My First Love, Part 5 (The Final Chapter)

Sparks was put up for sale and sold to a little girl at a barn across town. It was sad, but my parents weren't able to afford two horses, so it had to be done in order for me to continue progressing with my riding.

My parents and I met with my trainers to talk about what we would be looking at. They had to discuss pricing and location (how far we were willing to go). I also told them that I would really like to have a grey horse. Bay (dark brown) and chestnut (light brown) are the most common. That is what I had always ridden and owned, but I had always loved the greys. My trainers laughed. I rode with a group of girls and we were all about the same age. During this time we were silly preteens and our trainers ALWAYS laughed at us. In this case, they told me to not get my hopes up. Greys are rare and pretty greys are really rare. Grey horses are born black and spend only a short time being pretty dapply grey before they turn white with brown or black dots all over their body. My trainers felt it would be difficult to find a horse that had the skills I wanted for the price my parents were willing to pay and that was grey. I told them I knew that, but if they found one I'd be happy. I knew it was a long shot though and it certainly wasn't a deal breaker.

I spent the next few months after selling Sparky riding my trainers' horses while we tried to find a new one for me. Then one day, I got home from school and there was a message on the answering machine. I remember it to this day. "Hi Kim, it's Patsy. There is a horse down in San Diego that we want to take you down to see. He is an 8 year old warmblood who shows hunter/jumper. He is 16.1 hands (1 hand = 4 inches). Oh, and guess what, heeee'sss greeeyyy." I jumped up and down. I was so excited to go see him. The following week Jamie, my other trainer, hooked up the trailer to the truck and he, Patsy, and I drove south down to San Diego to checkout the grey horse. The horse was beautiful. He wasn't spotted, but a really pretty dapply grey. His name was Sidney. He was mellow and sweet and really enjoyed jumping around the fences. So we loaded him in the trailer and brought him back up to try for a few weeks.

He acclimated nicely to our barn and after getting him checked out by the vet, he was mine.

Isn't he pretty?!?!

For the next 3-4 years Sidney and I trained pretty hard and showed almost every weekend. I was a teenager at this time and Sidney was what kept me out of trouble. My parents always had him to hold over my head, whether it be grades, or boys, or the car,or annoying teenage behavior, I knew that if I stepped out of line I wouldn't be riding or showing the next week. My dad always said that all teenage girls should have horses because it keeps them out of trouble.

Sidney's show name was "London Fog". My dad came up with that one too. Around the barn, we just called him Sid. He was a sweetheart as well, like Sparky. I loved giving him baths with this shampoo called Quicksilver. It was this dark purple shampoo that when used on the white socks or blazes of a horse made them super duper white. I used it all over Sidney and he was always so shiny and beautiful.

Sidney and I were pretty successful together over the next few years. Then I graduated from high school and had plans to go away to college on the East Coast. I hadn't really thought about what would happen once I graduated high school, but as it got closer, my parents reminded me that they couldn't afford college and riding at the same time. Therefore shortly after the show season ended my senior year of high school, Sidney went up for sale. We didn't sell him right away, thank goodness, so when I went away to college some friends of mine rode him and took care of him. One of them even leased him for awhile, which means my parents still owned him but my friend paid all the boarding and training and used him like he was her own.

During the middle of my freshmen year, a little girl from my barn bought him for her first horse. He was older at that time and basically bomb-proof, so he was perfect for her. I haven't been on a horse since Sidney was sold.

In some of the comments I have been asked why I don't still ride. The answer to that comes down to one reason...I can't afford it. Knowing what it's like to have a mortgage and expenses makes me wonder how in the world my parents were able to afford to keep a horse boarded and their daughter in training. The monthly expense at that time was very expensive and nowadays it's exorbitantly high. I do want to own a horse and ride again someday, but until teachers make a lot more money or I marry a rich man who can pay the bills, I'm going to just have to relive the past. Maybe someday I will be able to ride again.

Tasty Tuesday

This past Thursday I hosted Book Club. We read "Three Cups of Tea" which was a phenomenal true story about a man who built schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I also made dinner and desert which consisted of Chicken Pesto Pasta, Cesar salad, garlic bread, cherry cobbler and ice cream. The cobbler recipe will be the topic of next week's Tasty Tuesday. Slainte!

