Thelma or Louise- Which one are you?

So I was sittin' here this evening nursing a head cold, swaddled in a blanket, sipping tea, and flicking channels when my Mother, (who has a cold as well), calls to say she is stopping by. I was very happy to see her but even happier when I realized that she had brought me one of my favorite treats (a coconut, honey, and almond cake square called a Bee Stinger) which I had mentioned I was craving earlier in the day. My darling mother drove an hour out of her way to bring me one! (Thank you Mom, you are the best! You made my day!)

So we settled in to have a snack and watch some TV when I happen across one of my favorite movies of all time (that had just started)- Thelma and Louise. Mom commented to me that her and her friend had, on a road trip to Palm Springs, taken to calling themselves Thelma and Louise (only "they didn't find Brad Pitt"). I replied, "Haven't we all pretended to be them at some point?" She laughed and hardily agreed. Mom headed home but Thelma and Louise is still playing so I was left here to think of what we had said and how in a woman's friendship there is very often a Thelma and very often a Louise (in terms of personality type.)

Which one are you?

Louise (Susan Sarandon) and was the street wise, strong, Independence, no-nonsense woman who has more than a few ghosts in her closet.

Thelma (Geena Davis) on the other hand has been married her high school sweet(ass) and tends to see the world through rose colored glasses. She is good hearted, sweet, and sincere, but naive and weak at times. With the help of Thelma, and the quagmire of their circumstances, Louise learns how to stand up for herself, step out of her husbands shadow, and have a little fun!

One could pick this movie to death or have a little rant about the overtly feminist, Bonnie and Clyde cliche, glamorization of their sociopath, criminal, or suicidal behavior....

...but personally, I look past all of that to the story of two woman and friends, who when faced with a desperate circumstance, let go of the conventional to do something truly reckless and wild!...

Which I think speaks to the heart of most woman. Haven't most of us, at one time or another, felt overwhelmingly and desperately stuck? Burdened with the expectations of society and the demands we put on ourselves? Haven't we all wanted to....in the ultimate expression of our inner termoil.....just let go and.....blow some shit up!!

Mind you, I've never blown a semi up before... but its been a near thing... I've settled for breaking a few plates or throwing a clock radio.... oh.... and a bread box (once).

Of course, I have to admit that part of my love for this movies comes down to just a few beautiful minutes... which oddly enough, might not be the scene you were thinking of! You naughty thang you! I bet you were hoping I was going to post the clip of Brad Pitt (JD) and Geena Davis' (Thelma) love scene! You know the one... where he stands up, sticks a hair dryer in his pants and inspires Thelma to do this....

(please excuse the Swedish subtitles)

Oh yah! Actually, the scene that "gets" me is when the cops haul Brad Pitt into the police station and we get to see him as a bad ass (instead of the polite, soft spoken southern boy he pretends to be while seducing Thelma)....are you surprised that I like the bad boy scene instead? You're shocked, I'm sure!

Now... I have to admit that I came very close to doing a post on the Bachelor! I didnt watch the show but I did happen to catch the dramatic season finale...

But I refuse to do yet another post on a reality TV show.....

I am not going to....

Oh damn, I just did, didnt I?

Okay... so I will just say.....

What an ass! (the whole lot of them)

Honest Scrap Gone Wild

I have to thank Palomino Girl (Life on the Farm) for giving me this Honest Scrap Award!

I am going to cheat a little right off by not passing this award on because I know that it has made it's rounds and well... I couldn't pick just seven.... so I encourage everyone to check out my blogroll...


Now I guess I am suppose to list "10 Honest Things"....

Hold on! It gonna get a little freaky....


1. I've always been slightly enamored with my reflection... (my mother is laughing right now at my loosely used "slightly"....) Mom used to tell people that, even though I always had an overactive imagination, I never needed an imaginary friend (so long as their was a reflective surface near by). This has been the case since I was a very small child. I am also a total ham for a camera... again, since I was a small child... So, there is a small chance I might be just a wee bit vain at times..



