My Kingdom For a Horse

It seems like my horse life and my writing life are always jogging each other at the elbow, trying to crowd the other one out.  Lately, my horse life has been winning.

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An older friend recently told me that I needed to start feeding Indy.  He's always been a skinny bone Jones,  so I just took it as part of his genetic makeup.  But the endless feeding swarm of mosquitos, flies, and other summer bugs, weren't helping anything.  I got him some of Purina's Strategy feed and it's been working quite well.  I go over to feed him every morning, and he's already putting on weight.  His eyes are much happier too.  I also gave him a dewormer which should help - I found out my stable guy only worms the horses twice a year.  Hmm.

Since our trail ride, in which all my prayers were answered, I have 100% of my confidence back.  First time since my accident a couple years ago.  I am fearless! Well, as much as is sensible... Indy and I lope all the time now, and it's as if my horse knows something has changed.  He's so much calmer, just as I am.  It's true that they sense your feelings.

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Also, two of my friends just got horses.  Remember Shelby? She bought a horse from the stable named Apache, who needs a lot of TLC.  But when that's over with, she'll have a good pal.  And you knew Whisper got a horse named Marquessa.  We hope to ride together next weekend.

quessa - look at her elegant head!

The last bit of news I will give you is that the two lovely ladies you will see below, Alpha and Red, have been sent off for breeding.  Know what means, right? There may soon be one or two foals at the stable.  How awesome!

alpha

red

Have any of you ever had / raised / trained a foal?


Love,

Ellyn


P.S.  Pray for Seaspear...

Good as Gold (Better, Actually)

This is a post about the long-awaited "camping trip" - it turned into a trail ride, because my friend Kaylee had to work the day before the ride.  But as you will see, it was no less fun for that.

I spent Thursday afternoon preparing all my tack for the trail ride the next day, and on Friday afternoon, I went over to sponge and groom and spiffy up my horse.  I prayed like crazy as I worked, hoping that Indy would load well and get along with the other horses okay.  He would be trailered with my friend Kaylee's horse, Honee, and another mare named Sami.

God is always faithful.  Indy was good as gold.

indy in his awesome makeshift stall at kaylee's.  her little brother liked him :)

Saturday morning, early, we left for the trail ride.  It was a long trip, and I flinched every time the trailer went over a bump.  But there was no need to worry. Indy and Sami were loving it up inside, and Honee was calm as well.

Finally, we arrived.  

kaylee and honee, accompanied by a wonderful view

ditto the above caption!

The trail ride was supposed to start at 9, but we got there at 9:30 and no one was tacked up.  (There were only nine riders, sadly.)  But we had this lovely field behind our home base.

ze field

I've never raced Indy against another horse at full gallop before.  Never.  I didn't think he was competitive.  Was I wrong.

Kaylee's friend Anna, who I had met before, had her horse Shiloh there as well.  Anna and Shiloh are a wild pair who love to gallop, and she suggested a race.  No one was sure about that at first - we didn't know how the horses would react.  But then I grabbed the chance and said, sure, I would race.

Indy took off at full gallop when I nudged him and barreled down on the ever speedy Shiloh.  At a certain point, I leaned down over his neck and he shot off even faster, like he was determined to catch Shiloh.  Shiloh still won the race, but we were in second, and I was so proud and exhilarated that I couldn't wait to gallop again.

The trail itself was very stony and muddy, and Indy was not enjoying himself.  Therefore, I wasn't either, at first.  He almost scraped me against trees a couple times.  But then I realized something.  I was concentrating so hard that I wasn't breathing.

I started taking regular, slow breaths, and it was an instant change.  All of a sudden, Indy didn't try to lope through slippery mud, he just pranced or plodded.  After that, it was fun.  And finally, the trail group emerged on a high, grassy hill overlooking a beautiful view.  Sorry I don't have a photo - I couldn't risk my mom's Canon in the saddlebag.

kaylee and anna, tandem on shiloh

The last hours at camp were spent eating hobo dinners, lying around on bareback horses, and doing Redneck Barrels - using a manure pile and two buckets in your cloverleaf pattern.

