What's Up Wednesday

 

It was a quiet horsey week here with Thanksgiving last week. But the weekend was really nice so we got to ride outside without freezing. 

There's a good size buck out in that field that Eros is looking at

Eros had his lessons last week early and you've already read about those. We did our flat lesson this week on Tuesday like normal and he was hilarious. He was very good, but had about enough about half way through and started pulling his face down to the ground. His body worker was out this week and reported that the loaner saddle is making him sore at the base of his withers so that's not ideal. And might be why he wants to stretch his head down so much. But he also just likes to do that. So who knows for sure. Either way, I'm waiting on payment for one possibly two of the saddles I have for sale, so once that comes through, I can look into getting something for him that fits better. Otherwise his body work visit went well and he had a good report there.

Al... oh Al. Al is either wonderful or a total ass hat. That's where we're at. He was so happy to ride outside Sunday and was completely relaxed and didn't spook. A real rarity! Tuesday I had probably my worst ever ride on him. We were back indoors much to his dismay. And I could barely get him to go around the ring. So today I let him have a training ride and I hear he was good for that. (She did him before I got there today.) He's no dummy. Trainer just keeps kicking until she gets what she wants. I would also do that, but my fear of getting spun off makes it very hard for me to accomplish at the moment. Hopefully all in good time that will work itself out. I still love him, and I think he's amazing in almost every way. We're just stuck in a bit of a rough patch. I mentioned his behavior to my vet who suggested we pull a lyme titer so we did, and maybe there will be an actual reason for his nonsense. I don't really expect there to be, but it doesn't hurt to make sure. He saw the body worker this week too and got a pretty good report. He's still bracing around that quarter crack foot some, but it doesn't actually seem to be bothering him. Hopefully it will be better next time she comes now that he seems to be doing better on it. 

Little Shine has been feeling pretty blah. So I had her on the list for the vet this week. She skipped her lesson last week since it fell on Thanksgiving. Since she felt so crappy in her lesson the week before I figured it wouldn't hurt her any to have the week off from jumping. In fact, she had a really easy week. We are allowed to ride on holidays at the barn. So even though her brothers had to work on Thanksgiving, I just hopped on her in a halter, lead rope, and her blanket, and took her for a walk around the indoor that way. Sunday was a similar ride... I had tacked her up fully intending to work her, but wound up just chatting with someone else walking a horse for 30 minutes and called it a day. The vet watched her go Tuesday and did some flexions. We talked about the doxy and how it seems like she's feeling worse while on it than she did off of it. He says if that's the case, we'll just finish the tub she's on, and not do the additional two weeks that's normal protocol. He thinks we need to do hocks with steroids this time as the alpha-2 really didn't hold for her. The body worker felt she was kind of a mess all over and said that she's acting like the horses she works on that are insulin resistant. The regular vet agreed that Shiny is ridiculously tight in her muscles all over. And we agreed that we should hold off on injections until after running glucose and leptin tests. So he took blood and pending those results we will decide how best to proceed. I am planning to lesson on her tomorrow, but if she tells me jumping is too hard right now, we'll just quit early. She got clipped this afternoon though... so she may be feeling pretty good tomorrow. Hopefully not TOO good... Lol!

In other news, I got to braid a pretty horse for a holiday photo shoot this week! Her owner wanted something a little fun and different, so I did that scallop type thing where the scallop is over the top of the braids. I've never done it before, and it really requires a longer mane, but I got it to work and it cane out really cute! We also added bows for some extra holiday spirit. The forelock was the cutest.

And in other, other news.... I finally figured out what to do with that cute black and white composite I made of the horses faces and my logo... 

Yep, I put it on socks!Why not? 

That's about it from here. Hope you're all having a great week! 

We're having a random wind and rain storm here right now, and I'm running on generator power... Let's see if this manages to post. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Heh... well. The good news, and maybe more of a brag than a confession, is that I am COMPLETELY done holiday shopping! Not wrapping. That still needs to happen. And I have a few more things to Cricut (my blade went dull halfway through my projects), but everything is at least purchased. Yay!

But uh... the confession is that as I was accumulating gifts for my family and friends, I also accumulated quite a few for myself and the horses. Oops. I just couldn't pass up Equiline breeches for under $125. Couldn't. I tried. It was not successful. They are en route. And Shiny and Eros both really did need new barn approved blankets. Eros has more holes in the lining of his than I can even count. And Shiny's was a pretty old hand me down to begin with. She is literally bursting out of the seams on it. I think perhaps it shrunk in the dryer. Did I buy a silly number of new baby pads too? Maybe... But in my defense, I did sell a ton of stuff to pay for all these indiscretions. Hopefully it all evens out in the end.

