Welcome!

So welcome to my blog, nothing of much consequence, but it's something. Mostly to pass the time at work inbetween calls... the title of this blog is maybe a teeeeny big exaggerated, considering I actually live about 300 feet under the 1 mile elevation mark, but considering I previous spent most of my life living at 7600ft, and most competitions and whatnot that I'll go to (at somepoint in the future) will be at or above 5280'. Sooooo it all evens out in the end right?? Regardless, I love where I live, love the view of the mountains, and love colorado in general :)

And I love my pony!! For 3 years I leased another gelding, fondly nicknamed "Buddy", that I evented on, but last summer sold him on as I just didn't have the time between working full time, going to school, and my husband to devote to him. During that 3 year time I had placed Pie on the back burner, I'd kinda shuffled him around with a couple different people trying to find someone who would take care of him for me as I couldn't afford board on two horses for a long time. But now that Buddy has moved on to his new home I've been able to rediscover my friendship with Pie, one that's been there a long time. He'll be 18 next month, and I've had him since he was 9, wow time flies! Especially in the past couple of months, when I've landed a sweet living arrangement where he is boarded only 1/2 mile down the road from my home and I have a fantastic private indoor to ride him in year round. I'm trully blessed. I've been relearning his little quirks, his likes and dislikes, and best of all, we are rediscovering our love of dressage. Buddy had kinda soured me on it as he DISliked it so. But Pie makes it FUN.

Our most recent dressage discovery has been FLYING CHANGES! For the longest time I've been able to do flying on every horse, but him. He's about as stubborn as the day is long *sigh* but oh I love him for it! The other day I got on to ride him after almost a week off, and boy was he full of it. So, instead of doing the nice easy, long and slow trot/canter work I had planned for conditioning purposes, we instead got to do a bunch of rapid-fire harder movements, lateral work, lengthen and collect, something to keep his mind busy as it was running a million miles an hour. After doing a nice lovely collected canter circle, he was so straight and light that I thought, what the heck, I'll try and change, I had to force the issue a little, buuut... HE DID IT!! I was on cloud nine, we managed to do one the other way and then I called it a day, what a good boy!!!! The day after we management semi-successful repeats, once each way. So now that I know he can (and KNOWS how to do them, ...turd) I think we'll not do them for awhile, and work on fitness, then we'll start schooling them this summer more. The german dressage rider who owns the place I do barn chores for (and where that fabulous indoor is) said he'd help me with them. Yes! I can't wait. In the mean time, transitions, transitions, transitions... our half-halt needs work.