I didn't want the day to end.  But it did, like all good things do on this earth.  But usually, I've found that when one good thing ends, another one is on the way.  Indy and I are off to search for it.

we're a team

*Thank you, Kaylee's family and mine, for making this work!!

The Inside of a Horse

Have you horse lovers ever heard that quote by Winston Churchill? "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man"? There's no denying it's true.

But with therapy riding, you can almost switch things up and say that the inside of a horse is good for the outside of a man.  Or a kid.

remington on keebler

Besides getting self esteem and encouragement from being in a good environment, physically disabled kids get stronger and improve their balance and coordination on horseback.

jack on amigo

Sitting a horse's walk make your hips move the same way as if you were walking yourself.  But this way, there's not as much danger of falling.

At the therapy riding place where I volunteer, we go in teams of one horse, one rider, one leader, and, depending on the stability of the rider, zero to two side walkers.  

We do exercises with the kids like hands on helmet and arms "out like an airplane".  We weave cones and stop and start to increase balance.  There are flags, balls, and squishy rings to hold and throw, all in vivid, bright colors.

amelia on beauty

During each session, the therapy horses patiently carry riders on to peace and progress, physically and mentally.  Each week, both our riders and volunteers reap the rewards that come with the inside and outside of a horse.

Along with very sore limbs the next day.

- Ellyn

When You Fall Off the Horse

On New Year's, I made way too many resolutions, as usual - habit of mine.  Some involved working out, eating more fruit, spending more time with my little bros...typical.  But then I was thinking about my confidence on horseback.

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Confession: I've never galloped before.  Well, not on purpose.  (So the name of my blog may be misleading, but that's talking about life, not...real galloping.)

Confession: Loping Indy in new places makes me super scared.

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I'm too soft with my horse, and when he acts up it makes me nervous.  I've gotten a lot better already this year, thanks to God, who gave me strength to push myself.

But on January 1, I made a resolution that I would fall off of Indy at least once this year.

The point of this resolution was not so that I would hit the dust - the point is that I would push myself hard enough that I would have the opportunity to fall off of my horse.  Last time I fell off was when I fractured my wrist two autumns ago, and that was when I had to start building my confidence again.

So, today it happened.  Indy has been super feisty lately, and I've had to lunge him every time before I ride.   Today, I only had a little time and so I hopped on with just a halter, nose chain, and lead rope.  It was the hopping on that was the hard part.  I was on a barrel, and Indy kept moving.  One of my rules is that I never get onto a moving horse.  (That is, unless I were to do trick riding or something, which I'm not.)

I finally got on, and fell on his neck while he trotted up toward his pals in the corner of the pasture.  I didn't want to be aboard when Indy got kicked by his certain palomino girlfriend, so I let myself slide off and landed on my feet.

The next time, the same thing happened, except I got on too far back, grabbed Indy's mane, he speeded up, and I got plunked right down next to several pairs of hooves.  Luckily, I was not kicked and didn't land in any of the wrong places.  And I got back on and used the nose chain (that's what it's therefore, after all) to make Indy stand still when I got on.

I felt a great sense of accomplishment for completing this mental resolution.  This is going to be a good year.  

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P.S.  Check these out - I made them for Indy on his birthday - carrots in molasses rolled in oats.  Mmm!

Spring Shots

It's that time of year again.  Indy was so scared when I led him into the stall for his shots that he was shaking all over.  The vet said she didn't even need to take his heartbeat because it was already leaping out of his chest.  Poor thing - sedation was in order for teeth floating anyway.

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Some recommended shots: (I've put in bold the ones Indy got.)

The Coggins Test: Needed only if you're going to take your horse in contact with lots of other horses.  Like trail rides, campgrounds, or shows.  Most of these things require a Coggins, so it's not an option.  It checks for a kind of virus that spreads ever so easily among horses.

