TMT I missed a few...

  Ok Ok I'll play again too! 

 

1. Are you a morning person? A night owl? Do you pop up out of bed full of song and happiness? Do you just hit your stride after dark?

Typically a morning person.  I like to get up early and then would LOVE to be able to have a nap early in the day.  Defiantely not a night person, when it gets dark I'm ready for bed!!

2. What is your favorite candy?

Hmmm I don't really eat a lot of candy.  I'm loving these Lindor Truffles my co-workers gave me yesterday though!

3. What is your biggest driving pet peeve?

Umm I have to pick just one?????  Yeah everyone knows I'm full of road rage.  I guess slow people, especially if you are going under the speed limit, OMG that is cause for me to scream at you.  Yes I admit I am a speed demon...

4. How do you prepare yourself and your dogs for summer?

I don't really.  I barely heat my house in the winter and I barely cool my house in the summer.  Lots of open windows and fans and occasionally the air just because of the humidity.  So they become acclimated no going from freezing cold inside to hot outside that gives me migraines!

5. Lets talk about grass in your dog yard. Do you have any? How much maintenance do you do?

Well in the yard there is tons of grass.  I do have 10 x 10 kennels that dogs go up in when I'm "doing something" ie feeding horses, riding, mowing grass, that sort of thing and those have no grass, but they didn't to start with.  They used to have a nice bed of mulch but a combination of dogs running around it it and pushing mulch to the outside and rain its washed out of the kennels.

TMT way late...hey it still works Tell Me Tuesday ;)

 

1. Where were you born? Did you grow up there?

A little town called Derita....which is no longer a town and seems to be an outskirt of downtown Charlotte at this point.  Back then it wasn't, the neighbors had cows, I remember the cows getting out and the "men" of the neighborhood going out to round up the bull.  I remember playing in the creek, last time I looked at that creek I thought if anything went in that water it would come out mutated.  So now I just say Huntersville becase no one from anywhere other than Derita knows where Derita is and it really was an outskirt of Huntersville back then.

2. How did you come to end up living where you are now?

Well I'm poor but I wanted land/a small farm.  So I had to go where land was affordable.  This is definately not where I thought I would live but I'm glad I didnt' find land in Huntersville, its just TOO congested now!

3. What is the most unusual trick you have taught your dog? Or the most unusual animal you have taught tricks?

Umm well if you hold your finger in a gun and say bang Duke will "die".  But I think he only does that for me.  And he crawls as well....I'm not much on tricks, Duke is just good at it and he doesn't do anything else so I randomly decide to teach him things :)

4. What is the most unusual food you enjoy?

Ummm well I did try some of Jen's rabbit the other day does that count?  I like quail.  I don't like sushi or any of that stuff....I'm probably boring

5. I know this has been asked before, but I'm always looking for a great book to read so what was the last book you read? Did you like it? Would you recommend it?

 

I just started The Girls of Ames.  I'll let you know how it is once I actually get into the book.  My son did make me take him to The Hunger Games movie on Sunday, it was actually a very good movie considering I do not like Sci Fi stuff....

 

Random TMT on Friday

 

Laura's TMT for this week was to post random thoughts....OK I'm warning you in advance, you asked for it.

 

- How can people be so unhappy with life.  I mean really its too short to be that miserable!

 

- I wonder how loud I can turn my radio up to avoid ^^ without getting in trouble at work

 

- How to I manage to spend so much money on my dogs without realizing it?

 

- I don't think I'm ever going to get on the road tonight to get to the trial, so much to do.  I think I procrastinate on purpose, because I work best under pressure and all....

 

- Is any of this making sense or have people stopped reading because they a. think I'm crazy or are b. bored out of their minds

 

- I hope Tucker is doing well at his battle of the books competition today

 

- Is the rabbit I just bought going to make my Jen less itchy...please please please I beg the itchy gods :)

 

- I hope I don't forget to do something before I leave....

 

- Can I bring anyone a cat to the trial?

 

- Ok I should stop now, maybe I'll add more later

 

 

 

TMT - 2 post in one day....something must be wrong!!!

 

I'm having one of those days at work....you know the ones where you wonder why you even bother.  Ok so maybe one of those months, I'm fed up with people who dont' do their jobs somehow getting raises yet those of us who slave away are stuck....

 

Moving on to something more fun now...

 

1. What blogging tip would you give other dog-bloggers?

I don't think I blog enough to have any tips.  Except maybe control your crazy.  If I can read your blog and decipher just from it that you probably need mental help and not in the ha ha funny way, you should probably step away from the computer

2. If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island and could take five things with you (aside from the clothes on your back), what would they be?

Chapstick, sunscreen, my dogs, food and water

I'm obviously not very practical LOL

3. How much pain are you willing to endure in the name of physical appearance? Do you have painful things done to enhance beauty?

Well it depends on what you consider pain.  Waxing?  Yes I wax.  Plucking?  Yes I pluck.  Work out?  Yes I work out.  That's about it...

4. Speed limits... how fast do you drive? Do you drive Miss Daisy? Do you do the Indy 500 to work?

Well ummmmm I don't drive slow lets just put it that way.  This is my dad...what does that tell you :)

5. What trial (that you go to) is your favorite, and why?

Well since I don't go to many.  I'd say the trial at Shoofly Farm is one of my favorites.  Good friends, good cause, great fun and good food!

I told you someone was going to get hurt

If I have to look at one more picture of one more horse that wasn't properly taught to jump and is flinging its self over a fence because that's all it knows how to do I'm literally going to throw up! 



