Some random conversation

Almost every day at work something at least mildly interesting happens. Today it came in the form of several Mexican dudes who knew VERY little English (but they knew more English that I do Mexican, so go figure). The guy who ordered from my register was trying to flirt, but seeing as how he was at least 20 years older than me and I couldn't understand a word he was saying, it didn't go very well in his favor. Instead, it went something like this:

Random Mexican dude: *babbles in Mexican*
Me: Uh... *tries to look attentive and cover incomprehension*
Random Mexican dude: *points at chicken strip sign* Pollo? Yo comprendo?
Me: Uh...no?*shakes head and shrugs in more confusion*
Random Mexican dude: Aw, come on! *continues babbling in Mexican*
Me: *takes his order somehow through the confusion*
Later...
Random Mexican dude: *pauses before leaving and points at Olympics on TV screen while saying something about Brazil*
Me: Uh...sure, I dunno.
Random Mexican dude: Haha, see you later baby! *waves and leaves*

I'm pretty sure those were the only things he knew how to say in English. I think I should probably learn rudimentary Spanish/Mexican at some point, though, just to keep from total confusion again. I USED to know a tiny bit...maybe I could borrow my brother's Rosetta Stone program. Or get my sister-in-law to teach me some stuff. >:D Hear that, Lydi?

Road Riding, Horse Showing...

Yesterday I rode about 5 miles south of town, and today I went to an open horse show for the fun of it and entered 3 classes.

Let's just say that Colletta is better suited to endurance riding than loping at a walking pace. <.< >.>

But first, yesterday's ride! It was in the 70s yesterday, cloudy, with a nice breeze, so it was a perfect riding day. The only bad thing that could have turned out worse was when I forgot to tighten the saddle girth for the second time (I usually tighten the girth once, put the bridle on, and tighten it a second time before riding off)... 

See, I had been riding for about 10 minutes at a walking/trotting pace. Then, a little ways south of town I decided to lope for a while in the grass next to the road. We made it about 100 feet before I started sliding to the right...and didn't stop...and didn't stop....and--well, you get the idea. I managed to get Colletta stopped before I completely fell off, and when she stood still the only thing still on her back was the girth and my left leg. It was awkward.

The best part is that Colletta couldn't have cared less that a saddle was attacking her belly and stood calmly eating ditch grass while I took the saddle off and put it on properly. I've only ever seen horses have a complete melt-down in that situation, so I was pretty impressed.

So after fixing the saddle, we continued on and picked up a farm dog for a while...it followed us for about half a mile, anyway. I think it was excited to have someone to explore with or something. After the dog there were cattle...LOTS of cattle. Lots of very noisy cattle. I'd say there were about 200 all strung out across a pasture, mooing and staring and carrying on. A couple came galloping over, bucking and sending saliva flying (cows are slobbery creatures) as if they were going to chase us off. Or check us out. Or something. They were just nosy. Colletta couldn't have cared less (again). I think she rather likes cattle, to a degree.

After the cattle we passed some pastures with horses and came home on Main Street. At the last pasture of horses--this was about a block from home, with horses that belonged to some people we know--I let the horse stop and touch noses through the fence. I'm not sure if she was posturing or what, but she decided to do a Fell Beast impersonation and bellow/stomp her feet a couple of times. The other horses were chill about it...so maybe they were having a conversation? I don't know. It was bizarre. 

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So that was yesterday. Today at the horse show I entered a walk/trot class (which is exactly what it sounds like), open Western pleasure (walk, trot, canter), and trot poles. 

Let's just say that after working on speed and endurance for ages, it doesn't make much sense to enter a class where one is judged on how low the head is and how slowly one can walk/trot/lope. Colletta was passing EVERYBODY. *headdesk* And she couldn't lope with her head low to save her life...so it was a fail in that respect. I would have gotten 2nd in trot poles if she hadn't gotten excited and loped for two strides at one point...ah well. 

There probably won't be a next time, because I was reminded why I'm so jaded about horse showing in general (mostly because of the impracticality of the gaits and the 'win at any cost' mentality a lot of people have. It gets scary, man...). I'll stick with endurance riding, thanks.

And I'll relish the knowledge that my horse will stop and be totally cool with having a saddle-tumor on her belly, while most horses would have a complete meltdown. >:D

This is what happens.....

...when I get some semblance of a schedule. These days I:

~Get up and ride (if it's not too hot)

~Clean a house

~Go to work

~Eat supper

~Work on school

~Listen to a couple sermons while internetting

~Collapse around 11:30 PM

~Rinse and repeat

'School' has been consisting of a couple hours nightly of reading and transcribing (either clips of medical dictation or sermons--the latter are my somewhat guilty pleasure because I feel like I should be doing 'medical' stuff but I prefer sermons. Especially Mark Driscoll. I love that guy.). 

