Mud, Showoff, Forward, Rolex, Shopping!

How's that for a title? So now that all the snow has finally melted and it's not a muddy mess everywhere, I can actually work with my horse! Fancy that. Though... I did have to deal with this first:

Lovely, ain't it?

Yesterday I lunged and rode, we were sharing the arena initially with another rider who was on this super sweet little QH mare named Ladybug.  Well, everytime Cash would pass Lady while on the lunge he would puff himself up, arch his neck, and start prancing about.  He was being such a goof!! What a ham.

It did help in that it got him going a bit more forward.  Under saddle he was just very very stuck.  I think part of it is that he needs shoes for the summer, when the ground gets hard you can tell he is just a bit uncomfortable. But man, he just needs to learn to go forward!! I've started riding him in spurs which has helped, but wow he takes a lot of leg and core strength to ride. I also tried a new noseband/bit combo, I pulled out my figure 8 and tried a Herm Sprenger Klaus Balkenhol brigdoon that used to be Pie's bit (a bit I've always been fond of, I like the shape of it, nice n simple and most horses seem to really like it). He seemed to do a little better in, he wasn't biting at the bit so much, we'll keep on it for a bit and see how it goes.

Mom, taking pictures is boring!

Otherwise, I spent several hours yesterday glued to my computer watching the live feed from Rolex.  Buck's ride on Reggie just gave me goosebumps, and it was just a thrill to see him so excited, fist pumping, after crossing the finish line!

The baby helped me watch too, though she was
more interested in banging on the keyboard!

A new farrier is coming out a week from tomorrow to put shoes on Cash, nothing against my old farrier at all, I really liked him, but I didn't feel he was quite clicking with my horse.  I'm also hoping to secure some regular riding lessons this summer and get to some shows!  Then, I've got a decent bit of extra $$ burning a hole in my pocket so I think I'm going to go on a spending spree and pick up some things from my Wish List, such as the helmet, XC vest, and maybe a dressage bridle (if I can decide on one I like).

In short, my horsie life is looking up right now :)

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Jurassic Park 3D

I went to go see Jurassic Park in 3D with my mom and brother this last weekend and I just have to write about it! It was that good, and that much fun!

I love Jurassic Park to begin with, and as we scrolled through the list of movies playing nothing seemed interesting but that.  And I'm so glad we went.  If you haven't, and if you like the movie at all, you should go! It is TEN times better in theater, in 3D.

The movie itself was groundbreaking when it first came out, and even today, it still can hold it's own against the latest and newest CGI technology.  The animation, anamatronics, and acting just came together to create a movie with intense realism.  The 3D just makes it that much more alive. I was very impressed with how well they rendered it.

I'd totally pay to go see that again.

What are your 3D movie faves?

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Go away winter!

I am so ready for summer to get here!

So we had a relatively dry and somewhat mild winter, and we were all starting to get nervous that we would plunge into a far more severe drought than last year.  But, old man winter has decided to finally open the heavens.  A week ago we got well over a foot of snow in 3 days, it just wouldn't stop snowing! While snow in April is not unusual, the volume of it this time was quite amazing!


My backyard on the first day of the storm...
I had twice as much by the end of it!

 As a result, with it quickly melting off, it has been a muddy muddy mess and I've just been too busy to get to the barn.  I stopped by briefly yesterday and Cash was just caked in mud, go figure.  Dirtiest horse I've ever owned. Today I was planning on riding him, or at least lunging him... BUT the weather man is calling for another winter storm with 6-8 inches of snow.  Seriously???  Go away winter!  There is already a very stiff and very cold wind blowing.

I picked up a new little rooster for my hens yesterday, he's so cute! He's the same age as the two Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets I had picked up last month so that's perfect.  He's a Blue Copper Maran.  He's quite shy at the moment but hopefully that will change with time.  The plan to get him nice and tame and friendly now so that he won't turn into a terror later.  I'm ok if he doesn't want to be handled, just as long as he doesn't get aggressive I'll be happy.  He's already all buddy buddy with the two little girls.  The big hens quickly put him in his place though, haha!

One of the Silver Laced Wyandottes

He is going to be so pretty when he gets older

So, that's all for now.  Just staying busy, the Spring semester is so close to being done! I'm taking a summer class starting May 20th... a 3 credit class in 4 weeks. That will be fun.

