Today we had fog in morning and sun in the afternoon. We have had sun for 2 days now and the footing is back to being excellent here at Lone Tree Farm. We had a long bout of rain in December and then grey, grey tule fog for about a month. People asked me if was depressed from the greyness. I replied "No, I'm fine as I was crying on my horse while approaching a jump." I'm thankful for the sun.
Some highlights of the month regarding horses were a school at Ram Tap with Mary, and another woman named Mia. I brought Banner and Maggie. Weather and footing was great and I only fell off twice. We are just fine and wiser too.
Today I got to ride with clinician Don Sachey. He comes around Lone Tree periodically.
I learned how to move Banner's rib cage and ride more with one rein to soften him up when he gets too high. It relaxes him and improves submission. Don says we had a "compromise" before learning this. and we Banner wasn't really doing what I asked. A cross country rider must be able to revert to dressage in an instant even when galloping to achieve the harmony we want. To be safe and have fun means having the option of slowing down anytime we want or even do a 10 meter circle without an argument. Moving the rib cage accomplishes this submission. I liked the lesson.
I have more horses to ride and start. I work every day pretty much taking only blocks of time off some days for my voice lesson, meetings, food shopping etc. I'm busy.
Music is a blast. I played a gig last night at a little wine tasting room in Oakdale. I had some new friends join me and we really got it going. John Gwinner played dobro and mandolin, Tina Gwinner played auto harp (she is one of the best auto harpists in world competitions), also we had Fred Stepp on violin. He calls it fiddle...it sounds like a violin to me. The music was so good at times I would close my eyes and just bask in it. It was wonderful.
My voice lessons have made me so grateful to be a singer. I love the high notes now. I appreciate my vocal options and increased range. I am able to be more creative and expressive. I have been singing show tunes as assignment. What fun.
Thanks friends for reading my blog. Best, Mia
