25 Random Things About Me

A friend of mine "tagged" me to do this, and I thought it might be fun.  Here goes!

1.  I was born in Canberra, Australia although both my parents are from a small town in Wisconsin.  My Dad was a professor at the Canberra School of Music and so both my brother and I were born on foreign soil.  We both have duel citizenship!

2. My first word was "some", as in, "Can I have Some?"  My nanny was indian and used to feed me very spicy food, and both her and my parents were always asking if I wanted some.  I did, and they said I used to make some pretty funny faces and then ask for some more.

3. When I was born, my left foot was a little crooked and so I spent the first few months in cast to straighten it out.

4. In high school I ran track and cross country, although I was horrible at both.  I stopped competing pretty early-on, as I was really good at being dead last.  Instead, I was a member of the team and attended workouts (I liked my teammates and coaches!).  I was given the "Athletic Supporter" award my senior year for being such a weirdo.

5. I am a movie extra in "Ten Things I Hate About You."  The film was made at my high school and you can actually see me in the movie.  When the coach gets shot in the butt with the arrow, I'm standing just behind him on the left of the screen with my arms crossed.  I wasn't aware I was even in the shot, and the director hadn't told me to do anything so I just stood there.  When I was extra-ing, I got a chance to meet and talk with Heath Ledger, who was just about as nice and polite as they come.

6. I decided I wanted to become a veterinarian while riding the bus out to my barn one day.  It just occurred to me that's what I really wanted to do, and I haven't looked back since.  I can remember the exact place on the route when I made the decision.

7. I got my first horse when I was 18, a Trakehner/Thoroughbred cross named Vertex.  He was given to me by a good friend I showed with since she wasn't using him.  He was 19 at the time, and could still jump 5' without blinking an eye.  I had to give him back when I left for WSU two years later, as I didn't have the means to keep him at school.  

8. I got my first concussion when I was 16 and riding an Appaloosa cross during a riding lesson.  He spooked big and I went over his shoulder and landed on my neck and head.  I lost all short-term memory for a few hours, and scared the bejeezus out of my Dad.  I got my second concussion on an Appaloosa cross this past April.  This one was not quite so bad, although I did split my helmet down the middle and break my glasses.  Yes, I've learned my lesson: No more Appaloosa crosses for me. Ever.

9. I started vet school wanting to work on horses, and am finishing vet school wanting to work exclusively on cats.  Seriously. (People always ask me if I'm joking. I'm not.) :)

10. I met Wayne in chemistry class at Tacoma Community College in 2001.  I planned a study group and invited him, and we ended up getting dinner afterwards, and then going putt-putt golfing, and then talking almost all night.  We've been together since then.  He claims he knew that night that I was "The One", but I think he's full of it. :)

11. I went to my first endurance ride in July of 2005 in Yakima called the Renegade Rendezvous as a volunteer and veterinarian assistant.  I can say that is when I officially became addicted.  Some day, I'd like to do that ride as a competitor!

12. When I was a kid, I didn't ever run anywhere.  Instead, I galloped (and changed leads at will).

13. I don't eat a lot of meat, but especially not beef.  I don't have anything against beef, I just don't like it (I think it tastes like iron).  I've only eaten one steak and it was in 2007.  It was good, but not so amazing that I've repeated the experience.  I haven't eaten a hamburger in at LEAST a decade.  Sometimes I'll eat chicken or turkey, but not often.  I love tofu and fish, though!

14. I love to draw and paint, although I haven't done either very much since I started vet school.

15. I also love to play the violin, but again, haven't done that much since I started vet school.  I played for 7 years in my younger days.

16. I could probably survive on cheese and chocolate.

17. I lose things ALL THE TIME.  I am constantly spacing out and putting things down, only to spend hours looking for them later.  In fact, the other day I put down my GPS God-Only-Knows-Where and spent hours frantically looking for it--in the house, at the barn, in the horse trailer, in the truck.  Kristen and I finally left to go riding the same place I'd been the day before, and she found it on the ground in the parking lot.  How it got there, nobody knows.  Still works, though!

18. I am not a neat freak, although I wouldn't consider myself to be terribly disorganized when it comes to important stuff (school, work, horses).

