO now of course I want to sit in one. I think it will be awesome when I have a saddle that finally fits me.

After saddle shopping (and keep your fingers crossed, my old old saddle is out on trial) my husband and I went to the barn. My trainer was in the process of making a new turn out area for Ms. D to split her time at. We both don't want her to demolish her new grass paddock, and to have a little space to check things out. I thought it was really sweet of her.

I had a lesson tonight on option 1 of 2 for a new horse to lease. She's a paint mare that Ophie's Mom's Boyfriend use to lease. She was a BLAST to ride! I had so much fun. She was so much less work to ride than the Morgan Monster, and I think we had a really nice ride. We did some walk/trot transitions and then some canter/trot transitions. I am not good at doing those at all!! It was interesting to ask her for the canter. She is deaf, and so you have to actually "ask" or she will just ignore you. It was so much fun! I'll have a lesson next week with the gelding (who is also a blast to ride) but I'm a sucker for blue eyes!

While I was having my lesson, my hubby rode the Morgan Monster. It's so funny, I wish he would love riding more because he is just such a natural. He found the right diagonal every time naturally, and made her listen. She isn't the easiest horse to ride (but beyond safe) and my trainer even stopped our lesson to watch him. He does look good! Now he needs a horse.

SO if anyone comes across that saddle please let me know!!!

Positives of Working at Giant Warmblood Barn

Someone posted a question about what I thought about taking lessons at two barns. Honestly, I love it! I am getting the same information from both instructors, but their teaching styles are different so it helps me to learn faster.

Yesterday I had a lesson on the Giant Warmblood, and it went really well. Again, the trainer told me that I am too hard on myself and that she was very "impressed" with my riding after just three lessons. That was fun. I still don't think I'm that I'm making that much of an improvement, but it's fun.

At the barn before my lesson I was talking to a woman who owns 3, yes 3 horses. I was telling her how I am saving for a new saddle, and how I love the one I ride the Giant Warmblood in. It is an Albion SLK. She asked me what size seat I wanted and I told her, 18 inches. She said she would sell me hers for $1,000 since she upgraded. Love people with money. She wasn't sure if it was a MW or a W and said she'll get back to me. Regardless, my husband (my poor, poor husband) and I are going to look at another saddle, Prestige 2000 D, which is on sale at the Tack Store because it is the Demo. I might be taking out a loan from the Bank of Baby Brother to purchase a new saddle. I just want something that I know fits me. Mine fits Denali, and is a 17.5 and my femur is 22 inches long (maybe longer, I measured it with rulers, lol.) Regardless I have a hard time still finding a comfortable spot for my leg. I think that will help my confidence a lot!

In other news D took down the fence, this time she made sure that I wouldn't be able to put it back up. Sigh. Oh Slew!! I will need to take pictures. Also, we got new boarders already! They seem really nice. One was telling me how "naughty" her horse is. I told her some Denali stories, she told me some Chance stories.... Denali might have met her match!!

Happy Friday!

Note: Don't wish for excitment...

...because i always get it. to be continued...

(and now for the rest of the story)

I was not planning on going to the barn tonight. My husband was working in CA for the week, so I wanted to get some cleaning done, and pick him up when he got back to Seattle. Ms. Denali had different ideas... My trainer called me around 5 o'clock to let me know that the power went out to her paddock (I did the wiring, opps!) and that Denali could no longer stand back and watch the grass grow! She needed to sample it. My trainer assured me that she was fine, a little mark on her leg, but no damage. She moved the wire aside to make an entry way, and said she'd fix it after D went in. I, being the world's most anal horse mom, couldn't just leave it at that. I needed to go see her for myself. So through the rain and rush hour I made my way to the barn. It only took an hour, I was impressed.

I walked over to check on D, and she let out her super loud nicker and took a few steps towards me. She stopped and then looked at the grass, then at me. Her nicker changed, and so did her expression. It was hilarious. Almost as if to say, "Um mom, I loves you, but I loves the grass too much."

I walked to find my trainer to see how I could fix the electricity and came back after about 10 minutes. Denali at this point "Tried" to come see me but dang if she couldn't figure out where the opening of the fence was. "Sorry mom, I'd love to obey, but you see there is grass here that needs eatting and I just can't figure out how to get out of here."

Fixed the problem (duct tape doesn't fix everything! Opps) and restrung the fence. I put Denali back in, and she went right to the fence to see if she could eat grass. She careful put her wiskers near the fence, let out a sigh, and went back to eating leaves in her dry (well, grassless) paddock.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this blog was to document my progress with Denali. Well, after two years not a lot of progress has been made.

