Ditto

Rained again last night and today and probably early tomorrow morning. What does that mean? No lessons or riding. On a good note, it is supposed to be sunny and nice for the next 9 days.

Kid has been hoof-picked, curried, brushed, and fly-sprayed. He looked gorgeous.

No Lesson Today - AGAIN!

Due to the extreme rain that started late Sunday and continued after midnight on Tuesday, I did not have a lesson today. Instead, I took pictures of Kid sleeping, standing, etc. They didn't even turn out very good.

My First Trail Ride

I went on my first big trail ride yesterday and it was wonderful! I pushed myself to ride in places I didn't think I would be able to do. I took pictures with the iphone and some are a bit wonky but they give you an idea of what we rode through.

One of the guys at the barn and his daughters riding ahead of us toward the gate.

A meadow on the east side of the property.

The new Cowboy stadium to the east. We are really high up.

Another meadow with cows. One of the wonky pictures but the hill is still mildly steep.

Riding into the trees.

The picture is blurry but is of a very rocky, narrow path I was uncomfortable going down. I got off Kid and walked while someone was nice enough to walk Kid down and then help me back on.

We are looking at the side of the property we entered on. I actually rode up that hill! You can tell how much lower we are on the west side.

The green grass below on the left is the land where the barn is.

The other hill I wasn't comfortable going down. After walking down it myself, I would be okay going down on Kid next time.



An old wagon at the bottom of the sandy hill we just went down.

The land where the arena and barn are.

An icky picture of me as we were riding down the shoulder of the rode to get back to the barn.

The new gate which has been set back from the road - yeah!

Riding Goals

I'm going to set some goals for riding. There are so many things I want to do but until I meet the basic goals, I can't move forward.

1. Ride as much as I possibly can!
2. Get on Kid without using the block
2. Get comfortable trotting
3. Lope

Number 1 isn't going to happen until I lose more weight. I've got to practice on Kid even if it is just putting my foot in the stirrup and my hands on the saddle and then hopping.

Are the 40 days and 40 nights almost up????

It's raining - again. I think we are supposed to get up to 3" today which means no riding tomorrow or probably even Friday. The ground is so saturated even the grass squishes. All the horses are tucked up in the barn all nice and cozy.

When I got to the barn after work today, I found out Kid had about a 4" gash on what I guess would be his lower flank (I'll take pictures tomorrow). He didn't seem to be in pain and let me groom all the parts as always. When I was done, he got more antiseptic spray put on the area. Apparently they had sprayed him earlier too. Both times he tried to kick with his hind leg but never made contact.

The barn was reorganized today with all the boarders on the east side and all the ranch horses on the left. Now if I want to get Kid to back in the corner it puts me on the wrong side - grrrrr. Oh well, we'll figure something out.

Barn Sour

Apparently Kid is barn sour - the stubborn kind of barn sour. I've mentioned before that whenever he tries to get back to the barn I have to stop, circle, and kick him in the direction I want. Sometimes we have to do it several times before he gets the point and then we will head to the barn. Today we got close to the barn several times and would then turn and ride away. After a few times, Kid had enough and stopped and no amount of kicking would make him go. I actually started to worry that he would rear up or buck if I kept going on (he didn't). I learned a lot today and know we will be working on the barn sour issue.

Riding on My Own

Saturday evening I rode on my own for the first time. Because the round pen hadn't been dragged since it dried out, there were deep spots and chunks which meant we just walked. I didn't care - I was on my horse and he was good. When I flipped the cinch back over the saddle and started to walk to his left side to remove the saddle, Kid did a big shake which caused everything to fall of his back on to the floor - in front of lots of people too. Sigh...

My New Boots (yes, another pair)

The boots I bought a couple of weeks ago are too pretty to get horse poop on and my original ones are now too big so I made the sacrifice yesterday and got me a pair of brown boots to wear riding. Honestly, I don't think they are as pretty as my blue/green or flame boots, but really, who cares.

Sleeping on the Job

Tomorrow will be the first day I will ride on my own and when I want. I am sooooo freakin' excited.

As evidenced in the picture to the left, Kid is getting lots of rest so he should be ready to haul my ass around every day now (or as close to every day as I can make it).

When I arrived at the barn, Kid stuck his nose through the bars of his stall for me to kiss. In fact, I got to kiss it several times before he pulled back. I love that horse so much.

My Sweet Horse Baby

I got to the barn after 6:00 today and the horses had already been put out in the pasture. Since it was mucky out, I wasn't going to track Kid down but thought I would just watch the horses from a distance for a few minutes and then leave. Several of the horse were running over to the west side of the pasture where the trailers are kept. As Kid came up in the rear, I yelled his name but he didn't appear to hear me. I turned to head back to the barn and he actually followed me! I didn't expect him to but he did! I think he knows he belongs to me. He lets me hug him and kiss his sweet horsey nose.

I groomed him and tried a new bridle on him. He was so patient despite my probably pulling on his mouth. I couldn't ask for a more perfect horse.

I put Kid out when I left but he went back to the barn and just stood in front of the rope. Curious.

Riding

The huge rain held off Thursday so I could get a lesson in. I was looking forward to riding as always and was hoping it was going to be more than a ride in the pasture and it was! John told me to go ahead and saddle Kid and we would ride in the round pen for a few minutes. We ended up riding for about an hour which was pure heaven. We trotted like we never had before. I don't think I have ever trotted while changing direction or did as many turns around the pen.

I love riding so much. I dream of the day when I can load Kid up and go to play days, camping, or horse clinics.

Monday Gratitude

Things I'm grateful for:

1. I have a horse to love in Texas
2. My husband loves me
3. My dogs love me
4. I can afford to go back to school
5. My bed is comfy

Indefinite Forecast of Rain

I had two straight weeks without a riding lesson in September. Last week I only had my Tuesday lesson and Thursday's was cancelled due to more rain. It rained buckets yesterday and tons already this morning. More rain is forcasted every day for the next week. I'm grateful for the rain but sure am missing riding! I'll go see Kid around his dinner time for some grooming.

On the upside, yesterday I went to Teskey's and bought a new pair of beautiful boots which will not be worn out in the muck (for now). I absolutely love Rod Patrick boots. They don't need breaking in, they fit great, and are so pretty.