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| The sisterly chaperone is bored. |
I think a few new species might have evolved and a few stars faded since I last did an office special. It’s time! I’ve been slow on the updates of late, mostly because of the family crap that’s been heaped on hubby and I.
Current Issues and Demands:
-Satan: Mommy Dearest had a bit of a ‘paranoia break’ while she was admitted to the hospital last week. She instructed us to call the police for she believed her life was in danger, and she dialed 911 twice while she was there. She also yanked out her IVs twice, and had to have a room sitter to keep her from yanking the one they ultimately placed in her neck. She is now discharged as of Saturday and staying with her sister. Let’s hope she doesn’t get kicked out like last time for being too mean and obnoxious. I’m surprised my aunt let her come back, honestly.
-Satan’s gross dog: Currently at our house grossing it up.
-My Brother: His case-worker is thinking of moving him to another living situation, and I’m not too keen on disrupting his stability, he’s been through enough upheaval as it is. So we’re in ‘talks’. Yesterday I spent hours with his case worker, another sweet girl from the state and his caretaker completing two state needs assessments. I had the“pleasure” of taking Satan to see her doctor after that. I drove 100 miles yesterday.
-Grandmother on Hubby’s side: The process of selling and cleaning out her home continues. We skipped out on the sale this past weekend for our much-needed and all-too-brief anniversary getaway… but hubby has spent his time after work (despite a shoulder injury) helping his siblings pack up all the remaining piles of useless crap and clearing out the property.
-Satan’s House. The den of squalour. Enough said.
-Horse: Sadly neglected. Am resolved to see him tonight, maybe ride even depending on how busy the barn is. It's been hopping lately, but a lot of people have chosen riding outdoors rather in the indoor arena, which has received a new thick layer construction grade sand, which makes it pretty boggy and laborious to trudge through. AND, what's worse, is that since 95% of the riders at the barn are Western Pleasure riders, they are all complaining to high-heaven about the sand. You see, Western Pleasure horses move with the languid, lazy grace of Eeyore, dragging their feet in a slow, lazy, undefined gait, all of their energy (which isn't really much) poured onto the shoulders, their noses dropped so they're only a foot from the ground. It's ridiculous. So they stumble CONSTANTLY in this deep stuff. Luckily, Tag has been whipped up into a good, energetic, impulsive, collected gait of the English style, which means he holds his energy more balanced and onto his rear, he lifts his feet with aplomb and lifts his neck fairly high (but not saddle-seat high)--he sails through the boggy sand like an ice-breaker in the arctic, doesn't even notice it. So I get the arena to myself more often than not these days (until the rains come anyway). ::sigh:: Sorry Western-Pleasure people... don't mean to be obnoxious, but I just don't get the appeal, and I can totally see why equine chiropractors are so frequently present at the barn. ::heh heh::
::SNORE::: You call that riding? I call it a nap. And look at the size of that huge shank bit! Seriously! LOL
What does she need all that leverage for? The horse is half-dead--it's not going to take off running anywhere.
I believe most of the audience in the bleachers have gone comatose with boredom. What is that gait anyway? Wrot? Tralk?
Okay. I'm done. LOL
Now here's some Dressage as a counterpoint:
This video has SO many things going for it.
1) IT IS A MAN.
2) A MAN IN DRESSAGE GEAR (Oh, those tails).
3) A MAN DOING DRESSAGE.
4) A MAN ON A STUNNING FRIESIAN.
5) A MAN AND A FRIESIAN DOING FLYING CHANGES.
That has to be the sexiest combination in the world. Yummy. Damn that horse is beautiful. I wants one.
What does she need all that leverage for? The horse is half-dead--it's not going to take off running anywhere.
I believe most of the audience in the bleachers have gone comatose with boredom. What is that gait anyway? Wrot? Tralk?
Okay. I'm done. LOL
Now here's some Dressage as a counterpoint:
This video has SO many things going for it.
1) IT IS A MAN.
2) A MAN IN DRESSAGE GEAR (Oh, those tails).
3) A MAN DOING DRESSAGE.
4) A MAN ON A STUNNING FRIESIAN.
5) A MAN AND A FRIESIAN DOING FLYING CHANGES.
That has to be the sexiest combination in the world. Yummy. Damn that horse is beautiful. I wants one.
-Brother: Must spend $12,000 as soon as possible. Just blew $4,000 on furniture for his bedroom. I figured IKEA furniture wouldn't hold up too well to my brother's wear and tear. This stuff is solid wood and beautifully constructed. It better be. It cost $4,000. And it took me less that 20 minutes between the assessment meetings and my mother's doctor appointment to pick it out and arrange the purchase and delivery. ::burnishes knuckles on her shirt:: Yeah, I'm good.
- Brother: Need to go and spend about $1,000 at IKEA on other sundries. Am going to solicit S-II to come with me... maybe after work tomorrow. I have my list... I have the card... I'm ready to attack. :)
It’s been a busy week so far. I’m already ready for the weekend. LOL.
I’m so tired of having these subjects occupy my daily existence, and it’s making for Debbie Downer style blogging. My apologies! I’ve done no cool projects lately to post about… but I will be back on the wagon soon enough, I promise. Once we square away all these outstanding worries—things will hopefully be less stressful again. Where did I find that optimism? It’s been missing for months… Heh. ;) Happy Wednesday.
3 comments:
ROFLMAO I am glad I am not the only person who thinks western pleasure is awful! lol. There are lots of creditable styles of western riding, but western pleasure is a joke. any schmo can just come along and climb into those sofa saddles and wave their hand left and right, and be comfortable loping around. the shank bits are awful, i agree. nobody who isn't a seriously experienced horseperson should even use a curb of any type... i see total beginners putting huge shanks on their horses and yanking the shit out of there horses mouth and jamming the wheel spurs into there sides with every bounce on the horse. retards. they go to competitions and slug around the arena and they get a ribbon for it, what a joke!!!!!!!!! there is no horsemanship there. only strong bits, no contact with the horse and spurs, and a horse that's been trained with force and cruelty. i spend more time retraining these poor horses, and trying to deleatherize their dead mouths... its really sad. and your right about the back problems from the horse posture. stupid.
That Western Pleasure horse does look like Eeyore! Plus isn't the point of riding to actually get somewhere? Not being a horse person the dressage looked very odd to me as well. What's wrong with just riding the horse?
Sorry about your family stuff. I'm amazed you will have anything to do with your mother.
@ Our Heroine:
I too am amazed I have anything to do with my mother. I seriously wonder about it constantly; but somewhere, there's this sense of deep obligation, because she is my mother after all, whether or not I like it. If I don't help her, who will? She won't help herself.
As for the dressage, since I spent years in that 'arena' it's something of a soft-spot for me. I do not however, do that sort of thing any more and ride simply for the pleasure of it. But, I do apply the same impulse and energy to Tag, and expect him to be as responsive to me as Mr. Friesian is to his rider, I'm just not asking Tag to do anything more than the basics. No passage, no flying changes, no pirouettes. Keeping it simple and fun.
@ A True Cowgirl:
Yeah, I've seen some of those training techniques. I read in a book once about one lady who dropped her horse off to be trained and stopped by while the guy was working with the horse, and he was so brutal, she left in tears and took her horse away the next day. A lot of horse 'trainers' believe in forceful training and inducing obedience by fear and pain rather than creating trust, using pressure and release and working with the horse as a team rather than just dominating it. I think that's why I like English so much better. It's more about pushing your horse to be an athlete, and teaching them to respond to delicate signals. It's about cooperation over domination. I feel bad for horses who are 'broken' instead of trained. It's Pretty sad.
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