Bob was out of town this weekend, as he was attending a memorial service for someone he rowed with at Syracuse. Those sort of things are never happy occasions but regardless of the reason for Bob being away, it always means lots of guiltless time at the barn for me.
I didn’t line up my breakfasts like I normally do. Well, I actually tried to with Lori but she sort of slacked on me so I heated up a mini-quiche I’d brought home from work and that did the trick. The following day, I did my McDonald’s Steak McSkillet Burrito and a big sweet tea. Heaven, I tell you.
I mostly fiddled around the house on Saturday, copying music from one computer to move over to my laptop (we got a new computer) so that I could have all my music in one place and now I also have it all backed up on CDs. I do love my music.
With that little project completed, I headed out to Upperville for my lesson with Jess. I rode Junior, a Russian horse, who is really quite fun to ride. He’s very attractive – a dark bay with four whites and a sweet face. He’s huge but not so big bodied that you can’t get your legs around him. He’s green but so sweet and willing – the perfect Childrens or Amateur horse. It was very fun to lesson on him.
After our lesson, I gave him a really nice bath and made his socks sparkle. I also conditioned the bejeezus out of his tail and worked a bit into his mane. He’s not getting braided anytime soon so it’s totally kosher.
I always love making a horse comfortable after a good workout, then putting them into their beddy-byes to rest and chill and flick the occasional fly with their tails. They always look so happy.
Afterwards, I headed to Nokesville to ride Gracie Girl. Unfortunately, the weather was not on my side. No sooner did I get her groomed (and I even did an abbreviated version of my usual routine) and tacked up, we got up to the gates and I said to Karin, “I just have a very bad feeling.” My gut feeling around horses has proven to be just about spot on in my old age. It was getting very windy, and it was very dark coming up from the south and the air just had a certain ‘feel’ to it. Karin said, “If you have a bad feeling, then don’t worry about it — don’t get on.” So, I didn’t. I just had this vibe that I’d get on Gracie and there’d be one crack of lighting and we’d have another ‘hi-ho Silver’ moment, which I’m just not down with these days. I love Gracie but I don’t want her fat ass grinding me into a mere imprint into the sand. So, back to the barn we went. And within seconds of getting in there, it started to pour.
I untacked, put her away and was off to my next mission: dinner/movie w/Dave. I did my usual amazingly quick turnaround from horse girl to normal girl. I jumped into the shower, put my hair up, smeared on some lipstick, put on a decent shirt, jeans, shoes, appropriate jewelry and was off. I probably knocked all that out, including taking care of the dogs in like :30.
Dave invited Sara from Cedar Creek, which is cool. We all love Sara. We had dinner first at Gordon Biersch. I had a vibe my niece had to be in the mall so I txted her and sure as anything, she was. I had her come swing by while we were eating so I could say hello. Which meant I got to meet her boyfriend. I wanted to give him the evil eye but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I will, however, snap him like a twig if I so much as catch wind that he’s touched her. Let’s just get that clear.
We were supposed to see Star Trek but when we got in there to sit down, it was so packed, finding three seats together was nearly impossible. Which I really didn’t know because I was in the line to get Dave his popcorn. Because for some reason, I’m the man when we go out. Dave barks out all the orders, we go where he wants to go, we do what he wants to do and often, I am the driver. These are the things you do for good friends. At least, it is what I do. I let them have their way. It’s just easier that way since I really don’t usually have a strong preference anyway.
So, we leave there and someone (clearly not me) had the idea to go for icecream. I’m all about that. Coldstone! YUMMY! Explain to me why I hate coffee but love the Coffee Lovers at Coldstone? I get it every time.
Now, here is where I did call a shot – we were all done with our icecream and Dave said, “What are we going to do?” I said, “You are going to walk me to my car and then I’m going home.” So, we all got in my car, drove Sara to hers then I drove Dave to his and we all went on our merry ways.
I think I went home and caught up on a few Chronicles I’d not yet read (which I then give to my dogwalker) and went sleepy-time.
Sunday, I had a lesson again, this time on Tory. I was OK. Not stellar. I was just kind of ‘off’ in my rides this weekend for some reason. Then, tried to muster the energy to go and ride Gracie but it didn’t happen. I wanted to be home in time for Bob when he got back so I headed home (after having lunch w/my friend Scott) then did some work for the office (a doc I have to send out before Monday each week) and finally, my Prince returned. We (me and the dogs) were all happy. Pippen did his happy run while Sassy just stood on the back of the couch trying to tell Bob how mean I was to her while he was away.
Now, all is right in the world and I am back to work, waiting to plow through it to do my horsie weekend all over again.
