Thursday's Threads: Nantucket Edition

 

Outfit Day! I was excited to finally get this one put together because it's been something I wanted to do for awhile now. My family used to vacation pretty regularly on Nantucket island... and in fact they still do! they're all there this weekend but I'm not able to join because I have braiding jobs lined up. Bummer for me, but big sigh of relief for my wallet! Ha! Anyway, today's outfit is dedicated to my love for Nantucket. Al is our model because he looks stunning in Nantucket red (which is really kinda pink...) Here's what we had on:

He might be a special boy in many ways, but he is lovely to look at. I think he's actually smiling in this photo. Definitely understood the assignment.

Here's a closer look at his outfit:

He was not as enthused to pose without me... Haha, best I could get!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Brow band: Made by me

I'm experimenting with an interchangeable brow band. This one has done the job well enough, but I think if I ever were to market it, I'd want it leather backed with leather loops. But for now, just for me at home, this is working out just fine! Also, you might notice a different bit (again). I was able to find some cherry roller bits like the full cheek he likes but in a loose ring and it's not copper like his other one. This one was only $30 so even though it's not exactly like the one I really like, it's tons more affordable and will work perfectly for his fun bridles so we don't have to keep switching bits around. He seemed happy enough in it. I think he does prefer a fixed cheek in general though. But for a savings of $130 he can deal with the loose ring once in awhile.

Boots: Premier Equine, embellished by me

I love when I can find a fabric with print that fits well onto our boot straps. I hunted for probably two years to find this! I really wanted Nantucket red, and also wanted the island outline. But a lot of prints are too big. This one is maybe a little small for the boots, but it's good enough.

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Ippico
Saddle Pad: Ogilvy, embellished by me

Yep, I got a lot of use out of this fabric. And also got pretty lucky that the print was small enough to work for all three parts of Al's outfit! 

So that's what he was wearing, and here's what I had on:

I really wasn't sure which boots to wear. But I thought these felt kind of nautical and islandy. Plus I haven't worn them in forever, so it was time to bust them back out.

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Blues are always islandy, plus it matches the boots nicely. Haven't worn this one in awhile either!

Tee Shirt: Not sure on brand

Nantucket has beaches that you can drive on and set up a tailgate party right on the beach! But to be able to do that you have to have a special pass for your car. Every season they switch up the colors, and the pass has become kind of iconic. So that's what is printed on this tee. People leave them all on their beach cars year after year, and my dad's cheap is starting to get a pretty good collection on it!

Belt: BeRibbon (Etsy)

The belt has that same iconic beach pass on it too! I really wanted to do this for the browband instead of the fabric I had, but I couldn't find the ribbon for sale on its own. Probably could have asked this belt maker if they'd sell me some, but it's okay. I think it all comes together fine as it is. 

Breeches: Horseware

Nothing says New England Island like seersucker! So obviously the seersucker breeches had to come out for this outfit. These are roughly 1 million years old, but they still fit! Definitely not as comfy as the newer fabrics though. 

Boots: Celeris

You guys have seen these before but it's been a long while. I snagged these for a SONG in a demo sale from Reiten-Leider. They were super cheap for two reasons: first, few people have tiny feet and full calves but secondly because they have no zipper. Instead they have rhinestones up the back just like up on the tops of these. They're super fun! The no zipper thing is a little annoying, but once you get the hang of fast lacing, it's not that big of a deal. 

That's it for today! Do you like the Nantucket theme? What should I do next?? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

So a funny thing happened last week after I gave Al so much praise... And yes, I'm CLEARLY a crazy person for constantly allowing the hope to creep in. 

Full of hope here!

But here's what happened. Despite my ordering more Esomeprazole for Al on the Monday right after his last scope, for some reason the pharmacy took ten days to send it to me. And I had only enough left for eight days. He is still on the Sucralfate, and I had a different Omeprazole product still from our last attempt at curing these ulcers, so I figured we'd be okay for a couple of days. I was not going to panic nor was I going to jump to any conclusions and create a problem where there wasn't one. Really. I truly thought we'd be fine. 

Obviously, since I'm talking about it, I was wrong. So, SO wrong. After our wonderful and exciting (in a good way) jump school on Wednesday, he was a completely unhinged psychopath on Thursday. We're talking dragon breathing, snorting, head in the air, spinning around in place cuckoo. So bad that I actually got off and just worked him on the lunge instead. And he was even nutty on the lunge line. Talk about soul crushing. But ever the optimist, I hoped maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe the next day he would be okay. I mean, he's been on such a good roll for SO long, it couldn't all be over. Right?

