Bareback!

My eyes look really creepy and it's fuzzy but this is my first day riding bareback.  The picture was taken by a tall man on a tall horse so Poco looks small and I look long but it's not quite this exaggerated in reality.

It just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't post about horseback riding.  So, I rode bareback for the first time last week and it was amazing!!!  I am in love.  It is completely organic riding one with the horse, no saddle as a barrier.  I feel much more connected to the horse (Poco) because I feel her spine, muscles and back right there with my legs and somehow that feels really primal or instinctive.  I had been practicing riding on a saddle outside of the stirrups and that has helped immensely in getting comfortable riding without that support.  This helped in easing the transition from riding with a saddle to riding bareback.  In fact, as soon as I got on the horse (which was actually the hardest part!!) I knew I was going to love it and feel comfortable doing it.  It can also hurt too though because there isn't a shock absorber and you really rely on stability to stay on.  One hard bounce off balance and you are landing on your tail bone or pubic bone...ouch!  Plus I found that my inner thighs are really worked in order to hold on at times.

I was mostly worried about getting ON the horse because without stirrups to hoist you over you are really reliant on other means.  I had no idea of how most people do it so I ended up looking up on YoutTube videos of girls getting on a horse bareback.  View this link to see what I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSfDFrv78Bo.  This girl makes it look EASY, or maybe I am just s wimp but when I watched it I thought, "Oh yeah I can do that!"  Poco is a small horse and it looks simple enough, right? Wrong!  I smacked right into the side of her 7 or 8 times before I got my leg up high enough to pull myself up the rest of the way and even then it wasn't nearly as graceful as that girl.  Poco was really patient with me and let me try over and over.  Eventually I was able to mount almost without having to totally hoist myself over the rest of the way but only after doing it time and time again.  Oh and did I mention that I had to ultimately stand about 5 or 7 feet away from Poco and get a running start to actually mount?  So I never got to the point that girl in the video did while standing right next to the horse and just hopping on.  One day though, I will!  But it is interesting because I can always sense when the one jump is the magic one that will get me on.  I feel it before I even get over and I somehow need to figure out what happens those times and replicate it.  But the experience of pulling myself on is so rewarding, like I have connected more with my primal self somehow. 

I went again today and rode bareback for a while. I took some video and tried to post it here, but it is having issues. It's not the most exciting footage anyway because I was alone and couldn't zoom or change angles.  But anyway the second time again, the hardest part wasn't riding bareback, but actually getting on Poco.  I had to try over and over again and smack into her side until I finally got that momentous leap that I knew would send me over.  I got it about 3 different times, which was encouraging

Also, I went on a beautiful trail ride on a trail in Kennecot with Jenny and Gerry (Poco's owners) this November and it was so beautiful!  The three of us ended up in this meadow covered in fresh snow and we just started loping together, side by side.  It was so impressionable for me because it was something I had never done.  The white snow everywhere, running through it together and the cold breeze in my face was exhilarating.  I have posted one picture below.

Love Poco!

These bottom two were obviously taken before it snowed but I liked them so I thought I'd post. :) Notice my pretty new (at the time) saddle!

Party in Clinton!

I recently house sat for 4 handsome creatures residing in the sunny city of Clinton.  Nikki (the Blue Heeler) seems to be the matriarch of the furry family as she routinely would attempt to put Maggie (the Shepherd mix) in her place to ensure that her round belly was fed first.  However, Nikki doesn't have one mean bone in her body and wouldn't even know how to hurt little Maggie if she wanted to.  But it was adorable to watch Nikki growl and bare her teeth at young Maggie in a ferocious attempt to look mean and ensure first dibs on the treats.  Maggie appeared completely oblivious to Nikki's protests and just bounded around her in playful jubilee.  So, as much as Nikki attempted to protest, she really is just a big, soft paper tiger at heart.  In fact I couldn't stop her from trying to crawl right up onto the sofa with me so she could kiss my face to death. Unfortunately, her elderly legs didn't quite allow it causing her to bark from the ground while Maggie bounded up on the sofa, showing off and demonstrating that she was runner up in the matriarchy.

Maggie, Nikki, and I took a walk along the path that followed the stream near the house and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  Nikki got tired sooner than Maggie but was determined to keep up. 

Nikki

 

Maggie

Fiona and Kit-Kat (also known as Angel, but it's been reported she doesn't quite live up to this name so we will refer to her by her nickname, Kit-Kat) are the kitties of the household.  They are almost identical and for the first few hours I couldn't tell which was which.  Once I deciphered that Kit-Kat is a gray tabby and Fiona is just a solid gray, I started to notice their distinct differences.  Fiona, the elder of the two, used to be a therapy cat for Intermountain Therapy Animals, where I work.  She definitely lives up to the standard of therapy animals too: very loving and social.  Plus she has the most adorable meow that makes me want to pet her eternally.  She and Maggie play this "game", which I think is much more of a game for Maggie than Fiona, where Fiona will very quietly try to pass by Maggie as she is sleeping, like a prey passing it's predator, trying not to wake her.  This just excited Maggie beyond all belief and causes her to perk up immediately and chase poor Fiona down the hall barking.  Of course Nikki (who is starting to go blind due to cataracts) would become startled and excited by this sudden game of chase and join in.  The result would be a herd of creatures barking and stampeding down the hall. 

