It's been a while since I've written... I was busy traveling on a wild west adventure helping some friends move to Nevada. If you haven't already, you should check out the pictures on facebook. It was a pretty awesome trip.
Well my new job is in full force by now. It's so weird to think that just 4 years ago I was sitting listening to the presentation I'm now giving. So far I've really enjoyed most of the students. Yesterday's group in particular was really interactive and I found something in common with every one of the students. Today's group, not so much, but that's okay. I have had some interesting experiences so far though.
During the presentation, the students have "homework" where they have to pick out what WRA, ISS, and IAHs (general education courses) they think they want to take. They have this nice little worksheet where they can fill everything out and bring it to their advisors the next day to help them in enrolling in classes. I had one student, we'll call him "John", who was noticeably distracted during my entire presentation. I don't think he looked at the projector screen once. Come to find out, the following day during his appointment with the advisors, he didn't have a single thing written down on his worksheet. When the advisor asked him why, he said it was just too confusing and he had no idea what to do. The advisor asked John if he had asked me for help (keep in mind, I asked them TWICE if they understood what they were supposed to be doing.) His response? "Well, no..." Ugh!
Then the other day I had another student, "Bill" who came in with a lip ring which he played with during the entire presentation. His only question? "So, if we get married during the semester, can we get out of our housing contract?" Now, I do appreciate the students asking questions. But my presentation was on pre-vet classes. I think when he asked the question we were on the slide covering how to get into vet school. So where that question came from, I have no idea. I can't imagine even contemplating marriage at age 17/18 and I certainly wouldn't have picked him as a guy considering settling down, but I guess that's a lesson in not judging a book by it's cover.
Now off to work a horse show this weekend! Hopefully it won't be too rainy!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Wow, I feel like summer is flying by. Wednesday I had an orientation meeting for my new job. I think I'm going to really like it and the people I will be working with! I also was able to get the first few days off, which is great, because it means I get to help some friends move out to Nevada. We'll take about a week driving out there, visiting various places along the way like Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, etc. All places I haven't been to before, so I'm very excited!
Today was a pretty lazy day, although I did ride Bingo. She was hard to catch again, so I went and spent some time with Oliver, who liked eating Bingo's treats (and it was hard to tell, but I think he lost a shoe again? :( ) Then Bingo finally let me catch her. We rode in the indoor today since the outdoor dressage arena was blown over. Bingo started out really good. She was lazy, but her trot work was nice and calm and she was super soft in the bridle and not bearing down on the reins. So I'm thrilled with the trot work, so I give her a walk break, then trot a little more and then ask for a canter... and all hell breaks loose, lol. I guess the relaxed attitude didn't translate to the canter work. We worked through it a bit, but for some reason her canter work was a little worse than usual today. We did go back and do some trot work, and it was AWESOME! I did a lot of sitting trot and we did 10m circles and shoulder-in and leg yields and she was great! I'd definitely say her trot work was solid 1st level today. She was even on both sides and not leaning and I finally got nice leg yields all the way from centerline to the wall without her putting her head in the air or fussing at all. Such a good girl!
Next week is going to be crazy. Cedar Point on Monday I think, then lots of errands/last minute stuff to do on Tuesday, then back home Wednesday for Kelsey's graduation, back to EL and then off to Kalamazoo so we can leave for our road trip bright and early Thursday morning. Yikes! I see lots of fun in my future though :)
Today was a pretty lazy day, although I did ride Bingo. She was hard to catch again, so I went and spent some time with Oliver, who liked eating Bingo's treats (and it was hard to tell, but I think he lost a shoe again? :( ) Then Bingo finally let me catch her. We rode in the indoor today since the outdoor dressage arena was blown over. Bingo started out really good. She was lazy, but her trot work was nice and calm and she was super soft in the bridle and not bearing down on the reins. So I'm thrilled with the trot work, so I give her a walk break, then trot a little more and then ask for a canter... and all hell breaks loose, lol. I guess the relaxed attitude didn't translate to the canter work. We worked through it a bit, but for some reason her canter work was a little worse than usual today. We did go back and do some trot work, and it was AWESOME! I did a lot of sitting trot and we did 10m circles and shoulder-in and leg yields and she was great! I'd definitely say her trot work was solid 1st level today. She was even on both sides and not leaning and I finally got nice leg yields all the way from centerline to the wall without her putting her head in the air or fussing at all. Such a good girl!