Not going to lie, pretty frustrated with myself.

So, what now? I can either
A. Stop blogging about the same shit everyday....
B. Try to look at the little progress that we make as positive....
C. (enter choice for C here...I have no idea.)

Maybe I should make a blog "Sun n' Rain = Green, Green Grass." Not going to lie, my pasture looks pretty awesome! I just need to remember to take a picture!

Since April/May, what have I done? I have riding 3-4 days a week (minus the past few weeks, too busy with work) and have gotten over my fear of horses. Not going to lie, still get a little nervous when I get on a new horse, but I calm down pretty quickly. I am taking lessons with the trainer at my barn and with the trainer at the barn I work at. Ms. Slew? My heart drops to the floor and my pulse races. I think we need marriage counseling.

Why do I feel like I've not made as much progress? Still waiting to hear back from the Vet on her Reserpine/Ace thoughts? Which drug, oh which drug.... Ms. Slew needs to blow it out her butt, but she can't do that because she'll break. Sigh.

Blah. I'm in a shitty mood. As I write this one of the characters in my blogging life is moving barns (as in transit, or at least suppose to be.)Ophie and her mom are going to a dressage barn down south. Ophie is the only horse that Denali has ever liked and not tired to kill. Maybe she likes all Thoroughbred? I'll have to wait and see. I mapquested their new barn, 41 miles from my house, not exactly a drop in and visit barn, but then again I think I drive Ophie's mom nuts, so maybe that's good for her. ;0) Regardless, I will miss them.

I thought about moving barns a few times, and have made Pro and Con lists a ton of times. Long story short, I do like where we are, and the Pro list wins! Denali needs to be turned out for 8+ hours to be sane, not something I could find everywhere. We were at a barn where she didn't have much turn out: CRAZY MARE!!!

Yes, my trainer has frustrated me in the past, but I do really like her, the drive, the price, the people. Plus, if I can't vent here, where can I vent when she frustrates me? (Although, not going to lie, always nervous that she'll find this.)

A friend of mine told me that when I'm ready to move I'll know. I'm going to bet riding Denali will be a good step in deciding where I want to be. If we do move, it will be to Giant Warmblood Barn. I'm just excited that I've set up a weekly riding lesson at the Giant Warmblood Barn starting Thursday.

We've had a few people come look at our barn. I just want normal people with normal horses. I'm not going to lie, I'm the most anal person at our barn. I'll admit that. We were going to have another trainer come in, and she still might. I already told my trainer I don't want two cooks in the kitchen, and want her no where near my horse. I also told my trainer I pay her for her opinion, not for what she thinks other trainer's opinions should be. Things have gone well since that talk.

Is it October yet?? My life will be easier in October, oh so much easier! School schedule will be solidified, my pony should be allowed into a larger area (which means happier pony), I got a slight (very slight) raise, so I get to see how much that is a month (since we only get paid once a month.) I also took on two leadership roles at my school (those pay too,) I'm teaching after school classes (to put towards the saddle fund which I'm trying to start up again,) and my student teachers will have started. Oh so much easier in October (which is my favorite month!!) Can you tell I like to be busy?

I'm going to try to remember that I need to be grateful. Things I'm grateful for today: Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Apple Cider, and the smell of horses. What are you grateful for?


P.S. Pictures soon! I promise ;0)

Thanks for reading!

Non-Horsey, BUT if you have some free time...

Let's say you're tired of working and need to do something to keep procrastinating at work.... take a second if you can and VOTE for this project! It's for my classroom. :)

Horse Show Frustrations...

Yesterday we went to a show about an hour north of Seattle. I haven't been riding very much so I wasn't expecting us to do very well. Before we went into our first class I took the Morgan out to the outside arena to warm up.

The world ended!

The Morgan LOVES her friends and was very unpleased at the thought of being out of their sight. Dare I say? I had fun. Keep in mind she wasn't horrible or unsafe, just opinionated. It took a bit of a battle to get her to go forward to the arena, but once we were there she didn't quite want to listen to me. She was too concerned about going back to the trailer. Her trick of the day was to move off my leg when I asked for the canter. As in, "Oh, oh, you didn't want me to go sideways?" Once we had a few discussions I decided to try cantering in some 20 meter circles to see how we'd do. It was all going beautifully when Ms. Morgan saw one of her buddies. She took off at a quick canter (maybe a gallop?) but I quickly put a stop to that. I was actually proud of myself for once. I felt like a real rider. I got her listening and then went over to our first class.

