Catching up

Thought I'd catch up with all who care. I have been busy as a bee the last few weeks since returning from vacation. I finally got the water in my basement resolved. We put about 350 feet of drain tiles in so now our basement is back to normal. We just have to wait for everything to dry up and the concrete to cure then we will begin painting and sealing the floor and walls and getting things back on the shelves in the basement.
I also began working with my horses again. And in just a few days of working with them have learned a bunch about my position in the saddle to work through transitions of walk trot canter and whoa! just by using my seat position. There is a fine line that puts you forward or behind the drive line of a horse in terms of their center. Get behind it and the horse moves forward, get in front and the horse slows or stops but there is just a hairs breadth of difference between them. Thus it is like balancing on a wire. This also is done from the ground so that body position is important. Its kind a like when you pull up to a corner in your car and someone is already there. They may have the right of way but signal to you to go. But you are not sure if you should go or not so you just inch along until you are sure then you go. That's like what I am talking about. In order to do what I am talking about it takes alot of focus, paying attention to the horses movements; to your own seat in the saddle as well as posture (leaning forward or back), leg position, whether or not you are over the horses center or leaning left or right. It sounds really complicated but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easy. THen the horse starts to recognize exactly what you are wanting and may even anticipate it. I guess the key words are focus and centered. Focus on what you are asking and how you are asking it so be crystal clear. Centered because you have to be in the right position on the horse or from the ground in relation to the horse to eliminate any static in the communication line. The same is true, I know you know this is coming, spiritually as well. If you want to communicate with God there must be focus on the Lord (He is the one communicating to you). If you want to hear Him you have to focus your attention on Him (like the Israelites in the wilderness watched for the cloud or fire to move off the tabernacle to signal breaking camp and moving, or if they were moving watching for Him to light on the tabernacle to signal stopping and making camp). But you also have to be centered, ie. in right standing with God by faith in Christ. As well as being right with Him on a daily basis by regularly confessing your sin and keeping the communication line clear between you and Him. If you do this you will experience a quality of ride in life that is incredibly rewarding, peaceful, and harmonious. So God bless, stay focused and centered.

trip

Well, I'm back home already. Didn't expect so soon, but it is fact.
One morning I went in to get Olivia out of bed and used my horse sense. AS I think I said earlier she really had a hard time hookin' on to me. She would just sit in Grammies lap and eyeball me, watchin' my every move, you know like a horse might. Well, in the morning when I went in to her room to get her. She gave me that same questioning stare and when I moved closer she moved back a step or two and grunted 'uh uh'. So I backed off when I started seeing her move away. Then when I turned to leave, I asked her, (I didn't cluck to her or kiss for her, like I would a horse) if she wanted to get up. That's when it happened, she hooked on to me. We got her diaper changed and out of bed, breakfast and drink and she was in my hand. It took a few more episodes, but she was receptive to me from then on. Though she was in grammies lap alot more.
Josh, later asked me not to start clucking or kissing to her. :}
Reading body language of a horse is crucial to safe riding and training. So it is with people. I played a game with Olivia alot that was all about body language and eyes. We had alot of fun.
Hope you all had a good week and a good day.
So long for now.

daily

Hi,
Had a great last couple days. The grandkids are sick so have been cleaning puke and Dring them. They seem alright today. Olivia has taken these days to study me and see if I am ok to be around. She finally made up her mind and has hung with me now for the day. It's like horses you just have to go slow and show them you are the best person to be around. No! I am not spoiling her. I did tell her no more chocolate. After we ate a bunch. She is such a cutie. I love being a grandpa. Josh got home alright and we have done a couple projects around his house. We jogged 3 m today. the first time i have done that in a long time. It was nice weather, but this afternoon it poured for a couple hours.
next time ....

