What's Up Wednesday

While last week was pretty quiet and I had very little to talk about, this week is the opposite. I feel like I somehow did ALL the things. I guess I had to make up for the week prior.
I already mentioned that I had the vet out for Jamp on Friday. It was good timing because the day before Rio did this to his eye:

Well more specifically, to his eyelid. The eye itself was fine, thank goodness. (I swear, this horse WANTS to blind himself...) I had the vet take a look and he said it looked like he had just rubbed it too much and gave himself conjunctivitis. Yep. Pink Eye. But not an infectious one, thank goodness. We've been doing drops and a ointment three times a day, plus a little extra banamine for him. It was looking just about normal last night, so I think I can stop them after today. He's also been wearing a fly mask 24/7 because he's still wanting to rub it. Always something with these boys! Thankfully it's nothing major.
When I was putting that fly mask on him, I noticed that it really was looking its age. I also know the sheets are definitely on their last season. We have the hunter plaid Kensington fly sheets and masks. I really love them. They match my barn colors perfectly, and have held up for about 8 years now. BUT they don't make that color scheme anymore. Which I find super sad. All the options are really bright and while fun, not what I'm looking for. I wish they would either bring back the hunter plaid, or offer some solid color options. Anyway, I ordered some cute fly sheets for the boys, but based on the price point, I'll probably only get one summer out of them if I'm lucky. We went with these:

The little dragonflies are green and tan colored, so they're sort of our colors. And I think these are pretty lightweight and cool being white. I'm sure they'll be filthy and I'll hate them. But at around $40, I figured I'd give them a shot. I ordered some new fly masks too.
We've already covered how amazing Jampy's vet visit went yesterday, so I'll skip over that, bringing us to Saturday.
Saturday morning was pouring buckets. I think the sky was falling. We got something like 4 inches of rain in two hours. Crazy. But I didn't have time to let that slow me down, because there was lots to do!
First on the agenda was a few errands (boring) and then riding Bradley (FUN)! I got to the barn and the rain had slowed down to a normal rain. I got him all tacked up and then the deluge started again.

Needless to say, neither of us were in a big hurry to go out there... There's an indoor at Bradley's barn which I was definitely planning to ride in, but it's not attached to the barn. We decided to wait a little bit for it to slow down before heading out. Finally there was a little break and we made it with minimal soaking.

Look! Mirror selfie!

Once on, it started deluging again. I'm not sure poor Bradley has ever been in an indoor when it was raining like that. He got very nervous. I could feel his heart pounding against my leg. But he's a perfect dinosaur and listened to me when I said it was ok. I let him walk around awhile and get used to the sound though. He was really great. Like my last few rides on him, I let him warm up however he wanted to. And once I put him to work, he was very willing. He actually looked for the contact and carried himself for some of the ride. The canter is still a work in progress, he's not all that interested in lifting his belly and softening his topline at that gait yet. But the trot is really coming along! We both were a sweaty mess when we were done. It wasn't super hot, but the humidity was insane.

Fortunately the rain stopped for us to go outside and get him hosed off. He even had some grass before it started again.

Then the rain returned, so I brought him in to hang on the crossties and dry off a little more.

While he was doing that, I was entertained by this mini donkey:

And then this baby deer:

And then it was time to head home to the boys to feed lunch and get them out.

Rio had been out in the morning (in the rain, and he was happy as can be getting soaked, weirdo). But Jampy hadn't. I wasn't about to go walking in that weather, so we made do with a little in barn hand walk. That's the only time I wish my aisle was longer. Hand walking in a 50 foot aisle, is pretty silly. But we got it done! All that matters. Both boys enjoyed a grooming too.
An old friend of mine has a summer party every year, and that was on Saturday evening. They had flip cup, beer pong, an ice luge... you get the idea. Lots of fun, and partying like we were still in college. Well sort of. I had to drive home eventually, so I had some wine early on, and then behaved myself. Aside from shenanigans, they also had a great band.

I got home around 12:30 (not too crazy!) and tucked the boys into bed. Then I hung with the puggers for a bit because they'd been home alone most of the day.

Sunday I tried to fit in all the Sunday Things I could! I started as normal with a trip to the Farmer's Market where I stocked up on veggies and cheese (omg the cheese!) and grabbed a breakfast sandwich. The pugs and I hung out by the pool while I stuffed that in my piehole.
Then I went out to weed Jamp's walkout. No grass means no weeds either. The horses haven't been using those walkouts all summer, and there was a whole ecosystem growing out there... (Don't get me started on my landscapers not landscaping...) That took awhile. But it was worth it to see my boy so happy out there. I stuck Rio back out in his small paddock too. Two turnouts in one day for him!

