Happy Birthday Sweety!

Today is L's birthday. She's 10 years old!

One beautiful horse
Smile when you do this.

Whatever motivates a horse person to hang out with horses I think fun needs to be a big part of it. We had a boarder at our barn who would smile so much when she was with her horse her face would hurt when she left for the day.

I've often said I think everyone should be as happy with their horse as I am with L. And it's one of the reasons I blog - because it wasn't always that way. I have so many stories to tell I hardly know where to begin.

Yesterday I started a stopwatch when I mounted up. We went off and we did this and we did that. After a time I checked my watch. It said "8 minutes" had elapsed. I'm thinking to myself "gee I'd swear we've been out longer than 8 minutes". We'd warmed up and we'd done some flexing and bending and we'd gone through the 3 gaits. I can feel L getting more fit with every trip now. We were just poking around and L was looking in the direction of the barn like she was thinking "we must be done by now". I furrowed my eyebrows and looked again and saw it was an hour and 11 minutes had passed. My eyes aren't so good anymore. Apparently I didn't see the hour when I'd looked the first time. See. I knew it was more than 8 minutes!

That struck me especially funny, because back when she was 4 or 5 years old, 10 minutes on L felt like 2 hours and I often thought I'd never get it. I'd climb on, we'd fight for 10 or 15 minutes and I'd be ready to collapse in a heap. She never got tired. I really think she thought it was fun. As often as not I'd wonder why it was I did this.

Obviously since then we've had our milestones and I've learned a lot. I spend most of my time trying to make it up to her and horses are very forgiving creatures. I'm not very good at it but somehow we've become good partners in this. She's one good horse.

You should smile a lot when you're with your horse.

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Have a healthy breakfast?

I don't normally eat breakfast. I started having breakfast on Sunday morning a couple of years ago. To make Sunday something special. Usually it's some eggs or pancakes but sometimes I go for something wholesome and healthy.

5 Grain Cereal from Old Wessex
This stuff is actually very good! It's packed with whole grain goodness. I added a little wheat germ and dried cranberries and I squeezed some honey on it. The flavor and texture is basically that of quick cooking oats but I thought it had a scent something like bird seed.

The package said to cook it for 6 minutes but mine was done in 3 minutes.

Next time I want to try some maple syrup on it instead of honey.

Trust me on this one

Once you've had soy sauce on a fried egg you will never want to have a fried egg without soy sauce ever again.

Ok, yes, yes I did fall off my horse.

No no, I'm not *that* stupid. I was wearing a helmet! Wear a helmet when you do this stuff! I just don't understand people that don't wear helmets when they ride. Trust me, I do know about this stuff. Do you *really* want your loved ones to know what it's like to have you not know them? Do you *really* want them to worry about you every minute of every day because you can't get back from the mailbox at the end of your own driveway without getting lost? Taking care of someone with a head injury is a very bad thing. Wear a helmet!

Horses make you humble. It's one of the things I enjoy about hanging out with horses. Some lessons though are a little harder than others. I've been riding almost exclusively bareback for the past 9 or 10 months. It's done wonders for my comfort level and it's done wonders for my seat. I'll use a pad if I plan on being out for more than an hour or so because I have a bony butt and well, I wouldn't want my bony butt on my back without a pad for a couple of hours.

So there we were having a great time. It was hot. And dry. A little breezy. My favorite kind of day. Fourth of July coming and I'm on vacation! Out riding Sweety bareback. Yay!
It was our first lap, just warming up, I was being a slob and I'm thinking well aren't we so cool. I really should have known better. Hardly a minute later I'm lying in a heap in the dust and Sweety's off eating grass. I hate it when that happens.

I probably could have stayed with her if I'd have thought to grab for her mane. But I made a grab for the reins and I've worked too hard on soft hands. Soon as I realized I was grabbing for the reins to hang on I let go. I'm not the fastest thinker sometimes. I could have hung on to her mane or even her neck - wouldn't be the first time - but things like this happen fast.

Well I gathered her up and climbed back on board and we went on to have a perfectly lovely ride. No real harm done. But I am getting too old to be falling off my horse.

But I confess yes, my butt's a little sore.

A nice vacation breakfast helped take some of the sting out. I just *love* Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss Cheese in my omelette. The MOËT speaks for itself. The cup is filled with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Really good coffee. One of my most favorite.



And remember - always wear a helmet when you ride your horse! These guys even hand out free helmets.