Today was the perfect day

The weather was beautiful and I headed over to the field to work on the fence. I discovered late yesterday that it wasn't hitting worth a hoot and I couldn't figure out why. After I did some trouble shooting with Shawn's help, I was able to go back today and start to break down the trouble and find a solution. I could never have done it so efficiently if Terry Norman's help. (Terry is engaged to my friend Dee from High School--actually Terry is a friend from HS also. They will be getting married in June and she will be moving here. Terry has been here since just after he graduated from Liberty HS and it's been a blessing to reconnect with old friends.) He stood by the fence and turned it off and on for me as I tested each sections and tied parts back together. In the end I discovered that the charger was sending out a powerful signal and that I just had drag somewhere. I ended up disconnecting the bottom wire so that only the top wire is hot now. I also changed out the metal wire for polywire, since it can fold back on itself and not short out the fence. I left the bottom wire in place so that it looks like there are two hot wires, but I got it boosted up to 5.5 kv. It was hot enough that when I turned out Otto (Cat's possible new horse) he noticed it and stayed away, which was great. Terry and his fourteen year old son, Robert, also helped me move my round pen several feet away from the fence so that the horses can safely go all the way around it without getting stuck. I had never liked where it was but it was hot when I bought it and I had never had enough hands to help me get it moved before b/c it's darn heavy.

While all this efficient working was taking place, Maggie, her friend Kelsea, and Terry's kids were all happily riding horses and playing in the hay bale. They had so much fun. Kelsea rode wtih maggie and she never got tired of riding. I had to peal them off the horse! This made me very happy. Kelsea's cousin also rode Deli in the round pen.

The only thing that would have made the day even better was getting to ride myself. I plan to ride tomorrow as it's going to be beautiful. I want to work on stuff from the Doctor Deb clinic since I haven't gotten to ride all week. (or finish blogging about the clinic) So much better than this week last year when Maggie and I were both sick and then I was so depressed. We have so much sun here this year and I feel so much better! Kelsea and her cousin are going to come back tomorrow.

Cat's not sure what to do about Otto, the OTTB. He's very sweet and I think he'll be a nice horse, but she doesn't want to fall for the wrong horse again and I applaud her efforts. I just don't know what to tell her. He's going to be tricky to start and he's fast and he's a TB. He is very sweet though.

I'm hoping that Kelsea and Maggie can continue to work on their friendship. She loves to ride, she's so physically active! That would such a blessing to see the two of them grow in friendship.

New Job/no horses/fun Wii

I'm not sure what order to go in here, so I'll just start rambling...starting from the most recent to the oldest...This is like in a TV show when they show you a teaser and then say "24 hours earlier" only backwards.

Tonight we went back to the pub and played Irish music. I discovered that I could actually play between 30-50% of the notes if I closed my eyes and didn't try to pretend that I could read the notes off the page. Bless my piano teachers' hearts...I just never learned to play well by ear. But, a good time was had by all. I think we'll go back next week. Tuesday night IS date night for us.

Today I didn't get to check on my horses, but Cat and Maggie took care of them. I won't get out there tomorrow till late in the evening either. Work all day and then massages after.

Speaking of work...I love my new job. It's not too hard, the people are nice and I like being able to work in a slower paced, laid back atmosphere. One of my residents has now challenged me to find some songs I Never heard of before...downloading them now while I blog. Tomorrow I'm not sure what we'll do, but hopefully they will be well entertained. I am having to shift gears from kids to adults, but it keeps me going.

The Wii is just too cool. I got up this am and worked out for 20 minutes doing strength, balance and aerobic training. It weighs me and gives me a fitness test. I was a 46 for my Wii age the first time I did it. I think it was b/c I didn't really get the instructions. Today I was a 31, which means I got 15 years younger in just a day. I am amazed how it tracks my balance...I have always thought I was pretty balanced. People tell me I am balanced in the saddle all the time, but it's just not true. I stand on my right foot and I put my weight too far back. When Wii says that I am balanced I feel like I am leaning forward. I keep trying to play this game where you butt soccer balls with your head....I end up getting socked in the head with shoes and panda bears. It's really hard. It's supposed to work core muscles. I love it b/c if i skip a day (i missed yesterday) it scolds you.

Equine Touch

I had the pleasure of taking a class called Equine Touch this weekend. I signed up for it thinking it was a type of massage therapy but it's so not. It's also not an energy modality like acupuncture or acupressure.

