Lucky Charms!

So my husband and I decided to buy this bottle of wine. I’ve seen these really cool bottles filled with all sorts of stuff, but of course when I find a cool bottle, I don’t have any idea what to fill it with to make it pretty! So, thanks to lots of pinteresting, I decided to go with stars! They are pretty simple to make, I used scrapbook paper and scissors, and a ruler isn’t a bad idea but I don’t know where mine is, haha! So, with a scrapbook paper for stars, you probably want your strips between a quarter and a half inch thick. Then, make a knot with the paper, pressing the folds flat to make a pentagon.  Fold the paper over itself, keeping it in the pentagon shape. When you reach the end of the strip, fold the end into the open triangle at the base of the pentagon. This is the video that shows the process really well, and the person’s original link for the pictures that I got the idea. I like the idea of them on string too, cute decorating idea.

thecheesethief

and their video

thecheesethief video

Good Food and Weight Loss

I have lost 9 pounds in about a month! Awesome! So, the best thing to do is get yourself somewhere to keep track of calories. My doctor suggested MyFitnessPal on the iPad or iPhone, I love it. It has almost every food I eat in it, and if the restaurant is not in it, you can just look up the food and there are usually tons of listings. I always pick the one with how much I ate, or the most calories so I’m not cheating myself….we all know we want to, so do I! So, I absolutely love food, it is really easy for me to snack all day. I also have a very weird schedule. Some mornings for work, I am up at 4:30 and could never seem to find the time to eat. This means that by lunchtime, I am so hungry I feel like I could eat 2 big steaks! My doctor says protein fills you up fastest and longest, he’s got me on the protein drink called Boost, and or cheese. Most healthy drinks, I just hate the flavor of, they say chocolate, I go no way! And they usually are not very good. Boost seems to be tolerable, I have only tried the vanilla, it’s better than any other I have tried. I also have been eating lots of string cheese. I know it has more fat than we want, but it is light, and lasts in my fridge way longer than meat. Meat is an alternative though. The light string cheese at Trader Joe’s is awesome. Here is another helpful hint about the programs to keep your calories down. I have noticed most websites and even MyFitnessPal give you way too many calories per day. I am 5’4 and to lose weight, can only eat 1400 calories per day. My sister went to a fitness health program, she’s 5’3 and can only eat 1350 calories per day. Don’t let this stop you, though! I totally understand, I need my sugar or I go crazy and get bitchy….eat the cookie! Just make sure for dinner, you have salad! Or exercise. I hope some of this helped! I know it is hard; I personally am worried about keeping it up. I have tried to lose weight twice last year, and this year when I started, I did not lose weight for 3 months! Don't give up, thgou! I am personally setting myself a goal of 15 pounds at a time, because that is way better than the 70 or more pounds I have to lose. Looking at it that way is frightening. My best friend also got me hooked on another very good drink for you, Diet V8 Splash! Very good for you, good juice flavor and low in calories!

Blog Title!

So I have fervently been working on a new blog title and finally came up with one. What do you think?! So exciting! The horse is a personal logo I created for myself a few years ago and have updated slightly since. The blog name will also be my stable name...when if ever I get my own business going! I've been thinking about it a lot, I am going to start promoting my horse training. Exciting! And my "future art studio" has a theme! It is going to be night themed, so lots of stars and some sort of moon! More coming later.......

A Change in Pace

Alright! Something new and different today, I am throwing up some of my photography! These are from the greenways and parks in Charlotte, NC this spring. Tell me what you think! The  first one, the color is edited for more vibrant color. The cherry blossoms bloomed a month early this year, I've got one in image #6 and will try to get more posted at a later date. They were beautiful!

