This 'n' That
Some of you might already know I'm being considered for a programming job. If I am being hired, I think my position will begin in January, 2004 at the soonest. The local paper carried an article about fiunding for the company the other day; you can read it here if you like.
My knee is in fabulous shape!!! Well, I guess it looks sort of lumpy, but I mean it's healed very well! I was horsebackriding after a week and a half, and actually working my energetic arabian horse. I can run and pretty much do whatever I feel like doing with that knee, the scabs are gone even! It does stiffen up a little if I don't keep active, but it isn't sore. Just thought you'd like to know :-)
I rode four horses today. My friends have a couple of Trakehner horses and their daughter has a Quarter Horse. They brought the horses to a local indoor arena, where the met up with some friends who had brought a couple of their Apaloosas. It was fun; I started by warming up the Quarter Horse and then doing a little beginning work with their daughter. This particular horse would prefer to stand instead of walking out, so mostly that's what I worked on. I was so intent on helping the daughter get him to "go" at a forward walk, that I didn't notice she was holding the reins all wrong! Not that it affected his walk, but it was embarassing to miss a simple thing like that. Next I rode one of the Trakehners; she had been worked but was being all silly and excited. I don't know the horse well, so mainly I just rode her forward at the walk - what a long walk she has! I didn't ask her to do anything hard and she was still rather tense. She is a very smooth horse, but nervous. Her owners think that having a consisitent riding routine would help a lot (and so do I!) Next, I got to ride one of the Apaloosas - he was a very nice-looking bay roan with 4 socks and a nice blaze. He was also a young stallion! But he was so sweet and gentle you wouldn't know without taking a peek. Finally, I rode the other Trakenher mare; she has been to "horsey college" and loves jumps. Her owners had worked her over a few fences tonight and I mainly just rode her to cool her down from her fun. I also got to holler at my friends :-) "Heels down!" "Shoulders back!" "Don't rush that fence - do you know about a crest release?!" Actually, they had asked me to "spot" them - we all get a little sloppy in our riding, and it's nice to have a ground person remind us of things.
Finally, a photo! We've had some really pleasant weather the last week, and our sunsets have been very nice. Here's a shot of a low cloud reflecting an even lower sun.
