What's Up Wednesday

 

Wednesday already? I'm all confused this week because we had two Mondays with the rain yesterday. It wasn't an overly exciting week that I can recall... so this will likely be a short one! Let's see... What happened the past week? 

Trainer left for Florida early Saturday morning so lessons are over for awhile. She is planning to visit for a weekend in October so hopefully we can sneak in a lesson or something then. But just because trainer is gone, doesn't mean we can't do JOMPIES! So we did some jompies. 

Well, Al did not. He's still waiting for the farrier to come fix his foot so he's been on the easy workload plan this week. The last two rides his crack did not bleed, but I can feel that it's still tender for him. So we're taking it easy. I do need to take a moment to thank him for having a great brain. Especially for a seven year old. I mean, seven is almost a mature horse... but it isn't one. He reminds me often with his goofiness. Lately he's been using his cracked foot to cause all kinds of chaos. He's learned to paw on the crossties which frequently results in me throwing wraps at him. I think he's decided that's a fun game though, so we're not really fixing the bad behavior, clearly. Then last night when I was feeding he started pawing at the door. With the cracked foot of course. (Must not hurt THAT much.) I charged at him waving me arms around and then fed him last. Hopefully that fixed it? Time will tell. He did not try it tonight. So maybe? But those aren't examples of his good brain (obviously). He showed me today. He had a very short walk/trot ride followed by a walk outside the ring around the yard on Sunday. Then he had Monday and Tuesday off. They were turned out, but not ridden those days. He came out today and started snorting and got VERY tall. I wasn't on yet and was contemplating how to handle this Al kite. I decided to hand walk toward whatever it was he was reacting to (I still have no idea but it was toward the end of the arena) and see if he'd get over it. Once we got to the end of the ring, he was back to his old self. I got on, and we had a nice ride. I gotta tell you. When Jamp used to come out like that I either had to lunge, or ride on half the ring. And that was even when he was old! So the fact that this horse just was like oh cool, whatever that was is gone, is SO NICE! So thanks Al for not being an idiot today.  I tried a new workout yesterday and I have some regrets. So not having to hang on to antics was much appreciated. 

In less mature news, I threw a ball out for him to play with while I was doing stalls on Monday. I was hoping it would distract him from dismantling all the jumps (it did not...). While it didn't cure his need to demolish my course, it did distract him for some of the time, and it was adorable to watch him play.

But back to JOMPIES! Eros did get to do jompies this week.

He was great, though oddly a little too quiet at first! I think he was just relieved not to be going through the grid. I put the little white jump up to about 2'6". We've been staying at 2'3" for the most part this summer, but I've been feeling like it's time to bump a fence or two up. I know not to go higher than that though! Lesson learned. Anyway, he was a good, cute boy and we had lots of fun.

I just love him. He's such a good guy. He also enjoyed the ball in turnout. He wasn't as silly with it as Al, but he did push it around and paw at it some. 

Shiny jumped some fences too. 

We've been really focusing on keeping her pace forward through the turns, and when we can accomplish that, everything works so easily! It's for sure a work in progress as she does prefer to stall out of the turn. Why you ask? Oh because I've taught her that. Not on purpose. But yeah. My fault. We're going to get it fixed though!

She's not jumping great at the moment. Kind of just cantering over things and not really picking her knees up. But I've kept the fences low so far this summer and I think she's telling me that she's ready for a little more challenge. I chatted with trainer about it and she agreed. After watching video she says the pony just looks a little unimpressed. So maybe this week we'll put a couple up and see what happens... 

And in naughty pony news, she managed to eat two holes in her hay pillow net. My new hay is REALLY nice for first cut and apparently she didn't have the patience for the small holes anymore. Bad pony.

Things are going well for Pammon over at the sale barn. He's been a perfect boy! The trainer's 10 year old daughter jumped him around over the weekend. The worst he did was get a little high headed to a few jumps, but otherwise was a perfect gentleman. He really is a good guy. Hopefully he finds his person soon.

I've been doing all the fall maintenance on my own body this past week. Had my physical which went great. Best shape I've been in for a long while! Yay! Got my teeth cleaned yesterday (UGH I DISLIKE THE DENTIST SO MUCH!) and got my flu shot this morning. Just waiting for doc to get his covid boosters in and then I should be all set for awhile. I still think they should knock us humans out once or twice a year and just do all the unpleasant things we need done at once while we sleep. Would be a lot less stressful. Also, I'm jealous that the horses get drugs for dentals and we do not. Just saying.