Desensitizing

So work, school and vacation have kept me from writing. I didn't ride last week due to Easter, but we did some desensitizing on Monday, played with a yoga ball! Hobbie was a little shy at first, but only about a half an hour we were bouncing it on his back and rolling it toward his ears. His lunging has greatly improved, his transitions from walk to trot and trot to walk are almost seamless with small commands free lunging, I'm really proud. His canter is rough, but he's just not strong enough to hold it for long yet. Oh my, our ride on Friday was awful. We played with a plastic bag and he was great, head to toe rubbing him down. He needs that a few more times I think though. But when we rode, for some reason he was shying away really bad of pretty much the ground. No progress, but we did at least calm down and go forward after lots of positive motivation. We have a lot more to work on if he's going to shy like that toward stuff. I think next time I need to take a tarp out...

Working on Balance, Position and Speed

So last Friday, the 16th of March, I didn't bother posting because it was an off day, one of those where if you are relaxed about it, you shrug and go "oh well, maybe next time." Yesterday on the other hand was awesome. We played the friendly game and the yo yo game. He was extremely energetic on the lunge line, I just let him get out some of that excess energy. Instead of using his bridle provided which has a pelham as the bit, we used a loose ring snaffle. I've only seen it pinch one horse's mouth before, I know there is some controversy about it, but I am keeping an eye out so if I need to switch bits again we can. I also rode in my dressage saddle, oh how I missed it! I have a Wintec, which is what I've been riding in. My Wintec is a wonderful all purpose saddle that is made of plastic, so it won't die in the rain. It's an awesome saddle, has always fit every horse I've put it on. I was surprised my dressage saddle is the same, fits most horses, even those hard to fit horses like my last horse, Fred. He was very narrow at the withers and I actually purchased the dressage saddle to fit Fred. Oh, how nice it was to ride in it again though! The difference between the Wintec and my dressage saddle is like comparing a wooden chair to a huge comfy couch that you could sit all day on. But, enough about my saddles. Hobbie in the new bit was spectacular! I have never seen a horse go from a pelham to a snaffle and fight the bit less. He was amazing! I mean, this is what? My fourth ride, and I don't expect perfection, but he is a little miracle horse! I really wanted to do some leg yield because he was being so impressive, but I decided being able to do straight lines is probably more important first. So we stayed on our twenty meter circle and he was very responsive and framed with a nice steady tempo both ways at the trot. We succeeded at a few steady beautiful paces at the canter, and then did some perfect straight lines across the field without fighting or leaning one way or another. I am so proud! I hope when I get my next horse, they are as responsive as Hobbie is. I don't know if I should even put side reins on him or not. I've always used them as an aid to help with horses fighting their frame when riding, but Hobbie has come so far so fast, I don't know if he needs it. I guess a few more rides will tell.

So, balance of you and your horse are very important. This is why my first time on Hobbie, this is all we worked on and all I really have been talking about. When you and your horse are in sync and nice and balanced, it is so much easier to ask your horse to do what you want him to do. I just read an article I found off of Pinterest, I actually didn't like it so I am not going to share, but I wanted to pose my side. The article was about shortening your steps for a more balanced horse and rider, which is good. But it only stated that you use your leg to go and your rein to stop.

Ok. Yes, your horse should know to stop when you use the rein. BUT, you should never just stop your horse by only using your rein. In a solid balanced position, you should be using your whole body to stop the horse and only a very slight pressure on the rein. She has some great exercises and suggestions, but don't ever forget, your reins are only an aid, not your only tool. Your legs and your seat are your first tool. On Hobbie, even only in our fourth week, I always have contact to his mouth, but the rein is light in my fingers and when I ask for something it is with a gentle touch of the reign and more use of my body, stopping my motion and his from the core. Don't ever forget, horses are very sensitive. If you are relaxed and he is relaxed, it should only be slight pressure from your body and aids.

