What's Up Wednesday

 

Phew! It's been busy the last two weeks! Sorry for my absence but the sleep deprivation was real! As you may recall, I had two full weekends of braiding and also my helper was off, so that meant wearing an extra hat and nine days on my own in the barn. And you know, what better way to cap off a busy time than to throw in fence repair that first weekend? 

So I've been trying to get the rest of my fence posts replaced for awhile now, and finally the person I hired had dates he could do it. Which happened to be that Saturday and Sunday of my first braiding weekend. AND THEN he asked if they could work on the yard clean up that same weekend. Sure why not? Of course, this was a little disruptive because it meant having one less turnout area. But what can you do? 

The first day he started late, so I was able to get Shiny out for a few hours before she had to come in, so that wans't too big of a change for us. But the second day they said they were starting early. But it seems, early to non horse people is not the same thing as early to horse people. So I didn't put Shiny out in her paddock and instead rotated her into the ring turnout. Turns out though, she could have had a couple of hours after all since they didn't start until close to 9. I was told the whole project would take two days, but since they're hours are not the same as mine... They haven't even finished Shiny's paddock yet. Which still leaves the ring and the med paddock. Sigh. At least it's started! 

I don't think this person is as experienced with fencing as I was lead to believe. He is doing some things really well, especially filling the holes around the posts. In the past, once it rains I end up with craters around the posts that need more fill, but they're actually tamping them down and filling with extra dirt as they go so that hasn't happened. But they don't seem to be aware of using the string method to keep the rails straight. So we will need to go over that when they come back to finish. (He was on vacation this past week so we're on pause.) I'm trying not to be annoying about it though, it needs doing, and it's not something I'm able to do myself. So patience it is! 

And of course, the yard clean up was also not without it's hiccups. At the very end of the day on Sunday around 6pm, one of the guys cut the power cord that feeds my pool. So then I had to get an electrician out Monday to fix that. I just want to point out that all this is going on while I'm trying to do barn chores  and ride during the days, and braiding all night. Thursday night to Friday I got a total of 2 hours sleep (thankfully I DID have my helper for Friday) and the next two nights I got 3 hours of sleep. To say I was overstimulated that entire weekend is an understatement! But it all got done! Well almost. Saturday they all got ridden, but Sunday I only wound up doing Eros. With all the interruptions all day from the clean up crew in the yard, it was after 4 when I got done with him, and I just waved the white flag. 

First weekend's braids:

Monday everyone had their usual day off, but I did the morning chores. I honestly don't remember what the rest of the day involved. Just house chores I think. Tuesday was Sophie's kid's last day here. She went back to Florida to start school on Wednesday. We miss her already! But they had a really fun ride Tuesday and I got the other two ridden also. Wednesday was more chores and riding. Thursday was going to be another very full braiding night. I had the same amount as the Thursday before, but this time they were split between two farms so more commuting time. I opted to just do chores and not ride Thursday so I could fit in a nap before I started braiding. Everything went fine in all locations. I got done around 4:00 and was asleep by 4:30. Admittedly, I started chores a little late Friday morning. I think it was close to 8 am when I fed breakfast. Thank goodness my horses are pretty patient. I was DRAGGING through the day and again opted not to ride in favor of fitting in a nap before braiding time. It's shocking how much longer chores take when you're running on less than 3 hours of sleep. But chores got done, horses had extra time in turnout, and then all my client horses got braided that night. Wash, rinse, repeat for Saturday. Thankfully, Saturday night I just had to braid in one location. I was home early, around 2 am and got four hours of sleep before starting chores in the morning! By this point I was only semi coherent, so opted again to not ride. This week was a wash anyway, might as well just start fresh on Tuesday, right? 

All of weekend #2's braids except for one tail I forgot to snap a photo of

Monday I did very little. I slept for 7 and a half hours which was like the longest night's sleep ever! Then I sat around and did some THQ work. Some laundry. Fed horses. Ran two errands. That was about it. Pretty much a total sloth day. GLORIOUS! Just what I needed! 

