Alright already

Ok, so it's been brought to my attention that I havn;t updated my blog in a while. I think it's funny but also makes me feel just a teensy bit important to have people miss my posts, I'll take what I can get. So here goes....

I rode for most of last week. Had a couple of good serious ring rides and a couple of really fun trail rides. The weather here for the last week has been beautiful. We're so used to having it rain almost every day this summer, getting 7 days of sunshine in a row is like heaven. The temp is also perfect. 70's and80's during the day and nice and cool at night with no humidity. During one of my ring rides towards the end of our jumping session I felt that left hind acting up again in the turns. I cooled off quickly and then after untacking him inspected it. There was no heat or swelling, just those nasty looking lumps that have turned hard and calcified. I cold hosed it anyways for about 10 minutes and rubbed liniment on the whole leg and rump. If it's one thing about Possum, it's that he HATES liniment. I'm pretty sure it's the feeling he doesn't like, the tingling sensation. He dances around and stomps his feet and has even done little rears. He doesn't ast as bad if it's just his legs but if I scrub him down with a bucket of water and liniment he freaks. Just another little bit of info on my crazy appy.

It's actually been a good week for me and a restful holiday weekend. I've been hanging out with friends and having fun at night. Work has been crazy. Schools are back open again and I've been getting back into the schools and getting presentations ready for the year. After this weekend, Tuesday morning I fly down to Virginia for a conference for work for 4 days. I think I;ve said this before but I'm gonna miss my puppies like crazy!!!

I've also been running more this past week. I've been running down the old snowmobile trails and it's helping to keep my motivation up. But i have to admit that my meals have been less than healthy, I'm sipping on a can of Pepsi as I type this hahaha.

Last night was particularly nice. I got to the barn at around 6 and it was pretty quiet, just as I wanted it to be. The dogs ran around and and did their thing and I got Possum out and ready. He was pretty slow to warm-up. He usually doesn;t get his motor revved until we start cantering some and then he comes into himself. My goal was to work mostly on rhythm and pace. He did excellent. I was thrilled with him. His canter was absolutely perfect. I was able to just sit pretty and lift him up when he started to get a little heavy. He was nice and light for the most part and responsive, it felt really nice. I was still riding in the Happy Mouth Elevator. I've decided to keep riding in that right up until the medals since he is doing so well in it. I want him this light and responsive for the Medals rides. It also helps that we've been working a lot on the flat Bringing things back to basics and having him really listen to my seat aids more. Getting him to rock back on his hind for downward transitions. I'm actually pretty happy with our progress. SO when we got to the jumping part of the ride last night I was really sensitive to any heisitation on his left hind. He felt great and nice and strong. The rhythm and pace was right on! I was jumping for joy inside. Even with the jumps au around 2'6 and some close to 3ft he was still keeping that nice pace, and with that pace I was better able to get him to a good spot and not be fighting with him all the time to slow down. I only jumped serious for about 10 minutes, enough to get throigh every line and mix things up a bit, I didn;t want to push my luck.

After the ride I untacked him and gave him his dinner to eat in the yard. It was so nice just sitting in the grass watching him eat and playing with the dogs The sun was just setting and everything was pink and orange and a huge moon was hanging in the sky.

Today I really have no plans, I want to go to the barn and have a fun ride this afternoon since he was so good yesterday. The sky is such a bright blue with no clouds in sight, it's just beckoning me to ride. Tonight the roomie and I are going to her guy friends hous for a small cook out and he invited one of his single cop buddies over too to meet me. Who knows, I'm not expecting a love connection or anything, but can always use good friends. I've also been hanging with a few guys lately too. Nothing serious, just having a few drinks and chillin. It's nice to be in the company of guys again and chatting. I feel like I'm just starting to feel ok living the single life, doing my own thing and only taking care of myself. I'm looking forward to this fall andofcourse the medals are only 2 weeks away!!!! That's going to be the highlight for sure, everyone back together as a show team again and having the whole weekend dedicated to horses and showing, I can't wait.

Well I think that's about it for now. Sorry it's been so long between posts, I'll try and keep up, but when I'm in Virginia I'm not sure if I will have internet, so we'll see. Have a great holiday weekend!!!!!!