odds and ends...

I kind of like to think of myself as a common sense kind of gal. Kind of a middle of the road person. I have been following the EHV-1 virus thing on several blogs, network boards, and state sites. Trying to stay informed. What I have noticed - is that the people with the least risk are the ones that are overly protective and the ones who have a higher risk seem to be a little more relaxed about the whole thing. Not saying they are not concerned. I am sure anyone that has a sick horse or has been in close proximity with an infected horses is hugely concerned. I know I would be. But I am not going to go crazy about it. Middle of the road. Evaluate the FACTS and make a common sense decision. What I do know is this virus isn't new. It has been around for a while. And it will raise it's ugly head again.

Of course with all the virus commotion, all the shows that I was planning on doing have been cancelled. I am a little disappointed but I totally agree with the decision. The Sandy Collier clinic that I had planned on in late May was moved and is now in late June. Gives me something to look forward too.

I moved out of SCR this Memorial Day weekend. The owners decided that they didn't want to be in the boarding business. They needed the room for their horses that are in training. It was such a great SAFE place for my man. I will miss it.

I moved to a private residence for the summer and hopefully I will find a place to call home with a nice indoor arena before winter comes around. That is...if summer ever gets to CA. As I write this, it is about 60 degrees outside and they are predicting thunder storms and rain. Ugh. We had tornadoes last week. I think that I may have been teleported to another state and just don't know it.

My friend and I went on a ride on Saturday and did a lot of long trotting and loping. We were trying to find the end of the trail, instead we found a BEAR! Yes a bear was getting a drink out of the lake and since it wasn't an encounter that I found particularly enticing... we turned around and headed home. Got back to the trailer just before the sky opened up and dumped buckets of rain.

Took Bob Harley (Bob Marleys red neck cousin) to start his education this weekend. Picked up the Scooter man and brought him home for some rest and relaxation. I plan to spend some time working on him in the next few weeks. He sure is a sweet boy. I rode him on Friday and he was willing and very easy going. I worked both the mares on cattle this weekend too. Boy I gotta tell you... they are as opposite as they are a like. Does that even make sense? They both will get down and work a cow, but they do it in completely different styles. One floats around like a butterfly, smooth and fluid and the other one is like riding a bumble bee, hard hitting and fast. It is fun, fun, fun.

My Bubba

Last week was a rough one. I lost my stupid little dog Bubba. Two Labradors tore down our gate into our back yard and mauled my little dog. It was absolutely devastating. I loved that stupid little dog. He had a punctured lung and a huge tear in his abdomen. They tried to do surgery and he almost died on the operating table. They were trying to get him stable and thought that if they could stabilize him, I could take him to UC Davis for surgery. At 5 pm he still wasn't stable enough to move and the thought of him laying there all night, alone and in distress was more than I could bare. I made the decision to put him down. It was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I miss him.

3rd horse show

Where does the time go? I went to the third horse show in the series at SCR two Saturdays ago. I can say that I stayed consistent. Zero-ing the first class and placing 3rd in the second class. In the first class when I asked for the lead change to the right Semper only changed in the front, I pushed his hip, he changed and changed and changed, front, back and side ways. He gets all balled up when things go wrong. Because I get all balled up when things go wrong. So about 2/3 of the way into the first half of our circle to the right, he is finally on the right lead. We were supposed to turn and go down the middle but were not in a position to do that without a hard, quick turn to the right. Instead of trying to finish the pattern correctly I decided to school the rest. I didn't want to get him any more confused and up tight than he already was. I went down the side and did my stops and just reminded him to stay quiet and get back on track. The second class we did pretty well. The lead changes were beautiful and he just floated around. We lost points on the stops again. I know it is me. I get bracey and nervous and it goes right down my reins and legs and into him. We had schooled stops before and he was stopping really nicely. I was relaxed and feeling pretty confident. But then we go into the show pen and it all goes to hell in a hand basket. The last show in the series is about 3 weeks away and I am hoping to get past this nervous crap by then.

I have another show this weekend. It is a cowhorse show and I am taking Semper to do the dry work and the limited boxing class and Little Bit and Ms Lily to do the limited two handed cutting. The girls are going just to school. They have never been out to a show and I am thinking that this is going to be as much of a learning experience for them as it is going to be for me! They are both a little bit of drama queens so it ought to be an interesting day to say the least. My plan is just to get them into the show pen and work on keeping them calm and focused. I don't care if they get anything done with the cattle as long as they don't lose their minds. I have had them on cattle at least once a week for the last 3 or 4 weeks. It isn't as much as they need but it is better than nothing. I took Semper the last couple of times and he is doing a decent job. Still a little bit "shiney" (easily distracted at shiney objects) but he is trying - bless his heart.

April 28th was my birthday. Not just my birthday but my 50th birthday. It was the most amazing birthday that I have ever had. We planned a party and invited friends and family. At about 10am on the morning of the party, my best friend from LA shows up - surprise! I had no idea she was coming. I was so excited! We have been friends forever. Seen each other through the good times and the not so good times - we have history - shoot, we made history! She is the closest thing to a sister that I have - I love her to pieces. We got to take a few hours and go riding. Came home and spent the evening surrounded by some of the most awesome friends and family a person could have. It was definitely in the top ten best days of my life.

Speaking of top tens.... I am compiling a list of sorts... a bucket list - I guess. Things I want to do before I get to old and decrypted. One of the things is to learn to rope. I called my horse shoer - who is an amazing roper - and asked if he would get me started. He agreed to give me a few lessons and told me what kind of rope to buy to get started. Got my rope last week and am going to go take my first lesson in a week or two. More on what is going on the list later.