Fiona

Kit-Kat was quite oblivious to any threat from Maggie or Nikki and traipsed around without a care in the world right in front of them, which leads me to think Fiona unintentionally initiated and established the stampede relationship she has with Maggie and I can't help but giggle at it a little.  Kit-Kat spent most of her time by the door looking out the window and meowing in eagerness to be allowed out.  She had a lot of kitten energy in her but if at anytime I filled up her food dish she would come running from where ever she was, regardless of what she was doing to satisfy her insatiable belly.  Fiona was more content in her hiding spot, only emerging when Maggie was fast asleep. 

Kit-Kat or Angel

Overall, the Clinton adventure was a success!

Horses and Pain!

Me, helmet, my new saddle, Poco (front) and Sassi

This isn't house sitting related necessarily, but it's about animals so I thought I'd share anyway.  Almost 2 weeks ago I went horseback riding with a few friends and had quite an eventful day.  I had a riding lesson on a Missouri Fox Trotter, Sassi (picture below), who is just that!  She got a little frustrated and impatient with the lesson and decided to rear up!  I have yet to experience that on a horse to this point, but figured my time was due.  Luckily I did everything right and stayed on, but it was pretty scary and exciting all at once.  Little did I know what else would be coming...

We went to Dimple Dell afterward to trail ride and ended up having quite the frightening adventure.  I was initially riding Sassi, who I have to briefly describe.  She's an English breed so her gait is very unique.  Her walk and trot is so smooth you feel like you are gliding; you barely move, which is so different than the typical bounce of the trot on a Quarter Horse.  Her gallop is interesting too, also smooth but different.  Her breed types are used in endurance racing so she has sooo much energy and can go on forever.  As we started our trail ride she would gallop ahead a hundred yards, turn around and run back to the other two riders and then turn around again.  She is like an attention deficit child on a walk with elderly adults.  It is super fun!

Sassi-Missouri Fox Trotter-and me!

Anyway, back to the frightening adventure...so halfway through our ride I switched horses with someone and ended up riding Riley, the Quarter Horse (pictured in a previous post).  Poco (the horse I usually ride) was also there, being ridden by another friend.  The ride was beautiful and so fun, but as we were approaching the end of our ride, a dog barked suddenly and spooked the horses.  All three of them abruptly turned away from the dog and threw ALL THREE of us riders on the ground.  Right before I came off, I realized I might be coming off and kept saying to myself "No, you are NOT falling off this horse!"  I tried to fight it as best I could, but before I knew it I was on the ground rolling, having hit my leg against something.  Riley was much taller and stalkier than Sassi so the thought of coming off (compared to when Sassi reared up) was a lot more intimidating!  I could hear the stomping of his hooves behind me and I prayed he wouldn't accidentally step on me, causing much more severe damage than what I had.  Luckily he didn't, but my leg was in intense pain.  I couldn't talk or move for a good 5 minutes; I just sat there holding my leg rocking back and forth.  I was worried I had broken something and the pain shot up and down my leg.  But after I rested, the pain subsided enough that I was able to get up.  One of the other riders broke her arm, unfortunately in her fall.  After assessing each other's injuries, we ended up all getting back up on our horses and riding back to the trailer, which was only about a 10 or so minute walk back luckily.  The friend who broke her arm ended up at the ER that night, sadly.  Pictures below!

It was cooooold that day! I like Riley's ears at the bottom of the frame.

Me and Sassi; Colleen and Poco

My Leg Injury-Day 1

Leg Injury-Day 3

Leg Injury-Day 5

Leg Injury-Day 9

Ingrid the Bernese Mountain Dog

Meet Ingrid!  She is a beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog.  I adore her.  She is a giant teddy bear; she lets you lay on her belly and envelopes you in her soft curls.  She even looks like a bear.  I've been sitting for Ingrid for a little over a year and she has become my pal.  She came up to my cabin with me last summer, she'd let my foster dog Buddy come stay with her when I'd sit her, and she comes to work with me on occasion.  One of my favorite things about her is her mellow/peaceful demeanor.  We'll go on walks and she'll just saunter down the sidewalk, like she has all the time in the world and no cares at all.  But she loves to play in the snow and water!  When it snows she chases and catches snowballs like a playful pup and lays in it to cool off.  She swims and stands in the water on hot summer days, which is so funny because sometimes the water will be up to her shoulders and she just stands there looking around like everything is totally cool.  And I guess in a literal sense, she is cool!