19. I'm deathly afraid of spiders, although I have become desensitized to some degree.  I live in the basement of a duplex and my room is on a raised japanese grass floor, which is basically a spider breeding fiesta.  Now I'm only wigged out by the spiders that are so big I can see their facial expressions while I smash them. Ugh.

20. I'm totally addicted to crime shows.  Not the drama crime shows--REAL crime shows on A&E and Court TV.  I could watch them for HOURS, although never after dark as they give me nightmares.

21.  I cannot watch scary movies.  They give me nightmares and make me scared of the dark for weeks.

22. Wayne and I are really looking forward to having children.  We'll wait until after vet school, obviously, but are still excited.  

23.  I've always been a goof-off.  When I was 16, I remember thinking that by the time I was 25 I'd probably be SO serious and mature.  Now that I'm 26, I think how ridiculous it was for me to have thought that (and I rarely feel serious OR mature)!  I look at my Dad who's 58 and still a goof-off, and have decided that I should never desire to be too serious or mature.

24.  My Dad and I have an ongoing bet that when I turn 40 and have a group of my girlfriends over for a party, he's going to walk into the room, drop trou and moon everyone there just to embarass me (I honestly have no idea when this idea got into his head--it's been something he's been saying for at least 15 years).  I told him that when he's on his death bed, I'm going to challenge him to a race since it'll be my only chance of ever being faster than my Dad.

25. I spent my younger years in the midwest, and still miss the sound of cicada's during warm summer evenings and the emergence of the lightening bugs at dusk.

New boots, new riding park

On my way home from school on Friday, I was mentally calculating when I thought Sally would have ordered my Renegades and when I thought they would arrive at the earliest. When I pulled into the driveway, I was surprised to see a package from Arizona. When I opened it, I jumped up and down for joy--my new Renegades arrived!! I wasn't expecting them for at least another week, so it was like a super surprise! I quickly grabbed everything I'd need for that afternoon's trek to Hell's Gate State Park and shot out the door. I had about an hour and 15 minutes to hook up the trailer, load it with tack, and fit Jasper's new boots before Lacey would be back from school and we'd be heading out.


I was surprised by two things. First, it took me FOREVER to hook up the trailer--way longer than I had budgeted. It also caused a consistent stream of four-letter words when I'd readjust and back up only to find the ball in the exact same position as before. This gooseneck thing is going to take a little more practice. Second, adjusting the boots took far less time than I had thought--I had all four boots adjusted within about 20 minutes once I figured out what I was doing. They looked very nice, and earned us some praises from other boarders who didn't quite understand what they were for. I turned Jasper out into the indoor arena where he did a few goose-steps with the new boots and then took off trotting. Once I was satisfied with the way he was moving, I quickly loaded my tack and set about waiting for Lacey. She arrived in short order and we loaded the horses and were off!

Hell's Gate State Park is about a 45 minute drive from Pullman, although it's down in a valley and usually about 10 degrees warmer. We arrived and I was happy to see a nice, flat area for trailer parking (and plenty of room for turning around) along with some public restrooms. Score! We tacked up and headed out happily chatting and laughing. The park reminds me of Boise terrain, and has a variety of trails. There's a nice, flat trail along the river and then dozens of trails up through the hills for more of a challenge. All the trails we were on had excellent footing and were interesting enough the horses didn't get bored. Jasper seemed to notice the boots more when we were walking although his trot was a little different initially as well. He didn't seem to understand he didn't have to be so careful across the rocky bits, and so still carefully picked his way through them. We made a nice out-and-back expedition and got a nice feel of the park.

When we were returning along the flat trail next to the river, we let the horses run and Jasper moved excellently in the boots. Lacey passed us while we were cantering and I prepared for a buck--there was none, although there was some contention with allowing her to pass. Jasper tossed his head but I kept him back until they had passed and then I loosened and let him take her on and pass her again. Victory! We walked them back to the trailer to cool them out, although both horses were excited after the run and would have preferred to gallop all the way back. When I took off the boots, there wasn't any rubbing or sore marks. I was surprised at how little debris had collected inside the boots (although we did manage to pick up a small bush in the heel captivator of one boot).

Lacey and Tia, one of the horses in training with her. Tia couldn't be haltered only three weeks ago, and would rear and strike when anyone tried to touch her face. Now look at her!

