You're wearing on the ground

It has gotten really cold the last few days. It snowed lightly all day Friday and even again last night. Here's Annie peeking out from under the snow. I am so glad she isn't due to foal for a couple more months. The weather is too unpredictable here.

The horses are shedding like crazy! What bad timing! Nadia is losing so much hair that I think she's going to be bald. Unfortunately, with this cold weather, she's probably growing it back just as fast.

Here's Nadia. She's looking kinda strawberry here from all the dirt on her.

Annie is on the left and Scout is on the right. It's amazing how carrots can get their attention. ;)

Here's a place where Nadia rolled so you can see how much she's shedding!
Lisa's son Jackson and I decided to go for a ride. First we had to groom. What a mess! Here, Jackson is currying Nadia.

I wonder if this can be spun like wool...
In another week or two the swallows will be here and they will love collecting all this hair to add to their nests. Meanwhile, it just blows away.

We saddled up, Jackson on Nadia and me on Scout, and rode around the arena. Jackson did well although Nadia was a little contrary. She would wander into the middle of the arena and then turn towards the gate. She'd even nip at his foot when he asked her to trot out. He is a beginner and does not have the right amount of leg and rein pressure down. She knows this and tells him so. Sometimes, she goes into a fast canter for a few strides until she stops by the gate. He gets a little scared, and a little excited too. I remind him that, unlike a bicycle, she has a brain and she is using it. She won't hurt him, but, until he rides her properly, she will be testing him. I try to advise him on the proper use of aids but I think, sometimes, with boys especially, they need to learn by trial and error. Jax was learning to keep her along the rail by the end of the ride. He does well following my tracks but I can't watch him ride when he's behind me. He is developing his balance and is doing very well considering the amount of time he has spent in the saddle. I think the skill will come with experience. He's only ridden a couple of times so "no worries," as long as he has fun. I certainly don't want to intimidate him with too much at once. He can't hurt Nadia and she needs the exercise.

While we rode around the arena Annie kept neighing at us. She neighed so much that finally, I got her out and ponied her with Scout. She really did well! She never pulls and she readily trots out. I think she wanted to come along this time since I ponied her last time I rode too.

You're wearing on the ground - song: I'm not losing sleep, artist: David Bowie

I just cough

I have been really sick this past week.

I think it all began almost two weeks ago while I was brushing my horses. Hair was flying everywhere due to spring shedding of their winter coats. I had hairs stuck to my face, hands, mouth, clothes, everywhere.

I am allergic to horses. Besides the horses shedding, I am allergic to cottonwoods which are currently blooming. I am also allergic to Juniper pollen, which is very high this year because of the drought conditions. Many, many years ago, I took allergy shots until I had an allergic reaction (long story!) I no longer get the shots, but I don't usually have allergy symptoms either, besides headaches. Instead, I seem to go straight to sinus infections in the spring. And bronchitis.

Anyway, The next morning, after the major grooming, I woke up with a tremendous headache and a general feeling of exhaustion. Midmorning, I plucked a hair out of my eye. It was long, like a horsehair. (I told you I had hair ALL over me!) Soon after, I felt better; the headache went away and so did the tiredness. Could it have been the horsehair causing my symptoms?

Anyway, a few days later, I got an irritated throat and began coughing. By last weekend, I had laryingitis, a low grade fever, major coughing, and lots of green and yellow phlegm. By Monday, I was coughing to the point of almost throwing up, so, on Tuesday, I decided to go to the doctor. When I called my doctor, the receptionist asked if I was using a cell phone. I said "Yes." She said, "Oh, that's why I can't hear you very well." I said, "No, it's because I can't talk!" Anyway, she couldn't get me in until Thursday, so I went to the clinic at school. It only cost me $10, instead of my usual copay of $20, and the doctor prescibed antibiotics and hydrocodone cough medicine. I was so physically exhausted that I made my son drive to go get the prescriptions that evening.

Yesterday, in economics, I had to leave during class because I coughed so much I thought I was going to throw up. The second time my coughing fit started, I grabbed my books and left class for good.

I have been taking so much cough medicine and cough drops that I am alternating between nausea, wooziness, exhaustion, and adrenaline rushes. I have coughed so much that I think I'm getting a six pack (coughing is great for strengthening the stomach muscles! :) ). I have to sleep half sitting up and in between coughing fits. I am coughing less, I think!, but I am completely worn down. Anyway, I skipped volunteering at the Tax center this afternoon, so I could get some sleep. When I got home, this is what I saw:

Annie was snoozing. Doesn't she look comfy? She chose to lay up against the nice soft manure pile. When she saw me, she woke up and soon, she was up on her feet. Then she began scratching her head on the fence. I know you can't tell from the photos but she really seemed to enjoy herself. Down the way, Dolly watched while Scout snoozed.
Anyway, that's my plan, to get some shut-eye. Here's hoping I get some improvement real soon. Catch ya'll later.