Alright. I think that's it from here. Hopefully Al will get his foot fixed soon and we can have more exciting content. Did you all have a good week/weekend?

What's up Wednesday

 

What a week it was over here! Not much went to plan honestly, but that's just how things go sometimes. Neither Eros nor Shiny are jumping currently, so I didn't have my early lesson on Thursday. Instead, I flatted both of them and walked Pammon before my afternoon lesson with Al. Guys. Al was LIT by the time I got on. I felt like if I put my leg on I was going to be engaging the rapid eject button... We survived the flat portion of the lesson, but I opted out of jumping. Sometimes you just have to call it a day, ya know? 

I let him have a training ride on Friday. When the horses are home with me, I have to work through everything on my own. But when they're boarded? It's nice to occasionally let someone else deal with the tough rides. I arrived after he'd been ridden, but got a good report. He was still pretty fresh, but went to work with minimal funny business. Nice to know he'll work through his feelings! 

We had a snow storm Friday too. All the weathermen under predicted the totals. Forecast called for 3-5 inches but we got something like 7 or 8. Gross.

midpoint of the storm

Fortunately, it stayed cold enough through Saturday that we didn't have any snow crashing off the roof of the indoor. While Sunday was warmer, it also rained, so the snow melted off rather than sliding off. No amateurs nor children were harmed in the aftermath of this snowstorm!

Saturday was one of the first actually cold riding days. It was above 20, so I worked all of them, but my hands went numb on every ride despite wearing winter lined gloves. (My feet stayed toasty warm in my fuzzy boots though!) I definitely whined my way through the day. But the horses were all pretty good, so that was nice at least. Sunday was more of the same, but it was thankfully warmer. Mid 30's, which is warm enough to not want to cry the whole ride. 

Barn is closed Mondays, and with a cold snap, I pretty much hibernated in my house all day playing with Rita and Pia. Rita is settling in fairly well, but she's not very house trained which is a little frustrating. Each time I think we're having a breakthrough, I find another accident. But these things take time, and hopefully we will get it worked out. In the meantime, she's wearing diapers in the house.

She and P aren't really best friends yet... Rita really wants P to play with her and when that doesn't happen, Rita likes to start humping Pia instead. Poor P has a pretty weak hind end and is not terribly successful at fighting her off. Hopefully they'll work through this soon too. Always an adjustment when you add a new pup to the mix! 

It's not all tough stuff with Rita though. She's very sweet with me, and she LOVES all the toys we have here in the house. 

I already mentioned that Tuesday was stupid cold, so the horses had an extra day off. I thought I fixed their manes that day, but upon reviewing the photos, it appears I still have some work to do... Boy, they must have been feral looking before! Al isn't pictured. Since he's on full care board, the barn staff did his mane awhile ago.

Poor Al got body clipped Tuesday. I was hoping they would wait until it warmed back up, but alas. The barn wasn't too cold though, so he survived just fine. I was a lil worried the horses would all be cuckoo crazy after the cold snap and two days off in a row, but today they were all actually really good. Relaxed, listening, calm... Weird. Hope they stay that way!

That's about it from here. Nothing terribly exciting to report, just slogging through winter. How are things with all of you? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I spent most of last week attempting to recover from my braiding marathon weekend the week prior. Guys, I'm still tired! I don't know how people work the night shift regularly. My first few rides of the week were pretty light since I was dealing with a very sore knee from tumble off the ladder. So annoying. 

I did have my Bellino lesson on Thursday though! He was a little strong, and while it wasn't the smoothest lesson I've had on him, it was a good one. I felt like I actually was riding him instead of just being a passenger and hoping things worked out. He's a little tough to try and ride because he likes to make his own decisions. So it's a bit of a balancing act. He's the most mare-ish gelding I've ridden! 

I got to have a second lesson with on Sunday which was great. He had a free lunge in the morning so was much more rideable. We even did some hard things and they worked out pretty well. A little clip here:

My horses at home only jumped once this past week. But they were both fantastic! Shiny has developed this swap off though... She only does it coming out of the diagonal line so I think she's just anticipating landing the correct lead. But it's something to work on. Otherwise though, she was great and was MUCH straighter after the jumps. I think a few light weeks were good for her. 

