Overall, today was a good day. I worked all day on a SEM plan for our paid inclusions: Overture Site Match, Google AdWords, etc. Went through all of the search engine referrers for the last year, compiled a list of top keywords, tried to figure out our click-thru rate on various keywords and tried to estimate how much it was going to cost for the proposed plans. *sigh* I’m no good at this type of thing…but we’ll see how it goes.
Had a very good ride on Kipper today. He is both very lazy and very smart, which makes him the king of avoidance and reluctance…to the point where he’s seemed lame at times. For a young horse he has a wealth of dirty, old-horse tricks, like pretending to ignore my leg and drift into the gatepost, trying to squash my knee, and so on. He is a very big mover, which makes him difficult for me to sit properly, and he has that young horse/spaghetti loop way of meandering and side-ways skittering around the arena. We’re getting better, though.
Today he was wonderful: he moved out without hesitation, he walked without dragging along and trotted figure eights in the arena without trying to stop (“oh, I’m just a leetle horse and carrying a rider is SO hard…I don’t think I can continue…”), so after fifteen minutes I jumped off, fed him treats and made a BIG deal of him. What a sweetie.
Oh, I’ve been intending to write about the lady at our barn who was riding her old horse in the arena, bareback, when he bucked her off and cracked a vertebrae. She just got out of the hospital…very scary stuff. She won’t be riding again for a long time.
It really makes you think. Riding is a very high-risk sport, and we’ve all known people who have been seriously hurt. I had a friend in Los Angeles who was killed…in the bad old days when none of us wore hardhats. Is it worth it? No…and yes. No, of course no hobby is worth being paralysed. If you were at the top of your sport, would it be worth the danger? Yes, probably. I don’t know. I guess we all say, somewhere deep inside, that yes it is worth it. It could happen to any of us, it could happen to me tomorrow. Would that make me quit? Not in a million years.
was thrown off a horse, broke her leg and her ankle on the other leg. It was pretty nasty, and she still suffers from it, a couple of years later.
She also still has the urge to ride again.
A friend got dumped off her horse in a very minor way (while mounting up) but still cracked three of her vertebrae in half. I visisted her several times a week in the hospital (was on the way home from work and I knew she had to be miserable) for the three months she was there. She’s riding full time now and working for one of the Leone brothers (I forget which is out here). Obviously riding :)
I cannot imagine going through what she went through. But I also cannot imagine giving up riding for fear of something like that happen. I receive entirely too much joy from riding to let fear overtake me.
I could also crash my car tomorrow but I’m still going to drive to work.
Umm…
Our friends in Baghdad, and , have just aquired a spiny little friend. I hope you don’t mind that I pointed them in your direction if they should have questions regarding hedgehog care.
Miss you.
Sure thing. :) Best hedgehog tip: wash your hands completely before handling one, because they love strong scents and will bite you with those razor-sharp little teeth if they smell anything interesting on you.
Sure thing. :) Best hedgehog tip: wash your hands completely before handling one, because they love strong scents and will bite you with those razor-sharp little teeth if they smell anything interesting on you.
Exactly – we all know that people kill themselves in cars, but we generally don’t develop a fear of driving.
Exactly – we all know that people kill themselves in cars, but we generally don’t develop a fear of driving.
Will pass it along. Thank you :).