Strangles: Only needed if your horse will be in contact with young horses, because the disease "strangles" usually affects horses aged 1-5.  It involves the lymph nodes swelling up, and it's not fatal, but...do you really want to pay a $65 vet's farm call again?

Potomac Horse Fever: This one protects against a disease carried by water snails, mayflies, and possibly other creatures that live in bodies of water.  In MN, we have water almost everywhere, so it's recommended - but for the first time your horse gets it, he'll need a booster shot after three weeks.

Influenza:  Combats a viral disease with these clinical signs: fever, coughing, disinterest in eating, depression.  An upper respiratory disease.

FLU/Rhino: Also an upper respiratory disease.

Rabies: Horror of horrors! I'd say this one is a must.  I'm sure I don't want Indy going rabid.

West Nile Virus: This protects against disease mosquitos carry.  *shudder*

Tetanus:  Tetanus usually enters through open wounds (including puncture wounds) and starts to reproduce via bacteria.  This results in stiff muscles, which means dangerous riding, possible lockjaw, and breathing problems.  Treatment of tetanus is very hard to do and expensive.

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Besides these shots, your horse will need to be dewormed every six to eight weeks, but you can do that yourself.  Just get someone to help hold your horse's head and squirt that stuff into the side of his mouth.  (That way he can't spit it out right away.)

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Teeth floating essentially means "teeth filing" and that will need to be done every two years.  Your horse will be sedated, put into a special cranking halter  (see above) that holds his mouth open, and the vet will take a grinding drill to those troublesome teeth.  (Just an FYI - the smell of burnt teeth is awful.)

We just learned that Indy will need his teeth floated once a year now, because he has a missing tooth on top, and the tooth on the bottom keeps growing up into the gap.  This hinders him from eating properly and I think it's most of the reason that he gets so thin.

If you're not sure if your horse needs his teeth done, watch him eat corn or grain.  Does he drop it out of his mouth as he's chewing? If so, you want to think about calling the vet.


What vaccinations do you get for your horses? Was this post helpful?



Have a wonderful day.
Ellyn

Horse Hopes, Summer '11

not me - via

This summer, with Indy, I want to...
Lunge him: twice a week
Ride him: 5 days a week

I want to work on...
- Jumping
- Riding in the "scary" arena, especially loping.  I want to be able to lope without him making for the opening in the fence.
- Going down the road alone.  Not the dirt road, the actual road.
- Loping in the pasture.  Any pasture.

As for myself...
- I need to use the reins less than I do and depend more on my weight and my legs.
- I need to maintain confidence even after a nasty spook.
- I need to not be afraid to lope somewhere new for the first time.


Exciting things coming up...
- Therapy riding is going to start up soon, and I want to volunteer more there.
- The therapy horses need more exercise.  I want to ask their owner if I can take care of that - at least some of it.
- This is the best one.  My friend Kaylee, owner of the wonderful horse Honee, has invited me to go camping with them this summer! With Indy! We have the Coggins Test scheduled and I am so excited I grin every time I think about it.  We might even get to take the horses to the beach.

kaylee on indy

me on honee

P.S.  Did I mention that my friend Whisper - the famed girl of our JoinUp session last fall - got a horse? Her name is Marquessa and I can't wait to meet her.  :)  She's a dark bay Arabian mare.  Maybe I'll post a picture if I get permission.


Love,

 Ellyn

(Horse) Bucket List

I was spending the evening with a great big stack o' Horse & Riders given to me by Margaret Rowena when I came across a "Things to Do With Horses Before You Die" kind of article.  Naturally, I decided to do a blog post on mine.

- Gallop my horse on a beach.
YES! This is one of my most important.  And while I'm at this "beach", I might as well...

- Swim with my horse.
I did this at camp three years ago, I think, and it was safe to say that it was the highlight of the whole week.  And it was a fun week, too.  I rode this big black Percheron named Jack, and one of the counselors led us around in the water.  I could have done it forever, but we only got two turns.  And it'd be way more fun to direct the horse yourself.  :)

- Go foxhunting.  (Draghunting; aka, no real fox.)  I got this idea from the magazine.  Wouldn't it be awesome?