On our way back, Lacey and I were talking about how much we love riding out. I'm always telling Lacey she should do endurance with me so I'd have a training buddy. She always agrees, but now I think she may have a prospect. He's a QH she trained and sold a few years back, although the buyers are moving and offered him back to Lacey. She agreed, and will be picking him up next week. She's says he's got incredible stamina, and I think will make a perfect training buddy for Jasper. Since he is a QH, we'll have to take it easy during training and rides, but it will be perfect to teach Jasper some patience. Doing a solid year of slow rides will be excellent for his longevity! We're planning to do the ride in April together, and will start him on conditioning as soon as he's home. Yay!

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I wanted to return to Hell's Gate the next day since we'd left so late and couldn't ride for as long as I wanted. Lacey couldn't go, so I talked Kristen into borrowing a saddle and horse so she could go with me. We made the trek despite accumulating snow in Pullman and correctly assumed there would be little, if any, snow in Lewiston. We had an excellent ride, and Jasper moved noticeably better in the boots. Just before getting back to the trailer, Jasper and I took a detour through a sandy pit. We'd almost come out when Jasper stopped abruptly. I thought, "What the heck?!" and looked around for a reason. Suddenly, I heard him peeing. He must have had to go really bad to have stopped so suddenly (and he peed for about a solid minute). I was SO proud of him--he's a true endurance horse now! He got lots of cookies and pats and praises and hugs!

The roads on the way back were awful, and the truck made a couple of heart-stopping slides despite us moving at a snail's pace. I've decided Hell's Gate is out if it's snowing even a little in Pullman when we leave. It took us almost 2 hours to get back, and was loaded with stress and worry.

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I've talked before about Jasper's propensity to spook when he's in the lead. It's exhausting, but he really enjoys leading and has a bigger stride than most of the horses we ride with. I've been doing research and fretting over how I can work him past it for the last couple of weeks. On a whim, I decided to try something new and it worked! When I see him start to focus on something scary along the trail (like a rock or bush), I tighten up the rein on that side and give him leg almost like I'm sidepassing him away from the scary thing. This allows him to look directly at the object but doesn't allow him to break stride. It worked every time. He's not actually side-passing (nor his he turning his neck to actually look at the object), though, but it's hard to describe. The whole thing theoretically doesn't make much sense to me, but it worked 100% of the time on both our rides. I'll take it!

Pining...

...for summer days.

Jasper's Weight

I've been fretting on and on about Jasper's weight--he just doesn't seem to be holding it as well as I'd like. While I was gone this weekend, he was stranded in his stall with nothing to do but stand around and eat. When I poked my hand under his blanket last night, I was surprised to feel the beginnings of some fat! I took off the blanket today, and sure enough, he's gaining weight! I was ecstatic! The best part is, despite all this stall stuff and extra food, he's really been very good in the arena. I can tell he's got extra energy, but he's very business like about it all. That all goes out the window when we go out on the road, but alas, we always need something to work on, right?


These next two pictures are from today. I couldn't get far enough away in the crossties to get a full body shot. :) I noticed he's got a nice fat pad behind his shoulders and under his withers now--much more so than in the recent past. (The funny wet mark is from his heart rate monitor gel from the other day.)
This is from just after a training ride in Boise on Thanksgiving, and it shows his peaky little rump and shoulders a bit. He got a little thinner after this even, but I don't have any good naked side shots of him during that time.This is a side shot for comparison in early January. He's not naked, though, so you can't really see how thin he is. Like my friend says, he never got "call the ASPCA" thin, but I really wanted to nip it in the bud before it got that bad.

Here he is today, in as side-ways a shot I could get of him. I really think he's doing much better, and am hopeful we may have found the key to keeping weight on---lots of beet pulp and corn oil! I'm really trying to limit the amount of grain he's getting, just because he can be a little hot when he gets too much. I think the beet pulp/oil combo gives him a much cooler tank.

New Trailer Pictures

I finally got some pictures of the new horse trailer. It's not really set up yet, except for the bedspread, so I'll post more once I get everything all moved in. It's a 2004 Elite 2-horse slant load with LQ. I'm pretty excited!

The whole setup, including our dirty truck (this is at the barn in Pullman).

Side view.

Back view, including [totally disorganized] rear tack.