Next week is going to be crazy. Cedar Point on Monday I think, then lots of errands/last minute stuff to do on Tuesday, then back home Wednesday for Kelsey's graduation, back to EL and then off to Kalamazoo so we can leave for our road trip bright and early Thursday morning. Yikes! I see lots of fun in my future though :)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Pony Update
Just a quick horse update...
Went out this afternoon to catch Bingo, but someone turned her out without her halter... she quickly ate the treats I had in my hand and then galloped away so I couldn't catch her. Ugh! So I tried to catch her for a while, but she was being really stubborn, so I decided to go visit Oliver. He enjoyed the rest of Bingo's treats. (And he had both shoes on, YAY!) Then went back to try to catch Bingo, and she let me catch her finally!
I decided we both needed a break from arena work, so I took her out to the cross country field with a couple of the other girls. It was incredibly windy today, but Bingo was pretty good for the most part. We had a little bit of an issue with bending/steering (but that could be because I was riding in her jumping saddle and I'm not the most comfortable in jumping saddles,) and she really didn't want to get close to the water (but there were some BIG horses running through the water, so I don't really blame her.) We did have some AWESOME canter work though! We had perfect transitions (although I think that's because cantering was her idea... now to make it her idea every time I want her to canter...) And surprisingly, her canter was very adjustable even though we were out in a huge field.
Went out this afternoon to catch Bingo, but someone turned her out without her halter... she quickly ate the treats I had in my hand and then galloped away so I couldn't catch her. Ugh! So I tried to catch her for a while, but she was being really stubborn, so I decided to go visit Oliver. He enjoyed the rest of Bingo's treats. (And he had both shoes on, YAY!) Then went back to try to catch Bingo, and she let me catch her finally!
I decided we both needed a break from arena work, so I took her out to the cross country field with a couple of the other girls. It was incredibly windy today, but Bingo was pretty good for the most part. We had a little bit of an issue with bending/steering (but that could be because I was riding in her jumping saddle and I'm not the most comfortable in jumping saddles,) and she really didn't want to get close to the water (but there were some BIG horses running through the water, so I don't really blame her.) We did have some AWESOME canter work though! We had perfect transitions (although I think that's because cantering was her idea... now to make it her idea every time I want her to canter...) And surprisingly, her canter was very adjustable even though we were out in a huge field.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Memorial Day Weekend
I had a very fun-filled weekend. It started out kind of slow, with not much going on Saturday. I tried to ride but couldn't catch Bingo, so that didn't happen. Jake and I did make a yummy dinner though! We had Hawaiian barbecue chicken and this potato, broccoli, and sausage dish that we learned from someone who we met while grilling a while back.
Sunday started out with a great service at church. We had a visiting minister from Africa give the sermon. Afterwards, we were served ethnic food from Africa which was really yummy while we were able to stop at all these booths to see how we could help minister to those in Africa. Jake and I ended up sponsoring a child in Kenya. His name is Benard and he's adorable. I'll have to post a picture of him later. We get to write to him and send him pictures and he'll write back to us about 3 times/year. As far as sponsoring goes, it will ensure he is able to go to school and has clothes and is able to learn about Christianity at his school.
Afterwards, we headed out to the west coast to go to various marinas and look at boats. Despite the stormy weather, it was a lot of fun.
Here's a cool wooden sailboat we found.