Afterwards, they both had groomies and a walk. I wanted to get to the lake for my lobster roll and the band, but that wasn't until 6. I got done in the barn around 4, so the pugs and I headed outside for some pool time.

It was nice to have an hour to relax with the short kids. It's been too hot to really do much with them outside lately (or rainy, depending on the day) but they enjoyed some lounging in the shade.
Next up was feeding dinner, and then lake time!

One of the Snack Shack guys even gave me a freshly grilled ear of corn. YUM! But my day wasn't quite over yet. I had to do a Walmart run for cleaning supplies. But you know what's right down the road from Walmart?

You are correct if you said Ben & Jerry's. Not a bad way to finish up your Sunday. I spent the rest of the evening straightening up the house.
This week has been pretty normal. Work, horse groomies, handwalks. No riding plans as of yet for this weekend, but I do have a braiding job. So that's horsey at least.
Badger hasn't sold yet, but he's been tried a bunch. One trainer is coming back to see him again, and another is scheduled for this weekend too. So keep those fingers crossed for us! I grabbed this adorable photo of him off trainer B's Facebook page.

He's just he cutest ever. Someone buy him!
How was your week? Did you do any showing? Have a lesson? Hide from the heat?

What's Up Wednesday

It was a fun weekend over here! Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful. I had a few horses to braid Friday evening, so that was productive at least. The bottom guy you've seen a few times, but the other two were new manes to me. They were lovely horses. Very polite with great manes!

I slept in a little on Saturday (till 9!) because I didn't get home until well after 1 am. But then it was a pretty busy day! I had a bunch of errands I had to run in the morning. Once those were completed, I got to ride Bradley!

You guys. He was SO GOOD! We just flatted, but we really took our time. I let him warm up however he wanted. Head in the air, short stride, long clumsy stride, whatever. And then I went back to walk and started asking him to pay attention to his body. A little shoulder in, a little haunches in, then both out, etc. Once he was on all my aids at the walk we moved on to trot. Normally as soon as you go to an upward transition he wants to disconnect, get above the bit, and lock up through his whole topline. But this time he stayed right between my aids. It was lovely! I had a little less success at the canter, but we had some nice moments there too. Good boy Bradley!

We got to see some lovely sky writing while we were riding too. Of course it was just an ad... but still kinda fun!

The whole thing said Summer Fun at Mohegan Sun. It's pretty cool how they do this now. Back in the day it was just one plane. But now it's 5 planes and it's like the old dot matrix printers. Seems kind of like a waste to me... but still I was entertained watching it.
After Bradley, it was back home to get my boys out and grab a quick shower before Lobster Fest! I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I had a theme appropriate outfit to wear:

Seen here with a similarly appropriately clad neighbor. Why yes, my shoes, bag and dress are all lobster themed! (And my arm party and phone case of course.) This dress even has pockets. Total win.
As mentioned yesterday, we had plenty of lobster for all, as well as steaks for the non shellfish eaters. And other salads and things for sides and/or anyone who doesn't eat the main dishes. While we do Lobster Fest every year, this year we made it kind of a duel purpose party by including a little retirement party flair for my dad to celebrate with his friends. That came in the form of dessert:

But there was also a little surprise lurking behind this island:

Do you know what it is? Here's a hint...

Fireworks! I don't know how she even thought of it, but my stepmom hired a company to put on a fireworks show for my dad. It was an awesome surprise, and he had no idea. My brother made a really neat video from drone footage of the show. He got permission to fly his drone into the fireworks. Don't try this at home, and especially not at a public display! But it is pretty amazing. Check it out here if you have time:
https://youtu.be/0aGDAD8eE5I

So yeah, Saturday was a lot of fun. And Sunday? Well that was possibly one of my laziest days ever. It happens!
I got up and got the horse laundry started, then headed down to the lake for some breakfast. (Yes! They don't JUST do lobster rolls... haha.) I took it to go though, and sat at the end of the barn listening to some music while I ate it. Next the boys had good groomies and their walks. Rio got to have some grass.

I finished the horse laundry. I had so many dirty wraps it took me 45 minutes to roll them all. Such a slacker.
The short kids didn't do too much. It's been pretty hot which isn't great for Pugs. The asphalt is WAY too hot to walk them on. But we've played in the yard some at least.

The rest of Sunday was spent doing human laundry and attempting to straighten up my disgusting house. This week is fairly quiet. Hand walks for the boys, and I have a few nights of braiding ahead too. No riding on the schedule just yet, but hopefully soon.
Oh and I almost forgot! I wound up getting some photos after all from the Alumni Division at the Skidmore show! Look how cute Sochi is! I think he's a LITTLE annoyed with my general floundering... but he's adorable nonetheless.

