Didn't get what you wanted this Christmas? Have no fear, I have the perfect gift you can get for yourself...a tea cup piglet! I suppose their upside is that they don't shed or claw the furniture. Aside from that they seem an odd pet choice.
For Christmas I got a sick horse and a kick to the head. It was great. Oh, I also got a really nice camera from Rob, and a lovely necklace from my parents. Wait...come to think of it, Dexter gave me the camera...(I think he wants to make sure he doesn't get sent for glue seeing as he is not rideable any time soon). The cats gave me an Air Purifier, and Ginger gave me things for the CRV.
Ginger got TWO balls for Christmas. One squeaks. And squeaks. And squeaks. Ginger can make it squeak in the most pitiful manner if you opt to not throw it for her or want her to stop squeaking it for a while....it may have to be banned from the house.
Poor Rob had all sorts of plans for the week, but it looks like he is stuck helping me in the barn during the times Natalie is not out until I am fully functional again. We were both thrilled to spend most of the morning/afternoon in the hospital. Apparently neck injuries get you in fast though. I think it helped that I wore a turtleneck too, as I had to take it off to get the neck brace on, and so of course I needed to be in a room, and I think once you are in a room they want you out of that room as soon as possible. Or maybe it was because I smelled like a barn and likely had bad morning breath too....
I saw irony in the nurse having to drip Children's Motrin into my mouth via a syringe...it even smelled a little like bute. Although I always offer the horse's a treat after being given bute...the nurse did not!
Thanks to Nicole, Laureen and Carolyn (tamara's mom) for helping out today!
And the sick horse seems to be getting better, so fingers crossed for her too. It doesn't seem like anything contagious, just some odd, albeit mild, symptoms....that of course had to show up on Christmas morning. I am sure Lana (our vet) was thrilled to hear from me on Christmas day!
I hope you all had a great Christmas though!
Karen
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Anyone else have this problem?
So why am I planning to be out shopping on Christmas Eve Eve? Because I have a significant other who goes out and buys himself gifts on the week before Christmas. And not obscure things, but something he had been talking about wanting.
Isn't there an unwritten rule about not buying things for yourself in the week before Christmas?
But I have learned from past years, that this is the case, so off I will go later today to fight the crowds to finish my shopping.
As an aside, I didn't think there was a good toy store in Sherwood Park, but the Laugh n' Learn on baseline near Save-On has some pretty cool stuff!
I hope everyone else is done there shopping so they can sit back and enjoy the holidays!
Karen
Isn't there an unwritten rule about not buying things for yourself in the week before Christmas?
But I have learned from past years, that this is the case, so off I will go later today to fight the crowds to finish my shopping.
As an aside, I didn't think there was a good toy store in Sherwood Park, but the Laugh n' Learn on baseline near Save-On has some pretty cool stuff!
I hope everyone else is done there shopping so they can sit back and enjoy the holidays!
Karen
Monday, December 20, 2010
Finally a Christmas party when it isn't 30 below out! Thank you to everyone who came, and I hope that all of you who spent the day at home sick are feeling better soon.
Miranda won the match the poopy stall contest, and we had a three way tie for the "which horse is this" contest where I took close up shots of certain distinctive parts of horses and had people try to match it with the horse. Three people got 7 out of ten, with Kelsey winning in a draw. (Clare and Joan were the other two top finishers I think). I still have the poster in the barn if anyone else wants to see if they can make a guess.
We might need a bigger barn for next year's party!
Yesterday I spent the day judging an in barn show at Cholchester. They had a variety of classes including dressage, hunter, western, english, command class, and showmanship. It was a long day with the judged classes going from 9 to 4:40, but we managed to stay close to on time.
Judging dressage was harder than I expected, particularly in a small ring, as the different moves happen so quickly that it is hard to find time to make a comment on one move, while still watching/judging the next move. The first level tests were the worst as they way they have some of the scoring isn't even in the same order as the movement; The rider has to do a free walk a short diagonal, then turn fairly sharply and do a medium walk across the next short diagonal....yet the score card has you mark the free walk, then the medium walk, THEN the transition between the two...which is followed right away by a score for a trot and canter transition, and then another score for a canter circle...comes up way to quickly! Thank goodness my scribe was on the ball.
