News on the homefront

beautiful flowers my dear friend Kelly arranged for her son's wedding

Well, since we opted out of horse camping over the long weekend, we spent more time closer to home.  We accomplished absolutely nothing constructive around the house.  Other than laundry, couldn't get out of that I'm afraid.  Otherwise we seemed to be on the go, or slackers.  I don't like not being constructive, but sometimes I suppose you have to invest in downtime.

Friday evening after work, we loaded Eagle and Missy into the trailer and went to our local county fairgrounds where the Mounted Sheriff's Posse were having their monthly ride night in the arena. They had all sorts of obstacles set up and there were quite a few riders doing all manner of things in the arena.  Since this was new for us, we saddled outside and walked the horses in where we could watch the happenings for a while before jumping into the mix.  My plan was to take it as it came.  I had no idea how Eagle would react to all that mental stimulus so I put no pressure on either of us to do anything.  I truthfully don't enjoy riding in larger groups with all manner of riders and "stuff" going on.  I've never really felt comfortable with that situation, but this season has been all about new experiences, and pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone, so here we were.

Surprisingly, we both handled most everything quite well.  Eagle was so very good, a bit wide-eyed at times and he didn't particularly care for noisy distractions going off behind him, but other than a few quick steps and a looky-loo, my boy was very brave.  I was so proud of him!  This is starting to become routine - me being proud of my horse.  :)

And honestly, I'm fairly pleased with myself too.  Knowing how nervous I can become, I am happy to report that other than a moment or two of quickly-passing concern, I was perfectly fine. We've still got a lot of room for improvement, but we're doing it and I couldn't really expect better.  If I rode every day, we'd certainly advance more quickly, but for me I've ridden a lot more often than is routine and overall I'm so happy.  Our bond continues to grow closer, and that trust we're building in each other is becoming more and more evident.  My horse is learning to listen to his rider, check in with me when he's concerned, and his confidence is becoming stronger with each little bit of experience. Like Ray used to tell me, "you have to go through it, to get past it".   that works for both of us.  We're on this journey together and it's so very enjoyable.  He's still a strong-willed horse and probably always will be, but his sense of justice and fairness runs true - if I respect that in him, he will respect me as his leader.  I must prove worthy or he will not listen to me.  He will take over if I'm not confident.  He's shown that in himself time and again.



The weather was so beautiful the entire weekend.  Perfectly comfortable and we'd even had a few showers here and there, so riding seemed to beckon.  We loaded Ladde and Missy in the trailer and headed to Flying M Ranch for a trail ride.  It's about a 30 minute drive from home and when we arrived, nobody was there, camping or riding, so we had the place to ourselves.  The trails were beautiful and the horses felt good.  We didn't go on a long ride because Ladde isn't in condition and neither is my hubby, but we enjoyed ourselves and so did our horses.  It was a wonderful way to spend my hubby's birthday, and that evening we had dinner with Steve and Chris.  An absolutely perfect day!  We still haven't worked out the details of hauling Lad and Eags together, so we took Missy; but this Thursday Jessica and I have plans to go riding at The "M" and I'll get my chance to ride Eagle on the trails then.  :)

my hubby's "Helvetia" burger for his birthday

Sunday morning we went out for breakfast and afterwards took the dogs to the park and had a walk with them.  They loved it, of course!  We'd decided to spend the remainder of our day at the State Fair and this was our way of easing our consciences where the dogs were concerned.  They were feeling a bit left out after we'd left them home most of the day Saturday.  They do know how to make us feel guilty!  But we all enjoyed our time at the park and they got to expend a bit of that excess energy they had going.  Even so, they weren't very pleased when we left them home again.  *sigh*   Life is never perfect...

The fair was quite enjoyable.  Again the weather was perfectly comfortable with no rain.  This was the first fair we'd attended all summer and for a change, it felt fresh and just a nice change of pace.



Much to my dismay (and joy) OPB was having a Downton Abbey marathon which proved to be my downfall on Monday.  I spent far too much of my time watching...and got very little accomplished.  At any time I could have made the decision to get up and go do something more active, constructive and likely even more enjoyable, but there I sat.  For some reason, it felt really good to sit there with my blanket and just relax for a change.  Ruby even snuggled with me for the longest time, and it's been a very long time since she's graced me with her presence...all hail the queen!  : )   I felt blessed indeed!

Charlotte suffers no shame over laziness

So that's our weekend in a nutshell.  Hope you spent yours in a way that gave you pleasure - however that may be!