It's over.

Well, the time has come.  I was busy all day long packing up the truck and trailer, and will leave first thing in the morning.

It seems that the time went by so quickly, but when I think of all that was accomplished I know I couldn't have done that overnight.

All my work with Will and Lily has paid off considering the fact that they both loaded right up and on when I asked them to step up into the trailer this afternoon for a test run.    :)

My time here in Florida, my first winter here, will be remembered for the rest of my life.  I proved to myself that given a little space and peace, I can accomplish a lot. 
I'll head home with a newfound peace and a feeling of excitement about the upcoming summer.  Family, friends and horses.  I'm also looking forward to getting my driving team restarted. 

The people in Florida are friendly and helpful and it's easy to feel at home here.  I've made some great friends.
I know I'll be back here next January. 

I want to thank all of you who followed my journey.  I did this blog mainly for myself, but it felt wonderful to know you were there with me every step along the way wishing me well. 

Virginia, here I come.     :)

Not long now.

Wow, I've been busy boxing up the house and some stuff in the barn.  Tomorrow will be a really busy day getting all the last stuff in my trailer. 

Yesterday, I went to see another prospect place for next winter.  It's wonderful.   The woman is alone and has 25 acres. The farm is kept up well and the apartment in the barn is very spacious and really nice and clean.  There's even a dishwasher. 
But even better is the fact that she's only got four small horses and there's plenty of pasture!  It's quiet and safe, (you have to come through a gate with a code), and I think I'll get along with her very well.   Even though I won't need to work for her I think I'll try to help her in many ways.  She lost her husband to cancer and has no family other than a brother that lives in another state.  She isn't doing so great health wise and has good days and some bad days.

She's a little eccentric but kind.  And she loves animals.  Me too. 

So it'll cost me a little more than it did this year but it's worth it.   I feel very lucky that I can pay a deposit and have them hold it for me for next Jan-April.  She's not far from HITS so I was so happy my eye caught the add the second day it was on the internet.  Trust me, her place would be very poplular.  :)   So I'm all set.

Today, I had a vet come out and give my horses their traveling papers.  No glitches there. 

Then I went for my third and final golf lesson.  Awesome, that's all I can say.  From now on, practice, practice, practice.  I'll miss that guy.  

My landlady invited me out this evening for dinner at a really good pizza place.   She wanted to pay for dinner because of all the work I'd done for her this winter, but I insisted that I pay. 
Yes, I've worked, but she has no idea what she did for me this winter.

By offering her place to me, she got me away from my own farm and the responsibilities that wore me down at times.

I also was able to take care of myself, eat right and get strong.  And, after weighing in this morning, I've lost 20 pounds.

My horses have lost their fat bodies and look amazing.  Will now has straight legs thanks to Jim Crew.  My horses have a true connection with me and it makes me cry.

Being alone here has brought my mind peace and harmony so that I can face my regular world with a newfound happiness.

So.......................... this winter has been a very, very, good thing.
So, I thanked my landlady..... big time. 

Big event, Big rental, Big rain.

The big event was the Live Oak International. It was a USEF Four In Hand National and Gran Prix Jumping SCI 2* competition. 
After chores this morning, I cleaned up and spent most of the day at the event sitting by the water hazard.  Awesome how some of the big timers can negotiate through that stuff.  The horses seem to be so well trained.  Well, I thought that until I started watching the prelims...... I felt a little sorry for most of those ponies and horses.   The drivers just don't seem to be experienced enough to not shout at their horses continually and not jerk them around. 
But still, it was a fun day.
AND... while I was there I discovered a vendor that had harnesses, etc........and they were practically from my own back yard in Virginia!    I'd never heard of the business but the woman is going to come to my house in a couple of weeks and help me measure my team.   :)

This evening I went to a couples place about five miles away as a prospect for next winters getaway.  They have 25 acres and the apartment over the barn is quite spacious and really cute.  The place is not a dump but some of the fences are in need of a little attention. 
The couple that own it work and go to school so I can see why they might not be caught up with things.  There are a few Appaloosas on the place, but not overrun by any means.  Lots of grass and I'd have a very large pasture all to myself with stalls if I need them.
We'll see.  I'm going to look at another place on Monday.

