Wow.... This has been a crazy last couple of days. I was going to post yesterday but there was a thunderstorm and our power went out. So this post will be a little longer, but I'll try to keep it down. My posts always look so much longer on my blog than they do here where I'm typing them.

Yesterday was one of those humbling sort of days. It started out dark, dreary, and rainy. I had a jumping lesson in the morning, so I drove down to the eventing barn I take lessons at. I'm leasing a jumping horse there, Sackett. He is actually a very small (15 hand) Quarter horse. He is unbelievably skilled for his size and breed. He is a pretty decent dressage horse, and can jump unbelievably high for his size. Luckily I only need to jump a maximum of 3 feet for my PC ratings.

The geldings are out on a large pasture, probably 20 acres. Sackett has usually been in the front or middle of the pastue, so I'd never been all the way to the back before. I didn't know that there is a shallow pond that goes all the way across the pasture. I was in my riding boots. Sackett is at the very back of the pasture. What choice did I have? I slogged through the pond, soaking my riding boots. Then whatta ya know... Sackett runs away from me. There are few things that annoy me more than a horse that runs away. He runs through the pond, aaaall the way back to the other side of the pasture. So I slog back through and walk another 8 minutes back to catch him. And then he just stands there, looking at me. And I put the halter on. Chasing a horse is a humiliating experience. It makes me feel like I did something wrong...

The lesson was excellent though. We rode in the indoor since it was raining, and we first worked on flying changes on the flat while doing serpentines. She then built up jumps where the lead changes would be for the serpentine and I worked on my lead changes over the jumps. Everything fell together quite smoothly after the first ten minutes. It was very excellent.

I took pictures of Sackett after our lesson. You can tell he's sweaty. They aren't good pictures either, but it gives you an idea of what he looks like. No one else came with me so I don't have pictures of my riding, but atleast you get to see Sackett. Unfortunatly the first one shows up dark.

That afternoon I was having pictures done by Avalon Photography, so I needed to get my horses ready. I decided to have the pictures taken over at the barn since it is so buggy at my house. So I trailored Isis over and braided Grady. It was still raining and we were crossing our fingers, hoping for a window of time to take pictures. There was... About 45 minutes. But it was extremely windy and damp. The photo session was fast and furious, but it went pretty well. Grady was being pretty beastly about the whole ordeal, he wasen't too happy. But atleast we got the pictures taken.

So after the pictures we went to load Isis again. Wouldn't load. Would not. Now, I am not one to try and force a horse into a trailor. I don't think it makes sense and I think it's dangerous. So I worked with her for probably 45 minutes. But the entire time was (somewhat) relaxed and she eventually loaded. It was frustrating that she didn't load, but I am pleased that I was able to take my time to slowly work with her rather than get angry and try to force her in. I knew that sort of attitude wouldn't work with her anyways.

It was a long, exhausting day... One of many!!

This morning we drove down to the studio to pick the pictures we liked. There were so many beautiful pictures. It was amazing because the pictures looked so tranquil and serene, no one would guess that the wind was blowing and that Grady was throwing hissy fits the whole time. Truly beautiful pictures. I asked if I could have some of the pictures e mailed to me so that I could put them on this blog, so hopefully I will be getting those soon.

I worked at the barn for the afternoon and then rode Grady and Isis in the evening. They were both lovely. It's so nice to have a day when they are both right on form!!