Eros was absolutely perfect. I spoke to my vet the other day and he said Eros can absolutely start jumping a little bigger, I just have to be really careful about footing when we do it. So that's pretty exciting! Hopefully the weather keeps my ring nice this week and we can jump a few 2'9" jumps. 

I have clips of both below too:

In other news, my basement flooded (as it typically does) from the remnants of Ida the other day:

AND I have to replace my well pump (and possibly the sump pump based on the above photo) soon. Ah the joys of home ownership... Sheesh. Always something to deal with! 

That's about it from here though. To summarize, the horses were great despite some easy days and the house is expensive. How was your week? Do anything fun and exciting? Have some lessons? Go to a show?

What's Up Wednesday

The weeks are all kind of the same now a days aren't they? I'm not complaining, I like routine. But we did one exciting thing this week... Shiny had her first lesson since December! We didn't do the whole thing since she hasn't jumped in so long, but we did the flat section and then hopped over a handful of crossrails. She was perfect! As of late, I've abandoned working on getting her round and lifting her back. We've solely been trying to get the forward buttons working. She's much happier, and has been listening a lot better to the go aids. (After she's warmed up that is... she still comes out and give me a lovely western pleasure jog.) Obviously, I don't plan to let her go around with her head in the clouds forever, but I think she needed to build up some strength first. 

But back to the lesson... I rode with a really nice lady that's just started riding again after a long hiatus and one of the younger kids that boards at the barn. They both jump around 2'3" and are doing what I'd call early intermediate level flat work. So we did have to do some posting trot without stirrups (so much harder on a pony!) and we even tried some baby leg yielding. Shiny was great moving right to left, but not as good left to right. This surprises me none as she loves to pop her left shoulder and fall that way. (We have a lot to work on.) And then we moved on to jumping! The first one Shiny backed off a tiny bit and then popped up high over, but after that she was perfectly level about the whole thing. It was so tempting to do more, but I don't want to push things. We're in no hurry and can take our time for sure. So that was lots of fun.

What's Up Wednesday

Phew. It's that time of year again where you're pulled in 75 different directions and all the things you procrastinated doing are very much needing to be done NOW! Ah! Anyway, it's also a really fun time of year with lots of events going on. Good with the bad, right?

Before I recap the past week, I have a few things I need from you guys! First, I received part two of my gift for Rio which is a drawing of my choice. I can't wait to pick a photo and get that done. I want to thank you all so much for sending me these wonderful things to remember Rio (and Jampy). I'm not sure who all contributed this last time, but I do want to send a note of thanks. If anyone has a list, could you please forward to me? 
ALSO, my holiday cards are pretty hilarious this year so if anyone is wanting one, send your address to me! I can be reached via Instagram (@stacieseidman), Facebook (Stacie Seidman or Amateur At Large), or email (seseidman@gmail.com).

Just a little teaser for the card...

Ok, back to recapping.
I had my lesson on Shiny last week, but we're still a little bit in the "please stop nearly falling down again" phase. I have her on the list to have her neck checked out again just to make sure we're not dealing with something neurological. I don't really think we are. But better safe. We jumped a few crossrails again, and she was very good for that.
Eros had a lesson too during the week. You guys, he was so fresh! I always get a kick out of fresh Eros since he's generally such a calm dude. But even when he's "wild" all he does is get strong. No bucking or anything naughty like that. Just epic, drag mom around the corner after the fences strong. I can live with that. We let him have a free lunge Saturday morning before the clinic so he could be more focused for that. But I'm getting ahead of us!

Friday we had our annual Ugly Sweater contest at work. It's hard to believe that I didn't win...

I mean, there were flashing lights and leg lamp slippers! Also boxers over leggings cause leggings aren't pants! But alas, a pretty hideous homemade sweater took the top price. And I will say, it was worthy. I'll have to start working on next years I guess... I'm thinking it's time to return to a Chanukah theme.

fourth from the right, red sweater was the winner.