No. Friday wasn't much better. It was a little better. No spinning in place. But that was the only improvement. Thankfully the correct meds arrived that afternoon, so Saturday he could get back on his scheduled treatment plan. Saturday was a little better than Friday. But still. It wasn't great. Sunday is Sunday Funday over here, but I was not about to ride Al without a bit or saddle this week. So we instead did a walk/trot low pressure ride. And it wasn't too bad. Still angsty on the scary side of the ring, but I didn't feel like he was electrified anymore so that's a good step in the right direction. 

Did earn himself some snackies!

This week he's been slowly but surely coming back to earth. I had hoped to jump him a little today, but with his delicate psyche just coming around and the wind blowing... I opted out. Not quite ready yet. Probably more me than him that's not ready, but whatever. I have to be smart this week because I have a lot of braiding the next two weekends. And what's the rush? There isn't one. And so we flatted. And it wasn't bad. So I'm calling that a win. But I am concerned that these ulcers might never heal. Or maybe it was just acid storm he was experiencing? I dunno. Whatever it was, it wasn't good! But I am relieved he's coming back around. Fingers crossed it was the med change (as it does seem to be) and not some other problem that I'll need to figure out. Because this horse has taught me a lot of lessons, but I could use a little break from all the learning for a little bit. 

In summary, Al had a rough few days, but I think he's coming around. And yes, I'm dumb enough to keep hoping for that!

Eros has been testing the waters a little bit lately too. He's not being naughty of course, that's not who he is. But he does this thing that my mother does when she calls me. She's there on the phone with me, but she's not actually listening to anything I might say. The Eros version of that is this: He will be present for our rides, but only like 40% of attention will be on me. The rest is somewhere outside the ring wondering how much longer till dinner, and how many more years he'll have to work before he retires. You know, just horse thoughts. I didn't fully notice just how tuned out he was until today though. I was thinking about jumping him a little so I came to the ride unarmed. (And by that I mean no spurs and no stick because those things cause torpedos when we jump.) Guys. I asked him to trot and it took three tries until he did it. I chalked that up to not being warmed up. Eros takes a bit to get going, it's just who he is as a horse. But like, it kept happening. Delayed responses to everything. Once I asked him to circle and he was so busy looking out of the ring he just never turned. 

I realized I had been letting him just half do all of our rides for awhile now (obviously) and this was definitely an issue that I slowly allowed to happen. So today's plan shifted from jumping to a much more intense flat ride. We did transitions. SO MANY transitions. Until they were prompt. Then we trotted figures until he agreed to look where he was going and not outside the ring. And then we both were very sweaty and tired. I imagine we'll need a few more rides like this one to get him back on track fully, but I was happy with how he finished. So that was nice. 

Honestly, I get a little bit of a giggle out of Eros being a distracted old man. He's just generally such an agreeable guy that it's funny when he's just kind of doing his own thing. And at his age, why shouldn't he? (Don't tell him I said that.) 

Otherwise, he's been a good boy. And hopefully we can do some jumpies later this week. We shall see. There's always next week!

Shiny has been great! I don't really do the fun stuff with her in the summer because her kiddo does all the jumping days, but they've been doing so well together! Today kiddo learned how to get her on the bit, and it was so perfect! I have her coming a few extra days over the next week or so to help me out during the big braiding days. Shiny's kiddo has always had somewhat challenging horses to learn on, so Shiny's been the most reliable teacher for her. And it's really fun to watch them growing as a pair so nicely. 

Shiny is in the dog house though over one thing. This summer she's started this fun game of peeing on the crossties. Up until today she has only done it in the wash stall, but today she did it in the aisle. Which was a lot harder to clean up and definitely a lot more annoying. While I don't truly think anything is wrong, I am going to have doc pull a blood panel on her next time he's out just to be sure there's not something going on. I kind of think she does it just to get back to her stall. Usually I can catch her start to stretch out and I'll toss her in the stall. But I've noticed once in the stall, if there's hay in there, she doesn't go pee right away. First she eats the hay. She's a smart pony, and I kind of think she's figured out how to get back to her food faster. Didn't work today though. Since she had already peed and hadn't yet been washed off from her ride, she got to stand extra long in the crossties after her shower to dry off. And then I fed everyone lunch, while she was drying. She was big mad. But she had nothing left to excrete which I think contributed to her frustration. Lol. It's tough being a pony. 