I finally got to ride all my horses again yesterday. They were all pretty good, especially after a five day vacation. Al had one big spook, but otherwise kept a lid on things, which again for all that time off was pretty good! Eros felt a little stiff, but he always does better in work. So that wasn't surprising. He got sounder and sounder as we went along. And Shiny felt just fine!

I'm not sure how many I'll get ridden today. I dropped Rita off at the vets this morning to get her broken tooth removed and have a dental. So I'm not sure what time I need to pick her up yet, they're going to call. And then we have family dinner tonight. So I may only end up getting one or two done. Is what it is! 

And that about catches you all up! Nothing too exciting around here, just chores and braids for the most part. Hopefully more fun to come though!

Thursday's Threads: Color Wars Thursday, Team Red

 

I wasn't excited about color wars day because my quadrant was assigned red, which isn't really our color. I own two chestnuts after all, and red really isn't meant for them. The only red horse stuff I owned was buffalo plaid and I wanted to save that for Flannel Friday (spoiler alert for next week...). So I had to buy some stuff. Fortunately, I was able to find everything fairly inexpensively. Also, I had a BRILLIANT idea Thursday morning that resulted in this becoming my favorite outfit the week. 

Hahaha! Yep. I made pompoms. I had bought some red yarn for Shiny's tail for the clinic in case there were any out of barners in our section that didn't know to avoid her backend. And I saw that red yarn in her locker that morning and was like oh yeah. I know what to do with that! As a side note, I have never appreciated knowing how to braid as much as I did on this day. 

But that's not all... One of my team mates had red hair extensions for her horse's tail, and well, I had to borrow those too. 

Amazing. I know. Now that you've seen the best parts, I guess I'll show you the entire outfit. 

Gotta be honest. We owned Red. And now I'm very prepared for fourth of July next year. I forgot to take photos of all of Eros' stuff, but enjoy these sad little blown up screen shots instead.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Browband: repurposed by me

Yep, that's another former dog leash on my horse's head. Clearly, I have issues. But ya know... I like a matchy outfit, and this is one easy and inexpensive way to achieve that. 

Saddle Pad: Professional Equine

Half Pad: Challenger

That half pad is just pile lined and I wouldn't use it more than once in awhile as I don't think it provides the comfort that my sheepskin half pads do. But he seemed happy enough in it for the one day. The saddle pad was surprisingly a lot nicer than I expected, especially for what I paid for it.

Polos: Horze Nest Combi bandages

I love using combi wraps when I need to polo, so I was excited to find some red ones available inexpensively from Horze. Their color is called Lipstick Red, but they do lean a little more orange than red. Served the purpose however. I made a really stupid mistake though, and ordered these twice. So if any of you out there like red, I'll have a set for sale at some point. 

That's what Eros wore (you know, plus the pompoms and hair extensions). And here's what I had on:

Yeah. That's a lot of red.

Helmet: One K CCS Mips

The One K helmet came in real handy for spirit week. I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of these red inserts, but regardless, they helped make the outfit. 

Top: Team 365

Red sunshirt from Walmart. Makes a good baselayer too. This will surely be worn, at least often enough to not feel guilty about buying. 

Belt: Express

I've been mildly obsessed with this belt since I got it... when I was in college. Which makes it ridiculously old. Still holds up though. And was great for red day!

Breeches: Covalliero

I used to have a pretty great pair of red breeches from Horseware that I wore every fourth of July. Sadly, they had an unfortunate tearing incident and had to retire. I have been hunting for a decent, yet inexpensive, pair of red breeches for awhile and had settled on these. While they're very cute, they are also stupidly small, and I felt like a stuffed sausage all day in them. They will be for sale at some point too, when I find a replacement for them. They're probably more like a size 26. They had weird sizing and I think I guessed wrong.