I started out Monday by going riding. Luckily I was able to text someone at the barn and have Bingo left in so that I didn't have to worry about catching her out in the pasture. I decided to try riding her without her martingale, just to see how she'd be. We rode outside in the dressage ring. She was ok. They got some new horses in and one of the new horses was in a pasture by itself and whinnying and they were bringing horses in and out, so it was quite distracting. We didn't canter, but got some nice trot work in the end. Bingo is definitely better with the martingale, but I think I might try riding her without it once a week just to see how she does and hopefully help gradually wean her off of it. After our ride, we rode up to the jump arena again and just kind of walked around while chatting to Ashley and Maddie. Bingo got a bath afterwards since it was so hot out. She was really good and stood while I held her and hosed her off. Then she got to go back out to the pasture, which she was excited about.
The rest of Monday was spent at the pool, where I got an awful sunburn (but only on my back... this might lead to an interesting tan!) Then Jake and I snuck away to set up for his roommate's surprise party. We decorated the whole apartment (well, Jake's other roommate and I did, Jake just kind of stood there) along with the birthday boy's car. He was completely surprised and his girlfriend was so excited to have pulled it off. We spent some time grilling hot dogs and spent the rest of the afternoon playing frisbee (I learned this cool new throw! Although it took me a few hours to get the hang of it, haha) and then playing Nerz.
Overall a very fun weekend!
Sunday started out with a great service at church. We had a visiting minister from Africa give the sermon. Afterwards, we were served ethnic food from Africa which was really yummy while we were able to stop at all these booths to see how we could help minister to those in Africa. Jake and I ended up sponsoring a child in Kenya. His name is Benard and he's adorable. I'll have to post a picture of him later. We get to write to him and send him pictures and he'll write back to us about 3 times/year. As far as sponsoring goes, it will ensure he is able to go to school and has clothes and is able to learn about Christianity at his school.
Afterwards, we headed out to the west coast to go to various marinas and look at boats. Despite the stormy weather, it was a lot of fun.
I started out Monday by going riding. Luckily I was able to text someone at the barn and have Bingo left in so that I didn't have to worry about catching her out in the pasture. I decided to try riding her without her martingale, just to see how she'd be. We rode outside in the dressage ring. She was ok. They got some new horses in and one of the new horses was in a pasture by itself and whinnying and they were bringing horses in and out, so it was quite distracting. We didn't canter, but got some nice trot work in the end. Bingo is definitely better with the martingale, but I think I might try riding her without it once a week just to see how she does and hopefully help gradually wean her off of it. After our ride, we rode up to the jump arena again and just kind of walked around while chatting to Ashley and Maddie. Bingo got a bath afterwards since it was so hot out. She was really good and stood while I held her and hosed her off. Then she got to go back out to the pasture, which she was excited about.
Getting ready to ride.
Trotting out to eat grass afterwards.
So nice and clean and shiny after her bath!
The rest of Monday was spent at the pool, where I got an awful sunburn (but only on my back... this might lead to an interesting tan!) Then Jake and I snuck away to set up for his roommate's surprise party. We decorated the whole apartment (well, Jake's other roommate and I did, Jake just kind of stood there) along with the birthday boy's car. He was completely surprised and his girlfriend was so excited to have pulled it off. We spent some time grilling hot dogs and spent the rest of the afternoon playing frisbee (I learned this cool new throw! Although it took me a few hours to get the hang of it, haha) and then playing Nerz.
Overall a very fun weekend!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Bingo Update
Just a quick Bingo update for her owner, Christine...
We rode out in the dressage arena today. Considering it was COLD (where's summer??? I swear it was like 40 degrees out today!) and windy, Bingo was good. We had a few discussions about bending, especially to the right. I tried something new today where if she's refusing to bend (usually by stopping or backing up) I just sit there and continually ask her to bend. She kind of fussed and raised her head and started backing up, but I just sat there and kept my leg on. When she stopped backing up, my leg came off and I let her stand there and think about it for a moment. Then I put my leg back on, asking her to move forward. If she went forward, great. If instead she started backing up, we just repeated the process. It took a while, but she seemed to get it and we got some great trot work. We worked a little bit on leg yields, which she did with minimal fussing. We also did a little bit of work on turn on the haunches. I'm not sure if she's done those before? But at any rate, she did them, they just weren't entirely pretty. But she understood the general idea of what I was asking for, so that's good. I just wanted to start doing some work getting her to understand she can move her haunches and her shoulders when I ask her to. I think that will help a lot with the bending issue and her trying to evade by dropping her right shoulder. We did a little bit of canter, but it wasn't the best today. We ended with some nice stretching trot and then to cool out, we went for a walk up to the upper jump ring. She was great, even though we were up there all by ourselves.
