First day of fall

So I didn't actually know it was the first day of fall when I wrote this and was debating about posting, but after I heard it that was just too perfect so figured I had to post.

The type of beauty that makes me love fall

Took the dogs for a walk after a relaxing afternoon of reading my book snuggling w Tucker and throwing the ball endlessly for Sasha ;).  There’s something about fall.  Esp days like this - temp in the high 20s, gorgeous cloudless blue sky.  The leaves on the trees a multitude of brilliant colours.  Walking through the woods, the trail is covered with a blanket of already lost leaves.  That perfect midpoint where the trail is covered, you can hear the crunch when you walk, but there’s still tons of leaves on the trees so no feeling of emptiness or loss.  And every strong breeze leads to a flurry of colours.    Warm days and cool nights, with occasional sweater day thrown in.   The scent of falling leaves - fall has its own scent; those who live where seasons aren’t a thing, probably never realized that, but anybody who knows would recognize it immediately.  And no, it has nothing to do w pumpkin spice!   If it weren’t for heralding the impending winter, fall would be the perfect season.

The reality that reflects how I *usually* see fall ;-P

A stolen moment

It’s a little after midnight and the dogs wanted to go out.  Rather than just send them, I followed and snagged one of our lawn chairs.   So I’m sitting in amazing warmth with the subtle glow of our decorative solar lights keeping it just light enough to navigate the patio with a soft blue tinge.  

Sasha and Tucker are thrilled to be out here and it’s warm enough we seem to be bug free.  Sasha stays near me although doesn’t understand why I won’t throw anything for her (too late to risk excited play barking) while I’m occasionally granted glimpses of Tucker’s shadow when he strays by a light in his yard patrol.  

There is really very few simple pleasures better in my world than a hot summer night with no mandatory wake up time the following morning.  It’s the kind of night where fairies run wild and magic happens.  Instant happy place.

Sweet dreams.

When snow falls, listen quietly

Just took Sasha for the most amazing nighttime snow walk.  It's night, but not dark, as the Christmas and street lights reflect off the unbroken blanket on the ground and cause each individual falling flake to shimmer briefly on its descent.  Even the unlit path through the woods is bright enough to navigate easily.  The silence is broken occasionally by the sound of a far off car sliding, but otherwise is absolute.  The kind of silent that grants imagination free rein to wander as it will.

This is Sasha's favourite weather and she was super excited to be out in it, although sadly I couldn't let her play as when she plays she barks and it's too late for that.  So we just walked and I worked very hard not to accidentally kick snow in her direction as that is, in fact, her absolute favourite game and the fastest way to have a very loud, very excited, hiking partner.  And in the stillness of the night that energy would carry far, but is unlikely to make us any friends.

The stunning houses along the lake are that much more impressive decorated for Christmas -- sometimes outdoor lights shining through a filter of white, sometimes a tree lit up in the window.  A cat peers out, seemingly questioning our sanity.  He's not wrong, but the sane miss so many wonderful adventures ;)

As we return home, the prints we left on the way out have already vanished.  Sasha tries to convince me this means we haven't gone yet. Not a single person or critter have we seen, but a tree creaks ominously under the weight it now bears.

The child inside me chooses to build a snowman to stand guard outside our home.  Alas, while super willing to "help", Sasha also feels this is a full volume activity, so it must quickly be abandoned.  Perhaps tomorrow if the adult reality of shovelling doesn't steal the fun and romance from the scene.  We shall see.

It looks to be cold for the next few days, which any other week of the year would have me hibernating.  But right now it means we could very well have a white Christmas, and, well, that is where great stories begin.

Summer Simple Pleasures

Alright people -- there's been just a little too much whining about this amazing summer week we're having :)    For those of you who *love* winter, you're exempt.  You're insane, but you're exempt. I'll complain about your season and you can complain about mine -- it's all good.  But for everybody else for whom it was too cold, then too wet, and now too hot...  Pick one!