I just cough - song: I Can't Read, artist: Tin Machine featuring David Bowie, album: Tin Machine

Let's not think about the Passing Time

Here is some information on Daylight Savings. In the old days, before everyone used clocks, people adjusted to the light and dark routinely. Did you know that back in the Roman Empire, the water clocks adjusted time according to the time of the year? And that, during a visit to France, Ben Franklin said: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," because he was tired of Parisians sleeping into the late mornings. In 1905 William Willett proposed DST so that Londoners wouldn't sleep away the day. But, DST does not change people's habits, or does it? Comments?

From Wikipedia:
The practice is controversial. Adding daylight to afternoons benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun. Traffic fatalities are reduced when there is extra afternoon daylight; its effect on health and crime is less clear. Although an early goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of incandescent lighting, formerly a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns greatly differ, and research about how DST currently affects energy use is limited and often contradictory.

DST's occasional clock shifts present other challenges. They complicate timekeeping and can disrupt meetings, travel, billing, recordkeeping, medical devices, and heavy equipment. Many computer-based systems can adjust their clocks automatically, but this can be limited and error-prone, particularly when DST rules change.

Although not punctual in the modern sense, ancient civilizations adjusted daily schedules to the sun more flexibly than modern DST does, often dividing daylight into twelve equal hours regardless of day length, so that each daylight hour was longer during summer. For example, Roman water clocks had different scales for different months of the year: at Rome's latitude the third hour from sunrise, hora tertia, started by modern standards at 09:02 solar time and lasted 44 minutes at the winter solstice, but at the summer solstice it started at 06:58 and lasted 75 minutes. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season. Unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some Mount Athos monasteries.

Benjamin Franklin suggested firing cannons at sunrise to waken Parisians.
During his time as an American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin, author of the proverb, "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise", anonymously published a letter suggesting that Parisians economize on candles by rising earlier to use morning sunlight. This 1784 satire proposed taxing shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells and firing cannons at sunrise. Franklin did not propose DST; like ancient Rome, 18th-century Europe did not keep accurate schedules. However, this soon changed as rail and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklin's day.

The prominent English builder and outdoorsman William Willett conceived DST in 1905 during a pre-breakfast ride, when he observed with dismay how many Londoners slept through a large part of a summer day. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk. His solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. He lobbied unsuccessfully for the proposal until his death in 1915; see Politics for more details.

Germany, its World War I allies, and their occupied zones were the first European nations to use Willett's invention, starting April 30, 1916. Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the next year; and the United States adopted it in 1918. Since then, the world has seen many enactments, adjustments, and repeals.

Here is a map of the world showing DST users in blue. The orange shows places that no longer use DST and the red shows places that have never used DST.

Let's not think about the Passing Time - song: My Death, artist: David Bowie covering a Jacques Brel song, album: Ziggy Stardust, the Motion Picture

You've got crazy legs

I went over and visited with "Rapunzel" (Lisa) in her tower after we ran the horses and we looked at the photos we took. We each took over 70 pictures! Oh my! A lot of them were discards but some of them actually came out quite interesting! There was a lot of dust blowing in the arena and, with the sun setting, a lot of them came out gray and hazy. I think this photo has to be the picture of the day. Annie is really a gazelle in disguise!

This one's crazy too.
And I love this action shot! Doesn't she look athletic?

Then we began watching YouTube videos. As usual, I overstayed, until after 10:00! But we always have so much fun together! We saw all these videos of puissance wall jumping. Puissance means high jump.

Now, imagine jumping sidesaddle!

Or, how about bareback!! I believe they jump 7 foot at the beginning and 7 foot 7 inches at the end. Incredible!!!

You got crazy legs - song: Velvet Goldmine, artist: David Bowie, album: Ziggy Stardust extras

You've run so long

It was really windy yesterday so I decided to run my horses and snap some action shots instead of riding. I turned them out into the arena and began whooping and hollering. The neighbors heard all the ruckus and came out to watch and join in. I was very happy to see Lisa of LaughingOrcaRanch outside because she has been confined in her house for months, since her riding accident at Christmas. She took lots of pictures too which I hope she posts. Her twin boys joined in chasing the horses around. They had a good workout, both the boys and the horses!

Here's Lisa's Baby Doll watching from a safe distance.
Afterwards, since the horses got really sweaty with their long winter coats, Jackson and I rode around the arena to cool them down. To get them all cooled off at once, I ponyed Annie while riding Scout. Jackson rode Nadia and I think he had a great time. He even trotted her. Nadia is such a good girl!

These last photos are courtesy of Lisa who really got a workout coming and going to her house and the arena for coats and things. Although it was warm temperatures, 59, the wind was quite brisk with a nippy chill to it.