Cool bathroom--you can sit while you shower!

Cute little kitchen, including oven and stove. Yay!

Bed.

We had a hay rack installed and they screwed up and accidentally installed a water tank, too. Glad we weren't charged for it! It was a super surprise because we were going to have to buy one anyways!

Stranded without Jasper

I'm in Boise without my horse, and have no idea what to do with myself half the time.  It's been sort of nice not having to really do anything all day, but I'm one of those people that goes stir crazy without an agenda and 5,000 things to do all the time.  Although I'm leaving tomorrow, we have to go to the horse trailer dealership really early to drop off the truck to have the hitch installed and sign paperwork.  I'm excited to get the trailer, but tomorrow is going to be one of those crazy hectic days that will feel like it's never ending.  I sure wish they could have installed the hitch yesterday!  After the hitch is done and we pick up our new trailer, we're under strict orders from two sets of friends to do drive-by tours of the new LQ.  Hopefully that won't take too long since I still will have to drive back to Pullman and get in at a fairly decent hour since I've got Pilates at 6:30 on Tuesday!  Yikes!

I thought I'd start documenting Jasper's weight, which is something I've been concerned about for a while now.

Here he is in mid- to late October when I went to Olympia to try him out.  He had a lumpy butt at this time, and while I don't want him to be like that again, I'd like to strike a nice balance between fit and fat.  Obviously, some of the change of his physique is from being trained and conditioned again, as when I tried him out he'd had 5 months of being a pasture pet to get all squishy.

Here he is after a ride in Boise in early January.  Although the angles are not the same (and this picture is very out of focus), you can still tell that he's much thinner than he was.  

I'm really hoping that a few weeks of stall confinement and unlimited hay will bring his condition back quickly.  I tried to be really careful with his feed since I didn't want him dropping weight this close to the commencement of our official training season.  We'll have to see!  I'll post pictures of him when I get back tomorrow or Tuesday so I can see if I can tell the difference then.

Whew!

Busy day!  I had classes 'til noon, then my friend Aimee and I had to run out and look at a rental house we're thinking about living in next year, then I had to get a ride in on Jasper!  Also, my VMAX HR monitor conversion kit arrived today, so I spent some time getting that all ready to be able to use today.  Yay!

I wanted to get a good ride in on the roads today, but as usual, fate had other plans.  Jasper is starting to show the effects of being stalled with food in front of him 24/7 and was a bit amped today.  But I was determined to get in our planned ride today, which probably wasn't smart on my part.  We did a quick 10-15 min warmup in the arena before heading out, and things started out good enough.  He was a little balky at leaving the barn, but it didn't take much to get him moving out.  We'd made it about 3/4 of a mile down the road when Jasper spotted a horse-eating woodshed.........about 200 feet off the road.  I could not figure out what it was he was freaking about, and so told him he was overreacting and urged him forward.  He continued to go on until he decided that the woodshed was definitely looking at us and if we didn't turn and run home RIGHT NOW it was going to come eat us.  He seriously started to come unglued...prancing, backing, spinning, the whole works.  I didn't know what to do with him, and so made it my goal to get him still enough that I could safely get off.  We ended up pulling off into a small field and I turned him so he could keep his eye on the woodshed long enough for me to hop down.  I grabbed his reins and we continued down the road.  His heart rate spiked at 195 bpm, so at least I knew he was genuinely concerned about the woodshed.  Ack.

We ended up walking down the road some more and then back to the barn once he'd calmed down.  I needed the exercise anyways.  Once we got back, I checked in with the barn owner and then took Jasper into the outdoor arena and we cantered for 10-15 minutes.  He definitely needed the outlet, and it got both of us breathing pretty heavy.

So here's the question:  How do I get him to relax and have a more business-like attitude when we're out on the trails?  I asked Lacey (the trainer/friend/student that made such amazing strides with Cricket), and she said to just take him out every day and let him throw a tantrum and that he'd eventually get used to it and get over it.  Ah, horses.

Road Riding

Jasper seems to be acclimating well to stall life. He seems to particularly like to spread out the expensive timothy grass hay all over his stall and then walk through it and pee on it. Must be nice to have a nice bed made out the good stuff. He's been nice and relaxed, and I think enjoys having his own space for eating and drinking. At the very least, I know he can be kept in a stall should the need ever arise. I'm still tossing him out in a pasture as soon as the month is over, since I think it's better for them mentally.