When trainers were trying to teach me to move with the horse, it took a long time and the right trainer to really find my seat. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly what she said, but how I think of it now is using my abbs for that stopping or slowing motion. If your abbs are moving correctly with the horse while moving, left side slightly forward with his left foot forward and opposite, when you tuck your abbs in and hold, stopping the connection of movement with your horse, your horse should respond with a downward movement. It's like taking your diaphragm and pushing down, or kind of almost sucking your tummy in and pushing down at the same time? I am trying to think of different ways to say it because I had such a hard time understanding it when I was taught. I swear I worked with one trainer for years and she never really got it through my head.

So, a good exercise for learning how to do this and getting really awesome downward transitions is to try this downward movement from the trot to walk without using your reins. If your horse slows to a walk, GO YOU! If not, after a few practices, ask with only a touch of the rein to ask him to slow and see what happens. To help you know how little pressure you should use on your reins, think about when you watch the best riders. You can't ever tell their hands are moving when they "talk" to their horses. Transitions are also great to make sure you and your horse have good balance and are communicating well. It sets you up for all the fun stuff you are about to do!

Oh! And, going back to the article topic. You do want to half-halt to bring a horse into a smaller step. If this is what you are asking for instead of a full on stop, you use a step or two of your abbs stopping motion and your half-halt at the same time to ask for this. Don' t forget, tiny touch of the rein. I know no one wants to hear this, but it is a lot easier to feel all of this motion in a sitting trot.

Ok, enough for today! I hope some of this was helpful!

Loving Every Minute

I know, I know....I haven't written in about a week! Work has been keeping me jumping.
Last Friday with Hobbie was wonderful! Because the previous week was so rough with going straight down the fence rail at a trot, we tried again. But we used different tactics. Instead of just going for it and trying to make it work, we did something different. In one of the articles I've been reading, I think it was actually 0n Pinterest, it reminded me that horses do better when they have something to think about. So, we started at the walk along the fence and did transitions to a halt. He didn't spook or try to swivel out of position. Then we tried again at the trot, going first to walking transitions, and then throwing in some halts. I do have to say, Hobbie is impressing me. He was great! Only a few hiccups! He is also going from EEnglish to western position flawlessly. We did some Western reining figure eights at the walk and circles at the trot and he was great.

On Sunday, we worked again on Parelli and lunging with nothing but the halter on again. His tempo is impressive on a free lunge and he is responding really well to my commands, going easily from walk to trot and even down to a halt. I finally got to have him canter on the lunge, and he was great at that to, although a little sluggish. He only broke once. The yo yo game confused him completely for the most part, haha! But we made very slight progress so of course I praised him and gave him treats.

Tomorrow we may try to play the porcupine game also, as we have some more time. I'm loving every minute of playing with a horse again.

The Zones of the Horse in Parelli

Before learning the next game in Parelli, we need to understand Pat Parelli’s “zones of the horse” so we can better move the horse in our games. These descriptions come directly from Nancy Allen’s website.
"Zone 1: from the nose band of the halter streching out for a mile and a half in fron of the horse. It physically involves his muzzle and his personal space in front of him.
The Delicate Zone: around the eye area, the zone from the nose band up over the ears to the head piece of the halter. It's a delicate area and needs to be treated with care.
Zone 2: from right behind the ears to the break of the withers, the little dip right in front of them. Essentially it's the neck and chest and the end of the zone makes a diagonal line to the point of the shoulder.
Zone 3: from the break of the withers to the point of the hip.
Zone 4: from the point of the hip to the top of the tail.
Zone 5: from the tail head stretching out a mile and a half behind him."
Never forget, the more we know about a horse, the more connected we can be with them.


The Porcupine Game

This is the second game of Parelli. The point of this game is to ask with less but receiving more from your horse. Starting with moving your horse backwards, you will move your horse in different directions using pressure. There are six different directions.
To first move your horse backwards, place your hand gently on his nose and add pressure until he moves backwards. Don’t forget, any movement in the direction you ask for is right, so let the pressure off. I read a great comparison, keep your hand like a wall, when your horse backs away, your hand stays still. If they push against you, your pressure increases and you don’t back up.
Use this same method to ask your horse to move forward, right, left and movement of the head, up and down. Nancy Allen suggests rubbing the spot where you plan on applying pressure before and after each movement to let the horse know first that you are asking for something and second, that you are done.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Alright! I am sorry I did not post this yesterday!


Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2 tbs olive oil
1 pound diced chicken
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 large red bell pepper, finely diced
1 8 ounce can of water chestnuts, rinsed and chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
6-8 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp chili powder
salt and pepper
one to two heads of lettuce
1 cup brown rice

Bring 1 cup chicken broth to boil in saucepan add brown rice, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 6 minutes (brown rice for any occasion cooked this way is very tasty).

Original recipe suggests cooking chicken in sesame oil, I do not like the taste so I use regular olive oil. Cook chicken and ginger until chicken is cooked through.

Add 1/2 cup chicken broth, bell pepper, water chestnuts, spices and carrot and let simmer for about 8 minutes to desired vegetable taste. Add hoisin sauce and about 1/2 cup of brown rice, cook for 2 more minutes.

Place brown rice and chicken mix on large lettuce leaves and enjoy! Brown rice also works well as a side if you desire one.

The Friendly Game

On Friday, Hobbie and I worked on consistency again. He has gotten much better on the 20 meter circle, paying more attention to me and less to the other horses around him. We tried to go in a line to see how it went, that is much harder for him. That was all we worked on because I still don't want to push him too hard. I think lunging would improve his consistency so I think we are going to start lunging some. Oh! We did spend time with Western reining before and after our other work, and I used the proper hand position! Exciting and weird!
On Sunday, we were lucky enough to get to go back to the barn. I believe Parelli would really benefit me as a horse trainer and when I get my next horse so I am reading and watching lots of videos on it. We started with the friendly game yesterday. People have lots of opinions on the way to do these games. I chose to use a mix between most videos I watched with the sticks and whips, Pat Parelli's videos and Nancy Allen's descriptions of the friendly game.
My last horse had really gotten to a bad point with me where he decided being caught was a chasing game. No, I never actually chased him, I'd lunge him in his pastures until he decided to let me catch him, but it was a real problem in a 40 acre field, sometimes taking 3 hours to catch my horse. Patience always won out, but who has 3 hours to catch their horse? I can't let this ever happen again so this is the real reason for all of this. Hobbie ran for a minute on Sunday and you can imagine my fear when I held out cookies.
So, the friendly game that Hobbie and I spent time with was a combination of all I've learned in the last week. I started with simply touching him all over from head to tail, letting him relax and getting used to my touch. Then we picked up the whip and did the same thing that way, praising him when he was good and giving him lots of cookies, ending in a nice lunge. When he was pretty steady in his trot both ways, we went back to hands all over again, and just relaxing before being done for the day. It seemed like a success!

I have a doctor's appointment set up to talk about my health and find out if something is wrong or if I need to change something in the way I am doing things. It isn't for two weeks though. My best friend and I went on a nice hour long walk today. I carried weights today too, it totally works all the muscles I use in my arms for riding, I love it! I am not a gal with upper body strength, so every little bit helps. I've been eating well this past week, but I really need to cook at home some. I'm thinking about Lettuce Wraps, mmmm so good. Maybe I will post the recipe tomorrow when I make them....

Western Position

Ok! Western Riding! I never thought I would even be looking at this type of riding as I am such a Dressage enthusiast, haha! But, this is for the owner’s benefit, I do not want to mess up his horse that he really enjoys trail riding with. So I know as for position, you still have to sit in your balanced, straight seat. I also know you are supposed to hold your reins in one hand with the other relaxed on your thigh. You can also hold your hand lightly clenched in front of your stomach if you want to. Hold the reins in the opposite of your preferred hand. So I am left handed, I would hold the reins in my right hand. Reins are held with a closed fist, if the reins are split, you use your forefinger to keep the separate. Good to know for tomorrow! Usually using both hands, I didn’t know which one to use on Sunday for our Western time.