I took a half day from work Friday so I could ride because my company also had our holiday party that evening. (BUSY DAY!) The horses were kind of lit at the barn. Nona was already there, and the ring was set for the clinic, and they just seemed to know things were a little different that day. Of course, Eros being lit just meant he was staring at the jump trailer he could see through the window. He's really the best boy. OH! But we did spook everyone else in the ring when his staring at said trailer caused us to bump into a standard and knock a jump down. Oops. Lol.
Sadly, I have zero media from the clinic. Not sure where all the children ran off to, but no one was around to video for me. Womp womp. Our lesson went great though. It started of with some flat work which was mostly the same as the trainer does with us in our regular lessons. She was a working student for Nona, so her lessons are very similar generally. Apple/tree.
After flatting, we moved on to jumping. I like how Nona builds things up slowly. We started just trotting a small crossrail with a trot pole set to guide us. Eros is an old pro at trot jumps, so that was easy for us. After we all did that a few times, she had us add a single jump on the diagonal after the X. She continued just adding elements until we were doing a full course. The course was a fairly straightforward hunter course, but with some bending lines. Pretty simple really. Finally, for the last round we did a course with some roll backs in it. Eros is desperate to see his body worker, so we struggled a bit with the right hand roll back, but we got it done well enough. For sure could have done it BETTER, but it wasn't bad.

Pretty much going to use the same three screen shots forever until I get more media...

 My main takeaways were kind of the same things I already know and hear from all my trainers. I need to help less through the turns. All they really need is some support from my leg, but instead I like to try and package them up and create a distance. When I do that, it often doesn't work out. Shocking! Once I can soften my elbows through the turn and keep my leg on, things tend to flow much more smoothly.
Shiny wound up with a weekend vacation. The weather was awful Saturday, pouring rain and wind all day, so riding outside wasn't an option. And by Sunday everything had frozen over, so still not an option. I think it was fine for her to have some time off. Kind of hit reset on our angst, and start afresh this week.
Saturday evening was the holiday party at the barn. I didn't get photos there either. I totally suck. It was fun though. They do a yankee swap gift exchange which is always entertaining. And the barn manager made a spiked cider that was DELICIOUS! Also, head trainer and assistant trainer had a bet going for the last month. Whoever had the most people fall off in that time had to do something embarrassing at the holiday party. Head trainer was the loser and she had to wear the bunny outfit from A Christmas Story. Hilarious!
Sunday was kind of a day off for me, since I wasn't doing day two of the clinic. I used my time wisely though! (Seriously!) I was up bright and early to finish my holiday shopping including getting toys for our company toy drive. (Pats self on back.)

Not sure why my face is distorted... hopefully it's a weird camera trick and I don't actually look like that.

It felt pretty good to be done with the shopping part! Now I have to wrap it all. That's less good. Anyway, after shopping, I headed to the barn. It was around 1pm which was perfect. I gave Eros a good grooming and then watched the last lesson of the clinic. (Shiny was enjoying some outside time, so I waited to groom her, but fear not, she got some loving too!) And then it was home to organize the holiday chaos and straighten up the house.
Monday was back to work, errands after work, and I forget what else I did, but it took the rest of the evening. Tuesday was similar but also brought a lovely ice storm. Everything is ice now. Everything.

Fortunately, they stayed on top of the roads really well, so I was able to ride both horses last night. Schools were closed so everyone was gone when I got to the barn. I'm usually the last one there at night, but normally there are people there for my first horse. It was kind of lonely! Horses were good though, despite the ice sliding off the roof. We have sun today finally! I don't think we've seen sun since before I got back from Florida. It's going to be absolutely arctic here (like single digits with wind chill) for the next few days so I'm not thrilled about that... I'm debating canceling my Thursday evening lesson and just waiting for the weekend. We'll see. I don't mind flatting in the 10 degrees, but I don't like to stress the lungs too much with the harder work a lesson would bring. Also, I hate the cold. Let's not pretend otherwise.
This week is actually less nuts than last so hopefully I can get everything ready for the holidays. We are doing our family Chanukah party on Sunday, so I have lots of wrapping to do before then. Plus the cards need to go out... If only my return address labels would get here!
Are you all ready for the holiday season? Been to lots of parties lately? Do anything fun with the horses? Clinics or funny outfits or whatever?

What's Up Wednesday

And I'm home! Fact finding went well. More info next week! In the meantime, let's revisit the last week. It was busy and full of pony time!
I decided after Shiny's opinions last week not to ride her again in the ill fitting saddle. And thus, that meant not riding her until something else found its way to me. Boo. Fortunately, I arranged a trial and a deal with someone on Ebay. It's a lovely Butet, 17" with short flaps and a wide tree. Unfortunately, the seller shipped it USPS instead of UPS so it didn't get here before I left for Florida. Anyway, the point is, I decided to go ride Eros on Thursday instead of fussing with the kids at home. Eros was perfect of course, and the kids at home were perfectly happy to be left alone for an evening.

