The 27th!

On the 27th of February, I rode Teddy Bear completely bareback, with just a halter and lead rope!

Here I am in "neutral," centering myself, listening to Teddy Bear's heartbeat and feeling her breathe.



Riding and focusing on the horse was a lot harder than it was with a saddle to balance on. Not even having a pad to help me stick, I had to focus more of my energy on balance, which I am far from perfect at, which you can see by her tail swish. And my waaay far forward leg, hah!



Here I am preparing, I think, to signal a turn.



I realized that I was not as balanced as I would liked to have though. There were moments, however, when I did not have to think so much about staying centered and balanced. I was able to do more steering than I had before. I was able to keep movement more consistent than before. I am still a novice rider, but I have improved!

And Teddy Bear is a VERY patient girl.

At the end of the riding lesson, I lost my balance and came off her. I landed on my feet and Bo decided that a good dismount, even if it wasn't ENTIRELY voluntary, was a good way to end the lesson for the day. Teddy Bear got to graze a lot.

Solomon spent some time in a stall/pen combo, next to Shin. Sol is the far horse, of course.



Shin is a wonderfully goofy horse. He's the one who will lie down and stare at his own butt in wonder when he farts.









And here is some more Teddy Bear.

Visit yesterday.

Hey folks, going to work backwards. Yesterday was not extremely eventful, so I'm going to write about it first. Please forgive me if my writing quality is not up to snuff right now- it is a little difficult for me to focus.

Right now I'm on some strong medications that make it unsafe for me to drive because I get dizzy spells. Thankfully a couple of friends were kind enough to give me a ride up to the ranch!

Solomon was his usual friendly self, happily coming to the gate and walking out. I got him out just before Remmy managed to get to us. HAH, Remmy!

Sol was a little stubborn about lifting his head of to be haltered because he really wanted to eat grass. We got it on him though, and after that he was a very good boy. He could tell I was in pain, so he was then on his best behavior. We were walking and I was hurting a lot. He normally, these days, walks behind me, but today he rushed up ahead a bit. It took me a moment to realize that he was purposefully walking so I was beside his wither. Yeah you might think this is a stretch, but this is Solomon. I threw my arm over his wither gratefully and held on. When I hurt a lot, he knows. He helps me walk. He still took direction from me, and we got him to the trailer fine.

My friends helped get his grooming box and feed pan out of the tack room, and I was able to muster the strength to clean and iodine his feet. That took a lot out of me and I had to sit for a while. Solly was very good about it. Then my friends brushed him out a bit.

After some rest time I took Solly to the roundpen, where he was a very good boy for me. He was stiff but he walked, trotted, and cantered for me beautifully. Then he found a hidden gopher hole with his back leg, and went down a bit, but didn't fall. I felt so bad because he was cantering and doing exactly what I was asking him to do, and he ended up twisting his ankle in a hole. I really hope his leg is okay. Sometimes you can't tell until a day or two later.

So after that, I walked around with Solly following me for a bit, and then we got a shovel and broke up that hole, filling it in. I tried to do it myself but my friends intervened and finished up the job. I'm pretty stubborn about doing physical stuff myself, even when I shouldn't. I'm glad my friends were there. I overdid it, but if they hadn't been there I would have really overdone it.

After feeling Solly's legs for heat (there wasn't any) and giving him more cuddles, we took him to a pen. He's been getting beat up in the pasture, so nowadays he comes in for feeding and stays the night.

I got Leo to play with the jollyball briefly.

Oh! And there was a dentist there today. He is coming back next month. This is great, because he is way more affordable than the dentist down south was. Looks like I'll be able to float Sol's teeth this year, which is very important. Next month will be really tight, but doable.

We ended the day with a picnic.

So that was yesterday. Sorry that I don't have any photographs- I wasn't thinking clearly and didn't remember to bring my camera.

I'll get through this.

We'll be back soon!

Hey folks,


I have two posts to catch up on, and I will be having, hopefully, a new little adventure on Weds. I am currently dealing with a fairly serious health issue, and am on a lot of medications. Very very sorry for taking so long!