Thursday's Threads: Thanksgiving Edition

 

Outfit Day! I love that Thanksgiving is always on outfit day. Makes it easy for me! Al will be our model today since he wore the most tack on this vacation day. Here's what he had on:

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Made by me

Sorry it's so dark. No need to turn the lights on for a light flatting day... Though Al was a spooky a-hole so perhaps I should have turned some on. Anyway, YES, those ARE INDEED turkeys on his browband!

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Equine Star
Half Pad: Ippico

Um... No one tell my saddle lady how dirty this saddle is in this photo! It's really just a little ring dirt from the stirrups. Nothing permanent. But yikes. I'm ashamed. Anyway, peep those turkeys on the pad! I made the same mistake this year as last in that I did not remember to bring my brown half pad and had to use this navy one instead. And no, it does not match at all. What can I say? I've been kind of failing at Thursday's Threads lately anyway, so this should surprise no one.

Boots: Equine Star

Yes. More turkeys. It's Thanksgiving! Buckle up, cause they're gonna keep coming... Just not quite yet. 

Here's what I wore to ride:

Apparently we didn't turn on any lights anywhere today... I swear it wasn't actually as dark as it seems in the barn today.

Helmet: Samshield

The fact that my helmet is completely crooked in this photo is actually pretty on point for what the shirt says. So let's roll with that being why. Anyway, I swapped out my black and rose gold boots for a different pair because those are needing some repairs, and this helmet looks fab with the substitution so I brought it along too. 

Sweatshirt: I can't recall what brand this is. Sorry. It and I are both quite old at this point.

Ha! See? Makes sense my helmet is askew. This hoodie makes me giggle every time I wear it. 

Belt: Sure isn't Hermes...

I got this belt strap long ago. I can't remember if it was Amazon or Ebay. Wherever it's from, it's definitely not Hermes. It wasn't sold as a knockoff or anything so no foul play there. The buckle though? It came from Ebay and its authenticity is very unlikely. It pairs so nicely with the orange belt; does it really matter?

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

Yep, you saw these a few weeks ago for Halloween. It's nice when I can get a few holidays out of one pair of pants!

Boots: Celeris UK

Funny, this photo is a lot brighter on my phone than it is on the computer. Sorry about that! (Let's blame Blogger for that.) Anyway, these were a pair of sample boots so they aren't a perfect custom fit, but for what I paid, they're certainly close enough! I like to keep a pair of not so crazy boots at the barn for lessons, so these will be filling that role for now.

And since it's a holiday, and I managed to take things a little too far with my family dinner outfit, I'll be sharing that as well. But before we do that... Here's what the pups wore to Grandma's house today:

That's right, these lil turkeys wore turkey sweaters! P kind of hates clothes, but she tolerated this sweater pretty well today. Rita on the other hand LOVES a good sweater. And this one actually fits her pretty well. 

Okay, and here's what I had on:

I couldn't crop Rita out of this. Look at that face! And yes, once I actually saw the sweater with the pants, I realized I'd gone too far. But I decided to roll with it anyway. I mean, you guys all know me by now. 

Sweater: Fun.com

Hahahahahahaha! Right?! I know. It's something. But full disclosure, that stuffy turkey snaps on to the sweater, and I did not actually wear it attached all day. He's kind of in the way. I think Rita REALLY wanted to play with it though. 

Belt: Not Hermes still!

I wore the same belt to the family meal. It worked well with both outfits!

Pants: Unbranded

I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I am always drawn to patchwork clothing. Must have something do do with being a teenager in the 90's. That was kind of a thing back then. Anyway, when I stumbled across these ridiculous pants I needed them. Zero regrets. Though I think they'll look better with a nice solid colored top. 

Boots: Band of Gypsies

I have no idea where these boots came from or when I got them, but they look brand new. It was nice to wear some cute shoes for once! I feel like I haven't worn anything but barn shoes, boat shoes, or flip flops for the last like three years. Though I guess that's a lie, because I did wear some real shoes to the theater the other week. Regardless, it's a rarity these days. 

Alright, that's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed the silliness and the lack of navy! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

What's Up Wednesday

 

I keep getting distracted away from this post by sale emails coming through for gifts for my family. No seriously. I'm still waiting on those full carts I have... On the positive side, I had lots of time to marinate on the items in them, and I've removed a whole bunch. Of course, I may or may not have filled up other carts in the process. Horse stuff is just so inviting. Seriously. I need to step away from the internet. Anyway. That's not why you're here. You're curious about the past week! Okay, at least pretend. This will be boring as I have no photos from this week at all. 

