The weather was crazy this week. We had rain and temps in the 50's but it dropped down to the single digits that same night. Gross. Ice everywhere. Despite that craziness, the horses have been mostly good.
Shiny skipped her lesson this week. She got trimmed a hair too short and was feeling a little sore on her tootsies and I didn't think she needed to jump on sore toes. She didn't mind the break. I still kept her flatting lightly, and by the weekend she was feeling much better.
Al also wound up skipping his lesson this week. After his free lunge Thursday morning, he was feeling a little sore behind. It's not the first time this has happened. He very much enjoys his free lunges but does not pay attention to his own feet. Sometimes he winds up whacking himself and then feels sore after. He's not the most stoic horse I've ever had either so he makes it very well known when he has a booboo. So we just observed the lesson we were supposed to be participating in. He's already feeling mostly better thankfully. Our vet will be out Friday this week, so if he has time, I'll have Al looked at just to be safe.
Eros DID have his lesson, and he was wonderful as has been the norm lately. He was a touch fresh, but no torpedos, so that was nice.
One of the things I enjoy most about the boarding barn is that they don't close for holidays. Staff gets Christmas off (other than feeding) but boarders are welcome. They even do potluck breakfast. This year, after breakfast we did an obstacle race bareback. Obviously, I chose Shiny for this particular shenanigan. We had to trot through (as in parallel to) some poles on the ground, trot over a little crossrail, canter a circle around some cones, grab a Santa hat from a standard, canter through a line of poles, then open and close a "gate" (a lead rope clipped to a standard that we had to unclip, walk through then re-clip, much easier said than done), then finally gallop through a set of standards that acted as your finish line. There were about ten of us participating and it took about 2-6 minutes a piece (depending on how the "gate" went mostly). Shiny went last, and I thought for sure I'd struggle to get her moving. But I gotta tell you. I think games is Shiny's calling in life. She was PUMPED! We only lost because of my lack of hand/eye coordination. I missed the Santa hat like three times. It took her a bit of time to figure out her role at the "gate" but I do think we were one of the fastest through that particular obstacle. We finished in fourth. Someone video'd but I don't have it yet, otherwise I'd have shared. It was super fun. You'll have to take my word for it. Afterwards I rode Eros bareback and decided to just handwalk Al since by then everyone had gone and he still wasn't quite 100% the day before. Figured a little break wouldn't hurt him.
As mentioned yesterday, I'm in Florida for this week, so the horses are having training rides and/or hacks from whoever is a capable match for them. I got a video of Al yesterday in which he looked pretty good. Maybe a little stifle-y but that's kind of how he goes. He's definitely got some weird stifle action, probably from all the breeding he did before he came here. I may go down south and visit my horsey friends tomorrow morning. I have to see who's around.
Florida has been fun so far. The day we arrived was a quiet one in which we just hung around the boat. (We're still staying on it despite not going anyplace.) Yesterday, our first full day, the kids went to the pool, and pretended I knew how to hit golf balls with my dad and stepmom at the driving range. They actually do know what they're doing. I do not, but I managed a few times to hit the ball straight and with some air. Lol. I'm really terrible at golf. It's fun though!
The boat is docked in one of those developments that Florida is known for. They're like mini towns. My dad and stepmom own a small house in the same development so that they can have access to all the amenities. There are multiple golf courses, a couple restaurants, a playground, pools, etc. So it's like staying at a resort. For this holiday week, they have all kinds of events planned. Last night was Carnival night, and they legit brought in a full carnival just for the evening. Games, rides, all the food... It was pretty impressive. The kids had a blast, and honestly, us grown ups did too. I'm still full this morning from all the donuts I ate.
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My brother and I each won these purple ponies for the girls at the water gun game. I think the one on the left is a mare. |
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These guys looked even cooler when it got dark out. |
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Literally all of this was brought in for a single night. |
Tonight there will be retro arcade games and ice skating. I think it's that fake ice skating with the plastic sheets, but it sounds fun either way. I'm about as good on ice skates as I am at the driving range, so I imagine hilarity will ensue. Will report back on that. Lol!
That's it from here! How was your holiday weekend? Are you still off, or do you have to work in between xmas and New Years?