The trip to Vegas, presenting for the Nevada chapter of RID (NVRID) was an excellent trip - for a small chapter, they really had some powerhouse thinkers. The discussion was excellent and everyone was very flexible with the technology. As always, I feel like I walk away learning just as much as I teach - I truly believe that in our field, the more we share, the more everyone benefits. It was also fun because I was fortunate to have a few Minnesotans in the crowd (defintely did not expect that!) who could back me up when I mentioned the reality behind “Minnesota Nice” - it has a dark underbelly that people don’t know about.

Remember how I added the temperature as an afterthought? It shouldn’t have been. When we arrived at 1am Vegas time, it was 100 degrees. During the day it was a blistering 115 degrees. People always say “its a dry heat” as if that somehow makes it better. HA! Its like sitting under a hairdryer - the breath you expel actually feels COOL. Between that and the A/C inside, it was very dehydrating and I did not drink extra water until halfway through the presentation when I almost passed out. I felt bad, I make every effort to be a professional, but at least I didn’t go down. Lol.

I hope that the NVRID chapter still found the workshop useful and it would be a pleasure to present for them again in the future.

Tonight I fly out to Las Vegas, Nevada to present for NVRID. I will be presenting on June 21st from 9am to 12pm. They have been a fantastic chapter to work with so far, small but very well organized!

This presentation will be unique in a number of ways. The first of these will be that the presentation will be done through video conference, a first for me.  I am very excited to have the opportunity to use this medium for presenting. I fully expect that it will have its own challenges, but I believe the benefits of exploring new technology far outweigh any inconviences.  Not to mention that it has its own fun aspect of having packages delivered to remote sites that are not to be opened until the appropriate time in the presentation. That whole curiosity thing. [grin]

Secondly, this assignment will also be unique as it will be a small intimate group, less than 30 overall. I am really looking forward to the conversation, as when its a small group we can have a better opportunity to share stories and get deep into the process. (May pack extra reference books for local attendees to look at)

Last, but not least, the forecast says its going to be over 100 degrees. I am melting now just thinking about it. I have made the assumption that most places in Vegas have heard of central air, so I should survive. LOL But it adds the complication of how do I look professional and yet dress lightly enough to last in the walks outside? Maybe I am being a big baby about this, but it is something to keep in mind. The nights should be great, as they will be down to 70 degrees.

Now just keep your fingers crossed for a safe flight there and back!

American-Flex 18” Icelandic English saddle package, System 7 - $2000 or Best Offer

Free UPS Ground shipping to the continental US! 

Do you want your horse to have better range of movement?  Do you have a gaited horse or ride saddle seat? Do you like the feeling of riding bareback but need the security of a saddle? This is the saddle for you.

Made in Germany, this saddle is an amazing combination of old world quality with cutting edge technology. The American-Flex System 7 panels adjust to fit almost any horse – narrow or mutton withered, asymmetrical development, and best of all, changing musculature. Knowing your saddle can change with your horse from the beginning to the end of training is priceless piece of mind. And having a saddle that has panels that move independently and mold themselves to the horse’s back is the ultimate in weight dispersal, without sacrificing any communication.

This saddle comes with:

• removable blocking (trail and schooling),
• two girths (contoured soft touch leather 30” and Courbette Cord 32”),
• black leather soft touch breast collar
• Herm Sprenger Stirrups
• extra D-Rings sewn into the cantle (total of 5 rings)
• Merino Wool saddle pad
• pommel grab strap  
• fitted saddle cover
• As an added bonus, Forever New saddle pad wash will be included.

I am only selling this saddle because my husband lost his job – otherwise I would never let it go. The saddle is in excellent condition and has been lovingly cared for. This is a model that is no longer made, so it would be difficult to find another like it. Please contact me if you have questions or would like to see more pictures.

Descriptions of Additional items:

30” Contoured Leather Girth: Give your mount a soft touch with this soft-sided girth. These girths have no stretch and are pre-molded to a curve to fit around the horse; the girth is shaped wide at the sternum underneath and narrow at the horse’s elbows. Excellent on round-barreled or mutton-withered horses due to this feature of fitting like “little saddles” under the horse, holding a saddle more securely than any other girth. The contour behind the elbow is excellent for those horses that have a narrow girth area, a large tricep muscle or those that have tremendous extension, especially performance horses. Even “cinchy” horses love this girth. These girths are complicated to make, but they’re worth the extra effort. First leather skirting is backed with nylon webbing and wet-molded to a curve. Next, neoprene wet-suit foam is placed behind the webbing and folded over the edges of the leather and sewn in place, giving your mount soft sedges that will not dig in. Then the neoprene is covered with a thin layer of garment leather and sewn in place. The stainless buckles (1-inch roller for the English) and the dees are added so a breast strap and flank cinch can be attached. Finally, beautiful top grain leather (matching the saddle) is sewn on top just short of the finished soft edges. It’s the ultimate! ***Has seen some use, but is in great condition.