 (all photos used with purchase and credited to Shawn McMillen Photography)

I love the candid of us talking with the judge. (They always have a q&a portion during the flat class. Years past have been a bit raunchy, but everyone's a little afraid to push any boundaries these days, so the questions were pretty tame.)

Well, that's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? Do anything fun this weekend? Horse show? Lesson? Something non-horsey?

Truthful Tuesday

Today's Confession: I've eaten lobster for almost every meal since Saturday evening. I did have an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast on Sunday, but other than that, all lobster. I'm not sorry.

My dad and stepmom hosted Lobster Fest on Saturday for 70 of their closest friends and family. There was WAY MORE than enough to go around, so I got to take home a giant bag of lobster leftovers. Sunday I ate it right out of the bag for dinner. Because I'm an animal. And it was delicious. Monday I decided to make lobster salad rolls for both lunch and dinner.

And now I'm out of lobster. That's the only part of I'm sad about. I'll tell you all about Lobster Fest tomorrow and the super fun surprise my stepmom had for my dad tomorrow on What's up Wednesday.
Have you ever eaten the same thing for like three days straight? Any regrets? Because I have none. (Except that it's all gone.)

What's Up Wednesday

It was a mostly quiet week here at the farm. It was pretty hot (yes!) so I didn't want to overdo it with the ponies. Not that Romey was in any danger of that!
Jampy just flatted most of the week. He's really starting to feel stronger and I can get a much bigger trot out of him than earlier in the summer. His canter is still so-so, but also better than it was. My weekend helper stuck the fake cats up on the rails of my diagonal jump, and I thought it would be fun to get a picture over it. Assuming he'd jump it...

He didn't care at all. I was thinking he'd take a look and I'd get a really cute jump, but no. He literally just cantered over. Oh Jampy. He jumped a little cuter out of the combination though:

It's a terrible screen grab from video, and I couldn't get it to stop at the right part of the jump. But you can tell his knees were going up at least. And he even has an ear forward! I'm thinking I should probably put the noseband back on soon now that his face is healed up. On the other hand, I'm super lazy, and kind of enjoying having less buckles to deal with. Maybe I'll wait until it's obvious I need it.

Romey is starting to come around. I have no media of him this week though, sorry! He's not attacking me at the mounting block anymore which is really nice. I don't share his sense of humor clearly. The last two rides when I asked him to walk away from the block he did so immediately and willingly, so that's definitely progress. He'll halt and walk off throughout our ride. Unfortunately, he's still fighting about the trot. Once he decides he's ready, he'll trot off just fine. But it's completely on his terms at the moment, which I'm not ok with. Our vet appointment last week had to be postponed until this coming Friday, so I'm curious to see if there's any reason for that stuff other than attitude. We shall see!

Rio of course is perfect. I've been riding him every other day, and very lightly. I don't want to stress the old man in the heat. But he's been happy, and especially enjoys when we "walk" out on the grass. Obviously there's a lot more eating than walking happening though.

I got to sit on Badger Saturday. Unfortunately, he's tack walking again. So that's all we got to do. He gets new shoes again this week and we'll see where he's at with that hoof. If he has enough growth and he's feeling better, he'll go back to Vermont next week. If he doesn't, he'll come to my house to tack walk for two weeks. Much better to do that than send him to the horse show and throw away all that money. Plus, then I'll get to have Badger at home!!! Woohoo!

The only fun and exciting thing I did this past week/weekend was our family's annual lobster fest. Normally it's in August, but they moved it up this year to accommodate my step mom's family visiting. It was so nice to see everyone! She really has a great family. As usual, my dad went a little overboard in the purchasing of lobsters... This is everyone cleaning up the leftovers:

I'm not complaining though. I got to take home enough lobster to feed me for 3 full days. YUM! And in case you're wondering what ridiculous thing I wore to lobster fest:

Lobster sandals obviously! These really are something. I'm not sure what exactly. But definitely something.

And that's all that's up this Wednesday. What's up with you?

Truthful Tuesday

I have another lobster based confession today. This one is particularly heart breaking if you're a lobster lover like me...
So this past weekend was my family's annual lobster fest. My dad buys 75 lobsters and invites over 30 of his closest friends (and kids) and we all stuff our faces into oblivion. It's one of my top ten days of the year for sure.

This year's lobsters were quite a bit larger than normal. This is both exciting and mildly problematic. I can normally eat at least two, and this year because they were large I only made it through one and a half. I'm pretty disappointed in myself. I wasn't the only one, meaning we had a lot of leftovers. So that there is fab news, because who doesn't want lobster rolls for days?!

