Warning: emotions lay ahead.

I had to make a tough decision the other night.

I went out to ride Rosa but discovered that she had a huge gash inside her leg, I'm assuming from one of the support T-posts that keep my roommate's horse from getting into the 2-year old pen and terrorizing the fillies. So Rosa got her leg cleaned up and the night off instead.

I went out and grabbed Chica and jumped on her bareback with her halter. Everything started off ok; she felt and looked totally sound at the walk and seemed fine at the trot, too. Then I asked her to canter. While she got into the canter and tried to remain there for me, she was so jarring and struggling so much that I asked her to go back down into the trot, which she did, although this time she was limping.

I got off her and bawled my eyes out. For one, I felt bad for making her do something that hurt her, even though I didn't realize it was going to. For two, the last time that I rode her, she was having trouble at the canter, too. So I think it's time to seriously retire her, at least from doing anything more than walking.

It's almost poetic, if you're into dark poetry. For the first couple of years, I couldn't/didn't want to canter Chica for fear that she would buck me off. Now, when Chica canters off beautifully from the word "canter," I don't think I'll get to experience it anymore. Maybe ironic is a better word.

It's so hard to watch her break down like this, even if it is slowly. She's always been such a tough girl who tries her heart out for me. Even the other day when it was causing her pain she tried to keep going. And it makes me so MAD. I see some shitty horses people have who are not worth the feed and time they put into them yet are completely and totally sound, and then there's my girl who is so well trained and such a good horse and there's so much I could still do with her, even at 18 years old, if she wasn't chronically lame.


But I know that's the way of the world. There are lots of good people getting cancer and Parkinson's disease and ALS while bad people continue to do bad things. We live in a fallen world. Life isn't fair. Etc.

So, this isn't goodbye to Chica, obviously. She's still up for walking around the property. She seems to like the attention when I ride her (she's always been jealous of other horses), so as long as she's feeling up to it, she'll still be my #1 ride. But I think the days of carefree cantering through the trees are behind us. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hug my horse and cry some more.

Read More

Chica & Rosa!

Nothing too eventful has happened since I last posted. I'm still waiting to hear back about a job interview I had in July, so fingers crossed there!

Last night I got Rosa out, intending to ride her, however it suddenly dawned on me how exhausted I was as I was getting her out so I ended up just bathing her and working on showmanship instead. I did, however, jump on her bareback and ride her around my yard with just a halter, and she was awesome. Here are a bunch of pictures of clean Rosa!

 

The face that says "My mom won't let me graze on all this nice grass."

 

I love the shine!

I got Chica out a little later, and while I didn't bathe her, she still got to have her picture taken, too! She was so happy about it.

Just a little bit of a grass belly........

 

"A hair dresser my mother will never be."

Poor Chica's forelock. I'm not sure what happened, as usually I can trim it and make it look pretty good, but this time it was a complete fail. I'm not sure I've ever seen it so short! I blame the fact that it was wet when I cut it the first time.

That's all for now! Perhaps I'll have more news on the job front soon.

Read More

Titles are hard.

This past Saturday was Philip's birthday. Since he had to go to Houston for a bachelor party Saturday morning, I made plans for his birthday in College Station for Saturday afternoon. They were a surprise, much like him surprising me with horseback riding plans for my birthday (that unfortunately got rained out). So after he left for Houston, I went and picked up the tandem kayak I had rented for the day. I also went to Kroger and got several types of cheeses (he loves cheese) and some fruit and crackers to go with it for a picnic after our boating. I then went to Spec's and attempted to find a wine from one of our first dates, but to no avail, le sigh.

When he got back to CS, we loaded up my truck and headed to Lake Bryan. There were a ton of people there, but we found a good place to put in the kayak, climbed aboard, and off we rowed. I don't know how long we were out on the water, but I will admit that my arms started to get tired sooner than I would have liked them to!

We got done kayaking, pulled the boat on shore, then just hung out in the lake for a while. Those of you who know me know that I am TERRIFIED of bodies of water--lakes, oceans, etc. Walking into the lake and feeling the gross bottom of it resulted in many disgusted noises from me, yet I managed. The water felt really nice, and with all the people around, I wasn't TOO concerned about getting pulled under by the Bryan Loch Ness Monster.

After we got pruny, we enjoyed our picnic under the shade of a tree. I also made Philip pose for a picture, since we are terrible about remembering to take pics (please ignore the ugly blue stripe of paint on the end of my truck; someone vandalized it a month ago or so while I was parked in the mall parking lot).

After we got home, we went back out for dinner to Philip's choice of restaurant (Wendy's) and rented a movie. It was a great day that went much too quickly.


In other news, after not hearing from the lady supposedly interested in Rosa for over a week, I'm assuming she is not coming. Which means Rosa is mine, ALL MINE! Muahaha. At least, for now.

I'm still keeping an eye on prospects that are available in the surrounding areas that I might be interested in, just in case. Just in case of what, I don't know. In case I win the lottery, even though I don't play? In case someone drives up and hands me a check for several thousand dollars? Use your imagination.

But that's currently neither here nor there, so for the time being, I'm going to enjoy the horses I have.


Finally, I got some exciting news today from the publisher I work for. I've been training for a full-fledged editorial position, and I got incredibly positive feedback today on the work I've done. In fact, the managing editor was so happy with it that she has made me the official editor on the two manuscripts I've been working on--which means my name will be on them when they are published! I am really excited. She also wants to get me involved in the marketing and acquisitions processes and says that she sees a lot of potential in me long term.

So now I've opened up the communication lines for these two authors and turned their edited manuscripts back over to them with my suggestions. This is the start of my career. I have more experience to add to my resume. Let me reiterate: I am SO excited!