When I arrived at the barn today, someone had already turned their horse out into the indoor arena, so I dragged Jasper to the muddy outdoor turnout. Big mistake. When I returned to get him ready for riding, he had rolled in mud puddles and was absolutely caked in the stuff. Since I've owned him, I've kept him absolutely pristinely clean because I HATE getting mud off horses. I wear gas permeable lenses (the rigid ones), and there's no hope for me if I have to groom such a horse. [Side note--my new glasses got in today and are being sent to me here in Pullman. Yay!]

I cleaned off only what the saddle and girth would touch and saddled him up. We started in the indoor arena, and he was relaxed and moving very nicely today. After a sufficient warmup, I took him out to the road to do some practice walking away from the barn. He was a bit balky at first, but the further away we got, the better things were. He didn't spook as much as usual today, probably because we only went about 1/4 mile away from the barn. It helps to ride on a wide road, since he can see scary things from further away and doesn't spook at them so bad. We worked on calmly walking back towards home, and then we returned to the arena for more trotting and cantering. I'm trying to get it through to him that returning doesn't necessarily mean the end of working, which is why I've been consistent about working him when I get back to the trailer on "out" rides.

Tomorrow I'm planning to do our first alone conditioning ride along the roads. We'll probably be walking/trotting for most of it, but I'm planning to do 5 miles or so.

New Horse Trailer and other stuff...

Well, we did it.  I had the brilliant idea to go down to the horse trailer dealership on Saturday to just look around and see what they had on the lot.  I told Wayne we wouldn't even buy anything unless it was an amazing deal, and really didn't expect to see anything I liked.  I was wrong.  The first trailer we stumbled on was a very nice 2004 2-horse Elite LQ.  The LQ part was so tiny you kind of have to shimmy past each other to be able to do anything, and the toilet/shower is in a tiny closet.  PERFECT!  Absolute luxury when compared to our tent camping of past summers!  It's even got a stove so we'd be able to bake (ha, ha).  I like it because it's tiny and has bare bones necessities, so I don't feel so much like it's cheating to have an LQ.  I'll post pictures as soon as I take some this weekend.  I'm driving down to Boise on Friday to get the truck hitch put in and to pick up the new trailer (!!!!!!).  We're both pretty excited about it, and I told Wayne I wanted to sleep in it this weekend.  That's when he told me it was still winterized so I wouldn't be able to run water or use the toilet.  Oh, well.  Plenty of time to sleep in it when ride season comes!!

I'm thinking about doing the Home on the Range ride in Othello, WA on the weekend of April 4th.  We've got three tests the week before and only one the week after, so if I plan right, I think I'd be able to do it.  It's only a couple hours drive from here, so it would be convenient.  And Kristen said she'd like to come with, so I'd have a built-in crew!  Yes!

In other news, I'm still worried about Jasper's weight.  He was put out in a pasture with two other horses on Sunday, and I think they probably kept him from eating again.  Sigh.  So yesterday I moved him into a stall at the barn and opened a half-bale of the hay I bought and parked him in front of it.  My plan is to leave him in the stall for the rest of the month and hopefully get some fat on his skinny bones.  I'm going to have to play the balance between starting his conditioning for the April ride and keeping him fat enough to be able to do the April ride!

I ordered my Renegades this weekend, too!  I ordered them in Dragon Fire red with black heel captivators, which I think will be a better way to balance all the red I already have on my tack.  I thought about doing it opposite, but worried too much I wouldn't be able to see them as well if one came off.

We're Back in Pullman

The roads were really good, and we made speedy time.  Jasper was less than thrilled when he discovered he was being loaded with his shipping boots, which meant a long trip.  He seemed happy to be back with his friends at the barn, though.

Good Ride

Wayne and Cricket have been working together daily, and he's discovered that by battling Cricket to stand still for mounting seems to have the effect of establishing the hierarchy on the ground and he's a better-behaved horse under saddle.  Yesterday, we wanted to go riding with our good friends, Paul and Laurie, at Eagle Island SP.  Wayne went out early to get in a good session of W/T/C with Cricket in the arena before leaving, and it did seem to take the edge off.  Cricket's always better-behaved when riding in larger groups, although Wayne is really more of a passenger in those situations.  Ah, well.  

