What's Up Wednesday

 

Well, the good news is that February is moving along much more quickly than January did. (Seriously though, was that no the longest month in the history of forever??) The bad news though, is that it just keeps doing winter things. We've had a few days above freezing finally, but not usually consecutively. And every other day or so we get winter precipitation. Last night we got a couple of inches of snow, nothing too crazy, but more than was in the forecast. Tonight we're getting a little more, but then it's turning to freezing rain and eventually regular rain. Which I imagine will freeze up over night because that's what happens here. At least the days are getting longer though! There is hope! It's a dim light... but it's there!

Anyway, enough about the weather. Let's talk about horses! 

Eros asked me to take a selfie today so I let him. I think he did a pretty good job for not having hands. He's feeling really good lately. He's moving more forward which helps pretty much everything else come together. I imagine the change in how he is going is mostly due to the Robaxin he's been on for just over three weeks now. He has a recheck hopefully this Friday though I haven't gotten confirmation on that yet. I'll find out then if he should come off and see how he holds up, or if Doc wants to keep him on it for a bit longer. We'll see what he thinks. I'm also wondering if he's really liking the re paneled saddle. I still hate it, but he's going so well I may have to learn to love it. It's not like I show him in the equitation or anything where I need to not look like I'm clinging on for dear life... That might be an exaggeration. Slight. Slight exaggeration. I did hear back from my rep though. She is going to help me figure things out, but she wants me to put 20 rides in it before we go further. She says it needs to be broken in again like a new saddle since the panels and the bottom flaps are brand new. And I can see where that might make sense as the more I ride in it, the less I feel like my legs are bouncing around. But I don't really think breaking it in will help the feeling of sliding backwards down a mountain. But you never know! I'm open to seeing how it goes. As long as the horse feels good, I can figure it out. 

With the exception of today... Al's been a pretty good boy. I had a feeling he wouldn't be good today, so probably I just caused that. I got to the barn a little bit later than normal, and the turnout schedule was a little altered today due to some other horses having things that needed to be scheduled around. So I rode Al last instead of first. And it was dinner time. Which I didn't really think should be problematic because Al has decided he no longer eats grain. He's done this before. I don't know what gets him to come around and start eating again. His appetite for hay is just fine. He likes treats. He just hates his grain. He's not acting colicky. Pooping just fine. He's getting his misoprostol. (I put that in a Dimples cookie so that he eats right up.) He's not getting his omeprazole since that's in the grain. So that's frustrating, He's also not eating any of his other supplements for gut health. I should probably just light some money on fire instead of trying to feed him. 

Eating habits aside, with the exception of today, he's actually been pretty good to ride. One day last week one of the other boarders was waiting for her farrier to arrive so she came and hung out in the ring while I rode Al. He loves company, whether it's human or equine (or the goat at the old barn) so he was wonderful that day. We even popped over a little raised cavalletti course. We both had fun. I think he misses jumping and I really should set some stuff up for him to jump one of these days. I make a lot of excuses, mostly about the weather, but maybe what I really need to do is be a little more serious and get to work. Spring is coming! But also I'm still kind of scared he'll spin and dump me on landing side since the ring is small and there's a horse eating door at both ends... I need to figure that part out. And dig out the brave pants. Forever a work in progress, me and Al. But we're nothing if not persistent!

I was walking Shiny out and she saw one of the other boarders in the lounge and wanted to hang out with her. So we got this cute photo through the window. Shine's doing okay these days. I'm feeling a little concerned because while she's dropped a lot of weight and looks good as far as weight goes, I feel like she's lost her top line and some muscling over her hindquarters. Part of me is spiraling and concerned there's something wrong medically, the more logical part of me thinks it might finally be time to adjust her Thyro-L dosage. Doc is going to see her again too when he hopefully comes Friday so we will discuss that. I may have him do a blood panel, just to check in. She is going better in some ways since being on the EPM meds. Up until today she hasn't tripped much, if at all. And when we've done some little jumpies she's using herself really well even though the "jumps" have been about 18 inches high. But she is still taking a really long time to warm up. And she definitely needs some vet work in the neck or maybe shoulder area as she's still bouncing on and off the contact in both directions at the trot. I prefaced the "she hasn't tripped much" statement above with "up until today" because today, she tripped so hard while trotting she went to her knees and had a very difficult time recovering from the stumble. I really thought we were both going all the way down. But she did work it out and we both stayed up right. Thankfully. I let her walk a bit before going back to trot and she didn't seem any worse for the wear, but she did trip a couple more times before I decided to just walk her out and see what we have tomorrow. I'm not sure if I should be very worried, or if the problem is actually just that the ring needs a drag. We have the travellite footing which is the wax stuff. It can get a little hard and packed down when it needs a drag (which it does) and she's barefoot so it's not uncommon for her to get a little caught up in that kind of footing. She also had a tough time with the GGT at the other barn. I've decided to hold off on spiraling until I see how she goes tomorrow, and/or after when the ring is dragged next. (Which I'm hoping is tomorrow, but we'll see!) 

