Last Weekend's Ride

I've been meaning to get these pics posted for several days, but things have been hectic here (DH home with a sprained ankle, gorgeous weather keeping me busy outside, etc.), so I'm a little slow.

Last weekend we took a really nice ride into the dune plantation across the road. We started out with DH on Ria and me on Quintas. With all her pain issues involved, Ria has been a lot more energetic and eager on rides. Unfortunately she also has been acting up some the couple times I've ridden her alone. We additionally want to get her trained for one-handed riding, which DH is more experienced with doing. So I asked DH to ride her some to do the training and see how she behaved. She behaved fine and is making good progress on the training.

For once I actually remembered to get the camera out of my pocket and take pics on the trail. Unfortunately, not all of them came out very well (as in most of those I took of DH).

We rode through the woods and out to the road that headed to the "stenslet" (I don't know how to translate slet. It is an open area that has a combination of stone and sand on the bottom. Very desert-like in some ways). I'd been out the road to the stenslet but hadn't ridden into it before. It is gorgeous out there!

You see that sandy area out in front of us in that last picture? When we got there, Quintas suddenly shook herself really hard. Just as I was recovering from that (I've never had a horse shake when I was riding before), she started getting down on her knees to roll in the sand! We got her up again and nothing happened, but it sure did freak me out plenty.

So we hurried to swap horses back because I was somewhat disturbed by that one. Of course she didn't do any of it for DH. But it did give us something to laugh about once I was over being freaked out.

Ria sure does shine really pretty in the sun! I am riding in my roping saddle, by the way. The first one I bought for it that ended up not fitting and the seller refused to take it back despite her promise to do so if it ended up not fitting after she was trained. But since I sit way better in it than in the second one I bought, I guess I ended up a little lucky anyway.

I had some trouble that day because we had to take my stirrup turners off temporarily. To make the long explanation short and understandable to non-horse people, Ria is being retrained from having a very stiff right side using the CorrecTOR so I need to adjust my stirrups crooked for the process to work. I am pretty short so already needed my stirrups close to the last hole to have the right length with the turners in, making it impossible to adjust them properly for this. So we took the turners off so the length was right. This is painful for my knees. Since then, we've soaked the fenders in water and twisted them hard with a stick in them, so they should be more comfortable next time even without the turners. But I am looking forward to getting her retrained so I can have them back.

Back to the story of the ride...

From the stenslet, we rode back towards home along the stream (Knasborg Å).

It was really a great ride and I think all four of us enjoyed it. I was very happy to see that Ria's hooves are enough improved for her to be comfortable walking and even JOGGING on gravel. This is great progress and proof that our do-it-ourselves farrier project was a good idea.

Recent Leather Projects

I keep forgetting to post pictures of some of our recent leather projects. These are for our own use (and good practice for the intention of later selling some things).

DH wanted to make some hair-on spur straps. We lined these with pig skin. We actually managed the stitching with my regular machine, but it isn't as nice looking as I would like. In the future, we need to get a stitching pony and sew things like this by hand properly. They might be a little on the thin side, but the pig skin inside gives them strength. He bought the buckles in the US on eBay specifically for this project.

For myself, I did some drawing, using some Tandy patterns to start but making a lot of changes. My goal was a floral strap with our brand/logo in the middle. They ended up pretty nice, in my opinion, although they are far from perfect. I have learned the following lessons while making these spur straps:

1. Do not expect leather designs made while the drawer has a concussion to work out right. I had mirrored the ENTIRE strap when I made the pair, including ending up with a backwards logo. I had to redraw and redo that strap.
2. There is a reason most leather designs leave a plain border around the outside (not carving all the way to the edges). Things get a little messy when you try to work all the way out and it is much harder to burnish the edges properly. Would be fine if I had laced the edges, but laced edges and buckles don't always go well together.
3. Use heavier leather for spur straps. These are nice, but a little thin. We had to add a second layer under the tips to use the metal ends that came with the buckles.
4. This project is also when I have finally gotten a better feel for how dry the leather needs to have been allowed to get before tooling.

Next we made a simple set of slobber straps. Once again, we should have used heavier leather, but this is what we had on hand and DH wanted to ride with a hair mecate instead of regular reins on the bit of his mare. Next time I make some of these, I am going to make a style that is easier to remove from the bit or switch the bit it is on without taking the mecate out. Getting the mecate through the holes isn't easy and I worry that it will increase the wear or potentially break the hairs on the mecate. Horse hair mecates are NOT cheap.

These are without any fancy tooling. The mark you can see is our new larger makers mark for leather projects. It says "4 BARS RR DENMARK" with our logo in the middle.

It did go very well riding with them, but DH found the horse hair a little annoying at this time of year. The weather is warm enough for riding without gloves, which he prefers, but the prickly hairs are uncomfortable with bare hands. As far as I can learn from reading, the prickliness is part of the advantage of riding with a horsehair mecate. The hairs will "tickle" the horse's neck, making it easier to train neck reining. I've been riding Ria in the bosal when I can for the same reason--there is a horsehair mecate on the bosal. We're not feeling quite ready to try a bosal on Quintas.

The final project is also something started when I had the concussion. I originally intended this business card case to be closed with a magnetic snap, but the snap can't fit! I didn't realize it until after I cut it out. So that got put aside for a while until I realized that a leather button would be an excellent way to close it. So I set to work learning to tie an appropriate knot. So with that worked out, I finished the whole thing. I think it came out really nice.

It is made for hanging on a belt. I think that will make it comfortable to have with, easy to access, and at the same time keep the cards from getting messed up very easily.

