In my purse I carry a quote from Shel Silverstein, "Listen to the mustnt's, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen child. Anything can be."

That quote is an inspiration to me, as well as a reminder. A couple of years ago I never would have dreamed that a life like this would be possible for me, much less that I would be successful at it, but I am starting to feel like all my dreams are coming true. It's a lot of work, but it's happening! For starters, I had a lesson with Erin on Hilife the other day. I rode that horse to the best of my ability, and Erin actually complimented me afterwards, telling me that it was very good riding. Erin is not quick to serve out compliments, so they are often well deserved. She said that I could really ride him, and has already had me start riding him on my own on days she is out. During my lesson, she was riding Immy, her "Big" stallion, a stallion with a lot of potential. I had done ground work with him when Erin is not in, but I figured it would be about 3 years before she ever let me sit on him, since she tends to be protective with the horses she really likes. But, on this day, she was having a bit of trouble with him, and asked if I wanted to ride him. I could barely believe what she was asking me, and I asked her to repeat herself even though I understood her perfectly. Of course I hopped on. I remember mounting up, not even believing it. I tried to retain my composure as I rode, but I was jumping up and down inside. Fortunately, the other Erin (my roommate) came into the arena as I was riding, otherwise I don't think anyone would have believed me. I think I did an ok job with him, though he was a bit wiggly, so I hope that Erin will let me ride him again in the future, but it probably won't happen again for awhile.

Kite's owner came the other day to see how she is going. I guess she is thinking about taking her home, which I didn't realize. I rode her walk/trot/canter in the round pen, which is awesome for only having the horse for 3 weeks (especially considering I have not started a horse myself before), and she wondered why I was not riding her in the arena. I felt a bit disheartened that she was not as pleased with her progress as I was, but I still have her for another 2 weeks to see where we get.

Tomorrow is my day off! Not sure what I am going to do yet...

Time is so weird around here. The days are so long, but go by so quick. It seems like forever ago, but it was only 2 days ago that I was a demo rider for the L program. Basically, the L program is for people who are working towards being a judge. You have to have all 3 medals, amoung other qualifications to begin judging. You start at the lower levels and work your way up. I have only ever shown training level, but did a demo ride at second level on Trevoreou, who is trained to Grand Prix. I was nervous, since it is a lot of pressure to ride in front of so many qualified people, Erin and Jean included, but I think we did rather well. We rode parts of a couple of tests, then took a break while the prospective judges talked about how they would have scored it, and what they saw - good and bad. The movements are scored 1 - 10, with 10 being the best, though hardley anyone ever gets that. We actually got a 9 on our entrance and first halt! We scored pretty well on the other movements as well, though it was interesting to see what we have to work on. Overall, it was a very good experience, and a good way to meet dressage people in the area, and to start getting my name out.

Yesterday, we took Hannah out for her last night here =( We were going to go to karaoke, but found out that it was cancelled in lieu of someone's 69th birthday party. We decided to go to Applebee's instead. On our way there, driving down Hwy 90, Hannah said "Is there something in the road ahead?" I saw someone's tail reflectors on the side of the road and had planned to go around it, but when I put my brights on I saw that it was a whole semi carrying round bales that had jack knifed in the middle of the road!! We came very close to running into it, and I had to slam on my brakes - thank goodness Hannah called attention to it! We were the first people on the scene, so we called 911 and got out to see if everyone was ok, which they were. I guess the driver swerved to miss hitting a tree that was up by the roots in the middle of the road - maybe fell off another truck - ? Anyway, it was scary!

Today was a long day - 13 hours. We usually get about an hour break after morning chores, and then have to quick sneak a break in to eat again later at some point, which is what happened today. However, it was a very productive day, even though it seemed to include a lot of waiting around, since the saddle fitter was out today. I am starting a young horse on my own - Kite, and we cantered for the first time in the round pen today! She is so smart, and has already figured out that leg means to go forward, and stops and turns like a pro. I had Erin Root (my roommate) hold the lunge line while we cantered for the first time, because she can have a little buck in her. But, she didn't buck at all, and Erin actually lost hold of the lunge line, which could have been a complete disaster, but I was able to pull Kite up calmly without anything happening, and we ended on that. Next time I will use a longer lunge line ;) I have also been helping Erin start Fulcrum, and we ponied him out in the field for the first time today, which went well. Also, Rezzi's owners came out tonight to see him and Tanzlen go, so I rode him for them. He was a star! That horse gets better each time I ride him, and it is so great to see that they are pleased with his progress.

Erin also had me ride Hilife today, one of Jean's stallions that she has been training. She is actually training him for a girl that is a parapalegic, and does not have use of her lower body. She has competed in the para-olympics and won the gold medal! She has also trained with Pat Parelli. She rode Hilife awhile back and really liked him, and nearly convinced her sponsors to buy him. However, she was involved in a bad automobile accident about a month ago, so it will be awhile longer before she can take him, if it is still going to work out. Erin has been training him so that he can be ridden without using your legs. Instead, she rides him with two whips, and uses voice commands. It's really neat! She has been very protective about what gets done with him when she is not around, but it sounds like she is going to start letting me ride him! This is a real compliment to my riding, and I am very excited about it. Looking ahead - the annual ATA (American Trakehner Assoc) is meeting this year in Jacksonville, and Jean plans on bringing all her stallions. It would be very exciting for me to get to ride in it, since Erin would definitely be riding Immy. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Today was my day off. Hannah is leaving next week, and since we have enough help and she has not seen the ocean since she was 6, we went to Fernandina beach. It was awesome! We had so much fun floating around in the ocean. I took a boogie board we found at the house and tried to catch some waves on it. There is something I am missing in regards to that, apparently. Hannah and I also had lunch at the Sandy Bottom Beach club, which was right on the beach. Then we went into Amelia Island and went into some of the little shops there. It was very cute.

