The "I'm still here, sorta" update

In the interest of trying to write more, I was thinking of doing a weekly update.  However, when you rarely leave your home, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to write about!  This update covers the past two or three weeks…if not longer.

My Mom is working on cleaning up old photos and sent me this gem:

Me at the Kentucky Horse Park sometime in the 80s. Note the love of green even back then! lol

 
My first update is that our internet has been crappy for the past month. It sort of stopped working properly about a month ago. Calls to the company just resulted in “turn it off and back on again” type of advice.  Fun.  

We have a whopping 2 options for internet service here (15 minutes outside a major city!)  and the first one is now toast, so the 2^nd company is coming on Thursday today to set us up.  

Cross your fingers that it works, because we are running out of old dvds and puzzles.  LOL  Totally a #firstworldproblem, I know, but important when I’m trying to work from home!

My second update is that my boarder is leaving in mid-September. This is not a bad thing, I’m kind of looking to have my place back to myself for a bit.   Her horse has been here for 6 or so years though, so I will miss seeing him out back.  What I won’t miss tho, is the extra mouth to feed! 

Which brings me to important update #3: due to the drought earlier this year, hay is in majorly short supply around here.  The price is at least $6 a bale if you can find any and closer to $7 if you go through a supplier and have it delivered.  The price will likely continue to climb over the fall/winter.  I have 120 bales in the barn, but it won’t last me very long, as I’m starting to feed a bit of hay now as the grass was toast due to the drought as well. 

We have had some rain, so it came back a bit, but not enough to support the 3 big horses.  I’ve been doing a lot of reading about how to supplement forage, so there are some good options to stretch out hay.  We also have a lead on these great hay cubes that you can feed dry and are a total hay replacement (long stem forage) so my friend and I are going to do a big order of that in September.

I hope to get my butt outside with a camera in the next few days so I can do some pony updates!

10 for October via VivaCarlos

Thanks to LWilliams at VivaCarlos for more questions!

1. What discipline do you ride? What would you ride if you could pick any other one?
I ride western performance – trail, western pleasure, horsemanship etc.  If I could pick another one? I would love to get back to riding English and learning to jump and/or maybe do dressage again.  Of course, I would need a riding horse for that!  Or maybe I should take lessons over the winter? 

Riding at a fair a few years ago...

2. How many horses have you ridden in your entire riding career?
I can think of about 25 that I rode more than 1x.  I’m sure there are a few more – horses I rode when searching for Spencer, lesson horses, my friends pony when I was a kid, etc.


3. Most bizarre activity you’ve done with your/a horse?
As a kid, we used to race each other through the rows of a cornfield when the corn was tall. It was hilarious and dumb at the same time. The horses would spook at the sound of the corn stalks and the corn cobs would hit you in the shins, causing your legs to go numb. 

4. Do you consider riding to be your outlet? If yes, why?
I guess…I haven’t been riding much in the past year or two though.  I think just being around horses is an outlet for me.  And as a kid, I loved the freedom to be out riding around the countryside.  I actually had a great childhood, up until my Dad died when I was 15.  After that, riding was definitely therapy.

5. Have you ever read horse-related magazines? If yes, which one(s)?
I’m a reformed magazine addict.  The ads and repeated articles got to me. I’ve read and subscribed to: Horse and Rider, Your Horse (UK) Horse and Rider UK (at least the ads were for different stuff!) Equus, The Canadian Horse Journal, Practical Horseman, Dressage Today, AQHA journal (omg the ads), APHA journal and probably purchased many more.

6. Most memorable advice given to you?
Breathe!  And, “more trot”.  Both from my friend/retired coach.   Every time I ride or even watch a horse show with people riding in English tack (hunt seat in the breed world), I hear my coach’s squeaky voice saying “more trot people, more trot!”.   And it just means more leg to get the horse moving out more – which is a common problem with western horses doing the hunt seat classes.

I'm not sure what we are discussing, but it probably was me asking if I needed more trot.

More trot?  Likely.

7. Did you ever collect Breyer horse models or similar?
Do Royal Doulton horses (porcelain) count?  I have a few of those from when I was a kid.  It is a funny thing to buy for a kid really since they weren’t to be played with. They just sat (and continue to sit) on a shelf.

8. Favorite “celebrity” horse?
Not sure on this one. I’m going to go with Teddy the Shetland.  He is a big deal on Instagram.    

9. If you could spend a day learning from any horse person (past or present), who would you choose?
I would like to travel back in time and spend the day with my friend’s husband when he was managing stallions and breeding a lot of mares. He knows so much about mares/foaling/breeding that I could learn.  He is still around for questions, he just doesn’t have horses anymore!