2. But then that admission of vanity would seem to conflict with the fact that I've always had self image issues. The ginormous size of my thighs may have something to do with that.... my disproportionate nostrils, lopsided jaw, crooked teeth, small forehead, uneven eyebrows, flabby tummy, stumpy fingers, big knees, massive calves, wide hips, etc. etc. etc... would also be an issue....


Though I have to say that I have some pretty fantastic looking ears. Seriously.... I could, like totally be an ear model!


2. I look so much like my mother that if it were not for the beehive hairdos and purple go-go dresses she wore in the sixties, you'd be hard pressed to discern who is who in pictures of us at the same age.


3. My sister and I look absolutely nothing alike. We do not share a single common feature and I am as pink as a maple cured ham next to her gorgeous glowing olive skin. She, however, looks nothing like my mother and I therefor refer to her as the "milkman's baby".... which bothers her enough that I see it as an effective means of retaliation for burning me with a curling iron 18 million times in the early 90s (while trying to help me achieve that glorious Tiffini Amber Thiesen (Saved by the Bell) fabulous flipped bang look.)


Speak of the 90's.....



4. , I watched a tremendous amount of television and movies in the 90s... Saved by the Bell, The Cosby Show, Home Improvement, Friends, Fresh Prince, Full House, My-So-Called-Life, Boy Meets World, and such classic Oscar worthy movies as "Dont tell Mom, the Babysitters Dead!" Whoop!

And speaking of movies...


5. I cant watch scary movies.... at all. I feel that Harry Potter should have earned a higher rating... they were freakin' scary man! Oh, and I had to leave in the middle of "I am Legend".... after covering my eyes for 10 minutes straight I couldnt even handle the music any longer.


Which can, at times, make me feel young. Do you know what doesnt make me feel young?......


6. I saw a guy I went to high school with the other day. I remember him as being one of those hottie jocks that wouldnt give me the time of day...back in the day. Anyways, he drove by me in the parking lot of a grocery store. Did I mention that he was driving a mini-van? And that he is balding?....And had one of those "family" stickers on the back that indicated he had three kids...

Oh yah, and by the way, it kinda freaked me out a little... I'm not old.... but damn, we sure the hell 'aint in high school anymore, Toto.


7. It actually wasnt until high school that I started listening to country music or riding western. Before that I rode English- and before that I rode bareback... because I was scared to ride with a saddle.... because I could never do the cinch up tight enough.... which meant that the saddle often slipped off.... and I soon figured out that it I was able to fall off much more gracefully and with significantly more dignity when the saddle was not hanging under the belly of my horse....

Where was I? Oh yes, country music...


8. It was a certain boy, in a certain jacked up pick up truck who convinced me that the "Country Western" route was the way to go....by forcing me to listen to Alan Jackson's "She's Gone Country" about a hundred times...

Oh! And this song too.... which (at 16) I thought was about the coolest song ever!



As a highly impressionable 16 year old, I soon relented to peer pressure and took up memorizing every Garth Brooks and Dixie Chicks song on the radio.... which led me to discover that I had a talent for....

9. Re-writing the lyrics to morally conscious and wholesome country songs into deliciously vulgar renditions that would but Weird Al Yankovic to shame. Some of my victims included the much loved "BBQ stain T-shirt" song by Tim McGraw (which I turned into a transvestite's version) and Dixie Chick's, "I can love him better"... in to "I can *ehem* him better".... (sorry Mom).


10. Which I feel was just my subconscious creative writing side begging to be put to use....an urge that I am now happy to report has found the constructive outlet of writing a novel.


Whew!


I warned you that it might get a little freaky!!


I wouldn't blame you if you didn't come back...


But please do....

What a STUD!!!

I have some very exciting news!!

Abby has a new boyfriend!!!... and guess what, he is quite the STUD!!!

