Well I rode Sky again. I had to wait for my trainer ( she was out of town for a few hours and was late because of it) so I did a full out every step of the way grooming, including brushing every single tangle out of his tail. Now his tail is all flowing and beautiful. This made me happy.

However because of the cold, he was pretty fisety. When I was lunging him, a dog ran by on the property across the way and he decided that was his excuse to run wildly about and act liek the dog would eat him. When I told him to "ho" he dug his heels into a screeching stop and then trotted up to me, nuging me with his nose like he was asking for reassurance. I laughed, scratched his forhead and neck, and once he was calm sent him on his way.

So once he had been lunged, I mounted up and off to work we went. He was not piticularly focused on me ( it was windy), but when I became firm with him, he behaved better. We didn't ride for long because I am sick with a sore throat and I wasn't completely up to par, but what we did was good. Granted my throat is all swollen and scratchy and it hurts to swallow sometimes because I rode in the cold and the cold air irritated my throat, but I'll get over it.

I am on a strict assignment from y trainer to stay in bed nice and warm with soothing teas and get better. And I had better be better by tommarrow and "trust me, I'll know if you are still sick."

In the mean time,she wants e better by tommarow because I am spending the night at her house and having a full two day training regiment, the first part of which is to spend a few hours in the arena with Sky. I am to release him, then sit in the middle of the arena with a book and let him choose to come to me.

Still, slightly nurvous about spending the night because her house ( and barn) are pretty heavily spirit-active ( I hate using the word "haunted"). The land has alot of history so there are a good number of spirits there. The barn has children that flit in and out that I have seen. A woman that sings in the hills and plays the piano in the house. Indians that once lived on the land ( the gate seperates her property from indian reservation. We know it's indians because of their dialect when we hear them talking when it's quiet). The house has a roof walker and a whistler and a hall walker and a door oepn-and-closer, and a kid that likes to move slippers.

Oh, and the barn hand. My stalls were mysteriously neatened up on day. We got there at 7 in the morning to clean stalls, only to find all the manure very neatly and perfectly square pushed to the sides of the stalls. There were no rake marks, no foot prints, and no hoof prits, which meant Duke and Pepsi had not moved yet since it had been done. They also had not pooed since it was done. this means it had to have been done in the early hours of the morning ( like 5ish). I asked everyone in the barn ( there's not alot of us), including the kid that cleans out stalls for pay. Nope. no one had cleaned them. So now I say thankyou to the barn hand evrynight on the wind in hopes he'll do it again!

Yes so now that you all think I'm nutso.. this is Katie, galloping off.