Pee-Wee and Twinkle

I mentioned a few posts back that I would post some pictures of Erdo's kitty sisters, Twinkle and Pee-Wee.  They are very shy so it was hard to capture the pictures but I have posted them here. 

Pee-Wee

Pee-Wee, the Calico, hides out constantly and will only let me sit in the same room with her; I have never touched her.  From what it sounds like she had a rough life prior to coming to her current owners. 

Twinkle, the Tabby, is funny.  She loves to play with string, as most cats do, but sometimes as we play she grabs this little stuffed banana toy and cradles it in her paws and licks it.  It melts my heart for some reason to watch her nurture this little toy. 

Jax and the Gang of Cats!

I recently pet sit for a special crew.  Jax, the Jack Russell and Fox Terrier mix, holds a special place in my heart because I have known him his whole 8 years of life and is also my therapy partner through my work.  What this means is, his momma let us become certified as a therapy team that gets to visit facilities to cheer up people in need.  In my "About" section you will see our official photograph after we became certified.  We visited the Wentworth retirement center for about a month and cheered up a few stellar elderly women who adored his kisses and lap hugs.  He is a natural therapy dog and trots down the halls of Wentworth like he owns the place and absolutely everyone is watching him in his therapy parade.  He even participated in the R.E.A.D. program for a while, which is the literacy program of Intermountain Therapy Animals (and the program I have the honor of coordinating) where children read to him to help boost their reading skills.  He would get a little antsy doing this though and wanted to just chase the ball around so we decided to find a new niche.  I truly have my dream job! 

Anyway, back to house sitting!  So Jax and I had a LOT of fun because I got to tend him over Halloween.  I borrowed a friend's dog wings and dressed him up as a little butterfly!  We went to a friend's party and he was the King of the Ball.  He would trot around with his stout body and short legs, his wings fluttering, ready to take flight!

Sitting pretty butterfly

There are the wings!  I was a ninja :)

In the pictures above you can see his "Sitting Pretty" pose.  The people he visits at the Wentworth adore that!  He knows he can get whatever he wants doing that pose!  Here is one more of Jax sitting pretty!

One other thing that always gets me is when you talk to Jax.  He really tries his hardest to understand what you are saying.  He cocks his head to one side until you think he's going to flip himself over completely!  I tried to get a good photo but he was always come out of it when I captured it, so the photo below only gives you a very small taste of Jax trying to understand.  And it's so cute because the longer you talk to him, the further he turns his head to understand.

 Jax isn't the only one in this household, though!  He lives with his 4 Burmese kitty sisters: Mocha, Nutmeg, Bluebell, and Ginger.  He's very sweet with them, licking them and cuddling with them, and  sometimes he can be a bit of a big brother bully toward them.  But overall they all seem to love each other.  The cats are beautiful kitties who kind of remind me of the Korat, Kanga I wrote about in an earlier post.  The 2 light kitties are a silver-blue color and the 2 darker are are deep chocolate color, all with big gold/green eyes. 

Nutmeg and Ginger

Bluebell reminds me the most of Kanga the Korat kitty from a previous post

Every morning Bluebell would stand on the table and make this loud, deep, and funny meow like she was trying to shout something out!  Usually she just wanted some love and one on one time.

Bluebell's sister, Ginger: she's slightly lighter in shade and very cuddly

Nutmeg

Nutmeg recently had eye surgery and only has one adorable eye, as you can see here in the above picture.  She is sooooo cuddly.  I would sit in bed ready to read a book and she'd walk right on top of the book and rub her head eagerly against my hand, or the edge of the book, or whatever would rub her.  She's definitely the most outgoing toward me of all 4 of them.

Mocha

Mocha has the most ADORABLE face when with her eyes open.  She looks like a caricature of a kitten, with her big eyes and tiny little nose.  I tried and tried to capture it here, but she kept giving me her sleepy face. Still very cute though!

The kitties, Jax and I had so much fun together!  I always get sad saying goodbye.  But Jax and I will be on our next therapy adventure soon enough!

Erdo!!

Erdo in Neff's Canyon bundled up

You may remember a few posts back when I house sat for a funny boxer named Erdo.  Well, I am now his bi-weekly exercise partner.  He has so much energy (especially for a 6 year old!) that his mom and dad asked if I'd help by giving him some good exercise.  So we go up Neff's or Millcreek canyon a few times a week and go trail running.  We started jogging at the end of October when we started getting our first snowfalls.  Erdo has hardly any meat on him, so he wears a cute dog coat (shown in the picture above) to keep him toasty.  He adores these hikes!  He runs up the mountain playfully a ways and then turns around and runs back to me to make sure I'm still coming.  He made a friend with another dog on the trail.  At first he wasn't sure about her and was quite wary but once he met her and got to know her, he was bowing down in in playfulness.  That's our adventure!