Hiatus

It’s been awhile. A long while. I’m currently less than a month away from graduating and I’m incredibly excited about it. I also found out today that I’ve been accepted into the MAT program at MECA. That was very exciting to find out after my admissions counselor forgot what a worry wort that I am and scared the crap out of me by asking me to come in to talk to her. Unfortunately I ended up having to withdraw from the art history minor program. With everything that happened and my mental state I couldn’t pull it together and write the thesis. Eventually I want to write the paper on my own and surprise my professor. I have a genuine love of art history the timing just didn’t work out. I’ve been riding as much as possible and actually started taking lessons up in Maine. I found the barn in Maine from auditing a Boyd Martin clinic over Thanksgiving break.

Boyd Martin and I

Raven, the super cute OTTB (go figure) mare I ride in Maine

Winter break was wonderful and Pi and I managed to ride a five bounce line right towards the end of break. Sadly Pi did something stupid (playing the black stallion again) and reinjured his stifle. Amanda and I are just starting to bring him back and this past week he entered back into full flat work. I was naughty and popped him over a couple of small fences and he rewarded me with trotting to the jumps and being sane about the whole experience while still being eager to jump.

riding in the first blizzard of the season in December

Over spring break Bonnie and her husband went to visit Pi’s real mom in Utah so I took care of Seventh Heaven for the week they were away. Pi managed to be a giant ding-bat and ate a six inch long metal and plastic twist tie. the resulted in me getting up every two hours and making him get up to check his gut sounds (whole new levels of intimacy were reached…) and rectum for any signs of distress or perforation- luckily he’s fine and I slept well the following night.

Pi is lucky that he’s too cute to hate

My thesis is pulling together and in a week or two everything will be neatly tied up with a bow and ready to install. We received our installation zone assignments and I have just about no clue of how I’m going to fit my work onto the teeny tiny wall that I was given. Its a conundrum I’m hoping my professor will help me figure out, but in all seriousness, its going to take a minor miracle to make it work.

Pi and I this past Easter weekend

New Directions

The last couple of weeks have been rough. It feels as if it’s been a constant up and down with few highs and a lot of lows. I’ve been redirecting in my work and the transition hasn’t exactly helped everything else. We had critique last week and while it certainly wasn’t my worst critique it certainly also wasn’t in my top ten. I have a new plan in the works that is uncomfortable in terms of design but being uncomfortable is a good thing for growth in terms of art. I have to take risks in order to make work that’s exciting for myself and just in general.

Taking risks is a part of life. Even if it isn’t making a piece of jewelry taking risks is a part of life. Risks allow us to take chances and to grow as individuals. It terrifies me to take chances and risks. I’ll be very honest; I’m afraid of failing and disappointing everyone around me. It takes so much to create at the level that the people around me and I constantly measure myself to their levels of excellence. I know that I need to not compare myself to others and I need to only try to better myself, however it’s hard. Either way I’m pushing myself hard for this next piece, and hopefully it’ll pay off and I won’t fall on my face.

The week before last I went home and had toe surgery. No one told me that sports and multiple years of musicals would result in multiple ingrown toenails that needed multiple surgeries to correct them. I had one toe fixed two years ago and the other one I obviously just had fixed. Of course being the nut that I am and despite limping and being in pain I bandaged up my toe and went to see Pi.

I’m obviously a horse crazy nut who doesn’t put myself before a chance to ride

With everything that I feel and with the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on with school, and well- life, the stability that I feel the instant I step onto Seventh Heaven reassures every bit of me that wants to spend my life with horses in any way possible. Pirate and everything else at the farm represents a tangible sacredness of the bond and importance of the horse, the people involved in my life with the horses. The feeling that I have with this part of my life is a feeling of centered calm and collectedness. The way that Pi trusts me and has no judgement of me other than who I am in that moment is an instant confidence boost. I feel like I can’t quite describe everything I feel in those moments that are so precious to me, it’s simply cathartic.

Pi drying off a bit before our ride

Pi was of course a gem as per usual. He was super sweet in the field and we managed to get into the barn aisle without getting too wet in the rain. We did our usual warm up of walking and trotting and somehow I got it into my head that I needed to work on my independent seat and hands so we spent the majority of our time working in the trot and sitting trot. Pi tends to tense and stick his head up the air like a mule but after lots of circling, half halting and pushing him from behind he began to stretch and make nice contact on the bit. I even managed to stop feeling like a sack of potatoes and we spent a good amount of time with a very nice trot with no bounces. We had to share the indoor with some other people as it was pouring, and I don’t ride in the rain unless I have to because I’m a weenie, so I couldn’t work the long diagonal direction changes. I did manage to work some canter transitions. Pi was nice and moved up well and came down from the canter smoothly. He was a bit trippy at the beginning as the farrier was changed and he’s transitioning the shape of Pi’s feet to help him balance better. We moved together nicely and we were able to push deeply and balanced into the corners. After our ride he was super sweet and gobbled up the apples I brought him. I got to spend some time helping Bonnie with some barn chores which I also love to do. I hated having to leave him and having to go back to school. However, I’m so close to graduating and this degree is for me and not for anyone else so I owe it to myself to get the degree.