.... I am SUPER DUPER EXCITED.....THRILLED TO BITS..... TICKLED PINK.... (you get the point)... to tell you all that McBride's Quarter Horses (the wonderful people who have Abby on a breeding lease) just purchased a GORGEOUS new stallion that will be bred to Abby this Spring... which I feel will be an AMAZING cross!

And.... subsequently...

I now have a paid breeding to JUMPING JACK WHIZ a very fancy SON of the FIRST EVER (new 2/29/09) 6 MILLION NRHA SIRE, TOPSAIL WHIZ!!

I am simply IN LOVE with this stud.

He is EVERYTHING I look for in a reiner...he has just the right look, just the right conformation, a million dollar head set, the right kind of movement, the style.....he is powerful, athletic, pretty, talented... simply AWESOME!!!

In fact, I am SO excited about this stallion, that I am thinking I might just hang on to that breeding till next year and see what happens.... because I would LOVE to own one of his foals.

This, people, is what you want a reiner to look like...

Check out this video... Especially watch the run down at the very end...that, IMHO, is picture perfect!

What I really like about this stud is that he not only performed (NRHA $ earner of 55,000+) but he was still showing and still SOUND at age 15!!!

Now THAT says something!

I just cant wait to see what Abby and JJ will produce!

One Trick Pony

God I love saying that!! It is just SOOOOOO nice to back at the barn!! The smell of horses (and smelling like a horse), sawdust, and manure (and smelling like manure)....being out in the fresh (freezing) air, and standing in the mud and snow till your feet go numb and you stumble around like a drunken' sailor... Ahh!- The good old days!

**note to self: NEVER again google "dirty horse woman" (looking for a photo of someone covered in barn muck) ... Wow! Also.... Reminder: NEVER go to Denmark)

Yesterday I figured out that I had a problem....As a matter of fact, I have many problems...but this one specifically came to my attention....and I had to figure out a way around it.... which, at times, is difficult for me because....you see....


I have a one track mind! One track with a freight train on it! Steer clear, 'cause I'm comin' on through!!

What on God's green earth am I talkin' bout? I haven't a clue!

Thats not true! (that rhymes you see) I've become a bee!

*blink*
*blink*
*blink*

OK, then...

So, yesterday I had a problem because I realized that my "natural horsemanship methods" were not going to work well for AJ. Actually, that is not at all true... AJ took to them like an old hat (is that the right expression?)... it was his owners that probably wouldn't take to my "body control/predator/pray/herd hierarchy/pressure sensitive/etc, etc. etc... methods. In other words, I was worried because AJ's owners and I employ two drastically different "ideologies" with respect to handling, riding, and training and that it would be very confusing for a young horse like AJ to have to discern between the two... So I decided that maybe this whole lease option wasn't such a hot idea after all....

BECAUSE THE BEST INTEREST OF THE HORSE SHOULD ALWAYS BE YOUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY (SECOND ONLY TO YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY.)

And I didn't think that it was in the best interest of AJ to have me screwing with his perspective on life and the way he relates to pesky, puny, little pipsqueaks (like me) who insist on taking him away from food, his friends and frolicking in the sun to have me poke, prod and prostulate (which is actually a mathematical equation and has nothing at all to do with horses but sounded good as the last "p" word in that sentence) him all afternoon.

It failed to occur to me (until later that night) that I could actually look at an alternative means of working with AJ. That is not to say that I am going to adopt his owner's style- not that there is anything wrong with what they do, it simply isn't "me"... But I could work with him on such simple things as leading, giving to pressure, standing quietly for brushing, tacking, farrier work, bending, putting a solid whoa on him, easy transitions, and all that jazz! Ohh!!! All that JAZZ!!! I loved that movie!! Chicago!!! .... Hatcha!!



Anyways....

My favorite thing in the world to do with a horse is to work with them at liberty (no halter, lead or carrot stick). I LOVE it!! But using that method of horsemanship is not what AJ needs right now....