I checked on Oliver too today and gave him some treats. He was so funny. As I'm walking towards him, he decides to lay down and then while he's laying down, he's munching away on the grass in front of him. It was so cute! He lost his shoe again :( But James knows and is taking care of it (Christine has an awesome boyfriend!) Luckily, Caitlin found one of his shoes today too. But we're not sure if it's the shoe he lost most recently because it looks a little different from the one shoe he still has on. Oliver also ripped his blanket last night :( He must have been having fun with his buddies!
And quick edit: Today (Saturday) I went to ride Bingo in the morning, but she wouldn't let me catch her :( We tried everything from treats, to grain, to haltering her buddy and trying to take him out to see if she would follow. Nothing worked, so after about 30 minutes we gave up. If I ever decide to ride her in the morning again, I think I'm going to text Caitlin to have her kept in, since apparently Bingo doesn't think she should have to come in so soon after being turned out, lol. Caitlin also found another one of Oliver's shoes, though, so that's good news!
We rode out in the dressage arena today. Considering it was COLD (where's summer??? I swear it was like 40 degrees out today!) and windy, Bingo was good. We had a few discussions about bending, especially to the right. I tried something new today where if she's refusing to bend (usually by stopping or backing up) I just sit there and continually ask her to bend. She kind of fussed and raised her head and started backing up, but I just sat there and kept my leg on. When she stopped backing up, my leg came off and I let her stand there and think about it for a moment. Then I put my leg back on, asking her to move forward. If she went forward, great. If instead she started backing up, we just repeated the process. It took a while, but she seemed to get it and we got some great trot work. We worked a little bit on leg yields, which she did with minimal fussing. We also did a little bit of work on turn on the haunches. I'm not sure if she's done those before? But at any rate, she did them, they just weren't entirely pretty. But she understood the general idea of what I was asking for, so that's good. I just wanted to start doing some work getting her to understand she can move her haunches and her shoulders when I ask her to. I think that will help a lot with the bending issue and her trying to evade by dropping her right shoulder. We did a little bit of canter, but it wasn't the best today. We ended with some nice stretching trot and then to cool out, we went for a walk up to the upper jump ring. She was great, even though we were up there all by ourselves.
I checked on Oliver too today and gave him some treats. He was so funny. As I'm walking towards him, he decides to lay down and then while he's laying down, he's munching away on the grass in front of him. It was so cute! He lost his shoe again :( But James knows and is taking care of it (Christine has an awesome boyfriend!) Luckily, Caitlin found one of his shoes today too. But we're not sure if it's the shoe he lost most recently because it looks a little different from the one shoe he still has on. Oliver also ripped his blanket last night :( He must have been having fun with his buddies!
And quick edit: Today (Saturday) I went to ride Bingo in the morning, but she wouldn't let me catch her :( We tried everything from treats, to grain, to haltering her buddy and trying to take him out to see if she would follow. Nothing worked, so after about 30 minutes we gave up. If I ever decide to ride her in the morning again, I think I'm going to text Caitlin to have her kept in, since apparently Bingo doesn't think she should have to come in so soon after being turned out, lol. Caitlin also found another one of Oliver's shoes, though, so that's good news!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Getting Connected
It's been an eventful last few days. I decided I don't want to live where I'm living now for next year, so I spent some time shopping around and finding a new apartment. Everything ended up falling into place perfectly, and we'll be subleasing an apartment from a couple of med students for a month, and then just staying in the same apartment for the following year. It's perfect. The only unperfect part is that I move in just after Jake moves out. It will be a little strange living there at first I think because I'm so used to seeing him whenever I go there.
