Wednesday, February 2
Feb. 2nd, 2023 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
I hope, I think, I pray to whatever gods protect shipped goods, that I succeeded in buying some night gowns for my Mom online, and that they get to her. The only place I could get them is in the States. She has this one kind that she likes, literally one specific style/brand, and for twenty years I have been responsible for finding them for her. The company that used to carry them no longer does, so I found another company. I did get a confirmation/tracking number, so that gives me some confidence. I don't buy much online, and unless it is a well-known company I worry a bit.
My body felt fairly warm today, though it was colder. Of course, I wear a lot of layers.
It was mainly the wind that felt sharp. When that died down it wasn't so bad.
I still went to see River for our lesson. The other lessons today cancelled because they haul their horses in, and the roads weren't great. I am always surprised that people are willing to haul their horses in the winter here, unless it is absolutely necessary.
Anyhow, that was nice in a way because I didn't feel rushed to get done on time.
The lesson went well. River was quite focused and willing today. The willing part is really nice, because he is a horse that often "lags" and is not particularly responsive to cues. He will respond, usually "in his own time". Today he was pretty much "on" with the cues, which is really nice to see.
We reviewed our homework from last week and refined it some more. We worked on the hindquarter yield from a standstill and while walking, then trotting in hand. Then we used the whip to cue for a lift in the rib cage/shoulder while walking in hand.
Then we worked on lunging and staying round, and using body mirroring to get upwards and downwards transitions that will be used later for Liberty circles. We do Liberty circles right now, but only walk and trot, and we are working towards the canter.
Our big laugh for today was me trying to figure out how to "canter" inside the circle as a cue going to the right. It is literally like how little kids pretend to canter when they play horsie, but a little more refined to mirror with the horse's front legs. Apparently I can't pick up the right lead correctly, so MY HOMEWORK is to learn how to pick up the right lead!
I'm glad today's lesson was kind of light-hearted, and the last few sessions with River as well. He seemed to enjoy our work a little better which is important in Liberty, because you cannot force a horse at all to be with you at Liberty if he is bored with the work or sour in any way. You have to really work at being fun to be with while still having expectations, and to be really good with your timing to reward the try and so on. I know I have a tendency to get very analytical and goal oriented, and I forget to be fun.
I spent some time with the barn kitties too. I am sometimes in awe of how very ROUND Ruby (Earl's buddy) is. They don't get over-fed, and whenever the weather allows, Ruby gets plenty of exercise. Yet she is very round, and it is not all fluff. She is like a soft, sweet bowling ball.
I came home and had a nap with OUR kitties.
I learned that former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman's son once married Bill's ex-wife's mother, making Bill Wyman stepfather of his former mother in law, as well as stepgrandfather of his former wife.
To be fair, the ex-wife was insanely young (only 18 when she wed 52 year old Bill in 1989), and her mother would have been a decade younger than Bill Wyman. His son Stephen was 30 and the mother of the ex-wife was 46 when they wed in 1993.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wyman#Personal_life
I will reward loyal readers with a second "fact" for today. In France there is a group called the Garden Gnome Liberation Front which steals garden gnomes with the goal of "freeing" them and "returning them to the wild".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_gnome#Gnoming_as_theft
I hope, I think, I pray to whatever gods protect shipped goods, that I succeeded in buying some night gowns for my Mom online, and that they get to her. The only place I could get them is in the States. She has this one kind that she likes, literally one specific style/brand, and for twenty years I have been responsible for finding them for her. The company that used to carry them no longer does, so I found another company. I did get a confirmation/tracking number, so that gives me some confidence. I don't buy much online, and unless it is a well-known company I worry a bit.
My body felt fairly warm today, though it was colder. Of course, I wear a lot of layers.
It was mainly the wind that felt sharp. When that died down it wasn't so bad.
I still went to see River for our lesson. The other lessons today cancelled because they haul their horses in, and the roads weren't great. I am always surprised that people are willing to haul their horses in the winter here, unless it is absolutely necessary.
Anyhow, that was nice in a way because I didn't feel rushed to get done on time.
The lesson went well. River was quite focused and willing today. The willing part is really nice, because he is a horse that often "lags" and is not particularly responsive to cues. He will respond, usually "in his own time". Today he was pretty much "on" with the cues, which is really nice to see.
We reviewed our homework from last week and refined it some more. We worked on the hindquarter yield from a standstill and while walking, then trotting in hand. Then we used the whip to cue for a lift in the rib cage/shoulder while walking in hand.
Then we worked on lunging and staying round, and using body mirroring to get upwards and downwards transitions that will be used later for Liberty circles. We do Liberty circles right now, but only walk and trot, and we are working towards the canter.
Our big laugh for today was me trying to figure out how to "canter" inside the circle as a cue going to the right. It is literally like how little kids pretend to canter when they play horsie, but a little more refined to mirror with the horse's front legs. Apparently I can't pick up the right lead correctly, so MY HOMEWORK is to learn how to pick up the right lead!
I'm glad today's lesson was kind of light-hearted, and the last few sessions with River as well. He seemed to enjoy our work a little better which is important in Liberty, because you cannot force a horse at all to be with you at Liberty if he is bored with the work or sour in any way. You have to really work at being fun to be with while still having expectations, and to be really good with your timing to reward the try and so on. I know I have a tendency to get very analytical and goal oriented, and I forget to be fun.
I spent some time with the barn kitties too. I am sometimes in awe of how very ROUND Ruby (Earl's buddy) is. They don't get over-fed, and whenever the weather allows, Ruby gets plenty of exercise. Yet she is very round, and it is not all fluff. She is like a soft, sweet bowling ball.
I came home and had a nap with OUR kitties.
I learned that former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman's son once married Bill's ex-wife's mother, making Bill Wyman stepfather of his former mother in law, as well as stepgrandfather of his former wife.
To be fair, the ex-wife was insanely young (only 18 when she wed 52 year old Bill in 1989), and her mother would have been a decade younger than Bill Wyman. His son Stephen was 30 and the mother of the ex-wife was 46 when they wed in 1993.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wyman#Personal_life
I will reward loyal readers with a second "fact" for today. In France there is a group called the Garden Gnome Liberation Front which steals garden gnomes with the goal of "freeing" them and "returning them to the wild".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_gnome#Gnoming_as_theft
no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 07:55 pm (UTC)Hopefully there will be no outrageous duty fees on your gift to your mother.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 09:49 pm (UTC)They got married when she was 18, they divorced two years later, and apparently she started advocating to raise the age of consent to 16.
It was all pretty gross.
As far as I understand, by the time I pay for the gowns and the shipping, that should be it, so it's all up front.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-03 05:31 pm (UTC)