What's Up Wednesday

Soo.... this is my current situation...

Watching the American Gold Cup while I work. I imagine it won't be the most productive of days... There are some ridiculously nice horses at Old Salem this week. #jealous
First and most importantly, Badger made it through the hurricane unscathed! There were some trees down and some fencing will need repairing, but otherwise everything at trainer's is a-ok. Other than having no power, but I am pretty sure they have a generator. Hope so anyway!
This past week was pretty average. It wasn't especially busy, and I had time to ride both boys most days. Jampy had a really fun jump school this week AND I got to sit on my friend's horse this weekend. Lots of fun to be had.
My neighbor was kind of in and out this weekend because her sister got married, so I got to spend some time with her fur kids. They're so cute, I almost can't stand it.

Saturday morning there was a HUGE bike ride across the state to benefit the Yale Cancer Center called the Closer to Free Ride. It's 100 miles long, which is pretty crazy to me. One of my coworkers was doing the ride, and it happens to go right past my farm. So the pugs and I decided to hang out for a bit to cheer on the riders.

Unfortunately, my coworker was moving a lot faster than he expected so we missed him. But this one rider actually stopped to pet the kids. He said he has pugs too, and couldn't resist getting in a quick snuggle. Said we made his day! Imagine that? Here this guy is riding 100 miles on a bicycle to benefit cancer research, and WE made HIS day?

My observations from cheering on the bikers is that they are a much less miserable group than runners. When you cheer for bikers, they actually thank you and ask how your day is going. They do not at all seem like they may die at any moment. Thus I think bicycling may be better than running. I'm afraid to ride on the road though, so I guess I'll never know for sure.

In horsey news, I don't have any photos of  Rio from this week. Odd I know! Rest assured, he is doing just fine and has actually been a little sassy for our rides!

Jampy had another day of big jumping this week! He was so sound after last week's school that I felt ok about putting the jumps again. I set two at 3'3" and a couple at 3'6" and the others were all around 3' ish except for the little x into the combination.

The first time around after I raised them, he jumped fantastic! Unfortunately, I couldn't get any screen grabs at the right moment to prove that. After jumping around once though, he didn't jump that great. In his defense, I wasn't finding the best distances. I was having a hard time really getting him engaged and getting the impulsion I wanted to have an adjustable horse. Instead I had a mediocre canter and wound up only having a close option to leave from. It was a little warmer than it's been, so I think he was just a bit tired. He was no worse for the wear the next day or since so I don't think the height is too much for him physically. Though admittedly he could be a touch more fit. Anyway, here are some screen grabs from our school:

Lots of pets for the good pony! I wish he'd wear his ears better over jumps. He pricks them right until he leaves the ground and then they just flop back. Unless we're jumping toward the other end, then they stay up. But my camera is on this side! Oh well. Grumpy face it is I suppose.
My weekend helper invited me to her barn to sit on her horse Bug on Sunday. Bug is older, the same age as Rio at 21! He's an ex medal maclay horse AND an ex school horse. When I first got on, he acted like he had no idea how to give through his poll, but after some warm up laps at the trot, he came around. Literally and figuratively! Ha! I crack myself up. He was a little more tough at the canter, but I honestly think it's not easy for him. He probably has some hind end stuff going on at his age and experience level. When things got really hard for him though, he opted to shut down and go back to walk. I felt a LITTLE like an idiot a few times! Next time I carry a stick or a dressage whip. It was really fun to sit on something different. It's been awhile since I've done that, and it's always reassuring to see I actually do know what I'm doing. When you only ride your own horses all the time, you start to question that. I'm sorry I didn't get any photos of Bug!

And that's all that's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? Did you do any showing this weekend? Have a lesson? Something else entirely? Tell me about your weekend in the comments!