Yet more crazy changes

So... if you read this blog regularly, or even if you only stop by once in a while, it may seem like my life is insane and all I do is bounce around like a lunatic. This would, in fact, be the case. Maybe it wouldn't seem so crazy if I updated more often, but in truth it probably still would...

Anyway a million things have happened since my last update. I am back in BC, working on settling in at a new place in Cloverdale. Somehow I find myself working a ridiculous job that was supposed to be a part-time, low pressure kinda thing, but instead is turning out to be 5 days a week and crazy. I'm not happy about it (the pay is abysmal) but for some reason I am reluctant to walk away and find something else. Who knows what will happen with that. In the meantime at least it's evenings and weekends so I get to spend my days with the boys... can't complain about that.

More importantly, on the horse front, I have several pieces of news that are much more interesting than my career (or lack thereof :D ) First, just as I was coming back to BC, Jessy asked if she could have miss Moira back. I was thrilled to say OF COURSE!! So they are back together and happy as clams. Moira looks great, I can't wait to see them showing again. Some pics of the SuperPony:

In other news, I myself am getting back into riding again too, and I am beyond thrilled :) When I first came back here, about 2-1/2 months ago, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't want to own a horse, I definitely don't want that kind of responsibility right now. But I didn't really want to do a part lease or something, or even a free lease. I decided to just kind of look around and hope the right opportunity would present itself. And it has :)

A very nice lady approached me about riding her horse, a 16.1hh appendix QH gelding. Now as you probably already know, QHs are not my thing... I have spent the last several years with Arabs and TBs, particularly the hot and crazy ones. So needless to say I jumped at the chance! :D

 This is Rocky, and he is adorable as heck, and SO MUCH FUN to ride. I don't have to constantly worry that my horse is going to spook out from under me. He does what I ask, when I ask it - usually, lol. It's a strange and wonderful feeling!

How strange to ride a horse that's already trained, that doesn't have issues I have to overcome. Plus, he's just so cute!

Rocky with his brother Harley. Love! <3

Anyway... we are already planning to go to the Willoughby Saddle Club show at CVP on July 22nd. I can't describe how excited I am. If you recall, my last show was a dressage show on Gia that left me so dejected I thought about not showing again. To be able to just go and show without worrying is going to be such a treat.

All in all, there has been so much change that it overwhelms me often. It's getting better with time but I still have my good days and bad days. I am trying very hard not to focus on what I have lost, and instead look at this is a chance to start over and do what I really want. I'm trying to stay positive. I'm also very, very grateful for everything in my life, positive AND negative. It's what makes us who we are.

Hopefully I will be able to update more often, can't wait to document my progress with Rocky (going to start him over fences soon, maybe we can even do some horse trials next year!), and this blog has been seriously lacking in recipes lately ;) Wish me luck!

Welcome to Jumperland

Calgary is famous for the Stampede, a huge rodeo held every year. But if you know me, you know that I couldn't care less about rodeo... or cowboys... or country music (shudder). Instead, I am thrilled to now live so close to Spruce Meadows, a world-renowned show jumping facility that I have seen a million times on TV but never once dreamed I'd be able to actually visit.



I was able to actually go to the Masters, a huge international show at Spruce, last fall. Going there was overwhelmingly amazing. I didn't expect to be able to get so close to these riders who have always been my idols. Even the arena seating... you can actually sit right on the wall to the arena just like any other horse show. I wasn't expecting that.

At any rate, having Spruce as such an integral part of Calgary's identity means that the vast majority of english riders out here are jumpers. And I do mean the VAST majority. I personally am not a jumper rider, I've been almost exclusively a dressage rider for many years now. Dressage is a passion of mine. I evented in my younger years and it was fun, and Gia and I were heading toward the hunters, but it has never been my "thing". In the last several years I haven't jumped any higher than 2'6", and other than eventing (which I did through Training level which I believe is 3'3"), I have never competed in a jumper class. I've shown hunters, but never jumpers unless it was the show jumping phase of an event. And I haven't evented since 2001 or so.