Honestly, there's not much to report. It was a nice week. Al had another training ride in which he was a spooky asshole. Which truthfully makes me happy because that's what I need help with. Oddly enough though, I have enough anecdotal evidence to confirm that he's not so much of a jerk when it's 50 or warmer out. Below 50? Spooky asshole. It's going to be a long winter. 

The barn hosted a clinic with Nona Garson this weekend. I did not participate this year as I think the sessions are too long for Eros. Shiny is struggling a bit with her lyme symptoms, and Al was not quite ready for jumping yet. But I did watch several of the lessons which was fun. I was able to ride Al during the lunch break both days, and that was actually a good learning experience for me with him. It was pretty much chaos in the ring as everyone else was also trying to ride during the lunch break. I think there were 10 or so horses in the ring each day, and Al was honestly pretty great. Horses were all blowing up and being stupid. It was cold, there was a lot of atmosphere (it felt like a horse show with ship-ins there, lots of people in the lounge, etc), and again, crowded ring. And Al was better than he'd been all week. Go figure. At one point another horse was politely spooking at the something on the rail (seriously he was very calmly leg yielding himself away from whatever was scaring him) and trotted right into Al. He didn't care at all. Was like oh hi! Want to be my best friend?! This horse guys. Such a kid. Things are good with him this week too since it's warmed up some. I'll try to soak that in as long as I can. 

Eros was basically perfect for his lessons. We jumped Thursday, then flatted Tuesday, and jumped again today. He's been so perfect. I had him free lunge both jump days, and it really makes a huge difference. There was no dragging me around at all last week, and only a brief moment today when I maybe did some stupid shit, and he wanted to remind me he knows better. He's not wrong. Though he did do three in the four and I'm quite sure that was very wrong. The jumps were itty bitty, so no one died. That's always the goal, right? Survival? It is for me. There's been lots of no stirrups happening in the lessons (just on the flat thankfully), and while I'm pleasantly surprised that I can ride fairly well without stirrups, I am feeling it tonight. Ouch. Looking forward to how strong I'll be from it though!

Eros had a really easy weekend. He was lucky enough to avoid the lunchtime chaos because it was only a half hour break, so only time for one horse. Barn owner was nice enough to extend hours for us to ride after the clinic finished each day which I took advantage of on Saturday. But I was the only one that did, so I had to ride by myself while a potluck party was happening on the other side of the windows in the lounge. Eros was great, but was definitely throwing some looks at the party goers. Sunday I opted out of riding late, and instead took him for a tack walk outside. I would have actually ridden him, but the WIND! It was cold, in the 30's and the wind was blowing so hard I legit felt like I might get blown right off my horse. Eros, being perfect, put up with that nonsense (we had another horse and rider keeping us company) for about 15 minutes and then we humans were like this sucks let's go back inside. (And that's how Shiny got to have Sunday off!) He'll just be flatting the rest of this week I think. Unless I get all ambitious and sign up for another lesson. But I don't plan on that. 

Shiny was not so great for her lesson last week. She was having one of those days that she just could not get her hind end functioning the way she needed. She really struggled tracking left to canter through the turns, and wasn't confident at the jumps. She never said no or anything like that, but she wanted to get as close as she could before leaving the ground. We just did one course and then called it quits. I'm not sure if it's the lyme fully or just that she may need some maintenance again. She did let us know when the vet was here that she likely DID need that, but we wanted to give the doxy a few weeks to kick in before doing any of that. So we'll play by ear. She's been flatting well enough, so I just don't know. She isn't lessoning this week since her lesson day is Thursday and it's Thanksgiving here in the states. I did a make up today with Eros, but decided to let her take it easy and just flat this week. Try again next. There's no pressure on her. She'll do what she can do, and when she can't, we won't. Whatever she needs. 

That's about it on the horse front. The tack sale is still plugging along. I had a trainer friend come by with one of her clients. The client is an older lady who just got her very first horse and needed everything for him! So she got a full wardrobe of blankets, some saddle pads, brushes, etc. She also has one of my saddles on trial. Then trainer friend also shopped for a couple of other clients. So that was a lucrative day! She took the other two saddles on trial as well. I know at least one is coming back, but cross your fingers that I get a couple sold! The wide tree is out on its second trial right now, so fingers crossed that one doesn't come back again. Though there's more interest in it, so not a dead end. It would be really nice to put a saddle under the menorah for Eros... But not counting my cash before it gets here.

