Everyone in my household has left me to go to our local community game night, and I've cracked open a bottle of Pinot, watched an episode of McLeod's Daughters, and now I'm heading out to check on the equines, who are presumably out there enjoying the time of day when flies disappear and the temps get low as the sun goes down.
Not to mention the approach of the dinner hour.
To my right is the latest chapter in my "Nutrition as a Therapy" class, titled Muscle, and to my left are the remaining pages in the novel-in-progress. I think tomorrow is the day I shall finish typing in the edits and prepare to send this baby off to my good reader, pull out the magical pony pages, and set to work finishing the first draft.
I'm feeling good after about two weeks of daily yoga. Today's chuckle came when my daughter joined me, and our online yoga instructor told us to "bring our gaze to our third eye." We got the impossible silly giggles, but apparently that's what this particular yoga practice was likely to incite. And it succeeded! If you're hungry for yoga but don't like to leave the house, try Yoga Today. It's a great resource.
For now, I'm off to the barn. There is no telling what is going on out there - this morning my husband found Rafer Johnson in the arena, taking himself what I call "a private moment" while Salina stood steadfast in the back field, refusing to come in until her best buddy was spotted and rescued. (as if he needed it!)
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Sounds like a peaceful evening. I'm going to look up that Yoga Today program and see if I can do it. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteArlene, I've been experimenting with different yoga sites and this one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteIt was a peaceful evening. Keil Bay made an immediate request to come into the barn aisle/barnyard area, so I let him have some time with Salina and the donkeys. Then Cody wanted to come in too, so I let HIM in.
By that time Salina and the donkeys had migrated around to their paddock, so I closed them off to that section and let the pony in with Keil and Cody.
Keil Bay's favorite thing is when he can hang out in the barnyard grazing while I make dinner tubs. He saunters in to check on the progress and then saunters back out to graze if I'm not quite ready for him.
It is amazing to see the difference in demeanor - no stall door banging, no halter tossing or lead rope twirling. But he's definitely got that "is it ready yet?" thing going on.
I called them in to their stalls one by one and enjoyed their faces when they walked in and realized the tubs were sitting in their mangers, waiting. :)
It's true that horses enjoy routine, but mine like variety too, when it's geared to their needs and not my own.
i'm going to have to check out the yoga site. i've been wanting to get back into it for ages, but i'm one of those people who needs a lot of guidance in that department, but i have neither the time nor the interest to go to a class full of leotard-clad fitness types either ;-)
ReplyDeletei'm definitely interested in the nutrition as therapy class, if i can ever get through the first one :-\ you'll have to keep us posted!
jme, I think you'll like it, the classes are outdoors so the vistas onscreen are beautiful, but mainly b/c the schedule is always completely w/in your control!
ReplyDeleteThe classes are close to an hour each, but I'm only reliably making it through about 30 minutes thus far.
Re: the Nutrition as a Tx class - I would go ahead and take it if you're interested. It is nowhere near as labor-intensive as the NRC Plus class - it does assume you're starting with balanced diets, but it's much more an overview of the systems of the horse and what you can do additionally to help with issues individual to your horses.
I have finally got Keil Bay's calculations done through the trace minerals - for the hay only though - I am learning that when you start with the equi-analytical hay analysis for horses, the figures are easy to work with b/c they're already in the right measurements - it's tedious but not what I'd call difficult.
Once I get them all done for hay, then I need to go back in and add what I'm feeding in tubs to get the final numbers.
I was stressed that the hay might be high in iron (not for any specific reason, but just borrowing trouble, I guess) - but as it turns out our hay is very easy to balance and is quite good overall. I only really need to add a bit of copper and zinc (which they're already getting in my vit/min mix) so now it's just a matter of correcting ratios as needed.
Wish you were close by - we could knock all our calcs out on a Saturday and end with a glass of wine. :) I can't bring myself to sit here and do it all in one sitting alone, but if I had company and a plan, it would make all the difference! :)
that would motivate me too! wish we were closer :-\ i'm relieved to hear it's not as hard as i built it up to be, but it would still be nice to have a buddy to work with... and wine always helps ;-)
ReplyDeletejme, I meant to say but forgot -
ReplyDeleteI audited the 11/08 NRC Plus class, took the 2/09 one officially, and it's only now, as I'm again auditing the 5/09 class that I'm FINALLY getting to the actual calculations mineral by mineral.
You can keep auditing for free for as long as you like, and I think once you get the numbers you can begin to plug them in w/o overwhelming yourself. That's what has worked for me, and it sure sounds like on the class list that's been true for many class members. It's a lot to take in, and a lot to do on top of all the other things our equines require.
But the invitation stands... :) Come on down with analysis in hand and I will supply the guest room, the wine, and some donkey hugs on the side!
one day i might just take you up on that :-) and same here, should you ever find yourself in NY...
ReplyDelete