July 21st - 3:31pm

So I have to give some major props to Alice last night for making my day about a hundred times better. Got home from the farm and decided I was having chocolate cake for dinner because it'd just been that type of day. Which meant Id have to make a cake. Alice helped because I was sure I would mess it up despite only having to add 3 eggs and milk to the cake mix. And she only laughed for a little bit when I opted to bake the cake in the microwave. Much faster and it does actually work. Then we ate dinner and blasted music (Mika because Mika is awesome). Obviously a decent amount of singing, dancing and laughing went along with the music playing as well. Definitely a good end to a crummy day.
Today was much better though. It started with cake since there was a ton of batter left and Im not sure how long it will actually keep. Though I wasn't actually inconvienced by starting the day with cake for breakfast. And the morning went by really really fast. Got all the horses ridden by 1:00. Rode Buck through the grid and she was a rockstar. Then spent most of the morning warming up horses for Martin to ride with Mono or for him to school. Rodrigo is back able to ride as well so there aren't a ton to do when split 4 ways.
Quick lunch and now were on the way to look at more horses. Driving through the campo (the country side) and it reminds me a ton of home. Flat with big open agricultural fields on either side of the highway. Love getting out of the farm and out in the country. Feels good to just be out. Alice and I are of course goofing off in the back seat taking pictures and listening to each others ipods. We stopped at a gas station and bought diet coke for me and sprite for her then had to laugh about how excited we were for pop/soft drinks. Youd think we'd be sick of each other after almost 3 weeks of being together 24/7 but not at all. We're becoming really close friends and find something almost every day that we have in common. So glad that we get along so well. Makes life a ton easier. And its good to have a friend in this country who isn't a guy. Walter and Rodrigo are awesome but Alice is a girl and speaks english. Though Rodrigo and Walter are both working very hard on their english. A couple days ago I walked up on them arguing over which way was correct "I love you Alice" or "Alice I love you". They're just a tiny bit hilarious most days. Love them both. 

Photos of my cake and the country side.

July 18th - 10:05pm

Alice and I started the day trying to decide if it was going to be a day when you just had to laugh at everything or start crying. I think we both opted to laugh. As a result it was a pretty good day. Walter has been sick so we've been working with just Carlos and Oscar which makes the days so much slower. Still got all the horses done though. I rode Picaro, Cor Lit, Twilight, Virtoso, Mauro, Nixon, Buck, Nacar, Georgia and Jour. Everyone was very well behaved. Set up one cavaletti today and worked a lot of them over that. As usual it was work on going, woahing and turning. Depending on the horse, different things were difficult. I got off to a super slow morning for whatever reason so had four in the aftenoon instead of just three. Just barely got finished up. But all the horses got worked, the ring got drug, horses were cleaned, hay got moved and the walker was leveled. Pretty successful day.
After work Rodrigo came over to hang out since Id been saying Alice and I were bored. Rodrigo's fun to hang out with despite the langcuage barrier. And with my rapidly improving spanish and his english, we do pretty well. Mostly its just fun to have a someone else to talk to/be around. Alice and I get along super well but other people are still fun.
I think Martin is back tomorrow which will be good. Got to get all the horses, the working students and the barn back on track. 

Two photos of Alice and I studying and goofing off in the kitchen after hours. Plus one of Rodrigo and Walter (Walter wanted pictures with Rodrigos sun glasses).

July 17th - 8:16pm

Today's work day was interrupted with happy dances and screaming from Alice and I when the internet came back on. Incredibly exciting stuff. The guys were going back and forth between being totally freaked out and hysterically laughing at us. Well mostly me. I was very happy. Let my mom know I was alive super quick then figured Id have time to chat after work. Wrong. Right during dinner again the power went out. Again. Third night in a row. And Id just started thinking about how nice a hot shower would be. So no lights, no internet, no water and no heat. My shower was going outside and dumping water over my head in an attempt to get my hair clean. The water was in empty 2 liter bottles we'd saved for times like this and was cold. Outside is barely above freezing. Not sure which was colder. Feel somewhat cleaner now. That was my reminder to appreciate the small things. I might want internet but I actually really like/want/need power. Last night the power was out until 7:00am. Hoping it comes on in time for work in the morning or we are in for a long, long day.
Speaking of long days, I rode Picaro, Mauro, Virtoso, Luli, Nixon, Nacar, Georgia, Buck, Jour and Cor Lit. They were all very good. I keep trying to use this time with Martin away to work on my little issues and so far it seems to be working. My left hand still turns over if I relax/dont think about it. My one heel comes up less though. Mostly though, Im being more definite in my riding. Creating little exercises for each horse I ride and sticking to them. Trot here, walk there, turn, halt, canter away. Testing both the horses and myself. Really hoping Martin sees improvement but likely Im doing a bunch wrong without him on me without even realizing it. Was a good day in the saddle though. Busy but good. Looking like tomorrow will be a repeat of today! Fingers crossed we have power (and maybe even internet!) in the morning! 

