camping

Well, I'm finally going to do it. I'm going camping with some friends and we're all our horses. They've all been before. However, you guessed it, I haven't taken a horse before. I'm excited but a little nervous at the same time. I'm excited because we're camping in a national forest. I'm excited to ride the trails and see beautiful scenery. But I'm a little nervous because Rocky can get a little excited when he gets around horses he doesn't know. He's not horribly bad, it's just enough to make me nervous. So I'm getting a good nights sleep tonight, psyching myself up for this. I have to look at this as an adventure for both me and Rocky. He needs to be socialized more and I have to calm down. If he senses I'm nervous he'll for sure act up. So for now, please pray for calmness in us both. I sooooo need this weekend! I'll let y'all know how it goes!

owner guilt

Have you ever had the case of "owner guilt"? Whether you have a dog, cat, monkey or horse. Have you ever felt guilty that you didn't have time to spend on that pet?

Even though Rocky is not considered a pet, I find that I have extreme owner guilt when I can't tend to him more than 2 times per week. Again, Rocky is not a pet, however, he does act like a child when I don't give him enough attention. If I don't put him under the saddle at least once per week, he tends to throw a fit when I try to ride him away from the pasture. Especially, if we ride alone.

Now that I'm back to work for the school year, I am overly busy. I'm serving on 3 committees, serve as Team Leader and as a Mentor. Besides work, I have 2 kids to keep track of, one of who plays school sports. Ugh... I would give anything to have a 4 day work week so that I have the option to ride a third day. Some weekends, I find that I'd rather go to a yard sale rather than ride. Mind you, the horses are boarded 25 minutes away. So it's not exactly convenient. However, the extra effort I do put in to being with Rocky is worth it. I feel he's the cheapest therapy around. Even though he may test my riding ability, he listens to me when I talk and he doesn't talk back! When we have a good ride, even with hitting a tree limb or two, it's the best feeling in the world.

So, my owner guilt seems to be something I'm laying on myself. Not something Rocky is doing to me. He doesn't know the difference. Even if it's been 2 weeks since I've seen him, when I call his name, he still looks up. (We're working on the actual running to me when I call.)

rain is a good thing

Wow! So we've made it through an evening of thunderstorms. And they were ugly for sure.

However, the thunderstorms matched what I was feeling yesterday. A friend and I we were to meet a group of friends to go camping and horseback riding in the local national forest. It would be my first time riding there. Because of another obligation, I wasn't able to join them on Friday and camp the 3 days. Luckily another friend was willing to pack up and trailer me and my horse to the campsite. We were going to camp Saturday night and ride Sunday. We were so looking forward to going! Until the clouds came rolling in. We had packed each of our vehicles and headed to our respective barns. The closer we got the more dark the clouds became. And then the heavens opened up. Ughh... Should we still go? It was another 30 minutes drive east. This time of year, we could be rainy and the forest wouldn't be getting anything. And of course the campsite is remote enough that calling our friend's was not an option. So I decided to 411 and call the stables set up near the forest. Sure enough, the guy answering said that it's down pouring and that they'd had an inch in the last hour alone! I also called my friend Davy, the farrier, knowing that he lived in that area. And yes, it was a mess out there, he said. So we did the only sensible thing, we went out to dinner and ate a fish fry.

Although the food and company was good, my mood became more sour as the night went on. Even knowing that the campsite and trails would be a muddy mess, I still couldn't help but think I was missing out on something. And then when the rain decided to stop by midnight, I became even more sour. Never mind the fact today's (Sunday) forecast is 60% chance of storms again.

So here I sit at my computer, writing this blog about my equine woes of not being able to ride at all this weekend. Sure, the sun is out now and it's becoming disgustingly hot at 9 in the morning. But I can't help but have that restless feeling of wanting to get out and ride with friends. Especially while I'm having a childless weekend.

Instead, I think I'll take my dog for a good long walk, enjoying the sunny, hot weather while I can. And I will also contemplate at least driving out to the campsite, just to see what's happening with my friends. I have to see how they weathered the storms. And I have to see at least part of this forest they're all raving about.

In the mean time, Rocky will have a weekend of leisure; grazing on new, green grass the rain has supplied.

Rocky

Since I've been on summer break, I've had a lot of time reflect. I'm currently in my younger 40's (eh-hem, didn't you know it's not polite to ask a woman her real age?) and can't believe I'm a horse owner! Not only do I own him but I actually ride! I never grew up with horses. They never interested me. Not until I found myself divorced, in a new career, raising my two kids and reinventing myself, that I found the equine world.

When I moved to my current state, I decided I missed not working for a farm. So I signed on to run a vegetable stand, while my son helped drive the hay truck and my daughter helped muck stalls. Inevitably, she started taking riding lessons. Which in turn, I had to try it out.

My first experience was NOT pretty. They had me sit bare back...I of course shrieked as soon as the horse moved a muscle. Three years later, I'm a proud owner of a retired thoroughbred named Rocky. This blog will be devoted to Rocky and my relationship with him. Relationship you say? People have relationships with horses? I have found out that, yes, people and horses can have relationships. Horses have personalities as individual as we humans. I have found that unless you and your horse "click", horseback riding is not fun at all. So this blog will document the ins and outs of horse ownership and the late in life realizations one might have during this ownership.

Owning a horse is much like raising children, there's never a dull moment.

Stay tuned!