Uploads struggle continues

Ok so I managed (just around 2am) to upload all 130 files to photobucket, falling heavily asleep in between the uploads. I guess I could have used a bulk upload or something funky like that but hey I am not a computer geek!

Anyway, all files are sitting where they should now but I am being called in early to work today so you will all have to wait a little longer for the final product!

I watched a few videos yesterday, quite a laugh ;)

Now I have to write invoices for one of the yards or they will bite my head off. Then onto my late night teaching day.

Still uploading!

It's past 11pm and i've been uploading the pictures and videos since 4pm ish! Ah the joys! Let's hope the effect will be worth it and the riders will enjoy having their antics recorded :) 15 more files left, then onto the slow work of putting it all together into slideshows and videos with some music.

Coffee...!

Working on the biggest video/photo record so far!

Pic.: Dimitri performing a Greek dance? ;) upon dismounting!

Stay tuned to http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com/.

In a few of hours there should be a lovely photo-video record from a super fun Training Day from Friday the 20th; featuring Sara, Dimitri and Libby. 

I am working here downloading, uploading, saving and creating videos/photo slideshows on photobucket so be patient(have 129 photos plus videos to sort through) as I am trying to be too with my dear, slow computer (anyone who wants to buy me one of those cool new VAIOs will be cherished forever!).

Pic.: Hacking out in the morning

Pic.: KJ, my dear friend who is leaving and who ran this Training Day with me. Now I have quite a task of finding another instructor who I will trust to teach my clients well! 

Pic.: And myself with Dimitri 

We do not remember days; we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese

The coming week is the last one I will work with one of the best friends I have ever had. It's very true what they say that it's the people who make your workplace unforgettable. 

She is venturing into the blogging world with http://ramblingsofahorserider.blogspot.com/.

It should be a very interesting career record of one very special person. 

I will miss working with her. No-words. Much. 

Aa who needs a title

On Thursday I was one of the guinea pigs taking part in an Intermediate Teaching mock exam lesson and rather enjoyed the simulated cross-country play. The funny thing, it transpired the instructor teaching is taking her exam on the same day as I will, at the same centre in Gloucestershire. 

She seemed way more patient than I will ever be ;) The only time when I am extremely patient is either when I can't be bothered or when I don't care. Neither is a frequent occurrence. 

What else have I done since last post? I've been riding a little, fair bit of hacking which actually is super in this weather, plus I tend to try to jump all the logs on the ground to keep myself amused. 

Been to a party last night, which was a lot of fun and stayed over at my friend's which I always enjoy. The sad bit is she will be leaving soon having accepted a brill job offer so 1) it will definitely be less fun at work 2) she won't be able to help me with the group Training Days. Not great for me but of course super chance for her so...congratulations my dear, best of luck and fingers crossed for successful competition season :)  

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Sometimes I 'write' in my head even when I don't actually want to. The words just keep coming so I usually have to just sit somewhere quiet and let them flow. Here is what I "wrote" tonight while waiting for my friend to feed her horses: 

 

What I miss when I am away is the vociferous silence of his presence, the body warmth and the cuddles

I miss travelling round the circular blue path of his eyes; Stopping for a quick kiss. Looking forward to seeing him feels good.

I wish I could find a way to fit my whole world into a small village at the very bottom of my soul; the place where all the guards are down, where time is just right no matter how late or how early there is. 

You feel it in your body when you wake up, this unmistakable softness, lightness and restful yet energetic peacefulness. There is nothing like it. The feeling of endless security in your own fairy bubble beautifully scented with a just-washed-in-freshness perfume. 

Too many prickly ends are bursting my bubbles.

The best, biggest ones you can create just before you are truly awoken, half in sleep but slowly emerging. You can hear only things you want to hear, like birds singing. Nothing you don't want to know will ever enter your bubble then. 

My mission seems to be to blow the most resilient ones and superimpose them on an exciting, lively action of unpredictable everyday life. 

Naive me is me, the weakest link. In a food chain of my strengths and weaknesses the wolves and sharks keep feeding on silly rabbits and seals. 

Got to play one of those games where you build virtual cities and lives even and buy myself a pack of hyenas. To hunt and to laugh. At myself. 

More of my rambling thoughts on my Waffle Blog.

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Back to all things horses, I must remember to: send off my application for the UKCC on Monday and order British Dressage Elementary dressage tests (for my Intermediate teaching test).

Also, fingers crossed South of England British Eventing event is going ahead as I am planning to go to see Jenny and Kiri cracking Novice and to have a good look around, watch pros working in, learn this and that. 

When you can't decide...

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, 
and you're hampered by not having any, 
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, 
is simply by spinning a penny. 
No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair 
while you're passively standing there moping; 
but the moment the penny is up in the air, 
you suddenly know what you're hoping."

From this book:

http://www.chat.carleton.ca/~tcstewar/grooks/grooks.html

Thoughts and Emotions are like wild horses...

...don't try to understand them. Just set them free.

I decided to keep this blog free from my thought -full-less waffle. I am way to addicted to writing to stop waffling all together so I will still write whatever comes to my head but on a separate blog. If you would like a link to it then let me know by emailing me via one of the links on this site. Obviously if you know me just let me know and I will let you have the waffle link.

So, this blog here will be kept a little bit more down to earth ;) Well, I will try anyway ;)

Bushcraft with horses?