For me -- it's all about summer.  The *only* down side in my little world is I worry about my animals whose comfort level is 10-20 degrees lower than mine and who can't escape to air conditioning.  But the up sides?  Those are endless.

Introducing Summer Simple Pleasures:

- being warm
- not being cold :)
- long hours of daylight
- sailing!
- playing frisbee with my dog
- milkshakes
- going barefoot
- cycling
- patio lunches with Jen
- lying outside at night counting the stars
- being able to take Sasha for a walk at midnight wearing shorts and a tshirt and be totally comfortable
- being able to do barn chores in <2h p="">- driving with the roof down (this'd be much easier if I owned a convertible! >;-P)
- sundresses (admittedly less appropriate where I work, but any excuse I get...)
- water parks (yup, I'm really 12 years old :)
- watching the horses grazing in their paddocks
- cottaging
- ice cream!   Kwartha Dairy anybody?
- everything about show season except, perhaps, the lack of sleep!
- napping outside on a summer afternoon
- splashing through the waves on the beach
- sandals
- driving with the windows down and the radio blaring
- night swimming
- riding xc
- slushies
- hacking
- hiking
- hammocks
- Shakespeare in the park
- not needing to wear mitts to do the barn
- the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees
- the power of a summer storm
- the smell of fresh cut hay
- floating on pool toys
- bbq
- freezies
- pool parties
- street artists
- zipping across the lake in a speed boat
- or behind said speed boat :)
- eating fresh strawberries outside on a warm day
- or raspberries
- or watermelon
- or...  well you get the idea :)
- outdoor theatre
- having the windows open at night
- weedeating (okay I know this is supposed to be a chore, but really there's something satisfying about it)
- swings
- exploring tiny towns in the middle of nowhere
- happier, more relaxed people
- watching Sasha swim in the pond
- diving into the lake on a hot day at the cottage
- diving into the pool any day :)
- picnics
- the way my hair changes colour (admittedly less successful when I tie it up under a hat!)
- driving both to and from work in daylight (I only get about three weeks of this -- it's already dark when I drive home now *sigh*)
- turning the horses out without blankets
- spending a lazy afternoon outside with a book
- not wishing I lived in a warmer country
- a darkening sky just before a massive thunder storm
- outdoor musicians
- less traffic
- people watching
- stepping outside of an overly-air-conditioned building into warmth
- listening to the crickets as the sun sets
- sitting in the shade under the tree
- flowers
- the smell of the forest after a rainfall
- a cool shower after working outside all day

I could keep going but that last option seems too appealing.  And then maybe I'll take Sash for a walk to admire the stars...

What are your summer simple pleasures?

And what did you do at work today?

So today we had *amazing* March weather -- and I spent it in the best way possible. Playing with my puppy :)

Showed up at the barn intending to do the usual combination of chores -- feed, put Sasha in viewing lounge, turn out, hay/water (although I've been spoiled lately cause my entirely too awesome dad's been doing that for me :), ride, let Sasha free, stalls, reverse the process. That's just how it goes.

But it was really warm - which meant the turnout step got seriously backed off by spending ages removing everybody's blankets. And then it was just too nice out -- so I let Sasha, who's starting to be reasonably reliable about sticking with me outside, "help". You should've seen her trotting along all proud with Jack's leadline in her mouth, Jack following along -- after giving her the stink-eye for about 2 seconds and then deciding she was harmless. hahaha sooo cute. Except after a couple strides she gets concerned about the horse following behind her and drops the rope to go off to the side *g* hahaha but she came out with me for every set of turnout, staying out of the way of the horses without running away. Which made turnout way more fun watching her bounding around.

Then with hay -- well Sasha and hay is very much like Sasha and snow. Which is a huge pita when you're actually trying to move the hay, so we drilled sit/stay and "leave it" a bit while I tried to get the hay out. But again, she stayed right at my side throwing to all the paddocks. So I was pretty thrilled about that.