yes, we’re adorable; and yes, Pi did in fact switch the side his head was on because he’s a ham

Kindness

Kindness is something that comes from many places and is so important. Kindness tempers even the worst of things and gives something much more important gain a foothold- hope. I try to practice kindness in my life and to the people, animals and other things around me. I feel better being kind and feel more whole. With all of the negativity going on in the world I so desperately want to try and level out the overwhelming amount of sad and horrible things that happen. I’m not naive in thinking that I can wave a wand of happiness and solve everything, but if I can make someone’s day better than I can hope that they’ll pass along some of the same kindness I showed them. Practicing kindness also creates a strong web of people who care about you and practice kindness back and I’ve been experiencing this lately. So much kindness and compassion has been flowing my way from the people around me as I try to heal and move on all while tackling school and life, and quite frankly it amazes me. I feel so lucky and blessed to be the recipient of these wonderful people’s positivity and I can’t help but try to be positive in return. I’m aware of just how sappy this all sounds, however, I’m just incredibly grateful and it makes me want to keep trying my hardest to practice kindness.

This past weekend I went home to help Amanda with the last trials of the year. We went to Hitching Post Farm’s fall schooling trials and had a very rainy blast. The younger girls at Seventh Heaven are like the little sisters I always wanted but could never convince my younger brother, Collin, to be. I can’t help but smile and laugh around them and just enjoy the world from the view of a preteen again, albeit some very mature preteens. Watching these families and reveling in what some of the best parts of my childhood revolved around, and lets be honest all of my life still does, makes me want to give the same experience to the kids I might someday have. They’ll work for it like I did, but they’ll be such better people for having horses in their life. I mean what other group of preteens would you trust with thousands of dollars worth of equipment and 1200lb animals to get it together and trust them to pilot these large and very powerful animals? I wouldn’t trust a lot of the “normal” preteens but horse kids are definitely different. I digress; the weekend was great. Violet and Sofia competed in Junior Grasshopper and had a blast. Violet tied for third in the class on Packy after the three rounds. Sofia was just awesome in general. Mac was so full of beans for everyone (her mom and I had all we could do to get his bridle fully on him and we know what we’re doing) and Sofia handled it like a champ. Mac knocked them out of contention with a glorious buck during dressage but they put in a double clear for cross country and stadium.

Violet and Packy rocking cross country at the Hitching Post Farm trials

Kristin brought Moon along for the Junior Grasshopper as well. The two have become such a lovely pair and have made huge strides this summer as a team. Moon got a bit ancy during dressage and bolted out of the arena eliminating them, but Kristin went and finished her test and put a smile on. The great part about schooling trials is that they’re for schooling and they let you compete on even if you’ve been eliminated. I love that we live in such a supportive teaching and learning community where everyone encourages each other to grow. So Kristin despite being eliminated was allowed to continue for cross country and stadium. Kristin and Moon looked so natural on cross country! They jumped everything smoothly, calmly and cleanly and really showed everyone how it was done on the Grasshopper course. In stadium they went clear with a couple of distracted moments.

Lea made the big step up into the Open Novice class. In the world of eventing it scales from the bottom being grasshopper, then beginner novice, novice, training level, preliminary, and finally advanced which spills into the realms of CCI * events and is usually associated with professionals and the olympic level. The step from beginner novice into novice is an exciting one and Lea and Tie were more than ready to move up. They’ve worked incredibly hard since Lea got Tie and have made huge strides. Lea is only twelve and she rides with the poise of someone older and she’s definitely a better rider than I am. In dressage they did very well and got a stellar 29.1 (the scoring is like golf- low is good) for their test; someone else just got a 19 which is a wicked score. In cross country they had some minor slipping as it had been pouring all day and Tie doesn’t have studs on his shoes. Despite the terrain and conditions they went over the obstacles nicely. The jumps are also closer to three feet tall and a foot wide so it takes skill to navigate them.

 

heading down to dressage

Lea and Tie all decked out in blue!

one of the “smaller” jumps on the course

Despite the weather being rainy and rather dour all weekend I had a great time. I truly enjoy spending time with my barn family even if I’m chasing after girls on ponies to check their girths rather than riding myself. I did sneak in a couple of rides with Pi and it was exactly what I needed.

