Could I get any busier?

I don't know and I don't want to find out.  I love to stay busy but sometimes it catches up to you.  With this weather I cannot help but makes the best of it.  I have been trying to get to posting about my lesson that happened last Wednesday.  But I have just been so busy boiling sap down, keeping up with homeschooling, squeezing in rides, preparing the barn and goat pen for soon arriving babies, bathing stinky dirty mini's, keeping up with the dishes, laundry, cooking, picking up hay and trying to find a moment here and there to catch up on sleep.  But on to my lesson.

Firstly I have to give a HUGE shout out to Karen at CONTACT!  She is such an incredibly nice lady and I had the priviledge of meeting her.  She has read about my ongoing saddle woes here and had offered up a saddle that she currently isn't using for Steady and I to use until we find something else.  If that wasn't nice enough she then drove and hour to meet me at Come Again Farm where I was having my lesson with Lee Ann Zobbe to give it to me.  Amazing!  We tried it on Steady briefly and it looked pretty good so I finished tacking up.  Karen even baby sat Steady who was tied to the trailer, he gets a bit antsy, while I took my 4 year old daughter to the potty.  She couldn't stick around to watch us ride but I am good with that since Lee Ann may have had a bit too much pleasure tourchering me and it was embarassing enough having her watching me.  I swore she had a hidden camera and was going to post the footage on youtube.  Lee Ann focused mostly on helping me figure out not only my balance but helping Steady stay balanced.

I love taking a lesson from her.  She is amazing!  She is soooo tough on me but also is okay with me laughing at myself as I am on the back of my horse wandering around the indoor standing in my stirrups with my hands on my head and leaning from side to side...lol.  She doesn't go easy on me but doesn't make me feel like a complete idiot for not being a great rider.  I guess what I am saying is she can tell me I suck without making me feel like a I suck...lol.  Like I said she had me do alot of standing in my stirrups, alot of two point with my hands on my head or hips.  She helped me figure out how to get the correct lead with Steady.  Hahaha she made me post on the wrong diaganal turn to the outside and look at his tail and ask and Viola!  Correct lead.  My position was so awful during the canter she told me to stay in 2point until I get a better seat.  Because I am through off his balance attempting to sit it.

We worked on bending and controling his speed with my seat instead of my hands.  Steady is more stiff to the right than he is to the left.  And as always he walks away with raving compliments.  She complimented is incredible mind and also his willingness and eagerness to please.  She asked what our goals were and I have thought out our goals but never really voiced them before.  She put me on the spot and I asked her not to laugh at me.  She said she woudln't.  She said I should have a short term goal, a longer term goal  and a long term goal and take each goal one at a time and keep them all attainable.  My shortest term goal is to start out the season at Starter at CAF.  Then the next step is to be at beginner novice by the end of the season.  Then make our way to Novice next season and just putter around forever at Novice.  I put a time line on moving up but really I don't care when we move up.  We could hang at starter all year and move to BN next year.  I am in NO rush and will only go at mine and Steady's pace what ever it may be.  After our lesson we headed out to the outdoor and XC course and just walked out, out there.  It was a lovely day and footing was fabulous.  Fabulous end to a fabulous day.  Besides the fact that when I was walking and gabbing to a friend I was not paying attention to what I was doing and Steady in reaching down to try to eat grass stepped on his bridle and SNAPPED it.  It is broke!  No fixing it.  I am not all that sad about it.  I mean it is probably 10 years old and in terrible condition.  It wasn't even a nice bridle to begin with 10 year ago.  So I guess it is a good excuse to get a new bridle. 

It was also the first time hauling with my new truck and I LOVE it!  You can't even tell the trailer is back there.  Man there is so much going through my brain but I will stop here so I do not write an entire book.