So that's where we're at this week. Nothing too exciting, but nothing terrible either. Just kind of getting through the winter that won't let up. I'm not sure it comes across that way, but I am overall pretty happy with how the horses are going. Just a few things still to iron out, but that's horses isn't it? Always some things to keep improving on. Whether it's performance, or veterinary, or... psychologically. Just gotta keep at it!
 

What's Up Wednesday

 

This weather is nuts isn't it? It SNOWED in FLORIDA. That ain't right. Glad I'm not there. Not that's it any better here. We saw single digits the last couple of mornings with feels likes below zero. Gross. The horses are all snuggled up in layers and hoods. It's nice to be at a barn where I can choose how to dress my horses on days and nights like these! They were able to go out yesterday afternoon when it got up to the mid teens and there wasn't any wind. But today was colder and breezier so we opted for hand walks instead. We did get plenty of riding in up until yesterday though, and everyone is just plugging along, doing the flat work things. Once the weather breaks a little I'm hoping to get back to jumping a couple of times a week. But until then, we'll do what we feel like. Because it's January in New England.

Since I don't have anything exciting to write about as far as riding goes, let's talk about our vet visit on Friday!

Al went first. I told Doc I was concerned about the right stifle and described to him about how it had been locking up again. But all of his flexions were perfect. He was still cantering a bit like a bunny though. I said to doc that I was thinking EPM again and he agreed that's likely what we're seeing since the flexions were all perfect. He didn't have the meds on the truck though, so I'm just waiting for those to arrive. If the meds don't fix the bunny canter we may investigate his hips a bit more. Doc was happy with how he looks though overall, so it was a good appointment for Al.

Shiny went second.  I've had some concerns about how she's breathing and she's really dragging her hind end. As for the breathing, she's not flaring her nostrils or anything super scary like that. But I have noticed her breathing from her belly which is not the norm for her. And also, she is sometimes holding her breath in canter, which explains why I can't get her moving. Doc listened to her lungs and didn't hear anything which is great news. But put her on some Ventipulmin for a couple weeks to see if that resolves the abdominal breathing. Her flexions were all good also, so that didn't explain the hind leg dragging. Last winter we treated her for EPM as well and it improved her performance in more ways than I expected. So she is also getting another round of meds to see if that helps the hind end problem. Doc and I both suspect that it will. Fingers crossed.

Eros was the last to go and he was kind of the worst off of the bunch. But that's not really surprising. He has that chronically unsound right front which showed itself when Doc was out. But as is the norm for Eros, it did get better and better the longer we rode. I know it frustrates Doc that we can't just fix that, but it is what it is. He's 16 this year, and that leg has a tendon that's attached backwards. It's not a shocker that it bothers him some when it's so cold out. Eros also presented rather back sore which I already was aware of and am blaming on the fact that we're still using Al's saddle. His is supposed to be on the way here next week... but I haven't heard anything in awhile so who really knows. Doc put him on some Robaxin to try and loosen up the back. He feels that if I can really get Eros to work correctly with his hind end under him and his back lifted, then the ill fitting saddle shouldn't be such an issue. Which... yes I agree. But Eros is REALLY persistent that he couldn't possibly. So I'm letting him take it a little easy while the Robaxin kicks in, and once this arctic weather passes he'll be spending a few rides per week in the equiband. Poor Eros. He's also going to need his hocks done again in the spring, but we want to address the back first. His hocks weren't done all that long ago, so I'd like to not do them just yet if we don't really have to. 

Overall it was a good visit. I wasn't surprised by any of it which is always nice! And if not for the Ventipulmin, it would have been a pretty inexpensive visit! Oh and the EPM meds which I haven't gotten the bill for yet... Also that. Lol. Horses. Keeping humans poor since forever. 