I loved it so much that i agreed to host another clinic in august at the same location in Aledo, TX at Iron Star Farm. Jennifer, the owner of the farm is going to be the site host, but now I have to find at least 2 more people to do the course. Anna Zimmerman, my friend Betsy's daughter, will be going to the clinic too.

I'm really excited about everything I learned and I can't even begin to explain what the weekend meant to me. I think that this technique may be my missing link between the equine and the people massage (even though it's not really massage) b/c it will be so easy to work on people and horses. I know that I am still processing everything I learned.

When I worked on one horse today, he almost fell over, asleep in the barn aisle. His owner said that he was a very tense horse and never relaxed, but after I had done some releases on his hindquarters, he suddenly got sleepy. He wasn't able to lock his knees and he was all of a sudden overwhelmed. His owner said he is usually really hyper and he was almost on his knees dozing. He was processing something and it was really amazing to see. This technique helps their bodies to process and find balance.

Tomorrow begins another week. I have a busy one ahead.

I did get email back from Jackie...it wasn't very positive and I'm disappointed. I'm not going to talk to her about it anymore. It won't do me any good, so I won't argue with her. It would be nice to let it mend and go on.

Prayers for a friend

I just got word that the daughter of one of my horsey friends fell off her pony tonight and broke her arm. She's really upset feeling like it shouldn't have happened. I tried to tell her that all kids fall off and bones get broken. Maggie fell off at 5 or 6 and broke her collar one. We all survived and she was back on her pony before we knew it! God Speed to my friend!

Running

I was about to make a blog when my daughter's dachshund, Cecilia, peed on me and my chair...so instead of posting about running, I was running away from the dog. Ugh! I really dislike this dog and I would like to find her a new home. However, she's lived with us for four years and she is the one my daughter loves best and I can't bear to make maggie give her up. So, instead, I put up with having her pee on me. Yuck and double yuck.

Tonight Maggie and I started her running program. Our friend Alexa showed her stretches to do and told her to start by walking from one end of the block to the other and then running the length of the block and then walking back home. We did this. I jogged it slow, got very tired, but made it, but recovered quickly. Maggie ran it faster than me, but had a harder time catching her breath. We are both terribly out of shape. Maggie commented that she was the one who needed conditioning, not the horse.

This Sunday Maggie begins her new job. She's going to be doing the barn with Jennifer a couple times per month. Well, that's the long term plan. For now I know she's working this weekend and I probably have her talked into the weekend of the 14th, but beyond that, who knows. She wants some Sundays off just to sit around (don't we all) but I think it's going to be good for her. I hadn't realized how lazy she's become. She's not a huge TV watcher or a computer player, but she just doesn't move a lot. In the last six months she's gotten a lot bigger and her energy levels have just plummetted. I know that the only way to get past where she is is to get busy and be active, so I'm kind of forcing the issue. It's one of the reasons that I wanted her to go ahead and ride the next CTR. That is good exercise for her. I know that she won't much like the barn cleaning, but since we're getting Liberty, I figure she needs to be willing to work for it. I work very hard to afford the horses. I want her to understand that she needs to do the same too.

I had another vet come out to see Deli this week to get a second opinion and see what else could be causing her lameness. They said it was ringbone and that she has low heel, long toe syndrome. I didn't cause the ringbone, but my trimming techniques have caused the long toe. I'm a good trimmer when I have time, but lately I haven't had time. So, I'm going to pay a farrier to trim her for awhile until she quits being lame. Against my principles, but under veterinary recommendation, I had alluminum egg bar shoes put on her temporarily. According the xrays it will help her be comfortable quickly. Of course, tonight, she's just lame, so I don't know if it will help or not. Dr. Tersteeg, the vet, said to give her a week in her new shoes (it will be 10 days before we have time to mess with her anyway) and then see if she's still lame. If she's lame, leave her alone in the pasture. The poor horse is getting so fat...she's just as sweet as ever though.

I can't say that ringbone, other lameness is really a great prognosis for her, but I think it will be easier to find Deli the right home with this dx over EPM. She won't have chronic care issues, may be ridden some and could teach lessons and do local schooling. She might also be suitable for a therapeutic riding center. I will have to find her a job next fall if she's still lame. She gets a reprieve b/c of the foal and would have a reprieve for at least 6 months or so anyway. As sad as it is, I will have to find her a home if she continues to be lame. I can't board old and lame horses forever. I worry that I will also have to make this decision for Freeley some day. I dread that day!

