Yikes! I haven't even had a CHANCE to look at the computer the past few days let alone do much of anything sitting down related as we’ve been constantly on the go. Here in Washington County there are petroglyphs dating as far back as 3000 years old. Friday evening there was a special art exhibit based on the petroglyphs that we attended. Interpretations from school children were especially amazing and I think there is a lot of talent waiting to be nurtured.
A few years ago a local documentary on the petroglyphs was made and a little snippet of it is on the internet at this site: Song of the Drum. The quality of the internet video is rather poor, but you do get a little feel for the Maine coast...
Saturday I had such a good time at Rita's. This time, Pumpkin came with me and the deal was that if she did some work too, while I was practicing some leading skills the horse would be saddled and she could go along for the ride. It was really good because it seemed to really help her with some lost confidence from last year's accident.
As usual, the first thing we did was go visit Ms. M and Dutch and did a little work with them. Then, we were actually hoping to take them out into the work paddock, something they've never done before so the barn went into "lock down" . The second Daddy Friesian caught a whiff of Ms. M close to him, well.... suddenly he became extremely frisky and irritated that he couldn’t be with her. They are in the last stall and had to walk past all the boys to get to the paddock. Then while there, Dutch kept running back into the barn, making Ms. M chase after him and push him outside again, causing more restlessness with Daddy F. Back and forth they went to the point where Ms M not only tried to bite him but kick him in his stall as well. (That part of the stable just vibrated for a few seconds afterwards….)
And yet, when they found the salt block she maneuvered herself just enough so that Dutch was safe and she was only a few feet away from Daddy F's reach. What a tease!!!!
Well, it was no use working with them so they went back into their stall and once we got the barn calm again we went out to work with Misty, Rita's quarter horse and main lesson horse at the moment. Misty is a lot of fun. She knows what to do, however, she's got quite a stubborn and defiant streak. She makes you work for mutual respect and even after that point is reached, she does little tests.
So I understand leading now, I just need to gain skill and experience in it. Rita also showed me how to lunge a horse. For those who don't know what that is:
Sorry about the music. But as you can see line lunging is when you have the horse on a lead line and you stand in the center of the circle and have him walk, trot, change direction, etc. It helps with the bond between horse and owner, gives the horse exercise and helps you both listen better to each other among other things.
Apparently Misty's former owner didn't ride her very much, but lunged her all the time. When she's not testy, she listens to voice commands alone and is amazing!!! Pumpkin rode not only with the saddle, but without the saddle and backwards as well. We had a lot of fun until Misty decided she was getting tired. Then when I told her to stop, she would slow down, but would have to take just a few more steps to make a point that she was stopping when she wanted... So with a slight tug on the halter, I had to back her up to where I wanted her to stop. She is so comical. It actually seems like it takes her more work to be defiant than to just go with the flow and stop when needing to. When she chose to be in sync with me, though... what an awesome experience. So... Thank you, Misty. Thank you for the wonderful experience. I left there really thinking that I had learned something on Saturday.
I must admit, the weather lately is finally starting to get on everyone's nerves here in the MacKenzie household. Sticky, muggy, foggy... rainy. Those are good descriptions for the weather outside the household. The sun hasn't shone for more than 3 hours at a time in the past week and a half. Most of the time it's all rain. If it's not raining the thick fog that lingers breaks for a few hours and the rolls back in. Everything is grey. It's really starting to get frustrating. And it's starting to really effect the moods around here.
This morning we had a brief but nasty thunderstorm. I hoped so very much that it was going to help. Well..... Wednesday it is supposed to get better. Again, at least the garden is well watered. I guess that's one thing..... Cheers! ~MacKenzie
With summer occuring later on today (yay!) I figured a summer quiz was in order.
Do you have any one thing (or more) that is a MUST DO this summer? It's pretty obvious what mine are: better horsemanship, gardeny things, surviving our brand new kitten (more on that later... ) star gazing as much as possible, at least one big fun family event a month (hopefully twice a month finances permitting) and to the beach, to the beach and to the beach... I wonder if I can fit the family in this......
Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible
Fun, funky, and a little bit euro.
You love your summers to be full of style and sun!
I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take.
But since I came here felt the joy and the fear finding myself making every possible mistake
la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
I'm a young soul in this very strange world hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake.
But why all this hate? Try to communicate finding trust and love is not always easy to make.
la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...
This is a happy end cause' you don't understand everything you have done why's everything so wrong
this is a happy end come and give me your hand I'll take your far away.
[Refrain]:
I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take but since I came here felt the joy and the fear finding myself making every possible mistake
That's right! If little Sporty here can lead a horse, darn it then I can, too. Well... I can lead a horse in a straight line, anyway...
I asked Rita if I could really get to know Ms. M and Dutch better today. To work with Dutch a little more, whatever I did with Ms. M, Rita introduced to Dutch. So they both got groomed. Oh my goodness wasn't Dutch funny. We haltered both horses and put lead ropes on them and took them out to the tiny paddock outside their stall. Because we have gotten so much rain.... Wow.. it was MUSHY out there! I worked a little on my leading skills. We had to keep stopping because Dutch kept trying to butt in and finally he started getting a little annoyed. Rita let him off the lead and he CHARGED at Ms M and me. I had no place to go so I just snuggled into Ms M a little more figuring that he wasn't about to kick Mom.
He breezed past us but then had so much momentum he began to run the circle of the paddock, bucking and snorting every few steps. Finally after the third time, he slowed down and needed to rest. By that time, I had all ready taken the halter and lead off, but Ms. M chose to stay where we were standing so I did too. Nothing like a thousand pound shield to hide behind. Believe me with him taking a rest, we took that moment to leave. Lesson learned.
