What's Up Wednesday

 

This was a relatively quiet week. The most exciting part was my first lesson with Al! I rode in my old Bellino lesson, but it's grown to a big group. A couple of the kids were less experienced so everything stayed low and easy. Perfect for our first time jumping courses together! I have some pretty terrible quality media to share... But it's media none-the-less! (Winter is tough, what can I say?) 

Guys. I had SO MUCH fun! I absolutely do struggle keeping him going sometimes, and we have a lot to learn about each other. But this horse is game! He takes zero offense if I make a mistake, and seems to be really brave to the jumps too. He popped over all the boxes and some flowers and while I won't say he didn't take a peak, he never offered anything but to do his job. I'm STUPID excited for what might be to come with this horse.

I also had my second lesson on him this past Tuesday. It was a flat lesson which we desperately need. We did do some work through a line of poles. It was set as a four stride line if the jumps were up and we had to do four, five, and six. While we did make some mistakes and didn't nail it every time, we did manage to all three options very nicely (eventually). He's only six after all, so it's understandable that we're not going to be perfect the first time at everything. 

Unfortunately (there's always one of those, isn't there) I discovered he has a quarter crack after my ride today. He's completely sound on it, so I'm hoping VERY hard it won't really be an issue other than my farrier having to make some changes. Unless it bothers him, I'm hoping it's okay to proceed with caution. 

It honestly is less apparent in person. Hopefully this won't be a thing. Ugh.

Eros had his first real lesson too! I have no media though because his lesson was early and there weren't any pony moms around to record for us. He was a good boy, and we only jumped about six fences since he's really just starting back to jumping. I remember now why I dislike doing formal lessons with him. Trainers always want to get the horses moving forward on the flat, which yes, is good practice. But in the case of Eros, once his stride gets bigger than 12' he has very little interest in shortening it back up. And thus, when we trotted in and cantered out of a three stride (cantering in...) line, we were not successful in putting four strides in that line. I wasn't going to fight with him about it right now, as he did stay soft and relaxed and wasn't a freight train. That's a lesson for a fitter day. He has another lesson tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty excited to try again!

Chronic blanket sniffer.

Shiny seems to finally be feeling better. I've been keeping our rides a little short, letting her really warm up before asking for contact. And once she gives me some nice work, I let her stretch again for a bit before trying again. Today was the first day that she felt pretty sound while in the contact tracking left. So that's a big step for her. Hopefully she's on the mend!
Part of her plan right now is to make sure we do our carrot stretches before our ride everyday. Guys. She's turning into a bit of a treat monster due to that! I always give the horses a cookie at the end of the day before I go home (or at night check if they're home with me) but I don't generally treat them on the cross ties or before we work. But since she has to do these stretches, she gets treats. And she looks for them now! So bad. Very annoying. But it's pretty cute when she does the stretches on her own hoping she'll get a reward. Sorry Shiny, the only reward is a well stretched neck...

Nothing has changed. He still eats everything I wear.

Pammon is doing well back in the barn. I was very worried he'd be weaving a lot and upset to be back in the stall, but honestly, I think he's really happy to be back. He's been so relaxed and happy. His body, however, is taking a little longer to acclimate. He stocks up all around right now. I'd be super worried if it was just one leg, but since it's pretty consistent with all of them, I'm not freaking out just yet. The legs look better after our 30 minute walk too, so that's reassuring. It's tough though, because I'm supposed to watch for swelling in the bad leg, and well, yeah it gets swollen... But he's walking nicely and seems happy, so we'll carry on until his next vet visit. It's fun spending real time with him again. I hope he makes a real comeback. 

That's about it from here. How was your week? Do anything fun with your horse(s)?