Jones

Jill got the standings and ribbon results about the show but not all the info she really wanted: did they really have fun? did they do their best?

She wanted to write back:

Never mind bringing me a choreographed routine for next year's pre-Regionals practices!

I want to start now working with the girls and the ponies on things like straightness, impulsion, RYTHM, corners, and consistency/correctness of the figures and transitions.

When I use my stop watch to time a circle it shouldn't sometimes be 40 seconds and sometimes be 20 seconds, right?  How you can you choreograph to that? ha.

She really wanted to provide LIVE music.  How would that be for the rule book?

But before any of that, the riders needed sound mounts, argh, right, etc?
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The handsome that she hoped would be there turned out to be a good mover buddy, like a farm co-worker mover buddy really, even though he was a musician.

And, he looked so good in red, ha.
His mom had a horse farn? Is that what he'd said? Jill wish some of her other friends had been there so they could tell her.  All she could tell them was that now she was seeing spots, and jonesing for appoloosas all of a sudden.

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It was 2 or 3 seasons ago now that she had gone south with a string of horses on the Canadian Eventing Team, where she was getting paid a small fee to ride 3 or 4 a day of the Team coach, while others were paying thousands of dollars to ride their own one or two.  Lucky Southern soul, ha.

Those horses were like fine fine sportscars.  It was such a blessing to be given access to them and the scenic roads... she felt at home in the saddle.

Oh for some morning hacks past a burn pile or alligator pond!
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Even when she wasn't doing anything horsey, she never really ever shook it off entirely.
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i backed into a tree the same weekend someone sideswiped my parked car. i'm trying not to complain about the damage the second caused when i got by with the first scott free, because it only seems fair.

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i haven't been riding. but i still can get life lessons out of the sport.

i remember how stoney would never chip into the base of a jump when i first start riding him, and he had the scope to leave out a frightening number of strides in front of a fence if i asked too early by mistake, while he also had the scope to jump anything from a standstill as well.

katie taught me to let HIM sort it out. the take off point. my job was to just sit up and wait with my leg on. and, right now i am learning to sit up and wait for the obstacles of my life, instead of taking so many fear inducing flyers...
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i liked how my rider buddy acknowledged mr. timer when he said one minute. she gave him a nod and the thumbs up from where she was walking, so he'd know she heard and he appreciated it, i could tell. she was the first rider of the ten or so i saw start who did so...