back on the pony....

I rode Bearito this morning. 90% of the lesson I stayed at the walk, no matter what everyone else was doing. Tina gave me some instruction on basic dressage "moves" like leg yielding, turn on the forehand, shoulder-in, haunches-in, and a tiny bit of sidepassing, all of which can be/are done at the walk. I have done all of this before, but not as intensively.

( diagrams and definitions for the non-horsey folks )

We also did a lot of small circles, concentrating on bending. Bearito was cranky but responsive when I knew what I was doing. He is entitled to a certain amount of crankiness as he's fairly elderly, and my lesson is the first work he gets after standing around all weekend.

Moment of pride: Windrush is owned by Marge Kittredge, who's a well-regarded dressage judge. She came to watch a little bit of our lesson, and said really nice things about how I was getting Bearito to straighten out when we were doing leg yielding. *That* made me smile, because she knows what she's talking about, and I've had lessons from her and she's very sparing with praise.

I was sore enough afterwards to decide that I did not want to ride Minnie, but I still went up to see her and goddessfarmer. I watched goddessfarmer have a dressage lesson on Skippy, outside in a field (on this utterly gorgeous day!) My impression? Skippy is smart, and good, but he tests his rider.

Then I went over to groom Minnie... but when I got there, I had to do a good deed first. Minnie was stuck in the very muddy pig-pen, and she couldn't figure out how to get back out, so she was nickering and very unhappy. (The two gates she went through to get in there both were just barely open, and open in the direction she'd been moving, so she wasn't perceiving them as "open".) I grabbed Minnie's halter and went to rescue her, but when I got both the gates opened wide enough, she rushed through them and into her stall. After that she was very good; I took her out to graze and brushed some of the pig-pen mud off her. Picking out her feet was easy; she's more comfortable now that she has had her injection. goddessfarmer says she has actually calmed down since she started getting more feed, which is the opposite of what was expected, because more concentrated feed usually makes a horse "hot." I think we'll have a good ride on Friday, walking only of course, because I am injured and Minnie has been off work for nearly two months.

San Diego is burning... again.

Four years ago, there were several huge fires in San Diego. See http://quietann.livejournal.com/71430.html for my reactions at the time.

This time around, if anything it's worse. 250K people have been evacuated -- so far. Equestrians I know online are scared sh*tless about their horses; many have been evacuated, but at some ranches they are just being turned loose because there are not enough horse trailers (and not all horses can be loaded into a trailer, especially when scared.)

The photos in the galleries at signonsandiego.com are going to give me nightmares.

My dad and his wife are unlikely to be affected, but the Witch fire has jumped one big freeway, so why not two more? I worry more for my cousins and my brother's best friend, all of whom could be EITed by the Witch Fire.

I could go on a long spiel about living in a dry hot environment, global climate change etc. but I won't, for now...

ETA info on the Witch Fire as of 10 minutes ago:

The Witch Fire is now 145,000 acres and 0 % contained.

The cause is under investigation. 600 structures have been destroyed (500 residences, 50 outbuildings and 100 commercial properties). 300 structures have been damaged (250 residences, 75 commercial properties and 50 outbuildings)

There has been 7 injuries to firefighters and 1 injury to a civilian. Communities threatened: San Diego, Poway, Ramona, Escondido, Lakeside, Valley Center, San Marcos, Rancho Santa Fe.

Currently there are 89 engines, 9 fire crews, 10 dozers, 2 water tenders -- about 625 firefighters.

The ICP has been moved to Kit Carson Park (at Kit Carson Park and Bear Valley Parkway).

One death in the other large fire...