Speaking of Freeley, for the moment he is doing great in his shoes. He acts like he feels better and he is moving better for now. I won't leave him in shoes long term, but I think I will be letting Tony trim Deli and Freeley for awhile. I will continue trimming Joe Bear and I plan to do Liberty myself also.

Off to bed...work tomorrow and picking up Liberty. Still need to post about maggie's ride, but I'll do a seperate post and put up some photos.

rain, rain go away...Vacation chatter

It has been raining for days. Well, at this exact moment it's not raining, but b/c of a low pressure system it keeps raining. I have gone too many days without riding.

I have house work to do, but I don't want to do it. I have massage therapy sessions this afternoon and I don't want to do it that either. I just want to sit in my dark room and watch TV and do nothing...

Well, I never finished that post yesterday. In spite of my desire to bury myself reading blogs and doing nothing, I actually did quite a lot yesterday. Then today, we got up and ran to the barn because I was supposed to teach lessons today. We took Jena, Cat's daughter, with us to ride too. Today we played horse swap. When my lesson was a no show, Maggie rode Freeley, I rode Jena's horse, Dixie, a cute little pony type horse, and Jena rode Joe Bear. Since it was wet and muddy our goal for the day was just to ride at the walk in circles...mainly, we just wanted to sit on our horses. They have all gotten used to running alot, so we just walked and walked and walked some more. Ok, not too exciting, but good practice for Dixie and Joe Bear especially since the kids spend so much time running.

Then we drove my trailer all over Ft. Worth getting my trailer weighed and inspected. I took the girls to lunch at Cheddars and then we also went to Cabela's. I bought a sleeping pad that I found really comfortable. I also looked at a cot tent that puts my old, rickety California sleepers to shame. Unfortunately, we stayed at Cabela's too long and we had to drive home in the parking lot that is I-35W on Friday afternoon. I was tired just sitting in the truck trying not to have a wreck.

Tomorrow is more riding camp. Since Nicole is doing camp every day, she decided she didn't also want to do camp on the w/e's and she subcontracted it out to me. It's been great for my bottom line, since I'm starting to use the money I earn to pay all my horse expenses. I now actually have an income to tax to pay for the horses. Peter has asked me to do that, and I'm working very hard to make that happen.

I have two new music therapy clients starting next week. This is great! Though one of the folks is down in Benbrook...that's close to the barn so I'm sure I can make it work, especially if I get on well with the clients. I still have one more hoop to jump through for the other agency. I have to get my CPR classes done, but then I will be working for DSSW as well. I'm going to be busy come fall, and that suits me fine. The only part I won't like is that I will have to work in the afternoon and evening. Fortunately, since maggie has Fridays off, we will get to be together on Fridays and the weekends. It's not my favorite schedule, but it will be good for now.

The summer is one third over. Maggie and I were supposed to go trail riding for our vacation next week to the Hill country Natural Area. However, all the trails are closed due to all the rain we've had in TX this month. It's over 6 hours away, so I won't be going if the trails aren't open. It's just too far to drive. I wills end my friend Bambi for my portion of the camping, but I won't drive that far. If it rains, we'll go somewhere closer, or just wait and go later in the month. I also had planned to go have Centered Riding Lessons with Lynn Larson in Georgetown and Maggie is supposed to go to her grandparents with her dad...so I have to figure it all out if the weather messes up our plans.

In August we'll do our Missouri tour and go see my family. I'm going to take maggie to Worlds of Fun, in Kansas City...one of my favorite places growing up. I think we're going to Silver Dollar city with my brother, mom and my brother's kids. I wanted maggie to fly up to see my mom early, and let me come and get her and continue our trip, but they wanted her to come on Monday, and then have me come on Friday. For whatever reason, Maggie just isn't comfortable going up there alone. Mom is not pleased that maggie won't come, but she is just really nervous about being away from home this year without a parent.

I guess that's about it for now. I want a lazy day.

Life is weird

I'm going through a period where everything seems like it's out of sync. My days don't flow like I want them to. I'm haunted by some unexplained anxiety in the back of my mind. I'm doing things I enjoy. Music and massage therapy are both picking up, yet, I'm haunted by some undefined stress in the back of my mind. I have forgotten how to just be care free and have fun with complete abandon. There is always some project that needs to be done and no matter how much I get done, I still feel like I'm never finished. I don't know if I'm putting undo pressure on myself to accomplish some intangible thing or if there is something that needs to be done at the root of it all and I haven't found out what it is yet. I sleep "ok" but I dream weird dreams. I second guess myself and wonder if I'm making the best decisions. I want people around me to share my perspective and point of view, yet I lack the persuasive skills to get them onto my team. Instead, i come across as abrasive and bossy. I want to have tranquility. I want to concentrate on reading books and accomplishing tasks each day. Even when I sit and read, I think about what else I should be doing. It's like I have this running commentary and turmoil in the back of my head.

