4/24 to present

4/24 - Romeo, arena. Hour's work of good flat work & fences. During the cool down walk, I was just about ready to drop my stirrups, when he spooked at a white van in a neighbor's pasture. Unintentional dismount. He spun his rear like a rodeo horse. Not a darn thing I could do about it. No serious injuries. I got him under control, and hopped back on, finishing the ride on contact at the walk.

4/25 - Chewie, arena. Lunge line, side reins, good solid warm-up. Jumped on, walk, trot, a few crossrails (lowest hole). Chewie sensed some tension in me, along with the saddle a bit forward (sorry buddy). As a result, I had lots of little bittie strides at trot, followed over fence with big trots over. *giggle* Little bittie, little bittie, Hop Hop, little bittie.. That's my boy. Hour's work.

Romeo, arena. Again, a good solid 45 minutes walk & trot, followed by 4 fences each direction.

4/26 - Bring on the rains. MacKenzie kept me up some of the night shaking, panting, a nervous wreck. Two valium - one Friday evening, another Saturday morning. She was calmer, but still a mess. Heavy storms brought in at least an inch of rain, probably more. Puddles abound on the property. Mowed grass, sprayed permethrin for flea & bug control, killed weeds around trees & the rock walkway. Got a haircut, ran some errands.. did everything I could do but ride, since the weather wasn't favorable to ride.

4/27 - Romeo, pasture, lesson.. Arena & round pen still wet, front yard puddle. Moved one crossrail to Romeo's pasture.. Worked on flat work on the lunge circle. He was pushing his shoulder out to the right, so worked on that a while. Jumped to the left about 5 times. Then the cold front started blowing in. I would have probably been fine, had I not looked up at the trees blowing all over the place. Nerves kicked in, along with not being able to find a comfortable route to the right. Called it an early lesson, back to focus on flat work until I at least overcame that fear.

4/28 - No ride. Doctor's emergency clinic. What I thought was a spider bite, isn't a spider bite, on my right arm. Medication started. Worked on trimming a huge tree limb that was over the fence line & fell in front of the trailer. Got that all cleaned up, laundry, fed the crew, fed me, called it a night. Hope to get back after it tonight. Walked the arena yesterday, and by tonight, it'll be back to 100%. Round pen looks good as well. Good to know that much rain, that quick of a storm, it does puddle a bit, they recover nicely.

Show May 4, same location as April 6. Same class list, same intentions. Solid performance, clean rounds. I will aim to go & do my best, improving on elbows, eyes, and forward motion over the fences. I intend on being the pilot before, during, and after the fence. Everything else is candy ...