Summer So Far

We are a week into summer vacation and it is just a bit crazy. I thought it would be a time to rest and I would get to sleep in but no that is not the way it is. I have done fencing at the new barn for days....7 am folks. Picking up the Godchild at her activities....by 9:00...lessons at 9:00 (have to be there by 8:00).....vet at 8:00 am...be there even earlier than that.....You get the idea. It is just like getting up for school in the morning. Might just be at school the way things are going.

It has been very busy and I never expected that. I was hoping that since I was teaching CRCT summer school that I would be able to relax and sleep and just plain do nothing for once in my life....boy was I dreaming. I don't think that will ever happen in my lifetime.

The only thing that has changed a bit is the ability to cook the last few days. By the end of the school year, I just wanted to come home and sleep. It has just been the last two days that I have even wanted to at temp cooking or had the energy to cook. It is fun and I love to cook it is nice to finally have the energy and time to do it.

I am ready for bed tonight because I am off to the meet the vet first thing in the morning tomorrow. More on that tomorrow.

School

As the school year ends, (the kids were done Thursday and teachers are done Wednesday) you look back and ask what were the highlights? Did I make a difference anywhere? What could I have done differently?

Only one student failed this year in science and none of my social studies kids failed...that is a marked improvement. I usually have at least 6 to 10 but had a smaller team this year and longer class time so the extra 15 minutes I could use to start their homework with them and show them it wasn't as hard as they thought, finish it with them, or give them just the little extra instruction they needed. The few truly "bad" kids we had who were failing were sent to alternative school early in the year, I think the kids got the idea that we weren't "playing" on the discipline aspect so that helped out a lot too. On the CRCT 11 of my science kids failed - 6 of the 11 were ESOL (ones who don't speak English). Yep, you have come up with the same thing that we as teachers have...if you can't speak and read the language how are you going to pass the state test written in the language even if you know answers. Some of the kids can not even understand the directions. Some are from as far away as Saudi Arabia or Lithuania. All I can do is shake my head and know that a school's AYP (adequate yearly progress) is based on if these students pass a test in a language they can't read...how crazy is that? BUT who listens to EDUCATORS. 4 of the 5 that are left I could have picked out anyway. They almost didn't pass for the year. The last one did each of the two sections of the test in 4 min and 30 sec.  Yes readers...the 7th grader answered 35 scenario science questions that would have taken me, with my doctorate degree, longer to read. So I knew he would not pass either. On the up side, I had a 15% exceed rate. This is not one of my highest. and I wasn't pleased but it could have been worse. So I will take it and work harder next year on that one. A total of an 85% pass/exceed rate is ok but again...have had higher....but still pretty good for this group of kids and counting the ESOL kids.

The kids themselves were very interesting. I had one little girl who hugged me between every class. She was the sweetest thing in the world! I don't know what I will do without her everyday and her smiling face wishing me a good day every 70 minutes. To the other end of the spectrum when the student asked me if he lost weight when he sold his soul to Satin this weekend? OR the one who, on career day said we didn't have anyone for his chosen profession that he could talk to. I asked what his profession was? He calmly replied "Ax Murderer".  I took him to the police department and introduced him and told the officers there his ambition. They showed him their pink handcuffs. After they were done I took him to the district attorney's office and they talked to him about his chosen profession. I told him I was glad to help him on his way an there was something at the career fair for everyone. Then I reported him to the counselor and they talked to his parents because I didn't know if it was a gifted kid being funny (because that is in their nature as a gifted kid) or serious. I had multiple students who made bomb threats....4 I think who wrote them on the walls/stalls of the bathrooms. I had all ends of the spectrum this year. It really was a strange year discipline wise. They either did HUGE things or nothing.

So I made a difference educationally for quite a few because they all passed. Only two students in the team have to go to summer school and only one has to take science.  They did well with the CRCT. Discipline wasn't bad - took care of that early. But I am not sure what I could have done differently to head off some of the big things that happened like the bomb threats. One student did them because I wasn't there - he didn't like my sub but I had to have the surgery. The others just wanted out of class. I can't help that. The ones that went to tribunal were written up by me but it was because of willful refusal. They just wouldn't do what was asked when sent to me for in-house. If I tell you to sit down and get to work..you know what...you better sit down and get to work. There is no answer to that other that Yes Mam...or Ok I will or I need help with this. If you choose to answer another way I ask you to rephrase what you are saying because it is disrespectful and it will get you in trouble...or if your refuse...I ask if you are willfully refusing to do what I ask because willful refusal is an office referral and you don't want and office referral. They just don't seem to get it. I give them a choice. They just don't choose the right one.