Behold: The Lobster Pyramid

I got to take home one of these to go containers stuffed to the brim with lobster meat. And here's where it all goes bad. I hung around chatting for a bit before heading home with my stash o'lobster. I got home at the same time as my friend who rents the apartment on my property. We got to chatting, and next thing I know, my tub of heaven has been sitting in my car for over an hour.
You guys. You DON'T eat lobster that's been out for that long. I really considered it for awhile. But decided it really wasn't worth the risk. I still have PTSD from the stomach bug I had last winter. No reason to bring on that misery... not even for a giant tub of lobster.
And so, today's confession: I threw out probably $60 worth of lobster meat. Sad day my friends.

Have you ever ruined something fabulous like that? Didn't get to finish some leftovers you were super excited for? Anyone else get this attached to food, or is that just me?

Truthful Tuesday

You know, some things you should just KNOW. Like you shouldn't even consider doing them. For example, getting a lobster roll at a burger joint. It's a BURGER JOINT! Get a burger. For crying out loud. But I'm a New Englander (despite my New Yorker breeding) and I just can't resist the opportunity to stuff lobster in my face. Just can't do it.
While I was in VT, I was staying at the base of Stratton Mountain with some friends. They had dinner plans one evening so I was on my own to forage for sustenance. I decided on a new burger joint that's just down the road. It's actually an old gas station. Such a neat venue!

Photo borrowed their Facebook page...

You guys. This place was a little weird. The menu looked great, and the staff seemed friendly enough. But I was halfway through placing my order when the girl taking my order started talking to her co-worker and asked her to take over so she could finish the dishes... It was bizarre! All that was left was my beverage! So odd. Anyway, the food came out quick, and I ate inside since it was threatening to storm outdoors. I decided, against my better judgement, to get the lobster roll. As you may have guessed from above.

Looks awesome right? Maybe a bit sparse with meat, but looks pretty good. This thing though, it was having an identity crisis. For those of you who aren't from New England, I shall give a quick info session on lobster rolls. The best ones are hot, on a toasted long roll and heavily buttered. (HEAVILY!) You can also have a lobster salad roll which is made with mayo rather than butter and is cold. This lobster roll? It was some kind of hybrid. It had celery in it and hint of a citrus flavor. The roll was toasted and buttery, but the lobster was cold. It was odd. It wasn't like I couldn't eat it, so it wasn't THAT bad. And it didn't kill me or anything, so that part was good. But it was just odd. I liked the venue though, and I would definitely go back and have a burger. And order really fast so I didn't have to wait to awkwardly get a second person to finish taking my order.
Moral of today's story? Don't order a lobster roll from a burger joint. You're welcome.

What's Up Wednesday!

Hey everyone! You thought I was going to miss What's Up Wednesday didn't you? Sorry for the delay, it was a crazy busy day. Probably why I should not expect to write blog posts when I should be working... but anyway, better late than never!

Things got a little bumpy with the tall kids on Thursday. Rio was once again having soreness in his abscessed hoof so we had to have his shoe pulled and the vet came out Friday to check on it. Thankfully it's back under control and he has a fancy new set of shoes ($$$$).

Jampy had a little case of cellulitis that turned up on Thursday. I guess if that had to happen, it was good timing since the vet was already coming out. He was prescribed some very large shots of antibiotics plus a couple days of leg sweating and Jampy was good as new by Sunday. Phew.
So needless to say, it wasn't a busy weekend with the tall kids. Other than bandaging and medicating obviously.

Today is National Dog Day, so in honor of that, here are adorable photos of the short kids enjoying the past week:

spooning...

Saturday, though not busy with the horses, was double booked with parties. Generally speaking, I have no social life to speak of... Horses, work, pugs, horses, pugs, work, sleep, horses, pugs.... you get the idea. But for some reason every one I know scheduled a party for August 22nd. I had RSVP'd to my friend's summer party waaaaaay back in June, so I was definitely planning to stop by for that. Unfortunately, my dad scheduled our annual Lobster Fest for the same day, so I had to attend the kid friendly portion of the party. Still a fun time... just you know... tame! Nice to see my friend though, and socialize a bit! I was hoping to head back after Lobster Fest for the less well behaved portion of summer party.
Lobster fest was SO FUN! My step mom had a lot of family in town plus our family friends all made it out. I think the head count was 48. Lobster count: 120. We know how to Lobster.

the men cleaning the leftovers

That's a lot of leftover lobster 

I wish I took more photos! But we had a great time. By the time I left my dad's it was 11 and I still had to wrap Jamp and Rio. So since I'm so old, I didn't make it back for the grown up portion of Summer Party. Sad tale, but it was a great day regardless!
Sunday was clean the house and play with horses and pugs day... Isn't every day?! But I did have time to sit in the pool and enjoy the band playing down the road at the lake in the evening. So that was quite lovely!

Well that's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? Did do anything fun this weekend? Eat your weight in lobster? Tell me your stories in the comments!