Pretty fun weekend

I rode Shade twice. Next weekend I have to ditch the dogs and get in a really nice long ride, but the new saddle and pad combo worked better. I think I need to tack the pad keepers a bit more yet so the pad can't go forward, but it was not able to move as much as before. Shade seems to move out pretty well in the saddle and the saddle seems to help my balance. If Shade brakes or something and I pitch forward I seem to come back without having to fight to do it.

Took Sadie and Grey out on sunday I think that will have to be the last time for that pairing. I need to use RazzMo who will pin his ears when Sadie tries to surge forward of him, She was being a brat, getting too forward and then cutting in front of Grey so we had to turn. I always made it a full circle but it was annoying and I called it quits after going less than 1/2 a mile out. No grazing on the way home.

Shade was acting wild and wooly this morning

It was fairly cold this morning and initially I thought I'd just head to work quicker, but Ole was whining wanting to go out and join the neighbor walking or something and it made me SO cranky. So I decided I must be due for a sanity ride and since it was calm and sunny I just put on the polar fleece tights that were too warm last time I wore them and a light shirt under my coat so I would not get sweaty and then chilled and grained and tacked up after pushing Ole into the fenced house yard.

When I was ready to go and called him I had to call 3 times before he heard me. He needs to learn to pay attention, the goof. So I led Shade past the neighbors yard even though I had let Mia take off dragging the leash instead of leading her. Hopped on, we went just a little way and S was coming with his crane. And Shade acted crazy, spinning and snorting. He turned it off but I couldn't get her go behind it so he could get going, so I went the direction we were headed and took her in the next driveway.

Then we get another few hundred yards after Shade snorted at the mail jeep and met the dump truck, more spinning, scaring this driver, I hopped off and Shade was swirling around and coming too close to knocking into me -this drive came to a complete stop too and I was then able to lead the wild child past the truck. This horse is SO used to traffic, she was just full of herself after only having 1 short ride in the last 9 days. And I don't pour the feed to her, she's pretty easy keeper, gets 1 lb of a low-starch grain mix with the salt, minerals and joint supplements I give her.

Well then we had a nice ride, only went 3 miles because I'm running behind with the time change and my general procrastination that I have not managed to shake off. Got home, fed the horses the rest of their hay, remembered that I'd decided I should dump and fill the mini's tank so went back out and did that and just about had a conniption because I couldn't see Ole and he was not coming when I yelled for him, made myself hoarse with 3 yells --darned cold remnants. I had taken the lead of Mia and put it on him and I was really getting worked up thinking he ran off in under 5 minutes with the leash on. Grab the car keys and pull down the drive honking the horn and he showed up. WHEW. I suppose he was playing with a neighbor dog but at least he hadn't snuck down the road to the place he is unwelcome at and was in ear shot of the car horn. Its 30% chance of a little snow tonight (please let it beat the odds and put a couple tenths or so of moisture on the ground) but supposed be to lovely weather on saturday so I should try to get a nice long ride on Shade.

SNL skit or top ten list idea

How debating with a liberal is like debating with a 2nd? grader.

I don't have an actual list, I'm kind of out of the loop on the kids end for one thing; but surely there is good comedy in there.

theres: Well Bush started it, or well Bush invaded Iraq,

Well Obama is COOL

and of course You hurt my feelings, have no sympathies for 'the disadvantaged'

Prior to this election cycle I had never heard of Saul Alinsky and I thought liberals making emotional statements about wall street greed or what have you instead of responding to the actual issue was just an immature nature thing. Who knew its a formal strategy to get their way; act like a tantruming toddler - since other adults are almost guaranteed not to be able to just put you in a timeout corner; if they cant just walk away they will get worn down and offer you a cookie (ie sub prime mortages) to shut you up. I need to get Sauls book to see if there are any good ways to counter attack this crap.

What I won't do for that mare-

Top pics show my 'spring tree' addition to the soft pommel. I end the plastic about an inch above the bottom of the soft insert. Just as well I had already broke the zipper as no way I would have gotten this in there. Mid pics show Shade with saddle on saturday with the fiberglass insert. Sunday I tried to move the saddle back a bit so it would be behind her shoulder blade like an english sadde should but I just don't know that there is room on a short backed arab to do this so I think the soft pommle with the plastic I cut from the supplement pail to give it some form so it wont want to spread and settle on the withers is the best option. And I took off the flap, you can just make out the velcro strip in the top pics. Bottom pics show the medium fiberglass pommel and the soft pommel. Only I would buy a new saddle and start beating it with the ugly stick. Actually I think that I will braid a nice bit of trim in turquoise and black parachute cord to cover up my white thread stitching job. And possibly I'll get a cover but I'm a bit concerned that a cover would bunch and irritate me like the seat/stirrup bar cover flap was doing. It felt fine without the flap, I've got plenty of padding on my thighs and didn't feel the stirrup squares.

