Carving 101

I found a nice, newly paved road with a gradual slope that I can practice my turns on, and guess what? ... I finally got it! The trick is going fast enough so that you can turn by opening your shoulders into the direction you want to go and leaning into the turn a little. Here's what I mean: If my left shoulder is pointing down hill and I want to turn to the left, I would open my chest by pulling my left shoulder back, and then lean backwards a little. To carve to the right I would pull my right shoulder back and rotate the upper body so that my left shoulder is actually leading the turn, then I'd lean forward.
Basically the same technique for turning is applied when riding horses. You look where you want to go, which turns your shoulders, which turns your hips, etc. I think the saying to remember turning sequences in Pat Parelli's Natural horsemanship is "eyes, bellybutton, leg, reins." You can visualize how this would work with longboarding, and skating too.

Here he comes again

What a nice day to sit in the pasture and sketch. Ah, but who is this moving in on my space? Why it's Desperado the affection sponge.What do I have in my lap, and is it anything to play with? No, sorry Despe.. nothing here but some scratching and petting. I repeatedly porcupine him back a few steps to keep him a friendly distance away from me, and offer my savvy string for him to chew on, which he slurps up like a strand of spaghetti then spits out.

Finding my sketchbook and savvy string an unsatisfying thing to nibble on, "D" goes for my neck and hair. Aargh!

Meanwhile, Aristoitle and Chiquita (in background) watch from a POLITE distance. Did you see that Desperado? ... a POLITE distance.
It occurred to me that maybe this wasn't the best time to sketch, and that this horse has a sense of humor.

He dozed off right behind me, with his muzzle lightly touching my back.

The pup


My dog ended up having two toe pads removed, and the associated last phalanx of each toe. He is home now, and doing okay. He is wearing a 50 mg. Fentanyl patch on his neck to control his pain. I am hoping for the best outcome for my dog, but I have this gut feeling that this is a nasty, aggressive tumor that just came off. I hope we got it out before it was able to send out its nasty tendrils to other parts of his body.