Hibernation

What with the new semester starting, work being INSANELY busy for some odd reason, and the polar vortex, blog attention took a hit.  

We will return to regularly scheduled programming shortly! In the meantime, have some pictures of the recent snow!  Work and campus closed for two days, but the horses didn't seem to mind it! Then today, we had another 2 inches of snow, and while it was insanely cold, it was also insanely pretty.  

              *do not pass go*

              *spider tree*

            *soccer's a winter sport*

            *bundle up*

              *slick*

            *feed me more*

Countdown to D Day

No, it's not a new invasion of the Normandy beaches (although sand will be involved).  

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/GHXvjVqjNB8/T7VdjjwCPPI/AAAAAAAAVXo/qXRP5BEazTk/s1600/arena.jpg

It's February 15, and it's Dallas' first dressage show of the year. 

It will also be his first time cantering in a dressage test. 

I know that it sounds silly, given that we have been partners for 4 years.  But the first 2 years I spent simply undoing 15 years of poor/sporadic training.   The third year he spent doing walk trot lessons while I trained my OTTB. It has only been in the last year or so that we have even begun to unravel the disaster that is his canter.  

It's still a crapshoot most days as to the quality of the canter, but at least now he will pick up both leads fairly reliably, with a proper transition (minimal flailing).  He's even thrown in a flying change now and again, just to keep me on my toes.  

So, for the next month, we work, we practice, we finesse.  Working on trot/canter transitions isn't the most glamorous thing, but the potential is there. I firmly believe that 95%of all horses are capable of a decent Training Level dressage test.  

I can't let my own horse prove me wrong!  

Wordless Wednesday - best buds

                      *ninalea.smugmug.com*

Blog Hop!

Guys, I am excited to join my first ever blog hop!!

I really hope to see some fun, awesome, and beautiful barns! 

Without further ado...

It's time for a blog hop of barn tours! Ever wonder where your horsey Blogger friends spend most of their day? Want to show off the amazing place you get to keep your fur child? Now is your chance to share and get to know your friends just a little bit more!

Here's how it's going to work; its simple and fun!

Share with us the following 5 photos:

A View of the Barn

Your Horse's Living Space

The Tack Room

View of Where You Ride

Your Favorite Feature of Your Facility 

I have a love hate relationship with my barn, only because I am OBSESSED with self care / 24 hour turn out and can't find a situation close enough to me to make it work (living less than 15 miles from center city Philadelphia puts a damper on that quickly). That being said, I've been at my barn since I moved to the area 1.5 years ago and I love my barn family. My horse is happy and healthy. I get to work off his board and teach adorable children. How great is that? 

Answer: it's pretty great.

Blue Steel

My horse is now successful model.  

                      *so hot right now*

He can add it to his list of accomplishments (gymkhana, pony rides, hunter paces, trick or treating, sled dragging, face painting).  

A girl from the barn is graduatiing high school, and she and her best friend wanted to do their senior pictures on horseback (she owns a horse but the friend does not).  When auditioning sidekicks, Dallas was the clear winner - he hacks out great, is traffic safe (as we had to go on a busy road to get to the photo site), and loves to stand still/doesnt usually get annoyed standing around doing nothing.  

He did a fabulous job.  Didn't mind some strange girl hopping on, didn't mind the huge camera/lense right in his face, didn't mind the other horse walking away or around him, didn't mind me using a picnic table as an impromtu mounting block.  He didnt mind the insane OFF LEASH BUT NOT UNDER CONTROL chocolate lab who charged right at his feet.  His only faux pas was the fact that he kept tying to eat the grass.  I don't really blame him, as there is absolutely no grass at our farm right now.  Still, some quick reminders that it was NOT acceptable to graze while riding finally stuck with him and he posed nicely for his pictures.  He even put his ears forward for most of them.  

Plus, as a generous gift for letting them use Dallas, the parents of the girls allowed the photographer to take some shots of us.  I will post the stills when I have them, and will happily take advice on which ones to print!  

Outtakes from today:   

              *I hear you crinkling that wrapper..."