It's horribly dry here. Every day is around 100F, it feels like an oven outside, and we haven't had substantial rain in weeks. I wish the Floridians would send us some rain. *looks south expectantly*

I'm working 6 days a week now. I'm not complaining, but I wish it would cool off and I'd have a day off to do some long rides--that is, more than 3-5 miles and farther than just around town or the lake. It gets boring to go the same places every stinkin' time I saddle up, but only have an hour or two to ride cramps my distance yearnings. And the horse gets all antsy because she knows where everything is in town and when she can start fussing to go back home. Sigh. 

On a side note, I might or might not be in a horse show on Sunday. It's an open event, just for fun, but if it's bearable outside I'll probably head over just for the heck of it.

On another side note, less than 5 months until The Hobbit comes out! I've been following the production videos like the rabid fan I am, and each one that comes out provokes more squealing and spazzing. I was actually jumping up and down while talking about it at work. :3

It's getting late-ish. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to talk about within the next week or so. If not....meh. I'll MAKE something interesting.

Wanderlust

I get nostalgic and lean towards wanderlust when hearing songs like this:

(For the uninitiated: Simon and Garfunkel rock. The end.)

There comes a time when I dream a bit too. I want to travel...not forever, but for a while. And my preferred mode of transportation would be (wait for it) horseback. Yes, it would be hard. Yes, it'd take a long time. Yes, I'm a single young woman and traveling alone, especially with a large, (mostly) unpredictable animal, increases the odds for injury or attack/assault exponentially. 

Do you know what I mean? There's something terribly romantic about riding through a state, or a country, or across the world with nothing except your meager possessions and loyal steed to see you through. But when reading about survival techniques, or how to camp with horses, or what equipment to take, the restlessness begins to flicker.

At this point a trip like that would be impossible. I have too many current responsibilities and a distinct lack of knowledge (though that's being remedied slowly but surely). And there's a tiny little voice that says not yet. 

If/when I get married, maybe he'll want to do something wild and crazy like that with me. 

(I say the 'if' because my chances are very, VERY slim around here, and the 'when' because I would love to be so someday and that desire has most likely not been planted only to be withheld for life. But who knows.)

Maybe his NOT thinking that I'm completely bonkers in that respect will be a good indicator that it's 'meant to be'. 

But I'm not pinning my hopes on that. Should 'he' not come around for a long time, there's still plans to make and things to do and life to be lived. Agreed?

"I'm so tired of being alone

So hurry up and get here

So tired of being alone

So hurry up and get here...." 

Moar Saddles

But no pictures, because they're still on my camera and waiting to be edited.

I cleaned and oiled the two old saddles in preparation for selling them--I'm going to try Craigslist and the local paper for about a month, and if that doesn't work I have someone who will take them to a market-type thing for me. If I get a hundred bucks for both I'll be happy, though. The oldest one is in good shape but the leather is crackled from much use, and the newer one is for a narrow horse. Here's to success!

Riding has been strongly attempted over the past few days, but having no time in the mornings equals trying to fit it in at night, and it's dang HOT out there. I only rode for about half an hour yesterday and it was so breathless outside that I went home instead of trying to go around the lake (it's about 3 miles starting from my house, going around the lake, and coming back home with some great hills along the way). On the way home we grazed for a few minutes across the fence from a bull. It was pretty funny watching him and Colletta touch noses and go back to eating.

I'm still loving my saddle, but it still kills my left knee if I go for any longer than 30-45 minutes. I'm debating whether I should invest in some stirrup swivels or not...I've heard that they help with knee problems while riding. Or I could get a rhythm of 30 minutes riding, 10 minutes walking and see how that works...I dunno. At this point it's just aggravating. I'm going to ask the farrier when he comes to trim the horse this week.

Speaking of trimming, the horse hasn't had shoes in years. I'm alternately pleased (because she has the feet to go without shoes, and thus it's much less expensive) and concerned (because I don't know how well she would do barefoot on LONG rides). I suppose that's another thing to ask the farrier. 

And on a completely different note, both of my brothers are leaving (one for China to teach English for a year, one for college 5 hours away) within a month. I guess I'll find out what it's like to be a single child...or is that a single adult who just happens to live at home? I dunno. 

I leave you with this quote:

“Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.”--Margaret Atwood

Necessity

It's the mother of invention, yo.

Just thought I'd let ya'll know.