Chicken Pesto Pasta
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, removed from skin
1 handful of pine nuts (lightly browned in oven)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiana Reggiano
40 basil leaves
2 pieces of grilled chicken breast
1 box cooked pasta (I used ziti)

Directions:
1. Heat oil and garlic cloves in small pan over medium heat for a minute or two.
2. Combine oil, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, and basil in food processor.
3. Pulse until chopped and blended.
4. Mix together hot pasta, chicken, and pesto sauce. (Pesto sauce should not be heated. Mix pesto sauce at room temperature into hot pasta.)
5. Enjoy!
This recipe makes one batch of pesto pasta. The picture is double the recipe.

It's the End of the World As We Know It

It was another busy Saturday this past weekend. I had a lot of errands to run and some social plans, but there were parts of the day that were rather surreal.

First off, during the middle of the night a lightning and thunder storm rolled into town. Sure, we get rain in SoCal, sometimes, but thunder and lightning storms are not the norm. The claps of thunder shook my house and the lightning lit up my bedroom. The storm continued on and off all day.

I left my house for the day and drove to the bagel shop to pick up some bagels for a breakfast. When I walked in the shop it was dark. I thought to myself, "Well, good thing I called ahead to order them since the power is out." However, the cashier said, "Cash only." They couldn't run a credit card, and I didn't have any cash so I told her that I had called ahead with an order so she got her manager. She let me take the bagels, but said I had to promise to come back and pay for them. I gave her my information and left with the bagels. I stopped off at the breakfast for a few minutes, ran some errands and then met a friend for a movie and then lunch.

On my way to the bagel shop I noticed that the gas station across the street had gas for $2.67 so when I was on my home I went back the way I came so I could stop at the gas station. Now, the corner that the gas station is on has been a protest site in the last few weeks due to Prop. 8. For the last 2-3 weeks this very large intersection has had ...I am trying to come up with the right words to type here, but all I can seem to come up with is...IDIOTS parading on the four corners with their yellow, professionally made "Yes on Prop. 8" signs. The Prop. that, if it passes, will ban gay marriage. When I drive by this corner, it makes me cringe and my feathers get ruffled, and I roll down the window and yell things. (Even though Jason tells me I shouldn't.) It just makes me mad. Anyhow, I started to get riled up as I got closer and thought to myself, "It's ok, gas is $2.67, just go and get the gas and ignore the stupid idiots." I did my best to ignore them; I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I drove past, oh and snapped this picture.

If you are saying to yourself, "Hey, that's a child holding a sign!" You would be correct. Not only are these ignorant a-holes walking around with these horrific signs, they have their children doing it too. Signs that say things like "Protect Marriage", "Marriage Has One Meaning", etc. Now, I'm not eloquent enough to write about this, so all I will say is that this is soooo wrong. On top of it, these church going individuals are teaching their children to hate as well.

"OK, Kim! Just get yourself across the street to the gas station and get yourself away from this corner before you take out your imaginary machine gun and shoot them." Thank goodness I didn't have to stop at the light so I drove across the street and pulled into the gas station with the cheapest gas in town. It was a bit busy, but I only had to wait about 30 seconds before a car pulled out and I pulled in. "WooHoo!" We have been paying about $4.00 for gas for the last year or so so $2.67 seems cheap. I swiped my credit card, pushed the "regular" button, and put the nozzle in my gas tank. "Click!" I heard. I pulled it out and put it back in, "Click!" I heard again. I pressed the "regular" button again, squeezed the nozzle, "Click!" Sighing I looked around to the other side of the pump where a man was standing, not pumping gas also. "Are you having trouble with this pump too?" I asked. "Yes, are you too?" I nodded. Then a lady walked by and told us that she was told inside that they were out of that gas and only had the "premium" gas which was about $3.00. "Oh my frickin' god!" Here I was, having to be on the same corner as the biggots to get this cheap gas and THEY ARE OUT OF GAS! OUT OF GAS!

I canceled the transaction, climbed back in the car and drove around the parking lot back onto the road. Due to the traffic, I had to go out a different way than I came in which meant I had to drive back by the biggots. I pulled out and sat in the right turn lane for a few moments waiting for the light to change. As I waited, REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It" came on the radio. This is what I saw as I listened and waited.
A thunder and lightning rainstorm, biggots bringing their kids right along with their stupidity, and the cheap gas that wasn't made me want to scream. Global warming, limiting civil rights, or oil production...someday one, two, or all three are going to be the end of the world as we know it and I don't feel fine. It makes me angry.

