Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Exercise Week 6 Day 1

This week marks the beginning of my 2nd full month on the Never Say Diet plan. I measured today and I have lost a half inch from my bust and waist and thighs. I have lost an inch off my chest, below my bust, and I have gained a half inch in my arms (more muscle) I stayed the same in my hips. Today I'm supposed to start tracking all the food I eat, but not really making a ton of changes yet. I'm supposed to identify trigger foods as well. I'm also supposed to begin weight training 2-3 times per week. I have my balance ball and plan to do some weights in a little while and watch TV. I walked with the dogs this am. I shorted myself a little so I need to do a 30 minute Wii walk in a bit. I have gained .8 pounds in the last month. I'm trying not to care, but it's hard.

Bonnie and Frankie were Sweethearts


This photo was so funny...I was just taking photos of the dogs playing the other night and I happened to catch this one of Bonnie turning on Frankie. IT looks so much like she's really evil, but she was just playing. When I cleaned off the photos on my new camera (Thank you Peter) I thought I would include it.
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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Baby Horses and Dogs



Fiera wouldn't load to come home from Teresa's a few weeks ago. Someone had suggested feeding her in the trailer, which I decided to do. Moments after putting the food in the trailer, she hopped right in to eat. So, my assessment that she completely lacked fear was correct...she has a stubborn streak. I know that an old John Lyon's saying is that if the horse won't load then it means there is really a leading problem. Leading work will be the order of the day.
I continue to have a problem with her breaking out of the fence to wear she can eat grass. I bought a new, bigger fence charger and I heated up both strands of fence. It's still hitting about 5.5 KV and she just lifts it and runs under it even though it's hot and shocking. I'm not sure how to configure the fence to keep her in, so she's been living in the round pen unless I'm there to watch her. I think that I will add some fence to my parking area so I can keep them from going in between my fence and my neighbor's fence but they can eat the extra grass.

The puppy is doing fantastic. She and Maggie are like two peas in a pod.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Fiera in the trailer



Fiera wouldn't load when I needed to bring her home from Teresa's a couple weeks ago. Here she is in the trailer, eating her dinner. As I suspected, the problem wasn't that she was worrieda bout the trailer at all, it was just that she didn't want to get in when told. I have a feeling trainer this little stinker could be a problem.
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Frankie...testing my new camera


Frankie is giving me such a cute look. I was testing out the new camera that Peter gave me (easy share Kodak with video, 10.3 mp) He's so cute. Maggie keeps trying to turn him into her dog, but I think it's more likely that I will lose Bonnie to her...not so bad to have my daughter loving my puppy. At least I still get to love her.
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Bonnie age 8 weeks 4 days.

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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Spring Cleaning sunday

Today was a lazy morning followed up by a busy afternoon. Peter and I are changing out our washer because the old one died. I had an extra washer that Cat gave me that's been sitting in the garage. I just moved it in the house, but we need help to get the old washer out of the house b/c it's a lot heavier. Maggie has been learning to mow the lawn so I am about to go help her with that project. Then it's off to feed the horses and I hope to get to the gym today but it may be an evening of Wii Fit with all the other work I have going on.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Exercise: week 5 day 4

I had to repeat a week of exercise b/c last week I forgot to log in my time. I did it every day, save one, but I forgot to write it down. So, in my Never Say Diet plan, I'm only in week 3 in the book, but it's really week five since I started a week before I started logging and I had to repeat a week. I'm not supposed to alter my food intake before the end of the first month, but I'm ready to start now and I believe that I will. I have eaten enough junk food for a lifetime. I'm ready to eat more raw food, less processed grains and a little less meat. I'm not sure how those around me will react, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. I must consume more raw food. My scales had dropped and then sharply rose again as I have had a week of eating out. The sodium in this meals out really gets me and it has got to stop.

Tonight I did 30 minutes on the Wii fit on the free walk while I watched Tv. This has been my preference this week, though I need to get back to doing the Maya workouts because I know I burn more calories. I'm just glad I put the time in even though I didn't really want to.

I have also downloaded some podcasts to get me running. They help you cycle on and off with your walking and running time for endurance.

Tomorrow we were going to go to Faire, but with the rain I don't think we will. Instead I think Maggie and I will go to the Y in the morning and work out and then take care of the horses. We plan to watch movies tomorrow and I'm going to sew/crochet/cross stitch. I'm really looking forward to a down day.