I accidentally filmed myself (from my pocket) putting shavings on this peepee.
So here's a screenshot of the soaking up of the pee. This was followed by
sweeping up all the shavings, and then a simple green scrub, a rinse, and a towel dry.
I'm pretty sure it still smells like pee. But what more can I do? I might spray some
enzyme on there tomorrow to get the smell out. 

That's about it from here this week. Just plugging along, trying to be the best we can be. Some days are more successful than others. Haha! Nothing exciting planned for the next couple of weeks while I'm busy with twisting hairs. What about you guys?? Have anything exciting planned?

Thursday's Threads

 

Okay, I know promised lots of weeks of new fun outfits, but I lied a little. Most of my silly fun outfits have cotton tee shirts. And most of this week has been over 90 degrees. That is not acceptable cotton wearing weather. So I had to go boring this week. Sorry friends. I imagine next week we can have some fun. Anyway, Al is our model this week and this is what he's been wearing:

Bridle: Pinnacle
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

Okay you caught me. His outfit pics are reused. But this is more or less what he's wearing this week too. But the giveaway is that this is his old bit in this picture. He's currently going in a fidget spinner. Which is what I'm calling this bit:

He loves it. When he gets a little nervous he spins the rollers and sometimes (not every time) he'll relax and remember to listen to me. And of course THIS is the one he likes best because it's stupid expensive. I usually like to have their favorite bit on a few of their bridles so we have options without having to move things around. But I'm not sure that will be in the cards for this one. Unless any of you happen to have one you're not using and would like to sell!

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes

Baby Pad: Ogilvy

These really are my favorite saddle pads right now. (Though the Anatomeq ones are my second favorites!) I'm actually considering selling off most of my other pads because I really don't reach for anything else very often. 

Boots: Horze

Tis the season for non fuzzy boots! So these are out here earning their keep. I like the Anky ones better, but these do the job just fine.

So that's what Al is wearing this week, and here's what I had on:

Yep, that's right. I rode in a tank top. Multiple days! I like this one with the high neck though. Feels more sporty. 

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

While I think my Samshield fits my head a little bit better, I do think the One K's have better air flow. So for the really hot days I tend to reach for one of those.

Tank: Lavento

Last summer I bought a few tank tops in the same fabric as the shirts I like to ride in and this was one of them. It's really comfortable, dries quickly, and I like that the neckline is a little higher so I still feel like I'm wearing clothes even though my arms are out. 

Belt: Vintage Ralph Lauren

I bought this belt AGES ago. Like probably more than ten. I don't recall if I found it on Ebay or Poshmark, but regardless it was pre owned, but in perfect condition. As it remains today because it was buried for awhile in my belt collection. I'm happy to have it back in rotation because it's so cute!

Breeches: Romfh

I'm a big fan of these Romfh breeches. This is the color Maple, and it's almost exactly the same color as the interior of my car. But I think they call it saddle. Ha!

Boots: Celeris UK

I feel like I owe it to all of us to wear the most fun boots when we have a less than exciting outfit. So here they are! My most fun boots! I love them so much.

And that's it for today! I do have plans for something silly next week, so hopefully the weather will cooperate. I haven't narrowed it down to one yet, but both that I'm contemplating are fun.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Shiny's kid came to ride today plus it's still pretty steamy out there (92 at the moment) so rides were short and that all means that I got done SO EARLY in the barn! So early that I had time to type this post out before family dinner! Yay! 

Let's just jump back to Friday last week because that's where all the interesting stuff happened. You may recall we had an appointment with Doc for Al's rescope and Eros was getting an eval. Al got to go first since he had to fast all night and morning for his scope. He had finished his full dose of esomeprazole a few days prior and was getting a half dose to start his taper. I kind of felt like he was reverting back a little to electric Al, but I didn't want to believe that, and so I kept that info to myself. But as it turns out, I think i might have been right. The scope showed that his ulcers are MUCH better. Like nearly gone. But not entirely. And so I do think he was less comfortable on the half dose of meds. He's back on the full dose for another month and then we'll scope again to see if he's finally cured at that point. 

cute photo to break up text

In the past we've just treated him rather than scoping because we knew there was a problem. Didn't really need proof, right? But clearly that hasn't worked because he always gets worse as soon as we stop treatment. This time we scoped before treatment and then again at the end, and this was so informative because it suggests that we've never fully cured the ulcers. Hence why his behavior deteriorates once we stop meds. Because the improvement is so significant I do feel confident we can get them healed completely. It's just going to take a little longer. Hopefully anyway. But I'm really glad we finally scoped. Doc is too, he had the same thoughts. We haven't yet discussed how we're going to approach the mystery ailment that the naproxen is treating. For now we're staying the course while I decide if I want to send him for a scan to try and pinpoint what it is, or if we want to do some flexions and make some educated guesses for injections. The scan isn't cheap, and we'd still need to do injections likely. But just guessing might end up being just as expensive until we find the bullseye. So I dunno what I want to do yet. For the time being we are staying more focused on the tummy.  

