Family Visit From Austria

I´m working my 9th day now, one more shift left tomorrow and then I´m finally off for two days. I sure can feel how tired I´m now from working all those extra shifts. One more week left next week and then the new nurses are going to start and I´m going back to my regular schedule.
On Monday I´m going to start my "new" work. It´s still in the same Hospice, the only change is that I´m going to have my own section with 8 patients and top of that the responsibility for the rest of the house speak another 32 patients.
I´m also going to have a new schedule - work 2 days, 2 days off, work 5 days and 5 days off. Those 5 days off are very appreciated and needed. Even if I try to deny it but it sure effects you somehow if you work with patients who are dying and that´s what they do. That´s why they come here.
Speaking about something else. My mum, my nephew Patrick and his gf are coming to visit from Austria this weekend. Isabelle the lovely girl in the picture is Patrick´s gf and lucky for me she is an equestrian as well. Good excuse to spend the weekend in the stable ;). I don´t know if Isabelle knows anything about Parelli but after this weekend she sure will ;).
Anita is so kind to lend us Orkan on Saturday so Isabelle can ride.
Milva is fine btw. Enjoying her 2 hours of grazing time with me every day. I´ll try to start playing with her this weekend though and hopefully can continue with it next week as well.

Thursday

2 hours play before work
1 x lay down exactly next to me, immediatly when I asked her on a spot I chose :).
Circling on the 45´rope, nice circles in trot, walk, stop, trot transitions and change of direction.

BUSY

I found that little fellow underneath the bathtub, too darn cute!
Milva laid down in front of another person she didn´t know for the first time - the person who was watching was holding her own horse which is also a first for Milva - laying down in front of another horse and a horse she doesn´t know. Also she is mostly laying down right next to me now instead of walking around first.
Playing lots on the 45 foot line with level 3 - 4 tasks.
Have to work 10 days in a row now and don´t know yet how much time I have to update.

Sunday

Rain, rain and more rain.
Busy at work and therefor not much time to play. Don´t think Milva minds though.

It´s Not Raining It´s Pouring

When I came to the stable on thursday Milva stood outside in the pouring rain and shivered. I have never seen her like that before and got real worried. Her whole body was shaking, her head was up and her eyes looked worried and scared. I rubbed her try with towels and put a fleece blanket on her and let her eat outside. It was the first time she had a blanked on for a longer time and of course she bucked it off in the beginning. I didn´t close it cause Milva gets easily claustrophobic when wearing a blanket.
Shawn checked her in the afternoon and she seemed to be ok again, and Pat and Anita checked her in the evening and she was still fine. Same today.

Milvaroni

Tuesday Play

4 hours of play in the sunshine

Come Ride With Me by Dave Stamey

Monday Play

2 hours in the morning
3 hours in the evening
In the morning we got rained on and because I didn´t wear the right clothes and had my phone on me I had to quit playing. We still played while it drizzled but then the sky opened and it poured down on us. Milva thought it was a brilliant idea to just stand there and turn her back against the rain. I didn´t agree with her though and I literally had to push her sideways all the way up to the stable. Porcupine extreme I would call it. As soon as I stopped pushing her she would turn her back against the rain again and just stand there. I tried to lead her as well but that didn´t work either. We must have looked pretty funny.
We had really lovely weather this evening though so I took a second trip to the stable and played some more.
I asked her to lay down once this morning which was the best one so far cause she did it right next to me and I only had to bend over slightly and she laid down and waited.
I asked her two times more this evening. The first time it took a bit longer and she started to wander off again and laid down with her back to me, the second time was ok though. But hi, I shouldn´t be to particular yet I guess. We are only doing it for a month now and perfection does take some time.
I also asked her to spin at liberty with the rope on her back. We didn´t do that for a while and I could see in her face how she was thinking in the beginning. Too darn cute!
Backing up from z 5 - standing 3 m behind her also took a bit longer in the beginning but then she started to put some real effort in it again.
Squeeze game over a little jump in trot. I would love to have a little jump in the audition but Milva really is not a jumping horse. Well, she never refuses to go over it but she doesn´t put much effort in it either. It sure looks like she is dressaging over it. Elegantly raising her little hooves and giving me a look afterwards. But we have this super fun - well, I think it looks like fun, blue and yellow gate jump which isn´t so high and has no poles on the side, just a gate so to speak which would be perfect for the audition cause the rope cannot get tangled in it. Oh Milva...
More circling game, which was really good. 15 circled to the left and to the right in trot. Played with the circling game a few times with grazing breaks in between. Asked her to canter once which ended with her being airborne again. I didn´t ask her a second time cause I just had the 22´rope with me and it´s easier for to canter on the 45´rope - so tomorrow maybe.