Considering all horses involved yesterday thought it was the first ride of spring and behaved as such, we had a pretty good ride.  Jasper got fed up with the slower pace of the leading horses early-on and we took the lead, which of course meant he spooked at everything he could find.  He only had one really big spook at a irrigation spout that was tumbling out water and appeared out of nowhere, and I thought that was a fairly legitimate spook considering he's never seen anything like it.  Riding him in front makes me happy I've got a good seat.  I foresee a few complications, however, when I start to get fatigued during a ride.  I came off on the first day of Pink Flamingo because Strike and I were leading and he spooked big at a white rock around the bend on the trail.  I only came off because I was really, really tired (he'd been doing smaller spooks all day 'cause he was bored).  We'll need to work on that.  Keeping his head down helps significantly, though, as he's not allowed to look very long at anything.  I also think it makes him focus a bit more on his job rather than all the lurking cougars and bears in the grass.

The ride was really good because we encountered all sorts of scary things, including another horse on trail.  Jasper got about as vertical as he could when he spotted the other horse.  We also accidentally chased a cow and calf down the trail for a bit and separated them, but got to watch as the clumsy calf waded thrashing through a creek and slithered through a barb wire fence to join Mum again.  Jasper wasn't too sure about Momma Cow trotting along the fence with us, but handled it very well.  There were lots of people out with their dogs, which is always a good thing, along with a couple playing frisbee golf.  We got in lots of trotting, although I did forget my GPS and so have no idea how far we actually went.  

We leave tomorrow to return to Pullman.  I have mixed feelings about it all.  On one hand, I'm excited that this is the last semester of classes I'll ever have, but on the other, I'd much rather stay here in Boise in my house with my husband and just ride all the time.  I am happy that I'll be back for six weeks in May-June for the Fandango ride, and I think it will provide a nice transition into fourth year.

Gack!

More Cricket drama.  Wayne went out and rode in the arena alone yesterday and said Cricket was more or less back to his PITA self.  I offered to give another lesson today and Cricket was definitely back to his old self.  Sigh.  I'm frustrated because I know there's got to be some key to getting Cricket to act like a decent horse, but I haven't figured it out yet.  And it seems to change from day to day.  I hate that this horse gets to me so much, and have talked with Wayne about putting him on the market and waiting to see if another horse comes along.  I'm just afraid he's going to get hurt or hurt someone else in the whole process.  He's pretty determined to stay the course, but I'm at the end of my knowledge.  

I took Jasper out by himself again today, but it wasn't as successful as last time.  I hadn't realized how windy it was before we left, so by the time we got out to Eagle Island, the wind was blowing pretty well.  He was pretty full of himself and didn't want to stand for mounting.  Considering his willingness to spook at everything he could find, I decided to stay in the parking lot and just doing a basic flatwork schooling session.  He was still full of it after trotting and cantering around for a half hour or so, and I called it a day.  The footing wasn't good enough on the trail to deal with a spook monster.  I'd like to think I didn't leave defeated since we still got a nice workout.  What is with the horses today?

I'm also not happy with Jasper's weight.  He's hungry and eating, but I think the hay we have here in Boise is not good enough with him being ridden 3-5 days a week (Lord knows it's good enough for the other two--they're fatties!).  I stopped at D&B on the way home from Eagle Island and picked up a couple of bales of compressed timothy to supplement while he's here.  I'd really like to plant him in front of a trough full of hay and have him eat for a few days.  He's also getting 3/4 of a pound of Ultium and two cups of beet pulp a day.  He's getting his teeth done later this month, but I really shouldn't be having so many problems.  He's even blanketed, but that's more for my laziness than anything else.  

Why I'm glad Cricket isn't my horse any more...

Sigh. I promised Wayne I would do something to try to change my perspective on Cricket, since he loves him so much and is getting sick of my biting sarcasm and snarky remarks about his horse. Cricket and I have a bit of a history, and I'm really, really good at holding grudges. It's all very silly considering Cricket is a horse and probably didn't do anything wrong on purpose....but I still hold a grudge all the same.

