Mustang Saga

Today I took a walk with my good horse for half an hour. He was so mellow, kind of not himself. I hope he's feeling okay. Or maybe he heard me saying how proud I was of Scout's bravery. :) His tendon still appears to be fine, and since he's been in the pasture and able to move around the EPSM isn't as noticeable. I need to start working him a little every day now. I'm not sure how I'll find the time.

Scout had the day off because I just couldn't take enough time for two horses today. He and his mama did get in a couple good gallops following me and Tonka as we walked around their pasture. It's fun to watch them feeling good and moving out, and I love the sound of thundering hooves.

I looked at a boxer puppy today. I thought she was the bees knees but Huck wasn't so sure. I think they would have been good buddies off leash. Huck tends to think he needs to protect me or claim me when he's on the leash. But we decided we can't spend that much on a pup right now, so I tonight I told them I can't take her. I've been thinking a lot about the boxer my grandma and grandpa had while I was growing up. She was such a sweetheart and quite the (large) lap dog. She loved the whole family but my grandpa was her favorite. They'd sit in his big recliner and watch westerns together.

Tonight was "curriculum night" for my son's class. It was really neat. He goes to an Expeditionary Learning school and they put so much thought into how they teach. It's very interactive. The kids are very involved in what they learn, and have to really think about it. They can't just memorize facts. They ask hard questions and collaborate to find the answers. Tonight the teacher had the parents break into groups and learn about an aspect of Expeditionary Learning, make a poster about it, and teach the rest of the "class" of parents about what they learned. I had to speak in front of a group! Ack! But I lived through it, and I didn't even make a fool of myself. I'm so proud of me. The school is so good at teaching kids courage, and I got a dose if their teaching today too. :)

While I was listening to how they do their routine for math, I was struck by how it's the same as working with horses. They start on a familiar problem, something they already know. Then they work on new stuff, really digging into why and how it's done, and different ways of looking at it. Eventually they go back and reflect on what they learned, and then they start over in the same way the next day, building on the foundation they started the day before. I have often thought it would be utterly fascinating to get a group of child educators, horse trainers, and psychiatrists together for a meeting of the minds. Just to sit and listen to them would be an amazing learning experience, and very, very inspiring.

Tonight I had to turn my fog lights on to see the road right in front of me because of all the dust and smoke in the air. I like the saying, "Every time you eat you participate in agriculture." Right now though, I feel like every time I breathe I participate in crappy farming. I don't think there's any legitimate reason for this many farmers to be burning their stubble fields. Yes, I know sometimes it has to be done to kill a rust that's gotten into the crop, to keep it from spreading. I understand that sometimes it's the best way to control weeds. But to do it just because you're too lazy to till in your stubble? I can't believe they're allowed to affect the entire world with their smoke just for that. Of course if they till, there's the dust... Sometimes I think I'd like to live somewhere else. But then we don't have floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or destructive tornadoes. Just smog during harvest and snow in the winter. It's a good place. But my whole head is in pain right now. On a happier note - my ear noise is gone! Now it just hurts. It's nice to be able to hear relatively well again.