The edging on this one is a mexican round or basketweave lacing. It's the first time I've used that lacing style on a project and I like it!

Finally Mostly Recovered

I imagine some people out there are wondering why the heck I haven't updated since December. Long story but will try to make it short.

A few weeks before Christmas, DH and I took our horses for a ride in the woods. It was a great ride, but I had what we thought was a minor accident.

We were heading to the local riding school on unfamiliar paths. We ended up on a path that went up between two pastures of small to medium sized ponies. DH rode ahead on Quintas but something startled her. Her fear set off Ria and for some reason Ria reverted to some old very bad habits. It had probably been close to two years since the last time she did it.

My theory is that her breeder--the person we got her from--tried to lure her through scary situations with sugar cubes. While rewarding good behavior with treats can be effective, the timing must have been off. Instead of learning to cope well with these situations, she learned that by exaggerating her fear reaction she could earn more goodies!

So when startled, she didn't just have a simple reaction. She started out by spinning around. I managed to somewhat control it and stay sat, but she spun twice then reared a little and bolted. Somewhere in all that, the saddle slid sideways (hadn't gotten the CorrecTOR for her saddle yet). When she bolted, I was aware of hanging on the saddle well down on her side and deciding to let go. My weak joints made it impossible for me to right the saddle.

So I let go and fell to the ground. No stones around--just a grassy path. But I hit my head. My helmet was knocked out of place, but I didn't think much of it. I was back on my feet right away--I'd kept a hold of the one rein and Ria was standing next to me with a very apologetic look on her face. I really don't think it is her intention to unseat me. She just reverted to a bad habit in a stressful situation.

So anyway, we led the horses until we were away from the ponies and found something I could use as a mounting block. I was only aware at that time of a sore spot on one leg. The rest of the ride went fine, but after a while I became aware that my head was hurting a good bit and I'd gotten a good bit of nausea.

DH quickly suspected a minor concussion, but I wasn't even throwing up so he just kept tabs on me and we took it easy for the evening. I woke up feeling much better Sunday morning, so we went on the drive we had planned. But at some point in the afternoon I got feeling quite sick again and my head was throbbing. Still nothing that seemed serious, but we got me home and settled. I felt sick but wasn't throwing up or anything.

That was Sunday. Monday I slept pretty much all day. Tuesday morning I woke up feeling pretty good so went to work on a leather project. But by afternoon I had a dreadful pain in my head and nausea. The pain just getting worse and worse--a very localized pressure on the left side. So DH called the emergency doctor and pushed for him to come here and check me over--he didn't want to drive me anywhere as sick as I was.

Before the doctor had gotten here, I had started throwing up. This was 3 days AFTER the fall! The doctor checked me over and found no signs of an internal bleed. Diagnosis, severe concussion and DH had to stay home and keep an eye on me.

Even after a few weeks, I was still VERY sick with the localized pain in my head and nausea. I called the doctor, who said it wasn't unusual and that it could easily take months for me to recover.

It is not until the past few weeks that I have finally gotten beyond the nausea and the pain and been able to think again. I couldn't read for ages and had finally resorted to reading out of desperation despite ending up practically in tears from the pain in my head as a result.

Now I am able to read and think like relatively normally (for me). The reason it has taken me this long to get updating is that much of my ability to function as been dedicated to DH's new company and helping get the web site made and brochures and catalogs put together.

So that is why I've been AWOL since well before Christmas. I hope to get back to relatively routine updates in the near future. There is certainly plenty to fill everyone in on...

Feeding Daisy and the Rest of the Herd

 

Winter is coming fast and Daisy is already showing signs of its approach. For anyone who doesn't know, Daisy is DH's 23-year-old Oldenburg mare. The picture here is an old one, but it's our favorite. Bryan doesn't ride Daisy very often anymore because she hasn't been doing well with long rides. She enjoys the occasional trip to the beach and that's about it.

The point is that Daisy's getting very thin and that is a very bad sign.We noticed when we brought them home from the summer pasture this weekend that she was really showing signs of her age. We agreed that I would go out every day and feed herto try to get some weight back on her before the cold really hits.

We expected this to be a hard winter for her. We had gone out about a month ago and bought a special food for her, that is designed for horses that have a little troublekeeping weight on, whether they are breeding or are old. Luckily for us, she seems to love her new food.

When I fed Monday, she gave me a bit of trouble. This would be the first time for her to go into the box in many year and she was not liking the idea. I ended up feeding her at her usual trough and fighting to keep the other three horse off her food the entire time. That was both unpleasant and painful for me.

So Monday night DH went out and taught Daisy to go in the box. He ended up feeding the rest of the herd while he was there.

Tuesday I went out to feed only Daisy again. She went willingly into the box and was eager to eat. But then the other three started fighting in the shed, trying to be as close to Daisy as possible and unhappy about the lack of feed for them. I drove them out of the shed, shut them out, and went and gave them hay. The result was that Daisy refused to eat until they were back inside and even then she was uneasy, wanting to know what was outside. AARGH!

Last night our favorite fruit and vegetable man came by with some stuff he couldn't sell for us. Mostly carrots and apples on the verge of being too old. So DH went over with that stuff and to feed Daisy and ended up feeding hte whole herd again.

When he got back in, we made a new deal for the near future. If the whole herd needs to eat once a day now, let me feed them so there is no fighting and hassle. He agreed. This is new for me--DH has always stood for horse feeding. Our feeding method is complicated with several different feeds and supplements to mix and he would adjust it based on exercise level and weather. Now that responsibility is mine--if I can handle it.

