Yesterday I discovered an object that scares Rocky more than any other object I have found in my 3 years of owning him. He has snorted at it consistently when walking past it, but yesterday, he actually spooked and tried to quickly turn around to get away from it. Obviously, somewhere in his mind, this object was going to eat him. The object in question was partially under snow, patiently waiting to leap out to devour my faithful steed. He just knew it was going to get him.
I was going to put a picture of it in here, but I couldn't get it to work. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/43557?feat=509635-GN1
Go ahead, follow the link. I'll wait.
Are you back? Ok. Yup, it was an L.L. Bean snow tube. I know the price scared me, too, but that thing was terrifying to my poor horse. So, instead of going for a trail ride like I had originally planned, we spent TWO HOURS desensitizing him to the snow tube. By the end of the two hours, Rocky would stand calmly while the snow tube whooshed its way across the snow to bump into his front and back legs, slide all the way around his body, including in front of him. He still snorted when he sniffed it, but he was determined to stand still and appear calm while I moved the tube around him. He would also walk quietly next to me (rather than trying to push himself in front of me so I would protect him) while the tube dragged behind him. Not attached to Rocky- that was still too scary- but if I had the tube in my hand and Rocky in the other, I could walk on both sides of him while pulling the tube behind us.
This is the same horse that often takes a nap while I try to desensitize him to other things. I can drag a tarp off of him, both from the ground and while riding. If he steps on it while I'm riding him and its dragging around, he carefully keeps going. Calmly. I don't know what it is about the tube, but it scared his horsey brain to no end.
At the end of the two hours, he was mentally exhausted. He looked so tired it was a little comical. Rocky tried so hard to be calm and not give in to his flight response that he started dozing at his tie post almost as soon as I put him there.
And now I should head out there today to see how scary the tube is today- and before we get the massive snow storm we are supposed to get.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Poster Debacle
I may have just done something bad. And by bad, I mean potentially harmful to my relationship with my sister. I am really hoping that she won't be angry with me. Let me explain.
Over the weekend of December 17, my family all met at the halfway point between where my sister and the rest of us (Mom, Dad, Justin and I) live. I believe I blogged about it previously. It went really well, no snide remarks or hurtful comments, blah blah blah. Anyway. My sister's boyfriend, "B", and I got to actually talk for the first time... ever, really. And they're pretty serious about each other, or at least that's what I'm hearing from my sister, "K."
B told me about himself, including that his dream was to be a comic book illustrator, and he went to school for it for 2 years. I thought, COOL! and had a great idea. I asked him if he would make Justin, my Dungeons and Dragon playing, gaming, nerdy husband into a comic book hero. It could be this awesome poster, and could also include our household pets whom Justin adores, as his "sidekicks." Super cool, right? B and K seemed excited about it too, and B said that he could do it and asked me to send him pictures of everybody- Justin, Bear, Bennett, and Fox.
In the beginning of January, I sent out the email with pictures and descriptions of what Justin's outfit should look like, preferred weapons, etc. and asked if they could have it done by the end of January for Justin's birthday. K said that should be fine, so I waited until the week before Justin's birthday (last week of January) and emailed back asking about a date that it could be finished. No reply. I talked to K on the phone and she said that she reminded B about it, and he said, "Oh shit, I completely forgot! I feel like such an asshole," and that he began working on it that night. I thought, 'Ok, it might be a bit late for Justin's birthday but it's been started, so that's not so bad.' 2 weeks go by and still, I hear nothing.
I email back on February 13, asking if B could just let me know how it's going, if he can still do the poster or not, and if so, when I could expect it to be done.
Nothing.
I emailed again on February 20 (for those of you not wanting to count, I waited another week) and asked the same questions as I did in the last email. At this point, I just want to know if I am getting a poster or not. I told him that Justin had asked if I had been scammed, as he was still waiting for his birthday present.
Nothing.
So today (6 days after the last nice email I sent), I sent this:
Hey B*,
I wish I had another way to contact you, but this is all I've got. Just forget doing that poster for me, it's way past when I wanted it and I have heard absolutely nothing from you about it. So I guess I am telling you that you won't hear from me again about it. I'm really disappointed, not just that I didn't get the poster, but that you have failed to say anything to me about it, even "I don't know" or "I can't do it." Either of which would have been fine, and much better than waiting for almost 2 months with no reply. I was really excited about this opportunity, but I would have understood if you had told me that you didn't have time, didn't want to do it, or that I would need to wait X amount of time for it. Perhaps you have a legitimate reason for not responding to any of my emails, but at this point I feel disrespected and angry that I wasted all of this time waiting for nothing. I really hope that you are better at communicating and more respectful to my sister than you have been to me. I don't like to bring her into this, except that she deserves to be with someone who will be a great partner and honestly, your complete lack of follow through on this endeavor concerns me. I apologize if there is some reason I have not heard from you that will explain what has happened here in a logical way.
