Shut Offs and A Fresh Start

As a certified instructor, Jill was not really supposed to teach anywhere that didn't have an Emergency Plan in place.  She'd been proud of her proactive professionalism and even thought it was a stroke of brilliance to include the electric fence shut off location in the paperwork she was creating, to address the need.  But this would prove to be a detail that disturbed the owners to the point of terminating the relationship.

Jill had wanted the info included to avoid what she'd seen once, filling in at a farm and alone on the property, to see a beautiful high quality brood mare, with a foal at her side and a foreleg caught in the electric wires against the boards of her paddock.  The mare was frightened and in pain and faol distressed as well.  Jill had been horrified, and, despite having a tour of the property with the farm manager, and a map of the place for reference, she was confused about which way to run to cut the power.  The poor mare, struggled against powerful jolt after jolt after jolt.  It was awful, and then, luckily, the mare broke down the fence and freed herself... just as Jill found the way to cut the power.

"The employee with the useless partner who did nothing but sit around in that apartment smoking all winter, but she at least did good work with the previously un-ridable bay.  I'll give her credit for that."  Did this horse owner have a good rapport with any past or current employees?  Jill should have seen it as a warning sign, but found the upside in that at least there was some credit being acknowledged in this one case... finally a positive word.

Jill thought she should stop eavesdropping on high maintenance dressage queens at the stable she was visiting, while being glad that none of them would be in the classes she was teaching.  Meanwhile, she was regretting how she had the privacy setting wrong on the comprehensive google doc she had created about what was to be one of her new teaching facilities. Not just those with access to the boss's email account but anyone with the link could see it.  Oops!  Because she had printed two copies of the draft  Stable Tour document (and thus allowed 2 copies of the complex string of digits to become available to others in the barn) her thus former bosses had freaked out.  Was it true the cops had looked at it?  And, with all the robberies in the area, felt the detail put the property at risk? Yowza.  There was nothing to be done but move on.  And, tell Roomie about it, for the learning and mentoring.  She was waiting for the senior coach to arrive at the facility.

Roomie finally arrived on site to audit the pony club sessions Jill would be teaching.  She was in a really uplifted mood, "Fall is beautiful in the country! I am so grateful for a car to drive through it in this year!  In the field across from our house, every day a different tree turns a different dramatic colour every day!"  She was coming from a riding lesson she'd taken where the Level 3, High Performance Coach had (finally) said "Correct him to you" about the dressage movement they'd been doing.  Returning to her childhood coach's farm for some tune ups, she'd been riding a bay that was a reliable school master in many respects, allowing Roomie to learn from him, and his fine execution when provided the smallest correct aid.  In this case, the fact that she should actually correct him, really made Roomie feel her instincts and fitness and finesse where finally coming back.  Her energy uplifted Jill and the pony club clinic was fun for everyone!

Work With What You've Got?

Looking out the window at the all the traffic parked outside the arena, you couldn't help but wonder if the dog club had looked yet at the handwritten, add-on barn rule about being courteous and respectful to the arena tenants.  This was the same sign with the handwritten further addition "No Kids Near Horses or in Barn."

The owner there would not allow her to host a clinic with an expert she'd hoped.  "Over in Europe, he would be a small fish in a big pond.  He hails from Europe yes, and he is a good horseman you can't deny that, but, no.  I'm not interested in his teaching."

Even at that place, Jill could spot a brood mare picking on a young one in the large mixed herd in the paddock, and shout her name from afar.  The bully chesnut, stopped what she was doing, looked up at Jill, fields away, and then went on to grazing anew, well behaved like.

*
Jill wanted to run birthday parties called "Pony Makeovers".  She knew just the perfect pony partner! At every barn she went to, lol.

She was a bit dismayed when her mentor walked by the lesson she was teaching and commented to students directly with suggestions.  She then felt she was deferring control of the mother-daughter lesson to her boss, and felt a bit waffly in her coaching.  It was cool how there were two moms and two girls all thrown in the class together for the stand-in instructor session though, and in the boss's two second commentary, EVERYbody learned something, including the naughtiest pony.

Roomie told a funny story how in her day, she made her whole entire gym class go for a riding lesson field trip.  After she had gone into the weight room at her high school, where the boys had some sort of rivalry lifting going on.  The handsome Wayne Ryan had just lifted the most of anybody on the leg machine.  Roomie had sat down out of curiousity to see how such a load felt, and accidentally lifting it, to everyone's surprise.

Since she had their attention, she instantly decided to mention how strong horseness obviously makes one, not to mention tough and brave.

Then, she pitched the teacher, and her riding teacher, and everybody got on board.

At the barn, Roomie said she'd always remember how she was surprised to be gratified by seeing rep. hockey and rugby team members she was normally intimidated to be around, terrified once mounted on horse back.  Was it the altered centre of gravity?

She sounded nostalgic laughing about her mind's eye memory of Glenn Thompson, on Tess, ha.

Breaking Bread

Over their first shared loaves, Jill told Roomie about her last horse home.

One reason she couldn't resist that other new job then, was that the boss-to-be said the gig included accommodation, a "private cottage." Jill had told her friends it would feel so freeing to have like have a private, park-size, horsey, rural landscape to sing freely to everyday, without her pesky little sister making fun of her musical efforts all the time. "Just think, my very own place!" she'd exclaimed, thinking to herself about the cute potential co-worker she'd hoped still worked there. 