10. If you could ride in any international arena in the world, where would you choose?
Well, since I’m in Canada, the US is technically international, right? I’d love to ride/show at the QH Congress in Ohio someday!  I'd also like to ride at Spruce Meadows, which is not international, but still a big deal to me.

AE Bloghop: 12 Tough Questions

Things are fairly quiet around here this week.  Alberta Equest has 12 tough bloghop questions that I thought I would take a crack at. 

Q1:  What hobbies do you have outside of riding?

People have hobbies outside of horses?  Whaaattt? I like to read (moreso in the winter) and I like to dabble with watercolour painting. I’m not very good, but it is kind of relaxing.  I also like photography, but I'm not super dedicated to getting better, but every now and again I get some good shots.  

Q2: What is your boarding situation?  Are you happy with it?

I have my horses at home, so mostly happy, yes.  With our winters, an indoor would be life changing.  However boarding out is kind of pricey around here, so we make do.  All the guys get the winter off to just eat hay and relax.

Winter - not much going on but a wicked sundog (see the rainbows on either side?) as the sun sets

On a nice winter day, the horses like to run around.  The black pony is gone, thankfully. He was a hellion.

Q3:  What's on your horsey-related wish list?

• BoT quick wrap boots for Fred, in green of course
• Custom name halter for poor, neglected Fred
• New cowboy boots
• A foal out of my friends AQHA mare (this might actually happen in 2020!)
• Bucas zebra fly sheets
• new name plates for the stalls 

Singles ad:  LF: tall, studly AQHA, must be successful in show career, colour not important

Q4: What is your most expensive horsey-related item?

I guess my truck…?  I don’t have much tack these days with showing halter.  All of my riding gear is older and not that valuable any more.

I can harrow now without having to ask someone to help me!

Q5: What was the hardest horsey-related decision you've had to make lately?

Again, I’ve been lucky here.  The toughest thing this spring was deciding not to try and show Fred. Having a broken ankle and very little money certainly helped me decide.

From last year

Q6:  What's something you feel you can't live without in your routine?

Hmm…I’m pretty flexible here.  I can’t think of anything essential that I couldn’t sub for something else.

Q7: What's on your horsey-related calendar for the rest of the summer year?

Not much...  One fall fair with the cowboy obstacle group, some planning sessions with my friend to look at potential Baby Daddies for her mare and a long-shot of attending QH Congress in October.

Q8:  What is one thing you would willingly change about your horse?

Poor Fred, but I’d give him a nicer head if I could.  

Definitely cute, but maybe not the best for the show ring where they judge only on appearance...

Q9:  What is something you most want to improve on with you and your horse?
Ugh, this is hard.  I’m not riding at all right now, so I don’t know what to write. I guess consistency.  I like being consistent with working the horses and my feeding/grooming routine.  I’ve been unfocused and unmotivated this spring/summer so my goal for the fall is to get some basic routines established and then go from there.

Q10:  What has been your [current] horse’s most severe injury?

Again, I’ve been so lucky here.  Although, Fred is only 4 so there is lots of time.  I guess the most serious that needed vet attention was a puncture wound on his front forearm.  I feel like I dodged major injurie(s) when he got stuck in the electric fence this summer.  He just stood there waiting for me to come and get him loose.  All he had was a bit of rope burn, but it could’ve been sooo much worse.

Q11:  What do you feel your biggest downfall is as a rider?

Only one?  Hahaha – lack of consistency?  Also, short legs, not a lot of natural feel and/or talent.  Maybe this one needs a Q11a: What do you feel your biggest strength is as a rider?  And for that I would say a willingness to learn and keep trying.  :-)

Q12:  What feeds your motivation?

Alberta Equest – this is a super hard question!!   I’ve been having a heck of a hard time lately with motivation.  Emma wrote a great post about this that gave me a bit of a jolt.  I need to remember to be grateful to have horses in my life, since I just love them so much.  12yo Laura would be in awe of the house and barn and horses (not that it is that fancy...but comparatively) that I have now. I'm actually living part of my childhood dream.   I sometimes get lost in thinking about points and money and the fact that other people that have more opportunities than me. 

13yo me riding in a parade - at least I have a better hat now and this one looks like it is on backwards. omg.

Ok - I found another pic - too funny to not share!  I think this is right after I got my pony for my 12th bday -  she is still at our friend's place in this picture.  I'm in rubber boots!  My Mickey Mouse sweatshirt is on point though.  lol

1986, thanks to my Moms mad scrapbooking skillz...

Working on motivation, consistency and gratitude will be a big part of my fall/winter downtime this year.  I can’t expect any positive showing outcomes next year if I don’t put the work in now.