Sorry for the media free post. I'll try and do better... I don't always keep my phone on me at the barn, so I don't get so many photos. But this is really quite boring with only text! 

I hope you all had a great week/weekend! And if you're in the US, happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Anyone else have carts pre-loaded on a bunch of websites just in case there are some great deals on things you already know you want? No? Just me? Okay then... I have a few things I'd like to get for the horses, but they aren't things I would ask my family for. So I'm hoping to get them during black Friday. Trouble is, they're all from Europe and I'm not sure if those particular sites do anything. Time will tell!

My other confession is that I can't stop watching Below Deck. I'm not partial to any particular season or location. I'll watch any and all of it. I'm not generally a reality tv watcher, but every so often I get totally sucked into one of these shows. Anyone else watch it? Do you have a favorite crew member, captain, or boat?

Thursday's Threads

 

I'm sorry guys, this one is weak! I haven't been very organized this week and not only did I forget to get photos of Eros in his outfit today, but he's wearing the same outfit Al modeled last week. So, well, I just have my own outfit to share and even that will have a couple recycled photos. I really am the worst. Sorry guys!

Anyway, here's what I wore this week!

Yep navy again! But I mixed up my boot choice this week at least.

Helmet: One K CCS MIPS Wide brim

Yes, using this photo again. I'm thinking about bringing my Samshield over to mix things up a little for next week. We'll see if I remember.

Sweater: Say What

This sweater is pretty cute, but it's really light weight, so I added a long sleeve tee underneath. We went from 75 degrees on Saturday to highs in the low 40's this week. So I needed all the layers!

Belt: Handy Hunter Boutique

I've been wearing this wide belt from Handy Hunter Boutique a lot lately. It's a nice neutral gray so goes with a lot of outfits.

Breeches: Le Fash

I snagged these on Facebook marketplace awhile back. The waist is silly it's so big, but otherwise they fit pretty nicely. They're very comfortable. I would buy them again, but maybe size down next time.

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

I wore my Eros socks today. I have to get some Al socks made soon!

Boots: Celeris UK

Clearly, a recycled photo. I'm sad to say these boots are finally starting to show their age. They're not a loss, but I do need to bring them to a cobbler for a refresh soon. None of the snaps work properly anymore, and the stitching has come loose around the toe cap on both boots. Otherwise they're still in great shape though! For more than five years old, I think that's reasonable amount of wear. I use these probably the most of all my boots.

So that's it for today. Eros literally was wearing exactly what Al modeled last week. So if you're curious, just flip on back to that post! I'll try to get my poo together for a better post next week.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Heh... I forgot it was Wednesday. Sorry for the late post! We're settling into winter life at the boarding barn, and it's been going pretty well. It's nice to have people to talk to seasonally. Anyway, let's chat ponies!

Sometimes the kiddos wind up in the same turnout group. 
Al on the left Shiny on the right.

Al is feeling great soundness wise, so that's exciting! He had a training ride last Wednesday, just on the flat. He's going to start jumping next week. It was a good ride for him. Trainer did a lot of kicking him forward and honestly, he really needed that. I prefer to stay the good cop. Let trainer people be the bad cop, ya know? He has been sulky off my leg which I 100% allowed to happen while he was sore, because I felt guilty kicking him on when he was hurting. SOMEONE took advantage of my kindness. Ahem... Al. Anyway, he's moving nice and forward now! He's still a real a-hole about the far end of the indoor though. If you recall, this was also an issue last year. I was hoping he'd forget about it having not been there for six months. Alas. He did not. On the warm days, when the doors are open, he's more or less fine. But the rest of the time, he's ridiculously spooky. I came VERY close to eating dirt on Sunday, but managed to stick on somehow. I'm confident this will level out at least a little once he's back to jumping and doing fun things. I think he's really bored and he finds spinning to be very entertaining. Damn kids. I'm calling this the Seven Year Spooks and am hoping very hard it's just a phase. He's getting another butt kicking training ride tomorrow for good measure though. I have back to back lessons in the morning again, so I figured that was a good day to give up one of my rides. I still love him immensely, and I KNOW he's the horse for me. But this road is a lil' bumpy right now. 

