Yesterday, a joyous return to my halcion days on horseback! I hauled Rosie who was an easy, pleasant ride. This time, I brought Pimmy along to counter Rosie’s separation anxieties. The combo worked beautifully. Rosie was calm in the trailer and while being saddled. Throughout my ride, she maintained a pleasant gait and casual alertness.
Without trouble, we found the well-beaten trail that crosses a large lava ridge. It provides a picturesque travel.
Ridge Route #2
Louie & Ranger leading
I’ve named this trail, “Ridge Trail #2”. It’s located fairly near a ridge trail I found earlier and now refer to as Ridge Trail #1. It puzzles me after coming off RT#2, that I can’t find RT#1. I’ve wandered from RT#2, searching for RT#1, but haven’t located them vis a vis one another.
Gee, I want to record my routes and finds by creating a detailed-area map. So far, I’ve not discovered an affordable and capable way to hard-map the real-time details that are stored in my electronics.
Yesterday, Rosie left RT#2 where it ends, near the powerlines at the north end of Road 200, and headed south, a routine in my searches for RT#1. Occasionally, we pass a vehicle, parked in a field but near the road. Someone inside keeps covered its windows and leaves open its side door. Yesterday, my dogs headed toward that vehicle and I called them back just as whoever was inside slid-shut the door.
I yelled, “So you know, there’s a loose donkey following me!”
From inside, in a man’s deep holler, “I love that donkey!”
Dear Friends: Even in the middle of seemingly nowhere, people may meet in odd ways and even eak slight familiarities with one-another’s doings. Diana
I’ve completed a string of days at work. Having had no chances to ride horseback, I itch to hoist myself into a saddle. Now with several days off and starting this morning, I’ll correct the gap and resume riding. Prior to re-starting work at my old job, almost daily riding had become ritual.
A new week of the work schedule is posted. It appears that on average I’ll work three days weekly. That provides plenty of days free to play with horses, and it’s especially nice during this relatively-cool weather.
There’s a fun element of working in a busy place where many people gather. At Costco, I bump into friends doing their shopping for pleasant moments together, catching up. Besides renewing friendships those encounters by breaking up the routine help my hours pass more quickly.
I’m uncertain today whether to take out all the horses or only one. My best bet is to play things by ear, and in other words, get a sense of what’s most compelling while out feeding them. Much happens while interacting with horses. Today I’ll assess their alertness and energy relative to my own. This morning, I’m a little tired. While I’d like to get them all out, maybe instead, it’s better to opt for an easy ride and just one horse.
My physically strongest dog, Ranger–and unfortunately the only one not dealing with arthritis or injury–was exhausted after running frequently with my horses. During my recent working days, Ranger’s had a good rest. Now again, this great trail dog is ready to run.
Dear Friends: The stress of working is offset by anticipating fun with the horses. Diana
It’s shocking at work to find some customers angry at us sample servers. They demand for edibles handed out, right now. Yesterday, a woman repeatedly insisted that I had no business being in the store. We all hear such things from customers and try to appear neutral.
In this unhealthy environment, it’s shocking that people may want to see food cooking and to eat it. I wonder, with others, why our sample-serving company decided to restart. It’s created bunches of rules we servers must observe. We attend to endless hand-washings, no touchings of our masks, and repeated must change our gloves. Meanwhile, the illness rate continues to rise.
If sample serving at Costco again shuts-down, I’ll claim unemployment and happily hop on a horse.
Meanwhile, our nights have turned chilly, and last night I shut windows. After hours on my feet at work, it feels good to slide under a stack of blankets to sleep like a baby. Here’s what’s odd, cool August evenings like these are in the month usually that’s our hottest. But hey, no mistake, I’ll take more of what is.