We're supposed to be warming up here starting tomorrow... But it remains to be seen what that really means. I'm hoping to ride tomorrow, but I'm not sure if it will get above 20 before late afternoon. So we'll have to see. Rumor has it that we'll be in the mid to upper 30's by the weekend though! And it's pretty depressing that I'm excited for that. But I AM! 

How's the weather by you? Frozen tundra? We got some snow last week, but just a few inches. And it's been so frigid none of it has melted yet. The horses seem to like it though, so yay for them I guess. Anyway, that's it from here. Maybe we'll have some more exciting things to talk about next week!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Heh. There's really nothing up this week. It's still SO cold out. We had a one day reprieve where it got to almost 40... Is that even a reprieve? But otherwise it's been below freezing. And the WIND. It's doing so much winding. 0 out of 10. Do NOT recommend.

Of course that doesn't mean I haven't been riding. It's stayed above 20 (well the actual temps anyway, wind chills are a separate story) so we've been doing the thing. I haven't dragged any jumps out yet. I had thought maybe today, but the wind was terrifying in the indoor and I was like nahhhh. Tomorrow's another day. Or next week. Or whenever I feel like it. 

Since I don't have anything exciting to report on riding wise, let's chat about what the vet is coming for this week. We did injections not too long ago on everything that needed it (September/October somewhere in there) so I don't think we'll have any of that to do. But I have some things I want professional eyes on. Important to note, everyone feels (knock on wood) pretty sound, I just like to stay ahead of things ya know? 

First up is Al. As I've mentioned a lot lately, he's doing much better than he had been emotionally. And with him finally starting to offer up some nice work, he feels good too. But he still has had some trouble with his right stifle locking so I want to have a look at that. Our canter is a hot mess and I think the stifle is the main culprit. I also want to pick doc's brain about ulcers again. Al is in a much better place right now, he no longer feels electric, but I've noticed some odd behaviors popping up here and there. He's been off the misoprostol for about two weeks now, and I just want to make sure what I'm experiencing isn't the ulcers back already. Namely, I'm having a very hard time picking up the canter. Sometimes he flat out refuses. At one point during our ride today he halted and refused to move. I dunno if you all remember Ducky the stationary hony, but I had a moment of utter dread that it was the 2.0 version. But after a moment Al went back to work. Regardless, I want to make sure I'm not missing something. It was an odd moment for sure, not his usual MO. I'm not panicking about that just yet. It happened at the same time the wind really gusted outside and the indoor sounded like it might just launch into oblivion. So it IS possible he was just spooking. Hard to tell with Al. He's unique. Anyway, those are our main things to discuss. 

Eros for the most part feels pretty good. Especially with how cold it's been and his antics in the field. He pulled another shoe last week! A back one this time. He's coming due though so I think it was a little loose and it just was caught up in the mostly frozen grass. The foot was fine thankfully and the shoe was back on later the same day. (My farrier and his team are the absolute best!) Anyway, there are some little things I want to check in with Doc about. He's still very stiff through the right side of his neck. I'm wondering if maybe we should try a shockwave on him. I don't think we've done that for him yet. The other issue is that I'm still struggling to get him to lift his back. He feels very uphill with his front end, which is lovely, but then the back end is like trailing out behind us. I do think this is at least partially due to still using Al's too wide saddle. Eros' saddle should be back in a couple of weeks with the new panels on it. Fingers crossed that fixes this issue. 

And then there's Shiny! I'm not sure exactly what I think about her. It's taking a lot longer than it used to for her to warm up. But also, it's ridiculously freaking cold out. So maybe she gets a pass there? She's struggling a bit to stay round and on the bit. It's normal for her to want to bounce off the contact tracking left, but she's doing that to the right now too. It's been awhile since her last neck shockwave, so it could be as simple as that. I'm not positive that's the issue though because she's pretty supple through her neck on both sides. Seems more like the trouble is coming from trying to lift her back. But then again, that could be the hocks... She is definitely dragging her hind legs. Her feet are worn in a way that I've not seen on her before. So what I really am thinking with her is that it could be epm again. We treated about a year ago and saw a big difference in her, so we might just need to do another course. We'll see what Doc has to say on Friday. She's not lame, none of them are, I just think she could be feeling better than she is. 

