2/20/01           The rain is back. Ugh. What happened to sunny California?  I spent my hours at Nora’s house again.  I returned to the Accreditation Standards.  It’s not difficult work, but it’s definitely time consuming. In fact, I’m glad that I get to experience this aspect of Strides because it allows me to be exposed to the business end of running a therapeutic program.  If I ever think about running my own program, I would think twice because now I know how much time and effort is involved.  Not only do you have to work on-site, but you also have to do the preparation, fund-raising, etc.  In other words, the job does not have a structured 9-5 day.  There is always something to do and there is not a large financial pay-off in the end.  But there definitely is an emotional pay-off, knowing that you are contributing to the lives of people in need. 

2/23/01           Do we live in Seattle or what? The rain refuses to cease and I am getting really annoyed.  I am learning a lot from working on the Accreditation Standards, but I enjoy being outdoors and helping the riders.  I never thought I would miss being covered in dirt, but I actually do.  There is something about being out in nature that is very invigorating.  It makes it that much more special when I am helping the riders, whose company I enjoy. Also, I must say that the interns and instructors at Strides crack me up.  I really have fun and look forward to my internship because of them.  It will be sad to see the two foreign interns go home.  I am sure we will keep in touch even after they leave.

3/2/01            Finally, no more rain!! It was so great to be back at the ranch.  The volunteers and instructors seemed very excited about getting back in the swing of things.  A few people cancelled today, so we had only three ground lessons (arenas still muddy).  Sammy didn’t ride today, but he got to groom Teddy, which he seemed to enjoy.  We taught him about the different grooming tools and showed him the proper way to brush him.  We had to warn him many times about not walking behind the horse, but he didn’t seem to understand why he should not do this.  I think we finally convinced him of the danger, so hopefully he doesn’t do it again in the future. 
 Two brothers, Matt and David, also had a lesson today which began with a grooming session with Teddy.  Matt, who is 3, did a great job and even helped to pick the horses hooves.  David (5 years old), however, had a little more trouble focusing on a specific task and we had to repeatedly try to gain his attention.  I could tell that he was feeling a little jealous because his younger brother was answering our questions correctly more often than he was.  Because of this, I tried to give him a little more attention.  He seemed to cheer up a bit.  He is normally a very cheerful boy, so it was not very difficult.