Janurary 9th - 10:38pm

<p>Really great day today. Rode Cor Lit on the flat followed by Montana and Oregon. Got to canter over some poles with Oregon for the first time. He was really good and had a lot of fun on him. Definitely going to be a nice horse. I brought Quariell out for Martin and longed him for a few minutes while Martin was busy with something else. Then was told to get on. My first time riding him and probably one of the greenest horses I have ever sat on. But he was well behaved, did what I asked and minded his manners. After him I did the same with Orly and ended up on him as well. That horse is so, so nice. Big, almost black stallion. Quiet, calm and nice to handle but responsive and balanced undersaddle. Definitely one of my favorites here at the farm right now. Just did a quite w/t/c ride with him but enjoyed every second of being on him.
Took a quick break for lunch then jumped onto the last group for a lesson. I was on Uxmal and Martin reviewed how to introduce new things/jumps to horses. By the end we were all doing a five stride line with a big right turn then a cavaletti to a liverpool. Uxmal wasn't too sure about the liverpool at first but by the time we were suppose to jump it, he was a rockstar and did just what he was suppose to. Good boy.
After I did a quick change then caught a ride with Martin to the bus stop. He was going with Gala to Baral to check on the foals out there and offered that if I wanted, I could go into town and get measured for tall boots at Waltons. I jumped at the chance. So borrowed Camila's sube card and off I went. While I was in town I also wanted to get my own Sube card which I actually accomplished. Once I found the right place, it was super easy. Then a quick stop at the Subway to put money on the card. So excited to finally have my own! Can go on the bus without freaking out over coins! After that was accomplished, I took a taxi to Waltons where I picked out what I wanted my boots to look like and got measured! Hoping they turn out well and looking forward to seeing them! Finger's crossed they fit!! Walked down to Santa Fe after and took the subway to Plaza Italia. Then caught the bus back to Moreno without any trouble. I have to laugh when I remember how daunting each thing use to be (bus, taxi, subway) and this afternoon I used all three without flinching. Definitely learned a thing or two while living here!

Janurary 8th - 11:11pm

Good day at the farm. Long and hot but not insanely busy. Started off the morning with a lesson on Puccini through the grid we have set up. Its three one strides in a row. Verticals or crossrails in the middle and an oxer going out. Puccini was quite good and I worked on my flailing elbows. I have always loved poking my elbows out to the sides and it has been the bane of Martin's exhistence for awhile now. Went through trying to get my elbows to touch and suceeded in getting them at least to my sides. Not sure how Martin managed to get his to touch because I'm not sure I can do it even off a horse without contorting myself some strange way. Did struggle a bit with holding onto my reins, however. Cut my middle finger open with scissors yesterday and the bandage I had on it started falling off so just pulled it off. Which promptly made holding the reins quite painful. Figured out a new tape wrap after that though and no problems the rest of the day. After Puccini were flat rides on Cor Lit, Montana, Boss and Oregon. All of them were pretty decent. Though I managed to get a face full of the tree with thorns on Montana. Thanks buddy. Just did the usual, up/down transitions X100 with them all.
The afternoon held back to back lessons on Nacar and Uxmal. Nacar was, of course, a little rockstar. The only thing that ever stops him is my bad riding at time. But for whatever reason, I just feel really comfortable on him. We had a six stride line set up with poles and we nailed it pretty much every time. Something I had not been able to do with Cor Lit earlier this morning. With Puccini and Uxmal (after Nacar) Id get it most of the time but with white pony, it was pretty much every time. A great feeling for sure. Uxmal was my last ride of the day and was really good as well. Took him through the grid like Puccini and got a few critiques/changes to make that I was able to do. Ended with a go through that felt great and even earned us a "very good". Super psyched. So all in all, a good productive day.

Janurary 7th - 11:38pm

<p>Another far too late night. This time spent playing chess. Will regret it at 6:30 but for now, quite content with my lot in life. <br>
Rode Cor Lit, Montana and Boss this morning. All three were good despite having two days off. Just did flat hacks with all three. Nothing major. Just more practice on riding off the inside leg to outside hand and back to front. Can never get too much work with that. Longed Nacar after those rides and then it was onto the free jump. From 11:00 or so until 3:00 we took out almost all the horses for the auction (plus a few extras) to get a quick photo shoot and free jump. Most jumped well and a few looked really fantastic. After was lunch and then helping the guys in the barn. Pretty average day all in all. I did manage, however, to end the day with a bang but getting my foot stepped on then slicing my finger open with scissors then slipping and falling. All within a twenty minute span. Not cool. After work, Gala, Camilla and I loaded up into Gala's car and headed to Carrefore to do some shopping! Mostly stuff for the house and things I have run out of (shampoo and the like). We grabbed dinner at the mall after and really just had a fun time. Definitely a good day.