Friday they actually let us leave a little early to kick off our long weekend. (Kinda digging the new boss... she also supplied an ice cream sundae bar on Thursday.) Due to the short work day I think, I was feeling all kinds of motivated. It was also GORGEOUS out which is pretty rare around here. Generally it seems to rain for at least part of every day. I decided to throw Rio on the lunge line and see how unsound he was feeling.

He was feeling quite sassy! Aside from that though, he's not terrible tracking left. Going right, he's super unsound. At his age though, there's really no need anymore to be overly concerned with keeping things even both ways. Especially with his neurological state. So maybe we'll just keep our lunge work tracking left.  I was happy to see him feeling sassy though. His little bucks are so cute. (Especially since I don't have to sit them...)

I put Shiny on the lunge line too. She very much thinks lunging is unnecessary if she's not feeling wild, but I did get her to walk and trot out on the circle at least.

She was basically asleep. She might be my spirit animal.

Saturday I headed out to Eros after running a few errands. He had some body work done Friday, so we took it easy, but he was feeling great. I don't always really feel much difference after they get worked on, but I could tell in the last few rides that he might benefit from a session. And he definitely did. He was much easier to get put together than the last several rides. And I got to ride with step mom on Fefe!

It was pretty cute to have both the Seidman kids getting tubbies at the same time:

The kids at home each got extra good groomies and an extended hand grazing session. It was another beautiful day, and since I was flying out the next day, I knew they wouldn't get as much time outside while I was away.

I even had a little time to hang out outside with the puggers before I had to finish packing and straightening up the house.
My flight Sunday wasn't until the late afternoon, so I had time to get a quick lesson on Eros. But first I dropped the short kids off with grandma.

I was in a semi private with one of the junior eq kids and trainer was really into no stirrup work on the flat. I totally pulled the ammy card though. It's not that I'm not willing to put in the work, but I really didn't want to be crippled sore for my fact finding mission in Florida. Once the torture was over we moved on to jumping. I tried the two ring bit in my lesson that day. I had used it once before when we first got Eros and didn't like it, but since we've evolved quite a bit, I thought it might work now. It is the bit I flat him in most of the time. But turns out, it's still very much the wrong bit to jump him. At one point, based on his actions, I thought he had gotten his tongue over the bit. Nope. He just hates it. Ah well. Don't know if you don't try. Other than the bit complaints, he was pretty good. We definitely need to do more lessons though. Hopefully I'll get a schedule figured out soon. It's tough to ride all the horses when they're in two locations and I have to adult at the full time job too. But I'll get it figured out. Eventually.

And then I had time to feed the tall kids lunch, grab a quick shower, and drive myself up to the airport. The flight was probably half empty which was lovely and arrived on time. I had checked into the airport on Facebook and a good friend of mine from college saw. So when I turned my phone back on in Florida, I had a text from her asking if I was in Florida. I said I was, and she said she was too! Turns out she and her hubs just bought a condo about twenty minutes from my dad's place. Yay more Florida friends! They were flying home to CT the next day, but we wound up meeting for dinner.

Such a nice unplanned evening! I swear, I think I see more of her out of state than in, which is funny. We met in NY in college, but both are from CT (then and now). Yet we almost always catch up in random other states. We should probably work on that.
Traveling for some reason really wears me out, so I was happy to head right to bed when I got back from dinner.
Monday morning I met up with my trainer and watched her ride her horses. And then we set out on our adventure. After which we tried to have a nice lunch but everything was closed so we wound up at Five Guys. Honestly? It was so delicious in that moment! I was starving!
I didn't have any plans for the rest of the day. I really am running low on extra funds, so I didn't want to go shop. It was in the 90's so going for a run wasn't on my list of fun things either. I decided to really embrace vacation. I put on a bathing suit (and some sunscreen) and laid on a chair by the pool (in the shade, cause 90 degrees). I finished the book I've been reading and was otherwise a complete sloth.