"What if that handsome Irish thoroughbred who caught your eye at the clinic turns out to be on the equine-team you are about to work with?" her friend Matilda had envied. "And I bet that cutie Jim remembers you from the show where you still had pink hair! When you were walking back and forth between Moxy at the dressage ring, Rue at the first aid tent and the activities of Bucker and the rest of the pre-training team, reporting on each to us others you went!"

Oh that day, groaned Jill, "I was so embarassed to have been running after Kelly Joe saying your dressage whip! Drop the whip! In an effort to remind her what she already knew. What if he saw that?"

She could still easily remember how when they'd arrived at the show that day, and she was walking into the barn for the first time. A magnificent, spotless building made with no nails, and how she'd said entranced "would somebody build ME a place like this?" To her surprise her famous-and-esteemed-facility-survey-companion said "Well, that depends what you want to do."

When she met the stable manager, who was a partner to the rider the place was built for, she couldn't stop saying how impressed she was with the barn. "It is so clean and beautiful that I would eat off the floor. Seriously, just lay planks across the beams up there and I'll move in. I LIKE a treefort bed, that's all I need." she only half joked, smiling at guy's handsome brother, who seemed to work there too.

Not long after, they did offer her the job, with accomodation. Her teacher put in a good word for her with the Olympic level rider Jill was ready to sign on with, but added, "I want her back when you're done with her."

Other phrases that stuck in her head were "if you need a couple hours off every day to write, I don't have a problem with that" and "but I'd like to see you riding every day though" (talk about win win).

After she'd accepted the new position as groom, she heard some stories that unsettled her. One was that usually, while the riders stay at the Ritz, the grooms stay in a hockey arena. On cots, together in one massive room where they don't even turn off the lights most nights.

She also saw a side of a show jumper rider that troubled her deeply. After the horse ate the oxer, because of said rider's error on the approach, and they had both hit the ground, she limped out of the ring leaving the also limping beast to the ring crew, having, apparently, lost all interest in him. Her friend refused to see the downside "You should have met her at the gate and made her an offer."

Her friend also told about an Oprah show she saw a while back, where they were releasing a survey of the 10 worst jobs in America. The speaker's husband at the time was a garbage collector which was the second worst, and which is why she remembered the show so clearly.... She teased Jill that she sometimes wished for a husband with the only career on Oprah-earth considered even more thankless, underpaid and grossly difficult than that one?vvCOWBOY is apparently the absolutely worst career of 'em all.

Roomie did not sleep well. Between the chipmunk and squirrel noises in the rafters and the horse’s freaking out in the stalls below the loft and some kind of supernatural fly buzzing into something all night she had awake and exhausted in my uncomfortable bed for hours and hours and hours.

Ride Journal

They worked in the grass ring for about an hour in total, including lots of rest breaks because of the horse-flu going around the barn. He wasn't showing symptoms, she just wanted to take it easy on him...

She had the big bit in, the gag snaffle she thought of as her brakes, so they worked on cantering the approach to a few fences. They would do one, and then go around and around and around and around until he was listening to her again instead of running off... she could enjoy the canter work knowing she had a say in the speed of it, the new bit was really helping her, without being severe on him.  The leverage action was useful to her and carefully used.

And yet, he was very strong and she was frustrated that he was towing her. She just could not sit up enough, to slow him. And, to her, her lower leg felt jiggly.  She looked forward to being in better shape.

They ended with a series of canter walk, walk canter transitions, in a dressage frame, mostly as an exercise for his mind!

It was good work and they both enjoyed it.  She recapped it by phone and he horse's owner agreed to come and videotape her next two lessons - the dressage and then the grid work/jumping session scheduled.

The Weekend Wind

The weekend wind was up!  And, made for much excitement.

Jill had mentioned to her boss that there was a student she needed to challenge more, and then, the very next lesson, the very same kid almost came off!  During a canter spook and dart to the centre by a naughty pony. Had he read Jill's mind? Jill's mentor hadn't suggested anything, just smiled.

When Jill asked this student, during their subsequent outdoor walk, if she wanted to go left or right around the hay field, she requested straight through, indicating the spooky trees!!!   No wonder Jill couldn't resist having favourites!

The next student kept smiling oddly until Jill figured out that he wanted her/them all to notice his new braces. 

In the last private of the the day, the timid-est rider, had been truly inspired watching the Olympics and wanted to jump! She asked to!  And, she was very brave (relatively speaking) and it was great to see her smiling so much in class. Jill got a kick also out of providing the feedback "Okay buddy, now, try and keep your eyes open in the air.  And, how about you keep breathing."

Another of the students had shown up in the hairnet Jill gave her on showday. It was so cute to have a kid so excited about a meaningless attire item. It turned out that her big percheron cross mount was a good match for the fast-horse thoroughbred classmate, but they weren't doing pairs that day, they needed to practice jumping for next week's show.

All day Jill's feelings were hurt that her new friend wasn't interested in coming to the barn. He didn't even remember the invitation(s)! Had he pretended to be interested for a second as a way of wooing her?  Or had she projected this wish on him?  All Jill knew for sure was that if you were interested in spending any time with her, you were gonna have to be willing to horse around. She would not make that mistake again!

For a sponsorship request you were just supposed to go directly asking for what you needed right? Jill thought she should seek sports bras and maybe an IRH small, with dial, lol.