Sincerely,
(my name)
Also, when someone emails B (at his business email address- by the way, he owns his own business- and it's the only email I have for him) I think everyone at the business (or at least my sister, who works part time for B) also gets the emails.
So I'm hoping she doesn't read it and get pissed at me, and/or that it doesn't cause a rift between them.
I feel like I wasn't too over the top, or hateful, or disrespectful, but I also feel like he needs to know how I feel about what happened. I also waited to write it until I was calmer about it (there was a day last week that I was absolutely furious, and wrote an extremely nasty email in my head).
A part of me is hoping that he reads it and sends an apology email stating that the poster is done and he's sorry for not saying anything sooner.
Another part of me is scared that he'll be pissed. Yet I am also halfway expecting no reply at all, simply a continuation of the non communication.
Which should be interesting if they come up to visit in April...
Over the weekend of December 17, my family all met at the halfway point between where my sister and the rest of us (Mom, Dad, Justin and I) live. I believe I blogged about it previously. It went really well, no snide remarks or hurtful comments, blah blah blah. Anyway. My sister's boyfriend, "B", and I got to actually talk for the first time... ever, really. And they're pretty serious about each other, or at least that's what I'm hearing from my sister, "K."
B told me about himself, including that his dream was to be a comic book illustrator, and he went to school for it for 2 years. I thought, COOL! and had a great idea. I asked him if he would make Justin, my Dungeons and Dragon playing, gaming, nerdy husband into a comic book hero. It could be this awesome poster, and could also include our household pets whom Justin adores, as his "sidekicks." Super cool, right? B and K seemed excited about it too, and B said that he could do it and asked me to send him pictures of everybody- Justin, Bear, Bennett, and Fox.
In the beginning of January, I sent out the email with pictures and descriptions of what Justin's outfit should look like, preferred weapons, etc. and asked if they could have it done by the end of January for Justin's birthday. K said that should be fine, so I waited until the week before Justin's birthday (last week of January) and emailed back asking about a date that it could be finished. No reply. I talked to K on the phone and she said that she reminded B about it, and he said, "Oh shit, I completely forgot! I feel like such an asshole," and that he began working on it that night. I thought, 'Ok, it might be a bit late for Justin's birthday but it's been started, so that's not so bad.' 2 weeks go by and still, I hear nothing.
I email back on February 13, asking if B could just let me know how it's going, if he can still do the poster or not, and if so, when I could expect it to be done.
Nothing.
I emailed again on February 20 (for those of you not wanting to count, I waited another week) and asked the same questions as I did in the last email. At this point, I just want to know if I am getting a poster or not. I told him that Justin had asked if I had been scammed, as he was still waiting for his birthday present.
Nothing.
So today (6 days after the last nice email I sent), I sent this:
Hey B*,
I wish I had another way to contact you, but this is all I've got. Just forget doing that poster for me, it's way past when I wanted it and I have heard absolutely nothing from you about it. So I guess I am telling you that you won't hear from me again about it. I'm really disappointed, not just that I didn't get the poster, but that you have failed to say anything to me about it, even "I don't know" or "I can't do it." Either of which would have been fine, and much better than waiting for almost 2 months with no reply. I was really excited about this opportunity, but I would have understood if you had told me that you didn't have time, didn't want to do it, or that I would need to wait X amount of time for it. Perhaps you have a legitimate reason for not responding to any of my emails, but at this point I feel disrespected and angry that I wasted all of this time waiting for nothing. I really hope that you are better at communicating and more respectful to my sister than you have been to me. I don't like to bring her into this, except that she deserves to be with someone who will be a great partner and honestly, your complete lack of follow through on this endeavor concerns me. I apologize if there is some reason I have not heard from you that will explain what has happened here in a logical way.
Sincerely,
(my name)
Also, when someone emails B (at his business email address- by the way, he owns his own business- and it's the only email I have for him) I think everyone at the business (or at least my sister, who works part time for B) also gets the emails.
So I'm hoping she doesn't read it and get pissed at me, and/or that it doesn't cause a rift between them.
I feel like I wasn't too over the top, or hateful, or disrespectful, but I also feel like he needs to know how I feel about what happened. I also waited to write it until I was calmer about it (there was a day last week that I was absolutely furious, and wrote an extremely nasty email in my head).
A part of me is hoping that he reads it and sends an apology email stating that the poster is done and he's sorry for not saying anything sooner.
Another part of me is scared that he'll be pissed. Yet I am also halfway expecting no reply at all, simply a continuation of the non communication.
Which should be interesting if they come up to visit in April...
Friday, February 24, 2012
Rocky Updates
Hello All!
This is going to be a quick post but I thought I'd check in to say hello.
