What's Up Wednesday

And I'm home! Fact finding went well. More info next week! In the meantime, let's revisit the last week. It was busy and full of pony time!
I decided after Shiny's opinions last week not to ride her again in the ill fitting saddle. And thus, that meant not riding her until something else found its way to me. Boo. Fortunately, I arranged a trial and a deal with someone on Ebay. It's a lovely Butet, 17" with short flaps and a wide tree. Unfortunately, the seller shipped it USPS instead of UPS so it didn't get here before I left for Florida. Anyway, the point is, I decided to go ride Eros on Thursday instead of fussing with the kids at home. Eros was perfect of course, and the kids at home were perfectly happy to be left alone for an evening.

Friday they actually let us leave a little early to kick off our long weekend. (Kinda digging the new boss... she also supplied an ice cream sundae bar on Thursday.) Due to the short work day I think, I was feeling all kinds of motivated. It was also GORGEOUS out which is pretty rare around here. Generally it seems to rain for at least part of every day. I decided to throw Rio on the lunge line and see how unsound he was feeling.

He was feeling quite sassy! Aside from that though, he's not terrible tracking left. Going right, he's super unsound. At his age though, there's really no need anymore to be overly concerned with keeping things even both ways. Especially with his neurological state. So maybe we'll just keep our lunge work tracking left.  I was happy to see him feeling sassy though. His little bucks are so cute. (Especially since I don't have to sit them...)

I put Shiny on the lunge line too. She very much thinks lunging is unnecessary if she's not feeling wild, but I did get her to walk and trot out on the circle at least.

She was basically asleep. She might be my spirit animal.

Saturday I headed out to Eros after running a few errands. He had some body work done Friday, so we took it easy, but he was feeling great. I don't always really feel much difference after they get worked on, but I could tell in the last few rides that he might benefit from a session. And he definitely did. He was much easier to get put together than the last several rides. And I got to ride with step mom on Fefe!

It was pretty cute to have both the Seidman kids getting tubbies at the same time:

The kids at home each got extra good groomies and an extended hand grazing session. It was another beautiful day, and since I was flying out the next day, I knew they wouldn't get as much time outside while I was away.

I even had a little time to hang out outside with the puggers before I had to finish packing and straightening up the house.
My flight Sunday wasn't until the late afternoon, so I had time to get a quick lesson on Eros. But first I dropped the short kids off with grandma.

I was in a semi private with one of the junior eq kids and trainer was really into no stirrup work on the flat. I totally pulled the ammy card though. It's not that I'm not willing to put in the work, but I really didn't want to be crippled sore for my fact finding mission in Florida. Once the torture was over we moved on to jumping. I tried the two ring bit in my lesson that day. I had used it once before when we first got Eros and didn't like it, but since we've evolved quite a bit, I thought it might work now. It is the bit I flat him in most of the time. But turns out, it's still very much the wrong bit to jump him. At one point, based on his actions, I thought he had gotten his tongue over the bit. Nope. He just hates it. Ah well. Don't know if you don't try. Other than the bit complaints, he was pretty good. We definitely need to do more lessons though. Hopefully I'll get a schedule figured out soon. It's tough to ride all the horses when they're in two locations and I have to adult at the full time job too. But I'll get it figured out. Eventually.

And then I had time to feed the tall kids lunch, grab a quick shower, and drive myself up to the airport. The flight was probably half empty which was lovely and arrived on time. I had checked into the airport on Facebook and a good friend of mine from college saw. So when I turned my phone back on in Florida, I had a text from her asking if I was in Florida. I said I was, and she said she was too! Turns out she and her hubs just bought a condo about twenty minutes from my dad's place. Yay more Florida friends! They were flying home to CT the next day, but we wound up meeting for dinner.

Such a nice unplanned evening! I swear, I think I see more of her out of state than in, which is funny. We met in NY in college, but both are from CT (then and now). Yet we almost always catch up in random other states. We should probably work on that.
Traveling for some reason really wears me out, so I was happy to head right to bed when I got back from dinner.
Monday morning I met up with my trainer and watched her ride her horses. And then we set out on our adventure. After which we tried to have a nice lunch but everything was closed so we wound up at Five Guys. Honestly? It was so delicious in that moment! I was starving!
I didn't have any plans for the rest of the day. I really am running low on extra funds, so I didn't want to go shop. It was in the 90's so going for a run wasn't on my list of fun things either. I decided to really embrace vacation. I put on a bathing suit (and some sunscreen) and laid on a chair by the pool (in the shade, cause 90 degrees). I finished the book I've been reading and was otherwise a complete sloth.

It was lovely! Before the damn bugs came out I made myself get up and shower so I could go out for some dinner. I had my eating schedule planned out weeks ago. It was Thai that night! Yummmm!
Tuesday was similar, but trainer and I got to have that nice lunch this time. I couldn't be a total sloth two days in a row, so I did wind up walking around the mall. Not to shop, I just wanted to be on my feet and out of the heat. I love hot weather, don't get me wrong, but I'm not used to it yet. It's been mostly chilly in CT. (Still is, 50's and raining upon my return.) I was pretty well behaved at the mall. And headed out for dinner once I had walked the entire thing. It was TooJay's that night which is like a cross between a Jewish deli and a diner. They've added some things to the menu, and I tried something new. Potato latkes topped with sour cream and smoke salmon. It was indulgent, AND delicious. Highly recommend. And then it was time to do a load of laundry and pack up to come home. It was a really quick trip, but it was great, and I'm hoping successful.
The airport was a total cluster this morning. They had only two of four computers working to print boarding passes and even those two kept freezing. Then it was another long line to get a baggage tag because the kiosks weren't printing those. What a mess. Made it on time though. And I'm pretty sure the dude in the row behind me had Tuberculosis. So if I die of a lung condition next week, y'all know why. So gross. Why do people fly like that?
I didn't really do anything with the horses tonight. I might have had time, but rain was coming. And I wanted to get unpacked and pick up the puggers. The saddle had arrived for Shiny though, so I did toss it on her quick to see how the fit was. It's a thousand times better than the PJ. There's still a tiny bit of bridging but it's slight, and I think a half pad will help, maybe with some shims. I'll ride in it hopefully tomorrow and make a decision about it. I'm pretty sure it will stay though. The price is certainly right and it's in beautiful condition.
That's what's up this Wednesday! Kind of a lot. I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow. My stand in decided at 2 pm not to help me anymore, so it's going to be a ridiculous day. Yay. Rumor has it the ice cream truck is coming though, so there's that.
How was your week and weekend? Do anything fun for the holiday weekend? Are you all safe from the crazy weather out west?? Been thinking about all of you westerners!