Rain Pain

She'd seen on his twitter status updates that he'd planned on going riding, but the rain sent him to the movies instead. She posted that she recommended riding in the rain too, ha!  Jill even liked teaching in it.

The first lesson, ready in the barn, went into the arena and then voted to ride out. They mounted outside the arena and rode to the ring and after about 15 min a crazy wind came up and the pelting rain was bad enough for them all to agree to make a run to the arena. Jill looked the other way while they rode through the doorway mounted, this time, with the exception of the big chesnut who had been acting up in the weather in the first place, who was walked in the people door by his rider.

As soon as they were all indoors, it stopped. They felt choked with the dust.

Jill liked having a helper in there to help move the flower boxes. She was making good use of the mentor status and her delegation skills and the assistant instructor didn't mind the run with the manure fork for clean ups as required. "Do you really think I'll be an instructor someday?"

The second lesson saw the same student flying through the air TWICE. ack.  "I'm not as tough as her" big sister protested the horse change proposal "if I fall off I'll cry."  Jill laughed and convinced the twice fallen to carry on her existing mount and the rest of class, thankfully, went well.

Jill's reluctantly agreed bareback school of her charge who owned her pony, meant the 7 yr old did not get easy canter transitions from the fat grey mare. But it was fun trying! 

Bringing in the wee black pony for a wee groom by the 4 yr old was a good positive distraction in the frisky weather for the youngster's ride on a super-unusually-scooty chesnut with flaxen mane and tail, which had been cut very short for safety reasons), while her gramma had practiced lunging again, under Jill's instruction.

It was an honour to get an email from the absolutely World Class, indeed World Champion facility, asking for her resume and dates that she might do a trial.  But Jill hadn't updated her CV and sent it yet. She loved her town, and riding, and teaching, and, she wasn't sure she could actually move so far for a groom job at a Combined Driving facility...  If her headache was any indication of the intensity of the storm that was to continue in the area for several days, she thought she should hold off thinking about it for the time being and go out and get more batteries and duct tape instead.

Winner's Circle

"You really broke his heart," the Olympic coach said, her former 6 week intern boss was frowning in greeting.  She dreaded seeing him in public now because she had fled the working student opportunity, rather unceremoniously on New Year's day, partially because of the boss's brother's suffocating crush, and the boss's pressure to move into bro's apartment on the farm.  Partially also because of the unsafe, unfair horse practices, and partially because of her illegal status while the aforesaid incidents were being investigated by the authorities.  She shrugged and sat down while he walked on.

Roomie was watching them across the show grounds and asking her student, as they walked the aisles of the barn at the competition, if she had ever been called by 911.  What? The young equestrian wasn't following...  Roomie said that one day during her stint in Ocala, Jill had been alone working in the barn when she answered the ringing landline.  It was the fire department, sounding desperate to find the farm.  Jill gave them the remote, rural address, calmly, and added that she was standing right in the barn and didn't see anything on fire...  The operator said, "We have that address.  We can't find it, and need directions from town.  We are responding to a medical emergency, called in on a cell phone from somewhere on the property."

Jill was new at the job, new in town and had no idea how to further define the location.  It was awful how she had time to go knocking on doors at neighbour's asking for help, while the emergency personnel waited.

The injured woman waited 45 min for their arrival, laying on the ground where the rearing horse had struck her down and crying the whole time, "I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my legs."  At the time she ended up airlifted to the nearest hospital, and then remained paralyzed for life.

"Thanks for housesitting!" a woman came up from behind and joined them, delighting "The pets seem so grounded."  Roomie had just taken care of not just the dogs and cats, but also her first birds!  Apparently the last pet sitter left the unruly puppy unattended and unexercised to the point the creature ate lightbulbs and batteries and electric wires, and then didn't even akcnowledge the housekeeper's text about it.  Roomie enjoyed taking over the babysitting assignments from her friends for the company and privacy and extra pay the mutual pet joy provided.

*

When the president of the equestrian federation passed with a joke about Jill being seated rather than officiating on the grounds, said she was "saving her energy for future exploitation," ha. "Maybe we can connect another time," he was serious.  Jill really wanted to hang around with David O'Connor and would start pitching articles as soon as she got home.  Or, how about "A Day in the Life of Chester Weber?

She still felt like the young girl who wanted to be like the star of National Velvet who won the Grand National and made headlines for being disqualified for being female before turning down the money available through the glory. "Everything comes in its proper order, Mrs. Brown" meanwhile, her mother was cancelling on her again. Jill would read the email later - she knew without reading it that the woman was either discombobulated about the date to meet at the horse show, or had come down with a sudden ailment.

Riders were chatting in line at the snack bar, "if he is expected to deliver perfection there where is the reciprocal?"

Jill caught up with Roomie and her student in the same line up, "Because i am a rider and coach i get thrust into senior positions sometimes at events and i have to ask after the basics like how to work the walkie talkie, ha." Jill caught up for the laugh.

The student wanted to know who she was riding now.  "I just work with whatever horse falls in my lap." For some reason Roomie added "Even when Jill has a boyfriend, she just expects him to stay out of the way." 

Adversity

Jill always told her students that if she hadn't had to do horse work to help support her horse habit, in her horse history, then she would not be quite the horsewoman she has become.

That besides the obvious stregnth and fitness benefits, there is something more.

