Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Bar 50

Maggie and my friend Karen have gone to Hot Spring National Park to take photos and look around. I could have gone but I am really enjoying the opportunity to do nothing.

Karen got here yesterday in a terrible rain storm and we spent the evening just hanging out. This am we saddled up the horses and went for a short ride. Karen hasn't ridden much in a few years so I knew we'd not go out for long. It was pleasant and cool this morning so I knew it would be easy on Tonka. She is really getting the hang of basic trailriding. She is going up and down well and we have sticking to flat easy trails so she doesn't have to work too hard. She is drinking and eating well both on and off trail. Her breathing comes fast so we atop a lot to give her plenty of rest.

Dixie hadn't been on trail yet and was pleased to get out. She always led the pack on all the trails. Liberty is happy to go anywhere and is having a grand time

Tomorrow we will skip riding and get massages in Hot Springs. Karen will go home on Thursday and Maggie and I will get two long rides in on Friday and Saturday and probably not ride Tonka again until a short ride Saturday before we leave. She has just been amazing so far. She seems to really like the riding.

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Saturday, June 26, 2010

Food awareness

I have gone 3 days avoiding dairy and corn. I have not been able to completely stay away from all of it but now that I am thinking about it the decisions get easier. I am realizing how hard my tv Evenings will be without popcorn. I am not a huge snacked but I admit now that the things I like to snack on are now things to avoid. I have realized that. All the things I enjoy eating are things not really on my plan. But I will ultimately be healthier for it.

Tomorrow we leave for vacation. So ready!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Maggie's return

I was eagerly awaiting Maggie's return at 6:10 pm tonight. We were going to go to dinner and go visit the horses and chill out together. Now it appears her flight won't get in till 10:05 and then she won't be home till close till 11.  The only good part of her delay is that i'm getting all my paperwork for the week done before she and Peter get home. 

Howie, the puppy, is playing at my feet and I'm watching an episode of Julie Goodnight on  RFDTV. She's handling a rude yearling, and I'm getting some ideas of how to work with Fiera.  This yearling is huge! Bigger than Fiera is at 2. It's pretty incredible.

Speaking of Fiera: Tomorrow we're taking her to Sprite's for the week while we go on vacation.  She will be well taken care of and I won't have to get any mid-week surprises that she has jumped out.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Acupuncture


Yesterday I went to see an acupuncturist to work on my eating and diet. The woman that I found is a nurse practitioner along with being certified in Chinese medicine. We talked about my past food allergies that I have been ignoring and she believes that they could help me hang on to weight. So, I am back off corn (as of tomorrow, and as much as possible since corn is in everything) but I am also off dairy. I'm also off peanuts because they have a negative affect on the thyroid as do other legumes. I'm taking extra iodine to stimulate the thyroid and she did a balancing acupunture on my my body with emphasis on digestion. It was very relaxing. I go back in a couple weeks and I have to bring her a food diary. I am also supposed to get on bile salts since I no longer have a gallbladder (personally, I'm not so sure losing my gallbladder is that big of a deal, but naturopath people always think that anything we do to alter our bodies can be a problem) So, I got the corn out of the house tonight, but I started to realize how limiting all this stuff is. I'm really going to have to watch what I eat. Corn is in everything. I'm sad to give up dairy...I'm not supposed to have soy either (it's a legume) I did pick up some almond milk and some coconut milk to take on my trip next week. I don't figure they'll have those items at the tiny grocery store in Bismarck, Ark. I also have come to realize that I don't have to be perfect all the time. I should eliminate as much as possible as often as possible.  I am NOT going to make everyone around me miserable with my food issues. I'm just going to do the best I can with the tools I have. For example, she said I could still have cream in my coffee if I really like it, as long as I eliminate the other milk.  I think i can manage this.  I may be able to go back to drinking it black most times too.  I am collecting websites that deal with corn allergies so I can have a comprehensive list of what I need to avoid.  I'm not saying I will never eat popcorn or corn on the cob again. i just know that there is a price to pay if I do. I need to get all the way off all of it, so I know how I feel to have that stuff out of my system.

Maggie's puppy is great.  I'm going to be happy to give over baby duty though. I did it last year with Bonnie. I'm over it.


She will be back from Nantucket on Friday. Then Saturday we will take Fiera to Sprites where she will board while we're gone. We're planning to take Tonka with us to Arkansas. I suspect we'll load her and take her to Sprite's as a trial run. I sure don't want to get to Sunday and find out she won't load :-O

Monday, June 14, 2010

I am a Work Out Loser

I was poised to get up early this am when Peter started getting up early to carpool. Maggie was on board too...but I just couldn't get out of bed. Of course, this might have something to do with the fact that my normal inclination  is to go to bed by 10:30, but because I waited up for Peter (who promised me that he was on his way to bed repeatedly) I didn't get to bed until midnight. I just can't do 6:30 hours of sleep...and he can't do 8 full hours of sleep. I suppose there is always tomorrow...and I will just have to start going to bed when I want to and not worry about whether or not he is coming to bed.

My brother, his wife and kids were out yesterday and we had a great time. We took the grill to the horse pasture, grilled out, rode horses and just hung out. It was very pleasant. I was sad we only had a few hours together.

