Entertaining myself

Still a couple weeks away from riding, I'm finding ways to stay amused and work on what I can until I can climb back in the saddle.

The healing is progressing and I am able to stretch and do a little more yoga each day, along with some loosening exercises from the Centered Riding book. Most of those exercises really work better on a horse, so I came up with an idea that will help my balance without causing apoplexy in my family. Meet Sam, the pseudo horse. He is helping me with my balance and core strength while my butt heals enough to get back aboard for real.

I did try a "live" test recently, though more as a "We're going to do what I want even if you think we're done," lesson for Bar. I climbed on bareback--once from each side--and we just stood quietly. However, my posterior region informed me it is not quite ready for prime time, yet. Get off. Gently. Now.

Remy, Katie's new puppy, has provided lots of entertainment in his own right. He is quite amusing, actually. I'm still not convinced Katie needed to add a dog to her life, but since she did, this one was a good choice. He's confident and smart--trainable, too. His only fault is he will get a little play-aggressive sometimes and needs swift intervention. He's going to be a dog that might intimidate people, so it's best to get that under control now and she's doing a good job with that. He still wakes her up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but eventually that will settle down, too. On the plus side, it's both preparing her for and deterring her from actually having children--a bit of an added bonus as far as I'm concerned.

Katie and her friend Russell have been taking Lena and Forrest out on trail rides, and Russell has been riding Lena fairly regularly, too. That's good for all of us, but Lena in particular. The only one who may think it is not good is Bar. His two tantrums coincided with Lena and Forrest being out together--the first time on a trail ride, the second time in the outdoor arena. It doesn't excuse his behavior, of course, but besides the little attitudinal things I let slide, he'd been fairly decent under saddle up to that point. Not perfect, no, but the more extreme behavior of the last month and a half coincides with Forrest and Lena activity, so I have to at least say, "Hm."

Forrest is oblivious to Bar's angst, as he should be, and is getting to be a good little trail horse, even if the ocean is a bit daunting. He prefers to stay close to Lena, naturally, and she does her usual good job of being trail boss.

Bar is getting as much of my time and energy as I can spare, plus more clear and consistent handling and direction than he'd been getting. He appears to be getting the message and when he "forgets," I don't let it go. He still gets lots of affection, of course, but I'm trying to balance it with challenging tasks and exercises that get him to think a little more. Thinking is a good thing for him to do.

I, on the other hand, am doing way too much thinking right now and am looking forward to a little doing in the next few weeks. Tick tock. Tick tock.