Jill said that the riders that show up for lessons and hop on a horse and ride do not know the animal as well as someone who feeds and waters it, leads it to and from the paddocks for turn out, administers the first aid, holds the creature for the vet, dentist, farrier and chiropracter and so on. Or, even manages "simple" tasks like pulling their mane -- now, there's a training exericize in the making for many ponies!

There's comfort, experience and communication built up with such contact and its something that money CAN'T buy. And, what about the learnings taken away from some time just watching a herd? And then, to know how to load and drive a horse trailer? And tractor? "Well now, let's not even get started on the COOL factor!" she laughed along with her students.

Roomie thought the dog rescue might be a staged affair, with the enthusiastic black puppy locked up in the new tenants apartment for the show of the search mission, and dedication in finding the animal, as a way of garnering credibility with the owners. But, regardless, she advised Jill to take the high road, and let time show the true nature of each new employee.

"Besides, at a certain point, you just have to trust your animals to take of themselves." Jill's new friend's father was an abuse counsellor, and Jill thought her new riding mate looked so cool, bareback on her pony by leadrope only, with her little dog running alongside.

Jill wished the other farm dog at the new place was allowed to come with her to the lounge/office, overlooking the arena, and into the barn with the horses. Instead she asked if she could use the Ken Danby prints she'd found rotting in storage, as decor in the furnished apartment she'd rented. "When I used to go visit my aunt and uncle's for overnight stays, i'd always sleep in my cousin's room. He played goal, and he had that goalie print up on the wall beside his bed.

Was it true that well-behaved women rarely make history? She asked for more time with this new horse pal too. It was so cool how they had sapped/stolen each other's Facebook profile quotes. "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way the animals are treated." ~ Gandhi and "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" ~ Albert Einstein

Roomie called the event she was organizing Tom Sawyer Camp. "I've been inventing it my whole life." inviting kids to help in the barn chores and making it fun.  She also mentioned in passing "I can't imagine going to the gym after a farm job, but that's just me. I've never been at place with too many grooms." Roomie was very sad to see Jill have an amazing training scholarship, in a rare horse sport that was good for couples to share, alone. But she didn't say much, she was distracted and she couldn't stop thinking about how her dad kept mentioning his brain kicking in.

"Well, being in the paddock with them created quite a fuss." Jill said, having invited the owner to join her in saying a hello to the horses.   They acted up when the owner was around.

Her first time on the property, Jill had asked the farm hand, "What do you think about bringing in the pushy chestnut with the halter?" The other horses were all extra nibble and busy with their mouths because of sharing life with such an orally-fixated beast.  The farm hand laughed and advised against it.

Jill brought in the youngster.  At one point, the little bay acted up and started to rear in the cross ties. Jill said "cut it out" and looked at her front feet and to her surprise, it seemed to work, like a command the horse obeyed, and the inexperienced bay put them right back down on the floor where they belonged. When Jill lead her around the arena, she did do one big spook, rear thing. "But luckily, I was calm and my mitt wasn't stuck in the lead line and it all ended up okay…"  She found that sometimes having an episode to school through was even more valuable than an uneventful groundwork session.

Rural Romps

It was awesome to be in a stable together. Roomie splained them how she once had a horse partner so uptight you couldn't take him anywhere away from home because he wouldn't pee. Because he was holding it, he wouldn't drink, which invites colic and so anywhere away from home he almost DIED. Til he was left out in a paddock overnight once and finally got over it, ha.

Her fellow walkers across the farm had been making fun of the draft gelding who was demonstrating a far more r e l a x e d nature.

She was pretty sure there was a fried egg sandwich for dinner rumour circulating about her. May they never discover the Baked Potato for dinner party story, ha. Kraft dinner with tomato juice and cauliflower on the side. He said he would email her when he had internet because he needed help deciphering her handwritten note, which he was keeping in his wallet. "Sure," Roomie said, "or text me from your phone there Mr. Fancy."

Their riding buddy said she had learned a lot by developing her theoretical horsemanship by auditing clinics, lessons, discussions when she couldn't ride in them. "What was Stu Black's comment, "just hide behind the ears and hang on?" and that she'd found eavesdropping between high level riders was sometimes helpful. At the George Morris clinic she'd only been there 15 minutes, but she still learned the lesson of the day. "Get OFF his face." ha

Jill agreed, and told the story about how once, after a radio show interview with an Eventing Team member, Jill had saucily asked. "So, are there any horses around here that need any exercising? The audacity! The vet/Olympian really didn't know anything about her, except that she'd spent 10 years at a particular stable with a particular head coach, from which she'd got horses before, and hopefully also, that Jill asked good interview questions, lol.

Jill just about fainted when the Eventing Team member replied, "There are 17 of them out in the barn. You can ride any of them, anytime and as often, as you like!"

And, so, they had gone out together. Can you imagine? Jill was overjoyed to be winter hacking with horses she had watched on t.v. at Burhley. She was telling her new stablemate about the past adventure…

"And, at first we were hacking on the road toward the conservation area, and we had garbage trucks braking and still sliding towards us on the ice, freaking out the horses, especially the one that I was riding that hates trucks! And then, we finally hit the intended snowy, tree-lined peaceful trail area. So, like, I'm out on finally on a sane trail ride, following the working student while The Boss is riding Gracie behind me and ponying Fynn. I'm in a good place, it feels good, not too challenging but exciting enough and we are doing a very bouncy, frisky, dream like, posting trot through the snowy hills.