Friday freakout

Last night and again this morning I was getting hughes net redirects on my laptop. Huh? I should still have funds at WF, could not get my site information --kept coming up with their default page instead I believe. Called this morn and got billing transferred to credit union. Then I stopped at WF to close my account since I have been waiting thinking that internet charge is all I have left on that account. Well I have a monthly paypal charge for something else. I switched to the cu for my paypal but this pre-existing charge is still coming out of the WF acct. Well I don't want to spend $12 a month in checking fees for that $25 monthly thing and an annual charge I have, I'll have to cancel those things and sign up for them again I guess. Why does it have to be so hard to manage these darn money tools? At least I still have plenty of funds at WF, the internet billing must have been failing because WF is giving me a new card. The old one should have been good thru today but whatever.

Yesterday Mia (the dog I thought was the good one) followed Ole into the next door neighbors yard while I was getting mounted and took after their daschund. Good news is Jake is ok, but now I have to put Mia on a leash and walk her past their yard if I'm taking her riding or else make her stay in the yard and close the gate if she is not coming. That will be fun. Mia is STUBBORN, usually not a problem because she doesn't wander off and pester neighbors, but she does think she should come out when I ride, even when she intends to just lie by the road harassing people who drive by, especially on ATVs till I come back. Ole has stayed now for 3 days. He whined about being in the yard this morning. I guess he thought he had earned parole after not slipping off yesterday when I forgot to yard or leash him. So when I grained I put the leash on him and let him out. I suppose I'll have to invest in a HOT charger and run some kind of electric around the fence line plus get me a good monitor that will show if its grounded out, so he can have the farmyard but I'm not going to rush to enrich his life. He is dads dog, not mine.

My skito pad came wednesday and I tried it yesterday. It worked forward too. Sigh I have to suck it up and try the hard pommel. What a DOH feeling. Why did I not at least try it with the zero labor option first?! Oh well, spilt milk and all that.

spinning too fast

Crappy title, too bad.

I rode in my new saddle today. It worked the saddle pad forward, gulp. I should have tried it with the hard pommel insert first. I'm really not wanting to take out my sewing to try the hard pommel and then decide I want the soft pommel. Next ride I'll try a fleece pad. I think it may be a good thing that the pommel apparently moves with the shoulder action if its not working the pad around tugging on Shades hair all the while -and if it does not come down on her withers -- But a minor eek feeling right now.

I am done with acting like Ole is partly my dog. He ran off AGAIN this morning while I was doing chores. I was so mortified when I saw him in the gals yard and then she apparently wasn't home, didn't respond to doorbell or knock so I just took Ole. Had to drag him through her driveway gate. So thats it. Ole will be staying in the house yard. No more getting to be roam the full farmyard when I'm outside doing chores. And I don't know if I'll give him any more exercise. Certainly no more coming when I ride because I'm busy riding and can't watch the dog like a hawk and I don't trust him not to slip off. I may take pity once his cut is healed and walk him or take him for a run with the car 1 or 2x a week, but no more with the horse. I feel guilty about it, which is foolish, I have restricted my riding for ages to accommodate him and previous dogs -- I should just enjoy my excuse to just ride now I finally have a really good one.

I called the electric company today. Haven't heard back. I've had a niggle that perhaps I'm in arrears with them, I was going to have them run power to my lot but changed my mind. There was a "deposit" that was not required before/when they came out and scouted the area and they have NOT billed me, but still its been niggling.

Tomorrow I must call the county, it feels like I should have gotten my tax bill but I have not seen one. I should have called today but me and phones, me and phones.

Dog overboard

What a mixed bag weekend. My new saddle came saturday Yay. I broke the zipper trying to put in the soft pommel, WAAH. I was unsure whether to try to send it back or just sew the pommel in. Crud I hate having to fix new things because a stinking manufacturer leaves the hard step to the consumer and/or uses flimsy components. Some back and forth with the dealer I bought the saddle from -I was believing that the soft pommel insert might just be too big and I would end up tearing the fabric sewing it. Well I have sore fingers but the pommels in there now.

And Ole got another cut on his butt last week -- I didn't see it when it was fresh, mom thought it was looking bad so she took him to the vets and they stitched it after keeping him for 1/2 the day. They sent him home with a plastic e-collar and a warning that he was going to feel dopey and sorry for himself for a while. He was a whiney baby the rest of the day, broke the e-collar in all of 3 hours, so I took him to PetSmart and bought the inflatable collar. Well I think it will actually stay in one piece, Ole feels better today. I took Ole for a walk today, and then made him stay home while I rode Shade, in the old LJ. Oh well I stayed on except for my voluntary dismount to lead her past the 'scary' barrel she was acting goofy about.

My super siphon hose worked well. The first bit flowed pretty fast, then it slowed down but it got my p/u bed tank almost completely drained. I flipped my tank around but I'm going to have to take off a bracket thats on it so it will fit up snug against the front of my p/u box. So didn't make a diesel run. I hadn't left enough time to mess with a hack saw. Not sure there isn't an easier way.