About the time I got back to my current rental it was starting to rain, so I donned my rain gear and went to feed my horses. 
Just as they finished and I put the buckets away, it started to thunder and lightning so I skitted to the house pretty quickly and it poured down like mad.
But it didn't last very long and things are quiet outside now.

I think I'll sleep in tomorrow morning.  I just feel a little tired.
(That's so weird that I seem to feel tired on the days that I don't work hard... what's up with that!?)

A GREAT DAY!

This morning I got up early and got the chores done so I could go to a place that gives carriage rides.  I didn't go to actually go on a drive, but I'd made arrangements to talk to the handlers and owner to get as much information as I can because I'll be starting my driving team when I get home.

They were super friendly and helpful and I learned how to measure for collars and also for harnesses.

The handler, Kim, was getting the horses and carriage ready because a small group were expected.   They arrived early and I helped Kim pull the wagon up and watched very closely as she hooked up. 

The owner walked up and suggested that I go on the drive and see how Kim handles the team, etc.  So she then turned around and told the crowd that I'd be assisting the driver today.  LOL  I thought that was funny seeing as how I hadn't even been there that long. 

But of course the group were city folks and they didn't know the difference.  On the entire ride I listened to Kim tell the folks all about the area and the people who own the beautiful farms we were driving through.

Then she told us that the horses that were pulling us were actually famous...  If you saw the last and most recent Pirates of the Caribbean movie, one of the opening scenes is of two black horses pulling a wagon up fast into a castle. 
So good old Duke and Doc were the horses they used in that movie.   They were flown to Puerto Rico at the last minute when the producers other contacts didn't work out.   I remember visiting that castle-like place when my family and I took a cruise from Puerto Rico years ago.
How cool is that.  :)

Later today I had a Parelli instructor come.  This is the first time I've ever asked an instructor to come to where I am and help me. 

I'm so proud of what I've accomplished this winter because the instructor told me what she saw, and what she saw was what I was hoping she would see. 

She helped me shim the saddle for Lily which I was struggling with.  It's not perfect because of the way Lily moves.   Even though she's cantering at liberty more fluidly, she still moves with a stiff body when on line.
This instructor had a couple of good exercises she shared with me to loosen her body up.  So I had her blowing out really quickly.   Love that. 

She also shared a pattern I can do with Will which will move him right along.  She thought I was ready and should be doing much more, so I'm thrilled with that.

I ended the day sharing smores in front of a campfire with my landlady.   An absolutely beautiful evening and sunset.

   :)

I can't believe that my time here is almost complete...I'm leaving for home in seven days. 

New friends.

I didn't get to play with the horses yesterday.   There were projects I tried to do, like weed whack, but the darn thing wouldn't start.  Nothing I tried made it even budge. 

So I took fans apart, cleaned them and put them back together.

I mowed the playground which took quite a while.

After lunch, and after trying to start the weed whacker again to no avail, I went to start mowing between the paddocks.  I only got about 50 feet and the engine died.  It was out of gas.  And the two gas containers were empty.  So I gave up
and did some cleaning of my tack area and did inventory of what I would be packing up this weekend. 

I quit early and went in to shower and make it over to a meeting in Ocala at the home of the regional dressage clubs presidents home.  (Wow, that's a heck of a sentence.)

I'd called her because the couple that my husband and I met in the restaurant gave me her number.  She's got a guest apartment and I called and did an inquiry.  She invited me over for the clubs meeting as they were celebrating three years of the clubs existence.

What wonderful people they all were.  Believe it or not, I'm going to join the club.  They're all about friendship and fun with horses... and it's not just about dressage....they embrace combined training and trail riders too!

I felt warm and fuzzy being around all of them and even got to watch their guest speaker who was a horse massage therapist.  I learned lots.   I may even have that person out here to do my horses if I have time. 