Next Eros got looked at. His back is completely back to normal which is such a relief. Doc thinks getting his weight down is why it's so much better, but I really think it was the Lyme that was the problem. Eros has always been... a curvy dude. Haha! Either way, I'm just glad he feels better. AND that I can stop buying Robaxin. 

night night juice hits this one hard

The flexions went well. He was a little positive in the hocks which I expected. (Turns out it's been 13 months since we did those last, so definitely due.) Nothing really notable up front with the flexions, but he did come out noticeably unsound and then got better and better as he worked. Which is his normal, he has that defective front leg. But we also researched the last time we did his coffins and it was 2023 so we decided to do them again to see if we can get that feeling a little better to start. And we also gave him a shockwave treatment on his neck since he always responds so well to that. He then enjoyed a weekend vacation while the new go-go juice did its thing. And now? He feels AMAZING. Better than he has in a long time. Oh! Also, we pointed the thermo camera at his legs after working and he didn't have any blue legs this time. So whatever weird circulation problem he was having seems to have resolved. Doc once mentioned that he sees horses with Lyme have cold legs sometimes, so I'm chalking that up to the Lyme also. 

Shiny will have her evaluation next month when Al is due to be scoped again. Gotta space the bills out a little bit, ya know? 

So that was the most interesting things this past week. Otherwise we've been plugging along. Everyone is putting in nice work, though the last couple of days we've kept thinks short and sweet due to the weather. 

The photos you find when the teenager gets your phone for you

Shiny's been busy with various pony rides and small children "brushing" her. She's such a saintly little nugget to just let kids do whatever. I really appreciate her. She has all of her opinions but she also knows who she can and cannot share them with. And that's pretty special. 

Al had been a little spicy pre-vet visit, but once back on the full dose of tummy meds, he's back to being mostly good. I'm really struggling to get him going forward, but it's 94 degrees and humid. I also don't want to work that hard. I'm happy with him though, he's trying to be a good boy. I also feel like he's happier in general. He's been just generally more relaxed and his old personality is coming through more and more. Hopefully we stay on this track! 

I think he's ready to think about some bigger jumps. But I'm not sure I'm ready just yet. Soon though! Soon!

Eros feels so good this week with the fresh go-go juice in his joints. I was worried the torpedo might happen if we jumped, but it didn't. I think he's more comfortable so he's not worrying about the landing and rushing through it. 

That could change of course once it's not surface of the sun hot outside... but that's my current working hypothesis. We just popped over maybe four jumps today, just to see what it felt like post vet visit. Maybe this weekend we'll do a little more and test the waters for real. 

And that's about it from here. We don't have anything too exciting coming up this week. Well, I do. I'm finally getting the leaking oil tank in my basement replaced. But that's not really blog worthy. Other than that it's mostly more of the same stuff. But we like our same stuff, that's so just fine with me!

What's Up Wednesday

 

This week we're just doing our thing! We didn't have anything exciting planned and it was lovely because I've been able to really just focus on the horses. Especially Al. I'm enjoying this less insane version of him. And I've been pushing the buttons to see what we can do before setting him off. And so far, nothing fully sets him off. He still hates the places he's always hated, but he's allowing me to use the whole ring with only minimal attempts on my life. So I consider that a win. 

He's still a little unreliable on the very windy days. But I mean, he is who he is, ya know? At least for now he's handling the breezy days which he wasn't before. The gas pedal is still very sticky, but the longer we ride the more forward he gets. I'm sensing a pattern... seems all my horses are like that and perhaps this is a training issue I have caused. Or maybe it just takes them a bit to get all the parts loosened up. Maybe a little of both. Something to keep working on anyway. I won't say that we're having magical and amazing rides together, but we're having pretty normal rides, which is a huge change. I can walk trot and canter both directions, pretty much all the way around the ring. There's still one corner that is apparently suss (to quote the kids). We can also make circles without him panicking that I'm going to run him into something. (I swear, the only time we ever hit something was when he spooked at another horse at the old winter barn and ran himself into a jump. I DO know how to steer. Even if Al doesn't think so.) We haven't really graduated to doing real lateral work or anything that exciting because of the gas pedal problem. But I feel like we're working towards that stuff. It's definitely all still in there, I just need impulsion to get it. 

