trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xxx

lesson notes, mmxvii-iv-xxix

I don't know which steps of life's journey brought me to this place, but I'm glad they did.

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xxvii

snippets, 4-27-2017

Faces of Century (My Modern Met, h/t dangerousmeta). Heh. All the youngsters are starting to look the same to me. Love the last one.

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garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xxv

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xxiv

lesson notes, mmxvii-iv-xxii

My instructor was out of town but she encouraged me to go say hello to Hot Shot this morning. I groomed him and took him for a walk in the arena. He was awfully squirrelly today, maybe because of the cool, breezy weather. He's gaining more weight and muscle. I suspect we're going to have to start all our lessons with some lunging and some work on downward transitions - he really likes to move.

garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xxi

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xx

snippets, 4-20-2017

The practice of kindness (Myth & Moor). I tried to talk about this a couple weeks ago but Ms. Windling says it better. (Intriguing that horses feature in both her post and mine. Pretty sure the universe is trying to tell me something.)

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xix

garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xix

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xvii

trail notes, easter 2017

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xv

lesson notes, mmxvii-iv-xv

My instructor was ill but I got to do some ground work with Hot Shot today. We started in the round pen and then went to the arena and walked through some serpentines and circles, then trotted together twice around the perimeter, all with the reins over his neck and out of my hands. This guy is amazing.

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xiv

garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xiv

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-xiii

my sister likes tiny flowers and today is her birthday so 

snippets, 4-13-2017

"Speaking about animals going to heaven, I dare say some of them would object to going, on account of the company that they would meet there. Think of the dog kicked to death by his master, the horse driven into his grave, the thousands of cattle starved to death on the plains - will they want to meet their owners in heaven?"

"According to my reckoning, their owners won't be there," said Mr. Harry.

- Beautiful Joe, Marshall Saunders, 1893

garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xii

critter notes, mmxvii-iv-xii

snippets, 4-12-2017

Wake up time (Center for Humans and Nature).

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garden notes, mmxvii-iv-xi

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-x

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-ix

lesson notes, mmxvii-iv-viii

Hot Shot and Champ.

I got to ride Hot Shot on the lunge line for a few minutes this morning. Unbelievable. I have to take it easy because I'm not super stable, but, wow, I could feel him feeling me, you know, immediately responding to the touch of a leg or an opening of my seat. He seems to appreciate a soft touch - he took good care of me. A memory-book morning.

trail notes, mmxvii-iv-vi

left fronts, mmxvii-iv-v