Small Things, Big Heart

I've been a blogging slacker! Must be because I am having too much fun doing other things, including horse obstacle coursing! I forgot to include this picture last time. In order to practice with my bow, Brandon tacked a bunch of colorful balloons to this board. Two popped when I set it down on the ground and the grass poked them! The other ones I shot shot out of existence with my pink arrows. But I should add that my popping each tiny balloon with an arrow took a while. Not quite an archeress yet!

Even though the weather has been pretty good, being in the ring in the sun without keeling over from heatstroke has been terrific. Thank you, Autumn temperature change. Last weekend I took my stopwatch to the ring. Bill and Christine were also down there. If you'd like to see a short video of me riding the course without a lot of finesse, then you can click right here. But I am not even sure I recommend watching it!

At first Bill had Ruby in the ring. Then he switched her out for Cody. Ruby has just been diagnosed with acute Lyme disease. If you remember, Lilly has been treated twice for Lyme. The thing with Lyme disease is that its symptoms can be so varied--or might not show up at all. You really have to have an eye for what doesn't feel or look right. In Lilly's case she felt stiff and was acting verrry cranky. Ruby's most obvious sign was that weird little hop she was doing at the canter.

I almost forgot to detail Lilly's latest additions to her pink wardrobe! Bell boots in Raspberry Sorbet! This is the first time she has ever worn these. I got them for her because when her new shoe was missing after only 7 days of wearing it, Bill had a theory that maybe she overreaches when she's walking around and pulls her own darn shoes off. We filmed her walking and trotting. Her back feet come awfully close to her front feet.  Bell boots to the rescue (potentially)! I have also read that keeping her collected at the trot helps eliminate the tendency to overreach.

This weekend Karen P and her husband Paul were in the neighborhood! She brought me this crop. Why, what a fabulous color!

Lately, I have really been into thinking/dreaming about these obstacle courses. Look at what I was secretly drawing at work on a post it note. This is an obstacle course I want to assemble this coming weekend. You start in the lower left corner. 1. Weave though the six cones. 2. Run back. 3. Run over those three cavaletti on the left. After trouncing through those... 4. Turn the horse around and back up through a row of tiny flags. Then you turn the horse forward again. 5. You are then at the umbrella (upper left corner on the post it). Dismount and flap the umbrella open and closed a few times. 6. Get back on and walk across the teeter totter. 7. Cross the tarp (upper right corner). 8. Zoom into the round pen and negotiate the cavaletti in there arranged like a wagon wheel. 9. Exit round pen 10. Go  into the keyhole and turn a complete and dainty circle. 11. Race over to the target. Dismount and fire three arrows at the target. 12. Proceed to where there are 2 buckets hanging up (bottom center of post it). You take the whiffle bats out of bucket #1 and put them in bucket #2. DONE!

Here are some pictures of my brumby that I have tacked up at work.

Another thing that happened this past weekend was the annual Film Fest in my town. Last year I submitted a movie called Bay State Brumby. Much to my dismay, my awesome brumby movie won not a single award!! But I was not to be vanquished by the sorry judges! This year I submitted another movie about my brumby: Bay State Brumby Rides Again !

I snapped this photo while the announcers were on stage. The place was packed. Spirits were high!

Here is Bill at the intermission. Christine and her husband were there too! And Karen P and her husband from the eastern side of the Bay State! And lots of other cool brumby supporters!!

But alas.

Victory was not to be mine this year either.

How can it be that the judges do not like brumbies? Especially such a dazzling painted brumby?

There is always next year.

~

Stay tuned for this Saturday's obstacle races! Who will take home that trophy???????