And you know what?

That's okay too!

'Cause this pony has more than one trick! (or something like that...)

So today I worked with AJ on leading, standing, tying, and breaking down some of the resistance he has in his throat and poll. He was such a good boy, a gem really.

I hope that I can help AJ become a happier, better broke horse so that he will be able to face, with greater confidence, the many challenges that lay in his future.

Barn Photos

One of the things I really like about being back "out and about" (a very Canadian expression) is finding new horses and old barns to take pictures of! The Christmas before last my Mother bought me a really cool Olympus e-510 Digital SLR camera that I am only just now beginning to figure out the simplest features of...

Here are a few of my beginner attempts at using some of the options besides "auto"...

This one I was able to take by manually adjusting for a slower shutter speed to capture this dark cow barn....

Here I played with the Aperture priority setting (this is a paint gelding named Shane)....

This one... well this one I dont have a freakin' clue what I was doing but I thought the photo was kinda funky and obscure... (Shane again).....

This was on the "macro" setting..... (Palomino mare named Sugar)....

And another of the dark barn....

Thank you all for your comments on yesterdays post re: my NOT buying AJ... I deserve a freakin' medal, people! Seriously, it is a sick addiction!

As for buying AJ the future, I'll never say never but I actually have some horse plans and goals that owning a horse like AJ would hamper (no matter how good he is).... I have been bantering some ideas about lately that that are just starting to take shape.... ideas that might set me on a track towards a future with many horses!!!

And if that is not another teaser "coming up next" expose, I dont know what is! Bwahahah!!

Meet AJ

Okay, so my "big" news might not be quite as big as you'all were expecting...I've received many a e-mail demanding to know if I have finally purchased another horse! The answer to that is a resolute, "No! Dammit".... but it was a near thing....


I came very close to purchasing this dear sweet bay gelding, AJ....


Now you may be asking, "How do you.... of all people... come very close to buying?"...


Well as I mentioned I went to see AJ because he was being offered up for free lease by some people I know. After going to work with him for an afternoon I decided that my heart was in danger of falling in love with this sweet boy and I knew that if I spent any amount of time with him I'd be setting myself up for heartbreak when it came time to give him back...


So I politely requested that his owners (very nice people) consider allowing me the option to purchase at the end of the lease....


The following day I received news that they had considered it and though they loved the horse and wanted to keep him, they felt that I would be better able to put his potential to use (as they only trail ride) and so they offered to sell him to me. They also set a very fair price on him.


Now.... anyone that knows me at all will know how much will power it took to decline their kind offer... *sigh* .... more accurately the Herculean effort it took to say "No! Thank you.... (Dammit!")....


That decision did not come without a little help... a gentle push... a friendly reminder... from my darling boyfriend...who so kindly pointed out (when I asked him if I could please ....pretty please...buy AJ...) that....


..... no matter how sweet or quiet AJ is, he is still a young and green horse that has a whole whack load of training left to be done...


And WHAT I NEED (that would be the mantra I've been humming to myself over the past few days....WHAT I NEED....) is a horse that can carry me forward and allow me to progress towards my goals... a horse that can carry ME not visa versa....


He was annoyingly supportive and guilt tripped me into admitting that AJ wasnt the horse I NEEDED....no matter how much I WANTED him.... and all that other hogwash!

So in other words...He forced me to admit that I shouldnt but him...


Did I mention that I was rubbing his feet at the time? ...(I must be loosing my touch!)


So, I will not be buying AJ (*groan*)..... This self discipline crap sucks!


BUT.... the owners were kind enough to invite me to continue to work with AJ over the next month while I am looking at other horses.... It is a win/win because I get to continue to ride and practise some of my training techniques and AJ will get some much needed time spent on him (and a little help with the boarding costs)...


There are some details yet to be hashed out but I was able to go over today and work with him again and well.... I GUESS (she utters bitterly) ....