Now, on a lighter note. There were some good parts to the day.
I saw 'RocknRolla' today at the movies. It was GREAT! Very English and very funny. It is a Guy Ritchie (soon to be ex-Mr. Madonna) film and they are always so much fun. There was a lot going on, but it all pulled together at the end. Plus a lot of very cute boys with accents in it. What could be better. I loved it!

I do have to also add that there is a small group of "No on 8" supporters at a different intersection a few blocks away from the gas station incident. They are not quite as organized and in your face as the "Yes" supporters are, in fact they are a bit of a motley crew. Their signs are homemade rather than professionally made, but they are still effective. My favorite is, "No on Hate (8)."

I also got a new purse on Saturday. I love my Santee Alley fakes. They are so cute and fun, but a big pain in the butt. They are bottomless pitts and it often takes me minutes, not seconds, minutes to find important things like keys or my wallet.

The last few days, for some reason, have been particularly bad and I end up getting angry as I have to pull stuff out to find what I am looking for. I keep threatening to design a purse that actually holds everything it a place, but is still stylish. Someday, in my freetime I just might. So today, I went to Kohls, probably one of my least favorite stores, but it was next to Whole Foods where I was doing some shopping. They were having a sale so the store was a mess - the main reason I don't like going there, it's always a mess. I wandered around, looking at the purses. All the cute ones had just one big opening so everything can fall to the bottom. The ones that had more pockets were just not my style. But I finally found one.

It's kind of cute. It has some style, but even better it has 4 large dividers/pockets in addition to the cell phone pockets and 2 zipper pockets for small things. When I got home I spent some time organizing it. It holds a lot and I think I can actually find something inside it. We'll see.

To end this crazy, long post I also received my Lean Cuisine lunch tote in the mail this afternoon. Yay! Isn't it cute. I'm tempted to use this as my purse, but it also has just one big open space, which is fine for a sandwich, but not for car keys. If you haven't gotten yours yet, here's the info. Remember, it's only $10 and $5 of it goes to charity.

My First Love - part 4

During the next year my trainers and I spent a lot of time building up my confidence and looking for a new horse. I had lost an entire show season, but it was worth it.

The following winter my trainer brought in a horse from a ranch about an hour away. The ranch was a thoroughbred racing ranch called Hart Ranch which also housed horses that had been tried for racing and didn't work out. These horses were kept in outdoor pens in herds and since it was winter, the horse I was shown looked like a hairy nightmare. His name was Sparky and he was the furriest horse I had ever seen. Because his hair was so long, he was a dull brown color; not pretty or flashy like the horses I was used to. However, since he came from the Hart racing barn, he had a brand on his left shoulder. The brand was a heart....get it Hart, heart? For a girl of 11, a horse that had a heart on it was a dream come true. He was also the sweetest horse I had ever seen. He was young, and not proficient with the jumping yet, but he had a kind nature and seemed very trainable. Sparky was mine after a couple of weeks.

It took a few months and some serious "manscaping", but Sparks turned into a very pretty little horse with a cute little heart.

Shortly after, my trainer went a little nuts and left the barn where I trained. To make a long story short, Sparky and I had to change trainers in the middle of the show season. We were able to stay at the same barn, but the adjustment took some time. However, it was better in the long run.
Sparky and I continued showing around LA County and he was a hit. We did very well in our division and won several awards. My dad's favorite TV show at the time was Cheers. I showed Sparks under the show name "Cheers".


He was the sweetest horse in the world. During horse shows, riders and horses spend a lot of time waiting around until it's their turn to ride. One might ride in several classes, but there may be hours of wait time in between each class. Most of the time the horses wait, tied to the horse trailer, eating and the riders spend their time wandering around, watching their friends ride, and eating. I loved this horse so much that when we were waiting around, I'd lead him around with me to watch the other classes. I'd sit in the bleachers, holding onto his rope, and he'd rest his head in my lap as I pet him. How cute is that!
After a few years though, my abilities outgrew him and I was in the market for a new horse. Sadly, my family was a one-horse family and I had to put Sparky up for sale in order to afford a new one.

My First Love, Part 3

When I was in 6th grade, my parents gave in and agreed that it was time for me to have my own horse. My trainer put out feelers with her contacts to find me one. Shortly after, she was informed that there was a horse boarded at a barn across town that had just gone up for sale. She was a bit older, but was a veteran show horse who had been winning on the show circuit in LA County. Her name was CC with a show name of Critic's Choice. A little, shiny bay mare, she was as cute as could be. My trainer and I went to the barn across town and tried her out. She was nice, a little stubborn - which is typical of a mare, but she seemed like a good fit for me.