32” Courbette F100 Cord Girth: Non-slip 14 strand pliable and soft girth for a secure grip, prevents chafing. Stainless steel roller buckles and split ends on both sides. Washable up to 140° F. ***Has seen some use, but is in great condition.

Leather English Breast collar: Give your mount a soft-touch with soft-sided breast collar. These breast collars begin with an inner core of nylon webbing that makes this collar strong enough to pull a car. “The core is padded with soft neoprene foam, which gives the breast collar soft cushioned edges, that can’t cut into your horse. The bottom of the breast collar then is covered with supple moisture-resistant garment leather, that can’t become sweat-soaked, so this breast collar needs only a fraction of the maintenance required by other fine tack. The top of this breast collar is covered with top quality grain leather. Because of its construction this breast collar doesn’t cause the friction and galling when your horse gets sweaty and wet. A strap that goes over the neck is standard to help maintain the position, which classifies this as a Pulling Breast Collar allowing your horse the maximum freedom of movement. This breast collar goes English or Western. Many western riders use the English because it’s super strong, yet very conservative in overall appearance. The English collar is 1″ wide, soft and pliable, tough and carefree.  The arms are 18 inches.  Stainless steel snaps are provided at all ends for quick attachment to the saddle and the girth dee’s. ***Has seen some use, but is in great condition.

Forever New: Is a pure, organic and biodegradable fabric care wash, formulated to gently clean, brighten and promote longer life in all fine washables. It safely cleans lingerie, hosiery, swimwear, silks, and woolens, including saddle pads and saddle Sox. It is FANTASTIC on the merino lambs wool! The natural base of the citric and sodas, cleans then rinses completely from the fabric, leaving no soap residues to damage thread fibers. We have been testing various products for over a year and this product gets two thumbs up!!! ***Size is 32 oz, barely any used.

Throughout my childhood, my father had extensive gardens.

Some of my earliest and fondest memories where helping my dad in the garden at the ripe old age of three. I remember being almost as tan as he was - so much sun. That first garden was a huge plot of vegetables - the peas and watermelon are what come to mind. The dark brown sun-warmed earth crumbling through my little fingers. Watermelon juice running down my face and crunch of a fresh, sweet peapod off the vine. Laughing and running around the yard chasing butterflies with my long brown hair and cheeky smile. I am sure I wasn’t much help, but I loved being there.

However, life changed. My dad couldn’t figure out how to relate to his growing daughters. Gardening became a punishment or at best a chore. My sister and I lost our love of planting and moving with the rythym of the seasons. It became about fury, ripping weeds from the earth, shaking off the dirt and leaving a hole where something used to grow.  

As an adult, I joked that I had a black thumb and that I would kill any plant within 50 feet. I think it was really that I was trying to reject my father’s hobby, gardening, in return for my father rejecting me as a person. I longed for digging in the dirt but feared failure and the obsessiveness that I thought went with it. Would I too wither away for lack of sunlight?

Not likely. We are who we are, in spite of, and because of the people who touch our lives. Things must rot and crumble to give new growth a chance to thrive. So all the manure in life is really an opportunity to rebuild and restore. New shoots fighting their way out of the darkness. Flowers and produce to sustain other beings - when we grow we have something to offer others.

So this growing season I am making my own vegetable garden and reclaiming memories. The dark earth holds promise and I will enjoy every bite of vegetable and the beauty of every bloom.

I want to say thank you to everyone who helped meet, and EXCEED, the goal of donating to the River Valley Rider’s Ride-A-Thon. You Rock! I am humbled by your generosity and filled with gratitude, thank you very much!

Role Call of the Stars:

Paul Deeming

Jay “Rusty” Curry

Mary Murphy

Sharon Gerber

Mary Jo Guilmette

Susan Aguirre

Elizabeth Gatti

Nancy Bonanno

Jody Bymark-Boughton

Donnie Petersen

Ben Thome

Dawn Yexley

Mary Austin

Raven Flores

My good friend Donnie is trying to raise $2200 to fight breast cancer. He will be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk in september.  

Gotta love a man who loves women’s health!

Please go to his donation page, http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=1840706&pg=personal&fr_id=1191 and contribute if you can. You can set the size of your donation, and as always, every bit counts.

I and my husband contributed because we lost my grandmother to breast cancer - a loss that might not have happened had there been better education for her. I hope that the small amount we could afford to donate makes a differenence, even just for one woman. Families should not have to lose their loved ones the way we did.

Thanks for reading, as always.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed so far - without people like you, these disabled children and adults would not have the opportunity to take part in Equine Therapy.

We are almost there - $195 contributed so far, only $5 DOLLARS  to go!

For the price of a combo meal at a fast food restaurant, a grande latte at starbucks, less than the price of a good steak, book, or about the price of a pack of cigarettes - you can help me meet my goal of contributing $200 to the River Valley Riders Ride-A-Thon.

