Who can resist this adorable face?

I am so grateful that when I woke up this morning it was not pouring down rain!!! It may happen later on today, but for right now there are clouds with sunbreaks. I am dreading the winter when I have to stand outside 4 to 5 times a day while Miley decides whether or not she can find just the right place to go potty!

I have done a much better job this week at getting out to the barn. I went Saturday and Monday, and I am going to try to go out this afternoon and longe. My ride yesterday went well for the most part. We worked on transitions from walk to trot to canter and I threw in some simple lead changes. I can't really blame Boo for a lot when I am so out of shape. My core is weak!!! I'm working on that too.

Yesterday I bought a pedometer. I was curious about what it actually took to accomplish 10,000 steps a day. I didn't put it on until about 1:00, but I managed to take 4,640 steps. I am wondering though if the pedometer counts when I am riding? The steps I mean. If it does then I took a lot fewer steps than it says I did. Next time I ride I am going to check and see. I may have to take it off when I am on horseback.

I took the lightweight rain turnout to the barn in case I needed it, but I think it is still getting to warm during the day. Boo is fuzzing up pretty good. Putting it on at night might help, but I am planning to clip him around the 1st of November...maybe sooner if he needs it before then. I've had him clipped the past 2 years. It works nicely. I only take the hair off in the areas that sweat heavily. This year I am going to try doing it myself. That should be interesting.

My cousin sent an article out about a group of women trailriding yesterday up on the Pacific Crest Trail. One of the horses stepped in a bee's nest and her horse spooked, reared, and they both went down. Apparently when the horse was trying to get up it stepped on the woman's abdomen. She was life-flighted to Portland and is in stable condition. Be careful out on the trails this time of year. They are saying the bees are really thick.

Ride more! Ride more! Ride more!

Have you ever had so much to do that you become overwhelmed and end up doing nothing at all? I never use to be this way, but lately it seems to be with me all the time. I know this much stress cannot be good for me, plus I feel guilty because there are so many people out there with a hell of a lot more to be stressed about then I have. I figure the best way to get through this is one day at a time...sometimes one hour at a time...or one moment at a time. I have to remember to do the things that take care of me FIRST even though it may seem frivolous and not a good use of my time. I just know that if I don't, if I keep on the way I have been, the outcome is not going to be good.

I have let my busy life pull me away from my horse. This has been the worse summer for riding in 10 years. I just never got out there. Maybe "THAT" in the long run will prove to be what is wrong with me. No vitamin "H" makes for a cranky, overwhelmed, and yes, bitchy Char.

At any rate, I did go ride yesterday even though to do so I had to go early and I had to do a lot of planning on how it was gonna work out! Mick had signed up for a cow sorting and I definitely wanted to go to that and watch him. The clinic started at 1:00. We took my car down and parked it so I could ride out to the barn with Mick. I rode Boo, and rode back to my car with Mick. Once he dropped me off I went home, showered, packed an ice chest with food and drink and took the dogs out (the real reason I had to come back home at all). Once I found the barn where the sorting was to be I tried to be useful and take a few pictures. It was interesting and looked like it could be fun. Mick really liked it, so it is looking like our western/dressage horse/trail horse may also turn out to be a bit of a working cow horse.

Now I know that it might not be good to mix the dressage with the cow stuff...but Bay isn't an FEI horse, so I think he should have a bit of a challenge for his mind outside the norm. He is a very bright horse and seemed to handle things just fine. We will see how he is for Sarah this coming week. I think since she rides him almost daily, he will go right back into what is trained into him the better part of the week. I know Mick has plans to go to another cow sorting in October and to a clinic in November. Now it's time for me to figure out what clinics and lessons I'm going to get involved with. I need to get Mick to go out for a trail ride with me and to teach me how to pull the horse trailer. That should be interesting.

It could have been worse.

I finally made it out to the barn. It's been one of those weeks. Boo seemed no worse for my not having been there. He did spot me right away when I headed out to the pasture. I wasn't sure if I was going to ride or longe. I went prepared to do either. I brought him in and cleaned him up a bit. A couple of his feet look like they have thrush. Would that have happened just from the rain we've had this week? The farrier is coming next week, so I'll ask him what he thinks. The other horses came in early tonight. They were being brought in while I was grooming Boo. One of the horses got away from the handler and decided to come round to my side of the barn. There Boo stood in the cross ties with this other gelding coming right up on his hind end. Before I could get to him the other horse broke right through the cross tie and charged down the barn aisle. There was absolutely NO REASON for him to act like such an idiot. I thought I was going to get run over for sure. Boo did lunge forward but stopped before he plowed into me. The other horse just kept on going. The cross tie broke and whiplashed out and caught me in the arm. I have a bruised bone in my forearm. I am very lucky it didn't catch me in the face. I put cold on it right away and there hasn't been any swelling.

After all the excitement I decided I was going to longe instead of ride. I am trying to longe one time a week and so far it's going really well. I know Boo trusts me. He listens to me too. I am really proud of him. Going back out tomorrow for a ride. Thinking it is probably time to get back into some kind of lessons. It's been a long time. I think it's easier to stay focused when I have a trainer to help me along.