Thoughts on Riding - 1

Betty and I continue to work with Sugar and Morgunn using the principles and techniques we learned from Larry Whitesell and Jennifer Bauer. Larry and Jennifer continue to take lessons from their mentor, Dominique Barbier, who is a classical trained rider in the Spanish school tradition.

While we were at the training we watched a video of Barbier and I made quite a few notes of his thoughts and principles that he shared. Over time I will occasionally share 10 of these for those who are interested in riding.

Here are the first 10:

The rider is like the feather on the nose of a clown. It takes very little movement from the tip of the feather to make the clown move.

I want to encourage self balance on the horse. I am not in charge of his balance, he is.

Know what you want before you start.

Believe in how easy it is to ride; relax and think.

Talk to the horse with your mind - "I would rather walk..."

When you know what you want, the horse will do it.

Less is more.

Keep the relaxation in the horse's brain, nothing is more important than that.

Use your mind to get the energy from the horse; your body is light and passive.

All interfering emotions must be replaced by calm determination, relaxation, and positive thinking.

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Happy 5th Birthday Juliet

Our sweet, first granddaughter, Juliet, is five today. We wish her the happiest of birthdays and we love her a whole bunch.

 

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Monday Video - A Day in the Life of a Dog

For all you dog lovers...

 

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Sunday Reflection - Life

Life has been an adventure for us over the last few months.

We've had our ups - our trip to the West coast that went so well, even with the minor attack of shingles Betty endured right at the end. We also had a wonderful visit with our kids and grandkids during the Balloon Fiesta.

Then we had our downs - our youngest son Chris who was so sick for several weeks. It was originally thought to be diverticulitis and then thought to be colon cancer. There is nothing worse for a parent than to have one of their children really sick and in danger.

The good news, another up, has been that they don't believe there is any cancer and they're back to a severe case of diverticulitis. It will mean another surgery around Thanksgiving to resect his intestines, but that's better than dealing with a cancerous tumor.

So, life for us has been a roller coaster of emotions over the past couple of months. Sometimes all you can do is grab hold and hang on - trusting that God is still in control even when we feel out of control.

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Friday Funny - For You iPhone Owners

I have an iPhone and, if you do, you'll get this cartoon.

 

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Chris Update

We talked with our youngest son Chris this morning, Thursday. He's being released from the hospital later today. Going home should be a big help to his recovery and, as he says, hopefully he will get a good night's sleep.

I have great admiration for the staff, especially the nurses, at hospitals, but, in my experience, it's almost impossible to get any decent sleep.

He will still have the surgery in about 4 to 6 weeks to do a resection on his intestines, but this time at home will help him heal from all the sickness and surgery he's been through.

Any and all thoughts and prayers for him will be appreciated.

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Chris Update

Our youngest son, Chris, who is going through some health/medical issues has some good news.

After doing surgery on Sunday morning to relieve pressure due to intestinal blockage, the surgeon decided to go ahead and do a colonoscopy yesterday (Monday) morning.

The good news is she did not see any mass/tumor - just inflamed and swollen intestinal walls. So the worry about colon cancer is diminished now and he has only the severe case of diverticulitis to deal with.

He will probably face another surgery to resect the intestines to remove the damaged part, but they will wait four to six weeks to allow him to recuperate and heal from these earlier surgeries.

It's a difficult time for him and for us, but we know from our own experience (Betty's horse riding accident and my prostate cancer surgery) that this will pass and he will get through it. His faith in God is strong and he's a good man.

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Kids and Horses

I had hoped to do a Sunday Reflection, but today has been an up and down day for us. Our youngest son, Chris, who lives in Ohio with his wife Tracy has been dealing with an intestinal problem for several weeks. To make a long story short, his condition worsened and he's in the hospital. They did a surgery today to release the pressure in his intestinal tract. They'll do a colonoscopy next Monday to see if they can determine the reason for his blockage and take a biopsy if necessary.

So, I haven't been able to focus that well today.

I'll share some photos of when our granddaughters and their cousins rode Sugar and Morgunn while they were here for the Balloon Fiesta.

First, pictures of Juliet and Leah.

Here are a couple of pictures of their cousins who are older. The oldest, Maggie, got up her courage and worked on riding Sugar all by herself. She did really well. The younger cousin, Kaley, also did well.

A picture of all of us.

Finally, just because you go inside doesn't mean you have to stop riding.

 

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Friday Funny - If Columbus Had Modern Technology

Enough said.

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Talented Neighbor

One of the fun attractions of the Balloon Fiesta is the craft fair that's held each of the two weekends of the event. It's a juried event and the arts and crafts are all top notch.

This past Sunday, Betty, Wade and I went to the craft fair for two reasons. One, we wanted to buy some more dipping oil that Marie had bought the weekend before. The other reason was to see our neighbor, TJ, who is an artist.

TJ was on the waiting list and one presenter canceled so she participated the last weekend.

TJ goes by her maiden name, Beverly Tjarks, and she's a talented artist.

Here are some pictures of her work starting with a picture of her with Betty in her booth.

Here's a picture of a smaller piece that I really liked and we wound up taking it home.

Here's what it looks like on our wall.

TJ is a very talented artist and her work is unique. If you want to see more of her work, or contact her about her work, here's her web address:

www.beverlytjarks.com

 

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They're Gone - Back to 'Normal'

Wade Daniel, Marie, Juliet and Leah are gone - along with Marie's sister Melissa, her husband Nick and their girls Maggie and Kaley. Our Wells Fargo horse looks kind of lonely sitting before our kiva. And it's incredibly quiet.

We had a great week with everyone. It's sad to see them go, but they have their lives in Fort Collins, Colorado to live.

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Friday and Saturday

Yesterday, Friday, all the girls rode our horses. Juliet rode both Sugar and Morgunn. Leah rode Morgunn. Their cousins, Maggie and Kaley, also rode. They both rode Morgunn. Since Betty and I were leading them on the horses we didn't get any pictures.

However, after the girls were through, the Daddies wanted to ride. Wade Daniel rode Morgunn and Nick rode Sugar. They both did really well. The guys did pretty good, too.

This morning, Saturday, we went to the Mass Ascension at the Balloon Fiesta. We weren't sure of the weather as the forecast called for today to be breezy. However, the morning turned out great and we had a wonderful show.

A good two days.

 

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Balloons, Balloons, Balloons

We decided to go to the Balloon Fiesta this morning, Wednesday. It's the day of the International Mass Ascension when all the international balloons go up first. The weather was good and we had a great show.

Here are some pictures and a video that gives you a pretty good overview from the Dawn Patrol that goes up in the dark and puts on a show to all the balloons in the air at the finale.

 

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