It went really well today. Ria (QH mare, around 7, proper name Borregos Maria) got the new box spot because it has a section of concrete on the floor. That lets the messy pig clean up all the food she throws all over. Because she tends to fatten easily, she also gets less feed than everyone else. Having her in the box keeps her from getting as annoying with her neighbors because they have more food and eat more slowly than she does. Ha!

This picture, by the way, is from this summer when she was on the pony pasture with Tanja, the fat shetland pony, for both of them to slim down a bit. She looks GREAT that way but is already bulking up a bit from having free access to hay in the past few weeks.

Quintas (paint mare, 4, proper name Quintas Cold Cash) came home from the trainer looking very fit and trim. Since the typical Danish wind and rain (and early dusk) keep us from riding as much as we'd like, this won't last long. But she still needs some feed now because there is so little on the pasture and the cold nights are coming fast (2 hard frosts already!!).

These pictures are from DH's first ride on Quintas after she came home from the trainer. The helmet was a concession to my concerns that we didn't know how she'd react with nearby cows, lots of on and off fitting the saddle on "The CorrecTOR" and a good bit of wind. He minds the helmet much more than he minds the safety vest. The CorrecTOR does its job excellently, BTW, and  makes his saddle fit her perfectly. I don't think we had it adjusted right in the first picture--his feet are farther forward than he usually has them riding. Another day we had taken a good length trail ride on our two and you couldn't even tell where the saddle had been on Quintas except for the slight smudge from the leather grease on the girth strap.

 

Our final large horse is Tracy (solid-bred Paint, 2, Miss Tracy King). I am ashamed to admit that this is the best pic I can find of her on my laptop. I swear DH went out one day this summer and took awesome pics of all of them, but I can't find those pics on my laptop.

Anyway, Tracy is a young two, being a late-in-the-year foal. She is still growing, probably, so needs plenty to eat. She seems to have a great temperament and we love how she moves. We hope she might end up being an even better riding horse for me than Ria because she doesn't have the sensitive feet and tendencies to pudginess that Ria has.

So, with these different needs, feeding really is quite an interesting job. The basis for all of them is whole oats. But I have to mix the leftover oats from last year with the new oats from this year. Ria only gets a small portion because of her weight issues.

To the oats for Daisy, we add some wheat. It should help her put weight on. She can't have barley because it makes her legs swell. Daisy also gets a glucosamin supplement that we are trying for the first time to see if it helps her move better and feel better. A dose of "Shy Feeder B" encourages her to eat. She also has the special gain-weight food I mentioned above. It is a mix of a bunch of different things, so we tend to think of it like a musli.

Ria has a special Musli of her own too. It is designed for ponies and other horses that gain weight easily. Part of the point is that it should have a long chew time, keeping her occupied with less feed.

Quintas and Tracy aren't left out on musli. They have a normal one with lots of herbs in it. Daisy gets some of that one too. Those three also get a type of melasses that is mixed with wheat bran. It is much cheaper and less messy than liquid melasses. We tried liquid last year but it didn't work well. They didn't really like it. We manage to keep water liquid many times by putting it in the shed, so don't need liquid for that either (that's what my mom did for the sheep when I was growing up).

Then all of them get the main vitamin supplement and hoof supplement, although Ria is the one most in need of the latter. We also use some kind of soy product that I don't know how to translate. Also not exactly sure why, but they like it.

Sound complicated enough for everyone? We had tried a full feed two winters ago, but none of them did well on it. They tended to turn up their noses at it.

Oh, I forgot to mention the green pellets that are basically a pressed grass. They look like giant rabbit food pellets. They're filling and help prevent problems from grass changes. Ria especially is getting a few handfuls of those right now.

There Aren't Enough Hours in the Day

My mother reminded me that I have been neglecting my blog dreadfully lately. The problem, quite simply is that there aren't enough hours in the day.

My health has been demanding that I sleep a lot. Nothing new there really but I have more things I want to do every day and it's getting harder and harder to get even a fraction of them done.

It's 10:30 now and I haven't even had breakfast yet. I have made it and had a few cups of tea. I've also managed start vacuuming that I need to do today. The vacuuming is far from finished, but I have to empty the vacuum before can do more.

Molly is in heat, so needs panties on to be allowed beyond the kitchen. She's been out twice today already, so that's multiple panty removals. Shawnee still seems to believe that she is to go out every five minutes even though she's as old as she is now. I think she's been out four times and spent some time in the crate to tried to encourage her to hold it longer.

In other things I need to do today, I am planning to make calzone for dinner, so need to make the dough and slice tomatoes and onions before DH is home from work.

Tanya and Ria are still on the pony pasture, which is without grass. They need hay twice a day so I do that in the mornings and DH does it in the afternoons.

There's a big pile of dishes that need to be done.

I am desperate to write. My struggles to write are taking a lot of my time. I also need to maintain a certain level of activity on the writer's list that I'm on. I have subbed two of my chapters already and have crits on those waiting for me to respond to and process. There also a few works by others that I need to crit. One is a complete book draft from someone who has contributed a number of useful comments to my subs so far. I offered to give her book a complete readthrough, because there are a lot of flaws in the chapter by chapter method that the group uses. By offering do this for others I have favors I can draw on later when I need my own done.

As if that weren't enough, the girls are desperate for training and attention. I really haven't been giving them enough training lately. Molly is really feeling it because she's not allowed to go anywhere when she's in heat. Since Shawnee hasn't started yet, she at least has been allowed to make some small outings with her father.

My health needs me to ride. Right now, I still can't saddle up by myself. DH has built the lift system for me, but Ria needs training before she's willing to go under the saddle. So I ought to spend at least 15 minutes working on that.