At any rate, it was a wonderful evening and I've made a few friends.  They invited me to join them at the big driving show this weekend.  So we're all meeting up early Saturday morning to stake out our place near the water hazard. 
I was going to attend that show anyway, but now I have friends to do it with.  Too cool.

I didn't get home until 9:30 and I had to change clothes so I could go out and feed and move the horses into their night-time paddock.   All they cared about was getting their dinner and hay. 

I did chores this morning and then went to have my second golf lesson.  It was as great as the first.  I'm learning lots!
Hopefully this will be the year I may actually play bogey golf. That's my goal anyway.   I have lots of practice to do before that can happen, but one can always dream.    :)

Boring work, but great horse time.

Mowing and picking lots and lots of poo today, but after lunch I did horse time and it was great.

Today was a test and they passed with flying colors.   I pretended that I'd been riding them for years and saddled them up and headed out to the playground. 

I'm just amazed at how little they need for warmup now. 
They're immediately licking and chewing and asking questions.   "What do you want now mom?"    :)

Lily was doing her best today.  Staying LB and and she finally got how to come and get me on the pedestal perfectly.  

Will was wonderful.  This is becoming normal for him.  Who knew that LB lug would love to make me happy.   :)

And it doesn't stop after the saddle comes off.  They follow me around everywhere. 
Liberty is getting really good with both of them too.

Sigh..... this may be a boring entry but I'm really happy.

A really scary moment.

I've considered myself a good and safe horseman for some time now.   I try to be as safe as possible, but something happened day before yesterday that I could not foresee.

Will was saddled and I'd been doing point to point with him.  He was doing very well and when he bee-lined it to the fence corner just from my focus only, I decided that we'd end the session right then and there. 

So, I gathered my rein and mane in my left hand, put my right hand on the horn, leaned forward, and at the same time brought both feet out of the stirrups and jumped out of the saddle to land on both feet.  Just like I always do.   I've done it hundreds of times. 

But this time, as I leaned forward, my belt caught on the horn.  I found myself hanging on the side of my horse.  All my weight was on the horn.  I was too far down to try to throw a leg back on.  Plus I was afraid this would spook him, the effort would have to be gigantic.

A full second didn't go by until I knew I was in trouble.  I couldn't go up and I couldn't go down.  All of my weight was beginning to pull the saddle down.  If that happened and he freaked I was gonna be toast.  My mind was working so fast as to what to do.  I told myself not to freak out....think damit!

It was useless, the only thing I could do was try to go up and heave myself high enough to get the buckle off the horn. 
I would just have to deal with whatever he did.  I had to make the effort huge because I figured I only had one shot.

I have two things to say.........

Thank goodness that I've been working out and am in shape...

And I'm so freakin proud of my horse and I now love him more than ever. 

He was already thinking "What the hell?", but when I heaved myself up and jerked the belt off he didn't move.  His head came up like "Holy Shit!" .... but he never moved and as soon as I was on the ground he acted like nothing had happened even though the saddle had been pulled off kilter.

Disaster averted.   I've lost 18 pounds since I've been here.  But old habits die hard and I'd still been putting my belt on the same hole as I always have.   

Rest assured my belt got tightened up four holes.  And I will NOT forget.



I did a lot of dirty work today... the yard debris dumpster is officially full.   Just about the time I got Will tacked up in the bareback pad and I was on him walking around, it started to rain.   I didn't care at first, but then I realized that the pad was leather.  Crap.   So I jumped off, took it off and turned it inside out and carried it under my arm while I opened the gate for Lily to follow us to the barn. 

I fed them in the rain, made sure they had plenty of hay and water, and headed for the house.   It was really hard to strip because my clothes were wet and sticking to me.

Man, did that shower feel good. 

Unexpected addition to my day.

Well, those thunderstorms wreaked havoc on the fenceline.  I had to go next door yesterday and borrow the neighbors chainsaw.   I got a really huge branch cut up into smaller pieces that I could lift and got it all hauled away to the dumpster.

Then it was a real chore for me to hand saw the boards and get the fence repaired.  It wasn't easy holding up the sixteen foot boards and pushing into them in order to get the nails pounded in.   That branch just HAD to fall on a curved part of the fence.  Sigh......

