Friday, December 31, 2010

Ringing in the new year

I'm at home watching It's complicated and laughing a lot. Maggie has gone to a friends and I should be working on my Scamper prizes (well, I did for awhile) but I decided to spend one more night being lazy watching movies, playing Sims 3 before I have to really buckle down and get serious about my plans again.

I had a lesson with Shea today. I rode Liberty and he really softened up nicely. She helped me to get him to bend both directions and he's learning to come back more softly to me.  At one point there was a bit of excitement in the pasture and I got off and worked with him from the ground which was nice as well. He was a really good boy today and learned to stay in the moment longer and longer.

She also worked with Dixie who had a Cranio Sacral treatment. Her back looked a lot better after the treatment and she seemed more relaxed and comfortable. she has to have 24 hours off and we'll see what we have tomorrow.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Eventful Day

Maggie and I had lunch with Peter today and then I picked up a horse for Bluebonnet Human society. His name is Pockets (and I didn't get a photo)  and he's a little Arab cross. he's really little. He's 7 and he is smaller than Dixie.  In fact, he's smaller than Fiera too.  His owner had to send him back to rescue because he lost the place he was boarding. He was sweet though, and hopped in the trailer with only a little hesitation. Rode home fine, turned around and jumped out head first.  I put him in my arena and he's eating hay and the little bit of grass. He'll stay here till Friday next week, when I will take him to Jennifer William's house. She's the head of Bluebonnet and my path to LaGrange just happens to take me right by her house. 

I'm taking RJ back too and swapping him for another foster horse. RJ isn't going to be a distance horse and I don't think I'm the right person to train him. He's a very nice horse, very sweet and has been just a doll. Fiera will miss him as they play like crazy.  he doesn't have the conformation for distance...and he bucked off Maggie when we finally decided to mount him. Thought he was ready, but I guess NOT.  He's just young and to me Fiera, at 2.5 is more mature in many ways than he is at 3.  He's such a sweetie though and will make someone a great horse. 

The horse they are sending me is named Olympus. He's an Arab and they think he will make a great endurance prospect. So we can get him on trails and get him in front of some folks and hopefully get him adopted. I think Olympus is on the front page of Bluebonnet's website right now. He's really cute. I will definitely miss RJ, but this is for the best. RJ's gaits should make him a lovely dressage horse.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Lovely ride this evening

We are watching Back to the Future 2 as a family and I'm reflecting on the lovely afternoon I had.

Maggie's friend Allyson came over to ride Joe Bear and Maggie was going to ride Dixie.  After rearranging the trailer and cleaning up, I finally got to ride. I rode Liberty in the loose ring, myler snaffle i used to use and he was great.  After my lesson with Shea I have been concentrating on a lighter touch and he is really starting to respond. I think that this bit business may eventually work out. I was even able to eventually get a nice canter out of him. He was slow to canter b/c he doesn't like the feel of the bit in his mouth cantering. he likes to canter in the frame he decides on, not necessarily the frame I want. Maggie worked with him and got him going, and then I did as well. he tried to bully a bit, but I kept after him and after threatening a few bucks and temper tantrums he went nicely. He can't canter a circle, but he did pick up a canter on a bend, so I was pretty pleased. 

Poor Maggie is having trouble with Dixie thought.  Her back is sore and she just seems very unhappy about being ridden. Maggie had been riding her English,which I think just isn't going to work. She has realized she needs to ride her in my western saddle (or i need to find her an endurance saddle) but since Maggie likes to ride English it makes her life difficult.  She's giving her some time off this week and is going to switch to the treeless saddle and the western saddle for awhile and we'll go from there.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for her to buy an English saddle for jumping, but they never seem to be around for the price I want to pay whenever  I'm shopping.

Busy Christmas

I am blessed this holiday with clients in town so work hours are uninterrupted which will mean uninterrupted paychecks in January. As much as I would like a break I know that money is a far better thing now that I have gotten really serious about debt reduction and budgeting. I'm not really sure why I have chosen 2010 and 2011 to buckle down and grow up but I admit that it feels really good.

Christa was here over the weekend. We went to the Bluebonnet rescue Christmas party and she bought Maggie's old bunk bed for her daughter, Maggie's friend, Michaela. She also picked up some dynamite products I had ordered for her. We went riding yesterday which was great fun. Then I got up early to see her off and start seeing clients. I have three days of work but then Thursday is pretty free but I suspect I will spend it making last minute gifts.

I'm happy our holidays are laid back and relaxed. Life has been so busy it's been so nice.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Stress and unrest

I'm a grown up now, according to my friend Alanna. Somehow, I have recently become a grownup and I have lost the ability to just rest and chill out without thinking of the million other things I should be doing. I have decided that I do not like being a grown up. 

I did finally manage to relax a little. I popped popcorn and now I think I will drink some decaf coffee.

Today was so busy and I'm tired. I had a client cancel with an illness and it was a blessing not to have to go an extra place. I needed the evening to just sit and enjoy the silence. Peter is gaming and I am home with the dogs enjoying the evening. I only watched one hour of TV and then turned it off. I just wasn't that excited by the noise. I have been researching Angelman's syndrome as a I have a client with this syndrome and I'm trying to learn things I can do to better serve him. 

Tomorrow I think I will get back to working on Christmas presents and getting the rest of the ride report finished. 

I called Sandra and talked to her this morning.  She urged me to come to the clinic in January. She let me know that she expected us to come and have it and if she couldn't be there, we'd all know that she wanted to be and was with us in spirit.  Of course, she is rallying. She might be here still, though it's not expected.  Peter sent a large photo of her with Sassy from Pole Canyon Ranch.   They were such a pair. Betsy said it wasn't the same riding the TTC's without her this year after her car wreck. It would have been a big race for the overall TTC winner that Betsy eventually won.  Betsy had been planning on a rematch that will now not happen.  I suspect that a lot of my emotional unbalance is caused by sadness over Sandra.  Losing her is profound and I only knew her a couple years. I can't imagine what her long time friends and family are going through.



The ride went well for all concerned I do believe. Maggie had more fun than she has ever had. She is making a good group of girlfriends that she rides with and plays with. My heart swells with joy that she is making these bonds of friendship. 

Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas at the ranch

I have been thinking all day about what I wanted to write and the truth is that I am too tired to put a coherent string of words together and tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day. It was fun to work with Alanna and Liz. I live the ride and while I did miss competing I liked knowing I could help it to run smoothly. I'm starting to feel like I might just be a good manager in the spring for Scamper.

The biggest mark on the weekend was the fuel pump going out on my truck but even that has a silver lining. Turns out the back fence was bad after the gas company put up their diagonal fence and without the breakdown fiera would have been turned out to possibly escape. The Lord looks out for us. I'm so grateful to my friends for helping me. I only hope I can be there for them. I am also grateful to my husband for driving to Alvarado to meet us and drive us home so Maggie and I didn't have to cram into the row truck.

Great fun was had by all. We had an adventure. Alanna says that an adventure is something more fun to talk about later than to experience.

Goodnight to all. I'm tired.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone