A Busy Saturday

Today was a HOT day!!! The weather got up to about 86F or higher. This morning I did some laundry and this afternoon we went up to Fort Collins and walked around for a while. We made a stop at Barnes & Noble so I could pick up a new book to ready... I brought 2 but have finished both already! We ended up in the middle of some sort of festival when we were walking through Fort Collins and it was kind of neat, a live band and lots of people!

One the way home Chelsea stopped off a a place called "Chick-fil-A" to get me some "Sweet Tea" - its still nothing like home, but it will do until I get there! It is actually quite good.

I started on some much needed homework catching-up and got a start on the quote assignment that will be due in about 5 weeks-ish... I was putting off starting it, but once I actually started it was very amazing! I really enjoyed reflecting on the information I was writing down! I will be writing more tomorrow and then I will have to print it ready to hand in for class!

I hope that it will be as nice tomorrow as it was today and hopefully I will get to go in the pool and do a little sun bathing!

Have a great night... look for more pictures after school Monday!

Ciao Bella

Oh my Gosh! The end of week 3!!!

I can't believe that I have been gone from home for almost one month already, and I hear that everyone is missing me, including my sweet little kitten!

Today we were at one of the ranches all day (we started at 8:45 and neither Chelsea or me wanted to get up this morning!), the weather was beautiful today; a little cloudy this morning but it cleared up this afternoon with threatening thunder showers in the afternoon. The showers passed all around us, but we never got wet... it made me feel right at home! We had an early (and long) lunch today and ended early because we ran out of horses to massage! The ranch was more busy than they had expected and the horses were standing saddled ready for the next riding groups to arrive!

I worked on 2 horses today, first Tyree a really cute little grey/blue roan pony. He is quite old and only has to carry children in his old age! When I was working on him I was drawn to his hind end, like there was something going on there and when I got over top of his pelvis and started to work there was an odd popping coming from the SI joint... when I finished there I moved up to his shoulders and neck and then back again to re-assess his hind end and the popping had subsided!!! Yay!!! It was interesting to be drawn to this area first, as we usually tend to start on the shoulders (this is where we started our learning, 3 weeks ago!!! Oh my gosh!!!)

This afternoon I worked on Ricochet, he is a really amazing horse, a ~16.1 hand Palomino Gelding. I had worked on him once before and I found it really hard, he didn't want to give me his attention at all that day and I began to get frustrated. Today however, it was like working on a totally different horse! He was at my attention all day and did everything that I asked, I still had trouble working on this head and neck but this was even better than the prevous day, it is so nice to see the changes that happen between treatments!

Tonight I made Asparagus and Chicken Fettuccine Pasta for dinner and now we are going to watch "No Reservations" and then we will get to sleep in tomorrow morning!!!

Have a wonderful night and I will post tomorrow!

Ciao Bella

Love Sara XXO

Whoa!!

Hi all!!! Today was a good "in classroom" day and I am posting later than usual because we all got to go and see the Lipizzaner Stallions tonight!

First, this morning we had Business class which was quite fun, we got to separate into groups and talk about modalities and gizmos and gadgets that may try to steal our job!!!

This afternoon we had Anatomy and learned the rest of the muscles that we will be learning (so we have learned them all now!) and then worked in small groups to go over how to approach and talk to clients about certain muscles and different circumstances for discussion, I find this really helpful to start speaking the lingo!

Tonight the show started at 7:30 and it was really amazing to see all of the horses and their unique athletic abilities! I found that having learned the muscles and knowing how the body functions at it's peak, I was being quite critical about what the horses were doing. I saw them when I was really little (a different group) and I can't decide if I liked that group or this one, I think that I am more knowledgable now and that I appreciate how hard these movements are to perform!

I also forgot my camera tonight... I gotta stop doing that!

Have a great night and I will post all about my week on the whole tomorrow!

P.S. If anyone want's to leave me any love notes... If you go to where it says "posted by Sara XXO at" at the bottom of the post and move your cursor to the right you are able to clic on there and write me anything you want!!!!

Have a great night!

Ciao Bella

Sara XXO

Up in the Tree Tops!

Today was warmer than yesterday and we are at a new ranch where we have never been before! The horses were a little more "uppity" than the previous horses we have worked on, but it proved to be a very rewarding day!