So that's the plan for Friday afternoon! Figure out these weirdos and get them in tip top shape! I'm really excited to get back to some real work (once it's slightly less miserable outside) and ideally we'll do that with everyone feeling great. I usually wait to schedule this appointment closer to spring time, but inevitably it wounds up being much later than I really wanted. So I'm starting early this year in hopes that we'll be feeling ready and eager to do some fun things this spring and summer. Fingers crossed!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Our re-entry back to real worker has been... not all that consistent. Ha! But it's January. So I'm zero percent stressed about it. We started off with all good intentions. My plan for the rest of last week was relatively easy rides as we ease back to things after their week of vacation. But I forgot that there was a gymnastic clinic on Sunday. We were welcome to try and ride during that, but it's a small ring, and I decided I didn't want to. I would have loved to do the clinic with Al but I don't think it's fair to throw that at him after having not really jumped in quite a while AND having had a week off. So we'll try for the next one. 

Anyway, we did ride Thursday through Saturday and everyone was really good. Not a one of them tried to murder me! What good horses. I was really curious to see what I'd have with Al particularly. He finished up his course of Misoprostol while I was away, and so I was interested to see if I would have the same horse I left or if the fire breathing dragon would return. Which, the dragon could appear regardless after a week off mid winter... So there were a lot of unknowns there. But you know what? He's been lovely. A little spooky here and there, but I can get his attention and he is giving me some nice work. Very proud of him!

Sunday, instead of riding, everyone had a mane pull and enjoyed their turnout time. Monday they had off per our normal schedule and then this week... This week is stupid. The actual high has been 22 degrees (F) and the wind! 30-40 mph winds. It's nuts. Fortunately, the indoor is you know, indoors, so the wind chill isn't a factor. But it's so noisy. Yesterday I legit thought the arena might just fly up into the air and jet off into orbit. It was terrifying. But again, the horses were all pretty good. Even after two days off. I dunno... Maybe someone swapped them with different horses while I was gone? 

We've just been flatting so far this week. I don't see any point in jumping when it's this stupid cold. Hopefully by the weekend it will be a little more mild. We have been working on some lateral work though, and getting all the parts moving nicely again. Eros has a weird bump on his hind leg Tuesday with some heat just exactly where the bump was. I think he must have stepped on himself. He felt sound when I rode him lightly, and I iced it after. Today there was no sign at all of the bump nor the heat. So I'm going to assume that it was no big deal. 

The new barn stays pretty comfortable even in this cold weather. I haven't put the thermometer in the ring so I'm not sure the temp in there, but feet and hands have remained unfrozen for our rides, so it can't be that bad in there. The barn itself seems to stay between 35 and 40 so long as the doors stay closed. I do love that I get to choose how I want to blanket my own horses at this barn. Took me a little bit to get it just right (they were a little chilly a couple of times) but I think I've got it down now. At the old winter barn, they didn't let us decide what to dress the horses in (hated that!) and my barn is temperature controlled to 45 degrees in the winter. So it's been a long time since I've had to really think about these things. I'm not completely happy with my heavy weight blankets so I'm still on the hunt for the perfect ones. Maybe next year I'll find them. 

As for myself, I think I've gotten my layering system down pretty solidly. I can't explain why, but I am never comfortable with multiple pants layers. I also don't like most winter breeches. But I've been wearing a slightly heavier sock (the Noble outfitters ones that are patterned on the leg, but the foot is more like a heavy athletic sock) and the Dover Wellesley breeches. But my top layers are the important part. I always wear a cami under all my shirts, so I have that on still, then a merino base layer. On top of that for 30-40 degrees I like a wool or wool blend sweater. But when it's below 30? I bust out the cashmere. I have a small pile of old cashmere that I've accumulated since probably college. I used to save them for wearing to work or for non horse things, but many of them are getting a little past their prime so those are barn sweaters now. And I have to tell you, nothing is warmer than cashmere. Plus, as an added bonus, they aren't bulky. So I never feel like Randy from a Christmas Story when he can't put his arms down. Nothing worse than that! On top of the sweater I add a puffy vest and jacket. My favorites are from Columbia, but I also have sets from Eddie Bauer and Old Navy. They all do a nice job of keeping me warm. I also vary my riding garments slightly depending on just how cold it is. If I'm wearing wool, I'll probably also have on the sheepskin paddock boots and matching sheepskin lined half chaps. But if I'm in the cashmere? Then it's the same paddock boots with the full chaps instead. I am SO GLAD I resurrected those! The final piece of the puzzle for the incredibly cold days is the winter liner inside my Samshield helmet. It has fuzzy ear flaps. I haven't used that yet this year, but I do think I used it some last winter. 