Doesn't Annie look preggers here?

Thanks Lisa, Jackson, and Jeremiah for a great night!

You've run so long - song: Within You, artist: David Bowie, album: Labyrinth

It's pretty this time of year

As promised, here is a post about the Scottsdale Arabian horse show my Mom and I went to last weekend.

Every other year for the past 30 years, my Mom and I have gone to the Arabian Nationals. They were held in Albuquerque in odd years and in Kentucky during even years. However, 2007 was the last year for Albuquerque because the contract was not renewed by the IAHA and the city of Albuquerque. The Nationals are now held in Tulsa in odd years.

Knowing that we wouldn't be seeing the Arabians this October, in January, I mentioned to my Mom about going to the Scottsdale show. She readily agreed and we made plans. We have never gone to the Scottsdale show before. I booked a hotel room for Friday and Saturday nights, February 20 and 21, and we took off early Friday morning. Along the way I convinced her to let me do a few letterboxes. Although it took some of our valuable driving time, it was fun and she enjoyed it too.

We got to Phoenix in the afternoon and after checking into the hotel, we went to the horse show. Did I mention that we brought the little dogs, my Buddha, a Japanese Chin, and her Toby, a black Pug? After we fed and walked them we left them in the room and Buddha immediately started yelping in his crazy little squeaky voice. So I went back to the room, walked them again and put them back in the room. He climbed up on a blanket I had brought for him, laying in my overnight bag, and curled up to go to sleep. We left and I prayed that he would be quiet.

The show was at WestWorld in Scottsdale. What a HUGE, beautiful horse facility! We drove around for a bit not really knowing where to park and I decided to ask if I could drop my Mom off up close to the entrance. She has trouble walking and uses a walker but she doesn't have a handicap license. I spoke with this one guy that told me to go ahead and drive to the entrance AND if I found a space to just park there. As luck would have it, there was a space right in front of the entrance! I couldn't believe my luck!!! So I parked and we went in. On this Friday night, the admission was free, a first, I was told, for Family Night. I was elated with our good fortune! We settled in for a wonderful night of Arabian Horses.

During the week and a half of the show, they held several clinics daily. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to see any of them, but the first event of the night was the Scottsdale Mounted Police presentation! Yay, we didn't miss it after all!

Four policemen and their horses performed the demonstration.

They demonstrated crowd control and how they can handcuff a suspect right from horseback.

They also showed how they desensitize the horses about everything, including baby strollers in between their legs and getting hit. The horses were big, brawny, and beautiful!!
Their stirrups were lit up too. Pretty cool, huh!
The first class of the show was called Gambler's Choice. It was a jumping class with points assigned to each jump. The riders could jump the jumps in any order and score points if they jumped clean. The highest score won. It was very exciting to see the Arabs and Arab crossbreeds racing and turning and jumping.

This photo was taken while the class was waiting for the trophy and money presentation. There were other horses in the class too, FYI.
The next class was a yearling sweepstakes halter class. We got to see the colts one night and the fillies the next night. It was so exciting! They are so cute! I am getting very anxious to see Annie's baby now!!! I took pictures of all the darling babies but my camera ate them! Bad camera!

During the two evening shows, we saw driving, native costume, hunt seat, western, saddle seat, English side saddle, park horse, and liberty. Liberty was new to me. They bring in the horses one at a time and turn them loose in the arena. They chase them around the arena for two minutes and the horse is free to show his stuff! One horse interacted with the handler a lot, rearing up and then running away, only to return. It was very entertaining and you could tell they had worked together often. The three judges (all classes have 3 judges) scored this horse very low in marks and everyone booed. The next horse scored high for a poor showing and the crowd booed again. This video is from the liberty class in Scottsdale 2008 courtesy of Youtube.

Here is a picture of one of the park or English pleasure horses (not sure which) that my camera did not eat.

I was surprised to see a new class (for me) that was an English pleasure futurity class where the young horses wore only snaffle bits rather than the full double bridles, as pictured above.

Oh, I forgot to mention that again on Saturday evening I was able to park right at the front entrance! Woowee, sometimes, I'm glad my Mom uses a walker! Now I wash she'd get that handicap pass... Just kidding! or not??

We drove around Phoenix and Scottsdale on Saturday morning before the show. Here are some random photos. I took hundreds of pictures on this trip. No, I won't bore you to death with too many. ;)

Does anyone know what kind of tree this is?
There were lots of palm trees everywhere.

Saturday afternoon, we had a late luncheon at El Torito in Scottsdale. It was good food and great atmosphere but they don't understand chile. They called it red sauce and there was no green chile on the menu.
We had a wonderful time. My mom is now talking about going to Tulsa for the Arabian Nationals in October! Woohoo!!

It's pretty this time of year - song: Tumble and Twirl, artist: David Bowie, album: Let's Dance