C.S. Wilson's Blog, page 9
December 21, 2017
Adventures with Christine, Part 2
On December 1st, Deejo blew out his right biceps tendon while at work, which made driving a stick-shift ... difficult. He managed to drive Christine for almost two weeks, until his surgery to repair said blown out biceps tendon. All of us sibs offered to trade cars with him, but I "won" (if that's what you can call it, given Christine's warped sense of humor).
I'd been driving Christine for just a couple of days when laundry day rolled around. She's got a two-body, maybe two-and-a-half body, trunk. It's huge! However, in order to put the bodies in the trunk, they would have to be dismembered, as the opening to the trunk is barely small enough for a five year old to crawl through.
We knew getting the laundry basket into the trunk would be tricky, but there was no way we could put it in the back seat. We figured that if we just tipped the laundry basket up, we could wedge it through the opening into the cavernous trunk.
Jay took a deep breath, tilted the laundry basket at a 45* angle and tried to shoe-horn it in. Christine rejected the basket, so he tilted the basket and shoved harder. She was having none of it. Realizing that the laundry heaped up over the top of the basket was not helping, we scraped the excess laundry off the top and into the trunk.
With the laundry level with the top of the basket, Jay was *almost* able to get it into the trunk, but Christine still wasn't happy, so we dug more of our dirty clothes out of the basket. She finally approved, and allowed us to slide the laundry basket in once half of the clothes were removed.
Christine is pretty good at training humans, and we managed to load the basket properly for the return trip home, though there is still one sock floating around in her two-body trunk that neither of us can reach.
I think Christine might be my spirit car, what with our shared hatred of laundry.
(And yes, I see all of the obvious dirty jokes about Jay shoving stuff into Christine's trunk and her not having it, I'm just choosing to ignore those jokes.)
I'd been driving Christine for just a couple of days when laundry day rolled around. She's got a two-body, maybe two-and-a-half body, trunk. It's huge! However, in order to put the bodies in the trunk, they would have to be dismembered, as the opening to the trunk is barely small enough for a five year old to crawl through.
We knew getting the laundry basket into the trunk would be tricky, but there was no way we could put it in the back seat. We figured that if we just tipped the laundry basket up, we could wedge it through the opening into the cavernous trunk.
Jay took a deep breath, tilted the laundry basket at a 45* angle and tried to shoe-horn it in. Christine rejected the basket, so he tilted the basket and shoved harder. She was having none of it. Realizing that the laundry heaped up over the top of the basket was not helping, we scraped the excess laundry off the top and into the trunk.
With the laundry level with the top of the basket, Jay was *almost* able to get it into the trunk, but Christine still wasn't happy, so we dug more of our dirty clothes out of the basket. She finally approved, and allowed us to slide the laundry basket in once half of the clothes were removed.
Christine is pretty good at training humans, and we managed to load the basket properly for the return trip home, though there is still one sock floating around in her two-body trunk that neither of us can reach.
I think Christine might be my spirit car, what with our shared hatred of laundry.
(And yes, I see all of the obvious dirty jokes about Jay shoving stuff into Christine's trunk and her not having it, I'm just choosing to ignore those jokes.)
Adventures with Christine, Part 1
(It has been six months to the day since I last posted. Oops. I've got a short series of adventures with my brother's car that should keep me going for a week or so :) )
Not Deejo's car; pic shamelessly stolen from Google images
My brother, Deejo, bought a beautiful 2018 Camaro this summer. A few days after he bought her, he allowed me to take her for a spin. She and I had a good time - it's been a while since I've driven a sports car. Like, a long, long while. When we were finished with our little drive, I pulled her into Deejo's steep driveway and parked her.
Well, I tried to park her. I put her in first, engaged the parking brake, turned her off, and opened the door. Bad things began to happen at that moment. As soon as I opened the door, she began her "eject" sequence - she moved the seat back and down to give me enough room to get out. Sounded pretty cool when Deejo was telling me about it. Might have been cool if we hadn't been rolling backwards down the driveway.
It would have been nice to know that in order to engage the parking brake I had to *lift* up on the push button parking brake. But even that shouldn't have been a problem, because I always park manual transmission cars in gear, never in neutral.
However, even in gear (and I checked multiple times that she was in gear), she would roll backward 6-8" at a time. She'd roll, stop, roll, stop, lather, rinse, repeat. All while I was being ejected from the seat.
As she was rolling backward, in gear, with the parking brake "on", the seat was moving away from the steering wheel and I was quickly losing contact with the brake pedal. I grabbed the steering wheel in a death grip and butt-walked my way to the very edge of the seat in order to keep my foot firmly on the brake.