If I am going to finish my next secret leather project in time for when I plan to give it to the recipient, I need to get working on it. My drawing for the design is finished and I'm very proud of it, but I need to make a pattern for the pieces I need cut out of leather. The woman in the leather shop offered to help DH cut them out there.

I also have an order, when I eventually get around to it, for a lady's wallet for the friend down the road that ordered last one for husband. That one is finished by the way he should be getting it tomorrow. Idiot me didn't think to take any pictures of it. At least I still have copies of the drawing for the design.

Well, if I don't eat soon I'm going to pass out. Hopefully this gives you an idea why I am not updating my blog more often.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Oh, what a beautiful day. Oh, what a beautiful morning. Everything is going... okay.

Yes, I know that's not the proper words to the song but the proper words do not fit. But at least I'm feeling better today.

If you've been following my tweets, you know that I was down much of yesterday with a really bad migraine. DH had been up overnight because he couldn't sleep. He had gone out to the computer to check on the status of an auction on eBay. We were bidding on a new headstall for Quintas, because the pretty one that supposed to be hers I've been using on Ria because it has the bosal on. But that bosal and headstall match each other. The bosal is red and headstall has red details. They should, after all, both were bought for the same horse. What we didn't realize was that Ria would need one because she has stallion teeth.

To get back to the point, DH came back to bed after winning the auction. He woke me up because apparently I was whining, moaning, screaming, something like that in my sleep. So he asked me what was wrong, which was a migraine. Sweetheart that he is, he brought me a headache pill.

He brought me another one along with my regular painkiller before he left for work in the morning. When I first got up, my head wasn't too bad, but my hands were killing me. Sometime in the afternoon, my headache came back with a vengeance.

I took a pill and went to bed a little before three. Around quarter after, I had to run to the bathroom. I was sick. After a little while I went back to bed with my favorite bucket.

The noise was also bothering me of the traffic on the road. That I could fix with earplugs. I couldn't do anything about the blinking lights in my eyes because they were there when my eyes were closed and covered.

I guess I finally fell asleep because I don't remember anything else until DH got home. Even that I didn't hear at first because of earplugs.

When I told him about the squash situation he was mad. The first half of the squash situation is good. I put out 4 squash in the morning and by mid day two of those have been replaced by 10 kroner. When I went out to check later in the afternoon, the third was missing, but no money. I am still little bit optimistic that the person just didn't have change, so after making sure I had one in the garden for dinner tonight, I put the last one back out this morning.

Ria eats too much. She is the horse of our herd that needs the least to eat. Unfortunately, Daisy is still on the thin side. Because of an extreme lack of grass, we had to give the horses a big bale of hay. Since she's a bit of a pig, Ria stands there eating all day. Last time we were in a horse supply place, we bought her a grazing muzzle. So when DH got home last night I helped her put that on her. She handled it quite well.

So, getting back to the point of this morning, I woke up pretty much okay. My head's not too bad, but it's not great. I let the girls out right away and got a load of laundry started. After I had my glass of juice, I put my steel-toed boots on to go outside. I needed to put grazing muzzle back on Ria.

I did that without problem. However, Tracy was rubbing her head quite insistently on my rear end. I decided her fly mask was bothering her. I pulled off to find that there was a lot of hay under it and it was pretty dirty. The flies didn't seem bad, because there's a nice breeze outside. So I decided to take all the fly masks off to wash them. I took hers and Ria's and both seem relieved. Not long after I took Daisy's, she asked for it back. So Daisy is back in her fly mask.

Then I went to the garden to check on the squash. We had a new zucchini, which I need for making an omelet for dinner tonight. Oddly enough, I can't find the yellow roundish one that I had taken a picture of before. I hope it's just hiding in the leaves somewhere. The pumpkin on the giant pumpkin plant is now larger than a cantaloupe. There are also pumpkins on the other giant pumpkin plant. I'm very happy about that.

Since I have squash I need for dinner, I put the basket back out the road side. But if another one gets stolen I may have to give up this idea. I'm still hoping the person will come and leave money. Maybe they just didn't have change on them. If I knew it was someone that was starving and couldn't afford vegetables I be quite happy to give them my squash. DH thinks it's just the way people are -- that they suck.

So after that I came in with the fly masks, I got out the old dishpan and got them soak in the sink. Then I put Molly to work getting my boots off. I tried clicking and treating more often in the hopes that she would be quieter. It did seem to help a little bit, but it also annoyed her that I kept interrupting her work. However, she did her move my socks almost silently, and I clicked three times in the process.

I'm not sure how many times now change the water on the fly masks, but it seems to be getting cleaned out.

And while writing this my tea steeped (keemun with ginger). So now I'm going to have breakfast.

Rode Again Today

Despite feeling pretty rotten today, and the fact that DH woke up with a killer migraine, we have both ridden today. At first I didn't think DH was up to coming out with me, so I started on my own. I had to stop and rest after got to the pasture before I could get a hold of Ria.

When DH came out, we decided to ride in the bosal instead of the bridle and bit we usually use. This is nice for horse because it means there isn't any bit in its mouth. We haven't tried that with Ria before, although Daisy is regularly ridden that way. Initially, I just tried to get Ria to loosen up and respond to the bosal.

After I rode for 25 minutes or so, DH took a turn. He pulled the riding girth off right away. The stirrups were far too short for him. After about five minutes, he hopped off and went to go get the saddle. I think he is now quite impressed by the fact that I have ridden as much as I have in the riding girth. Ria is not easy to sit on without saddle. She is too fat. Even in the best condition I've ridden her in with it. You pretty much slide all over the place when you try to ride her.