Had to go to my car for something and I lost her out there. Was a *little* concerned, but she did eventually come back from wherever she was adventuring. So then I had to play stick with her for a while because I didn't want her to come to me from playing only to be grounded in the barn -- that just didn't seem like positive reinforcement at all. And while we were doing this, Dad got there and started doing waters, which Sasha loves cause he always plays with her. So I passed her off and watched them for a bit :)

Which pretty well ate up my riding time *sigh* But it was fun, and I rode Athena on her day off so no biggie to give her today off instead. Time to start stalls. It was colder in the barn than out -- which in August will be fabulous but today not so much. And I got about 1 done when my dad came back and told me it was way too nice outside and I should be sitting on the rock in the sun playing with my puppy. But there were stalls to be done. So I kept at it for a few more minutes while my much smarter father took advantage of the nice weather to play with Sasha. And then I finally clued in that stalls are ALWAYS there; warm sunny days with puppies, not so much. By the time we have reliable warmth, she won't really be a puppy any more!

So I went outside and played with Sasha. Then I sat on a big rock, sheltered from the wind, and enjoyed the sun while watching her run around with her ears flopping every stride. Absolutely no better way to spend an early spring day.

But alas, eventually it was time to re-enter the cold barn to do stalls... Except that by that time it was *also* lunch time. And instead of the boring pb sandwich I'd brought a road trip to subway was suggested. Twist my rubber arm. hahaha so we brought the food back (hardly going to leave Sasha in the truck while we sit inside!) and deemed it picnic weather. So more warm rock and playing puppy -- this time with food :)

By this point Sasha was ready for her afternoon nap (which I also thought was an excellent idea, but alas the chores hadn't magically vanished...) And Dad stuck around and helped with stalls and sweeping so we managed to still get done in a reasonable time. I had places I had to get to before 6:00 (why do things close at 6??? That just doesn't make any sense to me at all...) and had a MUST-leave-before deadline of 4. Well I made it out shortly after 4:30 -- close enough *g* hahaha classic eh? And I *did* in-fact get to both places in time, so all good. Had to cut one a little short, but not tragic.

So did anything brilliant get accomplished today? Not particularly. But everything that needed to get done, got done eventually. And more importantly - I really enjoyed it. Got to hang out with my puppy and my dad and enjoy the stunning weather while watching my horses play in the field. Those kind of moments shouldn't be missed just to get some stalls mucked. That whole priority thing again -- all work is not really the way to go.

And today was a prime example. After all, time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time...

Night time is really the best time to work. All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep. ~Catherine O'Hara

I am a creature of the night.  To the best of my recollection, I have always BEEN a creature of the night.   About 10:00 I wake up, by midnight I feel alive, and by 3am inspired.

I love the night sky -- sitting out in the blackness with an endless blanket of sparkling lights above me, feeling both completely insignificant and as though the whole world is mine all at the same time.  That just doesn't happen during the day.   Or with a brilliant moon, seeing the world lit only subtly, revealing the mystery behind otherwise ordinary objects, and the secrets hidden in the complex.  What would the moonlight reveal about you?   All this in extreme quiet, broken only occasionally by the other nocturnal creatures.   Would you break the silence?

At night I can read or write, dream or plan (and those who know me realize how very closely those two words are related! :), think, study, or even do productive albeit mundane things like clean.  During the daylight hours somehow even IF I had time, these things rarely seem to happen.  And these things being done, I feel much more alive.

The issue?  14h work days mean nights have to be spent primarily asleep.  Boooo.

But tomorrow, for the first time in I have no idea how long, barring anything catastrophic happening, I get a WHOLE DAY OFF.   Woohoo!   Thanks to Stephy and Kirby and the fact that I don't teach on Wed nights, I can sleep in as long as I very well please.  Which means that for this one night I need not set an alarm, and I can spend it as it was meant to be spent :)

May make Thurs a little dodgy since I switch from days to nights significantly faster than I switch from nights to days, but sobeit *g*

And now, I'm going to shut my computer down, and listen to the clock tick as my mind wanders.  Who knows where it may end up?

