Ice Skating ****

I did fall and I do have a bruised elbow but I still want to go again. We skated about 45 minutes with lots of rest breaks. I got better as I watched other people - my body sort of automatically copies them. Talked to a teenager who was very nice and had asked OH if he needed any help.

It felt like a big strain on my shins for about the first half of the time but got a bit better as I started to relax. I suppose that if the foot of my skates had been tighter, it would have been a bit easier.

Anyway, I loved it and can't wait to go again. OH says he would not mind going again either.

4 stars

New activities?

Okay, I'm dragging OH to ice skating and bowling at some point soon! Ice skating sounds like the most fun. My sister is afraid that I will get hurt.

Well, I skated on a frozen pond near my house as a kid. I loved skating next to my mother, holding hands with our arms crossed in front of us! I also fished there with my father and once caught 3 little tiny unidentifiable fish. OH's high school had hockey teams and he skated there every winter.

Bowling is another story. Of course I was on a ten pin bowling league as a kid but have only used the large balls about 3 times as an adult and it was not pretty.

XOX

I love you Wiz,, but you are NOT supposed to follow me when you are with someone else!!!

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.

Spent yesterday at the barn just hanging around with the horses. W was cool, I got there early to be with him because one of his riders was coming for a lesson so I knew she would want to take him. We went into the round pen for a few minutes and he cantered around. Otherwise, sun, friends and horses eating grass. Very relaxing.

prancing horse

After my lesson on W yesterday, I was riding back to the arena and W was curling his head (loose rein) and taking little jogging steps. So cute. I need to re-learn how to massage him. He was all relaxed and sweet when I was grooming him and singing to him. Too bad my singing has to be very private because I cannot carry any kind of a tune. You would not even recognize the song unless you knew the words.

lovely horsie

I saw my best friend Wizard yesterday. I'm happy but kind of desperately and quietly sad. I wish he was all mine. He lives in a nice place though and has good horsey friends and I know he loves his mom, who knows just how to take care of him. I fussed over him for a long time with the grooming stuff and he was doing his usual stare, which I am told is typical arab. We went through all his old clicker tricks (without the clicker) and he knows them perfectly. He got an apple, two mini carrots and some grass.

We walked all around the property, even the scary places. He's so funny when he gets a bit anxious and starts the heavy breathing. I just stop and stand there and he calms right down and is ready to go on. Head up, stop. Head goes down, go. He and new Pony went into an empty field and ran, ate, rolled and made a couple of new horse friends (in the next field). They came when we whistled and let us halter them.

Pony knows his new mom, I could tell. Watched KB do some magic with him and teach him to step sideways. I wish I knew all the things she knows about horses. Pony was adorable and seems to be a very fast learner and very willing to learn! Totally cute.

I still feel happy from yesterday and wish I could have stayed longer. He got a million hugs and kisses and gave me lots of kisses back, or what I call kisses which is nosing me all over the head, face and neck. And standing really close to me and breathing on me. Yuk, you might say but you would be wrong! And his neck DOES smell like peppermint-

Florida again

Off to Florida tomorrow. Father went into hospital yesterday - seems to be resting comfortably. Mother basically bed-ridden. Both sisters and one husband are going at the same time. How small can I make myself? Must have some images to hold on to. Wiz breathing on my neck will be one. Waves on the beach-

My pretend horse

I went to see him today. It was so nice. I groomed him and then we spent a long time pushing the ball back and forth to each other. No clicker or anything and no treats, but just playing!! He was very interested in it.

I petted all the other horses stabled around him. They are all so big and smooth and warm. They all have soft, kind eyes and soft noses. I love to watch them eat grass to see how they choose what to eat and what to skip over.

I gave Wiz a small apple, one bite of carrot and let him lick some crumbs out of my hand from the oat bar that I ate. I think about him a lot especially at the end of my yoga class when we are supposed to be relaxing. Horses are very peaceful.

Crash and Burn

I would like to just erase this month and the next right out of my life.

Riding

Great ride at Cypress Trails yesterday!

yoga

Will have a private yoga lesson tomorrow morning! I think this will be my only private lesson due to the cost but starting in November, a friend will be splitting it with me. I will be in FL next week so I will miss the Thursday class but make the monday morning.

Still no riding. I guess I will just let it go and take a break from it. It's hard not to think about it though.

ugh again

Soooo aggravated today. Yelled at OH, then cried and now am in a flurry of cleaning.

Woke up dreaming that I was on a Topp Cheff kind of show. We had to put hummus on crackers and then put on some toppings, choices were grapefruit, oranges and some kind of raw beef. We had four hours to get it together. wtf????

Yoga and things

Yoga class this morning - first time in a long while. My yoga teacher is now teaching private classes so I might do one or split with someone else. I love my yoga teacher!

And how did I get so fat? I have put on 6-7 pounds in the last 2 months. Just over-eating and not exercising. Now that the weather is cooler, I will walk and ride my bike. I have not been riding and quit my carriage driving classes so I need to find a substitute exercise.

I guess I will not be moving to CA any time soon so I need to find something to occupy my time in between trips. Yoga and a new needlepoint class and walking and bike riding. I miss my horse. I looked at all his pics last night. So I will go see him this week. I just don't have the heart to ride another horse right now.

Eaten today - one yogurt - 100 calories.