Bad Mommy, Good Mommy

It was a fantastic long weekend. Lots of sunshine, lots of friends, lots of family and lots of riding. It was a very relaxing weekend for me. For the first time in a number of years, My Husband and I did not have to prepare a huge meal or entertain. I had Friday off so I got my nails done and went for a ride. Saturday I met a girlfriend for lunch and Saturday night, My Husband and I went to friends' for dinner. Sunday we did some work around the house and went to my parents' place for Thanksgiving dinner - my sister prepared everything from appetizers to dessert. Yummy! Monday, My Husband and I had late breakfast and he went golfing and I went on a trail ride.

The weather was amazing all weekend and continues so far this week. My ride on Friday was interesting. I was the only one riding Friday afternoon. One of The Arena Gang was grooming her horse, so I took advantage of the company and rode in the arena. Gem was "off". He was fidgety while I was grooming him. He moved around as I saddled him up. He nipped at my clothing a few times. I thought it was because he was missing mid-afternoon snack. When we were in the arena, I couldn't get on him. It didn't matter what I tried, he always seemed to be able to move just out of my reach. I had to ask for assistance from the other boarder. While riding him, he pushed back on everything I asked him. He was resistant to my cues through the whole 45 minutes I rode him. He pulled on the bit. When I was untacking him, LA's 75-year old mother (she lives on-site) asked how Gem was when I rode him.

Me: He was not himself. He was off. Why do you ask?
Her: He didn't get up this morning when we arrived to feed. Usually, he's up and very vocal because he wants his breakfast.
Me: (alarmed) He was lying down???
Her: Yes, his head was up, but he was lying down. It took him a while to get up.
Me: (very alarmed) Was he struggling??!!!
Her: Oh, no! I put his breakfast in his stall and that encouraged him to get up. He ate. Perhaps he has an upset tummy.

I spoke to LA about it and she thought he was fine. His poops (along with other horses) have been a bit loose on and off because of eating apples that have fallen from the trees and perhaps some other Fall grasses that they don't usually eat. She has been monitoring poops. Whew! But, Bad Mommy!!! Gem was trying to tell me that he wasn't well. This explains his behaviour. I hate the thought that I pushed him when he wasn't well. :-(

Monday he seemed like his old self. It was a stunningly gorgeous day. Warmish and sunny. I was pumped about going on a trail ride, but also nervous. I placed my Confidence Vest in the trunk of my car, and headed out to the stables.

Driving through my neighbourhood......




Crossing the river....

There was quite a turnout at the stables on Monday afternoon. We were all in the front paddock. Gem was excited and frisky, not exactly how I would like him to be going out on the trail. I jogged Gem on and off for 20 minutes. I wanted him loose and calm when that gate opened out to the fields. Once we were ready to go, I put on my Confidence Vest and the gate was opened.

Loosening up the horses before going out.....

There were 8 of us that went out. I positioned myself with a very experienced adult rider. I was stiff and had to keep taking deep breaths to calm myself. About 5 minutes into the ride, I found myself LEADING the trail. At first I panicked, but then I realized that Gem liked it! Because I am such a chicken, I usually try to position myself in the middle. He is always rushing when we are in this position - I thought it was because his stride is bigger than the quarter horses. But now I am wondering if it's because he likes to be out front.... I started to relax a bit and let him do his thing.

I did try to take some pictures while we were actually walking on the trails, but I wasn't coordinated enough to get my camera ready and ride at the same time!

Stopping for a drink.......

I survived two horse-eating squishy mud puddles - Gem was able to hop like a bunny over them and I remained in the saddle. I survived him telling another gelding of lower rank to get out of his face. I survived Gem being happy and breaking into a jog - he allowed me to bring him back to a walk. We were out for a couple of hours. Gem loved it and after I calmed down, so did I! I am sure he had a smile on his face. I felt good that Gem was out of the arena and that we were riding on grass instead of sand. What a great way to end a great weekend. I have already started arranging another trail date. :-)

This last picture was taken a couple of weeks ago from my deck. I was putting the dogs out when I got home from work and the sky was an amazing pink colour. It's not a very clear picture, but I think you can get the idea of how brilliant everything was.