What are your favorite layers for stupid cold riding days? At what point do you decide it's too cold to ride? I used to say 15 degrees, but now that I'm old, I opt out if it's below 20. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I don't really have tons to report on this week. I feel like we're starting to find our work groove at the new place, and that is nice to me. I like feeling settled and like we're being productive. We're limited a little in what we can do in the small indoor, but honestly, it's winter. Time to ease off and re visit the basics, ya know? Work on fitness and some of the little things that we sometimes let slide. 

We got some of our maintenance done this week. The farrier came Friday and then the bodyworker was here on Monday. And Eros removed one of his brand new shoes on Monday... Lol. Fortunately, he just kind of stepped out of it, no damage to his hoof and didn't even bend the shoe. So it went right back on the next day. (Thanks to my wonderful farrier and his super team.) 

The field where the shoe was deposited...

Some notes from the bodyworker. Shiny's in great shape. The only interesting thing to note was that normally she needs the most work on her left side, and this time it was on the right. So that was different. Nothing major, just some small, pretty "normal" stuff. Al is showing some weakness behind, which I'm not surprised by. He's been locking up more in his stifles lately. I'll probably schedule a vet visit for after the holidays for him. I think I know exactly what he needs, but we'll see what doc says. I'm not terribly concerned and neither was our body worker. Just something to keep an eye on and address. Eros didn't have anything really out of the ordinary other than being a little stiff on his left hind. He pulled the right front shoe though, and I have a feeling that was the result of some silly antics out in his field. So likely that stiffness is related to that. He's felt fine the last two days so I'm not too concerned. 

Anyway, let's summarize the week in ponies shall we? I didn't really do a second jump day last week. We popped over some rails and cavalletti that someone else had set on Saturday, and I counted that as day two of jumping. Shiny and Eros were great for that stuff, but Al was also great! He was pretty angsty and annoying much of last week in the indoor. But Saturday the barn was a little busier and we got to ride with two other horses which made Al really happy. He likes buddies. It was definitely the best ride of the week for him. 

Did I mention the wind? It's always windy.

Sunday, by some miracle, was dry and relatively warm. So we finally got to ride outside! Al didn't really do much riding if we're being honest. He did most of his real exercise on the lunge line, and then I got on and just walked him on a loose rein for twenty minutes. I think he appreciates a zero pressure ride now and then. And Sunday Funday is the perfect day for that! 

Eros did his Sunday funday easy ride in the outdoor ring too, and then I walked him out around the paddocks twice. I think he even enjoyed it! Maybe some day he'll be a hack horse. Maybe. 

Shiny has the best day ever because she went wandering in the fields. But after she pulled the reins through my hands for the second time to snag a mouthful of grass that she's not suppose to have, I made her do a little work in the grass ring. She might not admit it, but she thought that was fun. 

Monday is their day off, but the body worker came, so they did that. Then yesterday was just a flat day for everyone. Al was pretty good, but a little angsty about the doors at the end of the ring. It was windy though and they were making some noises so I don't blame him really. Eros hasn't been thrilled at the far end either, so you KNOW it must be creepy down there. Anyway, once I just made the ring a little smaller I was able to get his attention and had a pretty nice ride. Eros and Shiny both had nice Tuesday rides. Mostly just stretchy, loose work and a quick touch on coming together to make sure all the buttons were working. 

Today was sort of a jump day. Sort of. We are having weather today. Not snow thankfully, but WEATHER. First, it was 60 degrees all day which is nuts since it's been in the 30's and low 40's only. But also really high winds (gusts to 50mph) and lots of rain. I was supposed to go to the theater tonight, but when they started closing schools early and the town hall closed up I opted out. It's a 45 minute drive on a nice night, and this certainly wasn't a nice night. Anyway, it also wasn't a nice day. One of the down sides here at the new farm is that I have to set up whatever I want to jump each time I want to do that, and then put it all away after. (In the indoorthat is. There are jumps outside set up all the time and you can do whatever you want and leave it out there.) It's not at all unreasonable, but I definitely get a little lazy about what I set up. I really wasn't sure how the boys would be with the sounds happening from the weather, so I didn't want to get too crazy dragging out standards and what not when we might only manage raised cavalletti level attention spans. So that's exactly what I chose to set up! That and some flower boxes. Eros does not at all understand the question when I ask him to walk or trot over a flower box by itself. Completely mind blowing for him. He does figure it out eventually, but it's quite shocking because he's normally the sensible smart one. Anyway, here's what I set up for today:

Nothing too strenuous, but enough for them to need to pay some attention to something other than the outside weather. 