That's the position Deejo found me in when he pulled up a minute or so later - death grip on the steering wheel, teetering on the edge of the seat, foot glued to the brake, and swear words coming out of my mouth.
He tried to get me out of the car, but that shit wasn't happening. Every time I took my foot off the brake, she would roll backward and *I* was not going to be the person to put a dent in his 3-day-old car.
Eventually, Deejo coaxed me out of the car and replaced my foot on the brake with his. He pulled her back up into the driveway and parked her. The bitch stayed where he left her, too!
...And that's when I named her Christine.
Not Deejo's car; pic shamelessly stolen from Google imagesMy brother, Deejo, bought a beautiful 2018 Camaro this summer. A few days after he bought her, he allowed me to take her for a spin. She and I had a good time - it's been a while since I've driven a sports car. Like, a long, long while. When we were finished with our little drive, I pulled her into Deejo's steep driveway and parked her.
Well, I tried to park her. I put her in first, engaged the parking brake, turned her off, and opened the door. Bad things began to happen at that moment. As soon as I opened the door, she began her "eject" sequence - she moved the seat back and down to give me enough room to get out. Sounded pretty cool when Deejo was telling me about it. Might have been cool if we hadn't been rolling backwards down the driveway.
It would have been nice to know that in order to engage the parking brake I had to *lift* up on the push button parking brake. But even that shouldn't have been a problem, because I always park manual transmission cars in gear, never in neutral.
However, even in gear (and I checked multiple times that she was in gear), she would roll backward 6-8" at a time. She'd roll, stop, roll, stop, lather, rinse, repeat. All while I was being ejected from the seat.
As she was rolling backward, in gear, with the parking brake "on", the seat was moving away from the steering wheel and I was quickly losing contact with the brake pedal. I grabbed the steering wheel in a death grip and butt-walked my way to the very edge of the seat in order to keep my foot firmly on the brake.
That's the position Deejo found me in when he pulled up a minute or so later - death grip on the steering wheel, teetering on the edge of the seat, foot glued to the brake, and swear words coming out of my mouth.
He tried to get me out of the car, but that shit wasn't happening. Every time I took my foot off the brake, she would roll backward and *I* was not going to be the person to put a dent in his 3-day-old car.
Eventually, Deejo coaxed me out of the car and replaced my foot on the brake with his. He pulled her back up into the driveway and parked her. The bitch stayed where he left her, too!
...And that's when I named her Christine.
June 21, 2017
Good Ride, Cowboy
I haven't posted here since December! Don't even know if I have any readers left.
Last month, we lost a dear friend of ours who you might know from my book, Tales from the Trail. Bucky was featured in many of the stories and had a profound influence on me as a wrangler and a rider.
He lived a life that no one would believe, and many would envy. Not because he was money-rich (not by a long shot), but because he lived his life as an adventure. He truly loved his life: his wife, sons, and his horses. Within mere moments, people fell under the charm of this "old cowboy".
My heart is broken for his family, his friends, and the people who missed out on meeting him. The world lost one of a dying breed.
There is a more thorough post about Bucky on my other blog, Wilsons' Wild Ones if you'd like to read more about this larger-than-life human.
Last month, we lost a dear friend of ours who you might know from my book, Tales from the Trail. Bucky was featured in many of the stories and had a profound influence on me as a wrangler and a rider.
He lived a life that no one would believe, and many would envy. Not because he was money-rich (not by a long shot), but because he lived his life as an adventure. He truly loved his life: his wife, sons, and his horses. Within mere moments, people fell under the charm of this "old cowboy".
My heart is broken for his family, his friends, and the people who missed out on meeting him. The world lost one of a dying breed.
There is a more thorough post about Bucky on my other blog, Wilsons' Wild Ones if you'd like to read more about this larger-than-life human.
December 26, 2016
Potato Enchiladas
One of my family's favorite "special occasion" foods is my grandma's potato enchiladas. Truth be told, they are about as "poor man's food" as you can get, but they are delicious. A few years ago, after Grandma Mary died, I got a wild hair up my butt to make these for our Christmas Eve celebration. They were a big hit, and Jay and I have been making them every Christmas Eve since.
I tried to get to the bottom of where the recipe came from, as it seems that only my family (and friends we have introduced them to) have ever eaten them. The consensus is that it came from either Grandma Mary or her mother, Great-grandma Claudia, in trying to feed all of the mouths in the family. They are made of ingredients that were cheap and readily available. The most expensive ingredient in the dish was/is the cheese, which back then came from the "commodities people" (a.k.a. the food pantry).