Rode Bingo yesterday too. It was raining, so the horses were inside. As I was walking around on Bingo, I saw Brutus's old owner, Ashley, so I sat and talked to her for about 15 minutes. Bingo was surprisingly calm and stood the entire time. I think it upset her a little, though, because afterwards she went a little crazy. She kind of started rearing/bucking and generally being uncooperative. There were also dogs running around barking, which she didn't really like, and we spent a lot of time trying to remain calm and relaxed and forward but not running around like crazy. Oh well, I guess 2 good rides in a row is a lot to ask for. Maddie said she took Bingo for a hack outside Tuesday too, so that might have gotten her a little hyped up. I'm sure with her not getting to go outside because of the rain and me making her stand while I talked to Ashley was just too much for her. Lesson learned. We did get some good trot work in the end though.
Anyways, in talking with Brutus's old owner, she said she had some old photos/videos of him and we should get together sometime to watch them together. I think that would be a lot of fun. She also offered to let me ride some of her horses if I want, which was nice of her.
Today I went to the vet school to get my picture taken. Another fellow student was there at the same time, so it was nice to get to know someone from my class. I commented to Linda, the person in charge of scheduling our photos, that I was going to visit one of my friends in the hospital after the pictures. She knew the person I was visiting, and so had me wait while she wrote her a card for me to take. She then introduced me to Dr. Abood, who apparently already knew of me from my AOP job and from Brutus's death. It's neat to get to know more people from the vet school so that it doesn't seem so scary and unfamiliar and will hopefully make the transition easier.
Ended the day stopping by home because it was my sister's senior prom today. Ahhh! Senior prom?! She's my baby sister! She's not supposed to be going to prom!!! Crazy how time flies. She looked absolutely gorgeous, and it was fun helping her get dressed and doing her nails for her. I just can't believe that was me 4 years ago! It seems like college flew by!
Rode Bingo yesterday too. It was raining, so the horses were inside. As I was walking around on Bingo, I saw Brutus's old owner, Ashley, so I sat and talked to her for about 15 minutes. Bingo was surprisingly calm and stood the entire time. I think it upset her a little, though, because afterwards she went a little crazy. She kind of started rearing/bucking and generally being uncooperative. There were also dogs running around barking, which she didn't really like, and we spent a lot of time trying to remain calm and relaxed and forward but not running around like crazy. Oh well, I guess 2 good rides in a row is a lot to ask for. Maddie said she took Bingo for a hack outside Tuesday too, so that might have gotten her a little hyped up. I'm sure with her not getting to go outside because of the rain and me making her stand while I talked to Ashley was just too much for her. Lesson learned. We did get some good trot work in the end though.
Anyways, in talking with Brutus's old owner, she said she had some old photos/videos of him and we should get together sometime to watch them together. I think that would be a lot of fun. She also offered to let me ride some of her horses if I want, which was nice of her.
Today I went to the vet school to get my picture taken. Another fellow student was there at the same time, so it was nice to get to know someone from my class. I commented to Linda, the person in charge of scheduling our photos, that I was going to visit one of my friends in the hospital after the pictures. She knew the person I was visiting, and so had me wait while she wrote her a card for me to take. She then introduced me to Dr. Abood, who apparently already knew of me from my AOP job and from Brutus's death. It's neat to get to know more people from the vet school so that it doesn't seem so scary and unfamiliar and will hopefully make the transition easier.
Ended the day stopping by home because it was my sister's senior prom today. Ahhh! Senior prom?! She's my baby sister! She's not supposed to be going to prom!!! Crazy how time flies. She looked absolutely gorgeous, and it was fun helping her get dressed and doing her nails for her. I just can't believe that was me 4 years ago! It seems like college flew by!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Summer Retreat?