Al really surprised me today. He could have really come undone, but he didn't. Was he perfect? No, definitely not. Did we get to the point where we could just canter around and around over all the things? Also no. But what he did do, was let me get his attention back when I lost it. I feel like I had a mostly relaxed horse for the majority of the ride. I was not expecting that. I think it helps that it was so warm out, but whatever the reason, I'm thrilled with his efforts today. I really wish I could pretend like this is because he's moving in the right direction rather than a one off. But I know it's not. It doesn't matter though. I can absolutely appreciate the better than anticipated ride. And I will! Here are some terrible screen shots from our ride today. (And yes, he puts forth the least amount of effort possible whenever possible.) 

The farthest strip of lights is a little finicky and if you don't press it just right they sometimes turn off. Which happened today so our media is dark. What can ya do? I just propped my phone up against the wall, but maybe one of these days I'll bring Pivo out. The footage isn't at all exciting, but it's really useful for me to see what it looks like from the outside. 

I didn't film Eros today. I wanted to make sure I had enough phone juice for Shiny since I figured she'd be the most agreeable and I didn't plan ahead and bring my phone charger. But he was pretty good. Definitely excited about "jumps" but who can blame him? I get excited too! It's a little tricky in this ring because there's not a lot of room for his exuberant 20' stride. So I've been a lot of cantering a jump, trotting the next, that sort of thing. We had fun! 

Shiny cares zero about outside noises and weather, so she was the most fun today. I did some funny bending lines with her, and was just able to keep popping over stuff. She was great! She feels a lot better after her body work. 

I will definitely need to bring some standards out and make some bigger jumps for her. Or maybe just stand the blocks up the other way. I think that's 2' when you do that. She's definitely finding these little things boring. They all are honestly. For Eros, I kind of want to keep the height teeny in this ring because I don't want him careening around the corners at high rates of speed. That's how he gets broken. And the bigger the fence the more he might torpedo given his current level of exuberance. For Al, it's tricky. I want to start with these little things, and then as it gets easier and smoother start to lift them up some. The height and the jumps themselves aren't the issue for Al, it's whatever he's staring at on the other side. So I like to practice first in a situation where we can't get into too much trouble (small jumps) and once that's smoothed out we can go bigger. Be nice to have a ground person for that so I don't have to get off and on a bunch, but there's not often people around when I ride Al. We'll figure it out when the time comes though. 

And that's it for this week! I shall leave you with the most adorable photo of Rita sitting on her butt begging for her cookie.

And yes, that is one of her two mountains of toys next to her. 
It's out of control.

What's Up Wednesday

 

The weeks are kind of flying by lately! But it's still cold out. Haha. The snow is taking its sweet time coming off the roof at the barn. Normally there's a bad day and then it's all done. But it's been coming off a little at a time since Sunday. It's a real treat. But I will say, my horses have been quite good about it. Even Al. Sunday was particularly rough, and while I was on Al, there was on of those HUGE crashes that starts at the top of the roof and then slides down crashing all the way... One lady fell off, and most of the other horses in the ring bolted towards the other end of the ring where Al and I had been standing. And you know what Al did? Absolutely nothing. He turned to watch everyone running at him and just stood there. He got extra cookies for that. I will never understand how this horse's brain works though. 

Al was a little edgy the past week for his lessons, but I still feel like we're moving in a positive direction. He's starting to turn his focus back on me and what we're doing rather than being hyperfocused on things that might potentially scare him. So far this week though, he's been very relaxed and even moving off my leg when I ask him to. We've been doing a lot of transitions which I'm finding very helpful in getting him to respect my leg more. You never really know what you're going to get from him on a given day, but I feel like we're having more good days than bad so hopefully we'll continue that pattern!

