Silks video

Here's me in my second class.

I went again yesterday but now realize that to really be able to do this activity, I need to be much stronger. For instance, I need to be able to hang my my hands and lift both legs out in front of me, be able to pull myself up with my hands (like a chin-up), and be able to bend much more, not to mention be able to do a regular split and a side split. Since I can barely hang by my arms from a rung, I see I have a long way to go.

However, there are lots of other things I can do on the silks despite not being able to do those things I mentioned. She is going to show me some when I go on Thursday.

Silks again

I am going for my second class in the silks today. I never had such a happy feeling as when I finished the class last week. Here is a routine I would love to be able to do!! I wanted to go right back and do the class again.

Silks

I want to try this today!

bad dream

I had an awful dream Tuesday night. My mother, Dean, J, and I were all sitting at her kitchen table in Florida and all talking and laughing and my mother was perfectly normal. She got up to do something and as she got up and took one step, we all of a sudden (my mother included) realized that she could not actually do that. In slow motion, she started to fall and we all just froze in horror. I woke up before she hit the floor. Did not even try to go back to sleep but just got out of bed at 4:30 a.m.

Wizard does not like to be in cross ties.

OMG, those trees!

I was back on Popcorn yesterday and we mostly trotted and cantered through the woods for two hours. It is kind of scary to be whipping around and between trees at that kind of pace on a narrow path with all kinds of twists and turns!!

In the past, I have done that kind of ride and ended up just hanging on to the saddle from being to scared and tense. But this time, I was feeling pretty good about it and able to relax, set my pace and feel in control. I guess that means I am getting better but still look at other people and think how much better riders they are. Maybe I need to film myself at a lesson and see how I actually look. But - maybe I would not like the results.

CT is such a zoo. People cancel their rides at the last minute or show up super late and mess everything up. Our 3:00 ride started 45 minutes late. The horse I had requested had been given to someone else and I almost had to LEAD our ride! That would have been disaster because I can't ever remember where I am out there. I mean you can't actually get lost and the horses are zeroed in on the barn, but I don't want to be the one responsible if something goes wrong.

Long canter!

I rode a really nice horse called Smurf out at CT yesterday. The cool part was that I cantered all the way down the long one-mile stretch by the creek without getting out of control. (read horses racing each other!) I have been avoiding cantering there be cause of some wild and scary experiences, but this one felt great.

Smurf was sweet when I groomed him. He has a long long mane and I found two big twigs tangled up in it. When no one was listening, I sang Somewhere My Love to him. I could tell he liked it because he was licking his mouth and putting his head down. Wiz loves this song too. Maybe it is something about the melody that is kind of soothing.

I have to ask though, why do I meet so many big men out there who say they have ridden all their lives, but who slunp back with all their weight on the back of the saddle? Thank goodness he was behind me and I didn't have to watch him the whole time.