I will no longer offer suggestions to people who are friends on how they can improve their horses jump.  Obviously there are lots of trainers out there who can do it better and would no way ever use a grid/gymnastics exercise to teach a horse to use its self over a fence rather than haphazardly flinging its self.  Because its better just to keep raising the fences, eventually they will figure it out.  And I'm I'll remember that I'm so old school in my thinking that horses need A LOT of flatwork before being put to fences.....because you know there isn't oh like 1000 strides in each over fences course verses the 10 jumps. 



I have said a million times, your gonna get hurt if you keep doing things the same way with horses over huge fences that really have no idea how to jump.  But what do I know, lets just blame it on something else...And all you top notch professionals out there that are in it for the money or keep students by making them happy with bigger fences you are doing nothing more than downgrading the future of the equestrian sport.

TMT time :)

  

1. Jorgen would like to know what skill would you like to have that you don't currently have?

Honestly, I'd like to be able to talk to animals.  Not the hokey kind of animal whisperer you laugh at but to be able have a true connection and talk to them and understand what's going on.  If you don't feel well, tell me what is wrong/painful/etc so we can do the right test.  If you don't understand something tell me what it is.  That kind of thing.....That would be wonderful :)

2. If someone were going to play you in a movie, who do you think it would be?

Is there someone out there that brave?  Can I make them much more attractive than me?  And smarter too?  And someone who had no fear of saying the things that I bite my tongue and sit on my hands to keep from saying/typing to people :) HA! I'll have to think on that one...

3. Kelsey wants to know what is a quality that you admire in a dog but would never fit with you?

Hmmmm probably an extreme of either end.  A super, super soft dog and I wouldn't get along.  I have tweaked myself to get along with Dutch who is an unconfident dog because I love him but sometimes even I still scare him...I just am not the cheerleader type.  And a super hard dog and I wouldn't get along, because that would turn into a battle of the wills and I wouldn't stop until I won....I just want a dog who can get the job done with out a lot of input.  I like dogs that are smart and get things with few repititions too :)  I dont' ask for much LOL

4. If you had just enough money to pay someone to do one chore for you, what would it be?

To keep my car clean.  I have this thing where if I can't keep it perfect I just can't deal with it.  And with a ton of dogs and an 11 year old son I can't keep it perfect.  So it looks like a rolling trash dump...or something like that. I try I really do, but I just need someone to do it for me, PLEASE!  My dad once told me about an old car I had when I told him I was going to clean it out "you better not clean that car out, I think all that crap you keep in it is what holds it together and if you clean it, it might go into shock and fall apart."

5. Are you a procrastinator, a doitnower (I made that word up), or something in between?

Well it depends on what it is.  I'm kind of a now or never kind of person but if I know that I'm not going to achieve perfection then I'm more than likely a procrastinator.  Oh and at work I'm definatley a procrastinator, I perform quite well under pressure.  So I do tend to wait until the last minute to do things are work...nothing like trying to beat a deadline!

This is way off the dog topic but maybe it relates....

This is my, hopefully, final vent about horse things going on around me....I gave up the horse showing world for a reason and really stopped teaching for the same reason. 

I love horses, I love sitting on a horse, I love teaching kids and adults alike and I really love caring for horses.  But what I don't love it the politics, uncaring trainer and riders, and those who move up the levels without the basic skills that keep them in the saddle.

Classical equitation/horsemanship, is just that classical.  Yes it can change slightly, you can put your variation on it, each discipline has slightly different forms of equitation to better serve the terrain they will be riding over.  But classic equitation should be the same basic seat, hands and leg position with slight variances for what type of riding you are doing. 

So if you look at every single picture and video that people have taken of you on a horse and you are looking down.  You should probably start doing something about getting your "chin up".  If every picture and video shows your heels up, or your horse inverted, or your horse in rollkur then that is how you probably ride the majority of the time or how your horse goes.  DO something about it.  Stop blaming the photographer or the day or whatever.  Find someone that can help you.  I'm not talking about backyard riders/trainers here that have no clue, I'm talking about competent students and adults who will argue that its just in that picture or those pictures.  Its not.....I'm sorry, if someone captures you doing something in almost every single picture/video on different days doing the same thing then its a problem.  If your trainer isn't catching it then ask!  If they don't see a problem with it then maybe its time to start looking for another trainer or a supplemental trainer, something as simple as looking down can affect your whole position.  Constantly hearing that you need to lift or pull back your inside shoulder?  Straightening your head/neck is only going to help your shoulder.  Use the pictures people take to help you understand whats going on, post them and ask for honest opinions, I'm so tired of seeing horrible pics of glaringly blatant faults where everyone goes "how pretty"....

And you trainers who are out there and have gotten by without the basics, have no idea how to teach the basics and have just lucked into damn good horses.  STOP, stop now.  Don't teach anymore because you are going to get someone killed.  Good trainers have students that get hurt even with the best basics, bad trainers are the ones that are getting kids killed.  I'm not calling anyone out but we all know trainers who have kids over faced on horses or who let kids jump 3'6" because that what the kids/parents or even the trainer wants.  Horses are dangerous in themselves, 1200 pounds of raw power, that we sit on and point at huge fences.  Just because your horse has gotten you out of scary situations doesn't mean your students are going to fair so well.  I honestly hold the trainers responsible for what their students are doing.  You are the higher power, you should know what's right and wrong, you should put a stop to it, you should do the right thing no matter what.  Just because something is in right now or not being effectively stopped by the governing bodies doesn't mean you should teach it to your students! Its not just hunters, jumper, eventers, dressage riders.  It flows over into the western sports as well
Rollkur in western?


Yes there are different ways of getting a result but in the end they should all start from the forward riding system, legs first, hands just control the movement!  I ride hunters and believe me I'm not taking up for them either, most hunter riders need to learn how to sit!  I'm glad I can go back to being an amateur and not have to be the one who decides what is right and wrong, but now I need to find a trainer who has some b#ll$ and isn't afraid to do the right thing...