Washington and Horse Show....along with Couch to 5k and Pampered Chef!

So, the horse show has finally come and gone...and after a complete and total meltdown during our lesson on Friday, Morgan and I pulled it together (with the help of our trainer) and managed to make it through the show on Saturday with minor adjustment.  Instead of doing Training Level 1 and 3, we backed off to Intro B and Training 1, seeing as how it was our first show.  We learned a lot, have a lot of great tips to work on, and look forward to our next show (whenever it is), as well as future lessons with our new trainer, who we love.

To get a few other bits of news out of the way, I'm trying to do the Couch to 5k program.  For those not familiar, it takes a couch potato and makes them ready to run a 5k in 9 weeks.  Now, I'm not a total couch potato, but I've also NEVER been a runner, so it's a bit of a challenge for me.  Tomorrow will be the last day of week 1 which involves 60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of fast walk x 8.

AND, I've begun selling Pampered Chef.  So, once I reach my first selling goal, I'll be able to set up a website, which everyone will be able to order through, no matter what area of the country you are in.  Look forward to more updates on that later.  If you're interested in ordering/hosting a show/becoming a consultant, let me know!

As for Washington, had a great time wandering around.  Spent a couple of days visiting my dad, we went to the Puyallup Fair, played a lot of Cribbage, went for some walks, then rented a car and headed down the ocean.  I love the WA/OR coast.  It's so relaxing.  Spent a day in Portland, went to the zoo, then headed back up towards Seattle via Mt Rainier.  It was cloudy and rainy that day, so couldn't see the mountain itself, but the waterfalls were gorgeous, and I found a rainbow that ended in a lake.  It was a little too cold to take a dive to find the pot of gold, so headed back to Seattle before heading home.  It was a nice little reprieve from the daily grind, and took the edge off my wanderlust for the moment.  The plan is to head to New Orleans in January.  Hopefully with a few friends.  If anyone wants to join me for that trip, let me know and I'll keep you in the planning loop.

Boys will be Boys: A Lesson in Herd Dynamics

So, I brought the Baby home from the trainers almost a week ago, and from the minute I put him in the paddock to get readjusted to the other horses, I knew there was going to be an issue. You see, when he left there were just 3 other geldings there. But while he was gone, we added 2 mares to the mix. 2 mares, 2 geldings that weren't gelded till they were over, and then add my Baby who's just been gelded for a couple of months now. One of the geldings was in a pasture by himself due to an injury, but the other gelding was keeping the mares from coming over to see the Baby through the fence, and they were squealing and stomping at each other. I left him in the paddock for a couple of hours to settle down before turning him out. When I finally turned him out, Smoke kept herding up the mares and running them away, but Baby was insistent that he wanted to talk to Morganfee (my new mare). The only problem was, she didn't want to talk to him! So, he was getting bit and kicked by the mares and Smoke (the black gelding). The next day, not much had changed. Baby was mostly off by himself, but you would hear occasional squeals when he would try to get near the mares and Smoke would chase him off. But, when I went out the following day, they had finally paired off. Baby was with Morgan, so the two chestnuts were together, and Smoke was hanging out with Jersey (the little bay pony mare). The only problem was Smoke was so protective of Jersey, he wouldn't even let ME get near her! :-)

But now things have settled down. Baby is slowly getting back into the getting worked routine. I'm spending lots of time with Jersey, getting her tamed down, and riding Morganfee as much as possible. She's absolutely amazing. Willing to do/learn whatever you ask, a very smooth ride.