Parallel Parking: I still got it.

I had started a nice little history of my personal driving experience, with sections devoted to Massachusetts and Florida driving, but it became so much work that I simply have this to say: although the talent has lay dorment for months as I've cruised through giant parking lots around grandmas and rednecks and normal folk in a sea of open spots, I can still parallel park. (Only if its absolutely necessary and only next to Starbucks or Harry's)  Okay one thing about Boston versus Ocala. When a guy riding a bicycle in Boston checks you out, its not necessarily a bad thing,  living in the city he most likely doesn't need or want a car. he's ecofriendly and  he's maybe wearing glasses and listening to indie rock and on his way to an open mic night where he's about to play a song on his guitar he wrote himself. In Ocala, when a guy on a bike checks you out, it means 1. he probably doesn't have a car and he thinks your dusty 4 door is where its at 2. At 2 pm on a monday he's cruisng around on his bike...he probably doesn't have a job. 3. if he's going to a poetry reading he has a lonnnnng bike ride ahead of him. 4. By turning to look at you he's stopped paying attention to the sidewalk where a guy is waving a "CASH FOR GOLD" sign up ahead and he's about to hit him.
So now that you're on guard against Ocala bikers, I'll give a little update on the resolutions I came up with in my last post. So far I've stuck to all of them, I'm cleaning my tack every day and.... awkward pause as I try to remember a single other resolution I've even remotely stuck to. Me and resolutions are much like the second pair of ice boots at Five Ring, they are very nice and do a great job at icing but the velcro that secures the boots doesn't stick so well anymore and often comes undone. With the boots, we simply get out some duct tape and we're back in icing action, with me I just walk over the clean clothes pile on the ground and tell it, maybe tomorrow. New resolution though. I've given up soda and afternoon caffeine. So far I've lasted a week. Mondays don't count. Also specified undetermined other days don't count either.

 I'm still horse hunting, and in the meantime getting to spend lots of time riding Inet.  Inet for the most part likes Florida, but he misses the indoor arena a little bit, mainly because he could check himself out in the mirrors while I "trained him" aka let him trot down the long side not across the diagonal so he could watch himself point his toes the whole time.  Inet is full of character, friendly, outgoing, charming, good looking...in sum he would never bike through Ocala checking out girls. Inet is far too classy for that sort of thing. Instead he spends his time trying to drink from my gatorade bottle, wondering why the brass on his halter isn't polished to perfection and trying to make friends with the world's best barn dog, Drake. As soon as Inet opens his mouth for a little love bite, Drake flees, but despite this setback Inet keeps on trying.

One last thing, I'm making the best Irish brown bread (maybe its more like imitation Irish brown bread) and anyone that likes delicious, easy to make bread should try it, all you need is flour, sugar, rolled oats, yogurt, baking soda and powder and a pinch of salt.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/irish-brown-bread-10000000522965/

