My other life

Good luck kisses from my main 4 footed man

In a break from my lamenting about snow...I have a job interview tomorrow!  So totally psyched!  Life has been stressful and I look forward to the day I can put my bills on autopay!  I know it is just an interview, but it is a step in the right direction.

Prisoner has mad balancing skills

Ok, well back to the snow.

Thanks to sprinklerbandit for snapping some fun pictures!

 So this was our first day of snow, by day two we ended up with almost a foot.  Now our lows are below 0 and highs are barely reaching 23.

Big Papa (Courage) chaperons 

 This weather is unheard for November in this area, much more typical of January.  That said I don't think I have ever seen this much snow from a single storm here.

P-diddy rocks the kisses

 Our ski hill is had the earliest opening in 45 years and this now ties the record for snowiest November with the year 1892, no joke.

Blanket icicles 

 Trying not to whine, but seriously... wtf weather!

Only the cutest face ever

I can't believe cross country on green grass was only a week ago!

Sunday Funday

Quick post.
The sprinklerbandit and I drove across southern Idaho and back today to pick up a horse for a friend/client of mine.  We hit the road at 7 and made it home by about 3.

Then I headed out to feed with an inkling that I might ride.

This is actually post ride

And the morning wind and 12 hours without rain indeed meant that the mud was starting to dry up enough to go for a walk!  So we did!

Diva's first ears shot of the year!

Diva was loving the attention and was a gem to ride.  We just walked around and worked on bending and moving off my leg, all of which she did in an amiable manner.  Yay Diva!

sunsunsunsunsun!

And because it is Sunday no one can judge me for some very happy I rode my horse selfies!

Best horse ever!

And finally two shots of the sunset!  We are finally getting some color back in the sky! (wow please excuse the exclamation mark overload)

Spring is on the way, don't loose hope!

Spinning around

Time keeps flying by, but something this week made is come to a screeching halt.  No one was hurt and only a few outbuildings were lost, but we had a 1000 acre go ripping through the area.  Husband and I rushed out to our friend's place (which is incidentally where my horses are moving to shortly since my mom's place sold) to help with what we could.

On the way, her place is on the other side of all that smoke

Light smoke=weeds dark smoke=building

Incredible sunset

Firetrucks lined up

Woah, way to make one slow down and assess what is really important.  I did manage to daydream a bit and was thinking if my guys were there I could have saddled them both up and ridden/ponied off into the distance, old west style.  Here I had been obessing over a video I made of Aero where I seem jiggly and incompetent and suddenly it became the minor issue it actually is.  Yes, I can loose a few pounds.  Yes, it isn't the best riding, but he was being super difficult.  No, it is not the end of the world.

On the upside I love the music!

This evening I got some fun shots of Diva and Bridger in the setting sun, nice and relaxing

Nom Nom Nom

Still eating

Sleepy

Love this!

Summer adventures

My husband bought a canoe.  No, I am not upset.  In fact I think it will be fun, I'm a big proponent of getting out in 'nature' as a rather cheap form of therapy.  Sunday was his birthday, and we went north to a lake, rented a canoe and paddled up the river.  It was beyond scenic, and bonus: we didn't tip over.

Lewis and Clarke anyone?

So lucky to have this in our 'backyard'

We have had some fair finishes at the races, this guy is in again tomorrow, here's to hoping!

R Seeker and I

It is looking like we will have racers here until the start of August and then the barn will head back to California, yeah for sleeping past 4:45 am, boo for the husband being gone again.

Oh and on a mostly unrelated note:

Made this awhile back and forgot to post it.  This is the sprinklerbandit and I, some OTTB humor:)  The sprinklerbandit and I have been having fun at the track keeping a quota of horse dirt under her nails!

half done

Wow, big thanks to Rinsie for the Liebster award!  Her blog is a fun compilation of day to day happenings in the life of a lady working and riding.  One of my favorite parts?  Her mount, Apollo, is an adorable gelding I restarted off the track back in 2008, they could not be more perfect for each other!  So now I guess it is my turn to spread some blog love!

How to accept the award: The Liebster award is a way to recognize blogs that have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word that means: Beloved and valued.  Here are the rules to accept the award:
1. Thank the person that nominated you and share a link back to their blog.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
5. Nominate 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers and include links to their blog.
6. Notify each nominated blogger.


