Momentous Day

No, the weather was not great - but that didn't matter, we were indoors.  GunDiva had arranged for me to join her at a Julie Goodnight (Horse Master TV Show) clinic as a birthday gift:  birthday in March, clinic today - a bit of a wait, but so worth it.  I'm pretty sure GD got tired of me pestering her about "is it time yet?"  I can be worse than a kid!

Well, the day finally did get here and we weren't going to be dampened by any damp weather.  The Triple Creek Ranch in Longmont turned out to be a really nice setting for an all day clinic and we had enough layers on to stay pretty comfortable - well, maybe the old knees got a bit stiff from sitting ALL day - and getting to be in an inside arena was great.

Of course, I got the most important info from the least expected part of the clinic.  Ever notice how that happens?  In the very first setting, one of the horses had an issue with being cinched.  OK, really he had an issue with all of the saddling procedure, and although Julie ran out of time before the actual cinching, she addressed the REAL problem and gave me the exact information I needed to work on Jesse.  When Jesse was young, saddling was no problem, but as a six year old we had a horrible time with saddle fit and suffice it to say, she developed a HUGE dislike for  - the pad.  She blamed all the pain on that 'thing'.  By the time I had a saddle made for her, my hips had become a big problem and I couldn't physically work with her properly.  Needless to say, she developed some very spoiled habits.  Now that I am bionic, we are spending time on 'correcting' a few bad habits.  GD doesn't know this yet, but since we watched this demo together, she gets to help me out on this one.  Beel will get put to work, also, but I don't think it will take long 'cause Jesse is one smart girl and will figure out pretty quickly that jigging while getting saddled will no longer be tolerated!

We saw four different sessions of horse/rider issues, but my  mind is still having a hard time getting past this ah-hah moment for me.  We got to meet some really nice horse owners, see some old friends (Julie's crew), meet newer members of the crew - one that sort of 'married in', and shared good food.  The best part was getting to spend the day with my eldest daughter - just the two of us.  It's always a joy when I/we get one-on-one time with our kids.  Now that I don't have to be the parent figure all the time and can be a friend, it's extra special.  Thank you, GunDiva.
Bionic Cowgirl