Sunday Stills

Candy Corn

Color in my neighborhood

This one was taken by my hubby...it's a covey of quail at my mom's house. He took it Friday afternoon.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Stills

Company time

I didn't ride yesterday. I was busy busy busy getting ready for more company. Mick's mother, sister, and brother-in-law are arriving this evening. They came all the way from Southeastern Idaho to see our grandson Shea in Oliver. We go on Saturday night.

Of course a person never has things as perfect as we would like for company, but I managed to get things to where I am at least not embarrased, so today I went to the barn and took advantage of the beautiful weather to groom and ride Boo. Of course we practiced all the wonderful things we had learned in our lesson on Tuesday. Not bad, even if I do say so myself. I didn't ride as hard as I probably should have but ladies I am SORE from that lesson. I plan to build up my endurance as time goes by.

I won't have time to post this weekend...but I do have my Sunday stills photo all ready to go...it was a really fun assignment this week. Hope you check it out.

My lesson with Tracey

My lesson yesterday was awesome. Just as I had expected a lot of bad habits had creeped in to my riding. Some of it I was aware of and some of it I was completely in the dark about. I got to the barn early in order to warm up, but as it turned out the first part of the lesson was at the walk, so I didn't really need the extra time.

We worked a lot on my position. First off my stirrups were to long. I thought this was probably the case because I often had trouble keeping them on the ball of my foot and in some cases even lost them all together. We talked about keeping my toes up...I have to admit a lot of the time, especially in the faster gaits, my legs tend to creep up and my toes tend to point downward. We think the better stirrup length will help me to be more stable while I am working on a longer leg.

But toes pointing downward was'nt my only problem. When I was consciously trying to keep my toes up I also turned my foot outward. This kept me using the back of my leg and heel rather then the inside calves to give aids. Consequently, my spurs (when I use them) are in the side of the horse too much. So I rode with my toes turned in...almost pigeon-toed. At first it felt really uncomfortable, but by the end of the lesson I barely noticed. Of course Tracey had to keep reminding me, but I will continue to work on it on my own.

Next we worked on the slight arch in the small of my back. Tracey says if I keep riding that way I will end up with back problems. So, I am to pull in my tummy muscles and imagine pressing against a hand on the small of my back in order to correct the arch. That one was tough because as soon as I released those tummy muscles that arch was back. Instead I rode with my tummy muscles slightly tensed the entire time. At least I tried to. Since my tummy muscles are a bit sore this morning, I'd say I did a pretty good job.

I found that I ride with my hands a tad to high and a tad to far back. That was fairly easy to correct. I also ride with my reins to long. Lastly, I turn my head into the circle when I ride. I'm to look between the horses ears and use my peripheral vision to look to the next point in the circle. It messes with my balance and my horses balance to look inward like I do.

We worked on connecting Boo to the outside rein and on keeping his shoulder from popping out when we are doing a circle on the left lead. These were two of the same things I worked on at the Bernadine Diers clinic I went to a few months back. It's comforting to know that two trainers are seeing the exact same thing and prescribing the same thing to fix the problem. I know Boo and I are on the right track in that area.

So, this sounds like a lot of negative huh? Well, I tried to do everything she said during the lesson, and I had one of the best posting trots I have had in I don't know how long. Normally I hate to post the trot. I'd much rather sit it. Yesterday posting it was easier because he was more forward and my position was much more stable. I loved the lesson and can't wait to practice what I've learned and go back for more!

It's not a rodeo!

It's a beautiful morning. Just got back from walking Miley. She's loving it! Poko on the other hand is wondering why she is being left behind. I just can't school Miley on the niceties of walking next to your human (rather than pulling her down the sidewalk) when I am trying to manage 2 dogs. Even though Poko is perfect on leash it just gets to be to much, and I found I wasn't enjoying the morning walks...I figure I am suppose to enjoy them too! So...Poko gets left at home in the mornings, and Miley gets left at home in the evenings. That is the theory anyway. Yesterday there was no evening walk...bummer for Poko. I will have to get better about that. Being tired should not be an excuse. Although, I was so tired yesterday that I went to bed at 9:30 and didn't get up until 7:30 this morning. That is 10 hours of sleeping. I never do that!!! I also walked 11, 134 steps yesterday. I have to really work at it to walk that many steps in a day. Did I mention that I am a bit chubby and out of shape? I am on a get healthier kick. Wish me luck.

Today is the day I have my first lesson with Tracey. The lesson is at 1:00, so I plan to leave here about 11:30, drive to the barn and tack up, and ride warm up for about 30 minutes before the lesson. This is just as much for my old bones as it is for Boo's. I hope Tracey isn't expecting too much! She's probably going to have to work on position issues with me as well as helping me to overcome the fears I have from my accident, and being so out of shape. I don't ever want to fall off again. I've done it 3 times and broken bones twice. I've paid my dues. It's not a freaking rodeo! Who knew that a riding instructor would end up needing to be a therapist and a fitness trainer to boot! Haha! She'll probably charge me 3 times as much when she see what she has gotten herself into.

I'll keep you all posted on how the lesson goes! Hope you have a great day!

An awesome weekend.

It was an awesome weekend! Why? Because my nephew's wife gave birth to their very first child today. Sasha arrived at 2:02 p.m. and she weighed 8.5 lbs and measured 21 inches long. It's always exciting to welcome a new addition to the family. Mick and I were kept up-to-date on how things were going by text message. Isn't technology wonderful? Within less than an hour of her arrival we had a mobile picture.

Spent the better part of the day at the barn today. It was exactly where I wanted to be. I had hubby take a couple of pictures of Boo and myself...rode in the arena for about 40 minutes, and then we took a trail ride to cool out. Won't be long before it will be to wet to do that, so I am glad to have the opportunity to do it now. I figured out that I can't wear my pedometer when I'm riding. It "IS" counting the horsey steps and thats cheating...today it says I took 16,491 steps! Most days I'm lucky to get close to 10,000...actually MOST days I don't get anywhere near 10,000, but I am working on a plan to remedy that. I also looked up the gym schedule and found 2 yoga and 2 pilates classes I can attend this week.

We had our annual barn bbq yesterday. The weather cooperated! I enjoy getting together with everyone. I have way to much potato salad left over though...guess no one is eating starch. I probably shouldn't either. Ya know, I never realize how much weight I've gained until I see a picture of myself. I am not a happy camper when I see a picture of myself. I did talk to trainer Tracey though, and Boo and I have a lesson set up for this week. This will be the 2nd lesson I have taken in the past 3 years. I stopped after my big riding accident and never started up again. I know I have plenty of bad habits that have creeped in to my riding. I really love what Tracey has done with Sarah, and although I'm not all young and willowy like Sarah, I think Tracey can help me to be more effective in my riding then I have been. So...here's to fall and going back to (riding) school.