I have wondered if I need medication for ADD or some sort of anti-anxiety medication. So far, what has worked is mixing up Bach flower essences, getting plenty of exercises and just learning not to push myself so hard. I expect a lot out of myself, so sometimes it's really hard to just to take a step back.

In other news: Maggie and I are going to the Hill Country natural area to trail ride and camp in a couple weeks. We went 2 years ago and had such a nice time. There is water and swimming and hours of trails to ride. We're going to take Joe Bear and Freeley, unless I somehow have managed to pick up Deli from Larry's by then. I doubt that I will. I could probably borrow Duchess instead of Joe Bear, but I want to take the little guy. He's so great on the trail and she had such a good time with him last time we went. After our trip to Bandera, I'm leaving Maggie with Shawn's parents in the Hill Country. I'll have a whole week to myself. If I have earned enough money, I will taking some riding lessons with a lady in Georgetown on the way home. I want to get some Centered Riding in on this trip to save gas. Once I get my clinics or lessons done, I can take the instructors training in 2008. This will give me the credentials I need to teach more adults and have folks take me a little more seriously in the ring.

We rode today, even though it was hot. We tried to do some interval training, but Joe Bear wasn't cooperating. Maggie would like to compete him, but I'm just not sure his P&R will ever be suitable. After the canter work, and the walking and a 10 minute rest, he was still breathing over 17/15 seconds. Freeley OTOH was just marvelous. I think he might make a dressage horse. I'm not sure he tossed his head one time today. I love that horse!

Delicato's Debacle (Cass County CTR)

Well, we went to the ride this w/e. It wasn't pretty. I've been stalling on writing my story b/c committing it to paper for all to see makes me ask more questions and worry that much more.

I took Deli as planned. I noted on Saturday that I thought she was coming into heat though even when talked to by the stallions at the ride she didn't say much back. She was her normal, pleasant self. She checked in well, she vetted in well, she ate and drank well. She was just great. Deli is such an easy horse. She does have a temper, but she's kind and safe. I never worry about her being nice to people. She's the "spare" horse and teaches lots of lessons.

Saturday was very hot. We've had a really mild spring in Texas this year and all of a sudden it was hot. We had to trot into both P&R's and we lost points both times. Losing points at P&R's is unusal for us. In the beginning of our CTR career she lost points for sore back, sore neck, sore pecs, etc, but never in her pulse. Saturday we lost points for both. She could not get cooled off and panted a lot. But we didn't get held or pulled so we kept going. Our obstacles were fine, metabolic checks OK, but considering how hard the whole event was on all the horses she did just fine.

Sunday morning she was fine, but she didn't eat breakfast. This is very unusual for this horse not to eat breakfast. Her gut sounds were good, she had eaten alot of hay in the night and she had drunk plenty of water, so we went. She was very wound up wanting to be with April, my friend Betsy's Morgan mare. Since Betsy and I travel together a lot, we usually try not to ride together, thus separating the mares from the beginning. But they were both so upset about being separated we kept them together this time. The problem is that Deli walks much slower than April and gets left behind. She then has to trot to catch up, which is harder on her body and wears her out faster, as well as gets her more wound up. On Saturday we peeled off from April (which then caused April distress) but when we caught back up they were fine together for the rest of the day. Sunday I tried the same approach, but with much different results.

We were in the deep woods where the trail is hard to see and I couldn't keep up with April without trotting constantly. Deli was very tense, so I made her wait. She refused to walk forward. She only would trot and then mostly sideways. A couple of times she got away from me and crashed through thick woods and underbrush. I hit my head on many branches and once again was so happy that I ALWAYS wear a helmet. Some more people came along and they offered to let us walk quietly along behind them. I thought that might be a good option for awhile. We were not in a good place to get off and just hang out and I was starting to have my confidence rattled. In the past, I would have gotten off and just quit, but I've been so brave lately. I was so proud of myself for not over analyzing the behavior and instead simply riding it out and taking care of business.

This new solution of following these people was not a good solution. No sooner did they put me behind their "nice slow walk" did they start to trot very quickly through the woods. I have ridden behind these same folks before and find they almost always mess up my pacing. They don't do a consistent tempo. They walk a little, trot a little, walk a little trot a little. Every time I've been behind them I've hung back waiting for them to get ahead of me so I can find a pocket, and then I trot up on them again. So their offer for help would have been great, if they'd kept walking...but they didn't.