My progress with Rocky is going really well! Yesterday, for the first time, we were able to turn 360 degrees both front and back, left and right. Essentially, he is able to pivot around each of his feet. Yay! Now we are working on backing up, which he does not like to do very much. He's always been "ok" about it, but we are working on backing up off of light cues, and with energy.
I'm really excited to see Clinton Anderson's Walkabout Tour 2012! I am counting down the months until I get to go. His training methods are AWESOME! They definitely work- hence my 360 degree pivoting action! I started helping my mom to achieve yielding (pivoting) from the front. Yay learning! :)
This is going to be a quick post but I thought I'd check in to say hello.
My progress with Rocky is going really well! Yesterday, for the first time, we were able to turn 360 degrees both front and back, left and right. Essentially, he is able to pivot around each of his feet. Yay! Now we are working on backing up, which he does not like to do very much. He's always been "ok" about it, but we are working on backing up off of light cues, and with energy.
I'm really excited to see Clinton Anderson's Walkabout Tour 2012! I am counting down the months until I get to go. His training methods are AWESOME! They definitely work- hence my 360 degree pivoting action! I started helping my mom to achieve yielding (pivoting) from the front. Yay learning! :)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
NOT MY SANDALS!
Fuck.
These last two days have not been the greatest. Yesterday just wasn't the day I had planned, and got an unexpected bill for $60 that, frankly, I feel is a tad unnecessary. Plus I don't really have an extra $60 just laying around, but fuck, it's my RESPONSIBILITY to pay it, so I will. Because I'm that person.
Justin's birthday present most likely isn't finished, and it hasn't arrived yet even though his birthday was Monday. And there's nothing I can do about it.
We want to buy a house and suck at saving money. We both like to indulge ourselves/each other so it's a savings fail. Plus random shit comes up that we have to pay for, like tires of the cars. Both of them- cars, I mean. I got a bonus for completing a proficiency at work, and all of it right away went to tires. Which is a mixed blessing, I guess, being able to buy them but not being able to save the money.
So I was in a bad, irritated mood last night, due to the above and having my period. If you're going to try to blame all of my irritation on my period after having explained the above, I'll punch you in the face. Not really, because again, I'm not that person, but still. That's one of my biggest pet peeves- a woman says she has her period and everything else just gets dismissed with that knowing nod of- OH, right, she's just hormonal.
Anyway.
I decided to "pamper" myself by sleeping in today, enjoying being in bed all curled up and whatnot. My dog asked to go to the bathroom so I let him go, then let him in and went back to bed. I was feeling lazy and sleepy so I didn't lock him in my room again- my fault, I KNOW.
He ruined my $70 pair of sandals. And another pair that I don't like as much, but these gold sandals I really liked. I tried to find them online for a while this morning, and was able to find the designer but not the sandals. FUCK.
I was planning on getting up, eating Monster cookies with milk while reading for half an hour, then taking a shower and going to work. Instead I searched in vain for my chewed up sandals.
Now I need to go to work. AARRRRRRRRGH.
ps
I know things could be worse. I know. But it still sucks.
These last two days have not been the greatest. Yesterday just wasn't the day I had planned, and got an unexpected bill for $60 that, frankly, I feel is a tad unnecessary. Plus I don't really have an extra $60 just laying around, but fuck, it's my RESPONSIBILITY to pay it, so I will. Because I'm that person.
Justin's birthday present most likely isn't finished, and it hasn't arrived yet even though his birthday was Monday. And there's nothing I can do about it.
We want to buy a house and suck at saving money. We both like to indulge ourselves/each other so it's a savings fail. Plus random shit comes up that we have to pay for, like tires of the cars. Both of them- cars, I mean. I got a bonus for completing a proficiency at work, and all of it right away went to tires. Which is a mixed blessing, I guess, being able to buy them but not being able to save the money.
So I was in a bad, irritated mood last night, due to the above and having my period. If you're going to try to blame all of my irritation on my period after having explained the above, I'll punch you in the face. Not really, because again, I'm not that person, but still. That's one of my biggest pet peeves- a woman says she has her period and everything else just gets dismissed with that knowing nod of- OH, right, she's just hormonal.
Anyway.
I decided to "pamper" myself by sleeping in today, enjoying being in bed all curled up and whatnot. My dog asked to go to the bathroom so I let him go, then let him in and went back to bed. I was feeling lazy and sleepy so I didn't lock him in my room again- my fault, I KNOW.
He ruined my $70 pair of sandals. And another pair that I don't like as much, but these gold sandals I really liked. I tried to find them online for a while this morning, and was able to find the designer but not the sandals. FUCK.
I was planning on getting up, eating Monster cookies with milk while reading for half an hour, then taking a shower and going to work. Instead I searched in vain for my chewed up sandals.
Now I need to go to work. AARRRRRRRRGH.
ps
I know things could be worse. I know. But it still sucks.
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