                *photo bomb*

                        *frozen*

                      *feed me*

Sweet Dreams

I love sleeping. I love it so much because I rarely get to do enough of it between 2 jobs and being a full time nursing student. I relish the feeling of my pillows and my memory foam mattress, my dog curled up at my feet. Seriously, sleep is almost a religion.  

So, a sleep study sounded right up my alley.  It's not like I had a choice anyway - it is a requirement of Penn that all gastic bypass patients undergo a sleep study, because of the high risk of sleep apnea (which apparently a super high percentage of obese patients suffer from).  I personally think it's kind of silly - why make you do the study?  If it's almost a givin that a prospective patient will need sleep apnea care / risk managment during and post surgery, why not just implement a management plan no matter what, and skip the study?  I digress.  

I seriously envisioned some kind of futuristic, Jettsons type setting, with wires and tubes and beeping things and a sick silver helmet that interpreted my dreams while I lay spread eagled on a strange looking but oh so comfortable bed.  Hell, I EXCEL at sleeping.  It's kind of my thing.  I thought I had this in the bag.  

So I was tad bit confused when Googlemaps took me to this location:  

I was confused.  Still, I went inside and the nice people at the FRONT DESK gave me a room number and a key.  My face must have given away my misgivings, as the girl at the desk giggled.  I walkd to room 107 and felt a bit better when I found this:

Inside the room were some monitors, a nice bed, a tv, and a nurse who looked quite bored and sleepy herself (I mean, it can't be that exciting to watch people sleep while you get to stay awake).  She took one look at me in my PAJAMAS (did i not mention that?) and my overnight back and shook her head.  

No?

Apparently someone neglected to tell me that I had qualified for a home sleep study.  Which on the surface sounds better, but... I'm not so sure.  Instead of having a qualified professional attach alll the various wires and monitoring devices, I was trusted to do it myself (thank you?).  I tried my best to keep everything in order and I was vaugely successful?  I don't honestly know. What I do know is that this sleep study was difficult to schedule, necessary in order to schedule my surgery, and strange to do myself.  Here, have a couple of hilarious photos.  

          Ghostdog was unhelpful

         All dressed up but nowhere to go

I promise some Dallas updates and background soon, as I'm pretty sure this is a blog about horses?  I don't know for sure though.  Stay tuned!

 

12 degrees F

Settle down, people. 

Yes, it snowed. Yes, it is bitterly cold.  January in Pennsylvania? It's going to feel and act like winter, so let's lose the drama queen act. 

Unfortunately, horses and dogs don't take snow days, so I was out in the winter wonderland most of the day. And despite freezing temperatures, frozen water buckets/hoses, and numb fingers/toes, I can't imagine spending the day at a desk.  

Have some pictures of my dog enjoying the snow! 

  

The Man in the Mirror

*important note - this post contains pictures of me in my underwear. If that's not your thing, I understand.*

So. It's January 1st. Time for the standard resolutions - Go to the gym more.  Eat healthier.  Lose weight.

Blah blah blah.

The same old, year after year after year.

Except for this year.

So long 2013!

This year is the one where everything changes. Literally.

I am having gastric bypass surgery at the end of February.

While this is a horsey blog, this post definitely falls under the "fat girl" category.

Being overweight has shaped me (in some ways quite literally).  It has determined the horse I purchased, which horse I sold, how I ride, what shows I choose to compete in - the list goes on and on and on. It also determines where I shop, what I buy, how anxious I feel on any given day. It has ruined my relationship with my mother, stopped several relationships in their tracks. I could go on, but that would be even more depressing.

I want to lose weight for all the right reasons (good health, longer life, able to be more active).

And if I'm honest, I want to lose weight for all the wrong reasons too. I want to go into any store I choose and buy something. I want to meet boys and not be immediately dismissed. I want to be thin! There, I said it. I know, I know. Love yourself, love your body, and all the rest. I'm over it.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I am posting weekly pictures of myself along with my weight. I'm open to suggestions, critiques, whatever. I'm not shy.

Week 1.  January 2, 2014.  305 lbs.  Approximately 6 weeks to surgery.

Not the best

Sorry it's so dark!

A picture does tell a thousand words. I'm not thrilled with the story these pictures tell, but onwards and upwards!