Horse Shopping Time

So as promised, how much do I love KFC? I love it a lot. I don't go there often, only once every couple of years, so on the rare occasions that I do, I really appreciate its deliciousness. So on Easter Sunday I get to the rest stop, get my chicken and a biscuit and hop back in Ben. On the radio they're singing, "if I can't have you I don't want nobody baby" I sing this to my biscuit, and I mean it. On the downside, KFC is expensive as far as fast food goes!!
 Anyway, the theme of this week isn't food obsessions, it's horse shopping! Not only has Henry sold, Mick has also sold. He will always hold a special place in my heart as the first horse I took intermediate, the first grey, and through no fault of his own the first horse on whom I had 2 errors in one dressage test (hopefully a not to be repeated feat). I will miss Mick very much but am sure he will be happy to keep competing at the upper levels with his new owner.  So I am now on the hunt for a new project!  I am sure that Ocala is full of hidden  gems, and thus far I have discovered that many of them are Paso Finos. See Ocala4sale if you're interested in one. The great thing about Paso Finos is that they are an untapped talent in the eventing world, which I think would put me at the forefront of Paso Fino sponsorship opportunities and breed awards. Seriously though, while I  may not be seeking out the Spanish breed whose "name means 'fine step'" (thanks Wikipedia :)  if a lovely one happened across my path I would be happy to accept it. What I'm really looking for is something just like my little Henry: free, easy, adorable, athletic, perfect, etc. My standard horse has been a bay thoroughbred gelding with no markings (maybe a little white somewhere but nothing outrageous like blazes or stockings) but since Mick expanded my horizons a bit I could end up with anything, even a palomino Paso Fino.  My ultimate dream is to have a grey pony named Noodle, show name Fetticuene Alfredo, (if someone has done this before don't tell me, I don't want my dream squashed) but I think that will have to wait until later in life. 
         Besides daydreaming about Noodle and searching for a horse, I find myself in the strange condition of having only one horse of my own to ride each day, which means oodles (a good name for Noodles' brother??) of spare time.  I'm going to buckle down and clean my tack every single day, fold my clothes after I wash them, cook...and admit that pouring milk over cereal won't qualify as "making dinner" and finish the book I started when I first came to work for Kyle and Jen a year and a half ago. Probably....
Maybe.

Mick and I at our first event together, and, below, at our first intermediate!

Yesterday Was Easter

I'm going to preface this with, I wrote this on easter but didn't get around to finishing or posting. Easter holds a special place in my heart as...one of the holidays I like along with the other holidays which I like better. Bam, awesome first sentence for this blog entry. Easter as a day is maybe not my most favorite holiday(although I do like at my old church when they opened all the shutters at once -at some crucial moment that I will have to ask my mom about because I cannot remember- and it was really light and bright and everyone felt inspired and excited, at least on Easters when it was sunny out) Easter at Five Ring is hard to beat because of 1. A hard to compete with Easter egg hunt 2. adorable children 3. chocolate in bunny form, little bunny form, peter rabbit bunny form, egg form, etc 4. bounceable putty that comes in a little can and you just mold it together and bounce it. 5. My first time experiencing "Cascarones", confetti filled eggs that you break on peoples heads. So fun. You should try it, and don't wait until next year, just go ahead today or tomorrow and make some and go outside and find an unsuspecting person and there you go confetti filled fun. And then be sure to comment on this blog with people's reactions. Escpecially if you do this to strangers. Thanks to my awesome new roommate for introducing me to these!! Anyhow, besides Easter, today was a big day because my own Baby Henry left for his new home in Tennesse. Congratulations to Anna and family!! It was sad to see him leave, but I am happy to have him go to such a great home and excited to see them together in the future. Henry I think has not had very much space on this blog but he certainly deserves it. Henry was a rescue from a backyard in Ocala, a skinny little thoroughbred with a long mane all tangled into dreadlocks. He soon discovered that at his new home he would have ample time for two of his favorite activities: eating and walking as slowly as possible wherever he went. I discovered that my first resale project was a very nice horse. Henry is a lovely mover, good jumper and also incredibly willing to do whatever is asked of him.....To Be Continued. Check Back tomorrow for an update on things like...how much I love picking out jog outfits, how expensive KFC has gotten, how far away Vero Beach has gotten from Ocala, and why I was convinced the lady in starbucks had been to prison.

The transition to Zen. Mick. The Olive Garden. What to do with a nervous date.