Boots: Tuffrider Regal with duct tape embellishments

This is my spare pair of Regals that lives at the boarding barn. There's something not quite right about them, as they are sized completely differently than any of my other pairs. And I'm not quite sure what's happening with the tops... But they're okay for emergencies. They're also okay for defacing during spirit week.  And also yes, those "spur straps" are made out of duct tape. No, they were not terribly functional. But they look good! (Well, that's a relative statement.)

Soooo... what do you think?? How about those pompoms?!

Truthful Tuesday: Braiding hazards

 

There are a lot of obvious hazards when braiding horses. Standing on a ladder next to a large animal is an obvious risk. 

Some larger than others... this horse is well over 18 hands. 
Thankfully 18 hands of perfect gentleman!

I once had to braid a 17 hand two year old (he was close to three, regardless, he was enormous) who was very much a baby. He tried to pull my ladder out from under me and repeatedly kept trying to bite my legs. 

Pulling manes can also be pretty dangerous if you have a horse that's sensitive about it. Years ago I was pulling a mane on another large horse (17.1 ish). All was going well until the moment it wasn't. The horse very suddenly decided mane pulling was done for the day, and he reared up hitting me in the face with his head. I fell off my ladder onto a concrete barn floor, knocked the wind out of myself upon landing, and cut my finger with the mane comb. I had an actual buckle print on my head. Since it happened at my college barn, I had to go to the ER to make sure I didn't have a concussion. Unfortunately, once I got there the doctor noted my sore neck (I had whiplash) and strapped me to a board to await x-rays. Fortunately, nothing was terribly wrong, other than a possible mild concussion. I missed the window to get my finger stitched up but it healed fine so that worked out. 

When braiding tails, you are standing directly behind a horse. DIRECTLY. For an extended period of time. There are lots of risks there. Especially during fly season. The obvious of course is potentially getting kicked. I've had a few horses that threatened. You also run the risk of methane poisoning from all the gas they pass (lol, okay not really but trust me, you get farted on A LOT). Also you'll be pooped on at some point. It happens. Not so dangerous, but certainly icky. 

Those are some of the obvious risks. But you know what no one really talks about? The fact that your standing in an open barn on a ladder near a light in the middle of the summer. What does that mean you ask? Have you ever seen what a light looks like in the middle of the summer at night? No? Bugs my friends. That is very much a bug magnet. This weekend I got eaten alive all over my head. As it happens, if I have any kind of skin wound in the summertime, I will react there to my own sweat and get kind of hivy. You can imagine what happens when I shove my sweaty helmet over said open bug bite. GIANT bug bite welts. Super attractive. 

I'm trying very hard not to scratch and make it bigger. But OMG IT IS SOOOOO ITCHY! 

So there you have it. Some of the hazards you mights encounter while braiding horses. So next time you wonder why braiding is so expensive, remember this post! (You know, these reasons, plus all the years it takes to get good at it.)

What's up Wednesday

Lol. It's been such a long week, I can't even remember what happened last week. Good thing I take lots of random photos to remind me!
I had braiding jobs Thurs through Sat for our local finals. Which is nice because everyone does manes and tails so I've already paid for those boots I ordered. Woohoo! The horses were all really good which makes my job a lot easier!

The horses have been good to ride too! I had a lesson on Pammon on Thursday. I have no actual media (sorry) but he was so fantastic! We jumped 3' which I realize is not big, but it's big for me at the moment. And he was easy. He didn't take any offense when I made a mistake that he had to fix. He's really a solid guy.

The outside line is set at 3', not that little oxer though

I swear it looked bigger when I was cantering at it...

I'm excited for our next lesson this Friday. My trainer leaves for Florida on the 1st, so that might be our last lesson. Total bummer, but we'll figure something out. I'm just really excited to get going finally!

Pammon looking decidedly less excited...