- Go on an overnight horse camping trip.  Ahh, just like Darby and Hoku in the Wild Horse Island series.  Except I don't believe I'd want to be alone.

- Ride with a drill team.  This is one of my more feasible goals.  I just need to do a little research on 4-H drill team.

- Go on a cattle drive.  YESS! A real old-west thing to do, this, with no judges peering over their glasses at you with little notepads.  Hours in the saddle ending with beans and bacon over a campfire, only to wake again and start all over, blissfully sore from so much riding.

- Do the apprenticeship program at Miracle Mountain Ranch.  My parents and I have already discussed this, and I hope to go when I'm 18.  In three years!! This is most of my motivation for PSEO.

- Teach a child to ride.  I've done this for maybe one time per child, but I think it would be cool to actually watch their progress.  One girl I led around on Indy wanted to trot, but I told her I didn't think we could because I told her mom we'd just walk.  Indy, however, had his own ideas and trotted in a little circle in response to some loud noise.  "Well, Grace," I said.  "That was a trot."  She responded with a big grin and a loud, "COOL!!!"

- Learn how to trim hooves.  A very useful skill indeed.

- Do an Extreme Cowboy Race.  Looks extremely hard, but really fun, if you had a good horse for it! Here's a video.




- Ride bareback, bridleless, and well.  I've loped with just a halter, but not with the best control! There was a video of Stacy Westfall I was going to post here, but it was "removed by the user." :( Here's a picture, anyway...(not mine)

I may be ambitious, but no sweat if I don't do any of these before I die...I'll just do them in heaven! :)


Love,

Ellyn

The Amazing Day Part 2 (Saddled Again)

This here was before JoinUp - but it was not really relevant to the subject of Part 1.  So anyway, here are some...er....semi-adorable photos of us.  Unfortunately, we're not all there at once because...well, Gorgeous George can't hold the camera.

I also forgot to say that if you're interested in trying JoinUp, check out From My Hands to Yours and Shy Boy from your local library - both by Monty Roberts.  The former is the instructional book, while the latter is a story about how Monty trained a mustang with JoinUp.

Oh, and no, Shelby and I are not fighting - I just didn't want Indy to lash out at Jake again :)

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So.  On to Part 2 of The Amazing Day.  Shelby persuaded us to ride up to where I work at Health Directed Riding.  I had gone up early that week to ask if we could use Sue's (fake name) arena.  My stable has an arena too, but it doesn't close and there's a board that sticks out so that if Indy got too near to the rail at one point I could hurt myself really badly.

So we went to Sue's.  NO major mishaps! We didn't go faster than a walk, but Boo did not try to run at all and Indy only spooked once at a squirrel.  ("SQUIRREL!!...I HATE squirrels..." - Up)  Sue had two little girls riding that day, so her barn was warm and cozy and there was hot chocolate in the feed room.  First we did barrels and discovered that Boo must have had some sort of barrel racing career at some point.  He whipped around those things like there was no tomorrow.  Indy is not so good at barrels and I'm not either, so we just did them a few times and then rode around the rail.  Boo was getting super excited and bucked again, so we walked around for a bit and decided it was time for a break.  

We took off the horses' reins and went in for hot chocolate.  After that, we rode around some more and set up the jumps.  (FUN!) Sadly, I don't have any pictures because bringing my mom's expensive Canon to Sue's on horseback would not be a very smart thing to do.  But anyway, Indy jumped - pretty well, considering that the pole was just on the ground.  Jake jumped - as always.  And Boo - Whisper was just going to walk him over the pole, but he took off at a canter and leaped over that pole as pretty as you please.  It was Whisper's first time jumping, too.  She said she just sat there like a sack of potatoes, but it was to die for.  