Gilda came by this weekend for some lessons. I gave her a lunge lesson on Trevor and made a little extra money =) She also told me that her and Nick are going to loan me one of their surf boards, so that I can practice on my own.

Erin called me today about the judge program next weekend. She said that they switched my ride from Saturday to Sunday, so that I can go over with Iris and Andrew. However, that means that I will now be riding a Second level test on Trevor, as opposed to training level on Adeline. It is going to be tricky since I have actually never ridden a second level test before, and now I have less than a week to prepare for it. But, I think it will be ok, since it is not like I am actually showing, I am just sort of practicing for a show - in front of many judges, instead of just one. Well, I am going to try and not stress about it and just do it.

Today was Kat's last day =( Hannah is off tomorrow, so we are going to have a dry run of working with just the three of us. Today was a really good day. I got on Kite for the first time today, and she was perfect! I am excited to see where she will go from here. The other horse I am starting, Nachi, is going to take a lot longer. Kite was really calm and accepting of everything, but Nachi is scared of everything. She even jumped when I lifted my foot to place it in the stirrup. She is going to take a lot more ground work.

Rezzi's owner, John, came by today too. Beth and I rode both of his horses for him so that he could see how they were coming along. Afterwards, we rode into one of the pastures with a pond so that John could get some pics. When he left, we went for a walk around the pasture. Beth ended up hitting some hotwire, her horse jumped into the pond and almost went into a tree, but Beth managed to stay on. Rezzi saw the whole thing and hardly reacted at all.

I had a pretty good ride on Adeline. I am riding her for the judging program, so I am getting her prepped. I am actually pretty pleased with her because she is round nearly 100% of the time now, and is letting me get in and ride her a bit without having a fit. She is a very sensitive and opinionated mare. We actually did some of our first canter half passes the other day!

Felicity had a little bit of a spill the last time I rode her, so I am trying to build up her trust and confidence again. She needs to work on turning! I am working through that with her on the lunge line. Today I took her out in the field afterwards and did some work out there, and she was very happy. She is such a doll, I can't wait to see the progress in her.

Well, another month has gone by. I really need to update my blog more often. Not just so my family and friends know what is going on with me, but also so that I can keep track of everything that happens! Geez, even at the end of the day we usually look back to what happened in the morning and can't believe it happened in the same day. Mostly we just work a lot, and ride a lot.

We do have 3 new girls, and they are so great! Hannah is 20 and is from New York. She is going to an equestrian college there and is here on internship. She is really sweet and a super hard worker. She has fallen in love with Ammador and is hoping to win the lottery in order to buy him. Today they went cross country jumping, which is something I am not typically brave enough to do. Kat is from Utah, and has worked at a few places before coming here. She imported her horse from Germany, but hasn't brought her here yet. I don't think she is going to, I think she is going to move on to an eventing barn. Erin is here and has brought her horse. She is so great! I love her energy and enthusiasm, it's exactly what I needed. In fact, the other day we decided to ride out in the field after finishing up all our chores, and we ended up riding until 9:00 pm. It was actually pretty nice because it is much cooler at the end of the day.

Luc went home last weekend. You would think I would be sad to lose him, but it has actually been a really great experience. I went to South Carolina with him to help Gilda with him for the first couple days back home. It was nice to be the one to turn him out to pasture. And I have never seen a horse so excited before. He knew he was home, and all his buddies knew it was him coming back, it was very sweet. Gilda sent him to me for training because he was very bratty and scared her a couple of times, including bucking her off. However, he was so well behaved when he got home that not only did Gilda and all her horsey friends notice, but her non-horse husband noticed that he was a different horse. That has been my most rewarding experience so far. Not only that, but I stayed with Gilda and Nick for a couple days at their lovely house and Nick took me to the beach to learn to surf! It was a lot of fun, and even though the second day did not offer ideal conditions (Gilda likened it to a washing machine), I still stood up on the board, and am looking forward to trying it again. I love South Carolina so much, and Gilda and Nick both encouraged me to come as often as I like, that I have decided to try and get up there once a month or so. It will be really good for me as well, since Gilda will be able to set up a few lessons for me to teach while I am up there, so I can make some extra money, as well as get my name known in that area as well, since I think I will probably end up there in a few years.

Now that Luc is gone, I have another horse in training with me. She actually has similar breeding, as she is a Quarter horse cross by Stilleto as well. She is grey, and is named "Kite" because the marking on her forehead looks like a kite. She is only 3 and hasn't been started yet. I had to explain to Jean after she came that I have never started a horse before, but she has confidence in me, which is great. Actually, I am starting 2 horses right now, the other one is Erin's horse, Nachi. Nachi was so wild as a youngster that they resorted to breeding her to see if she would mature and calm down a little. She has really started to trust me, and has actually been pretty easy to work with so far. A LOT of work goes into starting a horse before you actually sit on them for the first time, so it may be a bit before I really get them going, but I try to do at least a little something with them each day.

My riding is improving overall, and Erin even told Jean right in front of me that I was "pretty darn good." In fact, she said that she just got back from teaching a clinic for 3 days, and none of those riders were as good as I was. That really made me feel good. Not only is my riding at the higher levels getting better, but I am getting better at riding the young horses as well. However, I still need improvement there, since young horses are much more unpredictable, and that tends to make me tense up. However, Rezzi, one of my training horses, is only 4, and I feel totally comfortable on him, and he has been coming along really well, so I know that I am getting better in that area as well.

There is so much more to write! But I will have to stop here for now, and will just have to get better at writing more often =)