Tag: improvements

A Good Day!

See, I knew things would turn around if I was patient. Today was a normal day with plusses and minuses, but the positive things have helped me feel on a more even keel. When I’m more centered, challenges are easier to handle. You betcha.

I had a bloomin’ productive day

First off, I needed to go check on Apache’s eye. Of course the horses were as far across the pasture as they could get, but that got me more exercise. Win! (Also hooray that I finally have energy after the Covid slump.)

Of course we’re far away. It’s where the burs are.

I was happy to see the eye looking so much better. Drew was happy that I set the fly mask down so he could mess with it while I wiped Apache’s eye. That boy is so full of mischief and fun.

Better. I cleaned it.
Where did you hide that fly mask?

It was a good start to the day to hug all the horse buddies, Then I listened to birds, as usual. And worked. (Why am I telling you my whole day? To show it was so much better.)

Dusty is a good listener. He’d read about my whole day if he could.

Then came a miracle! Someone finally came to fix the Direct TV antenna/dish thing! He was nice, competent, and fun. Lee even liked him. This came just in time, since I was totally out of bandwidth on my satellite internet, which kills streaming.

I have to be able to watch my precious football. It’s my not-so-secret vice.

The “fun” continued and I made vet phone calls. We’re working with Dr Brinlee on adjusting Apache’s medication. It is on the right track. And I called Goldie’s vet to straighten out the bill, which I did with no yelling. Hooray again.

Look at my long leg! It’s getting strong.

Lunch was a nice break after phone calls. I’m the head phone caller in the house and I sure am weary of it these days. Anyway, friends and taco salad were a great respite.

An AI image of a happy taco salad

Back at home I enjoyed a welcome sight. I went out to the front porch and all the dogs came out with me. Yes, even Goldie. She’s getting the hang of smooth upward and downward transitions. She needs a lot of petting, but she is healing well physically.

Penney had run to the fence
All the house dogs!

She even went out and watched as Seneca the motorhome got worked on. It’s heartwarming to see her hanging out with her best buddy.

Supervising under the RV shelter.

More on Seneca tomorrow. We get to go camping again this weekend! All animal medications are under control, we think. Things should be fine.

Ooh! Final good thing. I looked on the Viasat page where I’d had to buy more high-speed data, and lo and behold, there was now an unlimited plan I could use. It’s only $20/month more. I snapped that up immediately and now I can get my work done. It was painfully slow this morning. I’m sure glad I checked to see if I had options. I feel a little less clueless about all these modern necessities at the moment, with the phones, the television, and the internet connectivity all fixed. I did it all myself!

Ooh. My best AI picture yet. It’s internet connectivity!

Next: jury duty, vaccinations, and getting the car serviced. It’s always something.

It Always Helps…

…to have someone supportive confirm that your instincts are not off and you can do things you need to do, with the right tools.

I’m not talking about my new yarn spindle, though it’s a nice tool.

Today Tarrin came here to do the horse lessons, which was very helpful, even though I’d managed to write the time wrong on my calendar. I need a personal assistant!

I’d been wandering around looking at the heron and not realizing I needed to groom horses.

Since I got Drew to come with me easily, he went first. I got some really helpful input on not pushing myself to trot and trot if he isn’t in one of his good frames of mind. I feel so much better practicing on straightening him out at a walk. I do wish I’d gotten pictures of him doing his warmups. He was pretty spectacular cantering and jumping high, calmly. Probably the very cool weather had him perky.

He’s doing better in lots of ways. But I felt validated when Tarrin got on him and had trouble the same way I did. He took a long time to relax like he was still a bit unsettled. Maybe we’re both more settled now.

Me? Settled?

I had a really good lesson with Apache. He even came up to me in the pasture. All those “treats” (medicine) seem to help with that. I got good information from Tarrin on how to deal with his lethargy. She explained that he’s losing some of his stubborn fat and the toxins in it are going to his liver, so we’re going to give him some milk thistle for a time. And he’s changing to different supplements that will support his metabolism. Luckily most of it isn’t too costly.

As for the lesson, he had good energy for his ground work. I’d say he did the best I’ve ever seen him going over jumps and low obstacles. And he was a joy to ride. I got great information on ways to keep him standing up better, then we went out to test his “issues” with going outside his comfort zone.

Tarrin used his lead rope to keep him from flinging his head down (without constricting his comfortable head movement). Once he realized that option for making me nervous was gone, everything was better.

Since I took no pictures today, here’s a bonus.

We made tons of progress on re-settling him when he first starts to act concerned (as a helpful blog reader mentioned as well). We stopped and breathed, and we did lots of circles and figure eights to give him something to center himself on.

I did really well staying centered and calm, myself, thanks to not having the threat of him jerking the reins out of my hands and Tarrin providing helpful cues. I ended up feeling really good and like I have ways to make riding at home more fun with both horses. Whew. I sure needed the insights.

Carlton points out that he does nothing but emit good vibes. I love him, too.

I’m very grateful to have had my coach here at home for some help with my situations. Both horses are doing so well at her house. I’d like to get there at home.

Daily Bird

It was really cold (for here) so not many birds were out. But I thoroughly enjoyed listening to white-throated sparrows settling in the big tree by the pond for the night. Oh, the tweeting and chirping! It was like a mini bird concert. I was charmed.

One of my favorite winter friends.