I am surprised to find though, that I am SORE from judging! How pathetic is that? Standing for that long or sitting on a hard bleacher is apparently harder than cleaning stalls and riding all day. if I judge jumping there again, I must remember a seat cushion!
Karen
Miranda won the match the poopy stall contest, and we had a three way tie for the "which horse is this" contest where I took close up shots of certain distinctive parts of horses and had people try to match it with the horse. Three people got 7 out of ten, with Kelsey winning in a draw. (Clare and Joan were the other two top finishers I think). I still have the poster in the barn if anyone else wants to see if they can make a guess.
We might need a bigger barn for next year's party!
Yesterday I spent the day judging an in barn show at Cholchester. They had a variety of classes including dressage, hunter, western, english, command class, and showmanship. It was a long day with the judged classes going from 9 to 4:40, but we managed to stay close to on time.
Judging dressage was harder than I expected, particularly in a small ring, as the different moves happen so quickly that it is hard to find time to make a comment on one move, while still watching/judging the next move. The first level tests were the worst as they way they have some of the scoring isn't even in the same order as the movement; The rider has to do a free walk a short diagonal, then turn fairly sharply and do a medium walk across the next short diagonal....yet the score card has you mark the free walk, then the medium walk, THEN the transition between the two...which is followed right away by a score for a trot and canter transition, and then another score for a canter circle...comes up way to quickly! Thank goodness my scribe was on the ball.
I am surprised to find though, that I am SORE from judging! How pathetic is that? Standing for that long or sitting on a hard bleacher is apparently harder than cleaning stalls and riding all day. if I judge jumping there again, I must remember a seat cushion!
Karen
Thursday, December 16, 2010
When I was young I remember there being a lot of snow before Christmas. I only remember one "green" Christmas in my childhood...and being a kid, not having snow was such a disappointment! Lately though, it is seemed that December is just as likely to have grass still showing as not...and as an adult it is such a pain in the butt to have so much snow while doing Christmas running around! Amazing how a few decades of age can change perception so much. I guess the skiers and snowmobilers are likely happy though...and kids under the age of 12!
Natalie and I decorated the barn yesterday; Flair was not impressed by the little Christmas tree. Not sure if her silliness was due to her knowledge that trees do NOT belong in the barn, or if she was making a commentary about our decorating skills...everybody is a critic. Milo on the other hand seemed oddly disinterested in the garland and Christmas balls. What sort of cat isn't fascinated by shiny objects?
Speaking of cats, our stray has a name now; Rolo. You may have seen Rolo without knowing it; he is a tabby so can be mistaken for Milo at first glance, but he is a little fluffier, and a lighter coloured tabby with more white on his chin and chest. Rolo is also likely to be the fattest stray cat you will ever see. We feed our stray cats well.
I am hoping that if the weather stays cold he will move on to our covered deck as Milo did a couple years ago, and we can catch him that way and get him looked after at the vets. I think Rolo is a true feral cat though, and not an abandoned pet who was pretending to be wild like Milo.
I know the roads have kept many of you safe at home, but fear not, the horses are doing well and seem to be enjoying playing in the snow...well except Lily who cannot comprehend what she did to deserve this, and Brie who didn't want to leave her shelter all day yesterday despite being fully covered in a fluffy blanket.
I like the idea of the full neck blankets on windy and snow days like yesterday, so I am slowly trying to outfit the lesson horses with new neck covering blankets. So far Zander and Rocket have been the lucky recipients of new blankets. Zander was less than thrilled as he ended up being allergic to the blanket I got for him....fortunately he is not allergic to his new blanket, and the one I bought for him has been passed to Rocket. Of course a side effect of the full neck blankets is that the horse's name will be pressed flat...is Rocket still Rocket if his mane is not standing straight up? I hope his super powers are not contained in his spikes....
karen
Natalie and I decorated the barn yesterday; Flair was not impressed by the little Christmas tree. Not sure if her silliness was due to her knowledge that trees do NOT belong in the barn, or if she was making a commentary about our decorating skills...everybody is a critic. Milo on the other hand seemed oddly disinterested in the garland and Christmas balls. What sort of cat isn't fascinated by shiny objects?
Speaking of cats, our stray has a name now; Rolo. You may have seen Rolo without knowing it; he is a tabby so can be mistaken for Milo at first glance, but he is a little fluffier, and a lighter coloured tabby with more white on his chin and chest. Rolo is also likely to be the fattest stray cat you will ever see. We feed our stray cats well.