Pirate and Mac have definitely been in cahoots because Pi was just as full of beans as Mac was, although Pi has had nearly a month off from work so I expected the beans to be brimming from his bonnet. He was full of energy but nice and stretchy as we worked on lengthening his trot and really using his big butt for our propulsion. I also jumped him a bit on some small cross rails and he was stellar. The summer of working really hard to make him more comfortable and confident has begun to pay dividends, he went over the cross rails a bit eagerly but was calm enough to trot them which is huge for him.

someone is so fuzzy he gets soaked with sweat and takes forever to cool down

On Friday night I helped everyone pack and we shipped Packy and Mac up to Hitching Post so the next day would be much smoother as the girls had eight o’clock dressage times. While Amanda trailered them up and did prepr work with them I stayed back to keep an eye on Kristin and Lea and also so I could ride. Pi has his winter coat so in addition to him normally being a big sweater he has a fuzzy coat on now so he gets soaked in sweat even faster and takes even longer to cool down. We did some canter work on Friday and some small jumps. While he took forever and a day to cool out I managed to re-pull his mane which was looking a bit long. I know he’s back into swamp monster mode but when someone half leases him or I’m back for breaks it makes everything so much easier than letting it all go and having to start from scratch. Lea and Kristin are much more independent with their braiding and packing so I was able to putz more and help when needed much to Pirate’s dismay; he did manage to get quite a few apples out of the deal.

the “swamp monster”

Pi and I

Today I rode him one last time before driving back up to Portland and school. We successfully did a figure eight jumping pattern complete with lead changes (not flying leads but he actually was calm enough to trot in-between jumps and picked up the correct canter lead after the jumps) and having to listen. It was exciting and it makes me want to start scheming for next summer. Pirate also showed his meddle today as I asked him to do a lap around the hay field without any wingmen. For Pi it was another moment of hard work paying off and him trusting in me that I wouldn’t let him get eaten by anything scary, like a tree… what can I say, he’s still a big weeny. He got a bit antsy and we may or may not have blasted up the driveway at his speed and not mine but he stopped eventually and we didn’t run into anything and I stayed firmly put on his back. Afterwards we played a bit of chase on the ground as he cooled off in his cooler. It’s always important to me that we work on the ground and that he leads well and listens to me on the ground. A couple of apples even motivated Pi to trot briefly after me. I’m truly lucky to be able to have access to such a great place and to Pi, who despite being a giant hot mess is an amazing horse, just a little uncoordinated. He’s so much more than just a horse and is my partner in learning so much about horses and in learning to ride, I feel like I’ve improved so much this year and yet I’m still so far from knowing anything. I’m just lucky to be where I am even if Pirate is a 1200lb goober.

his eyes are always wonderfully expressive

oh and here’s a little gem of Pi returning to his swamp monster roots today after our ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ZlSmEBvjI

oh and happy twenty third wedding anniversary to my parents

 

 

Midterm Oh Me Oh My

Well folks its midterm here at school and for once I don’t feel like I’m floundering. Check back with me in twenty four hours to see if I feel the same way. However, I feel the most prepared for midterms in a very long time. I’ve been making work that it out of my comfort zone but still feels natural; and dare I even say it- exciting. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been excited with metals and it’s a nice thing to feel again. I’ve also submitted a piece for the MECA Collect Sale. It’s another new piece that I’m also fond of. On one hand I want it to sell, but on the other I want to get it back to keep as my own.

horsehair, sterling silver and freshwater pearls

I’ve just finalized my plans to go home for an event to help out with the girls. I’m super excited to get back in the barn even if I’m not the one competing. I’ll admit that I’ve been dying to try out the new tail braiding technique that I saw recently. It also helps that I’ll be able to get a ride or two in on Pi while I’m home. I can’t wait to see my giant goober. It’ll also be great to go and cheer on some of the girls who I’ve become very fond of during the summer.

It’s also turned to autumn in New England. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. The air is crisp and cool without freezing everything. Being a Vermonter the leaves turning colors also illicit a pure feeling of exhilarating joy. The forests look as if they’re ablaze and alive with colors. While Maine has quite a few trees Portland doesn’t have nearly enough for me. I have to go home for Halloween to have surgery on a toe (a souvenir of the musicals I did in High School and the character shoes that hurt my feet). It’ll be nice to go home for another weekend to actually see my family.

My Not so Black or Intact Stallion

I’ll admit that I’ve been away. The second week of school passed by uneventfully so I felt that I had nothing to write about.