My non-employed brain has turned into a blank platform. It doesn’t bother with new delights. It’s busy trying to reorganize my fewer free hours–like to feed the large animals on some regular schedule. What’s happening is that now I find time seeming strange. For example, if I’m to be at work at 11:00 a.m., I can’t remember to finish all else by 10:00 a.m. I forget how much time one needs to clean-up and dress-up before heading to work. These first days, I’ve been in a rush-mode to get ready for work, have been leaving late, and barely clocking in on time.
I miss those past-few months that were more free, and supported an alert, accepting, and busy brain. In retrospect, that represented a period of halcyon days. That stretch of tranquility allowed both intakes and ideas to flow and grow. Well, I hope to regain such goodness!
Dear Friends: Realities and dreams may integrate best with step-by-step adjustments. Diana
First, good news! My Border Collie, Miles, doesn’t have an autoimmune disease, it’s arthritis that causes his limping. That he needn’t take steroid medications is a huge relief to me. Maybe in time, he’ll again be able to accompany my horses, at least, on shorter outings.
Next, we’re back! Yesterday, Costco had five of us demo types working to attract and inform customers. We weren’t handing out samples, but showing and describing products, without generating much interest. My product, hand sanitizer refill, wasn’t exciting, didn’t stop customers, nor encourage me to speak ad infinitum to a script. An hour or so into the demo, I began to fall asleep, worked hard to remember lines and avoid mumbling. Fortunately, a break revived my energy enough. Assignments to products like sanitizer, toilet paper, and most pharmaceuticals makes for b-o-r-i-n-g demo work.
Customers look for tactile and certain visual experiences. They want to touch, eat, or pause on spotting a surprising and appealing product. Yesterday offered none, customers were disinterested. We demo types worked ad infinitum to suppress our yawns.
Things might start looking up for me. I’m assigned today and tomorrow as a breaker, which means filling-in while others take their breaks and lunches. This allows me to move around, change products, and share brief co-complaining sessions with fellow-workers. Breaking means shorter working hours, too, which I prefer. I’m experienced in showing most store products and don’t require full-time hours and pay. I simply want to keep my “hand in” and am hoping for a breaker role permanently or most often.
Restarting a massive, worldwide demo biz is requiring the organization to move forward with very-baby-steps. We first-hires are the workers most experienced. We understand the significant, gradable processes of maintaining stations, squeaky-clean, and selling products with scripted-speeches. We also have off-the-record experiences. One is knowing how to stay alert enough to perform adequately with any product.
By tomorrow’s ending, I’ll be off and running in the job. My next focus will be seeking to continue horseback riding while accommodating that work schedule. If mostly I’m a breaker, that will leave hours open to play with horses. My fingers are crossed.
Dear Friends: How a person wears a mask illuminates clearly his or her personality-type. Diana
Another fine ride yesterday with me on Sunni and Anna riding Rosie. The horses took us over a big lava ridge, on a lovely horse-trail I discovered earlier. Next, we crossed again that large ridge, but through another section, with our willing and confident horses creating a new trail.
My activities will change starting today. I’m resuming part-time work as a sample server at Costco. The paperwork is done, I’ll go this morning for reorientation and to start working. The process has changed, and now Servers won’t cook or hand out bits of edibles. Instead, we’ll recite product worthiness and distribute pre-packaged samples.
I understand that we’ll stand behind plexiglass barriers and wear plastic face guards. We must wear gloves, change them frequently, and of course, do lots of hands-washing.
I’ve thought much about whether to resume my old job.
Costco has impressed me during these worrisome months. The store continually sanitizes its shopping carts, and monitors that every person entering wears a mask. I’ve seen how carefully the store is managing for cleanliness and supporting distancing guidelines.
There are negatives in that I’ll have less time to play with horses, less energy for tending to property, and as a senior, I’m vulnerable to illness.
The big positive is feeling lucky to have paying work in these economically depressed times. My part time job qualified me for unemployment benefits, and would again in case of a need to halt sample-distributing.
Nothing’s locked in stone, and today will be informative. If the newly revamped serving process doesn’t feel right, I can reconsider a decision to work.