We entered into the Novice classes. We got one 2nd and two 3rds. In our Novice Equitation class things were going SO WELL and we had a very nice canter going when the person in front of us on the rail decided to go from canter to dead stop. We were at least three horse lengths behind and had to quickly manuver around the now turning in circles horse. I don't think that the rider had planned for any of this, but I was frustrated since the only part of the whole fiasco the Judge saw was me trotting....Not cantering. Sigh. Oh well. Just need to keep reminding myself that that will probably be me on Denali when we start showing. I'm sure we'll be the subject of many a blog posts and facebook updates, "Rode with a moron of a woman today with her crazy out of control Thoroughbred" something like that...

There's another show in November. I am going to switch horses (*gasp*) and plan to start riding her in the next week or so. She's a pretty, pretty paint and my legs won't drag on the ground. ;0) More on her later!


Interesting fact:

Denali's dam, Salmone Slew, had another baby (in 08, but just posted on Pedigree Inquiry.) Karlies Holiday who sold for $62,000 as a yearling. It just blows my mind the amount of money that goes into racehorses. Eek!

375

Well, this is post 375 which means that either A. I talk to much or B. I haven't made much progress since I feel like I am at the same place now that I was when I started this blog. I'll bet it's a little bit of both.

I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. My job really has me in a foul mood, and being that it's the weekend, there isn't much I can do to fix anything. Everyone thinks that my job is so difficult, but honestly, the kids are not the hardest part of my job, it's advocating for them and fighting to get them what I know is right.

When I got to the barn, I yelled hello to Ms. Slew (or City Girl as I was calling her today.) I went to get the Morgan since I forgot that I signed up to go to a horse show tomorrow. Opps. Love when I do that. I told my trainer a few weeks ago that I wanted to go, and since I committed I didn't want to back out.

While I was getting the Morgan ready, Ophelia's mom yelled at me that Denali's blanket was all messed up. Of course. Sometimes I swear that Denali tries to do things that will make me come pay attention to her. Sigh. She somehow had the blanket up over her back, all messed up. Nawlers!!

Once I got her going the Morgan was good, I haven't had time to ride her as often as I did this summer, but after a few minutes of battle of the wills she settled in nicely and I got a really nice walk, trot, canter out of her. We'll see how we do tomorrow.

I haven't ridden Denali since last Friday. I decided that I need to get some ACE from the vet that I can inject into her. I don't want to give it to her orally and have to wait for it to kick in. Anyone else have experience with ACE and rehabbing??

You should see my grass! It's looking so good! I need to take a picture. Currently I am using my old computer, it took about 45 minutes to just turn on! Eek. I need to buy a new one.

Sports Psychologist

I honestly think I need to talk to a sports psychologist or someone... I have issues.

Ms. Slew was super excited to see me, that is where her enthusiasm for life ended.... My trainer and I discussed what it was we wanted to work on, and decided that long lining was the safest route for us. I agreed, 100% It is just so hard sometimes to figure out how to best rehab her. I wish I could have afforded to send her to Pegasus so she could burn off some of her energy. Needless to say that Ms. Slew was a tad excitable tonight.

A few of my theories.

• Winter is here in the PNW! Okay, so it's fall, but you can't tell the difference. It has been raining, which in turn means that she can't move around as freely in her tiny paddock. That standing around adds that little bit extra energy.


• The arena is nice and squishy! They've been working on it the past three days, and in turn it is much softer to stand on than before. Which means much nicer to run and play on.


• She has to work now.


• It was the first "work day" that another horse was in the arena.

I'm sure it's probably a combination of all the above. She always gets extra worked up in the winter because she just stands around and when she comes inside she just wants to go, go, go.

Denali! What part of you can't go, go, go did you not understand!

My trainer did the work since I'm clueless as to how to introduce long lines to a horses, and overall I would say that Denali did really well. Aside from the running around and falling down.

Mare face fell. Three times. My heart stopped beating three times..... Ugh. I automatically thought of EPM and all the "what ifs" filled my head. The problem with the "What Ifs" is that they breed like crazy and pretty soon my entire head is filled with them.

I won't lie. I didn't feel really confident tonight after watching her little bouts of excitment. Before we started working she wanted to roll with her saddle on. NOT a good idea. When we were done we I let her roll (BTW, good job Opheia for ignoring all of Denali's naughtiness!) Well, for the past four months she has been a good girl about getting up and not being a freak. Not tonight. She wanted to go! I have the rope burns to prove it. MARE!