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One Month

Hard to believe, as of today it's been one month since my husband passed away.  I miss him terribly.  Probably always will miss him.  I still can't believe he's gone, it's so bizarre--having someone who is apart of every moment of your life--and they are just gone, no longer there.  But, I'm moving on, slowly but surely.  Building a new routine, new expectations, new habits, new way of running the house.

I went this last weekend to the wedding of the lady who taught me how to ride, she is and always will be an amazing friend, teacher, and mentor.  All I can say is: IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.  :)  Feels good to say something like that.  The wedding was so perfect, so unique, and so her.  At the reception they had Contra Dancing.  Yeehaw!  I love line and square dancing and I was having too much fun.  At the end, the traditional last dance is a waltz, and when they announced it I felt quite sad since all the couples were pairing back up again (whereas you kind of dance with anybody during the other dances) and I was there alone.  However the father of one of my closest friends (who was also a fellow riding student way back when) asked me to dance and that was so special, and I told him so at the end. 

Sunday we all trekked back to the Bride and Groom's house for an open house/family get-together, and in the course of the day J (the bride) and I ended up in the barn turning horses out and she offered for me to ride Percy, one of her ponies.  Now, this is a special pony, she used to own his mother and she trained and competed his father.  I used to ride his mother (a pony named Chloe - I've mentioned her before) and older sister, Rosie.  Now, last I had known Percy he was only 2 and not old enough yet to ride.  He's now about 7 and is schooling 3rd/4th level dressage.  So I got to get on and play around with all his buttons--man I'm rusty!!! I got to do half-steps/piaffe, medium trots/canters, and canter half-passes to single flying changes (apparently he can do tempi-changes but I was feeling too discombobulated to try that). I had a huge grin on my face by the time I was done.  What a good pony!

So now I'm inspired to get my butt in gear and get Cash going.  J and I talked about his spooking issue and she suggested doing nothing but transitions, transitions, transitions for days... weeks even, to get him obedient and listening because the issue is that he totally tunes me out when he spooks, which is not cool.  So, dear Cash, your next best friend is going to be up-down transitions. Yay!

Now, to see if we get the upwards of 10 inches of snow they have been forecasting about all weekend.

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Dental Visit

Mr Cash got his teeth floated yesterday.  There wasn't anything horrible, just some minor points, so we got that all taken care of and he's good to go for the next year.  He also got his mane pulled while he was off in la-la land dreaming of psychedelic rainbows and fluffy bunnies.

You are getting very sleepy...

Say ah!

Starting to perk back up, note the short hair?

 Notice the stud chain? The other day he was royally blowing off the rope halter, so I decided today I didn't want to fight it with him and put the stud chain on.  I haven't ever used it before.  He got a little ancy a few times when the vet was getting ready to poke him with needles, but wow did he ever listen to it.  Figures, it's probably the only way he was ever led on the track.  I have a gift card to a local tack store, I think I'm going to invest in a sturdy nylon halter and a good stud chain with a nice soft cotton lead.

I'm going to a wedding this weekend.  I'm really excited about it.  It will be good.  I went back to work today, I wasn't there long but I pretty much just hid in my corner and got caught up on things... didn't feel like facing the entire call floor, not yet. I like having a desk in the corner.  It's quiet. I am glad to be getting back into the routine of work and school... but doesn't erase the fact my husband isn't there.  Things are going well on the home front, we are making progress and moving forward (though these bank accounts are turning into a nightmare, the hoops they try and get you to jump through, and the fact that there isn't a will makes it ten times more complicated, I'm his wife for pete's sake, just sign over the account already! ugh.... I'm just not going to think about it for awhile, it's not like the money is going anywhere).  But, man I miss him.... I've gone through such a range of emotions, to the point of even questioning our love, but it's all fizzled down into an aching desire to see him again.  I miss him.  It's still so hard to grasp that he's not coming back.  I have those moments where you feel like he's so close, if you turn fast enough you'll see him--it's strange how overpowering that feeling can be at times.  Thankfully I have this little face to keep me grounded and focused and moving on. 

My little Angel and her spoon!

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