I can not tell you how much joy this program brings to the riders. I have personally seen a severely paraplegic young woman work to hold her head up and smile, a young boy with ADHD try to have better self control, and individuals with cerebral palsy working on motor control. This program deserves every dollar you can spare - they make a difference in the lives of the riders and the volunteers. I have put in many hours of volunteering and I can honestly say that working with RVR is a pleasure; they are so well orchestrated and focused on the beneficial interaction between rider, horse and the volunteers that no other organization compares.

Please go to my Ride for a Cause page and donate that last five dollars. I am so near my goal, just as RVR is near their goal - we just need you.

My perceptions before I left - they are a very well run conference, on the ball; thought they might be a bit more like the Boston/East Coast interpreters that I have met; Baltimore was going to be a scary metropolis to drive through; the hershey tour was going to be just a blip on the radar; flying is a torture to be endured.

The first part of my trip looked grim - the two part flight on midwest was cancelled due to the rain. I stayed in good spirits while waiting for the ticketing agent to print me a new ticket for NWA. Its good to be first in line and kind - the ticket that was slide across the counter to me was a first class ticket. What an experience! Number one, I had never realized just how hard flight attendants work - they’re job is very hard AND they have to do it with a smile; number two, first class is totally the way to travel - flying could be fun!

So arriving in Baltimore, I went to the rental car place and got a fun car - a ford mustang, that just happened to be black, my favorite color. Thankfully it wasn’t too much of a splurge price-wise, but it was really something else to be behind the wheel of a machine like that. (Roar is the word that comes to mind)The drive up to Gettysburg was a little harrowing, as it was 11-12 o’clock at night and VERY dark. The interesting result was that I experienced the change in scenery more by smell than anything else. Baltimore had a hint of salt on the air, and there were many forests that I went through, that smell of the loam on the forest floor. Then the scent of farm country hit me - so like home - horse and cow mostly, soothing known smells. I got into the hotel about 1am and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Saturday morning came bright with opportunity. I checked in with the Conference head and then headed out to Hershey (needed to get chocolate for the shareshop attendees anyways). I figured it would be something small, a cute brief tour and then some free samples. I did not expect the giant complex and beehive of activity. Its a great place to take kids, so long as they can handle the sugar high that is rampantly running through the air. I only had time to see a small portion, but I would definitely return for further exploration.

Drove back and attended another workshop about Technology for Interpreters. Good stuff, I feel I learned quite a bit. Even though I consider myself pretty competent with technology, since I am mostly self taught, there are always things that I miss that would have made my life easier. Came up with an idea that I would like to implement - an anonymous compliment board. (Recently in the latest Update, our MRID publication, there was an article about spreading compliments instead of gossip) Too often we, as interpreters, spend a lot of time tearing each other down - a shared crab-in-the-bucket mentality - instead of taking the time to build each other up.

So the shareshop itself went really well - despite the temperature in the room being a steamy 90 degrees, they stayed with me - they were fantastic participants. Their questions were very insightful and as always, I feel like I learned as much from them as I hope I have given them. They wre great about sharing their stories and talking about the choices that they had made in the past and applying the new terminology and understanding they were given. And as always, when it came time for the samples, they really dug into them and worked as a group analyze them and create a model interpretation. Its such an honor to be around people like this - and have the privilege of witnessing those great minds at work.

Saturday night I was restless and had a hard time falling asleep - too much chocolate maybe?? - so, knowing my hubby would be up, I gave him a call. Just hearing his voice was the soothing I apparently needed to fall asleep - got off the phone and was out like a light. Didn’t even have a chance to put the cell on the nightstand! LOL

Sunday driving back was fun - testing my sense of smell to see if I was right, and for the most part I was. I don’t care what your self-esteem is prior - once you’re behind the wheel of a beautiful mustang you can’t help but feel cool. Add to that some classic rock coming back, and I am reminded just how much I love to drive and the time to be introspective and take in the landscape with appreciation.

The flight back was coach, so it sucked, but I made it home alive and that’s the important thing.

I would definitely present for Pennsylvania again - what a pleasure.

~Kelly

Well, tomorrow I leave for Pennsylvania state conference. They are a very well organized conference, very on the ball. I appreciate that the interpreters for my workshop have already been in touch and we have done some prep. My workshop is not easy, let alone if you aren’t prepared for it. I get frustrated when the interpreters expect me to summarize everything five minutes before we begin - when I would rather finish setting up and talking to the folks in attendance.

I fly out on friday to baltimore and then I am getting a rental car - I love to drive so that should be fun. And it will give me the opportunity to take a side trip up to HERSHEY, PA - the Mecca for all Chocoholics. I hear they even have a chocolate spa . . . .

But I digress. I am really looking forward to the PA conference - it will be my first upclose taste of east coast interpreters. I did a little research on their ITPs in the area and I believe they have two four year programs and one two year program - very similar to Minnesota.

I will actually have some time to hit the other workshops, which will be nice. I think its rather ironic that they have me scheduled for saturday night. Here in Minnesota, Saturday night has been traditionally reserved for the entertainment. I guess my topic could be seen as that [chuckle] but I sincerely want people to find it useful.

So wish me luck and bon voyage and all that jazz!

~Kelly