The weekend before last I went home and participated in the North Country Hounds Hunter Pace with Amanda, Anna and Violet (all people mind you, not ponies). It was an absolute blast and Pirate was a gem! We rode over eleven miles in three hours through the heart of a valley. The foliage was just starting to turn and we had excellent weather for the ride. The farm it was based out of was like walking into my wildest dreams of what type of a farm I would someday love to have. Pirate was a super good boy once he quieted down a bit and Anna gave me a pep talk that included the reminder of the need to breathe and that this was in fact fun. Well he calmed down enough to enjoy himself and we even jumped about a third of the fences! I love jumping with Pirate; he’s forward and smart about the jump and even if I misjudge the distance he’s a star and is able to correct for me. I also enjoy that he’s not stupid and if I’m feeling a bit too nervous about a fence he’ll help me through it. Sometimes I wish that we were at the point to jump some of the more advanced lines or bigger stuff, however, I’m still learning as he’s relearning that we can jump in a relaxed way. Sometimes I think about toeing the line or pushing faster and then I remind myself that good foundations make houses that last a lifetime and that’s the way that strong and safe horses are built. Either way it was rewarding to go home and to be able to just go and do the hunter pace and to have the confidence that I had built his stamina to be able to handle the distance, albeit he was drenched in sweat, and that Pirate has become confident enough to even have led for some of the pace. I feel proud of the work I’ve done with him and it makes me feel like when the time comes (hopefully sooner rather than later!), I’ll be able to have a large presence in the training or working of the horse, although I’m still going to work very closely with a trainer. I’m still aware that I have so much to learn and that’s part of the reason why I love this sport and these amazing being so much.

a sweaty but happy Pi

some of the beautiful landscape we rode through

Being able to ride Pirate and to communicate so well with him led me to have my “black stallion” moment. Yes I’m talking about Walter Farley’s classic that inspires every little girl to go ride a horse, although I’d been in and around horses before I could read, and that they’d be able to tame the wild beast. Well let’s be honest here, Pirate is not a wild beast; in fact he’s rather lazy- enough to have garnered the title of “swamp monster” while I’m away and he’s out of work. When I first started riding him four years ago I was just recovering from a nasty spill, that I would later find out actually sprained my back and led to an entire summer of intensive physical therapy and has left me with chronic back pain. I had been rehabbing an abused horse nick named Bucky Chucky– ya folks I actually got on and rode a horse called that. He was super sweet on the ground but would, yes you guessed it, buck fiercely when being ridden if he was asked to canter or do too much. I impacted on my spine, luckily while wearing my impact vest, in the field and ended up in the E.R. with intense pain. After this my mother told me that if I was going to get back on a horse I needed to do it in a lesson setting with the trainer my friend was with. I agreed and started lessons at Seventh Heaven (before Amanda was there) and ultimately with Pirate. We were both hot messes and needed a lot of work, Pi was super stiff and needed groundwork; while I needed to heal and be in a safe place to learn. Over these past four years he and I have formed a bond and have learned how to communicate well enough that I can feel his communications. This summer cemented our bond thoroughly and we both improved immensely, although we still are hot messes- just not as big. Going on the Hunter Pace was that ah ha, black stallion moment where all of the hard work, miscommunications, trepidations, poop (he poops a lot in the aisleway and very spitefully) and determination resulted in a glorious day of riding with him and some of my friends. Those moments are what I live for and certainly what I aim for in working with horses. Yes there was a ribbon to be won, no we didn’t even get close to the ribbon, but who cares. If I was in this sport for the ribbons I would’ve quit ages ago.

This past weekend the MECA Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design program went to NYC. We stopped at Ornamentum Gallery on the way down and one of the owners Stefan took some time from his very busy day to spend some time talking with us and show us some of the work. We then travelled down to the city and the next day had a workshop with Charon Kransen. His words and his collection were invaluable and eye opening. I was able to handle and even put on a Jacqueline Ryan brooch, and it just happened to be my favorite by her!

can you tell how excited I was?

I also tried on another one of her brooches that I also like. It was amazing to be able to handle the work and even put it on.

After an intense and five hour workshop/visit with Charon we took a break to eat some really good food and went to the Met. I’ll admit that I’m a museum whore; absolutely one hundred percent cannot get enough time in museums. I’m the person who could live in a museum for a month and still not be done looking at all of the things. Poor Mitch has no clue what’s coming his way if we go to the museum together….. his Marine endurance and survival training might just be put to the test. I just love looking at the objects that shape our world, and more importantly I want to know why. I want to know why a mosaic has that crack I want to know why the etruscan gold has a repeating granulation pattern. Basically I’m the nosiest nelly ever when it concerns art history.

