Changes and a minor meltdown

This weekend I will be moving Nikki to the barn where Suki lives. I love boarding at VMF, but with my schedule and Suki's needs, I have not been able to ride as much as I want or need to. I hope to go back for a few months in the winter so that M will ride Nikki and show her a bit. M said that she would ride Nikki once a week after we move, and I hope that it works out. This morning as I drove to VMF to ride I was filled with a bit of anxiety. The ride is truly breathtaking, as only farmland surrounded by mountains can be. My anxiety comes from moving Nikki from where she is comfortable to a new situation that will require quite a bit more from me. This is good and bad. The school year starts on Tuesday and Isaiah enters first grade in a new school. The Montessori school where he attended preschool and kindergarten, ends there.....so next week will require adjustment of schedules for all of us. I am confident that it will all work out (at least that is what I keep telling myself).

I am attempting to also start a new blog, and while I have several entries available, I have yet to put it all together (the Farm to Table blog). Sometimes I am a bit unrealistic about just how much can be accomplished in one day, but sleep is highly over rated...right???)

I drove a bit more slowly to VMF this morning, taking in the sights that I enjoy so much. As I passed the former Pink Star Farm, site of the fire, I saw the weanlings in the paddocks outside their stalls. Later today someone told me they are YEARLINGS!!!!, but then again I am used to my big girls! I smiled at the cows as I passed the dairy farms, wishing I could just stop and watch them graze for awhile. They look so peaceful after milking, relaxing in the fields. Some days I long to join them, to clear my mind. The sunflowers stood proud at the edge of the cornfield, and tomorrow I will take a picture of them as they raise their heads to the rising sun! Waving to the gentleman walking his Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and the woman with her Golden Retriever/German Shepherd mix (this dog has the coat color of a shepherd with the build of a Golden...beautiful!)I smiled again. Another lovely morning as the Oley Valley comes to life.

Nikki was in a happy mood, despite the horses being fed around her. I did give her a couple of handfuld to keep her happy though! She was light off my leg and soft in the bridle, as we worked through shortenings and lengthenings within the gaits, and lateral work. I knew when she started to get tired because she became a little heavy in my hand. After a few walk/trot transitions in rapid sequence, she lightened up a bit and we finished nicely. Dare I take her to the George Williams clinic at the end of October?? After my ride I gathered together equipment that I would not need for tomorrow's ride and packed them into my trailer dressing room. The plan is to move Nikki after our ride tomorrow morning, giving her some time to settle in. I will probably lunge her in the afternoon, just to have her take a look at the ring.

On my way home the quilt shop parking lot was filled with vehicles! I imagined women sitting in a circle working on a quilt together. In reality, each person was probably working on her own project, but my vision comes from the colonial period and today's Amish quilt circles. It seems that it would be so much fun, to have that comradarie while working on a projcet together.

Suki was in a bit of a mood until I took her out to lunge. Today I set up a few trot poles for her, which she seemed to enjoy. Again, there was a slight stiffness the first couple of times around at the trot, but quickly she was loose and swinging in her back. It's funny, today she seemed to want to "talk" while linging, and I could see her nostrils move, and hear a slight nicker occasionally. Some horses in the adjacent field had wandered close to the fence, so I am wondering if she was talking to them. That too, subsided, and she settled into her work. On the way back to the barn the dump truck was spooky, even though she did not pay any attention to it on the way out. She started to piaffe, and although I love that, in that situation it is misbehaving, so I growled to get her attention. At which time she lowered her head and casually walked past it.... hmmmm it's all a game to Miss Suki the diva! Can you only imagine how intolerable she would be as a human! : )

Tonight in my garage I found a bin with dirty polo wraps in it. Two purple polos that I thought had been lost in the fire, and a set of dirty black polos. As I moved them to the "to be washed" basket, I noticed chestnut and white hairs on the black polos. I took a deep breath, as my heart caught in my throat. The last time those polos were used would have been before the fire, worn by Suki. I sat on the floor and stared at them. So much has changed since then. Much has been lost, but something else has been gained. Suki has changed my life and everyone around her. We have made friends and met wonderful people and animals. So as I held those wraps close to my heart, and cried for the past, I was able to see the future. Self discovery is an amazing thing. Can we ever imagine that a tragic event in our lives can make us realize our true direction and purpose? Certainly not at the time.

Tomorrow my girls will be togetehr again. I do believe that it will make my life a bit easier and I can give Nikki the attention from me that she needs.