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Thursday, October 17, 2013

On the Crazy Train

Despite my better efforts, life is totally spinning out of control right now. Nothing bad, just feeling completely and totally overwhelmed. Like "I can't deal with checking my email" style overwhelmed. It's not fun.

Which made this afternoon particularly nice. The weather was perfect, high 60s and sunshine. The trees are changing to red and gold.

Dust dapples
Courage came out just great, very quiet. He's getting a little bit fuzzy right now. Not quite enough that I want to clip yet, but more than plenty to hold dust. I had to laugh when I saw this:


Yes. His dapples are made of dust. I don't think they really show up on his actual hair, but there must be a different texture to hold the dirt in that pattern.





Fall ears
Since we've spent the past two days pushing obedience and contact (and since I seem to have citizenship on the crazy train), today was supposed to be easy and low key, so both of us could unwind.

I opened all the gates to the pastures and we just hacked through them on a loose rein. Big swooping turns, no contact, just walking and taking in the season.

After a while, we both took a deep breath. We watched the neighbor horses play. We looked at the far borders of the back field. We took turns choosing where to go.

And it was lovely.

A softer look, usually for footwear
When I went to put him away, I finally had a chance to take my time. I put dressing on his hooves, did his stretches, scratched his ears, and fed him cookies. We tried on a different sheet, even. I think it looks quite dashing--the color really suits him better than Cuna.

I even took the time to finally clean my much-abused tack. I used to be so good about cleaning it every day, but there hasn't been time.

I love when the barn is like this. A place to slow down and take a deep breath and smile again before returning to the craziness of life. It leaves a little sunny, happy place in my soul that I can go back to when everything else feels bleak.

12 comments:

  1. I definitely need to take a page out of your book and make the barn less of a rushed place and more of a "nothing can touch me here" place. Nick's unemployment has shut me down into a depression that really does make responding to or cleaning out my inbox difficult, among other things. Hang in there, we'll make it through.

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  2. Love when the barn is so tranquil... it really grounds me. :-)

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  3. Barn = Sanctuary. Love this post.

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  4. Every now and then, we all just need to step back from the training goals and bring down the intensity and just ENJOY our horse and the peace. Glad you could have some down time with your handsome boy.

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  5. Always nice to be able to relax and enjoy our hobby instead of rushing or worrying about this or that goal. (And, I used to have that exact same sheet, loved it, but it didn't fit Loki so I sold it.)

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  6. hahahahaha the dust dapples are cute!

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  7. The dust dapples are neat.

    I love when I can slow down and do things like scrub water buckets or clean tack. Haven't had one of those days since before baby.

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  8. Dust dapples! How adorable :-)

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  9. Love horseware, that sheet is stunning on him!
    Back to catching up...I am soooooo far behind!

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