I started back at school this last week so its been kind of crazy with that along with a number of other things going on. I did make it down to the barn a few times and had some good rides and one good ground driving session. Yesterday he was great except for one BIG spook right in the middle of the ride when I was giving him a break. Darn horse know when he can get away with things and takes advantage sometimes. Have no clue what he spooked at. He was good for the rest of the ride. When I was ground driving him a few days ago he really wanted to go play with his pasture mates so we got in a fight about that where I want to go one way and he wants to go the other. He did show me his amazing ability to canter sideways. Sometimes I wish he would give me some of that stuff when I ask for it. We did get it figured out and went back into the indoor to get some of that energy out.
     I found out Friday that my aunt had been taken to the hospital with a pulmonary embolism. She is doing much better now. This life always gives us the unexpected or and my Dad calls it "Undirected." Every time I feel like everything has settled down a bit something else seems to happen. Sometimes we just have to take what this crazy life gives us and just move on and see what happens. Who knows what will happen next. This has been a confusing week but it will work its self out and who knows what the future will bring.

And just because here is Banico enjoying life:

Back in KY

     Got back into KY late Sunday. Had an uneventful flight just a long day and lots of walking between gates. There seemed to be a lot of delays and my one flight got in a bit late but there was enough time for me to get to the next gate.

     Had a very good ride on my friends horse, Weldon, Saturday. He was much calmer than the first day and was very fun to ride. He only tried to break into the canter once and when he was in the canter it was nice and slow and not rushy at all. My friend said thats close to the best he has ever seen him go. I also rode another friends horse, Trouble. I had ridden her quite a bit before I left and she is fun to get on and putt around. Did get some pics of her.  

Weird camera angle.

     Did get down to see Banico yesterday and he is doing good. Didn't seem to thrilled to see me until he saw the carrots I had. Yes my horse is spoiled. He was very snorty when I was leading him out of pasture so I let him out in the indoor to get some of that out before I rode him. He was very nice for me to ride but the indoor was kind of frozen so we mostly just walked and trotted. It has been snowing off and on all day so didn't really feel like getting down there today. Start back to school tomorrow and it will be an interesting semester. I signed up for an energy healing class that will be very interesting.

Riding

     Its finally dried out  enough here in CA for me to get out and ride some. I went on a very short trail ride on Sunday on my friends horse Magnum. My friend just walked with us but it was nice to get out. Yesterday, I went on the same horse for a longer trail ride with another one of my friends. We did a long loop with lots of hills and Magnum really seemed like he enjoyed getting out and really wanted to go running up all the hills and gave me a few interesting little moments. My friends horse Sophie wasn't feeling great towards the end and ended up getting a nasty allergic reaction once they got back to the ranch. She is fine now. Magnum at the end of the ride felt like he could go around the loop again and be fine but I did get him quite sweaty with his winter coat but it was nice enough to hose him off a bit.
     Today I went down to my old ranch to ride my friends other horse Weldon. He has been off work for awhile and is finally sound enough to start riding but is very out of shape. My friend doesn't feel good riding him himself until he is a bit more in shape but wanted me to try him out because I am lighter. Weldon was a lot of fun to ride and really enjoyed getting out and doing something. He is a TB/Arab cross and sure showed his race horse heritage today. He really didn't want to settle into a trot and kept breaking into a canter. When I did canter he was very forward but the first direction he kept changing leads but the second direction he just went. I kind of just had to let him get some of that out and he did give me a nice slower canter at the end. He took a bit of getting use to at first because he has much more suspension than Banico. I also saw a bunch of my old friends from there and had had some nice conversations with some. It is very nice to have friend who will let me ride their horses when I am so far away from Banico.