Fiera's face looks terrible with the staples pulled loose. I don't know if she scratched it, or if an infection developed or what exactly, but the wound is just ugly. I started her on antibiotics tonight through a syringe. I knew there was no hope of her eating the powder, so I mixed it up with yogurt and tubed it in her mouth. I will do this for a few days to make sure she gets it all. I may do it the whole 7 days if I have to. I have to smear wound balm on it and in it to pack the wound to keep it moist from the inside. It's really nasty. amazing how a little horse can damage herself with one false move. She's being a decent patient though. I'm happy about that.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

End of a Busy week

I finally got my ride post finished for 2 weeks ago the middle of this week. Then I posted a short note about Bonnie. I still have no good photos of her. I need to take some.

I had an exciting conversation with someone today in Austin. I can't say much more about it right now, but there is an innovation happening in music therapy that I'm going to learn more about a week from Monday. It should be an educational visit and hopefully I will have something to take forward with me in the future.

Fiera's face is infected where she cut it on the trailer last week. The staples have pulled out. I now have antibiotics for her face and I need to keep it clean and keep Dynamite wound balm on it. I hate that she's done this to her face.

Tomorrow Peter's parents are here and then Saturday Maggie and I are going to Scarborough Faire. Should be a fun weekend. I hope to get a ride in on Sunday too.

Monday, April 13, 2009

A New Puppy

I have a new puppy. Her name is Bonnie and she's a mini-schnauzer. I still need to get some photos of her to put on the blog, but suffice to say, she is gorgeous! She is a salt and pepper female. Currently she sleeps alot, but she will be a lot of fun.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Deep in the Heart of Texas

I had the opportunity to ride the Deep in the Heart of Texas ride at Parrie Haynes Ranch in Killeen, TX this past weekend. I had never taken Liberty to a ride alone, so I was pleasantly surprised how easily he settled into camp. I set up my bed for the night: a bedroll in the back of the surburban (gotta love that ease). Liberty didn't call out to the other horses too much, though he did a little but I was impressed by the fact that he continued to eat and drink normally. He was good at check in though I bobbled the question the horsemanship judge asked me and let Liberty get out too far behind me. I hate it when I lose points over something so silly.

Liberty is a good camper, even on his own, so the night went very quietly. I have been feeding him Triple Crown safe Forage product, which is a chopped, fortified hay product. I made him up a batch of that plus beet pulp for the night, with a little electrolytes thrown in. I also hung him two bags of hay. In the morning, he'd eaten most of the mash, a little of the hay and drunk about half a bucket of water, so I figured he was ready for the day. I was surprised later in the day when he got a 3 for slow gut sounds because he ate constantly, including when we came back to the trailer for a short break between loops. I love the trail that brings us back through camp, lets us take a break and feed the horses and use a real bathroom.

Saturday morning the weather was perfect. It wasn't cold or warm and Liberty walked out of camp behind Betsy's horse, April, very calmly. We weren't in the very back, but toward the back and he seemed happy to keep his pace for several miles, even when other horses began to pass us. We went through an obstacle which was an up and down through some mud and he handled it like a trooper. Sometime after this obstacle though, April's fast walk and alternate trotting started to affect his energy negatively. He began to get very wound up and jiggy and I finally decided to pull over and let him cool off. I found a place with some grass and dismounted so he could find his brain. After letter many riders pass us, I was having trouble getting back on, until Kimberly came along riding her mustang, Peppy. Peppy is young, but mellow and she waited for me to remount and we headed off together. They kept a great pace together for awhile and we went by a creek and up a hill, where I later found out the judge was hiding. After awhile, Liberty relaxed and stretched out and we left Peppy when Kimberly stopped to make a tack adjusment.

Through the day, he got better at riding alone, though he would call to some distant horse every so often. WE had 2 good P&R's and a mount, which he walked off from (darn horse). I made a wrong turn, but was still on the yellow trail, so didn't realize it for a few minutes and had to hustle back and find the trail. His metabolics were a little off for him, but his energy level was really good. Back in camp he checked out with no fill or dimished gut sounds and his back was good. Day one in the books.

Sunday started out warm and humid with a light breeze as the horn went off at 5am. The day was cold, but clear and it was a great ride. WE failed to open and close a gate...but we did it better than we ever have. Liberty was forward and happy to be on the trail. We checked out a little off, but I honestly think he just stepped on the rock wrong as we trotted over the drive between the judges and the trot out area. In any case, he came home and ran around the field and acted like he hadn't even been ridden. IT was amazing that he actually placed 5th. I figured we were out of it completely.

I was so proud that Liberty handled being on his own as well as he did, but I can tell we still need some practice.