When Cricket was my horse, I saved up and sent him to a very reputable trainer in the area. It sounded like things had been going well, and I wanted to bring Cricket home at the end of his 90 days. She himmed and hawed about it, and I wondered what the deal was. I decided I would go out and ride him and we'd make the decision then (but I was pretty deadset on bringing him home). Almost as soon as I'd mounted, he bolted and crowhopped across the arena and scared me silly. The trainer won, and he ended up staying another two months. Things went much better when I rode him the second time.

He came home, things went pretty well considering. Considering he was still afraid of his own shadow, and any quick movements in his proximity still caused him to scoot around like a greenie. We progressed, though, until I left for a week for spring break. The time off allowed him to regress...a LOT, and we almost had to start over from square one. Suddenly he was afraid of EVERYTHING, and the saddle, bridle, me, caused him to overreact to epic proportions. We'd start to make progress again only to have him come unglued at another formerly inert thing the next day. I was frustrated, but determined not to let him "win." I was driven to tears more than once and felt like I was going crazy.

One nice day, I decided he'd made enough progress we could once again go into the outdoor arena. It was warm, so I wore my brand new summer-weight riding helmet, tights, and boots and half chaps (I'd gotten them all on sale the previous fall when they were no longer in season). We did out customary groundwork, and he seemed to be half asleep, so I dragged him over to the mounting block and I hopped on. Almost the second my butt hit the saddle, he started trotting off. I calmly asked him to walk, which is when he determinedly took the bit and took off at a full gallop out of control bolt across the very large arena. This is when I made the stupid decision to bail after I could not get him to stop. I probably should have stayed on, but the sheer panic overtook me and I was afraid he'd either try to jump the fence into the adjacent field or stop suddenly and put me over the fence into the adjacent field. I ditched and hit the ground with incredible force and speed and tumbled a few times before coming to a very painful stop. After spitting out the gravel and dirt, I laid there trying not to focus on the pain when I realized I couldn't see anything at all--my glasses had come off during the fall. I had a very "Christmas Story"-esque moment while I crawled around feeling for my glasses, and when I found them I forgot about the pain and was only angry. It was a nearly new pair of glasses and they were ruined. I marched over to Cricket and grabbed him and went marching up to the house to get help from the barn owners. I was faintly aware of a growing bump on my right forearm just below my elbow and was a little concerned I had broken something. As soon as the barn owner saw me I lost it completely. She drove me to the hospital where I kept it all together pretty well until they put me on the stretcher in a neck brace.

All in all, it was a pretty traumatic experience. I only had scrapes and bruises (thank God), but had road rash all down my right side and forehead. My biggest problem was that I felt betrayed by my horse. Knowing Cricket as I do now, I wonder if he knew what he was doing when he took off--he's always been a horse that thrived on getting people frustrated and worked up. I don't think he intended to hurt me, though, just intended to get a rise out of me.

This brings us to today. Well, yesterday. After my fabulous ride with Jasper all by ourselves, I got a wild hair and decided to work Cricket when I got back. We did some groundwork, and I was so thrilled with his response I decided to see if I could get him in the trailer. Big mistake. I'd started and couldn't stop until I was successful. It took two hours.

Today I told Wayne I don't feel safe riding with just him and Cricket because Jasper and I are often used as a barricade when he can't control Cricket (which is more often than I'd like). I thank God Jasper has stood his ground every time, but I'm worried it's just a matter of time before he loses it (Cricket chases him around the field pretty viciously). Needless to say, he felt rebuffed and I felt bad and so I invited him to come with me today. But we couldn't get Cricket in the trailer, and the shadows were getting longer and longer. I'd long since resolved myself to having to ride in the arena, and settled in the barn with Jasper and JJ as they munched hay to wait for Wayne to finish or give up. He wanted my help, but I told him I was at the end of my knowledge with dealing with Cricket and the Trailer.

