Ellie Jumps a Line!! Again.

As usual we spent Sunday conquering lines, getting straight, and asking Ellie to sit back for a quiet 5. I love that feeling when you finally nail it (after a million attempts)!

Chatty Girl

Love Ellie's greetings!

Emily Takes a Tumble

Frances and I had just finished up a nice flat lesson with Kelly and decided to do the short loop trail. Frances hadn't taken Remy up before but Elle is an old pro right?

Up and down over the mountain hill we go and are finally at the part of the trail that levels out where we can just enjoy strolling along. I was even going to suggest a little trot.

Until Ellie saw the giant monster rabbit out of the corner of her eye, spun around, and started back up the hill. And that's when I came off.

Personally my favorite kind of fall is the one where you don't even realize that you've fallen off until you hit the ground. The most embarrassing fall is the one where you slowly slide off while the horse stands quietly.

This was the worst kind of fall. The one where you realize impending doom as you're frantically clinging to any solid object- mane, neck, saddle (I left boot marks on the seat of my saddle from my attempts)- until there's no other alternative than to note where your foot is in the stirrup, give yourself a little push, let go, and land flat on your back.

When I came to sat up, Ellie was looking at me like I was an idiot and my poor 9 year old friend was asking in a worried voice if I was OK.

Between wheezes I assured her I was fine (not fine) and suggested she hop off her pony and walk the remainder with me. Because the last thing I needed was to deal with Remy running off while I hobble slowly after.

So here we are. Two glasses of wine and a huge Ibuprofen in. I have a feeling when I get on my plane to Salt Lake tomorrow I will be feeling less than stellar but hopefully recovered enough to kick it in my Sunday lesson!

Happy to have my first fall on Ellie under my belt (and on trail- which is perfect!) and looking forward to the next two (I am superstitious in that falls happen in threes)!

Tell me- what was your worst fall?

Love that Kelly reads the blog and agrees readily to take "artsy photos"

Seattle Sunday

Harry Potter and wine on a Sunday night. This is how I roll in Seattle.
Not a bad way to kick off "epic month of travel August." Of course I would prefer if my flight home would stop getting delayed.

Co-Worker K goes through a serious sign in process involving photo IDs 

Super Satuday

I had such a fun Saturday at the barn! A trail ride with friends was planned for 11:30 and I joined in the lesson at 11 for a fun exercise which included a walk jump.

Always up for anything Ellie can go seamlessly from hack turned jumping lesson to a relaxed trail without batting an eye. Such a trooper & cute to boot!