Anyway. I found today after talking to a friend of mine that the stirrups on the new saddle are rather dangerous, being metal without any grip. They don't keep the feet from slipping forward and make it harder to sit properly. (That's why my feet were slipping around so much yesterday--it wasn't all leg position after all!) 

After poking around a bit online I found that metal stirrups are commonly sold with either rubber grips (these 'clip' on through the slats in the stirrup) or suede grips (these wrap around and are secured with velcro). 

Suede:

Rubber:

Since I'm cheap and impatient, I decided to make my own.

Originally the idea was to make the suede/velcro version. But I cleaned out my box of leather scraps recently, and I don't remember what I did with the leather, and my velcro has been missing for a while. So instead, I took a pair of old work gloves (with permission) and whipped out an impromptu pair of stirrup grips.

I think they turned out rather well too!

The little X of thread is around the slats in the bottom, to keep the pad from shifting while riding. I really like how it's still padded (there's 2 layers of leather)--it just feels nicer than a single flap of leather.

And the not-so-pretty bottom...eh, it works. I figure that these will work until I can get/make some better ones that actually, y'know, match the saddle. 

I've become rather vain about tack matching now. Having a nice saddle does that, I guess...

Crikey! She's a beaut!

(Warning: Picture-heavy post ahead)

My saddle came! Finally! *gleeful spazzing*

So story-time: I've been watching this thing via its tracking number, and might have worked myself in a slight froth as it sat all day yesterday 3 hours away. Then it came this morning, right after I got home from cleaning a house, when there wasn't enough time to do anything more than get it out of the box and spazz for a bit. THEN, it poured and stormed all afternoon and didn't clear off until about 7 PM. Hence, it's been a long day of waiting...but no more!

It fits Colletta perfectly, for which I'm very glad. The weirdest part is that the cantle (the back part, for you non-horse-people) is much higher than it was for my old saddle, so it's taking some getting used to. There's been a few times of catching the knee on the way up or down. 

It came with a neoprene girth and a wool saddle pad. I'm not sure how I feel about the girth yet, because it seems to slip a bit. That may be because it doesn't seem to need to be tightened quite that much. 

The stirrups seem extraordinarily heavy while tacking up, but when my feet are in them they feel incredibly light. Part of that is the thinner stirrup leathers...but it's wonderful as long as my feet don't slip forward too far.

The stirrups also hook to the saddle, rather than unbuckle:

It seemed a bit odd at first, but it makes sense after ya think about it: English saddles need to have their stirrups 'run up' so they don't bang and clank around on the horses' sides as they're being tacked up or untacked. With these, the entire stirrup can just be taken off while the saddle is put on, girth tightened, etc and then hooked back on once everything is ready. It's brilliant!

As far as the rest of the saddle: it's absolutely gorgeous. The leather has little designs stamped in it, and there's a plethora of brass rings/hardware that have horseshoe or rose designs carved in them.

One of the things I'm really excited about is all the rings and hooks. I'd like to do some real long-distance rides soon, and it's nice to know that I can just clip on bags and the like without having to rely on saddle strings.

Strings aren't that practical. Just take it from me.

I think these are breast-plate hooks. But I could be mistaken.

And now, for my riding review!

I made the mistake of initially going out to ride in shorts. Yes, I know that's a bad idea, but I was excited and wanted to get out of the house quickly. After saddling up and riding around the barn lot for a few minutes I decided to head outside the pen. Colletta did great--I actually think she was moving with larger steps and a more open gait than she normally does. 

The stirrup leathers started pinching my calves almost immediately. I broke down and changed into some jeans, but they still pinched a bit. I think the problem was that the stirrups were too long, because the bottom of the saddle flap kept catching the top of my boot as well (I wear typical cowboy boots when I ride that come a little over halfway up the calf). So I adjusted the stirrups, and the pinching decreased but was still there a little bit. Some tall socks or chaps may be in order...in the meantime I'm waiting for the bruises to heal. O.e

The saddle itself rides like a dream--the seat is beautifully deep and soft (the leather is buttery to the touch, and the lack of a wooden tree makes for a very cushy seat), and the knee rolls encourage a deep seat. When I lope the horse in a Western saddle, I have to concentrate to make sure I don't flop around and/or pull my legs so tight that my feet come out of the stirrups. When I loped the horse tonight, I couldn't have bounced if I wanted to. My feet still have a tendency to slide forward or out of the stirrups, but that's my own darned legs to blame.

(Wow. That sounds like I have a horrible seat. I really don't...but I have to make a conscious effort to keep a good seat at the lope or gallop. That's the difference, I guess.)