And then, all of a sudden, picture this, Fynn comes trotting up beside my horse 'n me, - loose! And so, I looked back to The Boss, who was just smiling, ear to ear. I didn't know if she let the horse off the line or if he got loose some other way and she was just making the best out of it… but, there he was, bucking and playing around, bounding about and inspiring playful responses in the mounted horses.  Then, friskily trotting past not just me, but then also the working student mounted on the big grey Charley…

And then suddenly that rotten bay runaway Fynn, just took the lead. Galloping off, full tilt along the path. So, of course Charley follows, and my horse is keeping up too. We are going f a s t, all of us, galloping over random conservation area property, ha."  It was too fast, the footing wasn't safe and Jill didn't know what she could do to address it...  she was in over her head on horseback yet again.

When Jill had seen break in the trees to keep straight while the others curved,  she went for it. There was only room for a stride or two and then a stop would be neccessary.  Was it possible?  "And,  I asked my horse to halt and she did." Whew.  And, since The Boss had followed and Jill said, shaking as she spoke,  "I am sorry, I am ready for this." The Boss broke out into a fresh grin, and answered, "That's okay! Jill! this is not supposed to be happening!"

They walked on, along the path of the others, who had slowed, finally, with the break in the herd, to regroup. Rather uneventful on the way back, but including a few jumps of conservation area fences and gates for fun.  What an amazing ride!

Back at the barn, they had untacked and tacked up an entirely new team of horses to go out for the second "hack" ha.

Trouble?

"Maybe next time I'll choose the poetry." He left planting a nice big kiss on Roomie's left cheek, despite his disinterest in the performers she'd dragged him out to see...  and, forgetting his sunglasses and leaving her on the lookout, the next morning, his very nice rings.  She'd wished she'd worn a dress out, to make it more like a date!

When she snuggled in to his arms, it felt like a good fit.  Had she actually admitted wishing to lean into him like that for a whole week prior?  "That time we were so close together, harnessing the horses, I got the urge to want this. I wondered what it would feel like..." He was surprised to hear it.

*

Jill had posted an excerpt from a documentary with the caption "i am part horse."  a friend commented, 

"which part?" and she surprised herself with the instant answer, "heart."  He wooed her with a kind closing comment "then you have a big heart amigo."  For some reason that reminded her of Lily, who had been beaten and was a bit skittish and who Jill had really connected with, at age 9. A sweet tiny chesnut as timid as she was then, herself.

In the barn Jill stood staring at the board like she was brain dead and then sat with a thud on the brush box. She was sitting there like a lump wondering if she could actually ride and then teach when she noticed her boss/teacher, who was in the barn, noticing her in the early morning.

"I'm sick" she said

"You look it." the boss answered.

"If I ride, I won't have the energy to teach" Jill said.

"That's okay, saddle up."

Jill thought some bosses came straight from heaven.

As she tacked up Jill was remembering all those times when her dad had coached her in professional situations.  You know those times when everyone is mad at you and working against you because they resent that you got the position instead of them? 

"Just show 'em why YOU got the job," he would counsel, and his advice worked every time.

Lunge Lesson Results

Jill hoped that one day, the cat tracks and the hoofprints could be made at the same time.  Some kind of equine-feline pas des deux!

*
When Katie, her coach found out Jill's sponsor had registered her in a clinic with Katie's teacher, she got determined to fix Jill's flat work, pronto.  They had a lunge lesson.

*
Jill just about fell off when the woman announced, "you have a lovely deep seat." ha

Old Fashioned Love

unmade bed, photo Kim Logue

Roomie did not know exactly how she got programmed with such old fashioned values. Was it her role models?

She told Jill that at her grandma's funeral her grand dad cried, as he said "On our 50th wedding anniversary, she smiled at me and said, "I only wish I had met you sooner."

Jill felt like her relationship with her horse pal had come to a new level lately. "As corny as it sounds, I think he really, really likes me." she'd enthused to random unknown stablemate. "And, I've realized that I love him."

As for the new human love interest on Roomie's mind, more than one ex-girlfriend still seemed interested in him, or so Jill guessed from some of the new traffic on Roomie's blog, after appearing on his facebook wall. Was it ridiculous to hope that a guy she had so recently started dating would see her exclusively?

Tomorrow Roomie vowed to do more canter-walk, walk-canter, counter canter and just plain drawn out long canter exercises while she pondered such things.

Jill remembered bringing the rescue kitten home from vet with the prognosis, "either he's going to get over it or he's not." She'd never been counting on taking on prohibitive medical costs, but she wanted then, anyway she could to do her best to make this little animal more comfortable, as a house cat.  Now, should she let both of them return to their true roots as farm field felines? This whole moving to the farm thing was going to be a major adjustment for her too. She thought that they would want to go with her, and use the cat door to a heated tack room with good food in it, even though they couldn't stay overnight in her bed anymore. While she pondered it, Roomie's ex's record played in the background "I still don't get to touch you when you sleep, guess I'm gonna be lonely."

In passing making breakfasts Jill announced, The more time I spend up there, and the more waivers I get signed and discuss in detail with folks I'm asking to autograph it, the more I think that having that horse on the property is extra high risk, conduct as the HOST of guests, potential students, partboarders or boaders; I see in him a supercharged propensity to behave in ways that might result in injury, harm or death to persons and the other horses around him. I see his high potential to collide with, bite, kick or run over other animals, people, or objects.