Oh well, all in all, a good year academically and behaviorally. I liked the kids and they made me laugh.  They kept asking me to go to 8th grade and teach science there for them. I told them no. They can get my best friend there and she teaches like I do so they will be fine. Good luck to them and bring on the new 7th graders!!!!

Show Time

So what is it that I have to talk about now? The horse show is the topic of conversation for today.  We went to a small horse show this last weekend in a small town to support the local 4-H.  First of all, let’s read between the lines in that statement. Small town – everyone knows everyone – we will be the outsiders. The judge will know everyone and chances are will be favoring the riders from that area because they know everyone. LOCAL 4-H – again..what are we doing at a local 4-H show? Well one of the riders use to belong to this local 4-H and would ride at this barn occasionally and that is how we were “invited” to come. I am gifted and smart enough to figure out this information from the single sentence above but NO ONE else is hence the drama to this story I am about to tell.

It all begins weeks before when I am manipulated into going. I do not like shows for a multitude of reasons.  First, it creates competition between the girls that normally are friends and they say nasty things to each other – this time I heard…”I don’t care what place I get as long as I score better that ______.” (said in front of that child’s mother which I then have to try to defend/justify)  OR “The only reason you win is because you have _________ horse.” (not because they are a good rider) OR “I ride with a “professional trainer” at another barn too and they tell me to do this ______ and you won't win because you don't ride there.” (and the one that only rides with me which I guess makes me the non-professional trainer even though I have been teaching riding longer than her “professional trainer” has been alive and I have a doctorate degree does better than she does at every show we have ever been to). Then there is the work involved, I frequently am left packing the trailer, getting horses ready to load, finding halters, food, and other things ready because they have to "practice".  When I try to tell anyone that the students need to help with this work I get the standard answer that I am the adult and I need to let them alone....they are just kids...or they need to practice...why can't you just do that?  This from my business partner and their parents – no one sees shows as work because no one has to do any work.  When we get to the show, the kids and parents want to get into their show clothes and then they aren’t allowed to “touch anything or they will get dirty”. So that leaves me, unloading, grooming, saddling, bridling, and doing all the work again getting the horses ready the day of the show. Then if that isn’t bad enough, I then have to take the girls to warm up the horses and work with them.  I get all dirty, sweaty, and am tired and the show hasn’t even started yet. Now it is time to show and I have to keep track of classes, which ones we are in, who is in which one, who is on which horse, switching horses, switching stirrup length, sometimes switching saddles, running to get spurs, crops, and extra reins when they break etc. all while everyone else just sits and watches. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this? All for nothing..I am not talking just not getting paid…I am literally talking for nothing I don’t even get a thank you 99% of the time.  Oh and to do all of this I have to cancel lessons and loose the income that I gain from doing lessons. I usually have to cancel the next couple days sometimes too depending on how heavily the horses are used and the footing in the ring. The deeper the footing the harder it is on their muscles and more sore they become since our ring is solid ground. Again, why would anyone in their right mind put themselves through this?

On to this weekend’s show, we leave Friday due to the distance from the show and stay overnight at a friend’s family’s farm.  One of the horses is hard to load due to his past. We are very patient with him and he has gotten much better! He loaded fine on Friday and unloaded very well on Friday night. He walked to the new pasture and did well but was afraid of the goose…that is fine it was all new. Saturday morning though he would not get on the trailer. We finally got him on after about 45 minutes and counted ourselves lucky. He was very nervous when he got to the show and was whinnying like crazy.  I forced the kids to do the grooming and saddling to the dismay of the parents and my business partner before they dressed in their show clothes and did not hear the end of it most of the day…too bad.  They were so slow. At home one girl can do all 7 horses in less than 30 minutes but at the show 4 girls couldn’t do 3 horses in 45 minutes. By the time I got them up to warm up the horses we had very little time to practice in the ring which was new to the horses – especially the one that was nervous. This is a BAD thing!!!!