Saturday Morning Play

3 hours of play with different obstacles and a very short circling game

Early Morning Play

pictures are taken by Anita
Early morning at the stable today. We played with different variations of the circling game. Coming to think about it, Milva is really totally awesome! She always tries to please me and does everything I ask her for without hesitating. Like yesterday I asked her to go sideways over a L-shape formed obstacle and she just does it and is really thinking about how to solve the puzzle. Super smart pony!

Thursday Play

Milva The Dragon

pictures from Anita´s photosession

And Canter :))

Pictures are taken yesterday by lovely Auntie Anita. Milva offered canter a few times and one time she made a dragon face to her auntie Anita. It looked to funny!
Cantering is coming along. I decided not to ask her for it but wait until she offers it, which she does after a while. Milva still doesn´t have enough balance though to keep the canter up a whole circle and when she gets out of balance she gets angry and makes all kind of faces or little bucks. We will get there though. Circling in trot is going really well though, nice slack in the line and she keeps up her pace and rythm.

Love!

Anita took this lovely picture today. I asked Milva to lay down at the sandplace first and she did it but then later on there was too much going on and too many horses around so she was getting a bit unconfident. I asked her to lay down in the ridingarena instead and she did it promptly. Totally love my little pony!

Evening In The Stable

Playing with level 3 tasks
sideways over a pole from z5 :)

Trimming & Walk

4 hours in the stable
Helene came to trim Milva´s hooves. Unfortunately it was the last time for a while cause H. is pregnant. H. recommended another farrier though which I will give a call soon. Not much else to report today.

Another Foal Was Born

I have to admit that I´m a bit late though, cause the little foal is not so little anymore. "Lillan" is a couple of weeks old now and enjoying life. She is a real cutie!
Milva and I are doing fine, didn´t get much done though this week cause it was once more crazy at work again. I did get promoted though at work this week which kind of amused me but that´s another story.
This morning I delivered some Icelandic pony sperms to Denmark which was another thing that really amused me all day yesterday and today. Barbara asked me for help cause a client of her ordered sperms from Sweden to inseminate two of her Icelandic mares but the shipping from Sweden to Denmark alone was 2000 dk. Craziness! So I offerd to pick up the sperms at the closest stallion station which is just 7km from our home and delivered them to the owner of the mare in Denmark. I sure made someone happy today. She said that she is totally speechless that someone who doesn´t know her would do that for her and she gave me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers :). Fingers crossed that the two ladies get pregnant now!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

English, Pagan and in Canada!: Happy Canada Day!

English, Pagan and in Canada!: Happy Canada Day!

Hot Hot Hot

+27 when I played with Milva today - 4 hours
Playing with different level 3 tasks, asked her to lay down twice - which she promptly did with a happy face, she also laid down behind my back once in the circling game and waited there in a sitting position, too darn cute!
10 circles in trot both leads with me standing in neutral :)))
Better update comes tomorrow cause now I´m gonna watch the first episode of the new season of True Blood.

Glad Midsommar! Happy Midsummer!

Today is Midsommar in Sweden, which is a big celebration. Almost bigger than Christmas. Friends and family get together and eat pickled herrings with new potatoes and play games and get drunk - most of them anyway.
Shawn and I were invited to friends place as every year - together with 40 other people. Phew, lots of people for an lbi.
I played with Milva 3 hours today. I started to play in the big field and finished in the ridinghouse. Mostly playing with different versions of the circling game and sideways game. She offered once more some canter strides. We are getting there :).
Asked her to lay down once which she happily did.

All Good So Far!

The hoof seems to last and not bothering her at all. Spending 1,5 hours of grazing time with Milva today and hopefully I can start playing with her again tomorrow.

Sleeping Beauties

Milva´s hoof seems to be ok so far. No sign of lameness so far.

Oh No!

Exactly a week ago when MIlva had one of her little moments playing the circling game online, she jumped on one of those iron crosses that holds up a jump. Besides a bleeding wound she also got a crack in the hoof and today a part of the hoof fell of. It looks pretty deep but she doesn´t show any kind of lameness, is not warm, has no temperature, is eating normally and uses all four legs as usual.
Helene is coming in two weeks to trim her hooves - if I don´t call her earlier.
After looking at Milva´s hoof at least hundred and thirteen times she got pretty tired of me so I took her grazing for 2 hours instead.
I´m going there first thing in the morning tomorrow to see how she is doing. Sunrise is at 4.21 ;).