I will ask if we should we prioritize finding him the right human parter as a priority. Truthfully, I am unclear about his potential as a useful riding horse and in all honestly I don't like to be around the so-pronounced unpredictability of his barely equine, possibly very surprising reaction to such random things as sounds, sudden movement, tremors, vibrations, unfamiliar objects, persons or other animals and hazards such as subsurface objects…

"Don't give up on the place Jill, he's just one horse." Roomie said it quietly, suprising Jill as they made a meaningful moment of eye contact.  And reminded her about the new station manager who announced after visiting  "Well that was safer than some of the other escapades you've had me out at. At least we didn't almost get killed.  Wondering whether I mean the ostrich's? Or, do you think mean the psycho horse running towards the gate???  ha ha.  But I can't partboard here yet, I don't have the skills for these horses."

Ricky sleeps, photo Kim Logue

Meet Ace

An apartment on a farm with no pets? Jill was considering it, and thus converting her cats back into barn cats, because she knew she would always be in the stable and not in the home anyway. Better yet was that even before she'd agreed to move in, Jill was being given a new horse project.  Hooray! Finally!  She was getting paid, albeit farm hand wages, to train an athletic young warmblood, with excellent breeding and latent potential.

Now that he was looking so healthy and happy, and she was being asked to turn her attention to him, she realized how much he reminded her of her handsome Rio.

With that partner, Jill finally actually felt the difference between warming a horse up for stadium work, vs. warming up on the flat. She had long known there was a difference and dutifully shortened her stirrups two holes each time to implement the process, She would lighten her seat and use half seat or two point position, with her reins shortened... But, Rio was the first time, that she could truly feel the difference in the horse. He had a jumper style for jumper work and it put Jill into true balance with him.  His hind end was engaged, as in for his best dressage, and he was bending and flexible but he was up in front. He stayed up. She could really feel what it meant...  When the teacher outlined the next exercise, the oblivous boarder that usually hogged the arena spooked Jill saying "I will halt" as she began. They whipped effortlessly around all the obstacles in the challenging course exercise the coach had dictated and Jill was pleased to learn to enjoy jumping very big jumps, from the horse's enthusiasm and talent for it!

She basically swooned when her teacher confirmed it out loud, "He will take care of you." Jill believed and Rio came through.

It was so sad when he was sold out from under her so early in their relationship.  She had been looking forward to the day he would pack her around a Training Cross Country course...

 Meanwhile, Jill was stood up twice that day. once by a new student and once by the man of her dreams... Even after she'd stumbled into Tronas, the cowboy who cleaned up so nice, and who followed/talked and walked with her around a beautiful cemetery, as a way she enjoyed getting to meet each together. To her friend she said, she was glad she'd had cowboy boots on in the moment, "They fit on okay, but they weren't comfortable. For riding or even for walking!" Despite how lucky it was she had them on, doing the trial, when he showed up in his, but she would be donating those hand-me-down cowboy boots away as soon as possible.   O u c h.

Was it true that Blundstones were on sale at the mall? She liked to get a new pair every year or two and only ever add to the collection, she never threw a pair out...  two summers in a row she'd gotten away with no sandals, sporting a skirt 'n boot fashion ha, and yes, it was always time for a new set.

To Move or Not To Move (That Stormy!)

"To teach a pony to lie down on command requires many steps," Roomie said, "the first, in my experience, is having a book out of the library about it." The student's parent looked amused rather than panicked so she continued "and from there, it's not much different than teaching a dog. In fact, the horses learn the pattern much faster than a dog. But, because the pony is so big, you need ropes to pull and gently push him down, cleverly engingeered like, when you say DOWN."

Roomie remembered the 10 camp kids leaning on that pig of a pony named Stormy with her. With a lunge line rigged the way the book said and they gently pulled a foot up and pushed down. Slowly... a little more and a little more, day after day.

"Mostly because we couldn't do anything ELSE with him, he was so lazy and stubborn. We decided to follow the steps in the book and by the end of the summer we got him to do it. Once." Jill ended the story with a smile

Those camp kids were the same "lifers" that she'd learned other things with. Like, how to be the boss of people who can do things you can't. There were a few kids that seemed to sign up to come every session all summer every year, and so they'd get inventive. Some of the kids in those good old days could canter standing on a horse's butt, with their arms in the air like an air plane. And they invented lots of groovy dismounts in those vaultage days too.

"That pony, by the way, used to buck me off in front of all those camp kids/students every once in a while too. Like they'd be trying to get him across the creek or something and get bucked off one by and one and so then I'd get on him to school him for once and for all and he'd buck me off into the same heap as all them!

With no additional energy expended on his part whatsoever i assure you. he had a quite a practiced knack to my recollection... but back then i considered those episodes my opportunity to demonstrate the "you get back up and get back on" principle.  That stormy!"

Stormy had come to the Top Notch Riding Academy by mistake. He was an apoolosa/shetland pony cross that NOBODY expected, as in he was the accident that they didn't know had happened until the little pony named Mini was just about ready to pop him out!  She was the smallest pony in the whole barn, who lived in standing stall, and, was obviously, accidentally bred one night that renegade Rocky broke of his stall!
*
Jill had an offer to move.  So, the landlord horse i could to start riding or hanging out with does tricks on VERBAL command! She had never ever taught a horse to B O W before.,She wondered what shenanigins she could get up to on non-riding school private property, ha. 

