More Changes to the Blog and Votes for Photos!

Ok, so, I want to enter a horsey photo contest that ends in June. June the first, to be precise. And these are the two pictures that have gotten the most votes so far. The judges are looking for a clear, clean photo that has a good subject and doesn't show poor horsemanship; and the "theme"/objective of the contest is "your horse being a horse/doing what he loves best". They didn't mention grazing on their list of horsey things for some odd reason, but knowing Joey. . .it was a no-brainer. ;)




Picture #1

Picture # 2

Yay! It worked! (The silly blogger-thing wouldn't let me type here, only on the captions to the photos. I've been sitting here trying for a good 10 minutes. -.- )

 

And THANK YOU, SILLY BLOGGER-THINGY; now I am all out of time to actually type a legit blog post-entry-thing. -.-

 

So yeah; vote for your favorite picture above, (<-- comma. there) below in a comment -- Haha: "above below". :P

Probably better add a comma. . .

 

Registering for college has been unnecessarily hard. -.- Making my THIRD trip to the admin. office tomorrow, or Friday, or whenever I choose to go back. I'm done doing it on their time.

 . . .but then, I guess I would have to go more times, huh?

 

Oh, and more updates to Prints. I retyped Joey's page and added some different pictures. Check it out. See if you can spot all the changes. ;)

 

Out.

 

~Sam

Blog Under Construction

. . .Well? Did you read the title? o.O

What do you think of the new blog look for Prints? I'm hoping to add a header picture and few to go on the sides and I may organize a bit. . .to be determined, I guess.

Dude! More followers! O.O That shocks me, honestly; haven't been on and all. . .

BUT THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE! (maybe. . ) lol I hope so, anyway. :P

Just wanted to let you all know that I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth. Geez, almost a whole two months has been and gone without me posting. I'm so. . .sorry. . .? I've been pretty busy (graduating in less than a month; yup, prepping for that'll take up some time).

So, don't give up on me. I WILL be back with pictures and posts and lots of good tidbits about what Joey and I (and all our freaky retarded cats) have been up to lately. ^.^

Until then, enjoy your Hoofprints-less life. ;)

Out.

~Sam

UPDATE!! (And Blog Change)

Okay, so I really wanted to customize the blog. And--Viola! Like it? The Creative Images pic at the top is one of my senior pictures; I will change it to one without the label soon.

Just wanted to update the blog and say that I promise that I will back into blogging soon. Our Internet has been out since my birthday (which was Tuesday, the 12th. YAY!) So no opportunities there. :/

If you're reading this: thanks so much for being a faithful reader. So sorry I haven't been on much. Hope to give you some good material to read later this week. :D

Until then,

~Sam

A Ride So Glorious, It Deserved Its Own Entry!

Yesterday, Joey and I extended his walks to a total of eight laps around the yard each time (when before, we were doing only four); and we try to talk these laps at least twice a day. But on our morning walk yesterday, before breakfast, I decided that I could begin to put him back into a bit and ride him bareback at a walk around the yard all eight laps; I thought that maybe it would help tone his back muscles to prepare for the saddle a little better; and it'll help me get back into shape and "relearn" how to ride again (I haven't ridden on over two months!).
He doesn't like the bit. Yesterday he didn't say "no," but he had to play with it a long moment to get used to it again (and I'm sure the metal was cold).
This morning, though, he flat out said "no" to it when I jingled it to let him know what my intentions were. He walked to the other side of the fence with slanted ears; but when I just remained quietly, warming the bit under my shirt, without pursuing him, his ears came forward, his eyes grew soft, and he watched me with an interested look. I talked to the cats a little as I stood there, and he took a few steps closer to me again. I turned and said in one of my sweetest voices, "I guess you don't want your cookie then, Joey?"
I don't know if he understood what I said, or it it was my voice or the fact that I hadn't pursued him and forced the bit into his mouth like I now remember I used to do without realizing it; at any rate, he ended up standing quietly (though without slanted ears) by my side. I let him nose the bridle, reminding him what my intentions were, and giving him every opportunity to say "no." But he didn't. He accepted the reins over his head and the chilly bit in his mouth and me on his back. He knew exactly where we were going, too; and without my having to steer him too much, he began his laps around the yard.
I made an observation, too, while I was riding:

Ob. 6: You don't have to exaggerate your movements in the saddle. A horse can feel a fly landing on him; he can definitely feel every one of my "heavy", "jerky" movements.

One of the gifts I received from my parents on Christmas was a DVD with episodes from a television show that is titled "The World of Horses". I'd never heard of it before, but it's really informative, being a show that is all about the different jobs horses have in the world.

