Merry Christmas!

I am SO EXCITED for Christmas! I LOVE it! I love the entire holiday season, starting with Halloween (not a perenial favorite with me, but it does sort of start off the whole holiday thing), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. We are in the midst of a HUGE winter storm in Utah--and I love that, too! (except that I still have to get home from work and it looks pretty nasty out there). Snow is good, though.

I started skiing when I was around 8 years old. Never was that great at it, but it was fun. I spent many a winter Saturday on the slopes. My last year in undergrad, I really had only one serious class, the others were, I kid you not... skiing and horseback riding. It was awesome! :) My skiing technique was OK, but I was lacking in sheer guts. I have, however, skiied some pretty scary stuff, including a few double black diamonds (which I will NEVER do again). I haven't been skiing for about 8 years, but one of my horse-riding friends and I are pondering going for at least a half day in January. My knees will probably blow out and I'm sure I won't be able to use my quads for days afterward, but I think we'll do it, anyway, if nothing else but the laugh and a few cool skiing pictures. :)

Oh--I am getting a new sewing machine for Christmas. Plus, my gift to myself is art supplies. So, I shall update on the sewing and art forays soon. I did make my first quilt a few months ago--having never touched a sewing machine before. It's far from beautiful, but it's OK, and I'm excited for my second effort (which I have put on hold until the new machine--the old machine is just awful--and that's coming from somebody who knows nothing about machines. Alright--it might be the sewer and not the machine that's awful, but I guess I shall find out soon...).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

How Big is Too Big to Ride?

That, my friends, is a delicate question about a not so delicate issue (or at least not so delicate riders). I can tell you from experience that it's about a zillion times easier to ride a horse when you are slim and fit than it is to ride when you are overweight and fit--or, even worse, overweight and unfit. We can all defend it all we want, but truth is--our size and fitness contributes to how we ride and certainly how we balance ourselves on a horse. I DO think there's a difference between a 5'5" 200 pound rider and a 6' 200 pound rider--the six foot rider is probably more fit. Granted, the other rider just might be a better rider, but if they both have the same level of riding skills, the fitter rider is going to have an easier time of balancing and making the necessary adjustments while riding. You can see from my pics that I am not a delicate rider. Knowing this, I bought a giant, very strong horse with a huge barrel, broad back, big butt, and legs like tree trunks. I bought him off a picture and a video, and he had exactly three things to recommend him: 1) he was purty, 2) even as a 3-year-old, his legs were huge showing very "good bone," and 3) he had a decent flatwalk.

But I used to weigh even MORE than it shows in the picture (although I am currently LESS, which is nice). I worried about it every single time I rode. Satin is only 15 hands and is strong as an ox (I know this for a fact, because she hauled my lard-butt around a lot of mountains), but I worried about her all the time, because I know I exceeded the 20% rule with her. That's why I've been a fanatic about proper saddle fitting, getting the saddle fitter to reflock the saddles, having chiropractic care and massage. I have noticed that as the weight is coming off, I worry less about these issues--probably for good reason. I have also noticed my riding getting better, but I ain't there yet. What is there? Well, I don't think I'll ever had the raw courage and even the skill and reflexes that I did at 20, but I believe if I could weigh just about what I did at 20, I'd be a pretty strong rider. I'm working on it. I've lost 50 pounds in the past year and need to lose 50 more.

No matter what, I think you have to consider the health and well-being of the horse. I used to own one that I really was too big for, even though he was 16.2. But he was narrow-chested, small-barrelled--even slab-sided, with very long legs and a long back and neck. I should NOT have been riding that horse at the weight I was. I look back at pictures and I can't stand what I see. I won't put myself or another horse in that situation again--if I re-gain the weight (oh, please, no!) I will have to assess the situation and either buy a horse that I can ride or stop riding altogether. Perhaps take up driving? I don't know.

Ode to an Aging Mare...

This is Satin, with her real owner, my mom. But I admit it--I have taken her away, at least emotionally. Satin is a 19-year-old TWH mare. She was 11 when we got her. That horse has gotten me through so many problems--two horses who wanted to kill me, one who had wobbles and died at a very young age, and new, not-so-steady young horses. I would probably have left this horse world if not for Satin.

Satin's a complete and total spazz and nobody likes riding her besides me, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE her. And I trust her 100%, although I think her age is catching up with her a little bit with her eyesight (certainly not her energy, since nobody else can keep up with the old girl!)

I fear the day I lose this horse, because she is my girl and I adore her. I've tried breeding her, but she appears to be unable to carry a baby full-term. I probably shouldn't breed her, anyway, because she is quite out of control and does have a slight swayback, but I cannot stand the thought of a world without her. On the other hand, I know I can't replace her, and her baby could be nothing like her amazing mother.

I guess I'll just enjoy her and hope to ride her for another 10+ years.

Satin is quite a mare.

BFFs!!!