It was lovely! Before the damn bugs came out I made myself get up and shower so I could go out for some dinner. I had my eating schedule planned out weeks ago. It was Thai that night! Yummmm!
Tuesday was similar, but trainer and I got to have that nice lunch this time. I couldn't be a total sloth two days in a row, so I did wind up walking around the mall. Not to shop, I just wanted to be on my feet and out of the heat. I love hot weather, don't get me wrong, but I'm not used to it yet. It's been mostly chilly in CT. (Still is, 50's and raining upon my return.) I was pretty well behaved at the mall. And headed out for dinner once I had walked the entire thing. It was TooJay's that night which is like a cross between a Jewish deli and a diner. They've added some things to the menu, and I tried something new. Potato latkes topped with sour cream and smoke salmon. It was indulgent, AND delicious. Highly recommend. And then it was time to do a load of laundry and pack up to come home. It was a really quick trip, but it was great, and I'm hoping successful.
The airport was a total cluster this morning. They had only two of four computers working to print boarding passes and even those two kept freezing. Then it was another long line to get a baggage tag because the kiosks weren't printing those. What a mess. Made it on time though. And I'm pretty sure the dude in the row behind me had Tuberculosis. So if I die of a lung condition next week, y'all know why. So gross. Why do people fly like that?
I didn't really do anything with the horses tonight. I might have had time, but rain was coming. And I wanted to get unpacked and pick up the puggers. The saddle had arrived for Shiny though, so I did toss it on her quick to see how the fit was. It's a thousand times better than the PJ. There's still a tiny bit of bridging but it's slight, and I think a half pad will help, maybe with some shims. I'll ride in it hopefully tomorrow and make a decision about it. I'm pretty sure it will stay though. The price is certainly right and it's in beautiful condition.
That's what's up this Wednesday! Kind of a lot. I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow. My stand in decided at 2 pm not to help me anymore, so it's going to be a ridiculous day. Yay. Rumor has it the ice cream truck is coming though, so there's that.
How was your week and weekend? Do anything fun for the holiday weekend? Are you all safe from the crazy weather out west?? Been thinking about all of you westerners!

What's Up Wednesday

Wednesday already? Where does the time go? I always seem to forget how busy May is. It starts off with all the birthdays, then you have mother's day, and it just keeps going! Adding a new horse to the mix definitely makes for some long days. But not in a bad way! Anyway... Let's look back at the past week!
I spent my evenings last week grooming my boy Rio and getting things ready for Shiny's arrival. That included hanging up her new blankets and replacing the nameplates on the stalls. I replaced all of them since I wanted Eros to have one too, and Rio's was getting really beat up looking. No amount of polishing was cleaning it up.

Turnout clothes!

Empty stalls just have Winthrop Corner plates so they match the rest.
Also, I have no idea why this one random stall had different screws than all the rest.

Saturday was pretty busy. I went to ride Eros in the morning and ran a handful of errands. Came back home to tend to Mr Rio and give him lots of extra attention in his last hours as an only horse.

Also hung this blanket out to dry after I washed it, and forgot about it so it was rained on overnight. Nice work self.

I was hoping to have Shiny arrive around 1 or 2 so I could let her settle, but still have time to let her have a little time turned out. Unfortunately, she arrived closer to 4.

Me and my pony!

 I had to be looking presentable at a baby shower at 6, so I didn't really have much time to do anything with her. I wanted her to have some time to relax in her stall after the long ride rather than fuss at her right away. So I gave her some hay and water, stared at her for a bit to make sure she was cool and content, then fed them both and was off to be social at the shower.

It was kind of a bummer to have to run out the door, but what can you do? The shower was lots of fun. My friend is Peruvian and her family did most of the food. It was DELICIOUS!

I wasn't home too late, and got to check on Shiny again and Rio too of course. Everyone seemed happy, so I was content too. Phew.

Sunday was another early morning. I went to the barn first to do Eros who had broken his halter in turnout. So I lost some time getting his spare out of the bottom of our locker and adjusted. And then he was a bit of turd nugget. Not bad like when Jampy used to be a spookasaurus rex. That's not Eros' style. But he had zero interest in using himself and working on the bit through his back... you know, correctly? So we had a bit of a discussion which was pretty short because this IS Eros after all. I think I need to ride him at least once during the week. He's getting a little too content to pack my step mom around without really working himself. I think once I get Shiny settled and figured out, I'll aim to give her Wednesdays or Thursdays off and go ride Eros that evening. I don't think I'll be able to do both after work. We'll see I guess. (Anyone else think work really gets in the way of pony time?)