Well this past weekend I was house and dog sitting. I was told the dog was quite skittish and since they were having their roof redone, I was expected to stay there the majority of the time to make sure she was ok. No problem, I thought. I'll just make this into my own mini-retreat. So I packed up a few books I've been meaning to read along with my Bible and headed over there Saturday morning. Unfortunately, between my lack of sleep the night before and the loud roofers, I didn't accomplish much. I ended up taking a nap, catching up on missed episodes of Grey's, and watching TV. By the time I felt awake enough to start doing some work, it was raining outside, which was terribly disappointing because there was this beautiful, English-style garden I really wanted to read in. Oh, well, I figured I'd leave the retreat for Sunday.
Now, sleeping in strange houses all by myself really freaks me out. I mean, sleeping in my own apartment by myself is scary enough. Somehow, in my sleep-deprived mind, I got to thinking. I believe we all have our time when we're called back home to be with God. Whether we die by a disease, accident, or old age, I believe it is our time to go. But what about if you're murdered? Are you really being called home? Or are you forced to leave before your time? Now, I believe God is able to use all events to fulfill his greater plan, so this confused me a bit. After talking to Jake, we decided you can be forced to leave before it is your time, but God can still use the horrible event to fulfill his greater purpose. Great. But not exactly comforting as I'm sleeping alone in this strange place.
Well, fortunately I did survive the night. After a great sermon Sunday morning about the similiarities/differences between Christianity and Hindium, I felt ready to try to tackle this retreat thing. So I set up a chair in the gardens, got all my books together, grabbed a notebook and pen, and got started. I did have a fairly productive half an hour or so until the beauty around me distracted me. I just had to grab my camera and take some pictures of the beautiful flowers. Ok, now time to focus. Oh wait, there's a flower I didn't notice the first time around. A few pictures later and the dog decided she wanted to go inside. Ok, get her inside and make sure she has plenty of water. Sit back down. Roofer guys decide to move from the front of the house where they have been working to the back, near where I'm sitting. Perfect. As if I wasn't already having a hard enough time concentrating. However, after another hour or so, I'm done with a chapter in each of the 2 workbooks I've been working through. Phew. Time for a break.
This retreat stuff is harder than it sounds. I'm a pretty introverted person, and normally don't mind spending some time alone each day. In fact, I'm a much more pleasant person to be around when I've had my "quiet time" for the day. However, even I was starting to feel isolated and in need of some human interaction. Luckily, Jake came to the rescue and after a game of Ultimate frisbee, I was feeling much better. I met some new people, got a great workout, and had a fun time.
Today, I was extremely productive. Woke up by 6:30 to feed the dog, and after a quick shower, I packed up all of my stuff, made homemade french toast (YUM!), worked a little bit on Bible study stuff, cleaned up the house, dealt with some vet school stuff, and checked my email, all before the owners got back at noon. Then off to the barn to ride Bingo.
It was a very windy day, so windy in fact that the small dressage arena outside has blown over. So we headed to the arena next to it and did some quick trotting and cantering around. Bingo was very excited because not only was it super windy, her friends were all whinnying to her. But she was a good girl and didn't whinny back. We did have some issues with popping her right shoulder, but overall it went well. She was getting more and more excited in this wide open space, though, especially with her friends trying to say "hi" every few minutes, so we headed over to the dressage arena. She wasn't spooky at all, even with the blown over arena. She didn't want to bend to the right, so we had a bit of a discussion about that, and afterwards I got a couple of strides of awesome, awesome canter work. The best I've felt on her so far. So I decided to be done with that. As I'm walking her around, cooling her out, it suddenly starts POURING. Seriously, it was a down pour. And it came out of nowhere. But she didn't even flinch. Good girl! Since it was raining, she got hosed off in the indoor wash rack. She did great, with minimal dancing around. However, as I was sweat-scraping her (getting off all the excess water, for those of you who are non-horsey), she backed away and into a broom. She freaked out, broke one of her cross ties, and then stood there shaking. I felt so bad for her. So I took her out, and back to the normal cross ties to settle down while I put her stuff away. Then I got lots of treats and had her go back into the wash rack and she got lots of treats while she just stood there. Hopefully she won't be scared to go back in next time.
