Texas Day 2/3ish

Good morning world. I'm on the computer this morning because yesterday I was exhausted. I have never slept so well as I have the last two nights. The bedroom I'm staying in has its own bathroom with a gorgeous tub and a giant walk in shower. The bed is like Heaven. It is absolutely amazing!

So, yesterday Annie let me have a little extra sleep because I was exhausted from all that sitting on my ass in the plane. I was up at about six thirty though, because all the dogs were barking and carrying on. That was not a problem though. We fed Anybody in his stall and threw out flakes of hay for all the other horses.

Annie is taking her business degree, so she had to go to class yesterday morning, so I stayed at the house with her friend Sharron, and we made a southern staple. Biscuits and gravy. For my first time making gravy, it was a little lumpy, but not unpleasant. The southerners have pretty great taste in food.

Annie got back around 11:30, and she brought with her the ferrier, who brought a horse that he wanted Annie to start training and working with. He is a beautiful thoroughbred. We think his name is Charlie, but we're not certain. Annie says he has not been ridden before, or if he was, it was not very much. She spent a little time just getting him to follow her around the round pen, and he was listening rewally well.

After that was all over it was time for me to learn to shoe Orlando. It is a dirty job, but I'm going to learn how to do a little bit of everything here. First, Aaron, the ferrier, showed me a fwe different styles of horseshoes, as well as the nails and how they are put into the horse's hooves. Then it was time for me to clean out Orlando's feet. You think a human has the stink foot? Smell a horse's sometime. No offense meant, but it is stinky.

I picked out two of his feet, and helped Aaron put the shoe on one of them. Then we realized that Aaron didn't have shoes for hte back feet, so he will return tomorrow with new shoes. It would seem that I am rather useless with a hammer. I bent the nails. So we needed to get some new nails to put in. I eventually got the feel of it though, which was good.

After about an hour of working with the horse's feet, it was time to learn to groom him. There were three different brushes that I was supposed to use, but Orlando was becoming restless by this point so we just gave him a quick brushing. Annie then showed me how to put on the saddle and do up all of the buckles and straps. This is one of the most important parts of getting your horse ready. You want to be absolutely certain that your seaddle is on securely, because if the saddle slides off, you're going down.

We brought Orlando out into the round pen, and Annie rode him a little bit, just to get him warmed up since he had not been ridden in about htreee weeks. The weather here has not been great. It actually snowed a few weeks back, and it will be snowing again on Tuesday. Damn you weather!

I went to get on Orlando, after Annie had dismounted, and the trouble began. I did not have a good hold on the reins, and Orlando is very sensitive to pressure from your legs, so without even realizing I was doing it, I had my legs against him, which is his cue to go... and he went. Not fast, but he was moving and I didn't have control. Annie instructed him to stop... he didn't stop. My legs were still against him. I was not even pressing but he is extremely sensitive to what the rider's legs are doing and how they are touching him. I finally got hold of the reins and was able to stop him. Annie showed me how to hold my legs out from him. This didn't feel like anything I had ever done before. I was nervous, too, and Orlando knew it. After a short while, Annie decided I'd better get offf him for the day, which was fine. I was nervous and it was a wreck waiting to happen.

At this point I was feeling pretty disappointed with myself. I used to be fine riding English, why was western so different and so dificult? Being the positive and incredibly patient woman that she is, (thanks Annie you really are the best), she got me calmed down and told me essentially that I did a good job and it was better to be nervous and a little scared than cocky and over confident.

We then fed Anybody again, and went out to WallMart to buy a few things for supper. I had penne with saussage and (forgive me I haven't aclue how to spell this) rattatui? It was so delicious. Annie sat and talked to me while I ate. By this point it was quarter to nine and I was ready to sleep... and sleep I certainly did.

This morning we got up, Annie fed the horses, I showered and we headed for Cowboy church. Yup, that's right. Cowboy church. It was interesting. Annie described it as looking like an old metal barn. It doesn't look like a regular church at all. Unfortunately I had a hell of a head ache this morning and as a result I wasn't feeling as nice and friendly as I should have been. But the people at church were lovely people. Annie says they are like her big huge family.

Larry, a friend of Annie's, is here now and we're about to go fix a fence, so I'd best be off. If it doesn't rain again, I will try riding again. Annie suggested that I ride a small horse called Misti, because she is lower to the ground than Orlando and Annie believes that I will regain some confidence on her. Tonight there is the possibility that we will go to a sports bar for an open jam session. I am loving this place more everyday. So, off to fix fences. Hope everyone reading this is not too bored by my ramblings. I will either update again tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Texas Day 1

Hello all you pretty people. I hope everyone is having a great start to their weekend. I am safely on the ranch, and already starting to learn things. Allow me to start by saying I had the world's best flight people on both my flight from Kingston to Toronto and subsequently from Toronto to Dallas. Even the customs agent was really nice.

The flight went a lot faster than i was expecting. I used DVD Audio Extractor and I put the 7th season of Friends on Victor. I forgot my mountain machine, by the way, but I will do the best I can for recording with Victor.

Met Annie at the airport and we drove home, with a few stops on the way. First we stopped to eat at this cajun place where i had chicken friend steak. No friggin' wonder Texas has the highest rate of heart problems. But it was so good.

We then proceeded to a place where a man makes boots. This guy has made boots for so many people, including Christopher Reeves, Bill Clinton and Billy Bob Thorton. He was really nice. Apparently that whole southern hospitality thing is true around here. I looked at several types of leather, everything from buffalo skin to sting ray. It was really neat, and the guy's wife gave me a few samples of different skins.

We finally got home around 4 local time. We're an hour behind here. The ranch is huge! Seriously I'm going to get so lost in here.

And there are three dogs. Rosamae started the journey by running to the front door and marking her damn territory again. Mouse, if you're listening, I'm not impressed with you. Way to make me look like a total idiot. And SHE HAD JUST PEED!

After having dealt with that and getting some hot chocolate into me, it was time to feed the horses. Annie showed me around the barn while we locked the dogs in the backyard to have a good romp. I learned how to feed the horses, and I met the beautiful boy who I will be riding this week. His name is orlando and he is gorgeous. I learned that I am to be the leader, and the horse will learn to respect me. It is important to have as much physical contact as possible with your horse. So, essentially, I want to have at least one hand one elbow and if possible my hip against Orlando, just so I can always feel what he is going to do before he does it. Annie, feel free to correct me if I'm explaining this wrong.

We were going to attend a birthday party for a friend of Annie's, but when we arrived and found out just how loud the music actually was, we decided to give our good wishes and head home for omlets.

Tomorrow I have to be up and in the barn feeding the horses by seven. I will get to ride tomorrow when Annie gets back from her class. I am also having a lesson with the ferrier. Its certainly going to be an interesting week.

I'm using Satogo. Here are a few things I've noticed with this crazy program. Firstly, it does not much like Facebook mobile. Not sure if that's a Satogo thing or an Annie's computer thing. Either way, I can read the emails from it, and I find posting to blogger much easier anyway. It will cross post to my facebook page. Also, because Annie uses an English UK keyboard, somehow Satogo is aware of this and as a result, I get to deal with Hal. I'm not entirely sure I like this voice yet, but it works for what I need it to do.

Early morning tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Hope everybody's staying out of trouble... or maybe in trouble depending on how you roll. Talk to y'all tomorrow.