So DH saddled her up and adjusted the stirrups to his length. Then he rode for a while. Ria went really well with him and he was able to ride with only one hand for a while. Ria definitely seems to prefer the saddle over the riding girth, and I do to. We'll have to try to ride with that as much as possible in the future.

Then I got another turn on her. While I was riding DH went in and got the video camera. The result follows.

Riding Ria

When I got a short ride on Ria last weekend--the first one since my back had gone beserk--DH filmed it for me. So I hope you enjoy this video.

What a Week, Part Two

For Wednesday, we had planned a trip into the forest. They walked and I rode Ria. We had packed lunches , so we could stop and have a picnic.

DH got Ria out of the pasture for me and I groomed her. Then he saddled her up.



Before we headed out on our trip, Edith and Antje wanted to try riding. Because DH was busy with his concrete, I led them a little bit back and forth in the lawn. Then I got on myself and we headed out.

Despite the pressures of keeping up with the horse, I think they really enjoyed themselves. We talked and laughed and enjoyed the scenery.



When we got to the picnic tables for lunch, I had a lot of trouble keeping Ria from eating everything at the table. Everything included my ham and cheese sandwich. Apparently she forgot she's a vegetarian. I ended up eating my sandwich while holding onto her a good bit away from the table.

Then she kindly posed for pictures with the Fluff Club. Yes, that is Fluffy on her head.

I used a picnic table as a mounting block and we headed on home. Ria started getting a little bit frustrated about being held back and did some silly dances, while others took pictures of the scenery and the fluffs.



Once we got onto a path where I was sure they couldn't get lost, we decided to part ways so that Ria wouldn't have to wait anymore. Right as we were about to split off, we saw a huge herd of deer in one meadow. I'm not sure that I've ever seen that many together in this country before. The Germans managed to get several pictures before they ran. Ria and I headed home.

Shortly after we crossed the railroad tracks, Ria went totally berserk. She was backing up and threatening to go up her back legs. I couldn't see anything but I'm sure she must have. She was eager to get home and we were it within sight of the house but she would not go forward. I quickly got my cell phone out of my pocket and try to call DH. No answer. I yelled loudly hoping he was outside. No response. Without other options, I dismounted. It occurred to me that Ria probably had seen a snake. We have a species of poison snake here and the horses have encountered at least one in the pasture before. I looked carefully and cautiously led her through the problem area. It went fine. But I couldn't get back up so had to lead her the last 10 m home.

DH was outside but he hadn't heard us yell. He helped me get her tack off. Because of the heat of the day and the exercise, she was very sweaty. I had to take the hose and give her a shower.

By the time I was done and she was back in her pasture, I was aching and exhausted. She had, of course, immediately rolled in the dirt as soon as I let her in the pasture.

Because we planned to go out to eat that evening, I knew I had rest so I did. Then DH and I both showered and got ready to go.

We planned to go to a Chinese place a friend recommended, but when we got there we found they had nothing vegetarian on the menu and very limited fish options! We headed abck to the cars to go to a pizza and pasta place, but ended up going to Empire, the American diner-like place that DH and I often choose for nights out. The vegetarians were very happy because they had really good veggie burgers. The rest of us had steaks, which were not up to Empire's usual quality.

After dinner, we came home and DH made Irish coffee. This is coffee with whiskey and whipped cream for anyone who doesn't know. He even insisted on putting whiskey in my tea! It was a very pleasant evening.

A Little of This, a Little of That, and a Lot of Pain

There is definitely plenty going on over here. DH has been off work since before Easter. I had some trouble the first few days with him wanting me to start my days earlier that my body was ready but we seem to have worked that out. Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. With everything going on is really hard to find the time and energy to blog.

I am riding approximately every other day. Where I ride depends on the weather and my mood. When it is windy, especially if the wind is towards the coast from the sea, I ride in the woods. We have had a few days that were still enough for me to ride along the coast. Those days I get Ria out in the water. I wanted to blog a lot about that but I just never seem to manage when I get in. Ria is afraid of water. She always has been fortunately, it's getting better. When we first got her she was totally paranoid to be the coast and getting her the water was impossible. She also wouldn't walk through puddles. It is something we have been working on and working on and working on. I am now able to get into the sea by myself without using my spurs. Last time we rode that direction, we crossed the stream twice and rode extensively in the water. It was a bit of a struggle because she was a little mad at me. The time before that we wrote in the woods and I made her take a path along the stream. The entire ride she was afraid I'd make her go in the water. She also been startled earlier on the ride by a duck that flew up out of the stream. She didn't do anything wrong, but she was jumpy. So when we approached the stream along the coast. She was about ready to jump out of her skin. But I let her sniff and take it easy and she crossed without problem.

I am due for a ride today, but I'm not sure I will get there.

Another project I'm working on is my secret leather project. I had to delay that for several days because of the migraine. I finally got working on it again last night and it looks great so far. But it's going to take me a lot of time to get it finished and I'm running out of time. I realized last night that this is the largest leather project I have undertaken to date. I hope my recipient will like it. Unfortunately, I think I need at least one more tool to finish it. The beveler I have is too large for some of the areas I need to work in. We'll try to get the leather store tomorrow to pick one up. I just hope that is not one of the items my mother had decided to give me for my birthday.

You see, my poor mother and I are cursed when it comes to United States postal system. Things sent from Denmark to the US generally do fine but that's the Danish postal system. Things coming to Denmark from the United States. To find unless my mother has sent them. I don't think the problem is my mother. I think we are cursed. Either that or the local post offices mom sends from totally sucks. According to the tracking information on the most recent package, it has taken a side trip to Brazil. This package contains my birthday presents from my parents, probably DH's presents from my parents, and DH's birthday present from me. This upcoming Tuesday is DH's 60th birthday.