11 random facts about me:

1. Yes, I have red hair, but even more shocking: when I was born I had a whopping 4 inches of it covering my head!
2. Before I could even walk or talk I would scream if a cowboy rode past me with out giving me a ride on his horse (we lived on a 50,000 acre ranch in the Texas panhandle).
3. I really learned to ride at age 10 on an Arabian stallion in northern Idaho while doing endurance.
4. When I get the hiccups they last off and on for three days.
5. If a lucrative future career wasn't a worry I would ditch my Bio degree and get something in the realm of literature and creative writing.
6. Even though I ride race horses, problem horses, and green horses I still struggle with confidence.  It is a daily decision to be brave, some days are easier than others.
7. I am a voracious reader...to the point that at times it can be a bad habit.  Just one more chapter;)
8. My art teacher in high school sent a letter home to my parents saying  that I should think about going to art school...again, I want a job that pays for my horse endeavors.
9. I like to sing in my car; at high volumes.
10. Even though it was about 8 years ago, one of my favorite horses in every way was a chestnut mare named Reveille.  I haven't ridden her in ages, but I can still feel the rise and fall of her gait, hear her nicker, and see the depths of her eyes, she was one of those 'special ones.'
11. I'm getting ready to donate my hair to locks of love for the second time.

Questions from Nanakorobi Yaoki:
1. What is your favorite thing about your horse?
Mojito has the most distinctive whinny, kind of like sing-song laughter
2. When things don't go well during a ride what do you to handle it and move on?
I typically go back to the complete basics. Walk/halt, Trot/walk, maybe a cross rail, it depends on the horse as to what 'basic' is.  The biggest thing is that after a success at something simple that I recognize it and throw the horse a party (hugs, pets, verbal praise), usually I find that 'issues' arise from some lack of confidence in the horse, so I try to build it up.
3. What do you do to treat or pamper yourself?
What a new saddle pad doesn't count?  Taking a few minutes with a lovely cup of coffee and a good book is pretty great!
4. What's your favorite childhood memory:
Just one?  Well there are lots of favorites, but here goes with one.  I was about 11 years old and riding Pepper, an arabian stallion.  I was with Brent (the horses owner, and a mentor) and Carrie (a friend just a bit older than me) and we went on a long training ride (about 13 miles).  We rode on Moscow mountain and came to a new (to me) place called inspiration point and you could see for miles upon miles upon miles in every direction around the north Idaho palouse.  I could have looked forever, it was a place look upon while writting a novel, while making artwork, while writing music, a place where your worries suddenly seem so very small and insignificant.  It is 14 years later and my heart still swells with the memory.
5. What is your general barn routine?
At which barn?  We will go with the race track.  Arrive at 6 and feed grain.  Start getting horses to the track by about 6:20 and finish by 8 or 9.  Muck stalls while the horses are training. Feed hay.  Water.  Rake the shedrow and walker ring.
6. Ideal number of horses, and what would they do?
I have four of my own, I would like one less.  They would all get ridden regularly and in my dream world two would event and one would do upper level dressage.
7. Favorite meal?
An incredible garlic crusted steak, medium rare.
8. What is your mindset like during a typical ride?
As Nick HolmsSmith once said, "you get on your horse and stop and think, who am I on?"  This may sound crazy simple, but for the number of horses that I ride is it great advice.  I like to think about what we have been doing and what we need to do while I warm up.  Other times I am thinking out the next story I want to write, and sometimes I tell the horse about my day, and still other times I sing while going 'round and 'round.
9. Favorite tack brand, why?
Too many to choose from, but I am still a Stubben lover.  They may be a bit old school, but their quality is unsurpassed.  If you take the time to break in their leather well it turns to butter and never breaks down.
10. Favorite breeches, why?
My Tailored Sportsman trophy hunters look great and are freakin' work horses.  I can ride all day, buck a ton of hay, give baths, go to dinner, and after almost 4 years they still have their stretch and no stains!
11. Tell me about your first riding experience?
Well I already mentioned the very first times, but I don't actually remember them.  The first one I really remember is moving some friends mules from the middle of town out to a summer pasture with my dad.  Yes we rode them, I had to be about 4 at the time.  I was a little nervous, but it was awesome.  I recently found this picture documenting it, yes, those are green and pink high top converse on my feet:)

I have another set of questions to answer and I need to nominate and come up with my own questions...no worries I will soon.

