Simply *reaching* for the "Stars"

 Reaching for the stars~ All of us have heard this thru various stages of our lives. It consists of setting a goal....and organizing the energy and actions required to meet that goal. When you ride a horse...a must involved in EVOLVING as a rider is trust!!! Earning your horses trust...and your horse earning yours. In Sassy Hippotherapy this week....Dianne put Team Sassy/Krista's Trust in each other to work!!!!  O What a feeling!!! I want to share the gift Dianne gave me in this...She has no idea... she thought she was just enhancing my riding skills ...but I know..and I want to share......

  We started out with "Up On the outside of the box" !!! And I have to add that we were laughing and having an awsome time!!!  Sassy is a joy ...but never a push over....We are a partnership of the heart and work with each others mood ...and Sassy takes on the added aspect of being quite careful with me depending where I am on the medical barometer that day!!!  Sitting down under a horse isnt at the top of most peoples "TO DO" list.....and in my case....Let's see: Left side that can just decide its not going to play nice....Dizzy blonde spells ....and a thousand pound animal balanced on a box...Ummmm Yep...What could possibly go WRONG here???!!!  Everyone was remarkably calm when I sat down....Thank you all for that...for BELIEVING in Team Sassy/Krista!   Sassy stood with ears turned towards me...waiting patiently! We finished "ground" work...and moved on ....to the newest chapter in the Sassy adventure. 

NO Hands  NO Stirrups NO Doubt NO Fear





   



 Sometimes in life we deal with circumstances that are beyond our control! We simply must trust... one of the hardest of all human emotions to achieve.  As I stated above...Dianne unknowingly gave me a priceless gift in this adventure.  Raynaud's Phenomenon is a secondary issue that I deal with due to my migraines.  It is a condition that can be quite painful (Cold weather below forty-two degrees is no no)  and if it progresses to a certain point...can mean the loss of the fingers or toes/feet.    Mmmmm NOW the loss of feet could SEVERELY interfere with a girl's riding......OR SOOO I had been rather UNEASILY thinking .....and THEN we REACHED for the stars.

  I LOVE that Dianne is so open to my confidence level * my mother would say lack of commen sense LLOLL ....I call it a LACK of FEAR* ...and we JUST RIDE and when she suggested this exercise my comment is "LET's DO IT !!!!   So, RIDE Sassy I did....NO FEAR....NO DOUBT....NO Hands....and NO STIRRUPS...... which means NO feet needed.....I never AGAIN will uneasily wonder if should I lose a foot..that then I would also... lose my ability to be in my happy place...on my Sassy's girls back!!!! By nature I am a positive person *my very blood type is B positive* ... but as the temps have been slipping....at times the ramifications of the Raynauds do slip into my thoughts... On this day....thru Dianne and Sassy...The Good Lord VIVIDLY reminded me to TRUST that He will always BLESS US.....and will always provide what we NEED the most....For me on this day...my two wonderful friends gave me the priceless gift of  .....NO FEAR.... !! 

One of God’s most Intelligent Creatures  is The Horse…. They Love…They logic..They protect…They trust...throw in wonderful two footed friends then......  ....Always ...Breathe... BELIEVE.. Have faith in God , your horse, and yourself ...That combination gives you the ability to ALWAYS REACH For the Stars . Curly Hugs from Sassy N Krissy
 

~♥ MAY the CURLS be ALWAYS with you  ♥ ~

Thinking UP on the outside of the box....

My adventures with Sassy are creating epic "remember whens" for me and teaching me epic lessons~ Those of you who know me are aware of my ability to "think outside of the box". This weeks lesson was "Thinking UP on the outside of the box" for me as well as Sassy!  To give a bit of background.... I have my *hippotherapy once a week..... and there is nothing I look more forward to for me!! I plan my "awake" time carefully so that I haven't taxed my system and I can go ...

 Dressage is other worldly to a rider that in the past has ridden "just to keep the horse between her and the ground". My wonderful instructor Dianne who is quite regal in the saddle has to be thinking..OO GOOD LORD... as she watches me and develops techniques (Outside her normal equine instructing box) to make me a better rider inspite of my unique medical aspects!!!! However...develop them she does....and I am learning so much from her and from Sassy.  I see a difference in my riding as well as FEEL a difference.

