Animals

Animals / Goals / Life / Passions — 1 Comment
22
Feb 09

By the Grace of Gracie

Today things started to click.  I was actually able to get Gracie to move where I wanted her to to and to trot when I asked her!  After three horseback riding lessons, I’m excited about my progress—and even more importantly, I really enjoyed my lesson.

Learning to ride a horse is a major goal of mine for 2009.  I found a wonderful instructor, Denise, through Elizabeth, a volunteer and donor I interact a lot with at work.  She and her husband have several horses that are stabled on their property at home.  Elizabeth is a total horse person—she spends summers at her second home in Idaho, with the horses.  I told Elizabeth about my plans to learn to ride and asked if she knew of a good instructor.  She immediately suggested Denise.  (Ask and you shall receive.)  When I contacted Denise and she told me she worked at the “Beverly Hillbilly” stable at Coto de Caza (vs. the much larger Beverly Hills stable), I knew she would be a good match for me.     

Today was lesson number three, my second session with Gracie.  (Last week was Billy Joe Bob on a trail ride.) She is a beautiful quarter horse—chestnut colored with a white stripe down her nose.  She is gentle and sweet and very patient with novices like me.  I felt at ease with Gracie the first time I met her.  Today I groomed her and walked her on her lead into the arena for our lesson then back to her stall at the end of the day.  (Heck, if you were watching, you might have thought I actually knew what I was doing.  The whole idea of “acting as if” can actually work!)   

I love the feeling of competency that’s growing as I spend more time around the horses and learn to ride.  I’m setting my fears aside—fear of the horses, fear of failure, fear of looking like a fool—to be in the moment, feel myself, feel the horse and to just go for it.  I was really surprised today with how well I did riding Gracie around the arena and getting her to go from a walk to a trot and back to a walk again.  We even did figure eights in the arena to test my ability to get her to move where I wanted her to go.  I must say, we did pretty well for a first try. And Denise, my instructor, complimented me on my riding form and acknowledged that I had come a long way since my first lesson. She must know how much I appreciate praise, maybe even more so than Gracie!

Animals / Goals / Passions — No Comments
11
Jan 09

Visiting the Horses Today

Today John and I took a motorcycle ride through Santiago and Trabuco Canyons–one of our favorite rides.  We stopped at a horse stable and riding school in Silverado Canyon.  John found this place yesterday on a bike ride and stopped there to take photographs.  One of my goals in 2009 is to go horseback riding so I asked him if we could go back and check it out today.

Leave it to John–within 5 minutes we met two very nice women who were eager to help us.  They gave me the name and number of a trainer who teaches western style riding and who they both like. (I’m going to call her tomorrow!)  Then Ann, one of the women we met, introduced me to Ben, one of the horses the trainer uses for teaching her new students.  I said hello to Ben and gave him lots of pats on the head and cheek. He was a sweet fella.  I wondered if he was disappointed that I didn’t have any carrots in hand. I wondered, too, if he could tell that I was a little scared.  I love animals and I think horses are particularly beautiful but I’ve always been a little afraid of them.  I think that’s partly why I want to learn to ride, so I can face that fear .  (One more fear I can tick off the list hopefully!) And riding combines two of my passions–animals and the outdoors–so it seems a natural thing for me to do.  I loved being at the stables–touching the horses, smelling the earth and animals, seeing the beautiful mountains and countryside and feeling the breeze of the fresh air.  I’m hoping Ben and I will get to know one another better in the near future.

Animals / Life / Passions — 1 Comment
9
Sep 08

Abigail Ranch Teer

Abby. Abigail. Abigirl. Abisquirrel. Squirrel.  Squirrelly. Missy Mou. Mouzi. Mouzi Mou. Kitty.  

This is the chronological sequence of Abby’s names over the past 16 years.  Don’t even ask.  It makes perfect sense to me.  Well, up to the break between Squirrelly and Missy Mou.  Even I can’t figure that one out. 

Just over a year ago, Abby’s formal, “legal” name revealed itself–Abigail Ranch Teer.  This name fits her perfectly–it’s regal in that independent cat kind of way and it captures the spirit of our kitty from the West.  Just over a year ago, John and I took a road trip up to the Santa Ynez valley.  We fell in love with the countryside and were day dreaming about buying a ranch in Santa Ynez one day.  We were taken with the seclusion, the gentle rolling hills, the windy roads, the proximity to the wine country, and the vast open spaces.  It was heaven.   We even began daydreaming about what we’d name our ranch.  In a moment of inspiration, John suggested Abigail Ranch, in honor of Abby.  Well, that was it.  Decision made.  And from that day forward, Abby became Abigail Ranch Teer.  Our beloved kitty, a 16-year part of our history, entwined with our dream for the future.

Abby is sitting right next to me, on my desk, right now.  That’s what inspired me to write about her tonight.  She has been my constant companion since that day in late May, 1992, when I adopted her (along with her brother Freddie) from the animal shelter in San Clemente.  It was a milestone day in my life.  Finally I was adult enough to get an animal of my own!  I had a home where I could have a pet and no parents to tell me no.  It was all MY decision!  16 years and 4 four months later, she is still by my side, every day.  And not a day goes by that I sit at my desk that she doesn’t jump up on it and sit next to me, often swatting her tail in my way, laying her rump on the corner of my key board or hanging her chin over my hand as I type (no kidding.)  Both annoying and sweet, she is a loyal, loving, patient, gentle companion.  She has seen me through thick and thin.  She is always there for me and seems to know exactly when I need a little extra TLC.  And now, she’s even won her way into John’s heart.  I think he’s even more love sick than me!  He loves on her every day and she eats it up.  Talk about a Daddy’s girl.  But she’s still my girl, my Abigirl.

Animals / Life / Passions — No Comments
7
Sep 08

Our Sunday Trip to the Dog Park

Today John and I took Rusty to the dog park in Laguna Beach.  Who came up with the idea of a dog park?  Whoever it is, he or she is brilliant.  It’s such a simple concept—a large fenced in park where dogs can roam free without a leash, run to their hearts content, visit with all kinds of new friends and take in all the wondrous smells a dog could possibly imagine.  I was sure Rusty would be most excited about being able to run at full pace without his leash. Or maybe with meeting some new dog friends.  Nope, not our dog.  He was beside himself with joy over the hundreds and thousands of new smells.  I thought for a minute he was going to go into shock!  We had to coax him into running around and meeting the other dogs.  Finally the smells got boring and he took advantage of the open space and ran and ran and played with some other pups, showing them who was boss.  I was especially impressed with how he held his ground with the large, dark brown Laboradoddle.  He took that alpha male stance, with is head up high, his tail and ears fully erect, with that, “Don’t mess with me” look in his eye.  And the Laboradoddle, who was easily ten times his size, ran away.  I got quite a chuckle out of that one. (And I was very proud too!)  Even John and I got into the fun of things and ran around a bit ourselves.  The sun was shining, all the dogs were happy as were all the humans.  What’s not to love about watching a bunch of dogs having a grand old time on a beautiful sunny afternoon?  So, we’ll probably be spending more time at the dog park.  It was good for all three of us.  Next time I’ll take my running shoes!