I only rode for about 20 minutes tonight. As the weekend progresses I'm hoping to take Colletta for some harder, longer rides just to see what she and I can handle. The biggest test will be riding for a couple of hours and seeing how my legs fare...here's to sparing the knees!

(On a random note, I rode the horse down to work yesterday to pick up my check. My co-workers spent most of their time gawking out the drive-through window...it was pretty hilarious.)

(On another random note, the Bandanna Guy keeps coming back in at work. Fortunately he just asks what was discussed in Bible study and refrains from asking me out anymore.)

Quick Question:

Who has been reading the old mopey posts? (as in, ones written 3-4 months ago) I have a little statistic thing on my blogging homepage that lets me know pageviews and what posts have been read the most in the past few days. And for the past week several of my old posts have been getting a lot of traffic.

I'm not upset or anything. I'm just curious as to who is reading them, because I don't get any comments (I have a couple faithful commenters, but that's it) but a lot of pageviews. So...who is it? If you don't want to comment here feel free to email me at shadowfax.red@gmail.com. I'd really like to know.

Okay. That's it, I'm just being curious and poking around. Carry on!

A brief post...

1. I broke down and bought the saddle I wanted:

Isn't it gorgeous? And it comes with a Neoprene girth (Neoprene being a spongy-rubber that is super easy to clean and breathes nicely) and it was on clearance with a free saddle pad and GAH. It ships tomorrow. I'm so exicted.

2. The hot weather has finally broken. Yesterday while running errands it was 115F. Today it might have hit 85F. Again, super-excited because it means I can step outside without being driven gasping to my knees. 

3. We had some friends come over after church today, and originally it was just so they could return a book. Then they ended up staying for lunch. Then we got to talking about a ton of different stuff and starting fires with charcloth and they didn't end up leaving until 4 PM. We all enjoy each other's company so much that we usually end up 'kidnapping' them for several hours. (Technically they stay of their own volition. But still.) It were awesome. 

4. I started listening to a sermon series on Luke yesterday, and man is it interesting. Here 'tis, for those who may be interested: http://marshill.com/media/luke At first I thought it might be a bit boring...but there is a lot of stuff that I didn't know about Luke. And it's a 3-year series...so I have a lot to look forward to. *glee*

Seeing as how Luke was a Gentile and the book was written to a man named Theophilus to inform the latter (who was probably a new, somewhat skeptical convert) of the doings of the man named Jesus, and said book was highly researched by a trip to Israel and the places that it talks about, I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the series. I love hearing about the historical background and cultural surroundings of the books of the Bible, and I love learning apologetics and how to apply them. 

Mark Driscoll, the pastor giving the series, makes a good point about how there's a lot of people these days who look at the Bible and instantly dismiss it without even taking the time to research it and make sure the things it records really happened...and then there's also people who look at the Bible and instantly accept it without taking the time to research it. So, I guess this is my attempt to 'Test all things; hold fast to that which is good'.

5. I was going to go ride, but I feel kinda crappy. So instead I'm tempted to take the guitar outside and noodle around to keep the horse company. I wish my saddle was here already....

Saddle Musings

For the non-horse-people that read my stuff....what follows may not make much sense. Consider yourself warned.

So for the past *counts on fingers* ten or twelve years, I've had the same saddle for the horse. There's really nothing WRONG with it...it's just old and the more I look into saddle fitting, endurance/trail riding and the like, the more I realize that it really doesn't fit either the horse or me. 

(I got this shiny new book to help me with all of the above; doesn't it look authoritative and amazing? *glee*)

 

(I can vouch that yes, it IS authoritative and amazing and 320 pages of usefulness. It's been a fabulous investment.)

For example: the left fender (that piece that holds up the stirrup) has a slight tork to it that twists my leg ever so slightly. For anything less than an hour, I'm fine. But riding for an hour or more makes my knee absolutely scream.

It also has poor contact with the horse's back. See, ideally a saddle should have even pressure over the back and not rub, pinch, gall, etc. The saddle I own has a tendency to leave dry patches the size of my palm on either side of the withers; according to a bit of research that means it has excess pressure and is actually shutting down the sweat glands. 

What it all comes down to is: I want a new saddle. :p

Originally I was leaning towards endurance (for lightness), but the more I look around the more I think I'd prefer an Aussie saddle. For the uninitiated, an Aussie saddle looks like this:

The knee pads and deep saddle ensure a nice, deep seat (useful for cattle herding and going up and down steep terrain, from what I've read). We used to have an Aussie when I was much younger...but at that point we had a brat of a gelding named Woody that destroyed it. I was very sad when that happened.

