Windy Days & A Past Celebrity Ride

Thanks for everyone's responses from my last post!

#winteriscoming

I know there are plenty of dogs out there who go absolutely nuts when you pull out their adorable little blankets or outfits, but how many dogs start bouncing off the walls when you pull a full wrap-around hat... with a brim... out of their toy/blanket basket. I know of one. P.S. He also loves to wear his "cone of shame" and will put it on himself (with pride) if given the chance. What a weirdo...

#Petsittinglife - It's been pretty easy going with normal walks and just a couple of overnights, but it's just the calm before the mini storm. Luckily Thanksgiving weekend only lasts a few days and into December we go! A week off and then another busy weekend and a few more quiet weeks. I'm still on the fence about how much longer I can keep this up. If there are any super success non-exhausted pet-sitter/dog-walkers out there who has some advice... I am all ears. 

But I have goals I really want to reach in 2017.

One is competing and doing a few horse trials and I'm sure there will be a few injuries to go with that and being laid up is not good for business when you are the only employee of your business... But at least with most full-time Monday thru Friday jobs, there's sick time. We'll see what happens!

Brantley and I have a had a couple more lessons with Eric Horgan which I learned a lot from. There are definitely things I like and don't like but it's great to have tools to throw into the cauldron of horsemanship. Some things have been working well while others don't. Still though, it's helping us figure things out that work for us. B seems to be happy and moving smoothly and ready to jump anything we put in front of him.

Lauren came up for Equine Affaire weekend and got to take him for a spin. I love hearing what she has to say and watching her go around especially since she's seen him basically from the beginning. It's like watching your friend's kid grow up from afar. You see them 1-2x per year and they're a foot taller and have so much more to say. Luckily Brantley is not getting taller but he does have a lot more to say.

She has a lot more experience in the jumping world than I do so that's another reason I love watching her. There are a lot of horse owners that watch someone else ride their horse well (and maybe even better than them which is Lauren in this case ahaha) and may get upset or jealous, even angry. But me? I am so proud of the kind of horse he's become and watching what he can do with someone who knows what they're doing? I love it. I'm so lucky to say, "I did that."

Here's Lauren from last year (10.9.15)

And here's this year! (11.9.16)

SO PROUD!

This past Sunday, Wendy and I left the horse trailer behind and went over to Cherry Croft to support our friend Grasa from Gypsy Rose Horsemanship at her Gymkhana. Me being me... I had to butt in and see if I could be of service and lucky me! I got to watch and set the timer and organize results. I know, I know, I'm a weirdo, but I love trying to be helpful. I think Wendy and I may dabble in some Gymkhana stuff next year to if the finances allow. Hunter Paces of course are first priority.

So anyone taking the winter off this year? I thought about it but... I feel like if I try to give that beast the winter off, let alone myself, Spring is going to be more interesting than I'd like it to be. So there's the next question... To clip or not to clip? Wendy nailed a super awesome deal at E.A. on some clippers and I'm thinking a trace clip would be nice. What is everyone else doing out there?