I don’t know what happened to September. One moment it was just starting. All of a sudden its nearly over. It’s continued to be a good month with the horses. We have Brian’s student coming out to ride Aiden a couple extra times a week on her own. They are getting along really well. Since… Read more »
Oliver
Big September
It is September 7. So far, this month, I have spent 10.5 hours in the saddle. This is probably a new short-term record for me. I’m not sure I’ve ever started a month off with such a bang. Mostly, I blame the weather. It’s been absolutely gorgeous out. We’ve had perfect temps, just enough rain… Read more »
Oliver, Aiden, and Playing Cow
A lot of the time I find it difficult to get out to the barn on Friday afternoon. After a long week, it seems easier to just stay home and read a book. When I succeed at motivating myself to get out there, I often do it by giving myself permission to just have a… Read more »
The Polar Vortex in Summer
This winter, the crazy low temps we experienced here in Iowa were ostensibly caused by the polar vortex. And last week, it was here again. But instead of plunging temps from the single digits to the negative double digits, this time it gave us a beautiful week of days that were dry, sunny and in… Read more »
And Then There Were Six
When we originally started talking about Brian getting a young horse, we thought we’d do it in the fall — after we’d found either Aiden or Oliver (or both) new homes. But then we found a horse we really wanted. So we bought her and thought we’d just leave her with the breeder until the… Read more »
The First 100
2014 is the 4th year I’ve kept track of how much time I spend riding. In retrospect, I rather wish I’d kept records when I was younger. I’ve been riding for about 22 years. It was just weekly lessons until I got my first horse in 1994. After that, I definitely rode a lot. What… Read more »
Sick Week
It figures that just as the weather turns awesome I would catch a cold. I spent the week pretty much not functional. On Friday, I finally dragged myself out to the barn and rode Steen during Brian’s lesson. Which mostly means I sat there watching while Brian taught. Brian’s student, K, rode Oliver. We thought… Read more »
When You Don’t Have Your Own Horse Anymore
A few weeks ago I retired Bear (Birthday Diplomat) to the therapeutic riding program Miracles in Motion. They’re a PATH International organization located just a short drive away from us. It was a difficult decision to come to, but it is one I had been thinking about for over a year. At 19, Bear was… Read more »
The Summer Groove
Summer seems to be finally here in earnest. I got out to the barn multiple times during the week (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.) Which was good because it means Aiden didn’t get the whole week off. No, of course I am not looking at my phone while sitting on a horse I’ve owned less than… Read more »
My Summer String
We’ve been in a pretty good rhythm with the horses. Work’s been busy for me, so I haven’t been getting out a lot during the week, but we’ve been getting really great weekend rides. I’ve been focusing on Steen and Aiden. Aiden seems sound now, so I’ve been working on just getting into a good… Read more »