 

the Met was also beautiful to look at in the dark with it’s architecture

The next day we went to MAD (Museum of Art and Design) to view the biennial and to look at their permanent collections. I wasn’t really into the biennial, however, the permanent jewelry collection had some gems.

Harlan Butt

 

Hiroshi Suzuki

 

John Prip

 

Robert Ebendorf

 

John Paul Miller

and another one of my idols: Mary Lee Hu

After the MAD we went to Brooklyn Metalworks and I had an informative conversation about technical mumbo jumbo in regards to studio set up. I managed to see a friend from high school that I hadn’t seen in years. We don’t keep in touch but it feels like we never missed a beat everytime we get together. I managed to take the subway, which was a big deal because it just doesn’t exist in Vermont and I’d never been to New York, by myself after taking it a couple of times with some studiomates. I’ll admit that while New York is cool I wouldn’t want to live their and Florence was actually much more intense in terms of dealing with people and navigating. Overall I’m really glad that I went to New York and I had a really good time.

Drifting and Reeling

Sometimes I like to feel that I’ve managed to master life or at least get it down pretty well. Of course after a small amount of time feeling that way life decides to let me know that I have in fact not mastered life and sends me reeling. It can happen in various ways, either in the studio or at work and currently with my personal life. I had thought that I had this whole social life thing down, and quite frankly even having one while working upwards of fifty hours a week is an accomplishment in my mind. Apparently I was wrong as all of a sudden it seems that while I’m getting closer to Mitch some of my closest friends and I are drifting. The worst part is that it smarts sorely watching it happen and being too plain stubborn to fix it. Social Media then puts salt in the wound as I see pictures that I would normally be in online without my smiling mug. I truly care for these people and I don’t like drifting away from them, however, I’m not entirely to blame. A relationship, any relationship, is a two way street and takes work from both ends to be healthy and properly functioning. Perhaps we need a mediator as we both happen to be incredibly stubborn and strong people, or perhaps we just need to take a break. I’m not sure of what to do and right now it just hurts quite a bit to think or deal with it- and that tells me I have a problem on my hands.

On the horse front I’m afraid that between my back acting up, poor weather and just sheer exhaustion I’ve only made it to the barn a couple of times this week. I feel out of sorts not riding as frequently and that leads to dreading the school year in which I’ll be lucky to even see any quadruped let alone ride. The rides I did get in were half good. The first ride went well and we even jumped a little bit. The second ride I only put in about a half hour on Pi. I felt off and he felt off and somehow we couldn’t steer so I made the executive decision to end the ride before something poor resulted from it. I’m going to ride more this next week (just not today because the weather is absolutely foul) and even hopefully go on a trail ride this next week with some girls from the barn.

On a studio note (yes I finally am having studio stuff happen again!) I’ve decided to step up and join the MECA art sale. It benefits scholarships at my school and I’ll actually be selling work which is exciting, or at least I’ll be trying to sell work. The sale should take place in October so I should have my act together at least a little bit.

On a life note I’m learning how lacrosse works and to throw the ball around. Mitch and his family are pretty phenomenal to watch and the sport seems fascinating. I got to help them put a new net in the goal. I was happily anal retentive with making it look perfect and so Mitch’s Dad and I were two-peas-in-a-pod matching the net and counting out spaces between zip ties.

boom! perfection

Camp has been quite the week. We went to Lake Sunapee and had an absolute blast. I’m enjoying my staff and all of the wonderful skills they bring to the camp. Apparently they feel comfortable enough with me to tell me to take a deep breath when I get  “that look on my face”. We ended with an awesome impromptu field day where in which I played super hero to one of my campers, who happens to be a type 1 diabetic, and replaced their port for their pump. The kid also happens to be just about one of the coolest kiddos and I love spending time with them. From spending time with them and another camper who also happens to have a pump I’ve learned just how amazing the pumps are. The insulin pumps gives these kids such a range of freedom and control over their life and I find it fantastic. I also had a couple of little friends over the past couple of days. A kid brought some action figures to camp and so they had to spend the past few days with me as we have a no toy policy at camp. He was worried about them so I promised that they would have fun at camp too and that I’d take pictures as evidence.

