What's Up Wednesday!

It's been very horsey around here this past week! FINALLY! I had braiding jobs Friday through Sunday, but it wasn't your typical job. I only had to do tails! How easy! Friday morning I had two to do, but unfortunately, I only remembered to grab a photo of one of them.

You probably don't recognize him from this angle (lol) but this is Linus, the horse I borrowed several years ago to finish off my year end points. He was a lesson horse back then, but now he's owned by a wonderful family who spoils him rotten. He totally deserves that! It was nice to see him again!

After tail braiding I had to go adult at work. Boo. And then I did the usual with the boys at home. Not a wild Friday, but it was just fine.
Saturday was ridiculously busy. But all good things (mostly). We covered some of it yesterday. I got up and braided Linus' tail again:

And then I drove an hour north to see and ride the baby Badger:

Then I drove the hour home to feed the boys their lunch and let the pups out. And then I got to ride Bradley!

We nearly fell down warming up. I shit you not, he tripped over a poop pile (see what I did there) and literally almost fell all the way down. I thought we were both goners. Thankfully he managed to right himself and nobody died. Phew. Other than that, he was really great! There was a lot going on, a weed whacker running, some of the horses in the paddocks adjacent to the ring were having a lot of fun, and the kids were trying (unsuccessfully) to free lunge a new horse in the round pen. So he was maybe a little distracted. But we had some really impressive trot work. I knew it was in there! The canter definitely isn't there yet, but I did manage to get a few strides with his back up and his head lower. It felt amazing, and I hope to get that canter more and more from him. What a good brontosaurus! Also, I've taken to calling him Big Brad. It's fitting given he's part dino.
After Bradley, I headed back home to groom and walk my boys. I made sure to follow the one rule of Saturday: DO NOT SIT DOWN. Especially this Saturday because I would never have been able to get back up. Two horses in one day after 3 weeks out of the saddle, is ROUGH on an old lady body, let me tell you!
Anyway, the boys each had a nice walk, and Rio enjoyed some grass.

Gonna be honest here... I miss his dad bod.

But that wasn't the end of Saturday! I had a date with my mom to stuff myself full of bad food and win toys away from small children at my town's fair! I love a good fair. Especially the eating. And the giant unicorns.

Pig races are ridiculously entertaining in case you haven't been.

I also found the cutest bunny and some baby cows sleeping.

It was super fun. Obviously. And by the end of the evening there, I was POOPED. Fortunately, Sunday was going to be fairly quiet.
I got up Sunday for one last tail braid for Linus.

And then I decided to hang around the show for a bit. A few of my friends had their daughters showing so I hung with them for a few hours. This show was the finals for one of our local associations. It's geared toward the beginner levels, so the highest classes are 3'. But those didn't end up having enough qualifiers to run them. Anyway, it's pretty adorable to see all these young kids at their own finals. They get coolers, neck ribbons, and legit giant long ribbons for their accomplishments. Maybe I was a little jealous.
I left around noon to go feed the boys and get them out for their walks. After that I played with the pups outside. I haven't been happy with their harnesses, so ordered them some new ones last week. We tested them out, and I think they're pretty great!

I had to skip the lake this week because I had a family dinner to go to. Also lovely!

Monday was pretty quiet. Work and tending to the ponies. It was starting to get super humid and hot again though, and I've been trying to keep an eye on Jamp. He's just a hair sucked up and has been breathing a little heavy. Not like hyperventilating or anything, but a bit more rapid than I think is normal. I've been in touch with the vet, and we're just monitoring for right now. He's eating & drinking and pooping & peeing, all the important things. He's a known bad sweater, so we're hoping he's just a little warm. His temp has been normal though. Last night I threw some ice boots on him to cool him off and he did seem to appreciate that. I've mentioned that he's eating, but he's not eating as well as he has been. So that's also something to watch. Hopefully it's all nothing, but I can't help but be concerned.
I actually got to ride last night too! But I didn't get any media at all, not even a head shot. Sorry! My neighbor just up the street stopped by when I was home at lunch time and asked if I wanted to ride. I kind of wanted to say no since it was 93 degrees with a feels like temp of 102, but I figured it would be cooler by evening. Plus who says no to riding a nice horse? So I said yes. After work, I checked on Jampy, talked with the vet for a bit about him, and gave the boys their hay. Then I went and had a great ride on Eddie. He's really fun, and I liked him even more than the last time I rode him. The other girl who's been riding him is prego and wants to stop riding until she has her baby, so I'm going to get to sit on him twice a week. I'm super excited about that!

Well.. That's what's up this Wednesday! Lots of ponies! Riding, tail braiding, hand walking! Mostly all good, except for Jamp being weird. Hopefully that passes when the rain comes tomorrow.
How was your week? Do any showing or lessoning? Has fair season started where you are?