Time to de-stress

Do you ever feel like there's just not enough time to get everything done? I'm trying to simply my life by prioritizing , doing what's important and cutting out the crap. My work has really been stressing me out lately, seems like I don't have a spare moment anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful to have a job that allows me to have most Fridays off, pays well and affords me 4 weeks vacation a year..... but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just go to work for Target as an hourly employee - no decision making, no deadlines, no stress.........

So Saturday, a couple of friends and I joined a BIG benefit ride and had a wonderful stress free day riding our ponies, meeting new people and riding new trails. You can see more pictures and a narrative of that ride at my other blog First Coast Trail Blazers. You won't believe some of the trailers that I saw and the horses.... beautiful ones, fugly ones, fat ones, skinny ones, old ones, babies that shouldn't have been ridden....... you get the picture. With 160 riders you get to see everything.

Marilyn & Spirit

Traci on Tucker & Cathy on Busta

Sunday started off great - went to church and then lunch with my husband and mom. Dropped Mom off at Wal-Mart while Bobby and I headed home to meet our trimmer. We were trimming every 4 weeks, but this time we held off until 6 weeks and he was very pleased with how both girls did. He barely had to nip anything, mostly rasped and cleaned up their bars. That's good news, our diligent work has paid off and I think the venice turpentine has helped toughen up Stylin's soles. Bobby power washed the horse trailers and I slung poop and did some chores around the yard. At 4:00 my phone buzzed and when I looked at it, it said "W&O Party". OMG! I had forgotten all about a company get together that I couldn't miss and it was a good hours drive away! Thank goodness I put it in my phone calendar and set the reminder with enough time for me to get ready and drive out there. The dinner was actually good and I got to catch up with our national managers that I only get to see a couple times a year. So that's been my weekend..... how was yours?

Friday Beach Fun

Cathy played hooky from work and we loaded up the ponies and went to Mickler's Landing in Palm Valley/Ponte Vedra Beach.

We took our time... no agenda, no pressures, even packing some brewskis for after the ride. The day started out grey and overcast, but the sun came out and it got pretty hot while we were riding. We didn't manage to get the horses in the water, but we did get them comfortable riding right near the edge. Stylin and I did lots of turns towards the water to keep her thinking.

Because of the front, the surf was rougher than usual (the surfers were diggin' it) and it was crashing kind of hard. Our horses performed some lovely side passes a la Merlin the Bullfighting horse. :-) The coquina sand was soft and Stylin and Busta hard to work a little harder than usual. At least we didn't have any crazy kites attacking us this time.

I think after a few more times we'll have them cruisig thru the surf with no problem like the rental horses we saw while we were there.

Here's the rest of the pictures I took........ PHOTO ALBUM

New Addition to the Family

Zambito Oaks has a new family member..... Scamper the kitten. (name subject to change :) I've been thinking about a new kitten since one of the barn cats came up missing about 5 months ago, but I really wanted an inside cat. Last week, a friend at work came to me with a sad story about a little kitten that had been found in someone's pool skimmer. I came home, asked my husband what he thought and then decided to go ahead and get the kitten. Well.... he turned out to be an adorable Siamese cross and when I took him to the vet this weekend, he was pronounced a healthy 13 week kitten. The vet gave him a shot, some drops in his nose and eyes and said as soon as he gets his permanent teeth we can get his rabies shot and get him neutered. The dogs have adjusted to him and I'm sure will succumb to his playful nature soon.

I participated in a Poker Ride at Princess Place Preserve on Saturday and we couldn't have ordered up a nicer day. The group that was hosting the ride did an awesome job of keeping everything organized. There were 70 riders and no accidents! You can see more pics of the ride HERE. The pic above is Cathy on my horse Dixie and Michelle on Cathy's horse Busta. Michelle has been tuning up Busta for Cathy and yes, adults can have fun too !!

Weekend Warriors

Stylin and I got out on the trails Friday and Saturday this weekend! On Friday we joined Marilyn on her mule Clyde at Bayard Conservation for a trail blazin', mud boggin', mosquito and yellow fly slappin' good time. She was ponying her Arab mare, Spirit to get her legged up at the same time. We really did have a fun 4 hour ride. I did discover that riding with a halter only can be VERY challenging when there are horses cantering way ahead of you and your pony wants to join them. :-) I said trot, she said canter, I said trot, she said canter..... of course it was much smoother when we were cantering at the front. Then when we were sloshing down one watery trail, Style thought it was a good idea to drop and cool off....I caught her while she was still sitting and got her to get back up before she rolled. We were too busy to take pictures....:-)

Saturday, we joined a group of friends at Sal Taylor Creek Preserve for a leisurely 2-1/2 hour ride. The bugs were almost non existant - hmmmm. Of course the trails were high and dry - makes a big difference. Michelle is helping work Cathy's horse Busta through a couple of issues - like diving for snacks along the trail, darting off the trail when cantering, going down in the water.....so we took a lot of pics of Busta being worked....(or should I say of Michelle being worked:) I put it to music ( I always sing this song to Busta) BUSTA CLIP . Cathy rode my other horse Dixie and had fun watching her horse being ridden. Here's some more pics that were taken during the ride..... PHOTOS BTW- as you may notice in the pics - we rode with a bit on Saturday even though it wasn't really necessary - no races going on... :)

Good, Bad, Worse

Good news is that Stylin's pretty much back to normal. Bad news is I tried to video myself, and the worse news is that I did in in bad pants and without a sports bra. I set my camera up on the side of my truck, but then neglected to stay where you could see me and I really need to learn how to edit and shorten the video. Live and learn, right?

Recon Mission

I had some good quality Mom time this weekend. Spent Friday taking my mom to the hair-do place...(where they actual roll, set , tease and spray), had some good ole sausage gravy and biscuits at the Country Cabin then made a trip to Wal-Mart. I hate the parking and the lines at Wally, but it's hard to justify spending so much more at our Publix store.

On Saturday Bobby's mom, sister and brother in law all came up for a visit and lunch. We had a great time; I brought my mom over to hang out as well.

Stylin has been gimpy since I rode her on Labor Day and I've been doing all the things you do when you can't find anything obvious.... checking her digital pulses and temp, (she foundered once almost 2 years ago) soaking, painting her soles with venice turpentine, giving her bute and keeping in contact with our vet. Well it's been two weeks and hasn't resolved, so Dr. Tammy is coming out tomorrow at lunch time for an exam. If it was an abcess, you'd think it would have worked it's way out by now.

Sunday, my sister went on a recon mission with me to Ocala to check out the camping situation at the Florida Horse Park and the various trailheads nearby on the Cross Florida Greenway. She brought Diet Coke and popcorn and kept me company on my quest. I've ridden the Landbridge Trail and beyond, but there are so many more trails out there including one called Shangri La. Two other friends and I have made reservations now to head down to the FHP for 3 days in October....I am so-o-o-o looking foward to the fall camping season! Here's where we'll park our trailers at FHP.

2008 Miracle Trail Ride - Nov 1st

Stylin and I are participating in the 2008 Miracle Trail Ride benefiting Children's Miracle Network on November 1st. I am required to collect pledges to participate in the Trail Ride and I would appreciate your help. Your support benefits Shands Children's Hospital at the University of Florida and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
If you are interested in my campaign please click below to see my personal page. Making a contribution online is secure and easy.

My Personal Donation Page