However, despite the recipe being invented out of necessity, it is a family favorite and I'm glad Grandma Mary taught me how to make them. Jay and I have cleaned up the recipe a bit, to make it a touch healthier, while maintaining the same flavors as the original.
Ingredients:
3 dozen flour tortillas (Grandma, of course, made hers from scratch, but I'm lazy)5# potatoes (we use russet, but it doesn't matter which you use)1 yellow onion, diced (optional)1 c. peas (we use frozen, Grandma used canned)shredded cheesegarlic olive oilvegetable oil chili powdergarlic powderonion powdersaltpepper Directions:
Dice potatoes, coat with garlic olive oil, toss with salt and pepper, then spread on baking sheets and roast in a 400*F oven until cooked through, about 40 minutes.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large pan. Add roasted potatoes, peas, and chili powder paste (see below). Cook for just a couple of minutes, until peas are thawed.
Make a paste of chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. I have no idea of the measurements (remember, this was a recipe handed down from my Mexican grandmother, who measured things by guess and by golly), but it's about a 4:1:1 ratio of chili powder to garlic and onion powders. Add enough water to make a paste.
Dunk a tortilla into the paste, coating both sides, and quick-fry in a hot skillet with vegetable oil (Grandma used lard), drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
Fill tortillas with potato mixture, shredded cheese, and raw diced onion (if desired). Roll and place in baking dishes. Thin chili powder paste with water to use as a sauce to pour over the rolled enchiladas. Cover with shredded cheese and bake in 350*F oven for 15-20 minutes.
Look at the mess on the stove from quick-frying and cry, then begin to clean. You have just enough time to clean the mess while the enchiladas are baking.
August 19, 2016
2016 Writers' Police Academy - Thursday
I managed to get out of the house long before the sun even thought of making an appearance the morning we were to depart for Wisconsin. A quick stop to pick up a friend of mine, and we were off to the airport.
After about a half a day of travel, we arrived at our destination: Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. My first impression as we stepped out of the airport was that Green Bay was hot and wet. My Colorado body is not used to drinking its air.
We had a couple of hours of down time before the afternoon "welcome" activities began, so we curled up in a couple of chairs in the lobby and took a nap while we waited for our room to be made available. When gearing up for the WPA, it's important to get rest when you can, because once the festivities start it's balls to the wall.
The afternoon welcome session started off with Show and Tell. My friend and I braved the wall of humidity to go see the Sheriff's cool toys.
I'm not tall, but that door hinge was still 4" above my head!
Getting dressed for work
"Can we go work now, can we, can we, can we?"
SWAT gear was available for us to handle and ask questions about.I don't know how the LEOs there work in all that gear (even just their every day uniform) with the heat and humidity. After an hour, I was done and I was only in jeans and a t-shirt.
I learned a couple of things from the evening announcements:
No videoing! Of course, that's been the rule from day one, so it wasn't a surprise.The bus ride to the facility is ten minutes. Both ways. Yes, someone asked. Many, many times. Guess what? The bus ride next year is going to be ten minutes. Both ways.I'm not sure we ever got a clear answer on what time the pool closes, but I looked it up and it's a 24-hour pool, so no worries.The Goldberg brothers are hilarious. I didn't know who the comedy duo was at the time, but I knew I liked them from the first words spoken.After evening announcements, there was a session on drones. Drones are more correctly called UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial Systems) and are overseen by the FAA. Capt. Bill Bongle (ret.), talked to us about some of the FAA legalities, such as setting the max altitude at 400 feet. We also learned from an old case (Causby vs U.S. 1946) that 83 feet is the altitude that one can reasonably expect privacy.
There is a current case to keep an eye on, Boggs vs. Meredith, that is seeking to clarify aerial trespass. The issue is that Meredith shot down a UAV piloted by Boggs, which is a violation of a statute that makes it a felony to shoot down or damage an aircraft. Meredith argues that the drone flying over his property is a violation of privacy.
Capt. Bongle was kind enough to bring a variety of UAVs for us to see.
That's not a UFO that we're all looking at - it's a tiny UAV.
This little guy is a Blade Inductrix and retails for about $70 without the camera.
I should have added something for scale - this one is about the size of my thumbnail.I fell in love with the itty bitty flying machine, and think I need one. The bigger ones are cool, but this miniaturized one is just adorable.
