Way too much going on

It's already been established that I am a slacker of a blogger, so we'll gloss over that fact and move on.

I took my nursing board examination a few weeks ago, and passed (obviously). Tomorrow is my first interview for a real-life RN job.

A cake from work! Berri thought it was delicious

Berta sold, as I said last entry, and she left the farm last week. I still can't really write about it. I need to do it justice. I will say that she is very happy, and I couldn't be more relieved.

I showed at IHSA Zone 1.5 Regionals on Saturday and placed first in the Alumni division. I got myself some nice swag, as well as a ticket to Semi-Finals in Syracuse in two weeks. I'm kicking my own butt at work in preparation for this -- trying to ride at least once a day without stirrups -- I'll let you know how that works out.

This horse was named Roberta, no joke

I started watching Downton Abbey and I am obsessed. Seriously. The story is amazing, the setting is beautiful, and the costumes are to die for.

This dress will be mine

I played the Citadel DLC portion of Mass Effect 3. Sad that the series is now over, but it ended on a phenomenal note. I'll try not to spoil any of it, but it was perfect and funny and everything I ever wanted from ME3. 

Berri has been doing wonderfully under saddle. She participated in a lunging clinic with Jen Ford last week, and was a superstar. Our canter still needs a lot of work (as in, bucking and letting all four feet leave the ground is probably not acceptable in the dressage ring), but we're getting there!

Preparing for Snowpocalypse 2013

Okay, the title is a lie. I didn't brave the crowds at the supermarket in search of the essentials (a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread) -- someone else took care of that!

My only preparations involved eating breakfast (twice), eating lunch, going to work, eating dinner, and reading a book. One must be sure to eat plenty in preparation for being snowed in and therefore having nothing to eat other than a gallon of milk and a single loaf of bread (seriously, who went disaster-preparedness-shopping? We'll never survive the zombie apocalypse if this person is in charge)

Work is great, as always. Berri is so much more relaxed now than when I first started riding her, and we're getting some sustained moments of brilliance. It's slow work, but very rewarding.

One of the new horses, a Quarter Horse mare named Chloe, is really growing on me. We're figuring each other out more and more each ride. She's smart, sensitive, and I swear she moves more off of my thoughts than my actual physical directions. Gotta love riding a real western-broke horse.

In other news, I had an IHSA show at UConn last weekend. I had a pretty spectacular ride, placed first, and moved up to second for alumni regional standings (I'm only two points out of first place). I need ten more points to qualify for Regionals, and have three shows left in the season. Wish me luck!

Beautiful day

Trying to keep things light after yesterday's post. I'll be sure to put a tear-jerker disclaimer on the next sad post, promise.

The arena at work was plowed and graded after the snow yesterday, so it was perfect for riding this afternoon. All of the horses at work got their feet trimmed/shod and they had chiropractic adjustments yesterday as well, so it all came together to make for a very good day today.

Berri, the dressage pony, was the first to be ridden. We're working on training level dressage, so it's nothing super-fancy yet (none of Stephen Colbert's so-termed "fancy-prancing", but we're working on it). That doesn't mean that I'm not excited about every little thing that goes right, though. Because I absolutely am.

Today was the first day that I managed to get Berri to engage her back and lift in real collection for more than two steps in a row. I was praising her like she'd won at Devon, and I think she was pretty pleased with herself too.

Me and Berri, two weeks ago

Zoe was next up, and we had a similar breakthrough in our communication. Something along the lines of her realizing that she can't counterbend or go crooked around the entire arena. Either that or she just got dizzy from all the circling.

Carlos, the saint of a horse that he is, is worth his weight in gold. I hopped on for a quick warm-up and then he was off teaching beginner lessons both on and off lead. There's really nothing like watching a new rider, grinning from ear to ear as they walk around the ring on horseback (without a leader or side-walker) for the first time. And there's no better horse for that job than Carlos.

Carlos and I, August 2012; like I said, he's a saint