Dear Friends: “My summer on horseback” has been wonderful, rewarding and fun! Diana
I rode Sunni and she for the first time wore a bitless bridle. For anyone unfamiliar with bitless bridles, they’re like having the horse in a simple halter. The difference is that a bitless bridle has rings to accommodate ordinary reins. For a horse, generally easygoing and cooperative, a bitless bridle is comfortable, allows for grazing, and is easy to put on and take off. It’s important to know, however, that if a horse decides to take off–I’m saying, really get going like BOOM–a rider can’t do much to stop that action.
Sunni is a kind horse and that bridle made just one noticeable difference–more “discussions” about whether she could stop and graze. I found that her neck is strong enough to ignore some of my tuggings, but she didn’t always win. Anyway, Sunni is good natured, willing to stop only briefly before moving ahead.
She’s so easy and trustworthy, we went places I’ve been hesitating to explore. We bushwacked through a slight break in a large lava ridge and managed to cross over.
Inside ridge
On the other side, we chose a route through low ground foliage to work our way over to a road that I’d never before seen. We followed it in a direction that took us farther away from the trailhead and somewhere I noticed, to our left and heading into another large ridge, a well-beaten horse path–exactly the sort of pathway I enjoy finding.
That path meandered through the ridge and wove around numerous rocky outpoints.
Resting Ranger
The trail was about a mile long, an easy, pretty ride ending at another road, this one seemed familiar. We we turned toward the trailhead but I couldn’t resist the ridge, and soon we shifted, rode across it again, quickly finding ourselves up high among rocks.
Nothing seemed scary. We worked our way over and onto the worn trail that had brought us there, and on it journeyed back to that first unrecognizable road.
My inclination was to follow its general direction toward the trailhead, but Sunni kept trying to move us into flat, forested lands. We’d be bushwacking across and nothing looked familiar. I didn’t much trust Sunni’s sense of direction, but it was early afternoon with yet enough daylight to backtrack if needed.
Sunni strolled and ate her way through the grasslands and among trees for about a mile. She exactly was on target. We emerged on a road where on a hill above stood an adobe house–a key marker that signals the nearby trailhead.
That fun ride accomplished much: (1) introduced a bitless bridle, (2) discovered ridge crossings (3) found an established horse trail, (4) invited cross-country riding, and (5) confirmed Sunni’s accurate sense of direction.
Besides, the day was fine in all ways, like that beautiful sky.
Dear Friends: Today, we’ll do it again, and now joined by Anna riding Rosie. Diana
I loaded my mare, Rosie, hauled her to the trails, my rare outing with only one horse. Usually, everybody goes. On the trals, I ride one horse and pony another, while my donkey and dogs follow along. Rosie can be problematic when I ride her while ponying another horse. I’m too busy to focus on Rosie and she does lots of jigging and jogging, won’t simply walk. It’s been puzzling because Rosie can be a wonderful ride. She’s very light to handle with a well balanced frame that’s friendly to a rider.
So, why all the jigging and jogging? Is Rosie challenging her rider? Does she dislike Sunni’s following closely? Is something not right with her tack? Are the flying insects too bothersome? What, oh what?
Last week, my friend, Anna, an experienced horse-person rode Rosie, and Rosie fully was cooperative. Anna explained that she was leaving Rosie’s reins very loose, and very carefully was keeping her own body relaxed. She felt Rosie as a very sensitive horse and considered her delightful to ride.
My next time on Rosie, I concentrated on staying relaxed, left Rosie’s reins loose, focused on maintaining softness in my saddle, and kept loose my legs. For ponying Sunni, I allowed more than usual lead rope. The ride began well, but soon as we turned onto a narrow trail, Sunni began grabbing at grass and Rosie started to jig and jog, which continued through the rest of our outing. In fact, upon our return and reaching the trail’s end, near where weeks ago Rosie became frightened of a loose helium balloon, she refused to go forward on that section of trail. I was very challenged to move her on toward the nearby trailhead.