Since we had resolved ourselves to riding in the arena, out of curiosity I asked Wayne to saddle Cricket and bring him in. I wanted to see how bad Cricket had gotten, and to see if there was any hope left for him as my husband's mount. I showed him how to do a few basic maneuvers (like asking Cricket to break at the poll instead of letting him stick his indignant little nose in the air), and told him to mount and prepare for a fight. He mounted as Cricket characteristically sidepassed and started trotting while Wayne was only partway on. He asked Cricket to break at the poll and suddenly it was like Cricket clicked into his "professional" mode and started behaving himself. I showed Wayne a few other concepts he hadn't gotten before (like having Cricket do smaller circles when he started trotting too quickly), and the two of them worked for over an hour. I was impressed, and suddenly the future wasn't looking so bleak for the spotty terror. Wayne even dismounted twice and remounted and Cricket planted his feet until he was asked to move forward. Success! I told Wayne we're nowhere near out of the woods yet--and that I think the two of them should stick in the arena for a while until he's got the stopping and steering a little more under control.

Ack. What have I undertaken here...

Happy New Year....sort of.

We've had an interesting couple of days, to say the least. We've been riding two days in a row and each brought it's own set of issues.

Yesterday we went riding out at Eagle, and I had high (and unfounded) hopes that everything would have thawed and the footing would be good. I was wrong--the parking lot was an ice rink, as was the trail for the first 3/4 of a mile or so. But, being the determined type of people we are, we decided to stick it out and see if the trail got any better once we got over the saddle trail. We were wrong. Oh, well. We walked and took it easy and got off and lead them through the really bad stuff. No one was worse for the wear, and the horses got some good ice and snow training in the meantime. Once we got out to the main dirt road, we played leapfrog a little to start to accustom the horses to getting passed by trotting horses. Jasper was an angel (as usual) and dealt with everything really well.

Today we headed out to Eagle Island State Park, which I'd heard had great footing during the summer, and was at least flat so we wouldn't have to deal with sliding up and down hills in the mud. We arrived later than I'd wanted (due to a fencing project to separate bully Cricket from Jasper), but I was happily surprised with a very large and sandy parking lot with two turnarounds. There were cows on the pasture adjacent to the trails, so I got to silently thank my lucky stars that we already taught the horses that Cows Are Stupid, so it was a non-issue. Once we saddled up and got on trail, it was obvious that both horses were full of it and would have rather been galloping on the muddy trail. We kept them in check, though, although the same could not be said of Sammy, our Australian Kelpie dog.

She thought it was great fun to chase the cows, and no amount of whistling or yelling was getting any sort of response from her. I had brought dog cookies with me, but I could tell Jasper was just looking for things to spook at and the idea of crinkling a bag over his head didn't sound like a good idea. Wayne assured me Cricket would be fine with it, and I hesitantly passed the bag to him....which is about when disaster struck. Everything was fine until Wayne straightened out his arm to toss a cookie down to Sam, who had returned momentarily from cow chasing. The movement, the crinkling of the bag and the sudden remembrance that he was wearing a crupper caused Cricket to have a meltdown, and he crow hopped and spun while Wayne barely regained control. I thought the worse was over when I heard Wayne shout behind me followed by a thud and a grunt. I turned around quickly to see Wayne under Cricket and while he scrambled out from under his horse, Cricket took off down the trail with Sam hot on his heels. Bad dog.

During this time Jasper started to think about following Cricket, so I pulled his right rein to my knee and disengaged his hindquarters and emergency dismounted on his off side. I lost my grip on the reins for a minute while I regained my balance, during which Jasper stayed absolutely planted to the spot (like the good boy he is). I checked to see if Wayne was okay, and other than a seething temper and the desire to shoot his dog, he was fine. Bongo was happily eating all the fallen cookies and completely ignored all the drama.

We caught up with Cricket, who was none the worse for wear. Wayne remounted, as did I, and we headed back to the truck and trailer to put Sam back in the truck. She's no longer allowed to come on rides until her recall gets 100% (this has been a struggle with her from the beginning). We tossed Sam in the truck, and I suggested Wayne head out on the trail alone for a bit while I schooled Jasper in the arena/parking lot. We ended up having a pretty nice time, even if it was separately. Tomorrow I'd like to go out with Jasper alone to see how he handles himself without other horses around. He was fairly concerned with being left by Cricket, and I don't want him to get too herdbound.

Rick and Carol Brand of Lost Juniper Ranch are coming out tomorrow to fit my saddle to Jasper. I have fiddled with it a little, but I still don't feel like it's fitting as well as it should, so I had to call in the experts. I'm excited for them to meet Jasper, as I've been out to their place horse shopping in the past. Carol is very familiar with all of my past horse drama (Cricket).