Han Solo, Chewbacca and C3PO and I had quite the adventure

and yes the staff shirts are really really bright

Beautiful Moments and Book Submissions

Okay, I know, it’s Tuesday and not Monday. I’m afraid I had my post all written on my mobile app and then accidently closed the app without saving my post. After that I didn’t quite feel like rewriting the post and was a bit occupied.
It’s been another week full of moments. I’ve begun realizing that being in Italy affected me more than I realized. I find that after living in a place so imbued with history and art that instead of turning on my blinders in my environments I’m more aware my surroundings. I pay attention to the details more and more (I know I didn’t think it was possible for this very detail oriented person) even in the places that I spend quite a bit of time in. In Vermont with all of the quirky things placed around I’m finding myself falling more and more in love with Vermont and all of the small moments I find. In spending time with a very significant person, we were driving in Thetford and I happened to see up in a tree a sculpture of a lizard with a vibrant red heart atop it. Those small quirky things indear Vermont to me more, and more and make me realize that I want to spend my life here. I loved Italy and those will be some of the most precious moments of my life, however, Vermont is home-and more importantly my home.

the someone special, Mitch, and I at the rodeo this past weekend

Pirate and I have been doing well. I’ll admit that between being exhausted from work, poor weather (part of the indoor is currently occupied by hay and construction materials and Pi’s butt is too big) and a new relationship I haven’t been riding as much. When I have been riding I feel that Pi and I have been having a better connection. from the lesson I took with Amanda I feel that she’s given me another couple of tools that are vastly paying off. I’ve been focusing on keeping the proper pressure in my outside rein and relaxing and giving with my inner rein. Combined with using my inner leg to help round Pi and drive him into my outer rein and leaning back farther we’re suddenly keeping much more connection and he’s rounding and lowering his head into the bit and my hands. We’ve also been jumping again. He’s begun to realize that jumping is something that can be done in a relaxed fashion without fussing and being overly excited. We also had the rewarding moment when while warming up we explored a little trail and he calmly perused it with me. Normally he gets fussy on the trail so this was a big win for us!

hand-grazing Pi after a much needed hosing down

On another exciting note I’ve made my first artist book submission. It’s validating as a maker and an artist to submit to the book. I submitted  a horsehair necklace (surprise it’s horse related!) that I had made this past fall in my introduction to the discipline class at MECA.

Untitled 2014

horsehair and freshwater pearl

I’m super nervous to find out if I’ve been accepted. The book is being published out of a publishing house in Barcelona (yes Barcelona SPAIN). It’ll be a book of over 500 necklaces from around the world and I’d be ecstatic to be accepted into the book. If I am accepted I’ll be given a copy of the book and will just have to worry about shipping cost from Barcelona, which I’ll gladly do.

Away For a While

I have to apologize for not keeping up with the blog the past few weeks. I’m afraid that with the start of camp things have turned rather hectic and unfortunately blogging has drawn the short straw in my current priorities. The past few weeks have had a lot of highs and lows. Pi came up partially lame with an old stifle injury flaring up and leaving me to recover while he did.
I did get a lesson in on Mac. We did some dressage and then some jumping. It was nice to get a lesson in on another horse, however, I missed riding Pi. The funny part of riding Mac was that I grabbed Pi to groom him after and while I was spending time with Mac Pi fussed about in his stall. It makes me giggle that Pi was a bit jealous and also makes me feel loved.

Pi being a supermodel

Pirate has since gotten better and we’ve been working a lot on our connection at the trot. I must abashedly admit that I’ve developed a bad habit of over compensating with my inside rein. Amanda and I focused on worrying about my outside rein and the connection created there rather than me inadvertently forcing Pi’s head. In the past couple of lessons I’ve been working on staying farther back in the saddle. It’s amazing how much of a difference that an inch makes while riding and it reminds me of just how sensitive my partners are. I know it can seems a little bit silly to see an animal as a partner, but trust me- if Pi or any of the other horses I catch a ride on here or there didn’t want to be ridden I would be on the ground with a sore bum. Either way every time a small error on my part is resolved and I see such a huge result immediately I’m reminded why riding is a sport I love so much. I found the immediate result of becoming less forward that Pi, being the big boy that he is, is able to lower his head and come under and into himself and all of a sudden I have a horse in my hands. Amanda’s also finally left the barn to have her baby. I had the honor of being her last lesson on Monday night. I felt that it was pretty stellar and Pi and I even jumped deliberately and without rushing. It was a big step in the right direction even if we were just jumping baby rails.

all nice and clean after a bath

Camp has been a roller coaster these past four weeks. While I love my job these kids are demanding and challenging. Some of the kids make me want to have children instantly; they’re wonderful and make me see the magic in the world. Other kids make me absolutely petrified that if I, and hopefully my imaginary future husband, mess up that we’ll have been responsible for another one of “those kids”. Some of the kids I know it isn’t parenting and is just a chance of fate that resulted in a kid that doesn’t fit within the ideals of our highly judgmental society. Perhaps I’m more sensitive to how it feels to be a kid that didn’t fit, but when I hear say “as long as it’s happy and healthy” I wonder why it can’t just be “happy”. So often we talk without fully thinking and intending what we say, I’m included in this as well. Words carry power and so often we don’t think about the full weight they carry. Okay rant over. I suppose that I’ll just leave it at it being a summer that’s going to give me a lot of learning experience.