This one can be fitted with a FLIR (infrared) camera.
By the time the drone talk wrapped up, I was exhausted. It had been a very long day and we still had two full days of fun to go.
After about a half a day of travel, we arrived at our destination: Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. My first impression as we stepped out of the airport was that Green Bay was hot and wet. My Colorado body is not used to drinking its air.
We had a couple of hours of down time before the afternoon "welcome" activities began, so we curled up in a couple of chairs in the lobby and took a nap while we waited for our room to be made available. When gearing up for the WPA, it's important to get rest when you can, because once the festivities start it's balls to the wall.
The afternoon welcome session started off with Show and Tell. My friend and I braved the wall of humidity to go see the Sheriff's cool toys.
I'm not tall, but that door hinge was still 4" above my head!
Getting dressed for work
"Can we go work now, can we, can we, can we?"
SWAT gear was available for us to handle and ask questions about.I don't know how the LEOs there work in all that gear (even just their every day uniform) with the heat and humidity. After an hour, I was done and I was only in jeans and a t-shirt.I learned a couple of things from the evening announcements:
No videoing! Of course, that's been the rule from day one, so it wasn't a surprise.The bus ride to the facility is ten minutes. Both ways. Yes, someone asked. Many, many times. Guess what? The bus ride next year is going to be ten minutes. Both ways.I'm not sure we ever got a clear answer on what time the pool closes, but I looked it up and it's a 24-hour pool, so no worries.The Goldberg brothers are hilarious. I didn't know who the comedy duo was at the time, but I knew I liked them from the first words spoken.After evening announcements, there was a session on drones. Drones are more correctly called UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or sUAS (small Unmanned Aerial Systems) and are overseen by the FAA. Capt. Bill Bongle (ret.), talked to us about some of the FAA legalities, such as setting the max altitude at 400 feet. We also learned from an old case (Causby vs U.S. 1946) that 83 feet is the altitude that one can reasonably expect privacy.
There is a current case to keep an eye on, Boggs vs. Meredith, that is seeking to clarify aerial trespass. The issue is that Meredith shot down a UAV piloted by Boggs, which is a violation of a statute that makes it a felony to shoot down or damage an aircraft. Meredith argues that the drone flying over his property is a violation of privacy.
Capt. Bongle was kind enough to bring a variety of UAVs for us to see.
That's not a UFO that we're all looking at - it's a tiny UAV.
This little guy is a Blade Inductrix and retails for about $70 without the camera.
I should have added something for scale - this one is about the size of my thumbnail.I fell in love with the itty bitty flying machine, and think I need one. The bigger ones are cool, but this miniaturized one is just adorable.
This one can be fitted with a FLIR (infrared) camera.
By the time the drone talk wrapped up, I was exhausted. It had been a very long day and we still had two full days of fun to go.
August 9, 2016
Question for Readers
When choosing a new book to read, do you read the reviews? Amazon seems to have the most prolific reviews and a lot of authors depend on them.
As a reader, which type of review do you prefer?
One that summarizes the entire book?
Or one that is more along the lines of "I liked it, and here's why"?
I know what my preference is, which is reflected in the reviews I've left. I do try to leave a review for 90% of the books I read - either on Goodreads or Amazon (usually both) - as an author I know how important they are.
I am interested - which type of review do you prefer and why?
As a reader, which type of review do you prefer?
One that summarizes the entire book?
Or one that is more along the lines of "I liked it, and here's why"?
I know what my preference is, which is reflected in the reviews I've left. I do try to leave a review for 90% of the books I read - either on Goodreads or Amazon (usually both) - as an author I know how important they are.
I am interested - which type of review do you prefer and why?
August 8, 2016
Writers' Police Academy 2016
Only a few days before I head off to WPA! This year, I've got a friend and fellow author joining me. I'm unbelievably excited to get to share this event with her and I think she'll have a great experience.
WPA has been described as "Disneyland for writers" and that's about as accurate a description as any. We'll spend almost three days absorbing everything we can from experts in: bioterrorism; law enforcement; fire; EMS; forensic psychology; and crime lab/processing.
I can't wait! If you want to keep up in real-time, follow me on Twitter (@CSWilson_Author), Instagram (@authorcswilson), or Facebook (@AuthorCSWilson). I'll do my best to post every chance I get.
WPA has been described as "Disneyland for writers" and that's about as accurate a description as any. We'll spend almost three days absorbing everything we can from experts in: bioterrorism; law enforcement; fire; EMS; forensic psychology; and crime lab/processing.