Thanksgiving Weekend :)

So Thanksgiving weekend was absolutely amazing!  Thanks tons to Hailey for looking after the barn for me -- greatly appreciated!

Weather was, well about as perfect as it gets really.  Bright, sunny and warm!

Temp according to my car :)

Went up to the cottage, one of my favourite places in the world to spend time, and got there in time for an amazing dinner :)   mmmmmm sooooo much good food.  Sweet!

What can I say?  I was HUNGRY!

So anyways the whole weekend was just about perfect.  Relaxing and fun and good company.  Finally had a chance to play with my camera a bit :)  Pics will eventually be on FB, but it's currently not letting me u/l anything.  Boo.  Anyways - fav shot of the weekend:

Can't decide whether this one is cool, creepy, or both :)

Had a good laugh when we were out on the boat...  Knew where we were and how to get home, but not exactly how to get where we were going -- so don't they whip out the GPI (ummm that'd be official plural of GPS :) on the various iphones.  Out in the middle of a lake in the middle of nowhere - staying at a cottage with no electricity - yet somehow the smart phones save the day.  And sure enough, they got us where we were supposed to be going :)

Ugh - sorry about the orange -- pc I'm on has no editing software.  Boo.  Maybe fix another day :)   But you get the point *g*

Had an even better laugh on the way home though -- didn't feel like sitting in crazy traffic, so pulled off the highway north of Barrie.  Now I know lots of ways home from Barrie, but they all start in the south end.  Pulled out my map book (remember those?  pre-nav/smart-phones/etc...  pieces of paper all bound together -- they have images of maps on each one and you have to flip between them to follow any particular road :) anyways - planned my new route, stopped for gas, and good to go.   Problem is, new route didn't go where the decade-old map book said it would.  Fail.  And at least two streets I was on had "turn here for road X" signs -- neither one of which led to road X.  Sheesh.   Anyways at one point I just had this feeling that something was very wrong and I was more lost than I should be...  Finally figured out -- the sun was on the wrong side.   I should be going south or west and the sun was on my left side at 4pm.   Fail.  So I turned around and went back to the last "turn here for road X" sign and basically ignored it and just kept driving.  Navigated by the sun till I found a sign pointing toward a town I knew was in the right direction and then followed that.   But at one point it hit me how sad it was that with all the technology we'd had on that little boat in the middle of nowhere, I was navigating using the sun >;-P   Sheesh.

I did, however, make it back with enough time to feed my horses *and* sneak in a short hack :)  Yeah me.

The little things in life...

There is very little in this world that I would rate more highly on the 'simple pleasures' list than a perfect, star-lit, summer's night. 25ish degrees with a warm gentle breeze blowing. Stars brilliant against a black sky. Or alternately a harvest moon -- either option works for me :)

Got home around 10:30 tonight, but it was just that kind of night and I sooo wasn't ready to come inside yet. So decided to go for a run (remember that 15k idea -- yeah it's creeping up awfully fast and running all of about once a week - if that! - isn't really getting me anywhere :) It's been legitimately too hot to run during the days and most evenings I'm rather zonked by the time I get home, but today I was feeling good so away I went.

Now you have to understand - I'm a night person. I have always *been* a night person. If the day never started before about 10am and regularly went till 2, I'd be thrilled. Except I'd stay up late and even 10 would seem too early *g* The issue is, with this whole "adult" thing, no matter how late I'm up I still have to get up in the am. Boooo. And when I exercise, I'm usually rather spun (hence writing at midnight -- no sleep for a while yet!) Which makes the next morning brutal. But I'll worry about that tomorrow.