I've been working with the Shiny pants a bit more lately too. She showed me that she actually can listen to my leg, she just prefers not to. Lol. I feel that Shiny, I really do. But sorry. Ponies gotta do what they're told for like 30 minutes a day.

Shiny's preference is for snacks.

I had a lesson on Eros this weekend too. The regular trainer was off at a show, so assistant trainer taught us. The jumps stayed tiny, and courses were much simpler. I like to be challenged and all, but often times I finish my Eros lessons feeling very inadequate. We really haven't figured each other out totally yet, so keeping it simple gives us a better chance to have some things go well and leave with a little confidence for once.

blurry screen shot of a baby liverpool

 That doesn't mean everything went perfectly... I'm still struggling with him not moving off my leg. We weren't able to get the right numbers in the one outside line to a bending. Part of that could be the size of the jumps, and I still think part is that he needs some vet/body work. Vet will be out week after this one, and still working on the body worker. And obviously, I play a big part too. Ammy rider FTW! But also... I have media! First is our fail clip...

You can see me chicken out and pull two strides away from the out of the bending. I just didn't feel like we'd get there. Of course a good rider would have made it more direct and galloped along... But chicken little isn't up to that just yet with Eros. Someday!
We did pretty well with the rest of the course though. You'll see my body awfully busy trying to use every ounce of muscle in it to get the horse moving... Also not the answer... but hey, you do what you can in the moment right?!

It was nice to see some video though. They only time I've seen us jump was some video from the Nona Garson clinic last year, and it was pretty far away and not that helpful. Props to my lesson mate for getting media!
I didn't realize how hot it was when I got home and was worried that Pammon was seeming sluggish. Then I got a heat advisory on my phone and I backed off a bit. Sorry buddy!

We had a lighter hack in the ring and then took a walk in the yard and he had a snack.

Shiny did the same. And Rio obviously skipped the riding part and went straight to snacking.

And judging me.

I wanted so badly to get the pups out for a walk this weekend, but with all the horsing and braiding, I was low on time. And as it turned out, the roads were too hot for pup paws anyway. They didn't mind. We did squeeze in some cuddle time.

I also managed to stop by my friend's annual summer party on Saturday before heading off to braid. They have a great band that plays every year, but alas I took no photos. It was fun, and nice to do something non horsey for a little bit.

Sunday I actually made it over to the lake to hear the band and stuff my face full of lobster roll. Always a lovely time. I think there are only two or three weeks left before the season ends, so I'm trying to make it to the rest of them.

So far this week I've ridden both Shiny and Pammon every day. They have tonight off due mostly to weather. And they need a day off once a week! Tomorrow I have horses to braid, but Pammon needs to get worked because I have that lesson Friday. Not quite sure what my plan is, but maybe an early before work hack tomorrow. We shall see. I had planned to do that today with Eros, but it didn't happen. I woke up, saw it was still dark out and went back to bed. Which is ridiculous because obviously the sun would come up. And they have an indoor. I'm just really bad at 5 am.

How was your past week/weekend? Do anything fun? Lessons? Horse show? Something else? Tell me about it in the comments!

What's Up Wednesday

Phew, Wednesday again. This week is nutso as we talked about yesterday, but last week was pretty quiet. I had ZERO plans for the weekend which was pretty awesome. I was looking forward to taking it easy before this week got out of control.
I wanted to give Jampy the opportunity to roll outside, but I'm not comfortable letting him do that on the lead line. He's a little nutty, and I was afraid he'd get up like a whirling dervish. I've been having to give him a little ace to walk because he blows up. And that's really terrible for his feet right now. So I gave him a little extra on Saturday. I walked him in the tiny paddock (where Rio has been having his small paddock turnout of late), and then gave him a few minutes turned loose in there. With the grazing muzzle on just in case he wanted to weed it for me.