We started off at a place called Vern's for breakfast where they have the biggest pancakes in the world... guaranteed!!!! and they have the best cinnamon buns as well; so it was good all around!

We went up to the ranch after breakfast (just after 8:30) and got about right to work... after a pit stop; here is Laura coming out from her potty break -- good thing I am the one with the camera!!!

We each worked on 2 horses of our own today, no pairing up! The first horse that I had was really cool, he was slightly ADD and really liked to swing his head around all the time, I think that he had some things going on that he needed adjusted and when I was working on him he gave me a really really big stretch with his front feet right out in front of him!! He helped to teach me patience today, I really had to wait for him to get with me and not get after him for his head, he just needed to "adjust." Here he is in the field after I let him go.

The second horse I worked with was a really big suck! He wanted to be loved and petted and really enjoyed having his hind end worked on as well as the nape of his neck where the neck meets the trunk on the front (anterior) side.

He helped to teach me relaxation and to have confidence, when you are sticking your arm between the hind legs of a give or take 1,200 lb. animal, you have to be pretty sure and relaxed!!! All in all, it turned out really well and he seemed to enjoy having his hips worked on!

Here he is just before I let him go in the field!

For dinner Chelsea and I ordered in Chinese food, it's not like Charly Chan's, but it did the job!!!

Tomorrow we are in the classroom all day, so no really cool pics, but we have to do the nitty gritty to get to the fun stuff!!!

Have a great night and good weather!

Love Sara XXO

A Very Wet Day!

Hi everyone! Today was a very very wet and cold day! We got to start it all off by waking up to rain and cold and as the day progressed it seemed to get better and better; thank god for indoor arena's!

We first met at at a Polo Horse Barn and met Olivia, she is in charge of all of the Polo horses and took the EMT course from Michael and Sara last year. We had kind of a Q & A with her about anything we were interested in and also questions about the care of the Polo Horses.

We were supposed to go up to where the horses are out on pasture just north of the equestrian center, but due to the weather we got to stick around the arena and work on some of the other horses (dressage, hunter jumper and western pleasure horses).

I paired up with Laura today and we started off with the most lively one of the bunch, he was actually a Polo horse (Thoroughbred) that had been injured and wasn't able to go out to pasture. He didn't really want to have anything to do with us and I think that he had a little ADD!!! He was very active; but to tell the truth... it was a really good experience and I totally enjoyed the day! Even though it was harder to get and keep his attention I found that I really learned a lot! When I finally found a spot that he really enjoyed he was right into it; I found that he was tight in his neck near the trunk of his body and when I worked there he would cock his neck really funny and soak it all up!!!

The second horse that we had was a very very quiet Quarter Horse, he was absolutley stunningly beautiful and very gentle and quiet! He was a totally different experience to work on, but it was really nice to have one of each extreme today, I was able to see how to approach differently!

This afternoon we are at Rick's, which I always enjoy! Today me and my group got to work with Rick in the round pen and when it was my turn I felt that I did a really good job and had a solid understanding of what I was supposed to accomplish. After the class was over for the day Rick told me that I did a good job in the round pen and that made me feel really good, I was trying really hard!!!

All in all, I had a good day, lets just hope that the weather is better for tomorrow. We are going up to a ranch we have never been to -- another dude ranch up north... they may have snow so we will have to dress even warmer than today!! I am used to the snow so I know how to dress!!! But I wasn't thinking when I packed to come here... I left all of my toques at home and my head was a little cold today!! I have a hoodie that I can wear tomorrow to keep all my brains warm enough to learn!!! And to hold everything in!

Ciao for tonight!

A Good Day

Hi everyone! Today was a day of new experiences! We started at one of the Ranches this morning at 8:45 and today we each got to work on our own horse... so everyone got to have a horse to work on, instead of working in pairs and having one person hold the rope while the other worked! This was a very welcomed new experience and I got to work on Linda (the horse that I rode yesterday!) It was interesting because when I was riding her I could tell that she was a little hesitant on her right side, like she was "sore;" I use that work in quotes because Sara tells us not to use it because to an owner this would not be a very happy thing.. too think that your horse is "sore" and that you may have made them that way is kind of a heavy feeling, so using stiff would be a better choice.

We each worked with one horse for just under 1 hour and then we had a break and switched, the second horse that I worked on today, I didn't know his name; he was very gentle and forgiving.