Feeling the love

Wow, I've been nominated twice for the Liebster award.  It is nice to think that people are reading my blog and enjoying it.  I am working on my responses to the questions and will publish it soon!  We had the most insane wind and then rain the last two days, but today is utterly glorious.

Bam!

Sometimes you gotta love living in Idaho:)

If only I liked chicken dinner

We won we won! A race on Sunday and another on Wednesday.  Saro's Secret won up in Union, Oregon (BTW seriously the cutest town).  Union was a tiny town where half the roads were still gravel, the downtown was all brick complete with a soda fountain shop, and the houses were all gingerbread style, I loved it.

Race track and Rodeo grounds combo

The Union races ran at the same time as a rodeo, so yes horses would be warming up (getting ponied) next to an arena with broncs, bulls, and barrel racers!

Wednesday Tudor Blue won here in Boise, it was a very tense photo finish.  He is such a handsome horse,  with a big yet attractive head and a body to match.

Here he is reading the program with Eugene.

Life is chugging along...and I have finally set into motion the process of getting a job at the hospital so that I can eventually get into PA school!

House sat up at my favorite place again, I just love the peace and quiet out there.

No words

An escape

I am house sitting for a ranch that is a ways out of town.  It is incredible.  I look forward to the week or so I get to spend out here each year.  There is a wild tranquility about the place that makes for a distinct feeling of removal from town.  It is as though a scale from the mundane hardness of society falls away with each rise and fall of the landscape on the drive out.  It is a place for dreaming, a place for exploring, a place for gentle sunrises and smiling skies.  The house is nestled into the side of massive foothill and looks out over hundreds of acres of sage and grass, the landscape is dotted with the occasional horse, cow, deer, and coyote (these are more heard than seen).  Here with the cleaner air and sweeping vistas there is room for your soul to roam and steep in the scents of fresh dirt after rain and sweet searing sage.

From last fall in the smoke from the worst fires I've seen in a long time.

Smoke does make for a nice sunrise

Can just imagine a heard of cattle and their cowboys

Love Love Love this shot, I wish it was from a real camera and not just my phone.

Still in the snow

Wow, it doesn't stop, the snow.

Snow hanging onto the chicken coop

 I am blown away, we don't normally have such an intense winter here in the  Treasure Valley.

The door to the garage/feed room was blown open today and the snow blew right in

 It is making for some great pictures and fun times.

sunsets are nice

My fence seems to be getting shorter with all this snow

Charlie conquers the snow mountain!

Diva and Sadie say ride us, we won't be silly, wink wink

I am itching to ride, it has been too long.  Riding is something that flows through my blood, it completes me, but sometimes I get tired or lose a little inspiration.  I believe this happens due to the fact that I ride horses as my job and am spread super thin. So a little forced break puts that spring back in my step, I do a little YouTube therapy and by the time I step my foot back in the stirrup  I am again ready for my dreams of the Olympics and the day to day grind.  I'm not whining, I know I am so incredibly lucky to have my 'job' also be my passion, I'm just human and I get tired.  But enough of that.  This snow brings back memories, memories of the north Idaho palouse.  I learned to ride up there on an incredible endurance Arabian stallion named Pepper.  He taught me more than just how to post a trot, he taught me how to dream, he taught me how to feel.  As a little kid life threw a lot my way and I was pretty shut down, Pepper tore the shutters off, he let me laugh again.  Up on Moscow Mountain we rode through snow deeper than his belly, we wore face masks against the cold, toe warmers and layers upon layers of winter clothing to stay luke warm.  It was like riding through Narnia up there, majestic pines flocked with white powdery snow.  Cabins with smoke curling up from their chimneys, deer, elk, moose, owls, and tiny mice, views of miles upon miles of rolling snow covered fields. Those trails were places for healing, for cathartic release, for growth, those trails were where I learned that life was something to be amazed by and to find a reason to smile no matter how weighed down one feels.