Horse Expo and Studies

Last weekend I went to the "Horse Experience" which was a horse expo, on a small scale. Was nice to get out and be in horse world for a while. There was an evening performance called "The Power of the Horse," with different exhibitors performing. My favorite was a dressage horse named Rolex who performed upper level movements with a pretty good rider.

The Dressage Rider and Rolex

My second favorite, just because it was so hilarious, was a guy dressed in a cave man outfit, riding a horse dressed in an elephant outfit! He did reining moves- loping, spinning, rollbacks. All the while, this long nose attached to the horse's nose was flailing around. The horse was a saint. couldn't tell if they guy was riding with flapping arms as part of the act, or not.

The Cave Man on his Elephant...

There was a guy who had a near perfect seat, riding a reining horse, who did various movements, then reached down and took his horse's bridle off, repeating the movements with just the reins low on the horse's neck, for cues. Now that I think about it, everyone I saw riding had a great seat. Don't ask about legs and hands...

The Reining Horse

The NAGS were a group of women who ride sidesaddle and give exhibitions. I thought the matched pair of appaloosa mules were cute, especially the spots on their legs.

The NAGS. Can you see the spots on the Appy Mule's legs?

The exhibition on vaulting made me want to go offer my services. Gah. I love vaulting. This was pretty poorly done, in my opinion. I just felt bad for the main horse, and the way several of the riders crashed down on his back. Maybe it was just the event, and they actually do much better at home.

Vaulting

Weather has been interesting here. In the 50's, temperature wise, with beautiful clear days. Like early summer, back home! And these strong winds, but they are a tad warm, so it isn't unpleasant to be out in them. Today, however, the sky is black, and is is actually raining!

Blue Skies and Sunny Days. Still no green, though.

With the nicer weather, I have been able to mess with the horses more. After a few sessions of "review" ground work, we got back to lunging, and I actually rode Ber for the first time since we moved. He was solid and confident under me. We just walked and trotted, with transitions and changing directions. Nothing big, just seeing how he was in the new arena. Can't wait to get on again!

The girls love going for walks. We have a walk routine, before I leave the house to go to school. They trot along, as if they own the world, smelling everything. There are several spots where grouse and pheasants like to hide, and the girls are starting to anticipate these places, looking for the birds.

School is going like gangbusters. I am really, really enjoying my studies and work. Things I learn in one class overlap with things from other classes and the research I'm working on for Scott. He keeps saying the purpose of this program is to get me to THINK. Well, I'm a thinking, real hard! My mind just doesn't seem to stop. One of the benefits of doing this program, full time, is the brain space I can dedicate. Without a head filled with kids, there's a lot more room in there!

I finished reading Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson, which I highly recommend. It tells the story of a man, and a cluster of people supporting him, building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan to educate girls. Just phenomenal. Also read I Won't Learn from You, by Herbert Kohl, and 36 Children, also by Herbert. I want to go work with Herbert, or at least go talk to him, someday. Lives in Point Arena. I am trying to find an email or mail address for him. Now I am reading The Challenge to Care in Schools by Nel Noddings, and A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne. This is on top of all my reading for my classes, and my research.

My reading buddies...

What I am trying to do is build up my knowledge base for my dissertation. I need to be well read in the area, before I start focusing my review of the literature and selecting the focus of my research for my dissertation. I figure I need to put in a year of background reading. Looks like I'll be able to create independent study courses in which I will read lots of books, selected with the help of my advising committee. I also want to do some internships in programs around here (like the Literacy Lab I found out about, last week) that work with children coming from poverty. Again, I can get credit for doing the internships. As part of the doctoral program, we need to do 17-20 units of a specialization (cognate), so the reading and internships would be part of those units.

Am also working on getting some of my credits from my MA degree to count for my doctorate work. You can carry over a maximum of 15 credits. That will help, as 66 total credits are required for the EdD. Granted, 9-12 of those credits are dissertation work, so it's not all coursework- just 54. To give an idea of how long it will take to do 54 credits, I am taking 11 this semester, which is a full load. I can only fit 6, or maybe 8 units in during the summer, so I'm looking at 28-30 per year between the fall, spring, and summer semesters.

I want to say, my work at Humboldt in the master's program really did prepare me for my work here. Need to get the word to my professors back home. I don't think my professors here expected me to come with so much research experience, writing ability, or confidence. Pretty cool.

Alright, don't want to bore everyone with details about school. If you want to know more, email me, or call me. I would love to talk about what I'm doing!