So, needless to say, I am a big weenie when it comes to jumping :D

I have met up with a great group of ladies out here who all compete in the jumpers at various levels from 2' all the way up to actually competing at Spruce. Over the last few weeks I've ridden a variety of horses which has increased my confidence level greatly. They put on a weekly jumping lesson on Thursday evenings which has been a blast, and has really pushed me beyond my comfort zone, with various levels of success.


Robin and Sam at a recent jumper show



Me and Wall-E, my normal jumper night buddy

When in the midst of a group of riders, it's much easier to be brave :) While I've had my bad days (my last jumper night consisted of convincing three - count 'em, THREE - different horses that refusing was the best option), in general I've impressed myself by at least PRETENDING to not be nervous over jumps that I would never attempt on my own. Not that they were major, but when you haven't jumped in years, a 2'6" brush box is a pretty scary thing.

So I guess I am officially becoming a member of Jumperland, after many years in Dressageville. The other major surprise?



This is Stella. AKA Red Stilettos. And she's my birthday present.

How did this happen?? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure :) I had no intention of getting back into horse ownership so soon after moving. I am not nearly settled here yet! But here we are, and how can I complain? She is just so lovely. She's a 16-ish hh TB mare, 8 years old (if I recall). She was bought at auction, dumped by someone who really did a number on her. She's quite an anxious mare, expecting to be punished when she's ridden. Luckily my experience with Gia (and many other hot horses before her) makes me the perfect type of rider for horses like this. (Which is good because that always seems to be the type of horse I end up with, lol...)

I can't wait to see what we accomplish! Right now my goal with her is just getting her to realize that I'm not going to ask her anything she can't handle. I see lots and lots of boring trotting in our future, until she realizes she has nothing to worry about. And then... we'll see!

I will, of course, follow her progress here on the blog. A chestnut TB mare? Should be an interesting ride :)

Change... will do you good

Guess it's kind of a good thing I named this blog "No Time to Blog"... that way, when I go months without updating, the title kind of explains why? :)

Yes? No?

Well, it HAS been months since I updated. And so much has changed!

I find myself in a very strange place. Where it is flat and dry and always sunny. And coooold.



Obviously I am no longer in BC. I'm actually in Calgary, AB, and if you'd have told me this time last year that I would be here, I'd have laughed like a loon. You DO realize it gets down to -20, sometimes even -30 in Calgary? And the snow...? And the wind....? No thanks!

And yet... here I am. I've been here almost a week now. Luckily, the weather has been quite welcoming so far, sitting between 5 and 10 degrees during the day, and between 0 and -5 at night. And beautifully sunny.

Other than the weather, it hasn't been entirely smooth sailing... when I arrived I was greeted with a plumbing problem so bad (so indescribably, disgustingly horribly bad) that, for the first 3 days we didn't have a shower and the toilet only barely worked, and then on the 4th day the toilet gave up altogether and we were effectively bathroom-less for about 36 hours. Needless to say I was a bit freaked out over this.

But it has been fixed and everything has been scrubbed with superpower-strength, harsh toxic chemicals within an inch of its life. And now I can take baths and showers and... well, you get the idea. It's a step forward.

It is taking a lot of getting used to, being here, and I admit that I may not have been handling it well. I never handle change well. But... today I met some nice people and got to go riding for the first time in months (I sold Gia and leased Moira to a riding school in preparation for this move... not an easy decision, and one I am still sad about) and I began to feel a bit more like myself.

The one person who is coping very well is Tiko. Don't know why but he's thriving here. He makes friends everywhere he goes.



It's been so gorgeous out that we take lots of walks. It's so different here from BC, or from home. Up the street from our house is a nice little park that actually has an outdoor ice rink. So strange and fascinating to me.



In my stress and freaking out over moving, I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking to pass time and try to calm and focus myself. I have a couple of recipe posts I want to do soon.

I guess that's all for now. I am trying to remain optimistic about the future, even though it isn't really in my nature :) But any change, especially change this massive, is hard on anyone. And only time will make it easier.

In the meantime... at least I'll enjoy the sunshine!

