What's Up Wednesday

 

Holiday time is so weird isn't it? Like what day is it even? Winter is not officially here yet, but it's really trying hard to show up already which has been messing with our productivity a little lately. Well that and all the holiday stuff. But you know? It's all good. I really love being able to attend all of my nieces concerts and plays and whatnot. And I love getting to spend holidays with my family. And if that means my horses work a little less, so what? We're not going to the Olympics. We're just trying to be the best versions of ourselves and that might sometimes mean taking it a little easy. 

That said, we haven't actually missed that many days. They had Thanksgiving off this week and also Sunday because it was pouring rain. But then I rode Monday, and gave them Tuesday off. Not because they needed another day, but I did. (Also, it poured buckets all day and the high was 35 degrees so you couldn't pay me to ride in that.) I gave my helper Thursday and Friday off. (Also, he was out sick Tuesday.) Days that I do the chores and ride everyone are usually between 10 and 12 hour long days. Which at my advancing age are long days to be moving around nonstop. So I really needed a day to get some things done that didn't involve horses. And also I think my body was grateful for a little rest. 

Here's Rita in her Thanksgiving outfit to break up this wall of text.

You'd be proud though. That day off was productive! I did my PT exercises, laundry, paid all the beginning of the month household bills, got my Covid shot, ran a few errands, scheduled Rita's rabies shot that she's coming due for, got the Gator scheduled (and picked up same day!) because it won't start when it's below 34 for some reason, knocked off about 2/3 of my holiday shopping, and of course fed the horses all of their meals (which includes weighing, bagging, and soaking Shiny's hay). Oh! And I scheduled a meeting with a snow plow guy so hopefully I can get that crossed off my list. He'll be by tomorrow morning. It was a solid day off. It always amazes me how many hours are in a day when you aren't grooming, riding, and cleaning up the barn. It's no wonder people who don't ride can do so many things. 

But you're not really here to talk about my adulting. Let's talk horses! We've been getting a lot of rain, which apparently we do need because we were in a drought much of the year. The trouble with rain this time of year though, is that the ground freezes so the water doesn't drain very quickly. Thus, during the day we have a lot of puddles and mud, and during the dark hours everything is rock hard. Makes for challenging riding conditions. But we've been working it out. The far end of the ring hasn't been rideable because it's just too wet. And the long side by Old Bang and Clang (aka the red hood, aka the awful neighbor), seems to mostly stay frozen because it doesn't get sun. Fortunately, the quarter line stays soft, so we do have a decent amount of space to ride. We're limited in what we can do somewhat with the space constraints. But we're doing what we can. And it's going just fine! Temps are supposed to really tank for Friday and Saturday, so I spent this morning spreading mag flakes on the front half of the ring. It wasn't enough to defrost the one long side, but I'll try adding some more and see if that helps. I didn't do a heavy coat of it. I didn't bother with the top half since it was so wet. Fingers crossed it keeps the ring usable for the weekend, but we shall see. I'd like to put the mag down and then drag, but alas... I need the gator to get home for that task. Hopefully it will be back tomorrow. 

Photo last week before the start of full mud season

Al's been pretty good! Sunday he was a little beside himself so I wasn't sad we didn't ride that day. But I think it was our resident hawk that was upsetting him. He really gets worked up when that thing is hunting on our property. But I personally appreciate the assistance with rodent control. (I just don't like when he eats the bunnies.) Despite him being a little weird Sunday, he was still a perfect angel to have his mane pulled which is more than I can say for his siblings. Overall we've been having pretty productive rides. I don't know why walking over obstacles seems to keep his head on straight, but whatever. I'll take it. We've had a positive side effect to all that walking over things besides his better attention keeping capabilities. He's actually using his hind end better in general. He no longer drags half of his shavings out with him when he leaves the stall. And I don't see any toe dragging when we're walking around the ring. So I guess we'll just have to keep walking over stuff forever and ever.

I'm also learning a lot about how I am also a big part of the problem. (Shocking, right?) Today for example. He was on the edge of staying present with me and getting a little worked up. For a moment, I felt myself getting tense and trying to muscle him into bending and paying attention to me. He doesn't interpret that in a helpful way. So instead of letting that spiral, I brought him back to the walk and asked him to move his haunches, then his shoulders, back and forth for a few strides. And we both went back to being relaxed and got back to work. He's just teaching me so much. I think having this winter slow down will be very good for us. Because at some point the footing won't be useful for anything more than walking, and so we'll have to find ways to keep our focus. I think once I learn to keep his attention and keep both of us from getting tense, we'll be in a much better place. And honestly, we're kind of getting some of that already. (Or finally... depending on how you look at it.) I do feel a change in him though, for the better. A few months ago, if he came out how he did today, I wouldn't have been able to get done anything productive. But today we did. And we ended on a good note, with both of us happy and neither of us exhausted. Even if it doesn't last, I'm enjoying these moments with him right now.

Princess Shiny is HIGHLY unmotivated these days. She thinks if we're not jumping for the foreseeable future there's no point in going forward. Or using herself properly. And if I really want those things I should work really hard. She also loves that we're using quarter sheets so she can pretend like she doesn't feel Mr. Tappy. Which.... I KNOW she feels him. Because I am who I am, I do worry that she may have some cold induced breathing difficulty. I don't see her struggling like last year when she went on the Ventipulmin for a bit, but it would explain her reluctance to work. On the other hand, Shiny is generally reluctant to work, so I'm not sure it's any different from the norm. It may just be that we're not riding as long (because I have limited day light/thawed footing hours) so we don't get to the point in the ride that she finally decides to go. I'll be keeping a close eye on her though, and if she does seem to have having a hard time I will get doc out asap. In the meantime, I'll be over here begging her to move her legs.

Photo from last Wednesday when it felt like spring
Today's high was 35

Eros on the other hand, is a tad sassy! Thank goodness we're using a small part of the ring or we might have some unplanned mounted zoomies.... Ha! I'm glad he's feeling good though. Plus it's Eros. He doesn't really do anything wrong. He feels pretty good lately too. I think that light week really did him some good. Every now and then I still feel a little something on a turn, but otherwise he's feeling back to his old self. Which is a relief. In general, our rides have been pretty light and easy, but I've been asking him for a little bit of pulling himself together and lifting his belly for short spurts. So far so good! 

That's about all I've got today. Do any of you walk your horses over obstacles? Is this a thing? I think it should be a thing.