Vicarious Cowgirl

 

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!  For years now I’ve been following a wonderful blog called “Mugwump Chronicles”.   The lady who writes this, Janet Huntington, is an absolute wealth of good information, and a master of the riveting cliff-hanger story.  Over the years she’s shared tales of some of her trials and tribulations as a “horseaii” struggling to balance her instincts with the desire to be professionally successful at training Reined Cow Horses, as well as bringing us along for the ride with her as she has brought some incredibly difficult horses from pretty well unmanageable to useful treasures.

  Annnyway, she and her trainer, Tim Unzicker of Unzicker Cow Horses have decided to take pity on us rabid fans and hold a  clinic this summer at Tim’s ranch in Montana!   They promise a weekend full of horsemanship, cattle work and trail rides, as well as story-telling, great company and perhaps the odd libation.  (Apparently Corona Light is the beverage of choice, but I’ll bet I can find someone who will enjoy a little Tequila with me!)  It’s open to those who would bring their own horses and want to learn about Reined Cow Horse, and there were a few openings for those who would come horse-less, renting a cow horse from Tim.  Unfortunately for me, those spaces sold out before I even knew about it.  However, there are five openings for “looky loos” to audit the clinic and I got accepted for one of those!  That’s almost as good as getting one of the riding and renting slots, and maybe I’ll make it into one of those next time. 

I am so excited I don’t know whether to go exercise or get my horse out first!  Because I am not going to this fat.  Not. Going. Fat.  That is a promise to you and to myself.  Because I take promises very seriously and never make one I don’t intend to keep, come hell or high water.  Back the first of December I started walking two to three times every week with a girlfriend around the lake at the local park.  It’s only 2.2 miles around, but as she says, just moving is better than not moving.  The last two weeks we’ve upped it to twice around, making a respectable 4.4 mile hike.  And our speed is improving, too.,  But this clinic changes everything.  I will now be walking the park every day that I am not staying at peoples’ houses for pet sitting.  And while I have been fairly seriously trying to eat more healthily (and less) for some months, I believe those guilty desserts are a thing of the past, at least until this clinic.  The clinic gives me a real impetus (like my own health should have!). 

Here’s the address for the clinic information:

http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2013/02/come-ride-with-me.html?m=1