So I enjoy night. And I usually get an energy burst around 10 or 10:30 in the evening. And today I took advantage of it. Now running at night I learned a few things...

There are fewer people out (can't imagine why! :) but they ones that are are *much* friendlier. When I run that same route during the day, everybody I meet is in their own little bubble, bitterly trying to get some exercise in before their real day starts. Running at night, I met very few people, but every one of them smiled and at least said hi.

I have a vivid imagination. It's made more so by nightfall. This can be good or not >;-P hahhaha I swear I had half a dozen stories half written by the time I was finished my run; the only issue is I can't run and write at the same time, so they're now all lost. I know better than to try and reclaim them -- that never works. This vivid imagination though did at least keep me safely in reasonably well lit areas. Much as I wanted to run through the forest, the grown-up side of me said that would be a really dumb idea. And for once I listened to her.

Running on well paved streets requires FAR less effort than dirt roads. I could run faster and easier and was significantly less tired. I think that's the first run I've done where my cardio gave out before my muscles.

And this was due to lack of watch. Or not so much lack of watch as inability to read said watch in the dark. hahaha so instead of carefully rating my pace and x mins "running" (read carefully contained jog) x mins walking. It was more of run as hard and as fast as you can just for the sheer power of it and don't stop till you have to. I realize this is not the ideal training schedule, but it was a lot more fun *g* Well till I had to stop - a pretty brutal minute or two there, but I recovered and repeated the game; stopping just *slightly* before brutal on consecutive occasions.

Was the first run that I would say came anywhere close to resembling "fun" -- although I suspect a nice quiet walk through the same evening would've had the same results *g* But we'll ignore that little detail :)

And on a completely different note -- Athena got on the trailer after only about 20 mins today with no kicking, striking, or drama. Sweet. We're getting there.

Things I love about summer

Ok so admittedly a rather boring title, but sometimes you just need to be accurate... hahaha so that being said...

Things I love about summer:

XC!!!! hahaha comeon, you know that had to be first :)
Heat! Wonderful glorious heat.
Ice cream -- the perfect companion to the wonderful glorious heat.
XC :)
Grazing my horse in the long grass next to the stream after xc :)
Longer days and less brutal work -- a brilliant combination.
Weed eating -- ok so I realize this is technically a chore, but there's something fun about utterly and completely destroying something that's been annoying you. And my visualization skills are strong *g*
XC >;-P
Swimming -- or more accurately occasionally rolling off a floaty toy into pool/river/lake and then climbing back on said floaty toy until warm again.
Driving with the windows open and the radio blaring :)
Sunlight! That's all it takes to make the day at least a little bit better.
Have I mentioned xc???

Yes so I took Li'l Lissy xc this am. What a superstar. Once she got over the "I'm ALONE!?!?!?" panic she was a complete pro. By the end spotting her own fences and taking me to them :) We went exploring and found random things to go over that she's never seen. Forged the river in several locations with never a hesitation. By the second try had figured out how to keep her balance trotting down the hills. But I just loved her attitude. She's see a fence, ears perk forward, body all happy "Hey, let's go jump that! Can we jump that? Sweet!" And then we'd get a little closer and you could feel the equine equivalent of her eyes getting wide... "Ummm are you *sure* we should jump this?" Yes Lis... "Oh, ok then. If you say so." and body relaxes again and away we go. Landing with "wheee! We jumped it!" hahaha she was *such* a superstar. I did have to pull her off the line to one of the T fences she picked that I felt she wasn't *quite* ready for yet since she really should only be doing PE this year (hahaha given that we rarely jump above 2'9" in the ring prob best if we don't try 3' with a drop on the landing on xc :) But dead honest and eager w/o being hot. Within a year or two I can see her and Bella battling it out for being the first year rider show superstar of the group :)

Anyways - was a fun day :)

I love summer.