My mom also came to visit on Saturday night. She came over and we went to dinner and I showed her the work I had done on my house. Maggie played the tune on the piano that she has been learning for her piano lessons. 

Friday, June 11, 2010

Guitar Playing Maggie


Maggie found this photo in a baby album and she thought it was amazing that she wasn't more talented at the guitar since she is obviously in guitar playing mode. She was born playing Air guitar. I just thought it was cute and reminded me how little she used to be.
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Monday, June 7, 2010

Riding but not boot camping

Maggie had a friend over this afternoon. We were going to go to the park to do boot camp, but my asthma has been so bad, I just couldn't do it. I'm going to see if I can defer my membership to another four week session. If they say no, I'm going to do my best to get to a make up class tomorrow night, go Thursday night and then Saturday morning. It's so hard to do boot camp when you can't breathe.

But..I can ride.  I decided to get back on Tonka tonight.  As each night before, she did all her other exercises better than ever. Tonight she longed both ways calmly.  She is really the opposite of Liberty who gets you by moving too fast. She gets you by moving slowly.  She stood for mounting beautifully...and then wouldn't move.  I hate a horse that won't move. I don't mean I hate her, but I hate it when they won't move. My limited training experience has always done better with a horse that goes than a horse that stands. The ones that stand seem to blow up more often to me.  I finally got her walking, but it took tons of effort.  Maggie wanted to give it a try, and since I was reasonably sure she wasn't going anywhere fast, I let Maggie ride her...And the kid completely showed me up! Tonka was so much better for her than for me. I was very impressed.  They trotted and cantered a little too, but the canter wasn't pretty. She kicked up a little in the canter. It wasn't scary, it reminded me of Deli who didn't like cantering on a circle because her balance was out.  Poor mare is so heavy .Clearly insulin resistant to me. She will be good in no time though.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Training Tonka

In the  last three days Tonka (formerly Isabelle, Izzy, or Bella--it took awhile to find the right name)  has learned to longe both directions and not run over me while doing so.  Maggie has ridden her bareback on the lead line and that went well too. So tonight I decided I would set a goal to get on her, if I felt like it was safe.  I did everything we've been doing with her, except I did it tacked up. Tacking her up was really easy. I ground tied her and she stood still while I put the saddle and bridle on her.  I discovered that I need a bigger girth...she is not a size 28.  I played the circle game (only it's really more like a Clinton Anderson version of the circle game), the yo-yo...more me asking her to come back than her wanting to be in my space and a little bit of sideways game (which started out being more an attempt for her to evade my attempts to move her front end over)  I brought her over to the mounting block, and discovered she has learned to move her butt away from the person who wants to get on her. I refuse to get on a horse who won't stand completely still for me.  So, I put off the idea that I was going to ride and went to training her to step up to the mounting block.  I think I need to carry a crop to cue her butt to come over, but I did manage to do OK with with I had. I shook the saddle, put my foot up and down and after about 20 minutes of desensitizing her, I finally sat on her...and then I got off. Then I did that about three more times and discovered that she was NOT going to move, even when I wanted her to.  I also discovered that she doesn't like being told where to go. I barely picked up the reins and she started shaking her head. This is a mild, rub the head on the ground kind of shaking, not the "I'm going to give you a bloody nose" kind of shaking that Liberty does, so it wasn't a big deal.  I found that I had flexion on both the right and the left, which was nice.  I walked around on a very loose rein for about 2 mintues, and then I asked her to stop so I could get off...only she kept backing and backing, so note to self, very sensitive on the reins, or always taught to back up when stopped.  I hopped off her and gave her lots and lots of praise and treats.  She seemed very surprised. I could almost hear her say "where is the rest of my work out"  She was very mild mannered except for one moment in the longing when she bucked up a little...it was like a flea bucking and didn't concern me too much.  I have the chiropractor checking her out before I do any real riding. I'd like to know if she's in pain before I start riding her.
 

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Isabelle is now Tonka

We realized tonight that Isabelle was too much of a truck to go by that name so she is now Tonka or Tonks. It just suits her better.

Tonight went more smoothly. I had my stick and she figured put the signals very quickly. She acts like noone has ever handled her from the off side before. I got her to change directios a couple times on the longe ands then she was good to go for the night.

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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Isabelle

Yesterday I acquired this lovely lady. Her name is Isabelle and she's an unregistered paint horse.  She belonged to a guy I met last month when he acquired her from city hall after her constant attempts to escape her previous home.  I agreed to board her for him.  He is a nice fellow and has a good heart, but discovered that he just doesn't have time to keep a horse. So, when he offered her to me, I took him up on it.  I don't know what our long term plans are, but she's a super easy keeper. I have to pay the same amount whether she lives there or not, so for now, I figure what the heck. 

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The most Hilarious thing

Maggie and I beat Peter home tonight as he had church. I got a shower and I thought I heard Peter come in, but when I looked in the mirror his office light wasn't on and I didn't hear any sounds. I went in the bedroom to get dressed, fed the dogs inside, fed the dog outside and sat down in my chair. I looked to my right and noticed the Sims 3 Ambitions (latest Sims 3expansion pack) and realized that I must have heard Peter come in. So, I got up again, walked into the bedroom, looked for him everywhere...only to come back and find him sitting on the couch, where he had been for 10-15 minutes while I puttered around the house. It was so funny. I could barely catch my breath laughing.