Fortunately, I have a small item for him that I ordered from net friend in United States that actually got here. The rest will just have to wait. I really do feel bad for my mom because she is so upset about this package's side trip.

Preparing for this upcoming birthday is another thing to be keeping me busy. We're not doing anything much about it. Just going up to his parents for lunch, but I want to do a cake. A typical Danish cake is three cake layers with some kind of pudding-like cream in the middle. For my past birthday, we ended up using homemade chocolate pudding instead of the usual cake cream. So I've been speculating over what I would be making this time. I let him pick, so it turns out, we are going to have American instant pistachio pudding between one place, and American French vanilla instant pudding and other place. We'll probably have the usual crushed cookies and whiskey or cognac. I need to mix the pudding today and let sit. Then I need to build a cake tomorrow. That way we'll only need to add the whipped cream on Tuesday. The whipped cream is best fresh and everything is else is best if it's gotten to sit for a day. So I need to work on that today.

I may not have mentioned this before, but I have friends coming from Germany the end of month. I am really looking forward to the visit, but I want to get the house cleaned up a bit more before they arrive. So I've been trying to work on that what I've been able to find the energy and be up to it from the pain.

Our weather has been gorgeous. I just want to be outside all the time, but I have to accept the fact that I'm not up to it. The ground is still too cold for me to lie down on the ground. I've been trying to do some gardening, but it is very hard on my body. Yesterday I over did it once again and ended up having to crawl to something I could get up with after I fell a few times. I have been digging bulbs up that we no longer want in our main flower bed. Several of them have been spreading like mad. One we don't particularly like the flowers of. Others are just too copious and in the way. The ugly ones were not a problem because they were very shallow. The others were unfortunately about a foot deep. In the course of digging those up with a fork I ended up falling down. I spent some time on the ground digging them up the rest of the way by hand. And then managed to get back on my feet using the fork. I had stiffened up so much for my time on the ground that when I started walking in I fell. I was than without anything to use to get up. So I crawled through the recently tilled vegetable garden. We should finally be done with frost, so today I cut back the roses, lavender, and butterfly bush.

My stone bed was great a while ago but last season was wasted with my health. It is now pretty thoroughly overtaken by grass and I am not sure I will be able to reclaim it.

We are still waiting for our Shetland mare, Queenie, to foal. DH had been sure she would've had her foal this past Thursday, but there's still no sign of it. I think she's waiting for his birthday. He think she's waiting for to get warmer.

Things Were Going So Well

It was overall a very productive weekend. We started Saturday with some general cleaning up and ended up rearranging the furniture again. I now have the chaise longue as my spot to lie down. It is actually very comfortable, although it does need a new cover. It is currently covered in old comforter covers, but I plan to sew a nicer cover out of a piece of fabric. We primarily decided to move it because he wanted to get it away from the outside wall, but I am finding it quite advantageous to sit at a higher height, because it's much easier on my hip.

With all the cleaning and moving around, I overdid it again. I ended up spending a few hours in bed with a book. I was supposed to make pizza for dinner, but hurt too much, so we just had spring rolls that we'd bought ready-made. Before we went to bed, we managed to get cut out a piece of leather for that special project I mentioned before. Now it is waiting for me to be ready to tool it.

Our time changed Saturday night, which would normally cost us an hour sleep. However, DH understood that I wasn't in very good shape, so he let me sleep until 10 o'clock the new time, which would be nine o'clock in the old time. The extended sleep really helped and I woke up feeling much better.

While I took a quick shower, DH stripped the bed. After I had breakfast and relaxed for a little while, he got out my sewing machine. Although I had to take a number of breaks, I managed to repair a blanket and a pair of pants. After another extended break, I was able to prepare the pizza dough. I used cool water so that it could rise more slowly.

A little while later, DH came in and asked if I wanted a ride. I said yes, so he headed out to get my horse. I got dressed a ride and went out to meet him. We help each other groom her, then he got her saddle and saddled her up for me. With his help, I mounted and headed out for a ride.

I rode the bike path along the road until I could cross the road and head up the asphalt road into the woods. They had recently dug ditches and painted a number of marks on the road, so Ria was a bit nervous. She behaved fine, but I could feel that she was insecure. When we crossed the railroad tracks, she must not been paying enough attention and somehow managed to get a hoof down in the track. It was quite a jolt for my back, but she managed to get it out again without a problem. After that things settled down and we had a really nice ride.

I guess I should've known things were going too well and been prepared for something to happen, but I was too busy enjoying the weather and the nice ride. We were riding along the road on the bike path to come home. Suddenly Ria jumped and freaked out at something. I managed to stay on, but something wrong in my right hip and I was in agony. Suddenly a man on a bicycle was right beside us. Then I understood why Ria had reacted like that. The idiot snuck up on us and do anything to let us know he was coming. Ria could not have seen him until he was right up at her or maybe even touched her. Once things were over, I found myself wishing she'd kicked him or I had the sense to kick him in the face with my spurs. In.

I was in so much pain I couldn't sit up straight. I held onto the cantle of my saddle with one hand and fished my cell phone out of my pocket with the other. DH's cell phone is the first number in my phone book, so I tried to call him on that number. He didn't answer, so I hung up. While I was trying to find our home number further down in the book I heard him yell. I yelled back that he should come over and help me. I was only about 10 m from our driveway, but on the other side of the road. I was terrified I would fall off because of the pain, leaving Ria out of control at the busy road. He hurried over and took a rein to lead her.