First Ride on a New Horse

So, I wanted to write a little more about my ride on Sunday. I am taking this as my first real project. Hobbie is an older horse who has really never had good training. The owner told me that he's never had real training and before they bought him, he changed owners too often for him to learn much. So I approached him as pretty much an untrained horse. He is a trail horse and usually is ridden with Western tack and rider. My goal I think is going to be making him a more pleasurable horse to ride, without ruining the fact that he is neck reined usually. My goal is to spend part of our ride focusing on dressage and part of our ride remembering what he is used for by neck reining, for him and me. Considering I do not ride Western and know NOTHING about this, it will take some research and study! YAY! Learning!
Our first ride went well. I promised myself that I would remember I was getting on a horse I knew nothing about because my usual instinct is to get on and ask for a frame. So I made myself relax, just let him get used to my seat for a few laps and then started asking him for some real movememt. He is so...OFF. Not lame, that's not what I mean. He simply has NO rhythm. The owner said, "Oh! He's so bouncy!" And he was, only due to his lack of consistency! OMG! She also said he has some problems constantly throwing his head. To me, he seems totally stressed out about being ridden. We tried calming ourselves, relaxing through his back and consistency through his walk and trot. We still have a LONG way to go, but I was happy to see improvement in one ride, and him listening and actually interested in trying to listen to me. More tomorrow! I don't ride again 'till Friday.

Nice walk today, 2 miles! And I've not over-eaten. Hoping to have a healthy dinner, we'll see, mexican can go either way. I called the university I want to get into today. I really don't like counselors. They tell you one thing and then another.... Even though in the fall they told me I wouldnt be subbmitting a portfolio until I chose a major, apparently I have to submit one before I can take any art classes next semester. The application is due in March and the portfolio is due in April. I was originally told application was due in June and no portfolio for another year or two. Make up your minds!

Day 1

2/28/12 10:20 PM
I am going through all these changes and I don't really know where I'm going yet. But I want to keep track, I want a record of it all so I am starting this blog. Things finally feel like they might start going somewhere. I got my 2 year degree at the end of last term, WOOT! Very exciting! My counselor at CPCC said the most promising way to find a job is lots of small projects while going to school. I am very excited to say that my first offer is underfoot! I submitted my portfolio for my first mural. It is a grueling wait. The gentleman running the whole project likes my portfolio, so I finally at least have a foot in the door. Next is the client, but apparently they wait until the wall is ready to pick an artist…. OMG!! The guy said it could take another month! So, I am waiting…as patiently as I can… (with jumping excitement inside!) Because of this, though, I am reconnecting with my art, as I have not done much in the past two years, especially with transferring to a serious major next semester! As my best friend says, we are going in to classrooms full of kids right out of high school with really amazing talent who have kept up with their art, it’s almost like starting over for us at 24 and 25…. And I’ve never been very confident. I’m working on that.

Loosing weight? Going absolutely no where. I feel so guilty for craving desserts, and eating them lol. I have cut way back, am eating more fruits and veggies, walking 4-5 times a week for at least a half an hour, usually an hour and have been doing so for 2 months steady now (I took a 3 month winter break of frustration) with NO progress!!! Not 1 pound gone! I’m still tired as shit and of all things, today I’m sick. Two weeks ago, my best friend and I started walking with weights 2 times a week. I think it will help my arms with horseback riding as my arms always are my total downfall. I also for 2 weeks have been trying to drink more water. We’ll see if this helps.

Another positive though is my riding! Oh my, I am so excited! So my sister-in-law and I are going to start riding at her neighbor's house for free! Very exciting because of how often I can’t afford lessons…. And very exciting to get me back into the rhythm. I am so excited I get to train Hobbie a bit! So every negative has a positive. Oh my, I rode way too long! My butt and legs are sore, yesterday and today my walks were extremely slow and short. Friday, not such a long ride please…. HAHA!! But it was fun!