Absolutely pointless babble

So honestly when it's 15deg, sunny, and no wind, there's really nothing better to do than ride :) Miss Si was beyond amazing -- one day (if I can stay on long enough!) she's going to be an amazing jumper. hahaha more on that in the GRS blog *g*

On my way to go swimming shortly. That's always an adventure and a half. Have been reading about proper form -- we'll see if I can apply it. hahaha ah well -- always good to start w/ theory right? It's good exercise if nothing else :) Gotta learn to breath. After years of passing out @ jump 4 on the first XC run of the year from not breathing you'd think I'd've learned that lesson but evidently not. N apparently it applies to all facets of life. Who knew?

So Sat is supposed to be perfect riding weather... Where to go? That's def the question of the day :) Suggestions?

Ok well there was originally a point to this, but I've long forgotten what it is, so I'm gonna go hit the pool and see if it comes back to me.

Later!

What do you say when there's nothing to say?

So had a fun ride today -- my pony was on speed. hahaha the others in the ring were highly amused by this. She wasn't being bad @ all, but she was pretty determined that we were going somewhere and going to get there yesterday! It was actually fairly entertaining. IPosting at that rate is a workout and a half >;-P We also got to jump with a ring crew! woohoo :) Turns out there are some advantages to riding around a beginner jumping lesson. hahaha little jumps small enough to be appropriate for Si, and people willing to put them back up if we knock them down. What more can you ask?

We even cantered a fence! And ground crew said her form was really good :) Yeah us! Still a long way from the likes of Grandview, but hey it's still a jump in the right direction.

Yeah so it turns out I actually have nothing of interest to write today -- I was just really psyched about the ride today and thought I'd share :)

To ride or not to ride? What a stupid question!

So I went on THE most fun hack ever today. But I have to tell you, the people I was riding w/ don't define "hack" as "lazy-trail-ride" the way I tend to hahaha. Oh no. There was a whole lot of power trotting, some cantering, a fair amount of bouncing-in-place (given that 2 of us were on TBs and the one who knew were we were going was NOT :) and a couple gallop sets :)

I, not knowing the plan (but admittedly easily convinced), was in dr tack :( Boooo on that. So stirrups promptly got rolled so I could at least get off his back... Still not proper XC length of course, but better.

3 horses, little RC who's full TB but not very fit, Johnny who's also full TB and IS very fit, and Cotton who's paint w/ who-knows-what in him. Both Johnny and Cotton upgraded to T the weekend I got here so they're pretty well good to go. RC was living in a field till a couple wks ago *g*

Some of the trails we were on were snowmobile trails, so they were A, in very good condition and B, signed. hahaha the one that had a "sharp curve" warning had grafitti scribbled on it saying "REALLY BAD". We took that particular warning to heart and slowed down a bit *g* -- I wish I'd taken a pic, but we were going entirely too fast for that.

Very good thing these are XC horses cause more than once we found ourselves in water obsticals; one in particular was entertaining -- bridge was under water and def not safe for horses... so we just went around the bridge and through the stream instead. hahaha there was another area where the path had been flodded out except for one tiny section in the middle of this "lake" -- we figure all good water complexes have something in the middle of them. There were also a few random logs etc that you just have to go over... hahaha

