I’ve forgotten the last time I posted. It’s safe to say that the same ‘ole same ‘ole was going on and I didn’t feel like describing it. A few things have changed. Life on the farm has slowed a bit since the time change and it now gets dark by 5:00 p.m. That, coupled with 13 straight days of rain has kept me mostly indoors but not completely. I don’t mind dark, rainy days but it does take me a little while to adjust my schedule. Sadie and I have been going on our regular walks, which has been good for my own personal weight control program.
I’ve been riding Clipper and he is actually turning into quite a horse. My trainer got tired of her arms being pulled out of her shoulders so she put him in a twisted pelham bit, which has a curb chain. Suddenly he started getting a lot lighter in front and using his hocks more. Suddenly he gave to the bit and started minding his manners, responding to the aids, and not using spooky things as a way to avoid doing his job, which is getting trained. Suddenly he’s a rather fun horse to ride. We do mostly flat work in our lessons but occasionally we get to jump. The other day I asked him to wait until we got to the base of the jump before he took off. His preference is to take a flying leap from a stride or two back from the base. So when I asked him to wait he kinda sorta didn’t know what to do with his feet, tripped over the jump, which unbalanced me and I fell off. Oof. No harm done. Clipper looked back at me as if to ask, "What are you doing down there?" I brushed the dirt off, got back on and we jumped a few more times.
The other good news is that Dave got a job offer from Washington Mutual in Seattle a few weeks ago. Only this last Tuesday did they settle on a start day, which is Monday, November 28. I didn’t believe that he was really going to move up here permanently until he told me his official start day. By then, it’ll have been 3 months since I’ve been up here. Dave has visited every three weeks for a long weekend, which is still a heckuva strain on a marriage. Absence is a terrible thing for a marriage. I don’t understand how military wives or the wives of fisherman, etc. do it. I’m not cut out for long and frequent separations. I either want to be married or not married. Don’t like this inbetween stuff.
And more good news is that I am buying a cute little AQHA brood mare. She’s ridable and breedable and she arrives on November 19. My major farm work has been stringing up electric fence between rain storms. It’s almost done but I do have to finish it this weekend as I’m working all next week. I’ll post pictures when she arrives. I’ve forgotten her registered name but her "barn" name is Sierra. She’s a dun with a racing stripe down her spine and white high on her legs, which gives me hope that she’ll produce a pretty Paint baby in spring 2007 when I have her bred to this handsome dude.