Tierra and her new BFF, Amy!!! How cute are they? Tierra is 19 months old, Amy is 3.5 years old (a halter-bred APHA mare). Killin' me, those two. Could they be a little cuter? Tierra is the lone Friesian in a pasture full of halter-bred paints, quarter horses and even an appaloosa gelding (her other BFF and knight in shining armour, as he did jump in between her and the ornery old mares to save her when she was first put into the pasture).

She LOVES her new digs. I miss her a lot, but I know it's best for now.

Grass is Greener...

Yesterday's post was too whiny. Really, I'm extremely thankful to have an education and a job, and a good job it is. Stressful right now, but a good job.



And while I will never regret having gone through law school, I have always wondered if I should have stayed the literature course. I would love still to go back and get an MFA in Creative Writing. Problem is--the classes are generally during the day at the local university. That, and they require a letter of recommendation from an undergrad professor. I know I'm unforgettable and all, but I don't think they'll remember me from 15+ years ago.



Interesting, though. I took a creative writing class just for the fun of it several years ago and was envying the professor's life... only to find out he envied mine! He's always wished that he'd gone to law school and become and attorney. So--it is true, the grass is always greener...



Rode The Yellow Horse last night. He's awesome. I take no credit for it whatsoever, as my friend trained him and the horse himself is amazing, but wow, what a fun ride! I think the world just might be a better place if everybody had a horse like him.



Oh, and cats like mine. I'm convinced everybody would be happier with them. :)

Work SUCKS...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I could live my life quite happily without ever again venturing into an office. I like to live my happy little life, oblivious to politics and legal issues and problems and... but instead, I chose to go to law school. What WAS I thinking? Been a lawyer now for 12 years. Most of the time, I can stomach it, but I'm not a big fan of taking responsibility for my own life, let alone other people's lives. Clearly, I'd have made a really horrible doctor (good thing I took law school over medical school!)

But a wise friend (also a lawyer) once told me that I put way too many expectations on work. I made the mistake of thinking I'd love it and I'd get some sort of satisfaction or, if not happiness, at least contentment, and maybe a little pride out of my work. I was wrong. He told me to lower my expectations, go to work for the paychecks, and live through my hobbies. Sort of a crappy way to go about work, but it's not a terrible recipe for a happy life. So that's what I do--endure work so I can pay for my hobbies. Which include horses. And they are really, really expensive. So, I work for them--which is really for me.

Horses are a bit like potato chips (to every horse person I know except one, who is somehow able to stay with one horse), and one does tend to acquire several of them. I own three--a Tennessee Walking Horse gelding (my dream palomino), a Quarter Horse gelding (who is still very young and a lovely horse without about a million health problems and, apparently, a bit of an attitude--demonstrated by throwing me into a fence a month ago), and my newest purchase that I really could NOT help--a Friesian filly. Blame me all you want, but could YOU ignore that face?? I think not. Plus, I've wanted a Friesian for a LONG time. Those of you who watched Ladyhawke know why. :) I was probably 13 when I first saw that movie, and I fell in love with Goliath, but I was pretty sure that there could not be another horse on the planet as beautiful as that one. I was wrong--there are a bunch of them. I met one for the first time when I was an undergraduate. He was a beautiful Friesian stallion that I never could really believe was REAL. And then I found out you can actually ride them! From that point on, I knew I had to have one.

She's 19 months old now. I'll post an updated picture in the next few days. She's living with a friend of mine in a large pasture with a bunch of paint and QH mares and one appy gelding. "One of these things is not like the other!" I'd rather look out my window and see her standing in my own pasture, but that isn't likely to happen for another year or so (a topic for another day), so this is a good solution for now.

I'll leave with a picture of her gorgeous dad, Sam and go and ride a few other equines standing around at the barn waiting. Or not waiting. Whatever they do when I'm not there!

I Get Discouraged...

I get discouraged by things people do and don't do, things they say and don't say... I think we all do. Today, I was discouraged by something I read on a blog that was supposed to be about horses, but turned into a religious bash. Now, don't get me wrong. I really, really love horses. But a trainer once said something to me that really stuck--she said, "It's not about horses. It's about people." I've been pondering that statement for quite awhile now. My instinctive reaction (we were talking about abusive horse practices at the time) was, "No, it really is about the horses." But I think I get what she was saying. Kind of goes back to that saying, "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin." I think her point was that people really are more important than horses (a hard thing for me to admit), and while you can fight passionately for more enlightenment amongst horse owners, you should not get so caught up in your self-righteous indignation that you confuse your hatred for what people DO for the people themselves. That's hard. It's easier to have righteous indignation. Then it's all black and white and not shades of gray, and darn, those shades of gray are difficult and uncomfortable to deal with.

So, why is this blog called "Do Something Fun?" Because I'm a big believer in that. Otherwise, life is just too dang depressing and none of us have the energy to fight any of the good fights. So, in this situation, I shall just go out and hug my horses (I'm odd enough to think that's fun) and keep saying to myself, "Like Water Off a Duck's Back..." :)