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.