Oh, and here's some photos from my (Almost) Summer Retreat this weekend.
Now, sleeping in strange houses all by myself really freaks me out. I mean, sleeping in my own apartment by myself is scary enough. Somehow, in my sleep-deprived mind, I got to thinking. I believe we all have our time when we're called back home to be with God. Whether we die by a disease, accident, or old age, I believe it is our time to go. But what about if you're murdered? Are you really being called home? Or are you forced to leave before your time? Now, I believe God is able to use all events to fulfill his greater plan, so this confused me a bit. After talking to Jake, we decided you can be forced to leave before it is your time, but God can still use the horrible event to fulfill his greater purpose. Great. But not exactly comforting as I'm sleeping alone in this strange place.
Well, fortunately I did survive the night. After a great sermon Sunday morning about the similiarities/differences between Christianity and Hindium, I felt ready to try to tackle this retreat thing. So I set up a chair in the gardens, got all my books together, grabbed a notebook and pen, and got started. I did have a fairly productive half an hour or so until the beauty around me distracted me. I just had to grab my camera and take some pictures of the beautiful flowers. Ok, now time to focus. Oh wait, there's a flower I didn't notice the first time around. A few pictures later and the dog decided she wanted to go inside. Ok, get her inside and make sure she has plenty of water. Sit back down. Roofer guys decide to move from the front of the house where they have been working to the back, near where I'm sitting. Perfect. As if I wasn't already having a hard enough time concentrating. However, after another hour or so, I'm done with a chapter in each of the 2 workbooks I've been working through. Phew. Time for a break.
This retreat stuff is harder than it sounds. I'm a pretty introverted person, and normally don't mind spending some time alone each day. In fact, I'm a much more pleasant person to be around when I've had my "quiet time" for the day. However, even I was starting to feel isolated and in need of some human interaction. Luckily, Jake came to the rescue and after a game of Ultimate frisbee, I was feeling much better. I met some new people, got a great workout, and had a fun time.
Today, I was extremely productive. Woke up by 6:30 to feed the dog, and after a quick shower, I packed up all of my stuff, made homemade french toast (YUM!), worked a little bit on Bible study stuff, cleaned up the house, dealt with some vet school stuff, and checked my email, all before the owners got back at noon. Then off to the barn to ride Bingo.
It was a very windy day, so windy in fact that the small dressage arena outside has blown over. So we headed to the arena next to it and did some quick trotting and cantering around. Bingo was very excited because not only was it super windy, her friends were all whinnying to her. But she was a good girl and didn't whinny back. We did have some issues with popping her right shoulder, but overall it went well. She was getting more and more excited in this wide open space, though, especially with her friends trying to say "hi" every few minutes, so we headed over to the dressage arena. She wasn't spooky at all, even with the blown over arena. She didn't want to bend to the right, so we had a bit of a discussion about that, and afterwards I got a couple of strides of awesome, awesome canter work. The best I've felt on her so far. So I decided to be done with that. As I'm walking her around, cooling her out, it suddenly starts POURING. Seriously, it was a down pour. And it came out of nowhere. But she didn't even flinch. Good girl! Since it was raining, she got hosed off in the indoor wash rack. She did great, with minimal dancing around. However, as I was sweat-scraping her (getting off all the excess water, for those of you who are non-horsey), she backed away and into a broom. She freaked out, broke one of her cross ties, and then stood there shaking. I felt so bad for her. So I took her out, and back to the normal cross ties to settle down while I put her stuff away. Then I got lots of treats and had her go back into the wash rack and she got lots of treats while she just stood there. Hopefully she won't be scared to go back in next time.
Oh, and here's some photos from my (Almost) Summer Retreat this weekend.
The flowers on this plant were in the shape of hearts! How cool!!!
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