Don't need much impulsion to jump less than 2' though...

Oh he did talk me into a day off on Saturday. Friday night when I did night check, he was chewing a little funny, but had finished all of his dinner and dinner hay. And he was eating his night check albeit a little slowly. No quidding or anything, and no signs of colic or anything equally emergent. So I figured I'd just see how he was in the morning. He seemed fine by morning. Ate breakfast, ate hay outside, all good. But then when I went to tack him up he had a tough time chewing his tummy gummies and I noticed some swelling on his cheek. Checked in with the vet who seemed not too worried about it given he was eating everything else well and where the bump was located was too high to be an in the mouth problem. I had a feeling he might have been stung by a wasp. I keep seeing them around, but can't figure out where they're living. I opted not to ride him Saturday because who wants to wear a bit with a sore mouth? By Sunday he was perfectly fine, so he did work that day and he's been fine ever since. I think perhaps he just wanted a day off. Dude isn't really used to all the work he's suddenly doing! 

He nearly dropped me yesterday. Twice in about 40 seconds. But that was just when we were first starting and then he was an angel so we're going to pretend that didn't happen. And today we did some little jumps. It wasn't great. He was behind my leg, and definitely distracted, but it was still nice to pop over a few small things. 

Our new trainer had a death in the family, so I'm not sure when we'll have our next lesson. I feel so sad for him, and hope he's doing okay. We look forward to cheering him up when he's ready! 

We did have an adorable visitor last week though, and Al was so sweet and gentle with her. I was so proud of him. 

He loves kiddos. Which tracks since he's a giant forever child himself.

Our adorable visitor also enjoyed a ride on Shiny. 

Her mom has horses too, but no ponies. So she's sat on a few before, but she's never been on one that's moving. She walked many circles on Shiny with absolutely no fear! She loved it, and I think now she needs a pony. Hopefully her dad will come around on that... 

Shiny's been putting in good work lately too. I didn't do a second jump school on anyone last week, so I have no jumping photos of her or Eros for this week. Her regular kiddo is coming tomorrow and Saturday so she'll get plenty of fun jumpy time in then. But we've been focusing more on flat work. I think I've been settling for good enough, but there's more in this pony. She's just not terribly motivated, so I need to do my part to bring it all out. We had a few moments of amazing trot work today in which she lifted her shoulder and her back and really stepped under herself and used her whole body. It felt amazing but was difficult to keep. I imagine it's pretty hard for her, so we'll just keep plugging away at it so she can get stronger. 

I also need to keep plugging away at SHORTENING MY DAMN REINS!
And maybe keeping my shoulders back while we're at it.

For Sunday Funday this week we "trail rode" around her paddock and then around the back and side yard. One of these days I really need to take her on a real trail ride. 

Eros is doing just fine too! I'll probably jump him a little bit tomorrow, but the first part of the week he's been putting in some good flat work like his sister. He's kind of like her in that he'll only put out what he really has too, so unless I get a little demanding, his work is mediocre. But once I insist and do my part, he also feels great. It just takes some coaxing to get there. Today he worked in his equibands for a little extra difficulty. 

He preferred his Sunday ride in which he pretty much just ate grass while I sat on him bareback. Solid Sunday if you ask him! 

We have doc coming back Friday to rescope Al and also have a recheck for Eros. I'm hoping now that he's finished his doxy that maybe we can get him off the robaxin too. He also might be coming due for his hocks. But we'll see what doc thinks. He's getting both changes pretty reliably which usually we lose the right to left when he needs them done. But we're coming up on a year, so I dunno. We will know on Friday! 

That's it from here. Any fun plans for the weekend? We don't have anything on the docket since we'll see how the visit goes on Friday. But regardless, we'll have a fun weekend I'm sure!

What's Up Wednesday

 

I always forget how busy summer gets. But boy does it! Let's just jump right in on the last week, shall we?

Thursday we FINALLY got a visit from our body worker. We haven't seen her since October so it was long over due. Obviously the horses all were in need of some adjustments, but given the length of time between visits, nothing was all that bad. So that was nice. And it was so great to see our body worker too. I think we all missed her! We were her first stop of the day, so they all had light stretchy rides afterwards. 