I can't wait! If you want to keep up in real-time, follow me on Twitter (@CSWilson_Author), Instagram (@authorcswilson), or Facebook (@AuthorCSWilson). I'll do my best to post every chance I get.
July 17, 2016
Birthday Ride
Today's birthday ride was nothing like I've had in the past. Usually, I head up to the Lodge and go out for an afternoon with Mom or Bill. Since my birthday is in the middle of the season, I don't get to ride with both of them for my birthday - just one or the other.
My birthday ride after I put Estes down was a nice enough ride on Washoe and I'm glad I was pushed into it, even if I wasn't sure I was ready to be back up on a horse. My heart was still broken, but it was a good ride and reminded me why I loved being out on the trails.
Last year, I didn't do a birthday ride at all. Skeeter wasn't nearly ready for the trails (still isn't, but maybe next year), but we did go down to Julie Goodnight's for Horse Master, so that kind of took the place of a birthday ride.
I haven't been back up on a horse since Pearl bucked me off in May and I knew I just had to do it. What I hadn't realized was how much my confidence had been shaken by that incident. Skeeter would have been perfectly fine today if I'd just tacked her up and climbed aboard. I, however, would not have been. We spent probably 45 minutes on ground work before I even considered climbing up. My goal was to get up and sit. If I got any "riding" in, that would have been a bonus.
Annie has been riding Skeeter and Copper (and will start with Pearl) twice a week, so I knew Skeets would be fine. I just had to get myself up there. And I managed to. There were some stops and starts, but I did finally swing my leg over. I had pounded some PVC pipes into the ground in a square around the mounting block so I had physical things to maneuver around and "targets" to look at while riding. If I have something to look at, then I spend less time looking down at Skeeter.
My birthday ride after I put Estes down was a nice enough ride on Washoe and I'm glad I was pushed into it, even if I wasn't sure I was ready to be back up on a horse. My heart was still broken, but it was a good ride and reminded me why I loved being out on the trails.
Last year, I didn't do a birthday ride at all. Skeeter wasn't nearly ready for the trails (still isn't, but maybe next year), but we did go down to Julie Goodnight's for Horse Master, so that kind of took the place of a birthday ride.
I haven't been back up on a horse since Pearl bucked me off in May and I knew I just had to do it. What I hadn't realized was how much my confidence had been shaken by that incident. Skeeter would have been perfectly fine today if I'd just tacked her up and climbed aboard. I, however, would not have been. We spent probably 45 minutes on ground work before I even considered climbing up. My goal was to get up and sit. If I got any "riding" in, that would have been a bonus.
Annie has been riding Skeeter and Copper (and will start with Pearl) twice a week, so I knew Skeets would be fine. I just had to get myself up there. And I managed to. There were some stops and starts, but I did finally swing my leg over. I had pounded some PVC pipes into the ground in a square around the mounting block so I had physical things to maneuver around and "targets" to look at while riding. If I have something to look at, then I spend less time looking down at Skeeter.
July 11, 2016
Annie
We knew getting into this three-horse thing, we wouldn't have time to work all of them on a regular schedule, so we've been looking for someone to help us put wet saddle blankets on them. They are all three green-broke and Pearl has the most riding under her belt, but we have been struggling getting enough hours on them to help them progress.
I'd approached our neighbor, who owns a riding school, about finding a rider back in March (before we even had Pearl) and she put me in touch with someone she knew. The person she put me in touch with is an excellent rider, but doesn't do much western riding and was uncomfortable taking on a discipline outside of her own. I was disappointed, but completely understood.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from my neighbor telling me she thought she had someone else who was interested in working the horses. I was really excited until I read that the rider she wanted to send me was 15. I was pretty conflicted about how a 15 year old girl would handle three green-broke horses and struggled with replying for a few hours.
On my way home from work, I got a call from the rider, Annie. It took about 3 seconds to calm my fears about having a "youngster" ride for us. As my neighbor said, she's 15 going on 35. She's been riding her whole life and is currently re-training an OTTB. I invited her and her mom out to meet the horses to see if it was going to be a match.
She worked with confidence and quickly identified areas in which Skeeter and Copper needed work. She rode each of them and was able to respond to both of their very different personalities.
Skeeter was a bit mare-ish, but what do you expect?
Cops was worried, but that's his default with new things.
The day Annie came out, Skeeter developed some random soft tissue swelling in her right hind, but I had her ride anyway. I did cancel the next Skeeter ride, just in case she had an abscess brewing. Turns out it was just random soft tissue stuff (she probably did it while Pearl was chasing her all over Estes' pen) that went away in a couple of days.
