Calm, Forward, Straight

Calm, Forward, Straight

Thursday, May 24, 2012

In the Arena # 123 - Getting my head around it...
At the Farmette # 8 - No rest for the weary...

There have been two rides since my less than elegant dismount last week. The bumps and bruises have healed, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel some trepidation when mounting up again.

I threw on the bareback pad a few days later for the first ride. Val wasn't particularly calm. I reckon I wasn't either - surprise! Nonetheless, it was a decent ride. One little scoot, and then things went smoothly. I focused on sitting deeply, in my horse.

The next evening, after doing some effective ground work, I impulsively led Val over to the mounting block and hopped on, sans tack. I'm lucky Val is relatively comfortable even without a pad. No shark fin withers on my boy, so no wither wedgie. We motored around the arena, relying on legs and seat only. An un-pulled mane comes in handy sometimes. It was a divine ride. I felt close to my horse, physically and mentally.

The plan is to do a real schooling ride this weekend. Tacked up, and revisiting the trot / canter transitions with equanimity, and intention. After processing what happened leading up to my fall, I believe the issue was me being thrown (no pun intended) by sticky transitions, becoming frustrated and most importantly getting off of my seat. When the shenanigans started I was already unbalanced. A good but hard lesson to learn.

The rest of my week centered around the weather and the garden.

There have been the most intense skies happening along with the numerous thunderstorms lately... thankfully, as we were getting a little drought-ish in April. Seems like we may be returning to a more normal pattern of late afternoon and evening thunderstorms relieving the excess moisture and energy built up in the atmosphere. A dicey pattern when ventilating your home depends on crank up vents on the roof...

In the gardens, weeding and picking off pests is a never ending process. One benefit to the early spring and moving my beds around, the tomato / tobacco hornworm caterpillars have struck out. Suckahs! Also, I found a newly hatched hornworm moth, wings not even pumped up yet, which was promptly relocated.

The hose came in handy to jet away aphids attacking my (delicious) sugar snaps. The radishes are harvested. Note to self - next time succession planting would be a good idea. My carrots are coming up nicely. I experimented with transplanting some of the thinnings - supposedly not possible to do. We shall see.

The mighty Kubota spent the weekend again, so I was able to turn all the manure piles. The new bed is going gangbusters. Thank you Val for making some awesome dirt. I swear you can (almost) watch the tomato plants growing. I have been saving those plastic-y feed bags, with the plan of bagging up composted manure for sale next year. I thought I'd turn them inside out, leaving a clear space to put some kind of logo label.

Enjoy some photo spam...










wee little carrots


no one needs this many radishes






this kind of cloud formation (wall cloud) usually makes water spouts...




isn't he lovely...




17 comments:

  1. LOL on your radishes comment...but they're pretty and I bet they're yummy, too. We cut the tops and bottoms off and put them in water. Easy snacking and helps keep the flavor mild. Love the curved-neck Val photo, and glad to hear you're back on the back (if not in the saddle!).

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  2. The cloud photos are stunning. I have never seen a wall cloud before.

    Riding after a fall is always unsettling, but you are braver than you think if you got on bareback! Good for you. :)

    Looks like the produce is moving right along. I commend you for your hard work. Farmers must be tireless folks.

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  3. That's great that you got on and bareback to boot. Your garden is beautiful!

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  4. Your sky photos are gorgeous. Love Val's expression's too. Thumbs up (green no doubt) on your gardening, everything looks great. You should have a bumper crop this year. It's a lot of work but worth it.

    I think after a fall we all have that tiny bit of apprehension getting back on again. I give you a lot of credit for hopping on bareback, I wouldn't have had the nerve to do it. I'm sure you and Val will have some nice rides this weekend and move past your fall with flying colors.

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  5. Your garden looks amazing! Beautiful shots.
    Re your fall - I think after losing the saddle that Val would be upset, even if he appeared calm. Glad you weren't badly hurt, although those bruises look bad. You did well to go 2 years without a fall. That's longer than me :)
    I wonder if your canter cue is as bad as you write it is? I thought that on Rogo, then got on one of our other horses who hadn't been ridden in months and she knoew it from the first light ask. He may just need to get so he recognizes it. Rogo is just now starting to consistently respond - and it's been a long time.
    Anyway, here I am commenting on the last several posts. Keep up the good work!

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  6. Glad to hear the rides are going well - I totally understand the trepidation after falling off. Good for you for working through it!

    I LOVE your idea of reusing feed bags to sell composted manure! Unfortunately I can't keep enough manure to have "leftovers" (Neighbors complain about too much), but that's a super-cool thing to do.

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  7. "Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
    How does your garden grow?...." Yours looks like it's really coming along! Glad to hear that you are on the mend after your tumble. I loved that you just impulsively hopped on Val and rode around the arena....sigh....

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  8. Your garden puts mine to shame. We finally got a bunch of seeds and plants in the ground only 2 weeks ago. Somebody has already gone through and eaten all the spinach that sprouted >:(

    I know how hard it is to get back on once you've been dumped. Fortunately it seems that dumping you isn't high on Val's list and what happened last week was just an aberration.

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  9. Hi, thanks for checking in on Scott's update blog. Love your update here. Many blessings. :-)

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  10. Mmmm. I could eat all those radishes, no problem! Do you cook the tops? I love sauteed radish greens, so yummy!

    Glad to hear you're back on the horse. I LOLed at problem of "being thrown". I believe that the only lessons we really learn are the hard ones. They have a way of sticking with you better.

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  11. Bareback and bridle less after a Fall? KUDOS!!!
    Radishes dipped in butter and salt, yes!

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  12. Thanks for the encouragement blogger friends! (((♡♡♡)))

    To clarify - I'm less apprehensive about bareback sometimes... In one of my childhood lessons a horse spooked with me. My foot caught in the stirrup and I was dragged. I think I feel safer bareback because getting tangled up is unlikely.

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  13. I need that many radishes to go with my scrambled eggs.

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  14. Lovely photos!
    Congrats on your rides.

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  15. I'm with you about bareback is safer. I've not been dragged, but I have a fear of it. Good for you for getting back on and working through it all.
    I think this photo of you and Val at the end is the best!

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  16. Love the weather pics, and the hornworm moth! I would never have figured out what it was.

    What are you going to do with all the radishes? Are you going to pickle them? I dunno what else there IS to do with radishes!

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  17. Absolutely love reading your blogs! So much I can relate to here. I do not presently own a horse, but I am constantly called upon to assist with a friend's 4 yr old. Never a boring moment. And I am not a trainer. Lol keep writing.....love it.

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