I had a sort of revelation when I was working on him; when working the neck (as we have been taught) I was so into the attempt to get the action I was asking for from the horse that I was actually tensing up my left hand (which was on his neck asking for the bend at a particular place... kind of hard to explain). I was having no luck getting the action I was looking for so I moved on to the hind end and a little more of the shoulder and then returned to the neck to try again. This time when I placed my left hand on the neck and my right hand on the front of the face (about where the halter crosses) I realized that when I asked for the horse to come around to me I was actually pushing with my left hand instead of letting him come to me and just following me!!! Once I relaxed that hand and let it follow his movement he was able to give his head to me and respond to my "question," what a good sport for putting up with me... he was probably wondering when I would figure it out!

This afternoon in Anatomy we got the opportuinty to go back to the Ranch and "palpate" the horses for bony landmarks and muscle placement. This was really fun, though the sun had seemed to dissapear and it was quite cold. We were allowed to leave at 4:30 instead of 5 because we were finished finding things on the horses and because we were all extremely cold, a thick wind had blown in and it was very chilly!!!

Anyhow, because we all had horses today I didn't have anyone to take pictures of me so they will have to wait until tomorrow when we are working on the polo horses!!! This should be another new and interesting experience!!

Talk to you all tomorrow~

Ciao Bella

Elmo Died in our Dryer :(

So he didn't really die, per say... but i'll get to that later!

Today was a good day... but before I forget -- Happy Mom's Day Mom!!!! I love you!

I started off the morning making dessert for tonight, Dessert Cheese Ball (similar to cheescake, but not really!) and then before we knew it we had to leave for out Trail Ride out at one of the Ranches where we work on their horses! The day couldn't have been more perfect with a little breeze and bright sun!

We arrived at the ranch at 11:30am and after a little while of searching (you would think we would know where everything was, seeing as we are there the majority of our time right now...) we found the office to pay for our ride and we were off!

Because we had all ridden before we were allowed to pick out our own horse to ride, I picked Linda (see below).

When we started the ride I realized that I had forgotten my memory card for my camera so I am a bit limited in the picture department this evening...

We stopped at the top of the hill to take a group photo before we started on the trail...

From Left to Right: Jessica, Heidi, Chelsea, Karen, Me, Sue, Cat, Kimi and Joe.

The ride took us through the back side of the ranch area, there was alot of rock on the trail and Linda sometimes had trouble tripping over rocks, but we managed! We went up and down the hills through the west side of the "Hill" we were on -- being from Canada, I can not constitute this a "Mountain"... everything was very beautiful and picturesque!

We returned from the ride just after 1pm (the ride took us for just over 1 hour), This is the ending pic I took of me and Linda. By 1:20 we were in the car on the way home. Chelsea drove for us today, and Laura will be driving to school this week, we are taking turns!

When we got home we madly cleaned the house (I vacuumed, Chelsea cleaned the bathroom...) we had to get ready for our big shindig this evening... with the Onions hosting... we had to make it a royal treat (when hosting Diva's, everything has to be royal!!!), the Onions is an inside joke... don't worry about it!

Everyone came over around 5pm and we had more food than we ever could have imagined! Some one must have given all of us the same dinner desire, because when 8 people from 3 different houses decided to make Chile... well, you get the drift! Everything was amazing and getting to chat and get to know everyone even more was really nice as well!

Above Left: is Jessica, Cat, Joe and Heidi in the background getting ready to eat!

Above Right: Jessica, Lew, Heidi, Kimi and Joe chowing down!!!

It was really nice to have everyone over! For dessert we were spoiled by Lemon Merangue (I can't spell that..) Pie, Cheese Ball, and Rick came and brought us Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!! We are soo lucky!!

Now, about Elmo...

Chelsea washed all her sheets and blankets off her bed today and put them in the dryer when our company was here. After everyone left she went to take them out of the dryer and there was all this red fuzzy lint literally EVERYWHERE in, and out, of the dryer!

So the fate of Elmo is uncertain at this hour, but our garbage pail has a really beautiful shade of red in it!!!

I guess this is what starts to happen when you have lived with people for 2 weeks and you don't have a TV... just wait for another 6 weeks...

Anywho, have a great night everyone, and happy Monday tomorrow morning... I will hopefully post again tomorrow night!

Ciao for now!