Next, I weedeated for two hours.... my hands were buzzing for another twenty minutes after I stopped. 

After going to the gas station for more gas, I mowed with the new bagger on the back of the riding lawn mower.  I hate that thing.  It throws dust and dirt everywhere.  My bathwater looked like soup because I was so dirty yesterday.  Ugh.

On a brighter note, after work I played with and rode Will.
Will miracles never cease.... he was an angel!   So, my ride didn't last very long.  I always love to end of a good note so he'll give more of himself the next day.  I even took him into the yard to graze all the green grass to his hearts content.

Lily was jealous and looked longingly over the fence.  If she does really well today, I'll probably let her do the same thing. 

The joint supplement I've been giving them is working because I noticed yesterday that Lily is moving alot more fluidly when she canters.   :)

Off to do chores.  I think I'll quit a little early today.  My landlady has been gone a couple of days and I'm feeling the need for civilization.   A trip into town might be in order. 

:)

Horses yesterday, golf today.

I had an interested session with Lily yesterday.  I've taken her out and played with the saddle on for over a week now and I've only had her do the usual stuff at walk and trot. 
But I wanted to get on her and not just bend her and so on, I knew I was going to ask her to move.  So when I put the saddle on her I "really" looked at it from all angles and told myself that the front of the saddle should be sitting higher.

I got her done up and we went out to warm up.  Since I was going to be riding I asked for a canter.  She backed her ears and started crow hopping.  (shock, she's never done this!)

I said "game over" and had her come to me.  I'd put a couple of shim between the pad and saddle just to test.  Well, I should have done that I suppose, but the really bad thing was I'd put the pad on upside down.  I've never done that before....how could I do that... what a dummy.

I fixed everything and put the shims inside.  No more ears back or crow hopping.  How interesting.

The problem wasn't fixed however.  Every time she cantered, the saddle slipped forward over her withers.

I took that pad and saddle off four different times with four different ways to shim.  None worked. 
Phooey.  Now what?
Guess I'll have to see if I can get a local instructor here to help me figure this one out.  I thought I knew how to gauge a horses topline and shim properly.  Guess I thought wrong.

I didnt' play today because by the time I got home from my golf lesson, (which was awesome by the way) the clouds were looming.  And as I write this I hear thunder so I'm going to head outside real fast and feed and get them bedded down for the night.

Later yall. 

Back to being horse and normal work busy.

My husband left yesterday around mid morning.  He took C.C. with him and it's so nice now that I can leave my boots outside to dry and they won't get chewed on.   And I won't get jumped on because she's so glad to seem me.

We had a good time while her was here.  Now it's back to working for my landlady and getting more horse time in. 
I'm also going to try to get back to my daily workouts.  Miraculously I haven't gained but a pound or so since he got here. 

After he left, I headed into town because I needed supplies and groceries.  I also stopped at an antique mall I've been seeing and driving past for a couple months.  It was worth it to stop as I picked up a few really cute things and also some gifts for people.
One of the things I picked up in town was some solvent... a bug and tar remover kinda stuff.  My husband and I purchased some fence boards and brought them home in my truck.  Who knew those boards would have fresh creosote, (yes, they sell creosote boards in Florida),  and that nasty stuff got all over my truck.  Hopefully, this solvent will get it off.  Yuck.

The landlady purchased a big bagger for the riding lawnmower and we spent half the morning trying to put it together to no avail.  There's one metal rod that won't fit so we can screw it down.  I'm going to take it to the John Deere place and let them deal with it this afternoon. Horse time after that.

My landlady is leaving for southern Florida for a few days so I'll be here to look after the place.  Her daughter is going to feed her horses so I don't have to deal with that

Beautiful weather we're going to have this week.  :)

A good start to the weekend.

After doing chores and rehanging some stall gates and scooping up yet more manure off the playground, my husband and I got all cleaned up and spiffy and went into Ocala to that very nice restaurant that the three of us went to last time he was here. 