I decided that my next outing would include Rosie as my only horse. We’d work on our relationship. I’d follow Anna’s guidance by letting Rosie’s reins stay loose, would keep my body soft. Here’s what happened:
From the moment I got into Rosie’s saddle, her behavior was perfect. With little guidance she strolled comfortably out to the trail. On reaching a rocky, steep section, I focused on sitting softly and she moved upward easily. We turned onto a narrow trail on which she jigs and jogs, but now she strolled casually and stayed exactly on the path. Her behavior never changed as we traveled along roads or followed trails, and traveled some through cross-country.
Rosie was a perfect ride, and now, I worked harder to become a better rider. Rosie has a tendency to be hyper-alert, always moving her head to look around and pausing to focus intently, her ears constantly-rotating as radar-sensors. I remained physically unresponsive to all signals from Rosie’s head, neck, and ears. Experience has taught that Rosie signals concern by tightening her body under the saddle. A rider can feel that change and adjust. Through this ride, Rosie’s body stayed loose, mine stayed loose, and we teamed successfully.
Later, as Anna and I discussed all this, I had a sudden epiphany that explained why Rosie jigs and jogs as I pony Sunni who grabs at grass. Sunni isn’t a quick and unnoticeable grabber so I tug on her rope. While yanking the rope, my body tightens and it’s is a signal to Rosie’s high sensitivity. In exactly the way Rosie’s body tightening under my saddle informes me of possible action, my body tightening in Rosie’s saddle communicates to her the same. So, she dances in readiness.
Rosie is wired to respond to muscle signals. All animals are, and some like Rosie are more highly sensitive. I’ve been aware of this but mostly unconsciously, and only now am gaining enough insight to take a stab at articulating what may be causing Rosie’s unwelcome trail behavior. It’s my ponying a second horse while riding Rosie, and yanking on a lead rope. Each yank causes my frequent shifting in the saddle, and Rosie responds with, “What do you need from me now, mom?”
Am I trying to psychoanalyze a horse? Nah. Rosie simply does “horse things”. This is about me, having to understand, accommodate and adjust. A best-ride from any horse results from a rider’s correct saddle seat, kindness toward the animal, and the two being in an appropriate situation.
Next, I’ll take Sunni by herself, she’s an easy and bomb-proof ride. It’s been unfair of me to think that Rosie should be more like Sunni. Both are great horses, but each is enough different to warrant from me insights and accommodations to their individualities, and with respect and admiration.
Dear Friends: “Learning Rosie” is becoming a life-lesson that adjusts my worldview. Diana
This summer in Central Oregon has offered incredibly beautiful days. We do get real hot weather but usually later in the afternoons. During a day’s early and mid-sections, the relatively cool weather invites folks to outdoor activities. My hours outdoors are consumed by caring for property and animals, and visits to a local forest to ride on horseback.
We’re rolling into August, argurably Central Oregon’s hottest month. Experience teaches that our August weather has unique demands. I’m hoping to accommodate by rearranging my days, so it’s possible to leave earlier for outside activities. In an afternoon’s oncoming heat, I want to be inside, simply vegging-out with streaming videos.
To facilitate this, my riding arrangement will change. Instead of taking all my animals together out, I’ll begin hauling a single horse to ride and will alter their outings. Unfortunately, that means Pimmy often remains home and baby-sits the horse left behind.
I’ve a triple purpose for hauling single horses. One horse enables riding’s sheer pleasure and time to work more with individual animals to strengthen our trail-partnerships. A third plus is that handling single horses leaves more freedom to fiddle with my electronic assists. I want to learn more about features that, for example, enable using a compass, and allow for creating and saving maps of horse-trails.
Dear Friends: Time has escaped me, and again no photo. I’ll plan to do better tomorrow. Diana
My friend Anna spoke about the wisdom of remaining very relaxed while on horseback. We were out riding and the horses were our main topic. An experienced rider, she knows that horses do sense a rider’s slightest muscle tensions. She offers that a very sensitive horse, like my Rosie, may respond by becoming a worrisome ride.