a rare hair down moment while lifeguarding

I have been lucky enough to have some amazing co-workers that are ready to tackle whatever comes next. I’m also lucky to have some really amazing friends who know just how to make me laugh. My friends are the people who help to keep me sane, laughing and even- dare I say it, relaxed. When things get crazy its when I’m grateful for these wonderful people in my life.

myself and one of my crazy co-workers

First Day and a Contusion

So I’m currently typing this with one hand. I’m afraid that on Friday I took a tumble off of Pi and didn’t tuck & roll like I should’ve. Sadly instead of falling correctly I stuck my hand out to break my fall (of course my bad wrist) and managed to give myself at least a contusion (basically a big bruise); because of the swelling we won’t difinitively know that I haven’t fractured subtly for over a week. I surprised everyone in the ER when the X-rays came back without a fracture. Luckily I was wearing my helmet (#mindyourmelon) as I always do and my protective vest, as I do when I’m planning on doing something other than flatwork with Pirate, so the rest of me was/is completely fine.

The rest of my week hasn’t been as adventful as my Friday was although it has been pretty stellar. Staff orientation for the summer program I’m coordinating at has rocked. I’ll admit that at first I was a bit hesitant of the staff but after spending a solid week with them I can honestly say that I’m excited for the season to start on Monday. We spent friday at a cool training session in Keene with a guy that goes around training summer staff. After attending his session we went back to our facility (admittedly after an ice cream and game pitstop) to finish up our preparations for this next Monday.

Pirate has been a bit nutty and we’re working on changing his bit to something with a little bit more poll pressure to just make him a bit more aware when I ask him to slow or to pay attention a bit. He has also been jumping like a champ when I work him alone. We’ve been playing more and more with jumps and so far he’s just said no to jumping our smaller roll-top jump. This past Friday I helped to plan and throw a barn shower for Amanda, she’s due in July and I couldn’t think of any better way to celebrate her and her family more than showing our love for them as a barn family. I got a bit sneaky and completely surprised her with the shindig.

After Amanda’s shindig a couple of us saddled up and went out on the trail. let me tell you- I had a complete blast! Pirate did really well and even jumped a small log on the trail. We saw some porcupines on the trail which we promptly avoided. I’ve realized that I’ve become good friends with some of the younger girls at the barn and I adore it. I love being more young with them and being a role model with them (although not so much in my falling technique). I’ll sorely miss them once I’m back in Portland for my senior year. Once we finished our trail loop we had an amazing cante through a hay field and through all of the wild flowers. We went to the cross country field to try some field work and at that point Pi was getting a bit worked up. He gets fussy after a while of not working in the arena and this time was no exception. He started getting really uppity and after trying to jump him over a log, like I said earlier, I fell off of him. Luckily the owner of the farm is a nurse and she was home. My parents came to get me and we went off to the ER after I got back up on him and after one of the people I was trail riding with gave him a bit of a “the buck stops here” workout in the arena.

Saturday I was exhausted from the entire experience and from the ER so I just slept the day away. Sunday after cleaning up around the house a bit my mother and I went to the barn to give some ponies TLC. Pirate of course loves to be pampered and my mom spent some time with Debon, an old hunter mare that has been retired, grooming off the layers of grime and just giving her some loving. Debon was a hunter mare that ended up in a not so great place and luckily her owner (who had thought she’d been being cared for properly while she was gone) brought her to the barn to be brought back to her former glory. Debon’s since been retired and now doesn’t get much TLC as she isn’t a lesson horse. At least until today; my mom says that she doesn’t want to turn back into a barn mom but I think that just giving Debon attention is rewarding to her and it’s satisfying to watch something scraggly turn into a pretty and sleek thoroughbred again.

Today  Pi and I had our first ride since my tumble. I know it was only Friday that I tumbled, however I needed to get back on and really ride more than the little laps I had done the day I fell. Well we really rode today, and happily I mean that in a good way. I switched bits on Pi to try and give him a little bit more poll pressure to say “hello!” to him when he gets a bit excited. It seems to be working and we warmed up smoothly and even did a little canter work to try and settle him a bit about the whole thing. After we warmed up we jumped over a few fences that are slowly getting larger as he and I work together on jumping. So far my favorite jump to jump, other than a log, is an oxer. I’m a sucker for the extended feeling of the jump and I’m pretty sure its the type Pi gets the most excited about as well. We faced the log again and succeeded in jumping it without any issue or attitude from Pi.