Annie came back out and took Copper for a ride at the neighbor's arena and it turned into a great lesson day for him. A storm came rolling in, so Copper got to stand in the barn while it stormed. When he got a little too antsy, he went into a stall. He does not like small horses, so the stall was perfect - his next-stall-neighbor was a pony mare with a baby. Belle's not as small as a mini, and neither is her baby, but they are definitely much smaller than Copper's used to.
Finally, the storm passed and Annie was able to take him out to the arena for a ride. I haven't talked to her much to see how the ride went, but she said it was a good one.
She was on vacation last week, but starting tomorrow she'll be riding all three horses twice a week. I think the horses will respond well to a structured riding schedule, which will make it a lot easier for Jay and I to get up on them on our days off.
I'd approached our neighbor, who owns a riding school, about finding a rider back in March (before we even had Pearl) and she put me in touch with someone she knew. The person she put me in touch with is an excellent rider, but doesn't do much western riding and was uncomfortable taking on a discipline outside of her own. I was disappointed, but completely understood.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from my neighbor telling me she thought she had someone else who was interested in working the horses. I was really excited until I read that the rider she wanted to send me was 15. I was pretty conflicted about how a 15 year old girl would handle three green-broke horses and struggled with replying for a few hours.
On my way home from work, I got a call from the rider, Annie. It took about 3 seconds to calm my fears about having a "youngster" ride for us. As my neighbor said, she's 15 going on 35. She's been riding her whole life and is currently re-training an OTTB. I invited her and her mom out to meet the horses to see if it was going to be a match.
She worked with confidence and quickly identified areas in which Skeeter and Copper needed work. She rode each of them and was able to respond to both of their very different personalities.
Skeeter was a bit mare-ish, but what do you expect?
Cops was worried, but that's his default with new things.The day Annie came out, Skeeter developed some random soft tissue swelling in her right hind, but I had her ride anyway. I did cancel the next Skeeter ride, just in case she had an abscess brewing. Turns out it was just random soft tissue stuff (she probably did it while Pearl was chasing her all over Estes' pen) that went away in a couple of days.
Annie came back out and took Copper for a ride at the neighbor's arena and it turned into a great lesson day for him. A storm came rolling in, so Copper got to stand in the barn while it stormed. When he got a little too antsy, he went into a stall. He does not like small horses, so the stall was perfect - his next-stall-neighbor was a pony mare with a baby. Belle's not as small as a mini, and neither is her baby, but they are definitely much smaller than Copper's used to.
Finally, the storm passed and Annie was able to take him out to the arena for a ride. I haven't talked to her much to see how the ride went, but she said it was a good one.
She was on vacation last week, but starting tomorrow she'll be riding all three horses twice a week. I think the horses will respond well to a structured riding schedule, which will make it a lot easier for Jay and I to get up on them on our days off.
May 31, 2016
Pearl Update
Pearl has settled into the herd nicely. So far, the herd dynamics have not shaken out the way I thought they would. Just over a week in, it's Copper as the alpha, followed by Pearl (very, very recent), then Skeeter. I would have thought Skeeter, Copper, then Pearl. Copper stepped right up the minute Pearl moved in, which bumped Skeeter down, but she still out-ranked Pearl until yesterday/today. They're still fine-tuning the hierarchy, but I think this is pretty close to being done.
Jessica came out on Sunday for our first lesson with Pearl. We'd not done much other than just let her settle in and give her some loves, so Sunday was her first work day. Jay and I have both worked with Jessica, so we had L.E. do the groundwork lesson. It's overwhelming, because Jessica knows so much and when you're trying to learn it, it's like drinking from a fire hose.
Pearl was a bit worried that we'd taken her away from Skeeter and Copper, so we brought them over and tied them to the trailer. She calmed down immediately with her "support crew" near. It was good for Skeets and Copper to stand tied at the trailer for an hour, as well.
L.E. learned about how/why Jessica does circling work the way she does. It's helpful to have had the same trainer with all of our horses, because we can work any one of them the same way. After trying on a few saddles, Jessica decided Jay's brown Aussie fit her the best, so we tacked her up and L.E. did more work with her.
It didn't take long for Jessica to decide it was time to mount up. L.E. was a bit nervous because it has been about eight years since she was on a horse. I can certainly understand her apprehension. It's hard to climb back up on a horse if you haven't been on one in a while.