While he led us the rest of the way home and got us over the road, I told him what had happened. He wished I'd yelled at the guy. But of course I hadn't thought of that either. He got too far away for it to make sense to try to catch up with him then.

DH helped me off and took care of all Ria's needs. While I was riding, he had cut up all the remaining vegetables for pizza. At that point I could mostly stand on my right leg, so I came in and got the pizza ready but he took care of the horses.

The pizza turned out really good.

At some point during the evening my brain kicked into gear and it occurred to me that I might be able to solve my local wireless network problems by updating the firmware of the wireless base station. It turned out, there was actually a new firmware update available and it had been available since the middle of 2006. I downloaded and installed it. According to the record of changes, it sounds like there may be a fix similar to the problem I was having.

I had trouble falling asleep and ended up reading for a while. Once I finally did fall asleep, I don't how long I slept before DH woke me up because I had to take a painkiller because I was whining so much in my sleep. After I took the pill I did end up sleeping pretty well until this morning. He woke me up to say goodbye when he left for work. At that point I was no longer able to sleep on the right side.

When I got up, I found I could barely put weight on my right leg because of the pain. So today is going to be a very nonfunctional nonproductive day (as can be seen by the fact that it is 2 PM already and I have done nothing useful). It is a good thing we have pizza left for dinner. Just getting around in the house is agony and I'm having to use my crutches inside. Molly is been a great help and Shawnee is being a great comfort. At the moment, Molly is lying on the sofa behind my head and Shawnee is lying on my feet, warming them for me.

My Horse Loves Me

I went out to feed Daisy again this morning. We had really hard frost overnight so the water had been turned off, but I turned it on an hour or so before I left. The temperatures and the sun here had gone into the 20s and the water cup was in the sun as well, but it was still frozen. DH had filled trough of water in their house early in the morning so I didn't worry about that and just started feeding Daisy.

Because he was upset I sat down on the ground yesterday, DH made sure I had a chair ready for today. Unfortunately the wind was in a different direction, so I couldn't get out of it, but least I was off the cold ground. Daisy ate well but not as well as yesterday. I am just glad she will eat for me all.

Right after she decided she was done eating, I heard the water cup thaw up. Quintas was busy drinking and Tracy was fighting for permission to do that too. I let Daisy out to the rest of the horses. Ria immediately came over to me and asked for attention.

While all the rest of the horses were fighting over the water cup, my horse just wanted to talk to me. So I really enjoyed standing there scratching her and hugging her and just being with my horse. When I went to shut off the access to their house, she followed right behind me. As I stood at her again, she checked out my crutches thoroughly with her lips. I think she has aspirations of becoming a service horse.

It's really a shame that the weather is really just way too cold today. I think she would really enjoyed if I took her out for a ride. She was definitely quite unhappy that I left the fence without her.

I am really really sore and tired from the excursion now so I need to rest.

A Very Busy Couple of Days

I know, I'm very behind in my blog again. I plan to write an update Saturday morning, but then some mail came that annoyed me. I suddenly didn't feel like it. Sunday we were out all day and yesterday I don't think I ever woke up. Today I feel much more awake and even like a human being.

DH had the girls out for a walk before I got up Saturday morning. Once I was up and functional and had my breakfast, he went out and got Ria for me. I groomed her and he saddled her up. Then he got the girls and we went for a walk together.

We headed for the beach and the weather was gorgeous. It was a little chilly but not very windy and the sun was nice and warm. I decided to try to get Ria into the water, something she's not usually very glad for. It took a good bit of encouragement, but finally got out in the water. The waves were small, but she was startled every time they broke on her legs. We ended up going out a little bit deeper and rode back and forth a while. By the time we came back up on the beach she actually seemed to be enjoying it in the water.

DH ran around a bit with the girls on the beach and Molly loves digging on the beach. We proceeded to the small stream that is on the south end of where we normally walk. Since things have been going so well with Ria, DH suggested I try crossing with her. It took a good bit of encouragement, but she did it. I praised her profusely and scratched her on the neck. Then we had to go back across and that went even easier.

The hard part was when we had to come back over the dunes to come home. They are very steep in that area. I was really glad I was riding in a saddle. At one point, we tried going to the edge of an extremely steep section where some of it was broken down. Unfortunately the edge broke under her foot so she really had to struggle to get up. At that I grabbed on to the cantle so that I wouldn't slide off because she was very vertical.

It was a really nice ride an especially nice to be out together.

After we got home I needed to rest some before we headed out for a western clinic in the afternoon. Unfortunately the good mood turned bad when I got a letter from the government saying that there are more problems giving me a disability because of the stupid idiots they sent out that decided that my problems are psychological. Even though the rheumatologist says that my pain levels are normal for my condition, they still believe there's a possibility of treatment because of that stupid doctor they sent out said so. I have no idea what's going to happen now, but it's very frustrating.

I crawled into bed with a book for a while and just tried to hide from the world. But I got it time to go, so I had to decide whether I was going with or sending DH on his own so I decide to get up. It's a good thing I did because my mood was much better by the time we got home. We were only there for a little while, but we saw someone we know ride. DH also got a chance to talk to the woman who had trained Daisy and Ria. We'll be sending Quintas down to her in July if all goes well and we can find the money.

We got home, we heated up the pork roast that we had made it in the morning and DH got potatoes ready to go with it. We went to bed early, exhausted.