The second time was just as good as the first.  Oh man, is that food good!

But the lucky and most pleasant thing was that the small table right next to us housed a small animal vet and his wife who are the next door neighbors to the "Petty's".   Not the Pettys as in the race car Petty's, but the Pettys as in "quarter horses" Pettys.    :)

They said that the Pettys have an apartment in their barn and have plenty of property.   They are going to talk to the Pettys about maybe me living there next winter. !!

How cool is that!

A lazy day today.  We went out for a late breakfast and now my husband's watching basketball on TV.   For the first time in a long time, I think I'm going to try and take a nap.  Maybe I'll be successful.

Then, if I wake up in time, I may go play with a horse.... if it doesn't rain.  It's been threatening all day. 

Hope you're all having a good weekend.

Raining

So my husband and I are in the house trying to figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the day.  (He's practicing his trumpet at the moment.)

We've been having a great time.  We do work most mornings, then I play with the horses and he keeps an eye on me. 

We went to see "The Artist" together.

Yesterday, after chores we went and played golf.  I actually had a pretty darn good round.  I'll figure out my new driver soon I hope.

Since it's raining, there'll be no horse time today. 

And I won't bore you with all the little chores we've been doing around here such as weed whacking, rehanging stall gates, etc. 

Later gators.

Time is flying by!

I can't believe how fast the time is flying by here.  I think it's only been a couple of days since I've posted only to realize it's much longer!

Not that any of you are waiting with baited breath or anything but I do apologize.  

At last Tuesday's yoga class I invited my Canadian Parelli instructor friend, my landlady, and her daughter to come and have dinner and play some cards with me this past Friday. 
So that was a good kick in my pants to get the house fully clean.   I needed to do it anyway. 

They all arrived and I cooked spaghetti and meatballs with garlic toast, garlicky cooked mushrooms and salad. 
My landlady brought some little tarts and they ate them with the ice cream my husband left in my freezer when he was here last time.

We were talking and laughing so much that we never did even think about playing cards. 
Nobody stayed really late because all of us had to get up and get things done so we could all go to a fundraiser for a Parelli instructor named Jerry Williams. 
He had a head injury and still isn't quite right so they're trying to raise money so he can go to Washington DC and get some help.

Lots of instructors were giving their talent away for this event and it was just great to see so many people come and support him.   I got brushed up on several knots I'd forgotten how to tie also. 
Dancing Pete had everyone doing great games to teach how to "go with the flow".
Lots of great items were donated for the raffle.  I bought some tickets and I hope I win one of those great items.  We don't have to be present to win so I hope I get a call later today.   :)
I did make a donation and bought some garage sale items also.

They're out there again today doing the same thing but I didn't go because my hubby arrived about two hours ago. 
C.C. was so very happy to see him and he couldn't even get over to me to hug me because it was all about her.  Hehe...it took five minutes of paying attention to her and settling her down before he could give me a proper hug.  :)

He'll be here all week and I'm looking forward to it.  

I was awakened around 4:30 this morning by a heck of a storm.   I looked out the back window and the light out there showed me that the rain was going sideways!   Unfortunately, it was driving the rain into C.C.'s doghouse.   So I blocked off a small area for her next to the washing machine and dryer in the house for her to spend the rest of the night.   
I'd just gotten her settled inside when the electricity went off. 
Phooey.   My landlady has ticking clocks all over the house and here I am at 4:50 in the morning trying to get back to sleep with no avail.   I always use a fan set on low to have some white noise to block all the noises out, but with no electricity........

Finally, at 6:30 a.m. the fan came back on and I got back to sleep.   
Paul wants to go eat at a seafood place tonight so I bet I'll eat a little more than usual so I also bet I'll sleep really well and hard tonight.  

The storm brought in cooler weather.... once again, I blamed it on my husband's arrival. 

Oh well, it'll warm up again very soon.  

No horse time the past couple of days but they've been wearing a saddle for their play times this past week.  This coming week will be the first time I'll actually be mounting up.  
If all my play on the ground has been done correctly it should go as smoothly as silk.

We shall see.