Read More

A change in plans...

So last weekend my boyfriend was in town, and he asked if we could ride horses. Thrilled at his enthusiasm and wanting to encourage it, I conceded...even though my two year old has never been ridden away from my backyard/her pen. I hoped that with Chica's calming, Madea-like presence, Rosa wouldn't have anything to worry about.

A couple days before I had ridden Chica around more of the property while ponying Rosa, boldly going where no two year old has gone before. At least, not Rosa. The only time she really spooked or was concerned was when Chica...passed gas, and I suppose startled her. Rosa "bolted" straight into Chica's side, and I prepared for a beat down of epic proportions. My forgiving, lovely mare didn't even flinch. She's come a long way since Katy Cowgirls.

I saddled up both horses and taught the bf how to clean hooves. While doing this, some neighbors rode by on four-wheelers, one of which repeatedly backfired and sounded like a gun shot going off next to my head. My whole body tensed up and in slow motion my mind went "Nooooooooo" as I turned to Rosa, bracing myself for the worse. She didn't flinch. Even Chica got a little startled by the noise, but my spooky little baby just glanced over her shoulder at them, shrugged, and carried on.

Phew.

Afterwards, I got Philip up on Chica (in my English saddle, no less). While he rode around and got acclimated to her, I longed Rosa. Warming her up was non-eventful, so after about 20 minutes or so, we headed out.

I'm not foolish enough to take my two year old, who I've never loped before, out someplace where one of us could seriously get hurt. Like, say, my road, where cars whiz past at 50 mph+. Instead I rode her over next door to my landlord's yard. And guess what? She led the way, without hesitation. We even left Chica behind several times. There was no spooking, no silly babyness...then, we got to the "bridge" part of my landlord's driveway. It's not really a bridge, just a place where the sides of the road drop away for about seven yards.

Rosa was NOT having it.

I could have fought with her about it, but between the mower buzzing around the corner, my landlord's dog barking like an idiot, and my landlords' kids throwing stuff, I didn't want to push her anymore. So I called for Philip to ride across first with Chica while I made Rosa stand and consider her choices. We then rode across it without hesitation, and she discovered it actually wasn't a horse-eating monster. She even led the way back over it as we headed back to my place.

Everything was going really well, and I was relaxed. But then, without warning, the four-wheelers came whipping around the corner again. I barely managed to yell out a four letter word at Philip and dismounted my horse in record time. The engine backfired, and again Rosa just stood and didn't react. I glanced behind me to see how Philip had fared and was surprised to find him standing next to Chica, who this time was also unaffected. I just laughed and decided to walk the horses back to the trailer to unsaddle.

So. Now what? It appears that the little mare has a pretty sound mind floating around in that baby brain. And now I don't want to sell her. I've really enjoyed trail riding and would love to take Chica out more if it weren't for her feet, but maybe Rosa can eventually fill that hole for me.

Of course, I have someone that may or may not be coming out to look at her--you never know until the person is at your house, even if you have talked to them on the phone several times--and if they do come out, I'll sell her if they want to buy her. But I've decided not to market her anymore. If it comes down to it and I have to sell her, then so be it. In the meanwhile, I'd like to see what else this little girl has up her sleeve.

Read More

Rosa photo shoot!

I decided to rectify my lack of Rosa pictures yesterday evening. She was a mudball and could have used a good bath beforehand, but ain't nobody got time for that. A good brushing and coating of fly spray spruced her up pretty well anyway.

Here is one of the resulting photos!

Rosa is the most difficult horse to get to put her ears forward. So how did I accomplish this, you might ask?

Romeo lent his voice. He was really happy about being able to help:

Such a cutie pie.

Here are a few more Rosa pics. Also, just wanted to add that she was WONDERFUL about standing still and not trying to wander off or graze. Good job, Rosa.

And a terrible selfie:

And a fun eye selfie:

And then this happened:

Poor, sad Romeo. I decided to set my camera on a timer and try to get all three of us in a picture. Let me tell you, that is not an easy task when your dog is afraid of being closer than five feet to your horse and your horse is afraid of you running at her (to make it into the picture). Ten seconds is not enough time, Canon PowerShot.

Plus I forgot to untuck my jeans from my boots. Neat!

Maybe one day I will attempt this again and include Chica, Fiona...and RAMSES!

Read More

Attention logophiles!

Here's a laugh to start your weekend: Weird Al Yankovic's "Word Crimes," set to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines."

Nerds have fun, too.

I have nothing else to add right now, so here's a pic of my two pony girls!

Chica looks so short. Have a good Friday!

Read More

My little Ponderosa

So I've taken to calling Rosa "Ponderosa." I myself find it really weird, especially since a Ponderosa is a tall, slender pine tree, but it is what it is. I also call her "Rosa Rizo" after a tongue twister I learned in high school Spanish class--"Rosa Rizo reza Ruso, Ruso reza Rosa Rizo"--which feels more appropriate, given my flair for Spanish horse names.

Anyway, last night I got some photos and videos of Rosa FINALLY. Poor Rosa practically doesn't exist compared to how many pictures I have of Chica and Sienna. Here are some of the best:

She started off grumpy and refused to look at me or put her ears forward.

Then I unclipped her and posed her in my driveway, and she was much happier.

And then Romeo walked over and gave her something to look at. Good job, Romos.

She looks like such a horse now! I'm really happy with how she's turning out. She's a small cow horse, but I think she's a pretty cow horse. My pictures of her from before didn't do her justice.

In other news, this post was going to just be about Rosa, but then I discovered these pictures Philip took of Sienna and I a couple months ago while we were waiting for a prospective buyer to come try her out...enjoy!

Could we be any less friends here?

HAHAHA THIS. I can't even!

Read More