Unfortunately, he was so concerned about that muzzle he couldn't relax and get his roll on. I also was too nervous to leave him alone for long, so he really only had like 5 minutes. Maybe I'll be braver next weekend and give him a little more time. He's lost a lot of weight, and I think is looking quite good. I'm still feeling a digital pulse in both front legs though, so we're not in the clear just yet. Still icing all day everyday, but we've switched to the Banamine granules to make that part easier on the both of us. Plus I already buy that for Rio so I have plenty available.
Rio had a nice walk Saturday and some grass. Although, he was definitely more excited about the grass than the walking. It was more me dragging him around the ring.

After pony time, I took the pugs out to play in the yard. It was a warm, sunny weekend, and walking on the asphalt was going to be much too hot for them. We had fun running around the yard, especially Artie. P was more into the lounging.

I spent Saturday night cutting out felt. I'm making our company logo out of felt to stick in the flower centerpieces at my dad's party.

I had a lot of better ideas, but not the time to execute them, so these will have to do. He's kind of cute! I think the apron is too big, but it's good enough. I don't talk a lot about my work (it's not very exciting) so for reference, our logo is actually a compilation of our most popular items that we manufacture.

Sunday was an amazing day weather wise. It was pretty warm, about 82, and the sun was shining ALL DAY! This is my weather you guys. I made sure to spend as much time outside as I could! I started the morning at our town's farmers market which started back up last weekend. I bought an exorbitant amount of cheese and I'm #notsorry about it. I got Rio some fresh carrots too. Sorry for Jampy that he can't have them, but he has a new bag of celery at least.
After the market I went out for pony time. They both had a nice scrubby tubby and the usual hand walks. Rio had some grass too.

I also managed some poolside lazing with the Pugs.

Seriously. Such a nice day. I'm so glad I was home and had time to enjoy it! After relaxing by the pool (and binge watching season 2 of 13 Reasons Why) I made my way over to the lake for my lobster roll and live music.

Probably one of the best parts of summer really. I feel really lucky to live where I do. How fun is this to have just a quarter mile away?
Finally it was back to cutting out more felt and gluing together some logos. I haven't finished those yet, and honestly, I have no idea how I'm going to fit that in... but it will get done. Hopefully.

Monday was back to the grind. I'm working two jobs Monday through Thursday this week, plus all kinds of other stuff going on. Regular job during the day, including a customer coming up Thursday (UGH SHOOT ME NOW PLEASE!), and then braiding at night after taking care of my boys. My mom and I have theater tickets for Thursday too, but I'm trying to see if she'd like to go out to dinner locally instead. The theater is only about 40 minutes away, but there's a big golf tournament along the way which is going to make it take a lot longer. Plus I have two horses to braid afterwards. And my horses to tend to. Why does everything always happen at the same time? I had several weeks of not much going on, and now everything is happening in the same week! It's ok though, I should have a quiet weekend to recover.
Anyway, Monday I had only one horse to braid after work, and just a mane, so that was really easy.

 Last night I had two manes and a tail to do, so still not too bad.

I don't know what it is, but I do not braid this horse very well. Also he likes to suck on my leg which is super weird.

He's adorable though.

This one on the other hand, should be my poster child.

Tonight is killer. I have the boys to take care of, then two horses to do about a half hour away. I think they're manes and tails and fakes, then back to the local barn to do two more. Not sure yet if they're just manes though. I know I'll get it all done, but I'm already tired just thinking about it. I'm excited though, because Friday, at the end of this very long week, is my dad's retirement party. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. The tent is going up outside my office window as we speak!
I didn't get to ride this past week unfortunately for me. Bradley's mom is home so she's been riding him. She did offer to let me ride him last night, but I couldn't fit it in with the braid job and taking care of my boys. Maybe next week I'll get another chance though. Hopefully! One of my neighbors got a new horse too, and she offered him up for some rides once she gets to know him a little. So maybe there will be some more saddle time in my future! Fingers crossed!

How was your week? Are you having a busy summer? Getting lots of saddle time in? Tell me about it in the comments!