In which I fall....out of a plane....and other updates

I am so glad things are starting to slow down, hopefully in the next week I can actually breathe.  Memorial weekend was the (car) race and it went really well considering it was a brand new build.  We do endurance racing so it is not necessarily how fast you are going, but if you can go and not break down.  Both Saturday and Sunday had a 7 hour (nonstop) race, for a total of 14 hours over the weekend.  It went well!  Saturday we had rain and wet to contend with but we placed in the top third of competitors.  Sunday we were doing very well (top 20 out of 90!) until we had a suspension part break so we had to fix that and ended up just better than half of the field.  We then came home Monday and unpacked (omg all the things...) and rested.

On Tuesday I simply free lunged Mia because she had SO MUCH energy, despite being out on actual pasture.  I expected she would be a little more sedate with all of the extra walking around and having a non-broken pasture mate (Mia and App are currently in different fields) but apparently not!  Lots of head flinging, bucking and galloping was to be had lol.  Wednesday I rode for fitness, Mia is good and solid at 3 min canter sets so it is time to bump that up to 4 min sets.  Myself, I can do 3 minute sets while standing in my dressage saddle but I need to really start focusing on two point because I don't think I can hit the 4 minute mark right now.  Well, maybe....but certainly not the first try haha.

Thurs/Fri is Mia's standard days off.  Saturday I went skydiving (for the 2nd time) and was even able to convince 2 others to join me.  I am nothing if not a bad influence and a good time ha!!  Not only did I skydive....OMG I was the COPILOT on the way up!!!!!!!!   I am not sure I can adequately convey my joy in this, I love to fly.  LOVE to fly.  The only thing stopping me from getting my pilot's license is the fact that I don't need a third, very expensive hobby.  I have loved to fly since I was a little girl and this was a wish came true.  It was so cool chatting with the pilot as we went up, listening to ground control and feeling the plane move around as he brought us up to 14,000 ft.  Dream came true people, dream came true.  When I am finally broken enough that I can't drive race cars or ride horses, I am totally getting my pilot license and a little plane to cruise around in.

Just hanging out, letting gravity do it's thing

 I enjoyed skydiving and will certainly do it again.  I liked my first experience better though, the instructor I had this time was a little off putting and I was simply tense on the trip down.  In an experience like that, the employee really does make or break the experience!  The freefall is probably my favorite part, with the twirling in the sky my next favorite. I am such an adrenaline junkie :)

Why yes, I do like jumping out of perfectly good airplanes!

Sunday I worked with SO and we blew apart my trailer for maintenance.  It is getting a new breakaway brake battery (mine stopped working, this one has a trickle charger on it), new brakes, new hubs, new door locks, powerwashed and a scrape/paint on the few pieces of steel frame underneath.  Unfortunately, the company that I ordered the parts from only sent one set of brakes, not two, so we didn't get the trailer done.  And then it rained for 3/4 of the day.  We have one axle left to put together, powerwash the trailer and then paint the few pieces of steel and it will be all done.

Finally, the saddle fitter came back out last night for the initial adjustment of my County saddle.  I have been trying to get her out since November, but she ended up in FL before she came back out for the adjustment and so I have had to wait for her to return.  At least she came back out!  She actually did a lot of adjustment, put more padding in the withers to raise the front up (my biggest complaint was that it sat way too low in the front), did a lot of adjustment to the left rear panel and smoothed out some of the right panel.  Wow, it fits so much better!  She said she suspects Mia had an injury to her right hind at one point in her life, she puts a lot more weight on her left hind and steps to her midline with her left but not her right.  She likely had an injury, walked this way to compensate and it simply became a habit.  Similar to how we walk funny after surgery/injury except we go to Physical Therapy to help us remember to walk properly again, only horses don't usually get that part.  As a result, it is likely why Mia's right shoulder is more developed and is also why the left side of the saddle moved more than the right.  All is adjusted now so we will see how it goes.

This week and next week is quiet, like really quiet with not a single thing written on my calendar!  I am excited to get back to riding.  We have our next show on the 25th and I want to be ready!