Shiny's been a good pony this week. I do feel like she's due for some maintenance, but I'm trying to put it off just a little bit to align with Eros' recheck in a few weeks. What I love about this pony is that she won't do anything she thinks is too hard. So I just try to listen to her each day and see what she feels like doing. If she's particularly sulky in a lesson, we stick to cross rails. On the days she's feeling more bold, I let her jump a little bigger. At least for now, until we get some vet work done. Once I know things are lubed up and ready to go, I can ask a little more from her. We borrowed our friends' Spectra Laser neck wrap on Friday. We put it on the fat busting mode in hopes that we get her cresty neck a little smaller... I'm not sure if it actually works for that, but she felt a lot better on Saturday. I think we might see if Grandpa wants to get her one for her birthday... And by grandpa, I mean my dad. And by Shiny's birthday, I mean MY birthday... We'll see if he goes for it. I don't know if these things actually work, but I've borrowed it a few times for different things and the horses seem to feel better after using it. Could be placebo effect. I dunno. But if there's a perceived difference, I'm all for it!

I finally started Eros on Benadryl last week, and it's definitely helping. The hives aren't gone completely yet, but they are significantly improved, so I'll take it. I gotta say though, the drowsiness is real with Benadryl... If you've ever taken it, you know what I mean! He's walking SO SLOWLY for our walks since he's been on it. I'm talking 28 minute miles. Which... is pretty slow. On the plus side, there's very little chance of him acting silly while he's recovering from this injury. 

That's about all that's happening here. Nothing very exciting to report, but I think that's a good thing this time of year. How are things with you all? Doing anything fun with your horses?

What's Up Wednesday

 

We actually had a pretty lovely week/weekend around here. The horses have all been so good, even Al!

Obviously, some days are better than others, but of course, that's horses, right? Overall, he's really been a good boy. We had two lessons this past week, one Thursday and one on Saturday. I chose to switch Al into Shiny's usual lessons so that he can ride with friends, but also while the ring isn't busy with non lessons. He likes to have buddies, but can lose focus and get anxious when there's too much chaos. 

I'm still struggling a little in my head with allowing myself to avoid Al's triggers. I grew up being taught that we don't let horses get away with "bad" behavior. If they're afraid of something, you make them face it. If your horse doesn't like a busy ring, you ride your horse when it's busiest until he learns to like it. After all, horse shows are busy places. If you can't handle it at home, how will you away? But I've never had a horse quite like Al. So I'm trying very hard to listen to him. To work with him instead of against him. And just figure out how to make our rides successful. I also still strongly believe that very few of these behaviors we're working through will translate to horse shows. Both times we competed last summer he was very excited to be there and do his job. 

So all that said, we're still only jumping fences that are set at the non scary end of the ring. So courses are short and full of roll backs... Fortunately, Al enjoys a good roll back. There's a new course in the ring for this week, that seems pretty Al friendly though, so we might (maybe, possibly) be able to venture a little further around the ring and put together a longer course. We shall see. He lessons tomorrow. 

Shiny had a great week too! She also had two lessons, the same days as Al. (Which is a little exhausting for their rider!) Her lessons have been privates which is fun because we get to jump more. Which Shiny also thinks is super fun. I can't say enough about how nicely she's going. She's looking for the contact and wants me to just keep a steady soft feel rather than constantly having to remind her about the contact. And to the jumps? I have to whoa! She's so gung-ho. It's ridiculously fun. I think she's really feeling good these days which is so wonderful to see and feel. I caved and had her clipped again this week too. She was SO HAIRY and it's been fairly warmish so it was taking half the day for her dry after our rides. Nobody wants to spend all day soggy and waiting for grooming. So now she's clipped, and we're both much happier. 

Eros is still living his best life, taking afternoon walkies, morning turnouts, and daily mud packs. He had a little bit of a rough weekend. I found him Saturday very stocked up behind. I couldn't find a source. I scrubbed the legs, no cuts. They weren't so stocked up that I suspected cellulitis, especially since it was both hinds. So we did our walk, and then I iced him and wrapped him up. His temp was normal and he was acting just fine otherwise, so I didn't feel like I needed to bother the vet on a weekend. Figured I'd see what I had on Sunday. By Sunday they were down considerably. Still a little thick, but nothing like the day before. So we did the same routine. Walked, iced, wrapped. I didn't see him Monday since the barn is closed, but by Tuesday he was back to normal. The don't know for sure, but I suspect it's related to his hives and his mild intolerance to whatever is in this batch of shavings. Looks like this load is just about used up, so hopefully he'll be bump free and back to normal once the new shavings arrive.