So we all had to try jumping Boo.  Shelby went over and then it was my turn.  At first, I was not taking control and Boo was sidestepping and gave a little mini-buck.  But I got him turned around and we headed at a slow canter for the "jump".  I was not ready when the "jump" loomed up in front of me because I had been holding Boo back and I was not really in sync with his canter, but I managed to somehow fall into the jumping position and went over.  I felt like I was going to land on my nose, but I went over.  And ya know what? It was so fun! It was awesome! We were all super happy.  :)

After that we hung out in the barn with the horses and three of those caramel apple lollipops...but soon, we had to saddle up and head for home.  

That ended the real part one of the Amazing Day, but I didn't have room for it in the last post.  So anyway, Shelby got picked up and Whisper and I attempted to write a snippet with our Hearts Unbroken characters.  But we were too tired and didn't have enough time.

After Whisper got dropped off at the stable where I was going for a hayride with my youth group, I headed for the bonfire.  

I'll do a post on why I love my church some other time.  But for now I'll just say that I love my youth group because its very brotherly/sisterly.  For the most part, everyone talks to and teases everyone.  There's nothing odd about a boy opening a door for a girl or anything like that. 

I sat with my friends Demetria, Pheona, and Alex, and we had a lot of spirited discussion about fashion, books, the whole shebang...these are my "girly" friends.  The ones I talk about Pride and Predjudice and cute sweaters and skinny vs. boot cut jeans with.  We even talked about blogging and attempted to explain it to a clueless male standing nearby.  (I'm teasing.) 

The hayride itself was loads of fun.  If it had gone all night, it would have ended too soon.  Everyone was throwing hay and stuffing it into hoods and jackets...there was hardly ever a moment when someone was not being pulled or pushed off the haywagon.  My friend Pheona and I were invincible :)   

Right at the end, Alex realized she had lost her phone and a whole bunch of us went tearing back down the path with her to look for it.  Someone called it, so everything was okay.  (Phew) But by that time, the wagon had already gotten to the stable yard.  Guess what? There was NO hay left on that wagon except from where the adults had been sitting.  

After that, it was back to the fire for more....spirited discussion.  :)

Then my dad came to cart me back home, and....The Amazing Day was over.  

Naturally, the next day after church I had a case of the blues, not to mention a sore shoulder and neck.  

I wonder why? We got to my stable at about 10:45 and got back to my house around 4:30.  That's six hours at the barn, and at least four of those were spent riding.  And then the whole pushing/pulling hayride thing.  

Thanks for reading!

Love, Ellyn

   

  

     

The Amazing Day Part 1 (JoinUp)

Saturday will go down in history as one of the best days in my life.  Or at least in my fifteenth year.  :)
My friend Whisper came over and she rented Boo for the day.  At first, things were not so fun...because of his personality and his lack of exercise, Boo was behaving like a spitfire, bucking with Whisper aboard.

Whisper wanted to try riding Indy, so we switched horses.  I rode Boo back and forth along his non-panic zone of the pasture.  I know it probably wasn't the best thing for Boo's discipline.  But it helped him calm down.  His back was really hollow and tense when I mounted, but as I walked him along the fence and back, I felt it gradually round.  His canter is really nice.

But meanwhile, Whisper could not get Indy to ride away from me.  I think it was because he's used to me, she wasn't wearing spurs, and he doesn't like to leave his equine pals.  But anyway, then my friend Shelby showed up and saddled up her trusty mount Jake.  Whisper and I switched our not-so-trusty mounts again and we were all staying in the safe area of the pasture, but then Jake bucked.  Jake is rotund and I've never, ever seen him buck before.  We all were kind of shocked, but kept on milling around in pointless little circles, wondering what to do.  Then Shelby brushed by Indy on Jake and Indy bucked.  He's only bucked twice with me on him, and he never bucks when Jake's close to him.  Curiouser and curiouser!

It was drizzling by this time...the day was gloomy and cold.  We took off our saddles and decided to try out the JoinUp technique by Monty Roberts on the horses.  I've been doing this with Indy with good results!
Boo, the one who had started all our trouble, was up first.