Time for a long overdue blog post. (The "overdue" forshadows the fact that this post will meantion the lovely Mick aka Past Due) A lot has happened since I made cookies without cream of tartar. For instance, when I ran out of chocolate chips recently, I made Milky Way cookies. I've had a lot I've wanted to write about, mainly stuff I think about while driving but 1. Its not safe to blog and drive and 2. I'm too busy texting. Mick and Henry have both been out competing. What is it like to ride Mick you might ask? Riding Mick has been one of the best experiences of my life. That sentence makes me feel like someone is forcing me to write some kind of 500 words or less essay on "an important experience in your life," but no one is, I am delighted to write all about him and his adorable face, the kind of face that sees me and knickers fondly as he trots up to the gate, excitedly waiting for me to catch him. Except that one of the "special" things about Mick is that when he actually sees me he runs to the end of the field, sometimes attempting to hide behind a tree or his best pony friend, Patch, in the hopes that I will not catch him and will not do dressage again. Aside from catching Mick, I love everything about him. Aside from trying to keep his tail on the white rather than dingy yellow side of the color scale. (some people will just never be satisfied) At our last event, Poplar, Mick ran in the intermediate. When I say ran, I literally mean that Mick would be happy to flat out run the whole thing, straight through the dressage ring extended canter maybe throwing in some flying changes, jumping the judges booth, and galloping on to cross country. This go get'em desire is countered by my desire to get as low a score as possible in dressage, and avoid the single comment in the collective marks "good luck on cross country" which really means: I sure hope he jumps well because you aren't about to get a remotely good score here. Mick and I have come to a sort of understanding about dressage, which I think deep down he really likes, he just doesn't know how to express it. The thing about Mick's brain is that it goes very quickly, sending neurotransmitters very quickly to his legs which attempt to move as quickly as possible in whatever direction or directions he thinks we are meant to go in. Therefore it is imperative to transition from this state to a state of more zenlike movement. With some horses this means simply giving the aid for zenlike, fluid, lovely movement and bam, you have it. Or if you don't, you give a firm reminder until things improve. With Mick you have to spend a good deal of time forming a relationship and settling his mind, a process that requires a very specific set of skills and as you can see from my skillfull explanation of how the brain works, my degree in neuroscience really helps this process. By "relationship" I mean establishing a system for warming him up and settling him in. This is like having a nervous girflriend who only relaxes after 20 or 30 dates at the Olive Garden, ordering the same meal every single time. For Mick, the Olive Garden is a place called the 20 meter circle. Every day we start off together on this path, round and round slow and stretching at the trot and canter, using up a good 10-20 minutes and ending up in exactly the same place we started. But hopefully also ending up with a relaxed and happy Mick who will remember this beginning as he enters the world of shoulder in, counter canter and more recently flying changes. Unfortunately, in the dressage ring there are no free bread sticks and salad to ease the process. The challenge with Mick is to remain calm at all times, and to accept however slowly the working-in process takes. With some horses, for instance Inet, you have to say "No you may not look at the cows anymore or grab a bite of grass while cantering, even if you did manage to do it while staying in balance and not tripping, you MUST listen NOW...or at least stop with the grass eating there will be a snack break at the end of the ride" With Mick, a command sends him into all sorts of panic modes. Even with please and thank you, Mick can react dramatically. What I do instead is prepare and ask a little and prepare even more and let a change of direction happen so quietly and easily he doesn't even know what hit him, at least until he gets to the other long side and realizes now he has to shoulder in the whole way down again and probably again after that the other way. In my opinion, the worst thing you can do with a horse like this is have a rigid plan of what you need to accomplish in a given ride. This doesn't mean I don't have goals and things I want to achieve, it just means if things aren't as good as I want them to be (and I'm a perfectionist, things are never as good as I want them to be) I don't let it get to me. Mick can read emotions as fast as a basset hound can pick up a scent (for example, I have a basset hound named Wilbur, ask me about him sometime if you want to have about an hour conversation centered around long ears and droopy eyes and true love) and if you get frustrated and tense during a ride believe me Mick will be as nervous as a basset hound about to... nevermind basset hounds don't get nervous. If I were writing a blog about normal every day life I would probably say something like, when I get frustrated I yell at the driver cutting me off or going 5 miles under the speed limit, instead I was about to say, when I get frustrated my arms tense up and my horse tenses his back and then its back to the 20 meter circle of zen until zen is restored or at least neared. Having blabbered on about Mick for a good while, I'll wait until next time to tell y'all about Baby Henry and Inet and other florida adventures, for instance my increasing use of y'all.