Friday our farrier came which was also overdue, but not to the extent of the body work. Ha! Obviously. They all had nothing exciting to report on, but I did tell my farrier about Al's request through the animal communicator. I wasn't going to tell him... but then I did. And you know what? My farrier, who is a large manly man type dude, says, "Oh yeah? What did he ask about? I love animal communiators!" You just never know with people... Anyway, I told him Al said that one foot of his still bothers him sometimes and he'd be open to trying other shoes (Al's words, not mine). So farrier asked me what he wanted to try, but unfortunately Al hadn't specified. Farrier said to ask when I all again. Ha! Kills me. Who would have thought he'd be into animal communicating? 

After pedicures, Shiny got to have a ride with her favorite kid finally! And even better kid's mom came too which was great. (Kid's mom is my former trainer if you recall.) She's doing well and is back in the saddle, so MAYBE if the stars align she'll be able to help me and Al at some point. It won't be this summer as she's heading back to Florida next week, but that's okay. I'm contemplating spending a few months in Florida this winter rather than six months at a boarding barn up here. And if I can figure out how to make that happen, then we'd board with her and try to get back on track. I don't REALLY think this will happen, but it's not impossible. We'll have to see how things play out. 

Anyway, Shiny was thrilled to have her kiddo back and had a fun ride with jumpies. I was so delayed riding the boys that they both ended up having pretty quick flat rides because I was supposed to be at my dad's for fourth of July burgers. I was still stupid late, but whatever. Got it all done! 

Saturday Al and I had my second lesson with our new trainer. And I gotta tell you guys, this horse is on his best behavior when trainer is here. Which is nice because I get a reprieve from the drama, but also kind of annoying because we only semi get to work on our problems. It was a nice lesson though. We still kept it to flatwork, but this time we incorporated lots and lots of trot poles and a few canter poles. It was a good lesson! The other two just flatted again, but they're putting in some great work lately. Working on those top lines!

And then Sunday. Womp, womp. Al had a HUGE leg. The same one that blew up the weekend before, but in a different part of the leg. This one looked scary. So I just iced him and hand grazed him that day. 

Monday he had off but I iced it anyway and it still looked unpleasant. So I called and got him on Doc's schedule. I know better than to mess around with fat legs. After that time when Pammon was completely sound on a torn check, I no longer trust soundness in these situations. The other two enjoyed Sunday Funday (as did I)!

By Tuesday the leg was less horrific looking, but still not normal, so I am still wanting Doc to see it. Just to be sure. We've been tack walking the last two days, though I did trot him some today just to see what I could feel if anything. He felt fine to the left, but maybe just a hair short tracking right. I plan to stick with tack walking and maybe a little test trot tomorrow but we might get rained out. Hard to say, the weather people have been terribly inaccurate lately so we'll have to just wait and see. Doc comes Friday. Fingers crossed this is nothing guys. 

Shiny and Eros both did great flat rides yesterday. Bellies up, polls giving. Eros had his bands on. It was sweaty and productive! Today we got to see Shiny's kid and OG trainer again. We all had fun and Al appreciated having a friend in the ring with him. And by friend I mean OG trainer, because Shiny is mean to him. Haha! Kiddo did a great job with Shiny. It's really fun to watch them go around together. We also got hay this morning which thank goodness! I was down to three bales. My hay guy had a hard time finding a window to bale this spring because of all the rain. He actually brought me a pickup truck full of hay a few weeks ago to hold us over. But the this new stuff looks SO good. Best we've gotten in awhile I think. I almost don't want to use up the three bales we have and just jump into the new stuff... But I'm not wasteful. I'll wait. It's only one more day... maybe two. Also cross your fingers it doesn't mold. The humidity has been something else! It's been baled for three weeks so should be fine. But my hay guy said to keep an eye out because there's a chance it could happen. Oof. 

I don't have any lessons on the agenda for this weekend since I'm not sure what's going on with Al and his stupid leg. I did order another bit for him to try though I think he's liking the new one. Hard to really know when we're just walking. He tends to like a thicker mouthpiece and the copper roller bit is pretty thin. So I found a cherry roller bit that's fat and the single joint he likes. I'll be interested to see what he thinks when it gets here. It's coming from California so might be a little while. 

That's it from here! We've had a lot of visits lately, and I'm officially BROKE after paying the body worker, the hay guy, and my property taxes. Adulting is expensive. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a few quiet days coming up with the horses. I'd like to jump Eros either Friday or Saturday this week, but otherwise it will be lots of flatwork for all (assuming the vet visit goes okay). Any big plans for the weekend?