JoinUp is a technique where you show the horse who is the leader of your "herd" - you - and then invite them to join up with your herd.  We were doing a rather clumsy version of JoinUp, which I felt kind of guilty about.  But it worked! I'll just try to keep learning more about it for next time.  What you do first is keep your horse moving, chasing him in a hostile position with arms spread out and your eyes wide and on his eyes.  There are more specific movements, but I don't know those yet.  *humiliated face*

Here's Whisper and Boo on the move.

Watching Boo go was fun.  Shelby and I stood with Jake off in the corner watching him buck and gallop in circles.

Whisper - exhausted.  She is waiting for Boo to join up with her, and questioning my wisdom at making her run so much in riding boots.  :D  This is the second main step of JoinUp.  When you see your horse making certain signs - sniffing the ground, pricking an ear toward you, and licking his lips - you stop, standing at a 45 degree angle to your horse.  Lower your arms to your sides, bow your head (which Whisper is not doing), and wait.  

It took Boo about three or four tries to JoinUp with Whisper.  When Whisper stopped, Boo would stop and watch her.  When he turned his attention away from her - to our tack in the corner, the other horses, whatev., Whisper started chasing him again.

I don't have a picture of the actual JoinUp, but it was really cool.  I kept whispering (unnecessarily) "Wait...wait...wait...." and Whisper just stood there while Boo turned and slowly walked over to nudge her shoulder.  *squeals* It was a Great Moment!!

After that, we tried it with Jake, but something went wrong along the lines of communication.  I feel bad - Jake did not understand.  We thought the signals were not good enough for him or he is too domestic or something...but Shelby and Jake made up and so they won't feel left out, here's an adorable picture.  :D

Next, Indy and I were called to the limelight.  I was hoping he'd choose to join up with me right away so I wouldn't have to go through the whole process with him again, but it was not so.  He went to visit Boo and the pile of tack in the corner.  He needed to choose me.  I got running.  Unfortunately, Boo wanted to come with.

The above photo is how most of the session went - me going crazy (check out the hair) and Indy just kind of standing there.  Finally, he began to move.  

  

But we had just too many distractions in the pen with us.  Like you know, hay....

...And Whisper holding the camera.  He didn't want to follow her commands while she was on his back, but here, well...that was different.  

This photo makes me laugh.  You can see the disgust on Indy's face.  And I'm dying over there - extremely out of breath! :)

Indy needed as many tries as Boo.  Each time I stopped and turned to let him Join Up, he either started eating or went straight to his pals in the corner.  Finally, I added one more step to my "come and join up with me" pose.  I dropped the reins I was using to make him move away.  That did it.  I could tell by the "stand still" look on Whisper's face.  I waited until I felt Indy's muzzle touch my shoulder and then I turned around and rewarded him with a rub on the forehead and many hugs :)

That was the beginning to our amazing day.  Part 2 will come soon :)  

    

  

 

Ching, Ching; Bling, Bling

You'll never guess what happened today! I was upstairs peeling wallpaper - which I have been doing for a few months. I'm trying to re-do my room, but because I'm only doing it as a side-project, it's taking a really long time. And the way the wallpaper is coming off does not help one bit.

But anyway, I was upstairs peeling wallpaper when I heard the doorbell ring. It's almost my birthday, so I let my dad get the door in case there was something I wasn't supposed to see. But he stayed down there for a while and I heard my stable guy's voice. I listened for a few more minutes and heard a woman's voice. (??) Just as I was about to go down and investigate, my dad called my down and

introduced me to the woman, who had a whole bunch of horse stuff to get rid of. She used to board with my stable guy, but she had to sell her horses, which left her with a whole bunch of stuff. My stable guy had apparently told her about me.

She asked if I'd want any of the stuff, and I said, "Well, sure."

"I have it in the back of the truck. Let's go take a look."

Wow. Not only did I get to look at a whole bunch of horse stuff, but I got to keep most of it!