May Day

"I am keen to ask your mom about her amazing citrus smelling squash recipe." Jill wanted to say to her evil new housemate, gesturing to the the grey haired smiling matron elf in the kitchen, because of the almost empty jar from the fridge.

After smelling it and recognizing the orange liquid and its jar, she'd basically accused the evil house-mate of stealing her very hard earned and hand made homemade organic carrot/orange soup. She had not been shy to challenge the thief in front of friends, directly "Do you know when my soup was taken out of the freezer?"

Jill was still mad at herself after forgetting to take it in the cooler to survive on for her recent drive down to Ocala, Florida. She'd made it because it would be good cold or warm, for lunch or dinner, en route or through out. Most of the jars were frozen.... and she'd forgot them! The evil housemate had said the day before "I brought it back from my parents. Its squash soup my mom made. Oops was it on your side of the fridge?"  He was convincing, but Jill was certain he was a liar. That thawed soup was her own handiwork, not his mom's, but she decided not to make a scene, for the sake of the old folks, and maybe even Roomie, who would be upset when the liar/theif was revealed.

*

Roomie was oblivious to the complications her new love interest was creating at home, and was jabbering about wanting to follow Lyle Lovett's shows at the North Charleston Performing Arts Centre, Savannah Georgia and then Fort Pierce, Clearwater, St, Augustine and Pensacola, Florida. "Lord keep us stead fast in thy word" isn't that a Martin Luther King speech set to tune 1543 Erhalt Uns Herr? She was also, apparently, looking for the hymn's sheet music...
*
Jill knew she should not keep pouring so much energy into worrying about her sister and parents, let alone the minor injustices around her homestead, and she decided to put some more of her life energy into loving the little bay mare she'd recently gotten access to...

This new equine favourite was, of course, out in the paddock as they drove in. Standing near the white shelter, beside the sick gelding who's head was hanging down, the 2 yr old's stance looked to Jill like some herd instinct of a filly protective of her sick brother. He did not look good.

As Jill stepped in the barn trying to decide what to do, the filly came to the indoor, head over the half door, smiling and asking for attention. The stable staffer said she was bringing the sick one in, to try and get a urine sample. but first "do you want to get this one out of the way?" That's when Jill realizes how anxious the young filly was for her attention, proof she enjoyed the challenges and exercises Jill had been bringing her way.

During this particular bi-weekly (instead of a dress shop shift), the little mare went perfectly into canter the very first time Jill asked her, and then came back into Ter-rot, the very first time Jill called out this new vocal command was a joy.

Talking about it with her mom after the lunging session,  "That young one? She is really keen to please me. And, she is smart.  I am really just acting on my intuition too, you know, but it works.  Often the first time.  We are communicating!  Its amazing!  She's amazing!!"

*

Jill had the expression of one of her mentors stuck in mind. he'd been talking to a vet, on the phone about one of the owner's horses, "but, when it is the horses that have to suffer for it, that's when I get irritated"

Surprise!

"The horses were amazing on the weekend. That little Fjord horse knows EVERYthing I know how to do. EVERYTHING. shoulder in, shoulder out, half pass left, half pass right... backwards, forwards, whichway do you want it lady? He's amazing. I guess the only thing left is to hitch him to his cart and let him teach me to drive..."

Jill was enthused, her co-workers were busy.  And, she was really just thinking out loud how she needed another part time job...

"And the two year old, she lunged for her first time, and she understood."  Anyone could tell Jill was horse crazy and had found some new equine-love-of-her-life magic.... but, were they in love with her too?

Her companion had noticed how much better the young one was visit over visit. 

And the lovely assistant also noticed how, Jill, upon switching roles with the barn hand in the effort of getting the stubborn about the driveshed beast, to actually walk through the outer building and into the barn, by simply tickling with the whip where she wished she could place a leg aid and how he went forward so correctly after being asked with this finesse instead of pulled or chased.

W o w.

Open House Goals?

"The sanest one, the calmest, safest, most trainable of the the herd reared up in the cross ties and broke free and went running loose down the barn hall.  You know that expression about closing the barn door AFTER the horse? I got very lucky." Roomie said to her coworkers, reporting on her weekend.  From now on we close that door, even when its warm enough to have it open.

"And as for the mr. premature and bottlefed? I find him to be very different from every other horse I have ever worked with. He's so mouthy and far too in my space and rude. He's a lot more like a 2 year old than an 8 year old. He's had a lot of pasture living but he still seems like he has a hard time reading the herd and honoring social cues...  I find him somewhat frustrating to work with. It's almost like I'm trying to speak a language to him that he's not all that fluent in." she was mostly talking to herself.  The guys at the music shop weren't really into horses.  She was on-line researching his issues on the chat forums.  About 65% of folks seems to think euthanizing a horse made more sense than bottle feeding it, because of the problems it left the animal with for life.  About 30% of participants had made peace with the animals as untrainable lawn ornaments.  And very occasionally there was a story of a bottle fed horse that became a useful riding horse.

Next time, she thought she would bring in the bottle fed chesnut character first and let him hang around in his stall while she groomed and worked with some of the others.  She was hoping he would turn out to be smart, and learn quickly, even if he responded to training differently...