The first day of camp was also a ton of fun! I’m super psyched about my staff and my kiddos after today. Of course there were some kinks but overall I really think this camp season is going to be a great one!

Louie the farm’s cow

Jumping Puddles and Saving Lives

Well this past week Mother Nature had to remind me that I’m not invincible or anything remotely close when she decided to drop the pollen bomb to end all ages on our region. Did I mention that she did it during water training week??? Well if I didn’t she did. We have to add another cap onto my head of being a lifeguard for the summer, although we can retire the substitute teacher one until the next school year, along with the Assistant Director of a summer program. In coming back to the lifeguarding this past week was our week of orientation, setting up the facility, cleaning (sooo much cleaning) and practicing all of our water skills from a normal save with a tube to backboarding a victim. During all of this training and setting up I’ve been dealing with some of the worst seasonal allergies I’ve ever had. It hasn’t been pleasant and I don’t think I’ll be seeing the end anytime soon as there are huge pollen deposits still happening.

On the other side of my hats horsey things have been going well. Pirate and I have been riding inside a lot because it’s been raining just about the entire week. Its okay that there’s been a lot of rain as its given us time to focus on bend and impulsion in our flatwork and I’ve been focusing more on keeping my hands quiet. It seems that as I’ve focused on other things my hands have gotten rather noisy and very dependent. The rain stopped off enough for us to be able to ride outside towards the end of the week. In the outdoor there were some large puddles that I worked Pi into walking through. Pi isn’t a fan of standing water, mud and especially puddles, according to Pirate they’re the devil. I’m pretty sure that the shifting reflection is something that looks funny in the way a horse eye views a moving plane and as a result for Pirate triggers his fight or flight response.

After we wandered through some puddles and cantered around for a bit. I felt good after our canter and a bit adventurous and decided that well Pi is a capable horse and I’m a capable rider and well we can jump. So with a bit of confidence in hand we went over some jumps in the outdoor ring and one slightly larger jump that had been left up in the indoor. Pirate used to jump but he got a habit of rushing the jump from either being anxious, excited or even both. So after smoothly conquering some small jumps and doing laps in the field I got a bit of courage and took him over a log. I’ll be honest in that I’ve never jumped a log and have wanted to jump a log for ages but didn’t feel confident enough to do it or had a horse that I thought would be able to do it. It was a blast to jump the log! I mean it was a small jump but still it was accomplishing a long term goal that I’d had. Pi was a saint and kept it together as I’d misjudged the distance a little bit so he had the grace to get us over cleanly. I managed to lose my stirrup but thankfully multiple lessons with my first trainer of dropping and picking back up stirrups came into use and I stayed on.

Pirate got the weekend off as I had to clean and it was Fathers Day. I had left him sparkling clean but when I went and got him today he looked quite a bit different.

he was just a bit muddy (don’t worry he isn’t actually skinny, the angle is weird)

So a quick bath later we putzed down to the outdoor ring so I could adjust the jumps and so he could dry off a bit. I let him at liberty in the outdoor so I could worry about the jumps and he could just worry about himself. As per his usual good self he followed me right around as I adjusted things and put other things up.

Pi is just so adorable when he follows me

I got out of a meeting late today so we slowly warmed up (I still haven’t forgotten how hot of a mess we were when we didn’t warm up slowly) and worked on our trot for a good portion of time where Pirate has decided more and more to stretch into a good frame. After a really smooth (I mean smooth as ice) transition into the canter and a good lap around we started jumping some small fences. We haven’t done anything crazy (I’m working on his rushing issue and my confidence) just small fences that are mostly crossrails and today a low gate type jump and a small (and by small I mean baby size) oxer. We even managed to do a small line of jumps. I’m trying to keep the jumping super low key and mellow so Pirate learns that jumping is no big deal and he can just mellow out during jumping; although it is nice that he attacks the jumps so boldly.

Something that I’ve noticed after riding Pi for over a solid month is that m confidence in everything not just riding is growing. I forgot how much of a confidence boost it is to work with a horse and just how much I mentally and physically crave the time in a barn setting and even the smells of everything seem to sooth me. As Pirate and I have working on growing together and working on small goals he’s picked me up. I can’t help but smile when he lets me get him in the field without  a fuss and as he licks his lips as I groom and tack him up. Even though I’m the one deciding what’s going to happen for the day’s ride everytime he leads me through something new I can’t help but feel more and more fortunate that I’m able to ride him and that all of those years ago Bonnie bought an OTTB from Idaho