I’ve complained about Rosie’s tendency to jig and jog on the trail when her rider simply wants a walk. Rosie’s normal walk is light and smooth, pleasant to sit. But she refuses to settle into a walk when carrying me in the Horse Butte National Forest. It’s a new riding territory for us and often we’ve explored its trails. I’m with three equines and four dogs, and working to manage and keep an eye on all.
Anna had me wonder if my outings, although enjoyable, create a high tension in myself that may impact negatively my horses. She points out that horses respond to a tense rider by becoming tense themselves. My issues are (1) with Rosie, who jigs and jogs instead of simply walking, and (2) with Sunni’s ignoring her rider by frequently and suddenly stopping to grab at grass. Anna didn’t blame such behaviors on the horses, she instead suggested that maybe they’re responses to a rider’s tensions.
We have learned to understand that tension is a double-sided phenomenon. One side can stimulate a person to explore, learn, create, and socialize. The other may cause a person to feel worn out, sad, closed-off and depressed. While my recent riding tensions are on the euphoric side, they nonetheless create a frequent tightening while I’m on horseback. Maybe it’s why Rosie jigs and Sunni halts, and both have become frustrating.
Yesterday in Horse Butte, I experimented by riding Sunni and ponying Rosie over an easy route. We didn’t have a particular destination, but simply walked in a direction away from the trailhead and eventually looping around to it. I focused on sitting lightly in Sunni’s saddle and guiding her with loose reins, and on not pulling or jerking on Rosie’s rope to make her “follow better”.
That focus on staying very relaxing resulted in a very enjoyable outing with my horses. Sunni did try to pause for grass, but seemed to do this less often and with less obstinance. Rosie, without a hitch walked correctly on her rope and barely was noticeable. I hardly believed this was us!
We’ll try this again today and hoping for another good outing. I’ll ride Rosie and focus on staying relaxed in her saddle and guiding with loose reins. I’ll hold lightly Sunni’s ponying rope, won’t jerk on it. I’ll stay tuned to managing the horses well, and not think so much about other trail-related goals that also may be worthwhile.
(I took photos during yesterday’s ride, but my goofball-self forgot to bring the camera from my truck. Today, I’ll take new pictures of those happier horses.)
Dear Friends: Everything works out best by letting events evolve in a logical order. Diana
This morning, I’m leaving early to take my Border Collie, Miles, to a specialist veterinarian. There, he’ll be anesthesized, his synovial fluids drawn, and tests run to determine if he has autoimmune disease. Miles’ swollen joints suggest he has that not-pretty disease, I know it well from an earlier dog of mine. I’m bummed that Miles might have developed it, but prior to test results can hope for an outcome suggesting a condition less aggressive.
Yesterday, Rosie and her rider, Anna, immediately gained mutual understanding, and Rosie, who can be obnoxious with riders, performed at her best. Anna’s guidance of Rosie was very light, and she explained that Rosie is very sensitive, that the slightest tension in her rider also tenses this horse, changes her behavior. Anna’s handling found Rosie’s very light and responsive side, so she experienced the very fine ride Rosie can offer.
Later as we unsaddled, Anna said that she estimates the younger Rosie, during her top career years had outstanding capabilities. And I’ve understood the same from other friends, experienced with horses, who’ve on-and-off handled Rosie since she was a tiny filly.
Pausing for Pimmy to catch up
On the other hand, Anna learned, too, and quite a bit…about donkeys. We made pretty good time over the trails, even with pauses to listen for Pimmy’s cowbell or to wait until she could catch up with the horses. My wonderful trail dogs, Ranger and Louie, as usual went the whole distance.
A fun ride.
Dear Friends: Please keep good thoughts for Miles, always a fastest, most athletic companion. Diana