Sunday was another hectic day. We went to my in-laws to help clean out some junk that they wanted to get rid of. We were also having a midday meal with them. I went out to keep DH company while he did the loading. As usual, I felt useless standing around watching so I ended up helping. With my usual stubbornness I did far too much. But I know that if I hadn't helped, we would have been there most of the day. Would also say the eat and things like that. I was in agony by the time we got home.

We had some odd trouble with the car as we left their place. It didn't want to turn to the left like the power steering was broken. We stopped at a grocery store to get some supplies and when we started the car afterwards it was fine again. DH stayed home yesterday but wasn't able to figure out what was wrong.

Yesterday, I never really woke up. I was in bed until 10 but I'd been trying to get up for several hours before that. I felt like my head was filled with cotton or fog or something that my consciousness was trying to claw its way through to the surface. Even though I was up and moving I felt like that most of the day. I did succeeded in making Bexican burritos for dinner. We're having the leftovers tonight.

After dinner, DH helped me finish a leather tooling pattern that I'd been designing for a while. It looks really great now, but I can't give you any details because it's surprise for one of my blog readers. I hope he'll be able to help me get the leather cut tonight so I can start working on it this week.

A little while ago, I was out with horses. Daisy has been doing well with only one meal a day, so we decided that I needed to go over and feed her every morning. DH prepared food last night when he fed, so everything was ready for me. The weather is extremely cold---we had frost overnight. I put on long underwear, my quilted overalls, and my heavy carharrt jacket. It's a good thing I did, because it started snowing while I was over there. Confident the Daisy would help me out if I needed it, I was able to sit down on the ground leaning against the horse shed while she ate. It was actually very nice to be out enjoying the weather. The other horses were dancing around up along the fence in jealousy. The threatening weather also brought out a lot of birds. Amazingly, Daisy ate most of the food that I had for her. She usually doesn't eat very well for me.

Now I am just resting and enjoying the company of the girls. Shawnee is napping on my legs, keeping my feet warm.

No Horse, No Ride

I got all ready to go for a ride. I was dressed plenty warm and had all my tack out. I relied on crutches to get over to the horse fence. I got out Ria's rope halter and lead. DH had trouble getting her for me when I rode Sunday, but I hadn't had problems in the past. I did my usual of just talking to every horse I came to, but Ria kept walking away. I'm not up to the walking, so I couldn't chase her. I think she's just playing hard to get, but it may be there something she doesn't like about the new tack. Or maybe I just rode her too hard on Sunday.

I tried leaning against the pipes around the water cup, but she didn't come. Actually she just kept heading further down to the woods. I hurt too much to wait anymore so I had to come in. I used crutches to get back to the house. Then I collected up all the tack and put it away.

I promptly took a painkiller and went to bed. Fortunately I have some borrowed books read, and I was able to nap a little. Then Shawnee started to whine and I had to get up again.

Considering how much pain I am in my hip and in my hands from using crutches, I guess it's a good thing I didn't get a ride. I'm still frustrated and a little sad about it. It hurts when your horse doesn't want to talk to you.

Oh well.

The Skype phone we just bought on a Danish auction site has arrived. So now I get to see if my brain still works.

What a Ride!

I had quite a ride today. DH help me saddle up with the actual saddle, instead of the bareback roller I usually use. That let me ride a lot longer and more securely.

The weather was gorgeous, the sun was shining and it was warm and comfortable out. So we headed into the woods. DH and I discussed my riding plans before we left so he knew exactly what route I would be taking. I followed the riding path all the way up to the road at the other side of the woods. Then I followed the road from a while and turned back a gravel road back through the woods.

It went really well. We saw a neat yellow bird before we crossed the railroad tracks. Further up in the woods, we saw a deer as well. I had open my jacket because I was too warm with it closed.

On the way back, I jogged for a while. She was doing really well in. It was an open area with heath on the one side and lots of dunes. It was very inviting for setting the speed up.

With everything going so well, I decided to set the speed up another notch. I used my right leg and put her into a canter. DH thinks that the trainer cantered her, but I'm pretty sure that they didn't. In any case, I was thinking that this was the first time she'd been cantered under saddle. I haven't written at a canter for probably five or six years. Not since the last time I rode in a riding school and a horse bucked when I put it into a canter and I fell off. The accident messed up my left ankle pretty badly. So you can tell I must've been feeling pretty confident about Ria to try it.

Her right canter is pretty good. I didn't canter more than maybe four or five meters. After we stopped, my left hip popped out and I struggled to keep from screaming in pain. Ria stayed calm and I told her to walk and she walked slowly towards home. After walk for a little while, my hip felt better. So we jogged again for another stretch. It really well, but we walked again for the while. Then came another tempting stretch.

This time I used my left foot to put her into a left canter. This was much more uneven. I could barely stay seated. She wasn't happy about it either, and I ended up having to stop her pretty hard by pulling the rein really hard in on the left. Then she stopped very easily and we were able to walk the rest of the way home. She stayed pretty eager to jog, but I managed to keep her tempo down. She was very eager to get home at that point.

I usually don't see anyone when I'm out riding. Today I passed both a man on a Norwegian fjord horse and three girls on Icelandic horses. We was a bit confused, but she stayed pretty calm.

When we got to the train track, the lights went on and the barrier came down. We stayed a good bit back from the tracks. She didn't react to the train at all , but she was very impatient to get home.

When we got home DH was working with the tractor. He was moving things and cleaning up after the removal of the playhouse yesterday. He called and told me to ride further down the road so he could move the tractor away before she came in.

Ria was very warm, so we had to walk her for a while. DH got a wool blanket to cover her because she was so hot. Then he took over the walking, so I could have a little bit of a rest.

All in all, I was gone for about two hours.