What a busy week it was around here! Which unfortunately meant that riding was pretty abbreviated most days. I'm proud to say that I DID ride six days last week, but over the weekend I only rode two each day. I did the best I could, but I ran out of both energy and daylight each day. It happens sometimes. And honestly, the horses were fine with it.
Eros had the easiest week of everyone. I decided after really not liking how he felt earlier last week that I would just tack walk him for a week and then see what we have. So yesterday was the first day I trotted him in a week. I think the break did him some good. He started out a little stiff, but once warmed up, he felt great! And then same result today, so that's promising. I'm going to keep the trotting and cantering to ten minutes for a little bit, along with 15-20 minutes of walking. And then I'll build up from there (weather permitting of course). I'm just glad he's feeling better!
Al's week was a little up and down. We had several lovely rides, but we also had a few that were tough for him. One of them was when someone on my road was having tree work done. Al really does not like the noises the industrial chippers make. He tried really hard to keep his head on straight that day, but it wound up having to be a walk only day. The nice part though was that he did do what I asked, and he never came completely undone. The other day he struggled was yesterday and I didn't blame him. What I've learned about Al is that he really appreciates routine. He dislikes not having his routine. As I talked about yesterday, the horses missed turnout yesterday. And Al was not a fan. Normally I would prioritize turnout over riding, but after the very light weekend, and knowing they would have Thursday off this week AND since I didn't ride Monday, I decided to prioritize riding this time. Which was fine with the other two, but not so much with Al. He just couldn't really settle. And then old bang clang (the red hooded neighbor) was also challenging us. At one point he was dragging two snow blowers across the entire yard. And then he just kept walking in and out of his garage. Which normally Al doesn't notice that so much, but that bright ass red hoodie he wears just was hard for Al to ignore. Especially when it was playing peekaboo the way it was. We managed to get a little bit of work done, but not much. But again, while he was terribly distracted, Al never came unhinged. And that's a big step for him. I had planned to lunge him today before I rode, but we got a lot of rain last night and I didn't really want him tearing around in the wet footing. So I just got on. And he was great! The universe provided us with no neighbor outside, minimal wind, and it was nearly 60 degrees out! The recipe for a good Al ride. We were stuck on half the ring due to the rain (the far side doesn't drain as well as the front half) but that's also kind of to Al's preference. He was so good today I let him canter some of the tiny "jumps" we have been using in our warm up to walk and trot over. He actually locked on to them and took me to them like he used to do. So proud of him!
Something I've noticed about him recently is that his silly personality is coming back out. The first year I had him I described him as Buddy the Elf. Every day was the best day ever, and he just had to touch everything all the time. But over the last few years, that part of him had disappeared. He was still kind of weird and annoying, but the joyfulness wasn't apparent. Lately it's been coming out again, and I'm so relieved. Hopefully we're turning a corner.
Shiny and I have been working on the forward button a lot this week. It seems to be a bit sticky which isn't a new problem. I think she's probably a little bored since we haven't jumped much lately. Maybe this weekend though! We'll see how the footing is. But overall she's been a good girl. When is she not? I'm really loving her new saddle. The balance is so much better, and I feel like I can use my leg much more effectively now.
That's about it from here this week. I'm proud of myself for fitting in so many rides between chores, watching my younger niece in "Matilda" on Friday night, the older one in her drum and piano recital Saturday, then the younger one again in "Winnie the Pooh" on Sunday. Throw in an extra day of chores along with an eye dr appointment... And it's been busy! My worker has the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. My brother and sister in law are hosting, so tomorrow I'll do chores and turnout and then give the horses the day off so I can head over there for turkey dinner. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be all horses all the time. Can't think of a better way to spend a weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!
No comments:
Post a Comment