We warmed up and then had to leave the ring and the show started. We were not in a class until 14 so there was plenty of time.  Right before we had to mount, the nervous horse had just started to relax and was bending down to try to eat grass and stepped on his reins and broke his new bridle. The rider is now frantic because she has no reins and her very expensive matching bridle is broken. I, of course, have packed the trailer and have included extra of everything. I tell her to calm down and I put on a new set of reins. She is crying and fussing and the horse is now prancing…getting worse and worse…..at this point I fuss at her. I tell her she needs to stop now because she is upsetting her horse. Now her parents are angry because I fussed at their child. I then tell them to stop everything is fine and I make them more angry. No one but me can see the 17 hand 1100 lb horse prancing and acting foolish. The more yelling and crying and screaming that goes on, the more the horse acts out. This is now a danger situation! Finally I am told I am not considering their daughter's hurt feelings and they are "pi$$ed" about it. I calm the young lady down as much as I can in 2 minutes to get into the ring and tell her the judge is looking for teamwork with the horse not a match between the reins and the bridle or the saddle and the bridle and to go into the ring confidently and ride like she knows how and all will be well. That of course doesn't happen and the young lady places last.....and they announce "last place goes to _______." I couldn't believe they did that. This makes it worse. I pull her from the ring and have some tough love with her and tell her that her emotion is ruling her horse and if she loves the animal she needs to calm down or the horse will have such a bad experience he will never want to show again. That did it...she loves that horse soooooo much it worked. After that she got 5th place and then straight seconds in all of her classes. Once she relaxed the horse did very well. Now I had to go talk to the parents and explain to them that they PAY me to take care of their daughter and keep her safe....literally. The reason I was not making a big deal of the reins was because of the horses behavior..blah blah blah. Then they understood. I told them to let me do my job and I will take good care of things....finally they were better.

The young lady on the second horse was almost just as bad. He is an excellent show horse and usually wins first in all of his classes. She is one of the ones that rides with the "professional trainer".....not sure what kind of practice she needs but she always wants to practice for a show. She is riding "push button" horses there (ones that do the right thing regardless of what the rider does) and are very flashy so all she has to worry about is her posture and such. At my barn, our horses are very safe but they do have a brain in their head. If you don't tell them what to do and when to do it then they do what they want to do. So you have to be a team player with your horse, you can't beat them into submission, and you can't be a passenger, you have to be an active participant and RIDE your horse. I finally got to the point where I told her she couldn't ride anymore until she told me WHY she needed to ride her horse....it took her almost 3 hrs and tons of prompts from me texting back and forth before she got the fact that she has to work with her horse rather than against them. We get to the show and she is constantly in the horses mouth, kicking them, leaning forward (which makes the horse go faster we tell everyone that) etc. Even the judge says "The horse was awesome - a truly great show horse if the rider would just quit dinking with him all the time. Now in the jumping classes they are a great team. She works well with him but flat classes she never leaves him alone and doesn't work with him." When I told her what the judge said (same thing I said for how many weeks) she blew it off and made fun of it. Now in the jumping classes they both are a TREMENDOUS TEAM. They really do work well together, she is quiet and he appreciates how she handles him but I can't get her to do it in non-jumping classes. She placed 1st in her jumping classes and was robbed of one first place when the judge missed someone who turned out of a jump and awarded them the first place instead.

The third horse, bless her heart, is not a show horse and everyone knows it. BUT she is safe, reliable and listens well - everybody loves her. She did really well even got a few2nds. The problem is she was used by 2 different students. One who rides with that "professional trainer". Well, she didn't place as well as the one who only rides with me and she kept blaming the horse...she wouldn't do this for me or she wouldn't do that for me.  Of course, you can't give this student any suggestions because she just won't listen but she is the niece of my business partner ....sooooo can't do too much about that one. 

Finally, we pack up to leave and the one horse will not load...in fact even gets loose. It is time for tough love with this horse now to prevent a dangerous situation but the young lady who owns it is "afraid it may get hurt". I explain it is a big animal and if you don't do something now it will be a problem in the future and if she doesn't want to handle it...I will...so now we have angered people again....Coming and Going...it is a miserable situation.

Showing just is not something that is worth my time. It seems to make me miserable even weeks and weeks after things are done and over with. I seem to stew about what happens and can't tell anyone about it. Even writing about it here gets my blood boiling. I will say that this time I did get a thank you from 2 of the 4 girls that went so 50% is better than the 0% I usually get. I still think I will put my foot down and not do this again....who knows...I would like to do it myself one time again but when I suggested it for this show I was shot down saying I wasn't a good enough rider to show....the list of reasons I think is up to about 56 now of why I don't like going to shows.....oh well maybe I will feel better now that I have gotten this all out.