What's Up Wednesday

 

So.... I gotta stop talking about good things because that always seems to ruin them. My potential backup barn worker plan fell through right after I told you all about that. She was concerned about having to climb up into the dumpster to dump the buckets. Fair concern. But bummer for me. I have put off my conversation with current worker because in case he decides to walk, I really need the help this week and next. The result of NOT having the conversation though, is that so far both days this week I came into Eros' door being like this:

Honestly. How do you just not latch the door? Monday I found an empty muck bucket in Shiny's stall. Just sitting there by the door. I don't get it. Definitely need to find someone new pretty quickly. I wish I could do it all myself. Lots of other people do. But the days I do chores and ride all the horses, those are 12-13 hour days. And I know I can't do that seven days a week. My body won't let me. I know lots of people do, but I guess I'm just not as tough as those people. Or maybe they are just much younger than me! Ha! Probably that one. 

Anyway, things are going well with the horses. When we did our first round of shots I did a follow up EPM titer on Al and a Lyme on Eros. Both came back very low which translates to negative and that's great news. I didn't do anything for Shiny because her numbers have been great. Though she now has a bunch of tick bites, so I'll probably pull a Lyme at some point on her. 

Al and I had a few tough days which I mentioned last week. And it did continue another ride before he got back to being more settled again. The last not so good ride though, I think he was honestly just a bit fresh rather than being unsettled. Because I was able to get a little tough with him and he respected that and decided to get to work. What's so tough about him is trying to decipher when he's being sassy and when he's unsettled. If he's sassy you can really ride him, and put some pressure on, but when he's unsettled you cannot or he spirals. But the behaviors can be very similar so it's tricky to know for sure how to work with him on a given day. We had a really nice ride yesterday in which he was actually forward thinking, and did all the things asked with very minimal Al drama. I did opt out of riding him Sunday though. The wind was silly, jumps were all blown over. Neighbor was out there with all kinds of machinery. Instead we did some work in hand and then had a nice graze. I think it was the right call for him that day. Just letting him know he can stay focused on a bad day without adding in riding I think was good for him. I'll just keep testing theories until I figure this horse out! 

Eros is feeling pretty good these days! I can tell he's getting stronger, he's more flexible too. At least on the warmer days. We have our spring maintenance scheduled for the next week, and I'm sure he will benefit from that too. I jumped him around over our little 18" jumps a couple times last week and he was soft and lovely. And yesterday he offered up some pretty impressive extended trot in each direction. I'm going to keep taking things nice and slow with him, but knock on wood, he's coming out of winter very nicely this year! Maybe that time off was really beneficial for him. 

I think Shiny is the most looking forward to her spring maintenance. As long as I take my time warming her up she's actually giving me great work. But if I try to rush any part of it? So many opinions. That's what I love about this pony. She's adamant about the rules (her rules) and makes sure I follow them to a T. I'm pretty happy with her overall though. I'm excited to see how she feels once she has her vet appointment next Friday. 

This week will be pretty light riding wise for the horses. We're getting rain this afternoon, and I have tickets to & Juliet tonight so they're getting a day off. I plan to spend the afternoon working on cleaning in the barn to try and get a little ahead on that. Tomorrow will be a regular day and Friday I should have time to ride everyone, but a little abbreviated because I have to be at the Synagogue at 7. And I imagine I should be showered for that... Lol! They'll have Saturday off too because I'll be attending my niece's Bat Mitzvah! Services in the morning, then the big party after! I hired our horse sitter to do the morning chores and lunch which was the best decision for everyone. That way the horses get their full turnout time and I don't have to get up at 4am to get done in time. I'll be home in time to feed dinner. Then Sunday I'll have lots of clean up to do I'm sure. But that's okay. I'll have the whole day to do it. Hopefully, anyway. I need to see if my mom is okay with celebrating Mother's Day another day. (May is really silly with so many things going on!) Assuming mom is on board, I do plan to ride Sunday. 

Next week will be normal until Friday when the vet comes. But that timing should work out well because they'll have a rest day Saturday from the injections. I'm driving down to New Jersey for a Bar Mitzvah that day, so the day off works out perfectly time wise. I'll do stalls and hand walks in the morning, feed lunch, and get on the road by 12:30ish. Bar Mitzvah stuff from 4:30-10 (maybe I'll leave a little earlier) and then home by 1:30am. I have my former weekend helper feeding dinner for me, and then I was smart and hired the horse sitter again for Sunday chores so I can get some sleep. With the timing of the vet appointment, I probably could have just fed and then gone back to sleep since the horses will still be off from riding Sunday. But I hired her before I made the vet appointment and I don't want to cancel on her. She's a college student so I know the extra funds are a big help. It will be nice to have an easy day anyway after a very long day Saturday. Things should get back to normal after that weekend thank goodness! 

That's about it from here. How are your horses doing so far this spring?