After studying the way the barrel racers rode during training on one of the episodes on this DVD, and then noticing how Joey was stiff in his turns/corners, I decided that we should work on becoming supple in our turns while we were just walking laps for exercise. I realized that Joey is already well on his way to having fingertips control on the bit; but even when I exaggerated the leg motions that went with turning, I found him trying to resist me.
But then, I started out in exaggerated motions; I was leaning too far and stiffening up my legs and seat in expectation of his own "bracing" against me. I tried to keep a positive attitude as we turned to walk in the other direction, remembering what I've heard time and time again about suppleness not coming over night.

Suddenly, my attention was turned back to my riding as I realized that I was instinctively but lightly curing Joey around the turns -- and he was responding like a dream! I tried to figure out what he was responding to, and I think the biggest and most helpful difference I found in my absentminded riding from my super-focused riding was that I wasn't leaning my body at all. I also found my seat to be firm, yet relaxed; and I remembered what one Canadian barrel racer had said on my DVD: everything is worked from the center of your saddle.

As I embraced my new discovery in riding, Joey's ears were pointed forward and his stride had more purpose. His turns were very supple, as well.

That ride, at a walk, and simply for exercise, was one of the most beautiful we've had together! ^.^

A picture I found of us on another ride a couple of years ago. :)

Thanks for reading. Don't be afraid to come back for more entries later!

PS: I added a couple of quotes that I really liked onto my sidebar. Like them? :)

~Sam

NaNoWriMo is OVER!!!

Alright.

So, I ought to let you know that I. . . .

. . . FINISHED MY NOVEL!!!!!!! ^.^

. . .You have no idea. O.O Well, unless you were doing NaNoWriMo right along with me.
The first draft of "See No Evil" by Samantha Hoskins (title is subject to change. . .maaaybe) was finished on November 25, at around 9:00PM. Aren't you so happy for me?!? I thought I wasn't going to write much during Thanksgiving, seein as how my older brother who is currently stationed in Georgia as a Ranger in the US Army came home to kick off the holiday season with us (YAY! ^.^ ). But things were surprisingly laid back around here; so I thought, "Instead of sitting around on the couch looking like I'm gonna fall asleep in front of the fire with everyone else, I could be using this time to contain some very valuable thoughts." Thanksgiving week was composed of some really early mornings, and some very late nights. Not exactly the sleeping schedule I'm used to; but a severe cold decided to move in the day after I finished my novel, making it impossible for me to catch up on sleep (which is what more experienced NaNo-ers recommend for a proper reward for finishing. -_- )
Oh well; I have ordered the Winner's T-Shirt and now sit with this printed manuscript in my hand wondering when does one go about revising and editing a novel that came via a mad rush of creative juices? Some say that that is what December was designed for. Other's say throw it in a hatbox under the bed until the end of summer. For me, personally, I have days (like the day after I finished) when I want to go ahead and see if I can use the last 5 days of NaNoWriMo to fully edit my first draft into a second (mostly for the sake of having it DONE-done). But then there are times (like the night that I finished my novel) when I wanted to pretend that the manuscript wasn't there, needing spellcheck and going over. At least I have the excuse of a cold, right?


Goodness, I'm so bad.

Once again, the above paragraph was typed out more than a week ago. -_-

Now I have added a tab at the top of my blog specifically for my novel. Sure, the novel itself isn't completely edited and published yet; but it would still be encouraging to already get some feedback on it. So how 'bout it? Do you think that YOU would read my novel if it was published?

You may also notice that I added another tab at the top of my blog for Joey Joey. Can't forget about him. And that way those of you who don't follow my blog regularly, or who followed it later than the very first entry won't be like, "Who the crap is Joey Joey and what's so special about him?" And you might have a better idea at what the two of us have been through already and where I'm coming from, if I ever post about him (which I'm surely to do).

So, now that NaNoWriMo is over I've been asked by many of my siblings what I'm going to do on the computer now. Blog more? (You'd like that, wouldn't you? ;) ) Obsess over my virtual horses? (For those of you who are interested: I play Howrse [howrse.com]. I am Tom Smith on the international server, and Riddle on the American server. Feel free to PM or friend me. :D )
. . .Write another novel? *looks around sneakily*
The truth is, since I actually finished a story idea for once, I've been thinking: What's keeping me from finishing those three other ideas that I already have partially on paper up in my room? Procrastination? Poor discipline? Well, I proved this past month that I can conquer those problems. So, yes, I am currently working on some other literary works (all about horses, of courses). I am jumping back into my horse-gaming (too many Fjords!! And I almost breed the top Gypsy Vanners). And of course I would like to do more blogging. Perhaps I will. It depends on if I remember that I would like to when I'm actually on the computer (those virtual horses take up a lot of my time on here; and it's not like I have any serious readers that I actually have to appease on my blog).

So now, I shall finally sign off. I still  have a little ACT prep to do before Saturday. O.O

Thanks for reading. And have a great day! (Because you do control whether your day is good or not, you know. Just pointing that out.)

~Sam