Got here

Hey,
Thought I would let all who are interested know that we made it. After 2 days of travel, leisurely of course. We got a late start, but that was ok by both of us. Sometimes just going slow produces a more harmonious outcome. There was a time when getting started on time, like 'zero dark thirty' which means bright and early, was all important and to miss a beat was excruciating. But it is better this way or I would have been irritated. The same with getting here. I am purpose oriented, and to deviate from the plan is bad news. But It reallyd didn't matter. We had a plan but it was loose. Anyway we arrived, weather 84 degrees and sunny. Eat your heart out you Michiganders. We didn't bring warm weather clothes because it was supposed to be cooler here this next week or so I thought. Anyway, we will enjoy the warm weather for you. Hopefully, bring some back when we come. Nevertheless, keep hope alive, it will get warmer.
The kids are great. Autumn cried most of the evening and Olivia kept a wary eye on Grandpa. But after I put together her baby stroller for her baby she started to warm up to me. So this morning I had her laughing and she sat in my lap for the last hour. I knew I would win her over I just had to go at her pace. It's like a horse, you just have to move slow until they realize you are not a predator and are safe to be around. Hey I had to throw a horse thing in here somewhere.
Well I will keep you updated daily maybe.
So Long for now.

Water top and bottom

Sorry for the long wait. I know you who read this are anxious to hear more. But the reality is that I have been caught up in water, both from the top and bottom. The ice dams got backed up and ruined some dry wall. The fixers have been here the last two days patching finishing and painting. Maybe he will be done today and then it is just putting things back together again. Sharon would like our plastic curtain down. on the bottom end, I have been fighting a losing battle with water in the basement. Finally, I have just given in and am going to let it fill up and run off into the sump pump. As it is there are spots with an inch of water on them. needless to say everything is off the floor. Still it is an aggravation at best. I will probably put in drain tile later on. As far as the horses, not much going on their. I haven't had the time to work much with them, but what I have done is worked teaching Jake what Raven knows. Everytime with the horses is a time of improving them and me. My goal is to be as soft as possible with them and still be able to control their movement. The other day I watched as Raven controlled Jakes movement from at least 50 feet away, with just a slight toss of her head and twitch of her ear. Jake knew exactly what she was saying. I do too. She didn't want him going through the bottle neck to the barn before she did. That is the sort of communication I am after with my horses whether I am on their back or not. Come to think of it, that would work well with Sharon too. Ha! Ha!. Actually, most husbands have this down. They know exactly the communication from their wives whether it be a toss of the head (not yours of course), or a squint of the eye, tone of voice. We get it. I think it is funny how Raven, a mare, controls, Jake, a male, with the slightest moves. Oh, there are times he challenges her dominance, just like most men do. But in the end he loses and the pasture party calms down. Now in my house Sharon listens to me and I keep telling her until I hit on what she wants to hear. :} Naw, it isn't like that. We get along great and she does listen to me. But I have found it works best with a soft touch. A little feel goes a long way with horses and wives.
Bye for now.

Ramblin' on

Sorry about that, I hit the wrong button. Anyway what I was going to say was that I haven't been on here since January. This is the first one for February. The time flies by doesn't it? I have been busy with water in the basement and water in the ceiling and walls. It has been fun. Its snowing again, if you haven't noticed and it's cold outside. I haven't been out much with the horses, although I have a few times in the last week or so for short periods of time. I have been working with Jake mostly. I really want him reponding to my feel and he is getting better, or I am. I rode Raven the other day and when I got on her she hadn't forgotten what we worked on last year. In fact, after working with Jake getting on her was like going from a car without power steering to one with it. It was that noticeable and she was that soft to my touch. SHe and I both need more refining, but that makes it fun. I started out rambling on but have hit on a topic. If you just ramble on you will accomplish nothing. If I get on Jake and just go off and let him go where ever he wants we will likely get nowhere except to the next patch of grass that looks good enough to eat. I will have accomplished nothing in terms of getting him soft or learning to leg yield. Instead when I ride I need to be focused on what I want to accomplish. It might be just to have a nice quiet ride, but that can only happen as I have laid the foundation of control through feel. And so it is in our lives too, don't you know? You can ramble on through the day, get up and dressed or stay in you jammies. Eat breakfast and just amble through the day, not doing anything really worthwhile and of eternal value and at the end of the day look back and think about what you have accomplished, or not. Yet, if you at least have a goal, something to get done, you can amble your way through that or around it. Sure enough though, you will hit nothing if you don't aim at something. Waddie Mitchell, cowboy poet, said of training horses, it goes for people as well, "First, I figure out my agenda. Then I make it easy to embrace that and hard to resist it." Well, the key is to have an agenda.
Its the same for all of us. If we ramble on in our words we just say a whole lot o nothin'. If we ramble on in our day, we accomplish nothin'. I gotta have a something to do and then get at it. As the Duke said, "We're burnin' daylight!" So quit ramblin' and get at it.

Jeff

Ramblin' on