Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Plan...

So something I've been thinking about a lot lately is is how I never have "A Plan."  When I ride, I just ride.  Sometimes I think I have A Plan and will say to Charlie, "Hey Charlie, today we're going to work on transitions..." but rarely do I work on what I tell him we're going to work on.  I might do a couple of token transitions because that's what I told him we were going to do but that's about it.  I've thought about creating some sort of calendar where I plan out my rides and then write down what we actually did below The Plan but I just not that organized.  So what do you all say?  Do you have A Plan or do you just get on and address what you feel?

Onto the heavy stuff - I'm currently in NCLEX prep hell (NCLEX is the licensing exam you have to take in order to get your RN - you didn't think they let just anybody stick you with needles did you?) and am feeling incredibly dumb.  Believe it or not, I did pretty well in school however, one would not be able to tell based on how I'm scoring on my NCLEX prep questions.  I stupidly agreed to go take it with a friend on 28 Dec in Asheville - I'm having lots of anxiety. :(  Oh and I'm sick too - thanks Dad (he's now known as Ground Zero...).

 
I got some new gloves!  Not sure how I feel about the grey but I love Roeckl gloves - totally worth the extra $$$$.

 
Does anybody else's pony drool like mine?  This picture doesn't do the amount of drool justice.  


 
Crooked leg.

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but Charlie has a crooked leg.  Not a great picture of it because he was being a bad horse and not standing still.  I suppose the good thing is he travels fairly straight.  Bad thing is the corner on his inside heel collapses.  Bruce is doing his best to get it where it needs to be but it's kind of long road.  Doesn't help that this is the foot where he abscessed this summer - inside heel...


 
So I know I buy a lot of stuff for Charlie but I just want it known that he has a lot of old stuff too - this cooler belonged to Fuzzy and is almost 20 years old.  Yup, I take good care of my stuff. ;)  Silly pony once again couldn't stand still hence the blur.

 
Speaking of new stuff - Charlie modeling his new medium weight Amigo.  He has a SmartPak medium blanket which I really like (I mean, I really like it!) but it's modeled after the Weatherbeeta and I think that style gives him rubs.  However, the Horseware blankets don't seem to bother him as much.  

Hopefully we have a lesson with Carolyn on Wed but other then that not much else will be going on other then answering lots of NCLEX questions.  I'm going to apply for jobs this week as well - wish me luck!  I'm going to needs lots of it!!!!

16 comments:

  1. LUCK! I'm sending many positive, exam acing vibes your way. I understand your stress. School is crazy stressful around the end of the term, which unfortunately means organized pony time falls by the wayside.

    P.S. Love the horseware blankets, they fit so well! You'll have to keep us posted on how the amigo holds up, they tack stores near me always sell them for good prices, so it's quite tempting.

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    1. Thanks much! I'll definitely let you know on durability but so far I like it better than Charlie's Rambo Wug. Something about the outer material just feels more durable.

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  2. Best of luck on the exams!! As far as your question, I do try to have a plan and stick to it, sometimes though that changes based upon how he's feeling that day. Don't want to needlessly drill if he's being good.

    I actually love those grey rockels!!

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    1. Thanks! I agree on the drilling however I come across quite a few folks who think drilling is good as it reinforces good behavior. I'm not so sure I agree with that but I suppose it depends on the horse. ;)

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  3. Good luck, I hope your exams go well. I don't really have a plan with Gatsby i'll get on him and think about what we need to work on and then i will just do that for a few lessons then I'll change it to something else we need to work on.

    I love the gloves!

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    1. Thanks! I always wonder if my instructor has a plan before we show up - I'll have to ask at the next lesson. ;)

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  4. I have a plan sometimes. Yesterday, I had a great plan, but Cuna walked to the gate and stopped, so we went adventure hacking instead. It was merited.

    However, I balance my sporadic plans by having periodic lessons to stay on track, and I'm diligent about practicing what we learn.

    Good luck!! That studying sounds unbelievably stressful.

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    1. Yes, I must be better about practice. I do pretty well for the first week or two after a lesson and then I feel like we start to backslide...

      Thanks for the luck - need all the help I can get!!!! ;)

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  5. New here found you because of SB's post. I am glad to find another red boy lover :). Just wanted to say that drooling (as opposed to foaming that is totally different) but you said drooling so drooling comes from eating clover. Is there alot of clover in his hay/pasture?

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    1. Haha! It is foam but I say drooling because he seems to have more than normal (or at least what *I* consider normal;)). It doesn't help that he has insane winter fur on his chin. Thanks for stopping by - loved SB's post!

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  6. Good luck on your exam!! I usually work on whatever homework I have. If other issues pop up we go back to that and work on them.

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  7. Thanks! I'm thinking I just need to keep some sort of notebook with my homework jotted down. While I remember the big ticket item, I seem to forget the other 50 things we worked on. ;)

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  8. I love love love Roeckls. Let me know how you like the Amigo medium.. I think I am going to get one for Hue next year. He doesn't have rubs from his WB but I am thinking it might puts more pressure on his withers.

    As for a plan... I have none. I should probably work on that. I kind of think about it before I get on and stick with a bare bones plan but it is never planned out more than a few days...

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    1. Oohh! That's one of the things I really like about the Amigo - it doesn't rest on his wither at all. It seems to sit higher up on his neck (even though it's not a high neck) and that's why it doesn't rub his shoulders as much. I'll have to remember to do a durability post this spring - he spends the majority of the winter in his medium so I should have a good feel on how it wears.

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  9. Good luck girl! Sending good test passing skills your way :)

    As for a plan... i tend to do into my rides with one or two things I wnat to work on. Sometime I don't even get to those if Henry is in a mood and sometimes I get to both in no time and reward him with something easy or that he likes to do to fill the rest of our ride.

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    1. Thank you so much!

      I need to figure out some filler stuff - honestly, Charlie's typically pretty good so like L. Williams, I don't want to drill but we need to be fitter. Maybe I should use that time to work without stirrups...;)

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