Stuck on you

So, I guess I've made my decision about the Supermodel. I thought about it a LOT, I waffled a lot, I second-guessed myself a lot. I decided to sell her. I stuck to my decision until the last possible moment... then just a bit PAST the last possible moment... and then I changed my mind.

This horse is a part of me. How did this happen, I don't know. Do I need a high-maintenance drama queen of a horse? Heck no! But she's my girl, and it looks like she's going to be my girl for a long time.

Sooo... where to go from here. Since making the decision I've thought about this a lot too. I thought about taking her to the Sporthorse show but truthfully, it's kind of a waste of money. I can walk into a halter class and know exactly how we're going to place. She won't beat the warmbloods with their extravagant movement, so it depends on how many warmbloods are in the class as to where we'll place. It's a bit hard to justify for a show that will cost me more than $300.

So then what? I refuse to do the schooling shows. I have to say that being that the lower mainland is like the horse capital of the Northwest, the schooling shows I've seen have been very poor quality. Worse than the Tri-cities, I must say with shame. There must be a great divide in shows around here-- dinky little schooling shows where the same people tool around in circles or over fences accomplishing nothing, or A-level shows that only those with a lot of discretionary income can afford. I'm not interested in either at this point.

What else is there? G will never be an event horse (even the thought of her princessy butt going cross-country makes me laugh), I could do Arab circuit but the thought just doesn't do it for me. So... dressage.

Dressage is my bread and butter, and has been for a long time. I love it. I just didn't think it was G's cup of tea. But at this point... I don't care. I found out that there's a dressage schooling show on the 24th, and I started thinking that this may be the perfect solution. Get her out in public but set her up for success-- leave Moira at home (she'll be going a 2-phase the next day), no other horses in the ring with her, and get her really working and focusing (if at all possible). I'm going to enter 3 walk-trot tests so that even if she has a breakdown in the first one, hopefully we'll see some improvement with each successive test. In fact, I think that should be my goal.

We'll see what she thinks. I rode her yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks (we just moved into our new house and it's been CRAZY!) and she was really great. I kept the longeing to a minimum (I'd love to not have to longe her every time I ride, so I am weaning us off of it) and I was so thrilled with her. Forward, swinging, round, concentrating. She got cranky toward the end as she got tired, but all in all it felt really good. There may be hope for us yet.

I did get a few pictures of Jessy riding her the other day, unfortunately no jumping pics-- she was not impressed with jumping. G didn't freak out or refuse, she just didn't care. She tried to trot everything, and if she couldn't, she'd just plow through it. After a couple of decent efforts we called it quits.

Perhaps it's a sign that she isn't meant to be a hunter :) Would she just make up her mind already??





Gotta admit, high-strung or no, the mare is freaking adorable.

Updates

Well, miss Moira's massage (say that three times fast!) went very well. Jen (the massage therapist) had a lot of interesting things to say. She said she felt Moira had, at one point, fallen and twisted her hips. She was very tight-- like, ridiculously tight-- on the left side of her spine. She also felt that Moira's nervousness came from expecting a "heavy hand"-- to be harshly disciplined or punished. I know this isn't because of US, Jessy and I are definitely not "heavy handed" type of people, so I can only imagine this was from her previous owner. But we will make sure to stay calm and loose when working with her, and eventually she'll figure out that she doesn't need to worry about it anymore.

Jen suggested we get a chiropractor to take a look at her spine, and she will be sending me the name and number of one she recommends. I will have to have a vet's permission in order for the chiro to work on her, which works out okay because Gia needs her teeth floated anyway. But it just means that I'm not certain when I'll be able to get it all done. I'm working on it.

On the plus side, Jessy rode Moira yesterday and said that the difference was very noticeable. Moira was still a bit pissy but nothing like normal. That's so encouraging to me! Perhaps I'll have Jen out again while waiting to be able to have the chiro out.

The ulcer supplement comes this week so we'll be starting that as well, and see how it goes. Gia is looking much more sound so hopefully the weather will get better and I'll be able to actually ride later in the week :)

I ran into the barn owner yesterday for the first time in several weeks, and he has purchased a harrow so is going to start dragging the arena on the weekends, which is great news. We've also been noticing some low spots in the paddocks where water is puddling because it isn't reaching the pump to get sucked out. So he's going to bring in some more crusher dust to raise those sections for better drainage. I'm looking forward to this summer so much, things are going great!

