I guess that the word lifestyle implies a long term commitment. Oh well, in this instance it implies a short term commitment. Huh? I’m talking about now, the long days prior to the onset of the solstice, and about how with longer days, I get more done. Oww, I’m off to a shaky start on this dispatch – the best I can do is blunder on forward, hoping that I get on the track that I should be on.

I spent the better part of the day cleaning, upstairs, the kitchen addition, the shed tack room, the trailer tack room. I also packed, and prepared the horse supplements by putting them in individual containers. Pete took my computer with him to school so that he could post Raudi’s May agility video. So I decided to go for it and get the above done. Tomorrow I’ll finish up, by cleaning the goat pen and the outhouse. I’ll then call it good before heading off on the next leg of my big adventure, which will take place in Galt, CA.

I went for a walk, early, with Pete. We took Hrimmi and Tinni and Jenna and Ranger and Rover. I hadn’t gotten the goats out for some time. They seemed to enjoy themselves. I’m going to resume taking them out more

often because I enjoy their company and they enjoy getting out.

Pete resumed teaching today – this time, he has one summer class, that is public speaking. He got home at 6 p.m. and shortly thereafter we headed over to Beth’s for a Tuesday evening lesson. Meagan, one of the string bean riders, told both Pete and I that Beth was at a graduation, hence, there was no lesson. She added that I was welcome to ride in the arena. I went in with Raudi once the mare and her new foal were back in the barn.

Raudi now equates being in the arena with work – and it’s work that she seems to enjoy doing. There were two other (string bean) riders on the big horses. It was dusty and at times hard for me to see them. So I erred on the side of caution and kept Raudi out of harm’s way. There were overturned cavalettis and ground poles, and traffic cones here and there, so I first walked Raudi over said items, then rode her over them at a walk,, then rode her over them at a trot. All the while, she remained focused. There were also two plastic flower jumps in the arena- I first walked Raudi over each one. A few minutes later Pete said that he wanted to take a photo of us going over the jump – he said that the mountains would be a nice backdrop.

I obliged and aimed Raudi at the blue flower jump, at a trot. Upon coming closer, I loosened the reins, looked up, and squeezed my legs like the horse underneath me was a tube of toothpaste. Over the first jump she went, then over the second jump she went. I was of course disappointed that Beth wasn’t there on a night in which Raudi was clearly focused but oh well.

I know that Raudi will do just as well if not better the next time. This will be 11 days from now, when I get back from CA.

Next: 133. 5/20/15: Preliminaries