Lists

I'm a list person.  Every week I make a To Do list.  I'll be totally honest and admit that sucker has certain things that don't NEED to be on a list, stuff that will get done regardless (like changing the sheets on the bed).  However having stuff crossed off is a motivator to keep going so that's my little cheat/trick to staying on track ;) 

I've also got a project list called The Big List which has stuff that either will take a bit more time/money/effort to put it on a list with a deadline.  Things like painting the trim on the garage (hmm, that depends on when I have the time and what the weather is like), adding boards to the top of the arena fence to make it more visible (time to do it & money for boards are the factors at play), and well you get the idea.

Something I haven't done before is make an official bucket list.  Now I'm not sure if it's because I'm approaching a "milestone birthday" or what but I've been playing with putting one together... stay tuned!

Friday Funny ~ Lessons From My Horse

All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From My Horse
1. When in doubt, run far, far away.
2. You can never have too many treats.
3. Passing gas in public is nothing to be ashamed of.
4. New shoes are an absolute necessity every 6 weeks.
5. Ignore cues. They're just a prompt to do more work.
6. Everyone loves a good, wet, slobbery kiss.
7. Never run when you can jog. Never jog when you can walk. And never walk when you can stand still.
8. Heaven is eating for at least 10 hours a day... and then sleeping the rest.
10. Eat plenty of roughage.
11. Great legs and a nice rear will get you anywhere. Big, brown eyes help too.
12. When you want your way, stomp hard on the nearest foot.
13. In times of crisis, take a poop.
14. Act dumb when faced with a task you don't want to do.
15. Follow the herd. That way, you can't be singled out to take the blame.
16. A swift kick in the butt will get anyone's attention.
17. Love those who love you back, especially if they have something good to eat.

Things to work on

I rode Lefta for the first time in a.g.e.s. Monday night and I realized I have a few things to work on.
First of all I need to ride her more so that we can get to know each other, and secondly we need to build some trust in each other. 
For some reason I'm just not comfortable on her.  Part of it is that Lefta is a bit green,  but also she just doesn't feel "right" to me.  The best analogy I can give is that being on her feels like being on a unicycle whereas on the boys it feels like I'm on a bike, when I'm on her I don't feel like I have much horse in front of or behind me.
Now don't get me wrong, she's got some power and I'm sure that when she's in shape and I'm comfortable enough to ride her like I ride the boys that she'll do fairly well barrel racing.

This was my first ride on her since late last summer, early last fall.  And it was her second ride this year (Nell rode her a few weeks ago)  We warmed up then trotted the barrel pattern and she was pretty great, you`d swear we had just done our last barrel work the other day not last year. 
The only thing that really showed up was that she was a bit grumpy going left.  She'd get her nose up and toss her head a bit.  The more we worked on it the stiffer and crankier she got.  So we came off the barrels completely and worked on trotting and loping circles.  She relaxed about going left at a trot but when we kicked up to a lope that bit of attitude came back.  We worked on transitions up and down and got her relaxed and then worked on a few circles.
(I told her she just needed two NICE circles loping to the left and we could stop)
Lo and behold she dropped her head, took a deep breath and gave me 1 and 3/4 nice circles.  I told her we were doing one more and if she didn't shoulder in we'd stop... perfect circle lol

She doesn't seem sore and I don't think her teeth need done, I really think it was just a bit of attitude coming out.  I DO know that both she and Applejack (Nell came over and was riding him) were a bit cranky at having to work in the arena because it was more work... the ground is a bit deep.  Not "it's going to make my horse sore" deep, just deep enough to make it more work than traveling over the grass lol

Three Legged Lame

Thank goodness I'm not being literal and it's not one of the horses I'm referring to!  But sadly I am referring to myself :(

Awhile back I had started to get a lot of soreness in my left foot.  It was right around when I was planning to start the C25K (Couch to 5K) training for some races I had decided to enter this summer with my friend Nell. 

I babied it along and kept putting off doing any running, switched out my work shoes and got really good insoles.  But man oh man, every day after work my foot was k.i.l.l.i.n.g me.  Standing 8+ hours on a hard floor with very little walking and anti-fatigue mats that were so worn out they were more of an idea than an actual mat... that was NOT helping anything.

Finally I couldn't take it any longer, I went to the doc and was sent for x-rays and a note for my boss that I had to take at least 10 days off work.

The diagnosis I was expecting was plantar fasciitis.  Well, I was partly right.  There's also a heel spur.  (dangit!!) 

Doc said NO running until I lose at least 20lbs.  **sigh**  Umm, "running" was supposed to be part of the plan to help me do that. 
("running" because let's face it, it would most likely be fast walking and jogging lol)

So now, no Bridge City Boogie (sorry Nell!) but I'm still hoping to be able to do the Mud Run later in the summer.  In the meantime it's time to get riding and leg up ponies, we've got some barrel jackpots scheduled!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sunbathing Beauty

Wordless Wednesday ~ #2

**Photo credit to my friend/neighbour Nelle**

So this happened...

Tasty had her baby!  Meet...

Dudley! 

As you may recall, after losing the unexpected calf we had moved Tasty into the barn because she looked like she might calve.  Nothing seemed to be progressing so we had put Tasty back out with the other cows on February 17th.  Then we had more extreme cold weather.  Thankfully it was turning around and this past Thursday it wasn't ridiculously cold when I went down to do the morning chores, because this little guy was standing with his mama in the pen just checking out the world :)
Right away I threw some fresh straw in the stall and then the little guy was scooped up and brought in.  I wrapped him up in a cooler and started rubbing him, I wasn't sure exactly when he had been born and wanted to make sure he was warm & dry.  I slipped my gloves off and put my hands under the cooler - yay he was dry!  He wasn't too cold and warmed up really quickly.  So the fact that he was dry and had been standing relieved me somewhat.
Next step, get Tasty in the barn with her baby.  Thankfully that wasn't too difficult.  Then I put out some hay and filled her water tank. 
I was a bit worried though, I wasn't sure if he had nursed at all and he seemed a bit weak.  So I took the cooler off, fluffed some straw up around him and went to get colostrum.  There were a few pathetic sucks on the bottle and then he started to fight it a bit.  Pie told me to go feed the horses and he'd watch the calf.  When I finished feeding Pie met me at the barn door with a big smile, baby was up and eating on his own.  Yay!
So far Tasty and baby seem very content, although Dudley would like a bit more room.  He's trying to run and he can now buck in a circle without falling over.  If the weather holds Tasty and Dudley will probably go out Saturday, mental note - have camera on hand!!