What's Up Wednesday

 

I'm totally lacking in media which is the one of the worst things about winter. Besides the miserable cold and all the snow. Those things are also terrible. (How long till spring?) But it's been a busy week around these parts. We'll start with Al since he's the new guy and we all want more Al in our lives. 

The horses all got new stall ponies to play with.
Al thought it was the most fun ever. 

I let Al have a training ride last week for his first real jump school here. I figured why not let the trainer test the waters, ya know? I needn't have worried. He was foot perfect and didn't seem to care about any of the fences whether they had fill or not. The jumps stayed low since he's not super fit yet. But still were about as high as I want to jump any time soon... Probably 2'9"? Big enough that he jumped over them, but not so big as to cause any strain. I think once a week is enough for him to jump right now while he's coming back from his gelding, so I didn't take a turn yet. BUT we have our first lesson tomorrow! So I'm super excited. 
As for how things are going with us, things are going well. He's for sure a little green and gets wiggly. And sometimes he falls behind my leg and might even break. I haven't really achieved any sort of consistent contact but I know I'll find the button eventually. We're starting Tuesday flat lessons next week. I find it a lot easier to get a heavy horse to lighten than to get one that wants to periscope to come down into the contact. And he's the second type. So it's a fun new challenge for me! He's really a wonderful, reasonable guy, and I'm stupid excited to get started with him! 
My vet checked him out yesterday to get a baseline on him, and he seemed just as excited about Al as I am. When I bought Al there was a small question on the vetting, and upon seeing him in person, Doc isn't too worried about it anymore. The leg that showed a mild positive on the flexion has a very upright foot. Not quite clubby, but very upright, and he think that would account for the slight asymmetry that shows up. Something that may even get better with my farrier working on him too. So all good things so far! He also got his teeth done and had a good report from the dentist. I was kind of surprised, because it's not uncommon for the European horses to have not the best dental care. Fortunately, Al's humans were on top of things. 

Eros is doing well. With the cold weather he comes out a little more stiff and takes a bit longer to warm up. But once he gets going, he feels pretty great! We were able to pop over a few crossrails last week, and he was sound after. So definitely happy about that! He's having his first lesson tomorrow too! It's going to be a big day! I may be exhausted by the time I get home tomorrow... Hopefully Eros will remember how soft and lovely he jumped around last summer, and will channel that energy. Will report back. Lol!

Shiny kind of thinks stall ponies are silly.

Princess Shiny Pants felt AMAZING when I started her back to work after her injections. Unfortunately, the amazing feeling didn't last and she came up lame during our lesson last week. I kind of thought she felt a little funny the day before but she was really fussy in the contact (not uncommon with her) and I felt it was more "bridle lame" than actual lame. Unfortunately, I thought wrong. Sorry pony. It felt to me like something high up like shoulder or neck, and not so much a leg problem. But it's hard to know for sure without a professional vet opinion. Fortunately, he was already scheduled for Tuesday so I just added Shiny to the list. (Some day, the vet will visit the barn and none of my horses will need to be seen. But like... not any time soon. Ha.)
Doc watched her go and flexed her all around, and determined that it was indeed her neck. After watching her move before and after the flexions, he thinks that the injections absolutely did what they were supposed to but he thinks something has slipped out in her neck. He said she was much less braced in how she's moving, but he thinks she over did it feeling so much better. He wants her to keep working lightly (no jumping for a little bit) with lots of stretching both in and out of the saddle. He also prescribed her an NSAID to help with the soreness. Hopefully she'll be feeling better very soon. 

And in other exciting news, this weirdo moved back into the barn! I was really concerned about how he'd adjust to being back inside after living out all summer. He has a history of being a weaver and kind of anxious in the stall sometimes. But he hasn't shown any of that behavior so far! He seems pretty content and happy to be back honestly. It was getting pretty cold out at night, so maybe he's grateful for the warmth. Whatever the reason, I'm glad he's adjusting well. 

We've been doing our 30 minute walks everyday which are going well. I will admit, 30 minutes of just walking around the indoor in the cold is a little boring... But I prefer boring over crazy any day. I said to someone the other day that walking 30 minutes is really boring right up until it's not... Lol! So far it's stayed boring and I'm happy with that! It is nice to swing a leg over him again. I missed him more than i realized. 

He's a total fuzzy, dirty, smelly mess at the moment, but I don't think it makes any sense to clip him until he's actually doing some work. So he gets to stay semi feral for awhile. He's SO soft though! I keep calling him a Build-a-Bear because he's my awkward fuzzy teddy bear. 

Al and Pammon- best bros! 
And also yes, Pammon peed on the crossties.

I think that's all the pertinent horse information from the past week. But the outside life wasn't without its own excitement. Saturday morning, it felt extra cold when I got out of bed in the morning. Took me awhile of whining to myself about it to realize the heat actually wasn't working. (Why does this never happen during the week??) So I made a ton of calls trying to find someone available to come help me. Not sure what really went wrong, the furnace didn't seem to have anything wrong with it and they got it going for me finally in the late afternoon. I'm just glad nothing major was wrong, don't need to add new furnace to the list of things I need soon! It's been warm and cozy since, so yay for that!

Saturday evening my mom hosted our family Chanukah party. Last year we were able to get together safely in my brothers driveway for a gift exchange, but it was so much nicer this year to have dinner together too. All of us adults are fully vaccinated AND boosted, and as of today, my nieces have received their second shot. So while they weren't fully vaxxed for our little party, they were well on their way. A happy Chanukah indeed!
Speaking of Chanukah gifts... My mom gave me the best present:

Sorry, I couldn't get a photo to do it any justice. But it's a hand cut pendant made from a photo of Artie. I treasure it, and can't wait to pair it with my Rio and Jamp pendants. (I need a new chain for those, I broke both the ones they came with... I break all the chains. All of them. Always.) You might remember my logo pendant I had made by Auburn Jewelry (also broke that chain). Well she does custom pet ones too. She really can do anything. Highly recommend her if you're looking for something special. 

Chanukah wrapped up on Sunday and P and I celebrated our last day of dress up with some matching Chanukah jammies. 

Maybe next year instead of 8 days of sweaters, we should do 8 days of jammies... I'm gonna need more jammies though... 

Anyway, that's what's happening around here. How are things with all of you? Did you have a good week?