Sigh.......

Temporary Insanity

First, Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians!! I hope you are able to spend time with your families this weekend. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for, and I am grateful every day.

So, my last lesson was all of 20 minutes. I actually left work early and got to the stables 1/2 hour before my usual arrival time. As I started to get out of my car, my cell phone rang. One of my co-workers was trapped in the hallway of our building. Let me explain..... our offices are on two floors of a professional townhouse with a hallway on the main floor that also allows access to the basement where the bathrooms and kitchen are. The offices on each floor lock individually. My co-worker was down in the bathroom, the other employees left locking up the offices behind them. They assumed my co-worker had a key to lock the front door as he left. Nope. So I drove back to the office through rush hour traffic (45 minutes), locked the door and drove back to the stables (45 minutes).

I am not good with rush hour traffic at the best of times, let alone having to face it 3 times in one evening. You see, I have a condition.....there's no flowery way to say this.....and I am little ashamed to admit it......I turn into lunatic. Put me on a crowded road, crawling along over a period of time and I unravel. My happy demeanour starts to slip away. My patience level diminishes to zero. Yes, I am the one yelling unflattering names at the person that is stupid, inconsiderate or pushy. Granted my yelling is done through my windshield, but I exaggerate my pronunciation so that the person can clearly make out what name I am calling them if they look at their rear-view mirror. Fargin Icehole!!! Fargin Bastage!!! Throwing my hands in the air or shrugging my shoulders is also part of this display. What the.....??? As my frustration escalates, my hand somehow finds its way to the horn. Yep, I may even accentuate my yelling with a little horn blowing. I am sure a vein starts to pulse on my forehead at this stage. I wasn't always like this..... there just seem to be more incompetent rude drivers out there now. So for my own peace of mind and to avoid looking extremely unattractive, I don't drive in rush hour. My personal office hours are 9:30-6:00 p.m. :-)

Needless to say that by the time I arrived back at the stables, my face was pinched, my lips thin lines. My lesson was well underway. LA had saddled Gem up and was sitting on him when I arrived. I still felt like the top of my head was going to blow off. She asked if I was going to get on my pony and I replied no. I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. She gently insisted that I get on him, so I brought my mounting stairs to the centre of the arena and got on Gem. He didn't move as I mounted. HE DIDN'T MOVE AS I MOUNTED. Now, it could have been because LA was standing basically in front of him. It could have been that he knew I was still suffering from temporary insanity and was anticipating some sort of awful repercussion if he didn't behave. Or, it could have been that he was just being a really good boy. Frankly, it didn't matter why. HE DIDN'T MOVE AS I MOUNTED. I sat on him for a minute, giving his neck and mane a good rub and thanked him.

We didn't participate in any of the loping. Instead Gem and I walked around on the inside of the arena while my classmates waited for their turn to trot or lope on the rail. We did some limbering up; small circles, 90 degree turns. I did not chat with my classmates (my new rule) and continued to focus on being with Gem, keeping him moving. I could feel the tension slipping away and I could feel my body melting into the saddle. My pleasantness returned. When LA asked me what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to try to do a side-pass. What?! Yep, a side-pass.

LA coached me on rein position and leg position and on the fourth try, Gem and I did a side-pass from the middle of the arena to the rail. :-) It wasn't the straightest example, but it was a side-pass none the less. Good boy!

So within a 3-hour period, I managed to go from office manager to lunatic driver to saviour to lunatic driver to Zen rider. Yes, I am woman and I am amazing. Geez, I sure hope I don't have to go on this emotional roller coaster on a regular basis, though. It's exhausting!

What was I thinking....?