I am hoping that if the weather stays cold he will move on to our covered deck as Milo did a couple years ago, and we can catch him that way and get him looked after at the vets. I think Rolo is a true feral cat though, and not an abandoned pet who was pretending to be wild like Milo.
I know the roads have kept many of you safe at home, but fear not, the horses are doing well and seem to be enjoying playing in the snow...well except Lily who cannot comprehend what she did to deserve this, and Brie who didn't want to leave her shelter all day yesterday despite being fully covered in a fluffy blanket.
I like the idea of the full neck blankets on windy and snow days like yesterday, so I am slowly trying to outfit the lesson horses with new neck covering blankets. So far Zander and Rocket have been the lucky recipients of new blankets. Zander was less than thrilled as he ended up being allergic to the blanket I got for him....fortunately he is not allergic to his new blanket, and the one I bought for him has been passed to Rocket. Of course a side effect of the full neck blankets is that the horse's name will be pressed flat...is Rocket still Rocket if his mane is not standing straight up? I hope his super powers are not contained in his spikes....
karen
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
This week in lessons...
This week in lessons we are working on Broken Lines and different ways to ride them. Hopefully the snow we are supposed to get today doesn't make it hard to get to the barn!
We are also doing a little work on Counter Canter.
...
Christmas Party Update: Thanks in part to Tudor Tack Shoppe, we will have Door Prizes at the Christmas Party. Names of clients that come to the party will be drawn throughout the afternoon to win one of 10 or so horsey prizes! If you have any questions about the party, post them in comments, give me a call, or send me an email! Anyone who has been a Hillside Client in 2010 is welcome to come, as are family members!
Karen
We are also doing a little work on Counter Canter.
...
Christmas Party Update: Thanks in part to Tudor Tack Shoppe, we will have Door Prizes at the Christmas Party. Names of clients that come to the party will be drawn throughout the afternoon to win one of 10 or so horsey prizes! If you have any questions about the party, post them in comments, give me a call, or send me an email! Anyone who has been a Hillside Client in 2010 is welcome to come, as are family members!
Karen
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wow, it is actually looking like it might be warm for the Hillside Christmas Party on Saturday! That would be nice for a change...
Went to Rob's work Christmas party on the weekend. I like dressing up, but hate the late nights, particularly with Flair needing medication that takes a fair bit of time to give at night. It is just no fun staying up late when I have to be up before 7 each morning. Fortunately Rob has a cold so didn't want to stay late for this one, so we had planned to be home at a decent time...but the company held us hostage with the lure of door prizes! Not not just any door prizes, they had big screen TVs, a fancy Bar-B-Que, Blue Ray players and so on... and they dragged out the draws....draw a few tickets, then give some speaches. Draw a few more, then have some loud music playing for dancing (music from the 70's it seemed....). But the lure of the big ticket items held us captive even though I was pretty much falling asleep on Rob's shoulders. But did we win any of the 50+ door prizes? Nope...and neither did anyone at our table.
The most entertaining part of the evening was the eclectic mix of outfits; from people in jeans and a sweater, to the girl in a short black dress with BRIGHT PINK high heels. Then there was the girl with the veil. Who wears a veil? Looked cool, but out of place.
I escaped the music briefly by making a run to the ladies room...which I thought would be a nice quiet place, but this girl was having a very loud conversation while sitting in a stall, with two people at the sink...two people she apparently didn't even know! (she was complaining about the prize she won...she was bitter she won something before the TV's had been given out). I found the toilet talking very odd. Maybe she was trying to talk over whatever she was doing in the stall?
And it seems my Luminosity training to help with remembering names isn't helping so far...I only remembered 4 names from the party...unlike in the games, I can't really sit and just stare at someone for a minute to try to figure out how to remember their name. Fortunately I am unlikely to come across most of those people anytime soon! Still, I would like to be able to remember people's names as well as I do horse's names!
Karen
Went to Rob's work Christmas party on the weekend. I like dressing up, but hate the late nights, particularly with Flair needing medication that takes a fair bit of time to give at night. It is just no fun staying up late when I have to be up before 7 each morning. Fortunately Rob has a cold so didn't want to stay late for this one, so we had planned to be home at a decent time...but the company held us hostage with the lure of door prizes! Not not just any door prizes, they had big screen TVs, a fancy Bar-B-Que, Blue Ray players and so on... and they dragged out the draws....draw a few tickets, then give some speaches. Draw a few more, then have some loud music playing for dancing (music from the 70's it seemed....). But the lure of the big ticket items held us captive even though I was pretty much falling asleep on Rob's shoulders. But did we win any of the 50+ door prizes? Nope...and neither did anyone at our table.