Poor thing. ACE is our friend, ACE is our friend, ACE is our friend....

I'm sure Denali looked like she did fine tonight. I just start the "What Ifs" going in my head.

What if she get hurt again.

What if she never calms down.

What if I can never ride her.

What if I come off again.

What if she never gets better.

What if..... etc.

I have What Ifs.

And NOW for the crazy thing that happened to me tonight.

I entered some photos in the Western Washington State Fair (none of Denali, please don't tell her, and yes, I'm a massive dork!) On my way to pick them back up I thought I saw a slight traffic back up, so I decided to take a long cut (but less traffic.) After I commited to making the left hand turn I noticed that I Could have gone straight, but it was too late. I said outloud, " Well I guess I was meant to be 5 minutes later than I thought." When I got back onto the road, 522 for those Seattle people I saw that traffic was slowing down for a lawn company truck pulling a little backhoe. It pulled over and was driving on the berm of the road. Everyone went past, but I noticed what I thought was fire coming from under the truck. My first thought was that something was sparking. Then I noticed that nothing was sparking and that it was indeed fire. The truck was still driving, so I pulled my car ahead of it, threw it in park and jumped out of my car. The poor guys looked at me like I was nuts. I ran as fast as I could up and started pointing (at this point I was still in shock that I was running towards a burning vehicle) it only took a second and one of the guys saw what I was pointing at (I don't think English was their first language.) I offered to call 911, while the guys looked at the fire. Then it dawned on me. Probably shouldn't be standing right next to a truck that is on fire. A nice woman also stopped and came up with a fire extinguisher, but it didn't do much good. At that point I told the guys they needed to MOVE! I would have felt horrible if they would have gotten hurt. It was nuts. Not a good description, but here's a picture! There's a truck in there, I promise!

1 Year and Goals

One thing I am remembering is how hard it is to make goals when it is raining out. Damn you Seattle!! It's only September, but it defiantly feels like fall already in the PNW. I hate the rain. I just want to stay in the house and curl up under a warm blanket. Yuck!

Ms. Denali needs to be worked. I need to do the working. I told my trainer that I don't want anyone else on her because "I need to do this myself" She has 0 muscle tone and feels like Frankenstein, but I think it is best that I ride her because of that. I explained to someone at work that riding Denali is sort of like jumping out of an airplane. It sounds like so much fun, you do it, and then after the fact you try to decide if it is the best idea. I think I'm the one who needs the drugs, not her!

What needs to happen is the Denali needs to spook so that I can convince my head that I will stay on. Not that it sounds like a lot of fun or if that even make sense.

Yesterday I went out with the goal of riding her. The barn manager (aka, my trainer) and the barn owner were having a discussion about the arena and footing. It was actually funny to listen to my trainer telling him what kind of footing we need, and him justifying that what we have is good enough. He called me over to ask me my opinion (not sure if it was a good idea) and I told him the same thing my trainer had just finished telling him. SO, we're getting new footing. Yay! Hopefully by October, it was suppose to be done in April, but I didn't care since I didn't have a horse. Long story short (and yes, at this point I'm babbling) I didn't get to ride since he was in the middle of tilling the arena.

So, goals. I've decided that I need to make goals for Denali and I. Monthly goals that I post on here so that I feel like I'm being held accountable.

Goal of the month: Make goals ;0) (Okay, okay, make real goals by September 17th...how does that sound) I need to start teaching again so I know how much time I have free. Hopefully more!

And the 1 year? 1 year ago, Labor Day Weekend, I noticed that my horse had a lump on her leg....and it all went downhill from there! Hopefully this will be a better year!

107 days...

Ms. Denali was on "vacation" for 107 days, and that is over now. We still can only walk, but it's better than paying mega bucks for a horse that you can't do much on.

My husband and I went to the barn on Friday night and I gave him strict instructions to take pictures "no matter what." He's such an amazing guy. Denali was a peach getting groomed, tacking up, etc. We walked around the arena, and I let her check out her scary corners to make sure she knew there was nothing there to eat her.

When I went to get on, she stood still until I put any pressure on her mouth at all and then she went backwards. Snotty pony!

I made her walk around the mounting block several times as fast as she's allowed and then we tried it again. This time she sort of "tweeked" out a bit. I'm not sure how my husband did it, but he somehow managed to make it from outside the arena to right next to me to hold Ms. Slew. What a good guy. I told him we were fine and I got up on her finally. That was the only trick she tried on me the whole ride. She honestly feels like I'm riding Frankenstein. She is so stiff and the only thing that still bends right is her neck. I think she needs some bodywork done to loosen her up a bit in addition to the riding we are doing. We'll see how she feels next time.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't super happy to be back on her!!

