Miscellaneous

Horses and wind don't match. I'm up at Katy's today having a lesson (the first in a long while), and the wind is blowing 30 mph and the horses next door are frolicking, and to add to the wildness, the TV series Wildfire is in full production right on the other side of the barn, so there are booms going up and four-wheelers flying by and cameramen shouting. Yikes. I would have "called in sick" but we've got the first show of the season coming up and I really need Katy to yell at me about missing my letters and so forth.

So all is well and we're going to work on single flying changes. I'm leg yielding at the canter from left to right (the bad side) and I can feel that the big bad B (the fat one in the snow in the photo pages) is anticipating... he's gonna...he's gonna...he's gonna BUCK CHANGE BUCK CHANGE BACK. dang.

A press release came today announcing that Petsmart will exit its equine products business, closing all 180 horse-supply departments nationwide. The company says the equine business was much different than their core business, and exiting the horse business will be good for shareholders and the company--it will allow it to focus on its core business.

It will outsource its call center and catalog operations while it considers "strategic alternatives." The 245 employees who work in the equine departments will be offered jobs in other departments. If no job is available, they'll be offered appropriate severance.