July 20th - 4:14pm

Woke up in a bit of an iffy mood this morning. Kind of tired, kind of grumpy and very homesick. Not entirely sure what caused it and couldn't quite shake it durning the morning rides. Couldn't get in the groove with any of the horses I got on. Was just loose, weak and distracted. Martin got on almost all the horses this morning so for the most part we just warmed them up and handed them off. Which was still almost more than I could deal with.  Had a lesson on Twilight and I honestly couldn't tell someone what was said to me during the lesson. Alice said I was making the corrections but I have no what Martin even said to me. From how I felt and how much we zig-zagged between the standards Im not sure I want to know what was said either. Not a fun morning.
We quit for lunch and the break helped me get my head on a little straighter. Which was good because we had another lesson on Jour and Lion. I had Jour and we actually got through the gymnastic lesson pretty well. Jour isn't always the easiest to jump but Im figuring him out pretty well. And Martin only had a few minor critiques which made me pretty happy. Still feeling kind of funky/homesick but that ride helped a lot. Headed out to Haras Sigla now to look at some young horses for a client and then hopefully to somewhere with internet. I cant wait till be just have internet back at home.  

July 19th - 10:13pm

Two nights up till 10:00 and I about fell asleep at Martins dinner table. I am pathetic teenager. But living my dream so cant complain. Martin got back this afternoon so we'll be spending the next two days getting back on track before we have Sunday off. Its been fun making my own schedule but I am definitely ready for Martin to be back incharge. Trying to think of everything that needs to be happening and trying to make sure it happens is difficult. Being in a barn I just barely know makes it more difficult. The lack of ability to communicate with the guys makes it incredibly difficult. All together I just happy we made it to today with all the horses alive, in work and the barn intact.
Rode Buck, Luli, Mauro, Picaro, Cor Lit, Jour, Georgia and Nacar today. Worked with some cavaletti and on turning with my legs with most of them. Still working out the transition from steering with my hands to directing with my legs. If I think about it, have a decently easy turn and have time to prepare I can do a very nice turn off my legs. Rushed, going off of pure reaction or tight turn and I resort back to pulling their heads about with my hands. Definitely needs improvement. Speaking of hands though I am praying all the thought Ive put toward keeping my left had up will be noticable. Finding where it needs to be is hard (of course) because everything outside my usual feels weird. And it will for awhile still. Until some point when turned over feels incorrect.
Anyway headed straight to bed because I am tired. And I know Martin is going to kick my butt tomorrow in the saddle. Can feel it coming. Least Ill be on fewer horses when he does it!

July 14th - 8:14pm

Another day spent in the saddle! Rode Buck, Cor Lit, Mauro, Skyline, Virtroso, Picaro, Nacar, Nixon, Luli and Pastrocito. I think Ive crossed the line on being addicted to riding. Tomorrow is my one day to do something not horse related and I still just want to ride. Am excited to sleep in though. All the horses were great today on their last day of the work week and hopefully they will be good Monday when we pull them out again. Alice and I worked up some dinner, grabbed our pets and headed to an early bed after a long week. Alice has befriended one of the barn cats and is quickly converting him to house cat. Chester is very happy with the switch. And with Rachel gone, Ive taken over being Violeta's mom. Totally spoiling her as well. Shes passsd out on my bed next to me as I write this. So cute.
Anyway its been a pretty non exciting day all things considering. Just a bunch of riding and working. Love life here.

July 16th - 9:08pm

And we are without power tonight. Again. This is starting to become way too much of a routine. Besides this though today was a pretty good day. The horses were all good in their first day back to work. I rode Picaro, Nacar, Virtoso, Cor Lit, Luli, Nixon, Twilight, Buck and Jour. Virtroso was amazing as usual and Luli was awesome as well. I love riding Luli now days because it shows me how far Ive come in my riding already. When I first got here I couldnt get much of anything out of her at the trot and for the most part didn't bother trying to canter her because we'd fall apart after a few strides. Shes light on her feet, sensitive and smart so you have to give her a quiet straight forward ride to get her to go the best. Now I can get her to stretch at the trot and canter around the ring without falling apart into the trot. Super proud of my self! And the other horses were good too.
After riding was treatments, getting the barn finished up and starting teaching the foals how to use the hot walker. Usually Martin has sent the foals to Baral by now to live until they are 3 but Baral doesnt have enough grass so they cant go there. So were stuck with them some more. While Martin is gone he wanted them to start learning how to use the walker so at least they can get some exercise. It was hilarious. Its a 6 horse walker so we started with 3 foals with an empty slot between each of them. After the first two minutes all three foals were in one slot. Eventually the last foal got smart and ended up in his own slot. By the time we pulled them off he'd figured out the deal. Walk when the panels move, stop when they dont. The two in the slot together though were still totally confused though. We'll do the same with three more tomorrow. Hopefully theyll all kind of know the drill by the time Martin is back!
After Alice and I made pizza for dinner which was suprisingly good. I suck at cooking but I can make a decent pizza (esp when the crust is precooked!) Lost power half way through eating like yesterday. At this point Im so use to loosing power I didnt even flinch when everything suddenly went black. Thats living in a third world country though. It will probably come on around midnight like it did yesterday and scare the bejezus out of me again when all the lights suddenly turn on.
Walking back to the house we did come across a not so pleasant suprise however. Nacar had gotten himself cast. He was very calm about it but was pretty decently stuck. Of all the horses in the barn that could have gotten cast, Im glad it was him. Hes quite possibly the quietest horse Ive ever worked around despite being a 2.5 year old stallion. We affectionally call him iPony because he's small, easy, white and rechargable. He's like a little wind up toy. Kick and he goes for a bit then starts winding down. Never gets quick or stupid. Just kick and go. Totally unflappable from what Ive seen. Was able to calmly loop a rope around his front fetlock and with Alice's help we got him we got him back on the right side. And he calmly stood up, shook off and went right to looking for hay scraps. Love that pony. Another busy day tomorrow with a bunch to ride (including iPony!). Cant wait!!