Sorry for my lack of blogging.... my computer has passed on to the greater computer in the sky, and I can now get my e-mail on my phone so I haven't been trying to hard to figure out a different option yet. Currently I'm using the hubby's.

Intrepid Riders Faction Blog award!

Aww! We got an award from Kristen and Laz over at Sweet Horse's Breath.

She said:

Denali's Mom (I know her name but she goes by this on her blog, so I'm respecting her wishes) is a TOP horse Mom. Her beautiful mare, Denali, has gone through some rough times since she was rescued and her Mom has been there at her side, treating her (and us) with humor the whole way.

I, personally, hold a dear spot for DM (and countless others (Frizzle u too)) for the push-push-push to try barefoot with my boy when I was desperate for solutions. DM reached out to me personally and actually set me up with her barn's barefoot trimmer who lead me on my path to finding Cliff.

DM's own battle to rehab her mare continues but they are making great progress and I just know that soon, she'll be able to show dressage on her own wild pony beast!! We love you guys! :)

You made my day! Thank you so much for thinking of us! I can still remember sitting at work looking at the calendar, and thinking that March 9th was coming up quickly, and how sad I WAS, I couldn't imagine how you were feeling! So glad you still have your boy, and Denali is still glad she has her boyfriend (one of many, but don't tell Laz!) Maybe some day in the future we can get our "kids" together and go for a trail ride! It could be possible, at some point we plan to move East, and Ms. Slew is coming with us!

~INTREPID RIDERS FACTION ~We strive to go where others only dare to go with our horse loves...healing,being respectful of the horse, riding, playing, camping, jumping, swimming and traveling down the trails of life. . . . with the horse in Heart ~ Overcoming many obstacles and sometimes weather, to ride!

This Award is dedicated to those Horse lovers and riders that inspire others to go deeper in ability, knowledge and understanding of the Equine(s) they have been entrusted to.The good of the horse is the ultimate goal apart from pressures to achieve ribbons and fit into lesson schedules.

~Some of These riders are fearless, when it comes to weather conditions and the forecasting of them...being with their horses, fills these folks' soul and takes the cares out of daily routines.

~They are unconditionally loving to the horse and may have rescued it from known ailment or living condition.

~Others have researched and purchased/ acquired their horse, to find a difficulty in temperament or a physical burden within the animal. Yet, Being dedicated , they have persevered to proudly be in partnership with their horse, lovingly striving for deeper awareness's between them.

~Some horse lovers may have been riding for years and suddenly, had an accident that takes them away from the great joy and freedom they have, being aboard such a magnificent animal. ~They have allowed the healing horse to rise in their hearts once again, and beckon them back!

~Fear is not my normal response to things ... just a desire to achieve higher understanding of what may lay ahead of me with my mare, that truly is a gift to my heart and soul. I always seek out knowledgeable and caring individuals to assist me, in any quest I may look into.

I am taking with me the good I have leaned from caring individuals that have shown great single minded LOVE to the horse, and am leaving the dust of the bad behind me, not allowing it to fetter my supreme desire to be all I can be : as a rider to my mare or gelding and also - to allow- her to be the Equine athlete she truly is!

There are not many rules with this award...JUST :

1)that you give it to only one person

2)link back to this post, so they may have an understanding to it's true nature.
3) You may use any or all of the written descriptions, with the award picture.

When I saw that I got this award there was one person that I knew deserved it. She just FINALLY bought a horse (who is BEAUTIFUL by the way) who started giving her troubles going to the right. She, being the good horse mom, found out through lots of $$$ that she was a "Wobbler." She did her research, found out everything she needed to know, and planned for surgery. She had JUST bought this horse. What a good mom. LUCKILY, it was decided that she didn't need surgery, and Miss Pia, being the princess that she is, is starting back to work. I fell like Miss Denali and Miss Pia come from the same Mare Finishing School. They both have VERY particular opinions on thing, and like to make sure that those opinions are heard. Ms. Denali and I are looking forward to seeing Gingham and Pia at the shows sometime soon!! Ms. Pia and Ms. Denali live about 20 miles from one another as the crow flies. Could you imagine these two princesses at the same barn? Not sure anyone could handle that.

So, this award goes to Gingham and Pia over at Pia's Parade!