Then her client for a riding lesson arrived. Because we were nervous of it raining again, although this individual had never rode any other horse except Misty who was WAY out in the woods, we decided to try the Goober. This kid happens to have Asperger syndrome and everything has to be just so with him. He also has a hard time focusing. So for him to have to mess up his routine and go on a completely different and bigger horse, and have a stranger there with him... he was awesome. And Goober was better than best. The only problem he had was that he needed fly spray on and he hates sprays. So, although I was holding him and he accepted the first few sprays, suddenly he just got spooked and nearly knocked me over. He went sideways and took me with him.... Again... lesson learned and I need to be firmer yet with a gentle hand with him. He isn't going to break after all. Chances are, if one of us is going to get hurt... it's gonna be me. And he needs his boundaries in place. For him, that's part of my job.
Rita took over for a minute and then handed him back to me. Once he was saddled and such, I had to lead him around a few times to get him warmed up. That was pretty fun and I thought we did pretty well. I felt a little silly at times as I was side walking and she turned the horse suddenly and I had to catch up, but well... no one was there to watch.... During the lesson while the kid was in the saddle, she also handed the lead rope back to me and had me practice some more. Well, going straight was fine.. turning, however Goober and I kept bumping and it was harder to get him to stick to his space. Plus he was getting hungry and kept wanting to turn towards the barn. So.... guess what I'll be practicing next time....
Still.... it was a lot of fun and I realized more how much I really need to learn and practice. Afterwards when we were back up at the house we sat for a few minutes and did a little processing between the two of us on how things went. That was really helpful.
Tomorrow is Pumpkin's last day of school... She is so excited! I hope so much that we will get to do even half the stuff we hope to in just a few short months.....
I am trying very hard to keep my eyes open this morning. Not even coffee is working this morning. This is bad... really bad.
This past weekend we went to Little Brother and SIL's celebration of their wedding renewals. They treated it like the real wedding they originally wanted. It was very nice and we had a lot of fun. Honey had to give the best man's toast and he did such a fantasic job with it. Things like that doesn't bother him in the least and it really shows. The girls looked absolutely BEAUTIFUL in their wedding attire. We got a lot of compliments not just on their looks but behavior as well. Which, by the way is pretty amazing in and of it's self. The little wedding favors had chocolate kisses as well as whole chocolate covered coffee beans. Well.... there was time in between the the vows and the reception. The girls went around and devoured favors off our table, coffee beans and all. If their life depended it it, they would NOT have been able to sit still.
I don't know where I was, but I's so very upset that I missed Pumpkin's first dance with a boy. Okay, it was only her handsome older cousin that she danced with, but still it was very special. Darn it... I missed it.
Papa did a very bad thing by starting a bar tab for the family. I've set certain limits for myself and I chose to ignore them. Even so, I didn't go too over the top. There was a bottle of champagne that Papa bought for the bride and groom during the toast and after that, no one was drinking it. Honey did the most damage to it, but as far as drinking goes I don't find mimosas to do a whole lot of damage. The mixed drinks I had before hand were... more. Nothing more for me for awhile...
I can't believe the week I have this week. It's filled with all sorts of stuff. Because I was gone this weekend I have to I have to work my cleaning job tonight. Tuesday I have my time at Rita's penciled in. Hopefully that still stands. She's going to call later. Wednesday is Pumpkin's last day of school. It's half a day and she's invited her best friend to come over for the afternoon and for a cook out. I expect I'll be seeing a lot of Brit over the summer, which is fine with me. Thursday we will be getting our new kitten. Either Friday or Saturday I may be going back to Rita's for another lesson.
Oh yeah..... because the "newlyweds" are going on their honeymoon in Las Vegas Abby is staying with us until Wednesday. Okay.... actually with Mom C and Papa. They are in charge of babysitting duties. And today, actually I'm quite thankful I'm not the one who had to get up early to take care of a baby. Been there, done that... sort of miss it, but not today. tee hee...!!!! And I hear the door to the sun room opening and the squeals from the girls. Time to go say good morning to everyone!!!!!
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If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
. The second Daddy Friesian caught a whiff of Ms. M close to him, well.... suddenly he became extremely frisky and irritated that he couldn’t be with her. They are in the last stall and had to walk past all the boys to get to the paddock. Then while there, Dutch kept running back into the barn, making Ms. M chase after him and push him outside again, causing more restlessness with Daddy F. Back and forth they went to the point where Ms M not only tried to bite him but kick him in his stall as well. (That part of the stable just vibrated for a few seconds afterwards….) 
We had a lot of fun until Misty decided she was getting tired. Then when I told her to stop, she would slow down, but would have to take just a few more steps to make a point that she was stopping when she wanted... So with a slight tug on the halter, I had to back her up to where I wanted her to stop. She is so comical. It actually seems like it takes her more work to be defiant than to just go with the flow and stop when needing to. When she chose to be in sync with me, though... what an awesome experience. So... Thank you, Misty. Thank you for the wonderful experience. I left there really thinking that I had learned something on Saturday. 
I wonder if I can fit the family in this...... 
Again... lesson learned and I need to be firmer yet with a gentle hand with him. He isn't going to break after all. Chances are, if one of us is going to get hurt... it's gonna be me. And he needs his boundaries in place. For him, that's part of my job. 
And I hear the door to the sun room opening and the squeals from the girls. Time to go say good morning to everyone!!!!! 