So, now Deli was frantic about a new set of horses and was getting more and more out of control. I couldn't circle her and there wasn't any place to really get off the trail. I was running up on their horses and I was afraid she was going to run over them. She wasn't thinking. I finally came to a little clearing and I hopped off and we just waited there. She was panting and puffing and I could tell she was physically and emotionally distressed. I started to think about the couple of times she had behaved this way in the past. One time it was a bit issue (something must have been wrong with the bit b/c once I ditched it, she never did this again) and one time she melted down when I know she was coming into heat. Since I had evidence she was coming into heat, I went with the assumption that a follicle was giving her trouble. However, this did not immediately solve any of my problems.

After another group of riders past, and I realized by voices in the words that there was an obstacle ahead, I decided to mount back up and go on. The judges all asked me how I was doing and I burst into tears. All the stress I had felt for the past 10-15 minutes just came out and I cried and cried. I haven't cried while on a horse in a long, long time. After I settled down the judge asked me to approach her which I told her was a bad idea. I guess I sensed that Deli was just moments away from snapping. She talked me into coming closer and when I did, Deli launched over the log and on top of the judge. Then, instead of running left up the trail and out of the woods, she crashed straight into the briars and low branches. I remember seeing the judge under my horse and then I closed my eyes and kept my head and face down while trying to turn her. She finally got stuck in the briars and had to be pulled out. I dropped off (but I didn't fall off) and just stood in some briars. I started crying agian.

At that moment if I'd had a gun, I think I might have shot her...good thing I don't own a weapon.

My hands were cut up and I was bleeding. I had scratches on my neck and later I found a huge bruise where I hit the horn. I stood and talked with the judges for awhile. I was so angry I was determined to get back on and finish. I felt like my horse had completely forgotten I was there and I was determined to finish the ride and teach her a lesson about who was in charge. The judges talked me out of riding and I ended up pulling. I told Doanna, the horsemanship judge, how sorry I was. And I also blubbered on about Maggie and how she loves Deli, but how could I ever trust my child on this horse again. Doanna reminded me that each relationship was different and not to blame Deli too quickly till I had a chance to examine all the evidence and evaluate her behavior later.

By the time we got back to camp though...I wish I had stuck with it. I hate to pull.

Later, at awards, people were laughing about the whole thing and I thought if I put off writing about it, I would find the humor...but here I am 3 days post event and I don't think it's funny at all. My hands are still cut. I haven't been able to work at all this week. I know that there is humor here. It's a great story...NORMALLY MILD MANNERED HORSE GOES ON CRAZY SPREE THROUGH FOREST. etc. I'm just not laughing yet. I'm left with concerns that she is mentally unbalanced and that all the trust I've placed in this horse has been misplaced. I'm worried that she has a screw loose and will never be trustworthy...or worse, that all along she hasn't been trustworthy.

I'm not sure what to do to believe in her again. I need a plan, some exercises, something I can train her with that will help her to be the horse I always thought she was. Maybe after she is bred and has her baby she needs to be spayed? I just don't know right now and I hate feeling like I can't trust her.

Of course the flip side is one crazy event does not a crazy animal make. I have never considered ever letting this horse go until this event. I have never felt or seen such out of control behavior on her or any horse. I didn't even exist at the point at which she barrelled into the woods.

How much can I cram into one day?

Well, today, the answer is a lot.

It looked like it was going to rain today, but the weather was all ok. We went to the barn and visited the horses. I had to trim Deli's feet as she's going to the CTR with me this w/e. I trim her every 3-4 weeks depending on how much riding she's getting. It's hard work, but I get the satisfaction of doing it myself and I save $75 ($25x 3 horses) every 6 weeks or so. I have been trimming for a few years and I have never been overly confident of my skills, but recently, I have begun to be more confident and I find that I really like the way their feet look so I keep at it. It takes me about an hour to do one of my horses and I typically can't do more than one horse a day. When I'm on schedule, I trim one horse per week on a 3 week rotating basis...Usually though, i'm not so on with it, and I end up thinking "shoot, there's a ride in four days and I have to trim her feet" I dn't have any particular trimming style. My friend, Betsy, who taught me to trim uses the Pete Ramey and Jamie Jackson trimming method and I just have followed what she's taught me.