Anyway, after I rode Eros, I headed back home to groom Rio and Shiny. It was pouring buckets so I wasn't going to be able to work Shiny. I think we were both disappointed. She's used to overnight turnout, so coming to my place and basically getting stuck in a stall was kind of unfair to her. She did have turnout Sunday morning for a few hours, but it was pouring and she hated it. Sorry pony, I can't control the weather! She was good to groom though, and of course I grabbed some photos.

I know it's gross and dirty, but LOOK AT THIS TAIL!

I love how she's so dark on her upper legs and lower bum. Her color is really fun! I mean, those DAPPLES! She's so much smaller than my other horses though, I was surprised how little time it takes to groom her. I was kind of like, um... now what should we do?
Overall she's pretty sweet, but she does sometimes offer up the mare glare. Usually when you go to blanket her and then sometimes when she thinks you should give her a treat but you don't. She best get used to that, I mostly only treat in the feed bucket.
Once the horses were cleaned up, I was rushing off again to my brother's house for Mother's Day dinner. My mom helped my four legged kids surprise me with a cute mug with a little stuffed doggy in it and my brother's family gave me flowers because I'm a fur kid mom. It was really sweet of everyone to think of me, when I'm not a human mom.

Monday after work I had to neglect the tall kids. It was still pouring rain anyway, so I don't think they were overly offended. Maybe Shiny a little. Rio was like whatevs, just feed me dinner before you go. I had to go pick up a birthday gift for my mom and run a few other errands. I just wasn't able to get everything done over the weekend.
I was really hoping to ride last night. It wasn't supposed to rain, but guess what? Rain. As soon as I got in the car to leave work (late I might add). WHY?! My footing can handle rain pretty well, and usually drains pretty quickly, but we've had so much, it's pretty wet. Also, it's been cold. I don't mind riding in the rain so much if it's at least somewhat warm out. But it was 42 degrees when I got home yesterday. So I nixed any riding plans. Instead, I threw Shiny on a lunge line. And honestly? It was the better move. She was CRAZY! Like, holy shit, what did I buy, this thing is nuts CRAZY! But really, I can't blame her. It's freezing cold and wet, plus she's gone from lots of turnout to hardly any with no riding for three days. I'd be crazy too. I'm happy to report that despite her mild lack of manners heading out on the circle, she did not try to murder me. And she does know how to lunge. My biggest problem with both Romey and Ducky was that they were terrible to lunge and spent more time plotting my death than working on a circle. While Shiny was nuts, running (a little scary fast) and throwing some pretty big bucks, she never once pulled on me, and she mostly stayed out well on the circle. When she was half done being a nut ball she stopped and turned toward me so we could change directions. I at first wanted to make her go back out on the circle in the same direction (because she's the pony and I'm the human and I make the rules), but she seemed confused. So I was like, well let's just change directions and see what we have. She was a little rude again heading out to the circle, but didn't kick at me or anything. She proceeded to once again gallop like a mad woman and throw some more bucks. And then she took a deep breath and trotted around a bit before telling me she was all done. Ok then. I took her for a little hand walk on the dryer parts of the ring, and then brought her in to get cleaned up. And then I let her go back out and have some grass. Because I'm such a good horse mom I will stand in the rain for such things.

 You guys, she is an AGGRESSIVE grass eater! I've never seen a horse hoover grass like that! I was told they only let her out on grass every third day because she holds her weight so well. Um. I can see why!

Rio got to have a nice grooming and then ate some grass too.

It was 9pm before I knew it. Guess I have to readjust to having two horses again! Or maybe I'll move myself a little more efficiently when it's actually nice out? Probably that one.
It's finally not raining today, but it's is pretty cool and windy. My dad told me I shouldn't get on Shiny alone the first time, and I tend to think he's right after seeing her on the lunge line yesterday. So I'll probably just work her on the lunge line tonight and tomorrow. Friday I have to have an endoscopy, so I'm not sure what I'll want to do after that. They put you to sleep for it, and I usually am pretty groggy after anesthesia. But this weekend, you better believe my butt will sit on that pony! Fingers crossed she's quieter by then....

How was your past week? Did you get lots of pony time in? Go to a show? Do some shopping? What's happening with all of you guys?