Lazy, Lazy Sunday

Is it wrong that I am super thrilled to have a no-horse Sunday? Well, not so much no-horse as nothing whatsoever. I didn't get dressed till one, and so far the one productive thing I've done is bathe the cat. Which was surprisingly drama-free aside from a couple "Why meeeee?" meows.

That's right...Beckett is back. For good.

Post-bath today on the heated blanket: Going...

Going...

Gone.

 The reason we were pet-sitting him originally was so that Byron's dad's fiancee could confirm whether or not she was allergic to him or if it was something else...and yup, it was him. Sad for her, but very very happy for Byron and me. He really is the perfect cat. His schedule matches up perfectly with ours--he sleeps the whole night, wants to play a little in the morning before work, then he's quiet and sleepy till about 6pm, when he turns back into a hyper kitty maniac and needs us to tire him out. Then around 10 he's ready to sleep again. And I don't know if it is brain damage from his 9-story fall or what, but you can cut this cat's nails, give him a bath, whatever, and then he loves you again in 30 minutes. Never seen that before. After the tantrum he had the first time I put his fake nails on, I fully expected to be shunned for 2-3 days.

Anyway, on to horse stuff.

Item 1: I have been second-guessing the whole buying a horse thing. Saving up for the cost of the horse isn't a problem, and I could handle routine monthly expenses if I did field board--but if something terrible and unexpected in the over-$1000 range happened to him, I couldn't handle that plus his regular expenses. And, you know, paying my student loans and feeding myself. Even though I really really want a horse of my own that I can attach to, I know that leasing is really the more responsible, financially comfortable option for me right now when I think of the worst-case scenario. And we all know that horses are suicidal. Ugh, being a grown up sucks.

So I'm thinking...keep saving as if I were going to buy a horse, but just let that money grow to become a horse fund/horse emergency fund for the future. Then I'll start looking for a lease come springtime. And figure out a way to keep working with my trainer without having to trailer in. The farm I'm at is close to a lot of boarding facilities and it's way in the boonies, so depending on where I found a lease, maybe even hacking to lessons could be an option if she didn't want to travel to me.

All of this is up in the air though, considering I haven't done anything about anything or talked to my trainer about it aside from a vague, "Hey, I want to get a horse in the next year or two."

Item 2: Now that I have more free time on the weekends, I'd like to devote more time to writing and blogging. So I have two ideas:

--Make my weekly own blog hop like Living a Dream has (had? She hasn't done one since November, looks like). I used to participate in those but kind of lost interest once she sold her horses and the blog hop questions weren't horse-themed anymore. So that's in the works. Hopefully some of my readers will join in the hop!

--Start writing for Horse Nation. My dream job would be if my Practical Horseman internship last spring (dang, I still need to write about that for you all!) had materialized into a full-time gig, but alas, with the state of magazine publishing, it wasn't to be. BUT that doesn't mean I shouldn't keep up my horsey writing (just in case, one day?).   I just need to come up with an idea for a column that I wouldn't run out of ideas to write about. And since "riding on the cheap" is a very loose focus at best for this blog, I don't know if I want to make that the focus of a column. Maybe just the adventures of a horse-crazed 20-something? Is that interesting? Or profiling horse jobs you could have? Not sure if that would be interesting for me. Maybe horse blog recommendations? Or useful weird tips? Prac used to have a short column about that, but it would definitely involve some research for me. But then again, what's a couple more hours on Chronicle of the Horse?

For now, I have an idea for my first submission, but in any case, I'm crowdsourcing it: does anyone out there have a better idea?

Blog hop: Play

Welcome to the Blog Hop. 

I hope you can join in the fun.

In case you are new... or as a reminder:

Each week I post at least one prompt.
Respond as you wish on your blog or in a comment.

Or, just link your blog to mine if you

care to share something else about yourself.

The part I like most is having blog hoppers

complete their blog posts (or comments) 
by asking a question of us.

I am really enjoying answering your questions,

and look forward to seeing other responses, too.

I think it's a great way to have a conversation of sorts!

Link your post to the Hobby Horse Blog Hop

by using the Linky Tool below.

Click where indicated, just after it says

"You are next...."

Or...

Leave a comment with your thoughts 
on my blog, down below.

Visit other participating blogs on the list

and respond to their questions in your comments on their pages.

Hobby Horse Blog Hop Prompts - Week 14:

1. Imagine that you are once again 8 years old. You have just received the best present, ever. (Ponies and pets are not included on the gift list!) What is it?

Ok, so based on the release date, I must have received this gift when I was 11 or 12, not 8, but I would say it was one of the coolest gifts I received as a child (besides my pet lovebirds of course). 

One of the first e-book readers ever. via the Buxton Collection (a cool site documenting revolutionary technological devices)

 I have always loved to read, so having a library of books only a dial-up connection away seemed completely amazing to me. I think one of the books I had on it was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. However, figuring out how to download and buy the books was rather complicated, the selection was limited, and the device had a big battery pack on the back that made it uncomfortable to hold while laying in bed, so I can see why this early model didn't catch on. In recent years, I received a Kindle as a gift, which is even more convenient, but I haven't totally abandoned good old paper books.

2. What kinds of toys do your animals enjoy playing with?

I don't have any pets right now, but until a few months ago, I had a Betta fish named Fausto. He was a well-educated fish who lasted almost all 4 years of my college career, and one summer (when I had way too much free time on my hands) I taught him tricks. Unfortunately the only video I took of him swimming through hoops has long since expired on the FlipCamera site, but I have witnesses and I swear it happened. Fausto was an Olympian.

Very distinctive coloring.

A note Fausto left for my roommate once.

3. I know you have seen some sort of recreational activity on TV, or in real life, that you would just love to try. What is it?

Foxhunting!!! I have dreamed about it since I read Rita Mae Brown's foxhunting murder mystery series (when I was 12 and probably too young for it, but whatever). 

via Rita Mae Brown's author page

The problem is the expense of joining a club and properly attiring myself. Oh yeah, and having a horse that is up to the challenge. And getting myself up to the challenge, though I'm sure I would begin with just capping for one day with the hilltoppers. So for now, this is a long-term goal that I am looking forward to.

 

My question:  What is your favorite game to play with your animals?

I thought of this because my boyfriend was joking that if he ever gets a cat, it's going to like me more than him because he was raised by his mother's bevy of cats and thus would be competition for the cat. He wants attention only when he wants attention, and as a kid he always played "tag" with his cats, AKA chasing them around the house and probably scaring the crap out of them. If you've ever had a couple cats that tear around the house at 3am for no apparent reason, you get the idea.

I used to have a Malamute/Husky mix (he was adorable, but I won't be able to retrieve my pictures of him till Tuesday) that I would make jump courses for on my lawn. I think for me, the most fun is training animals and I see that as a kind of game. My horse in high school was a champ at "Stay," and he would not budge even if I left his stall door wide open.