Even though the saddle is way too big for L.E.'s little rear end, she did really well. Pearl was perfect and L.E.'s grin was infectious. She's pretty in love with Pearl about now.
At the end of the lesson, L.E. wanted to make sure Jay got up on her while Jessica was there. They lengthened the stirrups and Jay started to mount up. The step-stool/mounting block was a bit far away, but not too far away. It was just far enough that he had to reach a bit to mount. He dragged his foot across her butt, which was no big deal, but then got his leg caught on the cantle, which causes a bit of worry. By the time he got his butt in the saddle it was too late, she was well and truly worried and set to bucking. Jay managed to ride out a little buck and then she let loose with a big buck and off he came.
Luckily, we were out in the middle of the field, so there wasn't much to hit on the way down. His years of TKD training as a kid paid off and he managed to tuck and roll before going splat. Pearl has never offered a buck - ever - so Jessica was stunned.
She asked me to climb up on her, as we assumed it was just too much for her with the foot dragging across the butt and the getting hung up on the cantle and the general awkwardness of the mount. We started off just like she was a new colt: foot in the stirrup, add weight, get down; foot in the stirrup, add weight, lean over, get down; rinse, repeat. She was calm and taking it easy, so I threw my leg over and plopped down to simulate an uncoordinated mount. Pearl took offense to that and off I went. I landed stuntman-perfectly - flat on my back. The only thing missing was the crash pad. The air whooshed out of me and I had a moment of panic before I rolled over to my hands and knees to attempt to catch my breath.
As much as it hurts to admit it, it was good for me to get bucked off. It's been a while (about ten years or so) and I'd let it build up to be some horrible, horrible thing. But it's not. I hit the ground, which hurt like a mofo, but I managed to get back up, which reminded me that I just lived through what I'd built up in my mind to be the worst thing that could happen on a green horse.
There were things I could have/should have done differently, but I'm not sure it would have changed the outcome, so it's not worth entertaining the "what ifs".
Jessica told us that she would not have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, up close and personal. Hell, I wouldn't have believe it, either. We discussed what happened, but couldn't really come up with a good reason. Jessica climbed back up on her and rode a circle without a problem, then she changed to her own saddle, which she's more comfortable in, and rode around some more. Pearl was an angel.
After a couple of days of thinking on it, I have a hypothesis. Jay's saddle has a channel down the middle, with pads on either side. Neither Jessica nor L.E. are heavy enough to compress those pads. However, Jay is. My thought is that when he finally got into the saddle, those pads compressed (bulged) inward toward her spine and "bit" her. Pain will definitely cause bucking in a horse who's never offered one.
While, I'm not as heavy as Jay, I've got fifty pound on both Jessica and L.E. When I plopped down into the saddle, I also "bit" her on the spine and she said "ouch". If I'd eased into my mount properly, she might not have bucked, because the compression of the pads wouldn't have been so sudden and ouchie. We might have had problems later, at a trot, if I'd missed a post or inadvertently slammed down on her back.
Both of us are sore as all get-out and Jay has some amazing bruises, but we lived through it and now we know that his saddle is not one that we should use with Pearl (and we both should lose some weight).
We hobbled through getting the horses put away and had to get pretty for family pictures later in the afternoon. We both knew it was going to suck and it did, but we managed to smile, not grimace, through the pics.
I had no sooner crawled into bed after an eventful (and painful) day when there was a knock on the front door. Jay was in the living room and yelled out, "babe! Someone's at the door." To which I reminded him I was nekkie and in bed, so he pulled on some britches to answer the door. It was one of our neighbors to tell us that the horses were out.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!" I grumbled as I pulled on some clothes to join them outside. Turns out, it wasn't our horses who were out, but the across-the-street neighbor's horses. Since Jay and I horse-sit for them when they're on vacation, her horses associate us with food. They allowed us to catch them while they were grazing in our yard and let us lead them back to their paddock.
It was reminiscent of the livery's break-outs, but much, much easier to handle, thank God. I don't think I could have dealt with one of those scenes.
Jessica came out on Sunday for our first lesson with Pearl. We'd not done much other than just let her settle in and give her some loves, so Sunday was her first work day. Jay and I have both worked with Jessica, so we had L.E. do the groundwork lesson. It's overwhelming, because Jessica knows so much and when you're trying to learn it, it's like drinking from a fire hose.
Pearl was a bit worried that we'd taken her away from Skeeter and Copper, so we brought them over and tied them to the trailer. She calmed down immediately with her "support crew" near. It was good for Skeets and Copper to stand tied at the trailer for an hour, as well.
