Ironic..I sit here at my desk trying to drink lukewarm Diet Pepsi so it won't hurt my cracked tooth, and I open up a bill for Taylor's dentist appointment last month. My horse has better, more regular dental care than I do! I think her 'clothes' get washed about as often as mine, and I know she gets more new shoes every year than I do! Not fair!

Actually, I guess it is fair. When I took on the responsibility for another life (even if it is an animal life), I took on the resonsibility to care for it to the best of my ability, and to provide all necessary care. Kind of like having children! Oh, don't get all bent out of shape because I compared horses to children. Lord knows they are different. Taking responsibility for one of God's creatures (2 legged or 4 legged) is an important task. Horses and children serve a lot of the same purposes. People have children because they want to get that unconditional love, reproduce a part of themselves, make them proud, and make them feel like they accomplished something. Same with the horses, only in a different manner! I enjoy the unconditional love from my horses. For example - today I had a rough rough training day with Corky - I really had to make her do some things that were tough on her. Afterwards, she still walked up to me and stuck her head under my arm like she always does. I can't really say I've 'reproduced' a part of myself in breeding her, but I am training her and developing her into a responsible adult horse..and my personal beliefs and manners eventually will make an imprint on her. She certainly does make me proud, every day when I look at her I can feel it. I certainly feel like I have accomplished something. I feel that every day with Taylor. I am feeling it with Corky, as she grows and matures.

Some people just weren't cut out to have human children. I don't necessarily think I would be a bad mother, but an incomplete one. Unlike horses, you can't close your kids up in a stall and go to work, band rehearsal, or wherever. You can't sell them if they don't turn out to be quite what you wanted. And society frowns upon using a crop or spurs on your children!  Raising horses is a special thing. Raising kids is also a very special thing. Neither is very unique. Millions of people do it every day, and both require skill. The only difference is that most people without skill don't breed horses, but an awful lot of people with no parenting skills become parents anyways!

Posted by CoolRabbit at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Plan B

Everybody needs one - a plan B. An alternate plan for the times when it just doesn't work out, when life crumbles, when you are standing at the crossroads, and the rug has just been ripped out from underneath you. Plan B enables you to go on with life, keep things running smoothly, and keep your heart intact. I need a plan B. That's been my mistake all along - not having a contingency plan. I feel the rug being tugged from underneath me, and I know that someday soon it will be pulled out completely and I will be standing on bare floor with noplace to go. Plan B - need to find one. What a depressing thought! I guess I have just been way too optimistic, positive-thinking, and downright blind. Heck, 've seen the photos, I know what's really up. Plan B...hmmm...time to think.

Then again, it's always easier to just bury my head in the sand. I think I will do that for a little while longer...ignorance is bliss!!!

Posted by CoolRabbit at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well...another beautiful day! I will spend today in the doctor's office (no, not for my tooth, sadly enough!), at band practice, and then at a band booster's meeting.

OK, sounds like a bummer, but not really. Yes, the doctor's office is a bummer, but since I have band practice at 4pm I just know the office won't get me into my appointment in time (they always run several hours late) and I will have to walk out and cancel my appointment (yea!). Band practice will be crazy - taking pictures at 4:30, but I am OK with that because I really feel we are about ready for our performance Friday night. What an awesome group of kids this year. I sure hope the rest of the school appreciates how good they are (yeah, right). And the band booster meeting is always something to look forward to. The parents are very cool, and a lot of fun to talk to. It's great having such a good supporting staff behind me to help me out with the program.

OK, but even with all that, I still want to play hookey and go ride Corky. She was soooooo bad yesterday, I want to give her another chance to make up for her bullheadedness. Oh well, maybe tonight after my meeting, or tomorrow evening.

Gawd my tooth hurts. Yes, I am getting to the point where I will have to break down and schedule the surgery. Sometime in between football games, fair band shows, parades, Congress, horse shows, school meetings, rehearsals, work, and sleep.

 

Posted by CoolRabbit at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh man, my tooth hurts. There is a crack right down the side, and it is absolutely killing me. I can't eat or drink anything cold or hot. If I don't get this fixed, I will have to live a lukewarm life....yuck! It hurt like this back last winter, but I put off having the surgery and eventually it quit hurting. Suddenly the pain is back. However, since 7 months have gone by, I am sure I will have to pay for another x-ray and consultation before getting the surgery scheduled. Help! This is football season, mixed in with the end of show season...I don't have time for this! It is amazing how a little tooth pain can darken your entire existance and make life absolutely miserable. I just want to cut it out of my jaw!

Posted by CoolRabbit at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Corky had her 'Hallmark moment' this past weekend - her very first show under saddle! Granted, it was only a walk-trot class at an open show, but it was still a milestone for us. She was SO good at this show, I really feel confident about us. While everyone else was rushing their two year olds and getting them ready to show at futurities all summer, I was slowly slowly slowly training mine to accept everything in a quiet manner and to put her complete trust in me. It seems to have worked, I really feel she is a very confident horse right now because she has complete faith in the fact that i wouldn't put her in a dangerous spot - she is safe with me!

I wonder if there are people in 'real' life (of course, horses are real life to ME!) who feel safer when they are around me, who have complete faith that they will be OK with me and my decisions. Probably not..I guess that is a sentiment that only children have for their parents, and I am not a parent. I can see the attraction for having kids, there is a heady feeling that come sith having a 'little person' (or a big 16'3" hand young horse!) look up to you and gauge their moods and feelings on yours. Too bad I have zero maternal instinct. I guess I have an 'equinal instinct' - that's my new made-up term to describe my instincts. My biological clock ticks a different song - it tells me I need to start planning on breeding Taylor so that I am still young and fit enough to show her babies!

Taylor is definitely NOT ready to retire. She is still so much fun to ride and show, and she is such a great hauler. It will be crazy for me next eyar to try and show two horses. But I hate to leave Taylor at home when she is still so eager and fresh. Wow, what a problem to have - having two incredible horses that I love and that need to be shown! 20 years ago I would have never imagined myself in this position. I wonder where I will be 20 years from now? I am sure it is someplace incredible.

Posted by CoolRabbit at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)