For free! And she was happy to get rid of it! I'm still kind of in shock.

Here's a picture of the stuff. I hung it up in a tree in our orchard because I wanted to air it

out, and...*cough*...it makes a good picture setting.

I call it my "Tack Tree."

I now have two pairs of spurs,

Two pairs of saddlebags (one is really pretty leather, which I'm guessing is super expensive),

And like three bridles! (Not counting the one I have at the barn already.) The one in the above left picture has German silver accents. The below left is my favorite. And the aqua bridle case in the below right came from the very very nice lady too.

Some various other things include three pairs of reins (two match the bridles), two saddle blankets, a horse blanket (which I'll be passing on to a friend who has an Arabian horse), and a tack tote with a cover.

Besides THAT is a whole bunch of buckets and an electric fence charger, and two hay nets, and a tying post to put into the ground.

As my mom said to me, "Wow. Happy birthday from God!"

bOuNcE! (An unlikely defense weapon)

Everyone who rides has problems with flies in the summer. When I take Indy onto a road near our house that runs through the woods, its like entering a war zone. But here's something that might help:

Bounce dryer sheets. The bugs dislike their smell, and you just tuck them or fold them around your horse's halter to keep the head safe. You can also rub them over your horse, but that doesn't usually work very well.

Happy riding! :)

Horse Trackback

If you read my post "My Life and Horses - Part 1", you'll remember a horse called KC. I am finally posting a video of me riding him! (That's one reason why I switched from WordPress to Blogger - I couldn't post videos there.)

I felt like such a cowgirl, and I still remember his beautiful lope. I didn't feel him rocking under me at all - it was just smooth, smooth. Enjoy!

I've also posted some pictures of me on Rosie, who was also mentioned in "My Life and Horses - Part 1."

P.S. I will be going to camp next week, so I don't know if I will post between now and then or not. I'm excited, though - I'll be riding there, too!

This picture is funny - my body looks like I'm on a galloping horse, but Rosie is really only trotting... xP

Don't you just love my pink Keds? ;)

The Wheels Are Turning...

My dad/editor finished reading Torn Heart and he wants me to make it longer! But that is okay because he gave me some ideas on how to do that.
He wants my main character, Jacha, to take a bigger “hero” role, and he also want more preparation for the battle. I am pretty excited to get working. My mom/editor-second-in-command is reading it next.

That’s mainly why I stopped to write a little. What else can I tell you about?

Indy is doing really, really, really well. I took him on the busy road with one of my friends the other day, and he didn’t spook the whole time. He did spook on the not-so-busy road, but that was just because a dragonfly flew right in front of him. Hey, if a bug flew right in my face, I’d spook too. And a few days ago, me and that same friend rode out on the trail. Indy doesn’t really like the trail too much – I think he gets nervous because the foliage is so thick he can’t see very far ahead of him. But he did great! Even when we got lost…

Yeah, we took a wrong turn on the trail so my friend decided to let her horse Jake lead us out. They do it in all the books and movies, right? Horses just seem to know the way home. Well, it’s true! I was skeptical when Jake turned onto this overgrown path three feet deep in ferns, but we eventually came out right where we wanted to be. And Indy didn’t spook that whole time.

I think it’s because I’m starting to behave more like a leader in our horse/human relationship.

Another cool horse thing is a horse place right by my house. My friend and I met the lady (I will call her Sue), and she holds a rehibilitation program for kids with palsy/autism, and etc. I’m hoping to volunteer there next week. I was going to go yesterday, but it was raining really hard, so I’m guessing it was canceled. Sue is also going to help us improve our riding in her spare time. Cool!!!!

And again…I’m sorry about this double header. Actually, I’m starting to get used to it. Now you have a choice to make with my pages! Will you choose to click the TOP “Books” button, or the BOTTOM one? I seriously do not know how to get rid of it…I also can’t figure out why my pictures won’t stay in my posts. >:(

Well, I’ll sign off. I’ve got things to think about

June 9, 2010