We decided to bring her back to my barn and try her out for a week before making a decision. Things went well during the trial, and after a couple of weeks she was mine.

This, however, is the one and only picture I have a CC. It was a short-lived partnership between the two of us. As we trained for the upcoming show season and pushed her a bit at the jumping, we realized why she had been sold in the first place. She had become sour which meant she had lost the desire to jump. I would estimate that during the time that I owned her I jumped about 75% of the fences WITHOUT her. She'd stop and I'd fly over her neck onto to the ground on the other side of the jump. I was only about 10 at this time so my trainers would often get on to work her and she would even stop with them. She was not the horse for me and over time fear set in and I didn't enjoy riding her or anyone else. It's not fun riding a horse when you fall off of it all the time. I got scared and, even though I always "got back on" I wasn't having any fun. We finally decided to put her back up for sale. Luckily, we were able to sell her, but my confidence was shot after having this little horse. We were in the market for a new one, but I wasn't so sure a new one would help my confidence.

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays haven't been coming easy to me lately. It is October 28 and still like a zillion degrees here in sunny SoCal. When it's hot (and it has been for many months now) I don't feel like cooking over a hot stove. I don't make elaborate things because the heat just zaps my energy at the end of the day. In fact, I have stooped to making pb&j sandwiches for lunch over the last few weeks. (This is really just me complaining about it being the end of October and still 90+ degrees outside. I will stop now and do the Tasty Tuesday)

This weekend I did do some cooking...I didn't want to let down my readers.

Basic Risotto
(I serve this risotto as a side dish, but it can be made into a main course by adding vegetables or protein.)
Ingredients
4 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable)
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp ev olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cup arborio rice
1 cup white wine (I use pinot grigio)
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Put broth in a small saucepan and simmer.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter into olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add chopped garlic and saute for a short time, stirring to keep garlic from browning.
4. Add rice to pan and suate for about 2 minutes. Stir into butter/oil/garlic
5. Add wine to pan and let it cook away, 1-2 minutes. (The garlic and wine smell is probably my favorite when cooking) 6. Add broth from saucepan, 2 ladles at a time. Keep stirring after liquid is added. The rice will absorb the liquid rather quickly.
7. Continue adding ladles of broth and stirring, when the previous liquid has been absorbed, over the next 18 minutes or so.
8. Once all liquid has been added, the rice should be creamy and tender. Stir in the cheese and sald and pepper to taste.
9. Top with cheese when serving.

This risotto is so easy and yummy! The chicken and broccoli were cooked on the grill. Enjoy!

My First Love, pt. 2

At first, riding lessons were just that. Once-a-week, I went to the barn and was shown how to groom a horse, tack a horse, walk, trot, and canter horse, bathe a horse, feed a horse, and ride a horse. I savoured every minute of it.

After a little while, my lessons increased to twice a week, and then the woman giving the lessons gave my parents the name of a trainer who would be able to take my riding to the next level. I moved to another barn and started training there. I didn't have my own horse, but was allowed to use my trainer's horses.

After moving barns, I met a lot of new friends and my life revolved around the ranch. On weekends, my parents would drop me off for an 8:00 or 9:00 am lesson and I would spend the rest of the day just hanging out, calling them about 5:00 PM to come back and pick me up, still wearing my barn clothes and riding boots. By the time I got home, my boots had become one with my legs and my dad would literally drag me off the couch and around the living room floor trying to get them off my feet. Good times!

I still didn't have my own horse, but begged on a daily basis to get one.

I started showing my trainer's horses when I was about 9. Horseshows took up the weekend. Saturday was spent prepping for the show - bathing and braiding the horses, cleaning the tack, gathering the supplies, and putting everything into the trailer. We had to get up bright and early to be back at the ranch about 6:00 in the morning so we could load the horses into the trailer and arrive at the horseshow which usually began at 8:00 am and lasted all day.

Here I am riding Lady, one of my trainer's horses.

Here I am riding Cleo.

It was great that I was given the opportunity to ride and show other people's horses, but I wanted a horse of my own so badly that it hurt. I would come home from the barn, go to my room, stare at my Duran Duran posters and cry for hours about it. A couple of my close friends at the barn had their own horses and I would talk about them constantly. Finally, my parents gave in.