So being as we were on a mountain the trails twisted and turned and we were generally always going up or down. We quickly got into the habbit of going up a whole lot faster than down *g* But never super-fast cause the two of us on fast horses don't know the trail. But then the woman who was leading turns to us and says "ok so as soon as we make this turn, there's a gallop hill that should even tire Johnny out. You guys can be as idiotic as you want; I'll meet you at the top" hahaha So Johnny's rider looks at me "you ready?" oh yeah... But they've been doing cross all summer and have the 0-60 in a stride or less thing down. hahaha RC hasn't quite got the instant take-off down yet -- it took him 3 or 4 strides to really kick into gear -- BUT we caught up! And WOW what a ride. hahaha I haven't gone that fast in several years. Zel was VERY fast when she wanted to be, but not full-TB fast. I'd forgotten what that kind of ride is like. N of course the first time you duck to dodge a branch the horse takes your weight-shift as a sign to go faster... hahaha There was one turn that little RC did entirely on his own cause I couldn't even see where we were going! Good pony :) Now we were, in fact, going almost straight up a mountain -- n I could feel RC run out of gas b4 we reached the top... But of course, being a TB, was running on adrenaline and had NO interest in stopping. And I admit I just let him go :) I could see where it ended so I didn't think he'd really come to any harm. N was soooo much fun, for both of us *g* But I def made sure he got a nice long walk break at the top of the mountain. I was very impressed that he could keep up w/ the other (fit!) TB -- I really hadn't expected him too. The last horse made it up a min or two later... She also galloped, but on a different scale *g*

So once we break through the trees at the top of said gallop hill all of a sudden there's this stunning vista. Unbelievable views of the mountains around. And there's a random telephone pole in the middle of the field, which Johnny's rider immediately trotted over to "here Laur, you have to sign the book." ummmm ok??? So there's a box attached to the pole, and in it is a zip-locked bag w/ a book and writing untensils. Sure enuff, messages from all sorts of people who made it to the top of the mountain w/ dates etc... They *think* it originated w/ the snowmobilers logging miles, but seems to have been taken over by everyone. So yes I signed the book :) They told me I couldn't dismount to do so, so I'm not convinced it's legible, but it did amuse me. N of course RC was tired enuff after the gallop up the hill not to wander toooooo far.



I'll tell ya, much as I enjoy the fall hack w/ the ladies @ home (you know who you are) every year -- this just blew that all away. The unbelievable scenery and crazy mountain paths, combined w/ the adrenaline rush XC. D I really wish you'd been here for this one.

I'm still grinning. Hours later.

Pics if you're interested: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=175028&l=abe99&id=823765365

For those who wonder why... Today's ride was part of the answer :)

So today was one of those days that you just shake your head and wonder "how did I ever get to be so lucky?" It was unbelievably amazing, and particularly when contrasted w/ what I "gave up" to be here, that much more so. N yes I know I wouldn't *really* have been at the office today as I heard a rumour it's Saturday, but I would've been yesterday so I figure it balances

For the first time it's SUNNY. Just < 10deg, so your classic crisp fall day. AND the outside ring has dried up perfectly! That's right -- jump school! woohoo! (ok so I had a full YEAR of dressage -- other than training Sug and occasionally riding a few other random horses I really didn't do much jumping at all so I clearly have to make up for lost time :)

And not only are we scheduled for a morning jump school -- but I've got somebody to ride w/ now. hahha jump lessons are usually semi-private, but Cayman wasn't *quite* ready for that. One other girl w/ a super-talented greenbean though so she and I have been paired up.

Cayman was *beyond* spinny. Galloping around in his paddock, n just quivering as I led him out to the ring... hmmmmm could make for an interesting ride :) N of course Denny shows up early -- walks in just as I'm about to get on. So I ask him to hold C for me while I mount (it's not C's strong point). Now this is tricky, cause we all know how much Cayman likes Denny ;-} And Denny's not known for chilling out spinny horses... But I didn't want to get yelled at for not being able to get on so... Denny holds the horse, or tries to. Yeah we basically ran him over while I was getting on -- fortunatly he let go and got out of the way. NOT the best start >;-P ah well, I tried :) So then I'm trying to make Cayman walk, as per other lectures. "RIDE THAT HORSE!" ummmm ok :) Nice power trot around the ring, occasionally shying at things, but honestly not bad. The whole time I'm being lectured about how he should be lunged till I can get on him safely and WALK away etc etc etc. N yes I accept that it's not the *best* scenario to get on a horse that runs away, but really I've been here b4, several times, I always manage to chill them out eventually. N lunging indefinitely just really isn't my thing. Besides which, should an unfit horse really run around in little circles? But sobeit - I've been told to lunge so we'll lunge. At least for a day or so! >;-P hahaha I lasted what, 2 days last time?