Today marked the beginning of riding camp at the barn also. I am not doing the camp myself, though I do teach lessons at New Ground Farms. A lady named Nicole is doing the camp. She has four kids each week and it looked like the kids were really enjoying themselves. I did one camp last summer, but I didn't feel like being tied up all summer. So when Jackie said that Nicole was going to do a camp, I was relieved. This leaves me free to teach my students as well as rounding up more students on my own, but I'm not tied down to being at the barn all day every day all summer. Some other folks showed up wanting horses for their grand kids to ride, but I had to run, so Natalie, Jackie's daughter took over doing it. We helped them get ready. They used Joe Bear and Deli, who are great lesson horses.

I had promised Maggie we'd go swimming next so we ran off to the Maverick to swim. We only had a half hour, but it was fun to hang out in the pool. We had the whole place to ourselves. Maggie is still having trouble with her bubble blowing, so we spent a lot of time bobbing and blowing bubbles and I started to show her the different strokes and kicks. She needs a kick board so she can practice her strokes, but she has never really been interested in swimming correctly and now she is, so that was a nice surprise.

The day ended with us at Flint doing massage for a couple hours.

Tomorrow I told Maggie that I'd take her to the park to go biking. Then she's going to a friend's and I'll have a couple hours to myself before I go a music therapy assessment.

Busy weekend

I have been meaning to start a blog for ages. Peter has one, everyone seems to have one, but I kept putting off geting started. Today just seemed like the perfect time to finally accomplish this task.

Who am I? I'm a 40 year old mom of one (an almost 10 year old), in my second marriage (to Peter) I am a massage therapist trying to build a business for myself doing whatever it takes that is legal, moral and hopefully fun, to earn money to afford my first love...horses! I hope to use this spot as a place to tell stories about my horses (who I love dearly and not everyone in my family wants to hear about all the time) and just every day musings. I used to be a huge writer and I might throw a story in here and there. If I get back in the habit of writing stories often, I'll write another blog to keep fact and fiction separate. I also teach horseback riding lessons at New Ground Farms in Ft. Worth. I had a ton of students until about a month ago when the stress of the end of school and summer has made them kind of become sparse. I definitely need to get out there and market.

Yesterday, Maggie was at her dad's house. She hasn't been in ages for the whole weekend. While she was gone Peter and I decided to clean out the garage as it was nasty dirty. While we were out of town last w/e the dogs had gotten into the garage and just trashed it. She couldn't believe how nice it looked.

We keep having plans. Leading up to the end of school we were so busy. She's finally out of school for the summer and we're looking forward to having less to do than usual. We have playdays for the horses and I compete at CTR. We want to trail ride and swim etc. I am going to do some extensive rearranging and repainting the house. It's one of my big goals for the summer. I refuse to do anything really high dollar though as we live just 3 blocks from where the new Cowboy's stadium is going in and who knows where we'll be in the year 2011 when they play the Super Bowl here. If I could sell the house to a nice developer, I would do it in a heart beat. Otherwise, there may be a vacation that month to get us out of town.

I am a massage therapist, but I haven't been very busy lately. About the time I start to think that I'm going to have some more regular clients, I'll go weeks without working. I have signed up with two agencies so that I can have more work as a massage therapist. I will be working with special need's kids. This is great and I found about the job from a parent at Maggie's school, The Flint Academy. When I called the agencies to get on as a massage therapist, they told me that they desperately needed music therapists so I'm working as a music therapist again. Darn good thing I kept my certification up.

Most important...the horses (well, not more important than my family)

We have 3 horses between us. Maggie's old pony, Joe Bear, my mare (now hers) Delicato, a shagya arabian who will be going to the breeders in another week, and my sweet JJ Freeley, a Rushcreek bred Arabian who was given to me to be Maggie's pony club horse, but ended up being my best love instead. My main sport is competitive trail riding with the NATRC. It is such fun and maggie will finally be old enough to compete with me in the fall. In the mean time we go to play days and play at barrel racing and poll bending. Mostly, Maggie and I just enjoy participating in horsey activities tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be another busy day...we're going to ride and then go swimming and I will do massages at Flint in the afternoon. On Tuesday I hope to go bike riding with her and then I have a music therapy assessment to do. At the end of the week I have a CTR to go on and when I get home from that I hope to have more regular lessons to teach and therapy to do. Otherwise, my summer is going to be pretty slim pickins for cash!

Anyway, I hope to do a good job of keeping up my blog. If you stop by, thanks...otherwise, I'll be back :-)