The most entertaining part of the evening was the eclectic mix of outfits; from people in jeans and a sweater, to the girl in a short black dress with BRIGHT PINK high heels. Then there was the girl with the veil. Who wears a veil? Looked cool, but out of place.
I escaped the music briefly by making a run to the ladies room...which I thought would be a nice quiet place, but this girl was having a very loud conversation while sitting in a stall, with two people at the sink...two people she apparently didn't even know! (she was complaining about the prize she won...she was bitter she won something before the TV's had been given out). I found the toilet talking very odd. Maybe she was trying to talk over whatever she was doing in the stall?
And it seems my Luminosity training to help with remembering names isn't helping so far...I only remembered 4 names from the party...unlike in the games, I can't really sit and just stare at someone for a minute to try to figure out how to remember their name. Fortunately I am unlikely to come across most of those people anytime soon! Still, I would like to be able to remember people's names as well as I do horse's names!
Karen
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Brie
Had some fun trying something new with Brie today.
It was harder than I thought; Brie was good, but perhaps I should have started out by practicing flatwork without a bridle before attempting to jump without one. The tricky part was knowing what to do with my hands; when I would pull left, the neck rope would slide left and I didn't know what to do with my right hand and vice versa. The other tricky part was steering with leg but not having her interpret that as an invitation to go forward.
She is a super fun mare who tolerates my foibles well. Hopefully we can find her a great home that appreciates her and will treat her in the manner to which she deserves!
Karen
It was harder than I thought; Brie was good, but perhaps I should have started out by practicing flatwork without a bridle before attempting to jump without one. The tricky part was knowing what to do with my hands; when I would pull left, the neck rope would slide left and I didn't know what to do with my right hand and vice versa. The other tricky part was steering with leg but not having her interpret that as an invitation to go forward.
She is a super fun mare who tolerates my foibles well. Hopefully we can find her a great home that appreciates her and will treat her in the manner to which she deserves!
Karen
Monday, December 6, 2010
This week in lessons
This week in lessons we are working on:
1) Bending lines.
2) Trot and canter cavaletti grids (to improve gaits and rider balance)
It will be fun.
Karen
1) Bending lines.
2) Trot and canter cavaletti grids (to improve gaits and rider balance)
It will be fun.
Karen
Ginger
Poor Ginger had been behaving oddly of late. Looking sad and mopey. Alternatively staring at me like I should do something to help her, and shunning me. I thought she was in mourning over the loss of Mike as the timing fit. But no, she was in mourning for the loss of her green ball. She is now revived, rejuvenated, and regingerfied with the purchase of a new green ball...one that mercifully does not squeak. She even slept with it a few nights.
She even picked the ball over a visiting puppy. If only we could all find completeness and happiness in such a simple (and cheap) way.
I should learn and stock up on balls though...hopefully this one isn't left in the snow to hide until spring...
Karen
She even picked the ball over a visiting puppy. If only we could all find completeness and happiness in such a simple (and cheap) way.
I should learn and stock up on balls though...hopefully this one isn't left in the snow to hide until spring...
Karen
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Party!
The Hillside Christmas Party is scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday December 18th, from 2-4 pm. As per usual we will have a secret Santa gift exchange ($22 value), Hillside trivia contests for prizes, and a snack type potluck with Hillside providing the drinks, plates and cutlery. We are also hoping to arrange to have samples of our logo wear for people to try on for size in case they wish to place an order. We will also be discussing our show schedule for 2011.
The party is open to all Hillside Clients and friends, as well as their families. We have lots of new clients this year and want to give everyone the opportunity to get to know each other!
Hope to see you then!
Oh...and it tends to be -30 on the day of our Christmas party so plan for a cold weekend!
Karen
The party is open to all Hillside Clients and friends, as well as their families. We have lots of new clients this year and want to give everyone the opportunity to get to know each other!
Hope to see you then!
Oh...and it tends to be -30 on the day of our Christmas party so plan for a cold weekend!
Karen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