All is well that ends well.


Now, with that being said.... please.... in the very near future when I come to you'all to complain that I am in love with this horse and I desperately want to buy him....that his big brown eyes own my heart and soul and I will simply DIE if I dont get to keep him forever and ever.....*very bad word*....please do refer me back to this post....


So.... wanna "officially" meet AJ? I am sure you'll be hearing a lot about him over the next month....


(not a great pic but I will get better ones when it is not raining)


But how about some action shots?


Can you see what he is thinking...


(Ohhh....my bum is itchy' man! Gotta scratch it! Just gotta scratch....now if only there were a place round here to roll....)

(*sniff sniff sniff* This spot doesn't look sufficiently muddy enough for my freshly brushed coat! )



(*sniff* this spot looks ok....I could try to hit that manure pile there....that'd be sweet! ...but.... *sniff* no... )


(....naw!! Just isnt right... but that itch! Oh that itch needs scratched!!)



(Yo! Yo! This is the spot, man!!! This is the sweet spot right here....)



(Oh yah Baby!! Itchy bum....here I come!!)



(Damn, why do that have to put the ground so bloody far down!...)



(Hardy! Har! Har! Dont laugh!...everyone looks fat from this angle...)

(Oh yah, Baby! That itch is mine!...)

(Sweet mothe-... I'm going to make it! I'm going to make it....Ohhh!!!......)

(Oh yah!! I made it!!)

(*ehem*)

(HOLY COW!!! That felt FREAKIN' AMAZING!!!)

(Someone hand me a cigerette and some munchies...I'm feel goooood!.....)

Let me see..... maybe there is somethin' in this here pink bucket....

Yes, yes...this is most certainly a pink bucket!

Oh man! It's like totally empty!...

And that concludes the Chronicles of AJ.....

......

Oh man! I like totally need a life!

Up next! Some very exciting horse news !!!

Don't you just hate when you are watching the news (entertainment, local or world) and they keep showing you the same expose on whats coming up "next"....only "next" never seems to come....you know what I'm talkin' 'bout!! Its usually the juiciest most exciting story of the night...they taunt you with it....forcing you to stay tuned through a bunch of boring and mundane news you dont care about....

Well.... here is a sneak peak!!

But I will only say this.....there might....just might! be some big horse news coming around this time tomorrow....

Until then my friends.

Bwahaha!!

****

Sketches in Pastel by Chelsi

Eat, Pray, Love

I just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's book "Eat, Pray, Love: One woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia" and am still trying to digest and dicerne my own beliefs within all the philosophical concepts and idiomisms she presented within its pages....So bare with me as I try to tell you all a little about why I loved the book and why it means as much to me as it does.

Eat, Pray, Love is a autobiographical account of the authors spiritual journey during her year long trip through Italy (eat), India (pray) and Indonesia (love) and how within each stage of her trip she explored herself, her struggles, her relationship with God and the universe as a whole. Before you get all freaked out or turned off by the pseudo-intellectual mumbo jumbo let me tell you that this book is written as if the author is speaking directly to you, casually, intimately- as if you were two woman snuggled up on opposite ends of a deep and comfy sofa, sipping tea and sharing your life's stories (except for the conversation is a little one sided). Liz (the author) also just happens to have a highly entertaining way of describing emotional struggles and always offers up a little comic relief..... just when you are starting to feel a little bogged down by the weight of the issues, she zaps you with a dose of good humor that suppressed that squirmy feeling that tells you this is getting a little too.... white robed zombies, give-me-the-contents-of-your-bank-account-and-I-will-introduce-you-to-God"....for my taste at least....in other words.... I laughed out loud many times during the book

One of my favorite parts of the book occurs within the first few chapters... all you need to know is that Liz is going through an emotional and spiritual melt down, set on a dizmel spiral of depression and self loathing, when she walks into her friends apartment and sees there on his dresser a picture of a "radiantly beautiful Indian woman" and asked.....

