What's Up Wednesday

 

The weather has been AMAZING here the last several days with temps in the 70's and the sun actually hanging around! So it feels super weird that we made the move to the boarding barn for the winter this past weekend. Despite the lovely weather though, it's still very dark after work, so I am happy we headed indoors. 

Eros is 1000% happier to not be riding in my backyard anymore. Shiny doesn't seem to have an opinion either way. She's pretty easy to please.

We made the most of our last rides at home though. I did set Pivo up on Saturday to get some video of our last day, but alas, I'm having a tough time getting the videos moved around to edit them. Check the youtube later this week hopefully I'll get some little clips up. 

BUT! That's not all that happened this weekend. I got to have a lesson! On my stepmom's new horse! I wish I had some video... though truthfully I was a bit of a hot mess. The horse though, you guys? (His name is Bellino.) He's wonderful. Like really, really a good dude. I'm so excited for stepmom, she's going to learn so much and have a ton of fun doing it. But let's talk about the lesson, shall we?

The flatwork went great! He's a quiet guy, but listens to your leg. He has a great foundation on the flat and knows how to move his hind end and front end independently. He's still a little green in staying straight and does like to pop his left shoulder a little. But they all have something like that. 

Once we were all warmed up (it was a group lesson, there were five of us) we moved on to jumping. Barn trainer kept the fences nice and baby sized for chicken little (me). We started just cantering a tiny crossrail to a little line of verticals. I think they were around 2' (maybe... could have been smaller). She had us all do the add stride since the fences were teeny. After we all went through once, she added a few more jumps. And then a few more. Bellino was perfect the entire time. But I was having a hard time finding the jumps, and I swear you guys. I got left at least four times. I just kept wanting to add up too much and he was like, nope, this is where we jump. But he never got offended. It happened into lines and we regrouped and jumped out just fine each time. We did have several good jumps too. I think the biggest one was maybe 2'6" on a tall day. Seemed like a damn mountain to me! I haven't jumped a full sized horse since Eros got hurt last year. And Shiny and I haven't jumped higher than 2'. So. I'm rusty. And mildly terrified. But sometimes you have to do things afraid and when it's all done and your heart rate returns to normal, you realize it was great fun and want to do it again. Bellino is sticking around until after Thanksgiving I think, so I should be able to get a few more lessons in. 

After my lesson I headed home to ride Eros and Shiny and then got everything packed for our big move on Sunday. 

I was happy with myself for being organized last year. I have separate everything pretty much for the boarding barn and had it all organized in tubs in my corn crib. So when it came type to pack for our move, I just had to load those tubs into the trailer. The only extras I had to pack were tack, feed, and supplements. Pretty easy! The only snag in my organization was I had loaned Fefe Eros' heavy turnout for the fall and it accidentally went to Florida with her. Stepmom shipped it back though, we should have it tomorrow.

Finished packing just as the sun was setting

Sunday morning I let Eros and Shiny enjoy their usual morning turnout and headed over to the barn to ride Pammon. I got back just as my helper was bringing them in which was perfect timing. We let them have a drink and some hay and then loaded up. They both went on easily though Shiny is so odd about loading. She always pauses like she's trying to decide if she should be difficult. Then, since she's Shiny and not particularly naughty, she literally jumps up the ramp. Every time. I'm not sure if she doesn't understand how the ramp works or what. It's odd. She doesn't seem worried about it. I wonder if she's only been in step up trailers maybe? Who knows. Either way, she gets on, so that's fine. And she backs off well, though cautiously. Ponies are weird.

I spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting organized over at the winter home. I opted not to ride the other two over there the first day. The IEA team has practice Sunday afternoons and it gets pretty busy. Instead they both had a hand walk and graze. They seemed happy.

But then I went home and it was only 3:30! Instead of being productive I worked on something I've been planning to try for awhile now....

Interchangeable boots! I think there's probably other ways to make these fancier, but I also think they're good enough for my needs. Shiny's boots were back ordered so her pair isn't done yet. Pretty sure this will be a game changer for outfit day...

Definitely a lot going on over here this past week, but now that the horses are all settled in the same place, we should be back in a routine quickly. Did you all have a good week/weekend? Do anything fun and exciting?