Janurary 6th - 10:31pm

For whatever reason, Friday was just a terrible, terrible day. So skipped what would have been an incredibly depressing blog post and just went to bed. It ended up pouring all that night so ended up not riding on Saturday. Spent most of the day shortening manes and grooming horses. Just quiet, easy work that needed to be done. Left me with the ability to listen to music, chat with the girls and enjoy being around the horses. Then passed the afternoon hanging out at Rodrigo's house. We made dinner, watched TV and just enjoyed doing next to nothing. A very quiet day.
Today, however, was a bit more exciting. Rodrigo picked me up and we drove out ti Lujan to see the huge old church there. It was gorgeous. Very, very touristy which was a bummer but still very cool to see such a beautiful old place. Makes me want to visit the old cathedrals in Europe so badly! Heck, I think I would happily see just about anything in Europe. But a topic of conversation did make me check how much time I have left in Argentina. This year has FLOWN by. Only 111 days here and so much left to expierence here!

Janurary 3rd - 10:13pm

Busy day here at the farm. But the weather has been downright lovely this past week so no real complaints. Amazing how something you have zero effect on can play such a huge role on how to day feels. Super hot and humid? Miserable day. Breezy and cooler temperatures? Great day. So today was a pretty good day. With the weather and horses.
I was on Cor Lit, Montana, Uxmal, Kir Royal, Invasor and Jour. A bit of a flat lesson on Invasor and Kir Royal. Mostly on really riding back to front and into the outside aids. I think it's something everyone must struggle with at some point so trying not to get too frustrated but it is a definite challenge. It seems so easy and then it's not. Not even close. I'm sure once I learn how to ride that way it will become second nature. But for right now it is difficult and frustrating. After lunch, we took out Jour, Pastrocito and Holandesa to do a lesson. Ended up working over cavaletti which was quite fun. Longed some of the young horses to finish the day up afterward. So all in all a busy enough day but a good one. Rodrigo is starting back tomorrow to work so life at Rancho Pampa should fall back to normal a bit.

Janurary 2nd - 10:26pm

Strange weather last night/this morning to start the day. Was quite chilly for whatever reason. Warmed up fairly quickly but even I had a jacket on for a bit. Started off the day riding Justinian with more transitions. Followed by Cor Lit who was pretty good. Same thing as Justinian though. Up, down, up, down. Got on Puccini afterward and got some of the best work I have ever had with him. Took a bit to get there but finished up feeling round, through and powerful at the trot. Could take a quick skip and end up in just as nice of a canter too. Now just to work on improving that work and getting it right off from the start of the ride. Baby improvements to start though. After that, I took Uxmal, Oregon and Boss out to longe. They were pretty decent with only a bit of jumping around. Which, I feel, is mostly due to having yesterday off. Normally they're all very well behaved on the line.
A quick break for lunch and then we headed out to free jump most of the auction horses. Not sure how many we did but it took most of the afternoon. Ended up finishing in just enough time to come in and help the guys wrap up. While we were with the free jump, however, the newest addition to the Rancho Pampa working student house arrived! Her name is Gala and she'll be with us until mid Feburary I believe. Hoping she loves it here as much as I do! Camilla and I had to make a run to the store after work so we showed here how to get there and whatnot. Sadly the good store was closed so we had to go to the less good store but oh well, we'll live. Afterward, it was up to Rachel and Martin's house for dinner which, as always, was super fun. A great dinner (tacos!) with awesome people. Can't ask for more.

Janurary 1st - 10:02pm

Really quiet day here. As in I barely crawled out of bed quiet. Stayed up far to late talking to friends who were at their various celebrations. Slept in late and then spent a pretty great day doing next to nothing. I had hoped to get some quiet time in while I was away in the states but if anything I returned even more tired than when I left. It was nonstop holiday craziness from start to finish. So a good quiet day. Likely the last for quite awhile with the auction now looming so close! Less than 90 days away!