So I may have the greenbean of the pack when it comes to jumping or anything related to xc, but we have kick-ass dressage :) hahaha it feels like cheating to start w/ a horse who already knows all that. The w/u part of things went really well (once we got through the initial run-around-and-spook-at-stuff phase; funny how until today I haven't been able to canter more than one lap around the ring cause he's not fit enough -- but the start of today's ride was "go canter him more" hahaha). Anyways we start w/ 3 trotting poles -- woohoo several levels up from our last 'jump' lesson :) hahaha n C was a star. Really couldn't care less about them. So then time to jump.

Theory part of the lesson: when teaching a greenbean to jump their job is to get to the other side, gracefully :) hahaha That's it. N the jumps have to be small enough that if the 'gracefully' part of things doesn't work, it doesn't matter. Also "little and often" -- as in do tiny jumps and LOTS of them. Was happy to hear this as it's the theory I've always gone w/ :)

So Denny lowers all the jumps in the ring and basically says "go jump" (my girls would love his teaching style, speedbumps are totally allowed!) -- all fences are to be in trot to begin w/ -- but the first thing we did was an X w/ a 90deg turn to a vert. Not exactly *easy* hahaha but Cayman pulled it off. (now you have to understand -- almost all the fences were about 2' -- the absolute biggest was maybe 2'3" -- so this is not exactly the grand prix ring here). But basically his warmup was a course. He jumped 7 fences in a row -- including a brick wall, bright yellow flowers, boxes, a scary jump that couldn't decide whether it was an X or a vert, pylons, etc. Basically everything except the liverpool (too wide) and a couple fences that were too big for where he is now (next week :). The idea being throw everything at him he's going to see later, just tiny-sized. I've never seen a brick wall so small b4. N since they're all so small, no point to a long w/u over and over the same fence -- just jump around :) He was awesome. VERY hesitant at first, but by the end was jumping around confidently. Even did a few in canter (which were, quite honestly, much better :)

So then we go hacking. Now really, it doesn't get much nicer than this. Crisp, sunny fall day. Horses are chilled cause they've been ridden for an hour already. Mountain trails entirely covered w/ a blanket of leaves. That "fall" smell to the air. Sound of leaves rustling in the trees and shuffling as the horses' hooves land. Just about perfect.

Of course getting TO the trails was exciting -- we had to pass over a causeway right beside the water complex, w/ the scary hay feeder on the other side and a big moving tractor in front. hahaha the horse that's in the paddock w/ said hay feeder is *very* impressive (the word "presence" aptly describes him. "wow" would also be appropriate). He also feels the need to socialize w/ anybody in the vicinity. So while Cayman's rapidly trying to back up away from the causeway (I have visions of us doing our first few XC courses in reverse!!!!) Coby (yes that really is his name :) comes galloping up behind him -- and passes him. Well poor Cayman didn't know WHAT to do about that. REALLY wants to go gallop w/ Coby, but oh so scary path that way... But oh look, there goes Coby again (who's running laps around a tree so passing C on a regular basis) let's go w/ him! Oh but it's scary... Oh but I really want to go play! (and meantime the *actual* greenbean is standing oh so calmly on the other side of the causeway waiting for us). hahaha so eventually Cayman decided he'd just pick his feet up REALLY high (how to teach passage!) over the causeway -- just in case it tried to suck him in! hahaha didn't even run fast, just this crazy high-stepping trot till we were past it. Was totally chilled for the rest of the hack -- except for a *slight* meltdown @ the water. But we spent a good 15 mins going in and out across it till he'd do it @ least almost well :) Again, greenbean horse totally showed us up. He tried to figure out what Cayman was concerned about, but gave up! hahaha Other than that though, he was great.

But yeah, nothing much beats a good fall hack :)