Time Flies...

July has slipped away some how, I didnt realize it had been this long.. Might start loosing my very few followers if I dont stay up to date on here! :)

July in recap:

4th of July - Nothing exciting this year, we opted to stay home as usual. Although we did get in a ride at Lords Hill with a few friends, but the ride didnt go along as smoothly as we had hoped. We ended up on a trail that is supposed to be closed apparently, and a friends very young horse was going along really well when they came upon a hole in the trail, the rider thought he would step over, but as he stepped into the whole, the ground was washed out and it became a much bigger mess than anticipated. Horse went up, rider went down... :( Kathy ended up with a broken rib or two but is OK. Willie did pretty good that day, for having to stand on a pretty steep trail quietly for 15 minutes, he didnt kill me so all was fine. I noticed he was a bit carefree with his legs though and occassionally I would feel a hind leg sluff off the damn trail.. he needs to get over that MUCH sooner than later!!

July 7th - We hosted a BBQ at our place for dads birthday, had a nice time and was able to talk with Eric & Andrea about their recent Germany trip. I am SOO excited they are back home because they indicated earlier this year that they might start trying to make a baby after that trip, so I am in waiting on eggshells from now until they tell me they are pregnant!! lol

Mid July - Derek & I just finished up a 27hr course called "Pride" training for DSHS. Another step in getting licensed for Foster/Adoption. The training was VERY beneficial and even if we never adopt a child, we learned a lot from this class that will remain with us forever. This was not a parent training class, but more a class on what to expect but it also focused on abused children and what to expect as far as emotions and behaviors you might deal with etc. Not much on how to deal with those, that training comes down the road. We met a very nice couple from Marysville that we hope to maintain a friendship with. They were quite hilarious actually... very similar personalities and sense of humor as us. :) Now that this training is done, we need to finish with some things around the house so we can get our home study completed, which is on the to do list soon.

July 14th - Derek & I volunteered to help with the big fundraiser ride up out of Sedro Woolley. We were drag riders.. No that does not mean Derek dressed in drag and we rode horses.. lol We basically are the last riders to head out on the trail to inform the people that have stations set up on the ride, that they are done and no more riders will be coming through. It was HOT, 85, but muggy and Willie was drenched in sweat. I was really proud of him though, he did much better than I anticipated. It was over 3 hours of riding on a fairly technical trail at times. When I take him out on a ride, I always anticipate the worst so that I am not dissappointed when he acts up. But he has been so good on all our trail rides that by expecting the worst, I am VERY happy by the end of the ride because he is doing so much better than I had hoped. He is pretty damn close to being the type of green horse I was hoping he would be... nothing better nothing worse. I am OK with that!! I really do like him and feel much more optimistic that he will work out long term.

July 21st - Our last dog training day of the year with our retriever club. Its been an interesting year with Cooper, we've learned a lot, he has learned a lot. We will still train him, dont get me wrong.. but the club will not be hosting any more training days until early next year, after hunting season is over. We have a hunt test to take Cooper to in August, in hopes of him getting his Started title!! We are now seeing his anxiety over picking up birds is finally subsiding and we dont see a timid behavior associated with the birds.. but unfortunately because of the timid factor and how he picked up birds, it has now become a pattern and he thinks that he doesnt need to pick up the birds.. we've now moved from timid problem to training problem... Which is OK.. We had to give him the time and experience to get over the timidness and now we'll work with a local trainer to work through the training issues.. I'm not 100% convinced he is over his anxiety yet with birds, so I look forward to meeting up with Pat for some 1 on 1 advice and help.

Nothing comical or exciting really going on, probably why I havent been writing.. we've been very busy, but boring busy to those of you that are reading is my guess! The near future includes a road trip to OR, I am headed off with a friend to pick up her horse down there on Saturday, should be fun! She is a new friend, someone I have known for 20 years but only as an aquantance. Our friendship has started to develop in the past year over the phone and internet and it will be my first time seeing her on Saturday since we first met about 20 years ago... :) I am excited to spend time with her. Gotta love FB actually, as that is how our re-connection started...!!

More riding in the near future as well.. we dont get out and ride as often as we probably could and I try hard to be OK with that in my brain... :) We have so many things going on around us so I have to take a breath sometimes and just accept that life is not all about the horses and riding anymore.. As much as I sometimes wish it was, I also really enjoy the other things we do with our time and maybe when we are retired, we will feel satisfied that we can spend enough time with every aspect of our lives..