Oct. 18, 2010

Today is Monday and Cleo will have to wait until Wednesday before I ride her again. We had a good ride yesterday even though I felt crummy.

Cleo is such a good horse

I had to force myself to ride today. I have a slight case of the Humboldt Crud. Headachey, tired, chest congestion.This feeling of general malaise is a sign of the middle of the semester, the change of weather, and the shorter days--not to mention germs. But Cleo was a real trooper both at my lesson on Wednesday and my ride today; she must know I am not at my best, so she behaved very well. We have been doing very well with the dressage saddle. She does seem to move better with the smaller, lighter tack, and I have to sit straighter and more correctly.

But two weeks ago, she showed her best self. We were walking down the lane toward her paddock after a particularly good ride that included a trip up and down the lane. Without warning, I slipped on a rock and went sprawling on the ground. Cleo just stopped and said, "What are you doing down there?" I needed help getting back up again; my favorite riding breeches no longer had knees and my own knees looked like a six year old's--bloody, and still to this day, scabby and red. My friend Vicky came to the rescue. She hauled me back up and handed me Cleo's lead rope, and I hobbled down the lane with Cleo patiently at my side. What a good horse!

I love my horse

On Friday, I had the first lesson I have had in weeks thanks to the demands of work, Paula's emergency eye surgery, and general life interferences. The break must have done us all a world of good, since I had a great lesson. I am still getting used to riding in a dressage saddle instead of a treeless endurance saddle. The endurance saddle is so comfortable I could sit in it all day, but it allows me to be lazy with my position, and it makes it hard to keep my legs in the proper place. The dressage saddle requires that I sit up straight or I don't feel well-balanced, and the knee blocks keep my legs from scrunching up and forward. As a result, I get tired and a little sore after about 35 minutes. I can feel my upper thighs, calves, and ankles are in a different position.

But Cleo moves so much better in the dressage saddle. The saddle pad and saddle, itself, are significantly behind her shoulders, and the saddle weighs even less than the 12 pound Bob Marshall. She didn't balk or refuse a single request, and her trot was free and floaty.

After riding, Cleo got new shoes as her 'reward.' We are all set for the next few weeks in terms of shots, footing, food, shoes, and lessons. Soon I need to clean and repair her blankets, and then we will be all set for the onset of winter and the rainy season. This year should be better than the last few now that we have a cover in her paddock. Fewer stalls to muck, dusty air to breathe, and stocked up legs from standing around. Now to figure out how to spend more time with her the semester I teach.

The seasons are changing

Less than one more week until the official end of summer. I have been back to teaching since mid-August, and since that time both this blog and Cleo have been on their vacations, so to speak, since my time is taken up by planning lessons, attending meetings, teaching classes and meeting with students. Cleo doesn't seem to mind. She is enjoying the relatively warm (70 degree) days, lounging in her paddock while I am working away at HSU. But we are enjoying our weekends together riding in the arena, and when Janice is at the barn, riding up and down the lane with Carrie and Artie, with Janice as my 'chaperone.' Cleo has been behaving quite well, but a scare a month ago going down the lane has eroded my fragile confidence. With Janice to calm my nerves, we have been enjoying riding outside in the warm summer weather typical to Humboldt County in September and October, our best weather months before the onset of the rainy season. No one is quite ready for rain this year, since our spring was so wet and cold. Our usual six months of dry weather--as long a you don't count drippy fog--looks like it will be reduced to a maximum of four months this year, and possibly down to three. Depends on when the rain starts coming down.

But this year, Cleo should be happier since a cover was constructed in her paddock. Now she doesn't have to spend drizzly days locked up in her stall to keep her warm and dry. She can hang out under her roof with a blanket on when it gets really cold, and breathe fresh, clean air instead of a barn dust. She would always rather be outside unless she is soaking wet. Last winter, I would find her at dinner time standing at her gate shivering so hard that I could hardly put her halter on to bring her to her stall for the night. But then in the morning, she was in such a hurry to get back outside, she would practically drag me down the lane to her paddock. This winter should be a lot easier on both of us. Less gross bedding to muck out of a stall, and fewer tugs of war to get her from one spot to the next because of the weather. Hopefully, we can keep a year-round routine of inside and outside time, riding, and relaxing without precipitation as the driving force. I don't need to look out my Founders Hall window watching the rain pour down sorry that I didn't put Cleo in for the day.

Ewenice is back with Marko and Rocky

Today my friend, Tammy, came and loaded up her four sheep to move them to her new ranch in Red Bluff. They spent the summer here keeping Ewenice company and mowing my back yard and field (and pooping all over my back deck). Ewenice was often overwhelmed by them since they were very aggressive about food. Often she hung out by herself or with one of the more timid sheep, but now that they are gone, she is looking for them. It shouldn't take her long to settle back in with Rocky, the miniature horse, and Marko, the thoroughbred, to keep her company. I suggested Ewenice move with Tammy and her flock to Red Bluff, but her ewes will be living with a ram, and at age four, Ewenice is old to be bred for the first time. Besides, she would have trouble adjusting to the heat of Red Bluff. She was born in my backyard with Lola as the midwife. That summer, I had two of Tammy's ewes as lawnmowers, and one surprised us with a lamb on Memorial Day. Except for a yearly visit to the shearing clinic at Eureka High School, Ewenice has never been anywhere else. This is her home.