What's Up Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday all! This has been an interesting week. Not a whole lot going on really, but some little things here and there. Let's start with Friday since I can't remember anything worth reporting happening Thursday.
Friday morning before work I FINALLY had my follow up appointment with my doctor regarding my autoimmune problem. My blood work showed that my thyroid is still underactive and he prescribed meds for it. You guys! My whole life is so much better after just 5 days on the meds. I didn't fully realize what a mess I was until the fog started to clear. I have more energy, my hair isn't falling out everywhere, and best of all, I feel stronger. Watch out ponies... mommy's ready to work! (I'm not yet magically skinny... but that would be nice if it should occur ;))
Ok, back to our regularly scheduled discussion of ponies. It was pretty nasty here Friday. It rained for most of the day, and was still going when I got home. I opted out of riding in the rain and the dark. Instead, I just gave the kids a nice grooming and called it a night.
Unfortunately, from all the rain on Friday, I didn't get to ride Badger on Saturday morning. The rain had stopped but the ring was too wet. Boo. I spent the morning running some errands since I had the free time. You know what happens when I do that? I buy unnecessary crap. Like Halloween decorations for my jumps (or one jump in this case). I hadn't planned to decorate the ring for Halloween. Normally I do that just to make the jumps look new and scary before New England finals, but since we're not going this year, I wasn't going to bother. That is, until I walked into the dollar store and was all "but it's so cheap!" Of course, it got less cheap when I couldn't find what I wanted at the dollar store. So off to Walmart I went.
Once at Walmart I found exactly what I was looking for. Almost $50 later, I headed home to get to work.
My horses (AHEM... looking at you here Romey!) have eaten my gray arch wall to the point of no return. Sometime last week, one of them actually completely removed the top piece of wood from one section during his turnout. I have one box left that isn't completely destroyed (yet) so I kept that for the creation. So without further ado, here it is:

 It's reversible so I can jump it from either direction while fully terrifying my mount from either way. (Note the destruction of the box on the side going toward the barn.) After finishing this I wasn't so sure I had the cojones to actually jump it. Fortunately, since Jamp had Friday off, I knew I didn't have to on Saturday.Phew.
Sunday I was both happy and terrified about riding Badger. After two rain days, I wasn't sure what Mr. Ball of Energy had in mind.  And I realized on Sunday why I keep him with trainer. He was actually a good boy. He snorted his entire walk out to the ring, which I really thought was a warning I should get off. But I ignored him and after he walked around the arena a few times he settled down and went to work. I won't say I had a great ride. Or that I did everything right. Or that Badger did everything right. But his brain was on working the entire time. After two days off AND the weather being cold and windy (and damp, ugh), he was a very impressive five year old. Badger gets a star to match his golden coat this week. My apologies for the lack of media. I forgot to take any photos at Badger's house this week.
After a successful ride on Badger, I was feeling pretty confident and ready to attempt jumping the graveyard. I figured if it didn't go well, hey, I'm already in the right place! Ha. Fortunately Jampy is much less afraid of things that should actually be scary than he is of the dead horses only he can see, so he wasn't terribly impressed by the scary jump. He even let me add a rail. I have a bunch of photos from jumping him around, and pretty much none of the other kids, so here you go, ALL THE JAMPY PHOTOS!

He was actually pretty great the entire ride. He did run a little the first time we jumped the Halloween jump, but only the last two strides. And he landed softly, so I'm letting that go. I don't mind a little running and jumping. I DO mind running out, which he didn't do, so we'll call it a win. I was also impressed with the length of stride he seems to have. My outside line of green jumps has been a combination all summer. Until last week when one of the standards broke. Now it's a three stride line. I set it about three feet short because my ring rides that way, and we haven't jumped an actual line since... oh.... November? But he actually was closing the line up easily so I think I should move it out. I don't want to encourage a short stride with him!

 

Rio hasn't been getting ridden. He has a shoe off because of his sore left front, though I'm going to have it put back on. I think being barefoot is worse for it. He's happy though. He loves getting curried everyday instead of riding. #spoiled

Romey has been... well, meh. I honestly think that horse hates me. He bites. He throws tantrums. He doesn't even want to trot. Ugh. Our vet appointment is Friday so hopefully we can make some breakthroughs. If not, he may need to spend the winter at training camp. My poor wallet.

The puggers are already embracing the lazy time of year:

Yes in that second photo Artie is actually sitting ON Pia. She's too busy with her bully stick to care though. They really are the cutest. Last night, when I was sitting on the floor as I do, P jumped up on the couch, laid down behind me, and rested her head on my shoulder. It was the cutest thing ever.

I love my kids. All of them. Even Romey.
The only other bit of excitement was on Monday night. I was in the barn wrapping up Rio's foot when I heard the familiar squeal of tires. I live on the corner of two state roads at the bottom of a hill. People regularly fly down the hill without realizing the road T's off. Usually they manage to stop or pull of the turn without stopping (despite the stop sign there...). But occasionally they don't make it. Back in March someone was going so fast they actually hit a tree and died. Horrible. But I digress. Monday night I heard the familiar squeal. And I waited to see if I heard an engine gun or a crunch. I didn't exactly hear either, but I did hear something odd. So I walked outside to take a look. Yep, Jeep in the woods. They didn't make the turn, but fortunately didn't hit any trees. Just got stuck in the brush and mud. I called 911 and then the entire town of volunteer firepeople and a couple of cops showed up. Never a dull moment at Winthrop Corner! Fortunately, the young lady driving the car will be fine.
That's probably enough excitement for one week. What's up with you this Wednesday?