Anyway. I've been drooling over saddles for the past week and deciding if/when to take the plunge. I'm leaning towards the one pictured here (the 'Kimberly Superior), with the thought that I don't want to have to buy another saddle for decades, ideally for the rest of my life. That may be wishful thinking, but what's an $800 saddle if it lasts me for the next 50 years?

But before that...the other two saddles have to go. I've ordered neatsfoot oil to give them a good drink--their leather is so dry. I didn't really notice until today what poor shape the leather is in. I mean, I soap and clean them a couple times a year, but have never oiled them. The soap dries the leather out a little bit each cleaning, and they're showing the lack of upkeep. The weird part is, I've never oiled a saddle and am so excited at the prospect of doing so that I have to force myself not to go outside and wash both saddles until I get the oil. Is that strange?

So the other two must be sold. The money from those goes towards a new saddle, and everyone's happy. And I'll be able to start long-distance riding in earnest, without killing my knees and the horse's sweat glands in the process. XD

The Quintessential Colletta Expression

I've taken to listening to Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler in the evenings while I draw. This is mostly because listening to the same music over and over again gets kind of boring and I have a tendency to skip songs I don't like, thus breaking the creative concentration.

So roughly ten sermons later (in retrospect, more like twelve), I finally finished that drawing of the horse. See? See?

I've always said that I wanted to have a portrait of the horse, and hopefully this will be one that I'm proud of and won't want to re-do in a couple of years. (Though you never know about that last bit.)

I also realize that I've never given much history of the horse...let's just say that my oldest brother bought her at age 2 while he was in the 'Amish' phase of his life, I bought her from him after he lost interest, and after many fights and tears and coercing and trying different training methods (this was all on my part--the horse would just put her ears back and get all stubborn on me) both she and I have turned out to be pretty good partners. There was a time, though...SO many tears and frustrations.

But now I know a bit more in the way of 'training', she's mellowed a LOT, I've gotten better at riding and applying what I've read, and we've both figured out that trail or endurance riding would be the way to go. She's well-suited to it (as am I--I'm really not competitive and am pretty disgusted with the world of showing), and after I get a new saddle we should be able to start in earnest. The current saddle twists my legs and I can't ride more than an hour without my knees screaming in pain...I can't wait.

So anyway. There's the horse and her weird face. Hope ya enjoy it. XD

Work in Progress

For the past week or so I've been working nightly on a colored pencil drawing of the horse...I've been lax in drawing much of anything lately, and this is an opportunity to do something I've said for years that I'd do. 

This is a bit lighter than it is in real life, mostly because I have a glaring desk lamp that makes reflections on the layer after layer after layer of colored pencils. And this is after about 6 hours of work. I may be slightly terrified of rushing this and coming up with something shoddy. <.< >.>

I've said for years that I'd do a portrait of the horse--and here it's coming to fruition!

What helps me keep it slow and steady is listening to sermons online...particularly Matt Chandler and Mark Driscoll. For the latter there's tons and tons of sermon series online and last night I started on this one.

It helps to pound the things of Jesus into my mind, one steady information-dense sermon at a time. :D

Have a lovely,

~Molly

An Early Birthday Present

A VERY early one at that. *peers off at October*

For the uninformed, I've been noodling around on guitar for a couple of years. I picked it up ages ago, learned a handful of chords, lost interest, and picked it up again a few months ago. This time, I CAN'T lose interest because (1) my brother is going to college and I'm going to have to start playing rhythm guitar for church, and (2) my brother is going to college and I need to learn as much guitar from him as I possibly can in the next 6 weeks. O.o

So can you guess what my present is?

Ta-daaa! Isn't she purty? The top is spruce, with rosewood for the fretboard, sides, back, and head. And it plays like a dream. 

Mom and Dad got it in Georgia during their drive back from Florida a few weeks ago. And the reason I got it now instead of later is twofold: since mein brochters are leaving in 4-6 weeks, we all won't be together to celebrate our respective birthdays. So we all 'celebrated' last week.

And I don't think my dad could have handled waiting another 3 months to actually give it to me. ;)

I love how the sides have a glossy finish, and the neck has a matte-style finish.

So yes. There's the big birthday present...I've been playing quite a bit lately because of it. *holds up aching fingers*

(The next birthday present to me from me will hopefully be a saddle. An Aussie saddle. Because they're stinkin cool.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And here's a picture from yesterday while grazing the horse. I liked the sunflare. XD

Concerning the last post, I've decided that this quote explains what I have to do rather well:

"Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held up in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.

The Hobbit, 'Riddles in the Dark'

Bilbo is my hero. Just sayin'.