More updates as they come, and I have some pics of the Supermodel shedding her winter coat I will post later today. Moira's gotten all the attention lately, it's only fair for miss Gia to get her fair share too!

An un-recommendation, and news

In the past I've been very vocal about my support and recommendation of Ingrid Hurrell of Red Maple Photography. Well, I'm officially un-recommending her. STAY AWAY. She shot my wedding, and I've never met a more unprofessional "professional". The wedding was six weeks ago, I've ordered my prints but we are still having issues over digital files AND she has begun stalking us. She has Facebook messaged my husband, and now brutally offended one of my best friends (well, I'M offended for her, she's more sensible than I so may not have been as offended as I am), also by Facebook message.

And, frankly, Ingrid's skills as a wedding photographer are lacking, and her unprofessional attitude was a real stress on my wedding day (and since!) Many of her images are unuseable to me due to light, colour, composition or other issues, while my good friend took better pics with her entry-level SLR (the same camera I have!) Ingrid gave me a super "deal" and even then it wasn't worth it.

So don't even think about using her, you'll regret it-- unless the experience at my wedding causes her to learn about how true professionals act.

IN BETTER NEWS! Lots of good things going on. The Supermodel is kicking ass and taking names, she's advancing in leaps and bounds. She's lonely by herself and goes through phases where she won't eat, but her weight is staying good and she's perky so I'm just keeping an eye on it. She's gaining muscle as she gets worked more so she actually looks pretty good right now-- except for the piles of hair she's shedding. Hooray spring and all, but the shedding is always such a pain!

Derek is working on an iPhone app for horse people that I'm pretty excited about. I think it's going to be very useful for us regular horse folk, something that will enhance my recordkeeping and help keep things organized.

Last weekend my in-law family threw a huge party to celebrate our wedding, since so many of them couldn't make it. It was wonderful, and I am very grateful to them for putting it together, and for everyone who came to commemorate our special day. I know lots of pictures were taken, I will have to get my hands on some of them to share.

My mom came which was a very happy surprise. She has started working as a personal chef (check out her site here) and we are going to work together, with my business Pink Bakerie providing the desserts. I'm really excited about this and can't wait to be challenged!

Other than that, I've been spending much of my (limited) spare time working on my photography and graphic art. I have begun posting prints on my etsy store, who knows if it'll go over well, but I'm having a blast. I have many ideas for future prints and cards, I just need more hours in the day!

Here's an example taken from the store:




Guess that's really all the news for now...

Happy 2011!

Hi there! Yes, I know, I've been missing for a while. I always have a good excuse, don't I? :) Want to know what my excuse is this time?



This is Tiko, the new addition to our family.



He is a 3-month-old toy poodle puppy, and the biggest sweetheart snuggler you've ever met. What a great Christmas present for all of us to have the opportunity to adopt this adorable little guy!

He is not the only excuse I have for not blogging, I have many but will spare you. The holidays are nuts for everyone, right? (If they weren't nuts for you, I envy you greatly, email me and tell me your secret!!)

At any rate, the big announcement today is that I am going to be doing all the recipes from here on in on the Pink Bakerie blog (my new business). I am really excited to finally be taking the plunge into my own baked-goods business. My etsy store is set up, just waiting for yummies to fill it... but that won't be the bulk of the business, hopefully. I really want to do sophisticated, adult desserts for special occasions locally. So if you need a wonderful, impressive sweet treat for a date night, anniversary, adult birthday, etc, just drop me a line!

The website will be up shortly. Right now it's just a placeholder. But someday I'll get a chance to work on it :)

This blog is going to become more of a personal/photography blog. I am really excited about how the Supermodel is doing and can't wait to share... plus pictures of Tiko and the family... all that fun stuff.

Until then, wish me luck in 2011... with two kids, horses, a full-time job, an upcoming wedding, being right in the middle of a move, and now a new puppy... I'm going to need it!