"...."Who's that?"

He said, "that is my spiritual teacher."

My heart skipped a beat and then flat out tripped over itself and fell on its face. Then my heart stood up, brushed itself off, took a deep breath and announced: "I want a spiritual teacher." I literally mean that it was my heart who said this, speaking through my mouth. I felt this weird division in myself, and my mind stepped out of my body for a moment, spun around to face my heart in astonishment and silently asked, "You DO?"

"Yes," replied my heart. "I do."

Then my mind asked my heart, a tad sarcastically: "Since WHEN?"...."

I dont know about you, but I've had conversations like this with myself.... as crazy as that might sound!

I love this book because it is well written, funny, deep, intellectual, spiritual, personal and totally unpretentious... and because it came to me at a time in my life when I most needed it.

You don't need to believe in her spiritual practices in order to enjoy her story or to allow it to strengthen or question the way you view faith, worship, and your relationship with God (no matter how you choose to define him/her/it/them) Eat, Pray, Love also examines the way that we as "Westerners" view the pleasures of life (like food, sex, love, fashion etc.) verses how and why Europeans embrace a lifestyle much different than our own....

Most importantly Liz details her search to define worship, the pleasures and pressures of life and how best to find the balance between the two.

Uh-Oh!

So.... I went to see a gelding named AJ today!!!!

Hold on, there is more....

I was able to play with him on some ground issues and "connect" or "join-up" with him at liberty.
It was like totally cool, man!

Here is the thing.....

AJ is up for free lease....

And....

I told the owners there is no way I could free lease him without having an option to buy....

So the deal is....

The owners are discussing it!

There are a thousand and one details to be considered but here is the thing... (how many times can I say that in one post?)

I like this horse.

He is sweet, very sensitive, and has a heck of a lot of try in him. He can turn himself inside out, float like an Arab and scoot his butt into the ground like any blue blooded reiner....

But here is the other thing... (apparently I can say that a few more times!)

He is that typical kind of backyard horse that had a few rides put on him by a "pro" and then the owners took over and took him trail riding. On his 3rd ride an adult intermediate trail rider took him out for a two hour ride in the bush and he was a gem.... his 5th ride he went a mile down a road by himself without any fuss. Trails, cars, creeks, birds, dogs, etc. didnt faze this guy...

But here is the thing....

He is not really "broke".

He is quiet, he accepts a rider, he doesn't wig out of things, he goes, stops, and turns but I dont know if anyone has ever really asked him to do anything....and I dont know what his response will be if they did because the horse I worked with in the arena (on the ground) has a heck of a lot of juice, athletic ability, and quick reflexes.... this is NOT a dead head kind of horse.

His owner (a man in his early 50s) got on him last weekend for the first time in 5 months and took him for a trail ride. He looked at a few things but went where he was told without a fuss.

But AJ also has the typical kind of holes that come from a horse that hasnt had any real time spent on him. He doesnt pick up his feet well, stand for the farrier or had a ride in the arena since his second ride under saddle.

He is a smaller horse (about 14.2) plain bay, big star, and big ol' hip on him. He's cute...not my "type" in a lot of ways but no bad either.

Here is the other thing....

I've knew this horse last summer as he was boarded at the same place as I kept Shaunti. I know his owners, was there when he came home from his third ride (up the mountain) and from his sole trip to the store (down the road). I know this horse, most of his history and the people connected to him. He also just happens to look a heck of a lot like my Shaunti...so much so that when both his owner and I would go to catch our horses in the field, very often we'd walk out to the furthest section only to find that we'd picked the wrong horse. From a distance they were near impossible to distinguish because they both had the exact same white markings on their feet.

So... I will keep you posted on what I hear from the owners tomorrow.

No matter what happens, I am just happy right now because I was able to hang out at a barn, play with a horse, muck a stall and get some manure under my finger nails....

Life is good.