Ok, so we all have some dream holidays and 101 places we want to see before we die etc etc Among some other things I would love to do there is this one adventure idea that keeps coming back to me...If I ever find someone crazy enough to do it with me that is!

So what is it? I would love to do a couple of weeks long survival sort of trail: think tents and bareback horses, no tv, no computers, no much civilisation... Nowhere stupidly remote but somewhere unspoilt like Wales perhaps...

Agreed to take part in some psychology research

Someone has just emailed me saying she's a psychology student doing her masters and whether I would agree to fill in some questionnaires. She's writing a dissertation on how horse riding influences the riders...

I wonder if she's aware that me filling in those forms might slightly complicate her results - a weirdo person as I am ;))) 

Just a few words on First Aid for hypothermia

Many years ago I had a car accident in which one of the passengers needed medical attention and none of the rest of us in the car knew what to do. Since then I've always had a First Aid book with me whenever I teach. Well, almost always. 

There is rather a few things that can happen and if there is something I hate most is not knowing what to do and how to help. 

So since I had a bit of an adventure with some mild or moderate hypothermia yesterday and had no clue what to do here are just a few links to some info:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-hypothermia/FA00017

http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice/effects-of-heat-and-cold/hypothermia.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/hypothermia1.shtml

http://www.goxplore.net/showthread.php?t=392

 

Borrowing a bit of time

Decided to rest properly today so haven't moved from bed yet. Ealing managed to find replacement teacher for me in the afternoon and if they are equally lucky with my evening replacement I won't work tonight. If they don't then I will. 

For now, rest sweet rest.

The day of super things: super house viewing trip and a super ride

The night was rather bad, I kept waking up and drinking tea as my throat was killing me and my temp seemed to fluctuate lots but felt surprisingly well in the morning.

Just as well as we had to be in Wokingham by 11.30 to view a house. Now, the house itself was actually quite nice but there were a few things about the immediate surroundings that we didn't really like: a big sign on the house next door - 'Demolition in Progress, Keep Out' he he, large storage type buildings that have massive lorries visiting them in mornings and just that little bit too much traffic. However, I really liked the little town and we were told by the estate agent that there are much better areas of Wokingham to look at.

Super.

We left the industrial area and walked up to the town centre where we popped to a bookshop (of course I had to buy a book - it's an incurable habit of mine, can't resist the books!), sat on some random benches, got chatted up by some random people and treated ourselves to delicious lunch - super yummy!

Pic. below: that's where we had our lovely food

Then off I went to have a play with my dear friend's new horse and wow, what a super horse he is! The moment I sat on him he reminded me of the good old days riding show-jumpers at Boguslawice stud: same genuine work ethic, so willing and such a pleasure to ride. Need some schooling but no doubt will get it. I wished I felt better and rode him properly rather than like a numpty but he is one of those horses that make you feel like you can actually ride quite well and you know your stuff ;)

The best thing was to sit on something with this fab adjustable canter that I remember from riding show-jumpers in Poland, the canter that lets you play with the stride and that was always what I loved about show-jumping. All this: sit and keep the rhythm, however good it is, it's also mega boring! The exciting part is to bounce in between the jumps on a horse that feels like a rubber ball :)

So yes, it was a super ride :)

Sunday

Typical. The most gorgeous spring day and I am having a cold. Speaking is a torture and I feel totally rubbish. 

Took one hairy cob for walkies today:

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Thank goodness for Strepsils and stupid amount of coffees and teas that kept me going throughout the day. Absolutely hate my colds!

Oh well, at least the riders had a lot of fun! I don't think I managed to make much sense today but guess I can't be perfect everytime ;)) 

Pic.: Pip and Ada learning how to do dressage :) They are making a super progress and believe me the mare is as mad as they come!

Mr Z rode really well so I challenged him bare back for a bit.

Pic.: Hmm, how many times do I say: please do not drop your reins...oh dear oh dear ;)))

Highway Code and Sore Throat

I had my first driving lesson on Friday - I love it! Wonder if F1 is looking for staff..;) 

I even managed to obey road signs.

Now, I bet all the teachers in the world will symphatise with me - I have a very sore throat and am not looking forward to whole day of talking tomorrow :( Laughing a lot today probably didn't help my throat but surely must be good in the long run ;) 

Maybe I can devise some sort of a sign language for riding instructors... 

On Focus and Psychic powers

For the first time in several weeks our staff trainer actually didn't pick on me so I could just relax into my new challenge of schooling with a plan ;) 

Rode this warmblood mare that is a pleasant animal to work with and I do enjoy riding her but she can be a right strop at times. She'd already been ridden early in the morning by a person who loans her so she wasn't that keen on second effort. 

The biggest problem with this madam is lack of submission and her amazing ability to drop her entire weight onto her shoulders. She loves her long and low work but try to pick her up and she might show you who's a little stronger ;) 

I rode her a lot in sitting trot through lots and lots of transitions and I tried my best to make sure I did everything equally on both reins (as I sometimes ride too long on a better rein and stay there like on a cloud nine silly me!), made sure I kept asking for lots and lots of different things to keep her brain busy and finally we got some nice uphill moments but she's hard work in general. However, once you get her on your side she can give you a Ferrari ride. 

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I came to the conclusion that if it was somehow possible to acquire psychic powers I would like them to allow me to read in people's minds ;) I find it quite fascinating how inaccurate our perception of people can be and think it would make life so much easier to know what exactly and truly is going on in other's heads! 

Oh well, for now I will just have to follow the best advice there is (Descartes):  “To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say.”