L.E. learned about how/why Jessica does circling work the way she does. It's helpful to have had the same trainer with all of our horses, because we can work any one of them the same way. After trying on a few saddles, Jessica decided Jay's brown Aussie fit her the best, so we tacked her up and L.E. did more work with her.
It didn't take long for Jessica to decide it was time to mount up. L.E. was a bit nervous because it has been about eight years since she was on a horse. I can certainly understand her apprehension. It's hard to climb back up on a horse if you haven't been on one in a while.
Even though the saddle is way too big for L.E.'s little rear end, she did really well. Pearl was perfect and L.E.'s grin was infectious. She's pretty in love with Pearl about now.
At the end of the lesson, L.E. wanted to make sure Jay got up on her while Jessica was there. They lengthened the stirrups and Jay started to mount up. The step-stool/mounting block was a bit far away, but not too far away. It was just far enough that he had to reach a bit to mount. He dragged his foot across her butt, which was no big deal, but then got his leg caught on the cantle, which causes a bit of worry. By the time he got his butt in the saddle it was too late, she was well and truly worried and set to bucking. Jay managed to ride out a little buck and then she let loose with a big buck and off he came.
Luckily, we were out in the middle of the field, so there wasn't much to hit on the way down. His years of TKD training as a kid paid off and he managed to tuck and roll before going splat. Pearl has never offered a buck - ever - so Jessica was stunned.
She asked me to climb up on her, as we assumed it was just too much for her with the foot dragging across the butt and the getting hung up on the cantle and the general awkwardness of the mount. We started off just like she was a new colt: foot in the stirrup, add weight, get down; foot in the stirrup, add weight, lean over, get down; rinse, repeat. She was calm and taking it easy, so I threw my leg over and plopped down to simulate an uncoordinated mount. Pearl took offense to that and off I went. I landed stuntman-perfectly - flat on my back. The only thing missing was the crash pad. The air whooshed out of me and I had a moment of panic before I rolled over to my hands and knees to attempt to catch my breath.
As much as it hurts to admit it, it was good for me to get bucked off. It's been a while (about ten years or so) and I'd let it build up to be some horrible, horrible thing. But it's not. I hit the ground, which hurt like a mofo, but I managed to get back up, which reminded me that I just lived through what I'd built up in my mind to be the worst thing that could happen on a green horse.
There were things I could have/should have done differently, but I'm not sure it would have changed the outcome, so it's not worth entertaining the "what ifs".
Jessica told us that she would not have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes, up close and personal. Hell, I wouldn't have believe it, either. We discussed what happened, but couldn't really come up with a good reason. Jessica climbed back up on her and rode a circle without a problem, then she changed to her own saddle, which she's more comfortable in, and rode around some more. Pearl was an angel.
After a couple of days of thinking on it, I have a hypothesis. Jay's saddle has a channel down the middle, with pads on either side. Neither Jessica nor L.E. are heavy enough to compress those pads. However, Jay is. My thought is that when he finally got into the saddle, those pads compressed (bulged) inward toward her spine and "bit" her. Pain will definitely cause bucking in a horse who's never offered one.
While, I'm not as heavy as Jay, I've got fifty pound on both Jessica and L.E. When I plopped down into the saddle, I also "bit" her on the spine and she said "ouch". If I'd eased into my mount properly, she might not have bucked, because the compression of the pads wouldn't have been so sudden and ouchie. We might have had problems later, at a trot, if I'd missed a post or inadvertently slammed down on her back.
Both of us are sore as all get-out and Jay has some amazing bruises, but we lived through it and now we know that his saddle is not one that we should use with Pearl (and we both should lose some weight).
We hobbled through getting the horses put away and had to get pretty for family pictures later in the afternoon. We both knew it was going to suck and it did, but we managed to smile, not grimace, through the pics.
I had no sooner crawled into bed after an eventful (and painful) day when there was a knock on the front door. Jay was in the living room and yelled out, "babe! Someone's at the door." To which I reminded him I was nekkie and in bed, so he pulled on some britches to answer the door. It was one of our neighbors to tell us that the horses were out.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!" I grumbled as I pulled on some clothes to join them outside. Turns out, it wasn't our horses who were out, but the across-the-street neighbor's horses. Since Jay and I horse-sit for them when they're on vacation, her horses associate us with food. They allowed us to catch them while they were grazing in our yard and let us lead them back to their paddock.
It was reminiscent of the livery's break-outs, but much, much easier to handle, thank God. I don't think I could have dealt with one of those scenes.