Every person has physical aspects that come naturally to them....the same is true of horses. They are born with the propensity towards certain movements....some rear(vertical movers) ....some kinda bounce and sidepass(lateral movers)  Besides loving to be prissy....Sassy~girl has a love of climbing. Yes...climbing...Step up...stand....step down....rear hooves left on step.  I have at my disposal a huge tree trunk and Sassy and I step up and stand on that quite a bit

 Dianne has a horse sized box to teach them to stand on and we decided last nite to introduce Sassy to it!!! They brought the box out of the corner...I dismounted...took off her bridle....lead rope in place.....and led her to the box.... BUMP...BUMP BUMP BUMP...there she stood with all four hooves ...... Quite pleased with her curly lil self!!!! Dianne and I were even more pleased.  She posed for picts....Let me REMOVE her lead rope and move away.....posed for more picts.....stepped up with encouragement from the other direction....posed for more picts.....stood there for a LONG LONG time!!!

 Now at this point I must share my Sassy girl's focused area of improvement ..... She loves to be close to her horse buddies!!!  When I first became her human...she had a borderline obsession so we have made progress!! She was perfectly content if she knew the rest of her buddies were in the stable and I have her full attention.  But she would become quite agitated if say she saw them from the round pen going to the pasture...or if she were in her stall...she would circle and call.  We worked thru it ......or so I thought.  Then last night....after well over a half hour of her just standing on the box....with none of us near her...Bucky passed by.  Bucky is a lesson horse....and Sassy LIKES him!!!  Off the box....snorting...with tail up and to the side (yes she is in season) my Sassy girl went!!!

It took some time to get her full attention back..and back up with all four hooves back on the box..(Sassy was showing us why her name is as much of  a description as a name ....   The situation was backwards to most horses who resist in the beginning of the exercise!!! In working it thru in my mind,  I should have gone and got the target and my clicker....but the change in her had turned off my thinking Outside the box while UP ON the box switch....so even tho it ended well....and is really funny thinking about now....my Sassy life lesson for this cool September evening ...was that Ending up is as IMPORTANT as Starting out thinking and being Up ON the Outside of the box.♥

   

 ~♥ Then God Created the Curly Horse ....and it was AWSOME~~~May the Curls be with you  ♥ ~

Remember When..............

Remember when. .....Two words linked together that create a cerebral vehicle of time travel.... taking me back inside my mind to special places and times in life....childhood fun....graduations..meeting "the one" ..birth of my only child....best friends....deaths....becoming a horse's human for the first time.

Over the last couple of weeks....saying "goodbye for now" has occurred  in just about every realm of my world.  A friend lost her father. Another friend lost her four month old colt. A cousin passed away suddenly.
Life gets busy....and sometimes we forget to remember when...Then the Heavenly Father reminds us in such a profound manner HOW important the moments are by giving us a reason to remember when.

I grew up in large families on both sides and,was blessed to know my grandparents(three of which have passed on)...and my cousins were my first best friends and are still .  My aunts and uncles were more like older siblings.  Both sides were "Off the Mountain".   Belcher Mountain on my dad's....and Sand Gap Mountain on my mom's. My Grandpa Calvin had hands that could palm a basketball and an amazing twinkle in his slate blue eyes. My Grandpa Oscar would smell of Prince Albert tobacco, had the most amazing head of curls and was one of the most gentle souls ever.  Grandma Rivanna had SKY blue eyes and was one of the wisest, kindest hearts God ever sent to earth. Grandma Elizabeth's giggle ....her love of the color red and big brown eyes....
The memories of growing up, visiting, , church services, playing out in the yard, my love of all creatures great or small, and learning about life have profusely been dancing thru my head.

I like horses......OK...I LOVE HORSES.... and I consider them my happy place.  This evening as I brushed each of my curly girls... I was saying a prayer for my friends and cousin's broken hearts.....and the realization hit me out of the.... well quite honestly the curls......I dont remember when I grew up....what I do remember and am so thankful for, are the whens that together make my life ......my life ~ As the Alan Jackson song says life changes.....disassembles and rearranges.........

Sassy,KAllie-girl and Krissy with Love~Remembering When.......


May the Curls be with you