And that's about it from here this week. How about you all? Horses good? Getting some lessons in?

What's Up Wednesday

 

It's been kinda cold and snowy here. Not enough to interfere with horsing thankfully, but enough to be cold and annoying. 

Barn Owner headed off to Florida early Sunday morning, so things are calm and quiet. We had a substitute teach our flat lesson last night, but only I showed up for it, so I got to have a private. Poor Pammon worked so hard, all he wanted to do this morning was stretchy trot. Literally. That's all he wanted. Canter? "Ugh, do I HAVE to???" I mean, he did canter, he's not Shiny, but the majority of this morning's (VERY COLD) ride was stretchy trot with his cute little nose down near his feet. Since we were on the cusp of too cold to ride, I agreed with him that it was a good plan for the day. We can work harder tomorrow. 

Shiny is kind of stuck in her ways right now, but we keep plugging along. I let her have a walk only ride on Sunday to see if that would help. I know in the summertime she enjoys her bareback Sundays, so I was hoping a walk only day might work the same way. I'm not sure if it helped or not for sure yet, but she did canter both directions yesterday. Since Pammon does the evening lesson Tuesday, I usually do Eros in the morning that day, but I chose Shiny instead yesterday. She seemed really confused as to why I was riding her so early. And then was even more confused in the evening when I didn't take her out. Apparently she likes routine as much as I do! 

Nothing really to report on with Eros. He's is usual perfect self. He's been getting worked twice a week in the lunge rig (like the pessoa system) and while it seems to lighten him up a bit, I don't think it's really doing what it's supposed to behind. After he rigs, I feel like his back end is trailing out behind us. Odd. I really should get myself organized and bring the equiband out to the barn. I think he'd benefit from it. Shiny sure would if she would get moving forward!

I was pretty unproductive on the house cleaning front this weekend, but I did do some other stuff instead. Namely: I made Super Bowl snacks and labeled some stuff with my Cricut.

How about that Pug teapot though?

For snacks, I made strawberry cupcakes (from a mix, I'm not that motivated!) and the slow cooker contained buffalo chicken dip. I halved the recipe because it was just me enjoying it, and I think next time I'll do a touch less buffalo sauce and and a bit more ranch. It was my first time making it though, so that's how you learn!

How great is that tote bag that came in my barn colors?! I found them on Walmart.com and they also had the boarding barn's colors. Unfortunately, I was out of blue vinyl, so I didn't get to decorate that one this weekend. Next week maybe. The hoodie says Ponies Rule on the pocket and has my logo on the back. Possibly one of my new favorite things.

And that's really about it from here this week. How are things by you? Cold? Snowy? Rainy? Have any delicious Super Bowl snacks?

What's Up Wednesday

Ugh, you guys. It's so cold here! Like 20 degrees cold. It's TOO SOON!!!! Too soon. It's also making the transition over to the boarding barn a bit more... exciting. Shiny pants was SASSY last night! Lots of scooting and head tossing. I put her down to get a little free lunge this morning, so hopefully that will help. It was super windy last night, and that indoor can get rattling in the wind. So I don't blame her. Mother nature needs to calm herself down.
Otherwise, things seem to be going fine over there. Pammon had his wraps on when I arrived after work, and Shiny found a spot in the turnout rotation. I figured that would all smooth over quickly. Eros is 90% body clipped too which is wonderful. He had turned into one of those little wooly caterpillars. I imagine he'll be finished up today.
Since it's suddenly so cold, I've busted out the quarter sheets. Shiny looks extra cute in hers.

Photo from our last ride at home last week. It is nice to ride in a well lit indoor out of the wind, that is for sure! Definitely enjoying that part about boarding.
I finally got to have a lesson with Eros on Sunday. It proved to me how out of shape I already am. Just riding Shiny during the week (prior to moving of course) just doesn't require the same level of fitness as riding a full sized horse. It was a good lesson though, and nice to start getting back into jumping. I'm excited to ride him every day now!
Since I already told you guys all about moving yesterday, I don't have much else to report. Fortunately, life outside of horses has been fairly quiet which is nice while I adjust to our new schedule. I'm pretty type A, so big changes like this kind of require my full attention.
What about you guys? Did you have a fun weekend? Do anything exciting?