Apparently, he'd had some professional training that amounted to nothing since the trainer couldn't deal with him. At home, Jill agreed that if you have patience, you could get through to him. They discussed how even when he is not overly pushy, the reminders to not be so have to be constant.  He is different, just different mentally. Very self confident, almost oblvious to danger and unware we are not his physical playmate. "The horse seems to want to identify with people, more than with horses. He doesn't quite 'get' that he is a horse. He doesn't seem to care if he's with the herd or not, he is so overly very interested in people.  It seems sometimes he's thinking he's a human with four legs or that we are horses with two legs."

When she'd been out in the paddock picking up rocks, he'd come right over and she'd thought he'd might hurt his teeth with his assumption every thing was mouthable.  And then he was in her space the whole time she walked to the edge of the paddock to place the big potato sized stones.  In hindsight, Roomie was pondering the crazy idea to try and teach him to move the rocks on his own!  He'd love the attention.

Jill agreed and added that he seems to have a sense of humor too to be the kind of horse that steals ball caps and brings them back. And hoped they could find him a new owner that would be the kind that would like it if that the silly horse would try to play games, like stealing his hat and, turning his head, hang it on the horn.

Out of The Box Thinking

Jill liked the name Action for a horse, because it was used in film, and guitar land, as well as equestrian worlds. The first time she had seen the horse, a huge celebrity was show jump schooling her… "I took a 100 pictures of that horse's @ss" she said, explaining her $100 Wal-mart purchase her last time in Florida, to her then tour guide past the frisky chestnut. With the foal that had to canter everywhere to keep up with her and never even trotted one single step.

Why don't we eat more rabbits. Jill was aspiring as a vegan but thought about the waste of euthanizing so many of them while people starved. She hated the rabbbit rescue PSA she had to air during her programs lately.  And also, sometimes she thought her own mind was kind of dark.

Jill was bringing Roomie up to speed on the radio show outing the day before "Yesterday I mounted on the "wrong" side, because you can do that with icelandics, and I wanted to try it. And then, I tolted. shreiking with the fun of it before dismounting also on the incorrect side....

These people clean their saddles with a STONE you know. Its just all about the get up and go!"

Magic Bounce Back

The fuel efficient used vehicle Jill had just purchased was totalled. She'd paid $10,000 and the insurance company only gave her $6,000 for it a few short weeks after the transaction. She had nothing to show for a new $4,000 debt, and was afraid it meant losing horses too, so she couldn't begin to tally the actual loss.

After the shocking, devastating loss of transportation Jill was thrilled to go meet the owner of a small herd of 9 or so horses, three generations of Hanoverians, at varying levels of training, and in need of more riding. Her friend, a brave but basic rider was keen to be drive out to the private farm just 10 km from downtown. Was there a chance they would pull it off?

Jill was also over the moon to be on an actual date with a drummer. She started telling him about the special needs student and her musical mom, and how the only way the lazy pony would keep trotting was when the mom played a trot rhythm on guitar from the sidelines. "That's how I know I horses love music."

Jill said she had only written one song on horseback. It was about bailing out on the boss and riding off together on Monday, and really seemed to solve the matter when she had to hack Nellie past the alligator pond or the g i a n t burn pile, to soothe both their nervousness daily, ha!

She believed that music affected both her and the horse's physiology. She sang it slow then to slow their heartbeats and the breathing rates, as well as to bring down blood pressure... she called it "Campain."

And, didn't tell her current flame how it had been so weird to run into that very boss-partner the day after telling someone how bad she'd felt about actually running off once. "You really broke his heart" she was told, in passing, just case she hadn't felt bad enough about the accidental boyfriend already...

Her then and there romantic lead piped up, and said "well that's all very interesting discussion but there is no way I am ever getting around any of that first hand, because of my SEVERE allergy to horses." Thud.

*

Meanwhile, Roomie had had marvellous follow up dates with a two year long very slow moving out of town crush.  He'd even finally laughed a couple times, and she wanted to sit closer to him.  She loved the crinkles around his eyes!  She was pleased to report they had a nice plan to get together again on Saturday! Would he like horses?

March Break

Jill was glad to have arranged a leave of absence at the dress shop, till April Fool's or so. Maybe by staying on staff in that capacity instead of quitting, she could actually enjoy the 40% discount on clothes she'd heard about in the initial job interview, by earning the money to shop there somewhere that paid a bit more.  She was complimented by customers but criticized by co-workers no matter what she wore there, leather to corduroy to blundstones, ha, and she certainly couldn't afford to upgrade her wardrobe while working there! 


Even tho there was so much grooming to do, that she had technically run out out of allotted barn time to ride, Jill decided to ride anyway. It was SUCH a nice day - she couldn't resist. Schedule plans be damed!  She got permission from the handsome farm owner to walk up and down the driveway on her pony.

And then, in fact, she almost regretted doing so. It was quite icy. And very slushy in other places. And in others it sunk beneath their feet.

After progress down the hill, she could see why the horse felt uncomfortable crossing the bridge over the river.  It felt like walking on weak ice. It was walking on thin ice! And you could see and hear the rushing water beneath it. She knew the bridge under the ice would hold, but the little thoroughbred didn't have quite the same understanding of the bridge, ha.

After sitting a few good spook, and spin and run attempts, Jill dismounted laughing. She told him she had just driven her car over it for crying out loud and led him over, on foot first. Walking ahead to show him the way, ha. And then she mounted on the other side and rode back over it toward home.

"Turns out my pony doesn't like water" Jill rode past the handsome cowboy with waterlogged feet. She'd had to lead him over every time away from home and towards home they had to take a run at it and jump the water toward home, ha.


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