Barn and writing and coughing.

Had a bit of a trip out to the barn today, only about 4 hours but most of it was spent up in the heated viewing room with the lesson kid's parents. Lucas got a good brush again but no more riding. I'm hoping that tomorrow afternoon it will be dry enough that we can go up to the outdoor and do a little bit of riding outside.

The first show we can go to is May 13 (the entry forms came out today) And with a month and a half to go I'm seriously wondering how much showing we will get to do. It sucks that I'm having a hard time riding more than 15 min a week again after working so hard to ride well in January and February. I'm still coughing if I do too much more than walk, but its better than it was on Thursday. I seem to get better and think I'm on the mend, then back down to being sick and in bed again.

I am trying to work on my write up and I've been writing back and forth with my 'guide' and I was a little worried that my story was going to come off too horsey... So this was my original submission and her comments follow that:

""My hands have been my gateway back into the horse world I knew and loved before I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. My hands have guided myself and a horse to two Canadian National High Points, something I thought that after my diagnosis was impossible. My hands have taught horses to be more gentle, kids to be braver, and have taught me much about patience, and resilience. "

and while I'm here, may I just say how thrilled I am to be working with you. I am a frustrated horse nerd - one of my most favorite smells in the world is the scent of horse. You take me into a barn and I'm ecstatic. I used to take riding lessons when I was around 12 years old, but then my JRA went nuts and it was something I had to say goodbye to. 35+ years later, it is one of the only things I truly regret about the disability my RA gave me. Working with you is my opportunity to dive back into that world and I am very much looking forward to it!

We chose your story partly because you wrote it well and partly because of the horses. We believe showing you interacting with your horse(s) will be a powerful story/image and certainly a unique one. I have some general ideas about the staging of your photos that have lived in my brain since I first saw your submission, so if you want to bet some ideas around, that's part of my role in this process. Of course, it's your story and you're in the driver's seat, so it's up to you to decide when you want me to be involved.

have a great weekend!"

Back to the Microsoft word I go!