A Week, A Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek eek

In a week, a week even, in ONE week from now I'll be packing bags and getting ready to leave for destination Monty Roberts and Flag is Up Farm, in genuinely sunny (i.e. not ironic) California. Oh yes. Really. When I went to Vegas I did some feeling of excitement and there was always the possibility of that parachute jump actually becoming scary enough to bother me, not that it did, but this trip is another thing altogether. This isn't 3 days in the most fake city in the World, staying in a hotel shaped liked a giant glossy black glass pyramid with 7,000 rooms and a beam of light out the top of it which can be seen from space (why? no idea) and all the quick fix, short-lived thrills of it all. I remember saying I'd never have chosen Vegas if I had the choice of any destination, a couple of weeks on a ranch in the countryside (but a really nice one where there wasn't any cruelty and they were nice to the animals and didn't do loads of killing) would have been more like it for me, though the experience of Vegas was not something to say no to, there's no way I'd have gone there deliberately (never mind the parachute jump). I certainly didn't think I'd end up actually winning a ranch holiday, never mind that it could be the home of Monty Roberts and his family. It would never have occurred to me to think that such a competition would be run, never mind that I'd win it. But both those things happened, so be careful what you wish for, be very careful and you might just get both what you want and what you need. Here's something to watch. I dug out an old VHS tape (so excuse the quality) of me doing my first Join-up, from around 1997. Kelly Marks is the voice in the background. I hadn't seen this myself for quite a few years and it was quite interesting to see how many ways I have changed since then. For a start there's the large prosthetic arm the 'Grypher' which I was wearing at the time, though I'm not really sure why I had it on for that task as it really only got in the way. I don't bother with prosthetics any more. I'm also much more mobile in the video than am now, I don't think I'd even started having problems with my feet, but I wouldn't be able to do that now, all that skipping and running around stuff. The other big difference is a few extra pounds that I'm carrying, linked somewhat to the decreasing mobility. Another thing I noticed is that even though I has spent hours and hours in the field with a long line, practising the throwing of it, I never actually needed to throw it or perhaps I didn't really feel confident that I could pull it back in whilst keeping the horse going. As it was, Kelly had to tell me several times to grab hold of the buckle as I was going to hit myself with it. I probably had hit myself with it a few times but not noticed because I was so intent on what I was doing. It does all make me wonder how I might be able to do it. Could it be done from the scooter? maybe, but how do I work the line when I need my hand to control the scooter. If I use Rolly - the rollator (which, by the way, I pimped up last weekend and got rid of the horrid granny burgundy red and sprayed it blue - finally) there might be a problem with the sand or flooring being too deep for it to work. The low tech option is to do it on feet/knees. The ultimate high tech would be a Segway conversion with big chunky wheels, and a device that looks like a kneeling stool so most of the weight is off my feet but also acts as steering device by leaning forward/backward to go/stop, lean left/right to turn. Now, if only there was a competition to win one of those.