August is turning out to be an eventful month!  First, my sympathy to all those on the East Coast who are suffering from Irene.  Over here in Stanly County we were very fortunate, we just got clouds, some wind gusts and a tiny bit of rain.  I feel sorry for all the people and domestic animals trying to deal with the enormous rainfall from this storm.  May your houses, barns, paddocks and pastures drain off soon!  How did the horses react to the earthquake in…

I finally got out of the ring this week!  Debbie's stable is part of a much bigger farm, and last week the farm owner redid some of his fences since his cows were escaping.  When he did this he gave Debbie's riders a gate into a few acres of his woods and the woods already have trails.  Halfway through my lesson she suggested going into the woods, and I was all for it.  The sun was hot and I was already melting.  So Debbie walked ahead and Mia and I…

After all this time my new, new saddle fits both Cider and I.  Cider needed the widest of the gullet plates for my new Wintec Wide and I needed the saddle to have the full 18" seat (thank you Caitlan and Donna!)  The extra half inch of seat made all the difference for my comfort.  I had put the stirrup leathers on too short and since the stirrup bars are so tight on the saddle I could not lengthen them while I rode.  Even so the extra length in the seat…

Between the heat, humidity, rain and thunderstorms I only got to ride once this week.  Debbie asked me to take my lesson on Thursday so she would not have to rush home from a trip.  She had one of her non-boarding students, a girl, spending the morning at the stable so I got to explain why I rasp Mia's toes to a girl just starting off on her riding career, after telling her how she did…