Eros has been great too! We have had two lessons so far. A jumping lesson last Thursday and he did a flat lesson Tuesday. Torpedo Eros made an appearance for our jumping lesson, but it was Torpedo-light, fortunately. Like he got kind of excited after the fences, but he was willing to come back fairly quickly. I had contemplated letting him have a free lunge before the lesson, but at the last minute thought it wasn't necessary. Lesson learned. He'll have one tomorrow morning. Friday he got to see the vet, which I was really happy about. I had him on the list, but as a late addition I wasn't sure if we'd fit into this appointment. But we did! Doc agreed with me that the hind end is doing well, and really the front end wasn't terrible either. But we did agree that there was a stiffness up there that we could maybe improve. We decided to inject the shoulders, and then we'll reevaluate if he needs neck too. I like this approach. My vet doesn't get overly injection happy and try to do everything at once. He likes to see if one thing helps before jumping to the next. 

In addition to injecting the shoulders, doc also pumped them. Have you heard of this? Because I had not. And guys. It's WEIRD. He literally pumps air in the shoulder.

Ignore that blue light on Eros' chest, it's just a reflection. 

So yeah, he pumps all this air into the shoulder, then he literally pushes it all around the shoulder area, up toward his neck and back toward the withers, and down toward his leg. It's supposed to help release the fascia. Super weird, and kinda icky. But between doing this and and the injections, Eros is feeling amazing! He had Saturday off and a tack walk Sunday. Monday was off because the barn is closed, and then back to full regular work Tuesday. As I mentioned earlier we had a flat lesson Tuesday and he felt incredible. The trot just has this fluidity to it that I'm not sure I've ever felt on him. He's still a little locked up in his neck and a bit crooked, but probably that's something the body worker can help with. But back to his feeling amazing. You guys. The canter! It was so uphill! And BIG! I'm not sure how this will bode for jumping... But for flatting it feels incredible. Very exciting. I've never had vet work change a horse this much. We'll see if it lasts. But for now, I'm fully enjoying it! We jump again tomorrow, so wish me luck that I can keep this canter at 12 feet.

Her new hobby of coating herself in mud is not so great.

Shiny has been wonderful too. I mean, yeah, we still have that inconsistent contact that has plagued us forever. But she's actually moving forward pretty nicely and hasn't been terribly mare-ish. We had a great lesson last week. We didn't do a ton since I really wanted her to see the vet before we push too much. She warmed up really nicely, and it was great having some eyes on the ground to help me some with the contact issues. My trainer agreed with me that we're probably looking at a vet issue, so we didn't press it too much. Then we moved on to some trot poles and she was really great through them. She's very smart with those I have to admit. Then we popped over some single fences and finally strung together a little course. The jumps were small, mostly little crossrails and one or two small verticals. She was great. She walked right down the line, didn't spook at the flowers, nor overjump the square poles. She even landed most of her leads, and the ones she didn't, she was speedy with her simple changes. I couldn't have asked for more from her. 

She was also able to see the vet Friday. She was actually somewhat positive on some of her flexions which was interesting, because normally those tell us nothing with her. We discussed her lyme counts and decided before doing anything else we would start her on doxy and reassess after she's been on it for a few weeks. Doc and I both think she likely does need some injections, but we want to wait and see how much improvement there is with the doxy treatment first. Lyme does some crazy stuff and joint stiffness is a major symptom. So starting there. 

That's the majority of what I've been up to over here! ALL PONIES ALL THE TIME! Living my best life over here. The tack sale on Facebook is going great, thanks to so many of you for buying my stuff! I have some friends stopping over for in person shopping later this week and I'm hoping they like lots of things! 

I did take some time for a non horsey fun thing this week too! My dad is back in Florida so he isn't using his season tickets at the theatre. Aladdin is showing now, so I took myself to see it on Wednesday. My dad told me about the tickets kind of last minute, so everyone I asked was busy. I'm not one to shy away from doing things alone, so I went to the show by myself. It was totally worth going. The guy playing the genie was incredible and totally stole the show. Of course Aladdin and Jasmine are the stars... but it was all Genie this show. If it comes to your area, definitely check it out!

Did you guys have a good week/weekend? Do anything fun and exciting? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

I always forget how much effort it takes to sell all your stuff on the Facebook. That's today's confession. (If anyone needs any horse stuff, stop over at my Facebook page. Lots still available.) Getting everything listed was a legit undertaking. First I spent probably four hours going through everything in the shed and pulling out all the things I wanted to sell. 

It was a lot of stuff.

Then I had to take pictures of everything and get it all listed on FB. That was another 8ish hours. And just when you think you can relax, it turns out, lots of people actually do want your stuff! So then it's trying to stay organized with who asked first, who paid, who wants what, where it's shipping to, shipping quotes, printing labels, finding boxes... PHEW!

But I'm so happy people are actually wanting things! I'm hoping to put most of the proceeds toward a saddle for Eros. And holiday gifts for the fam of course too. But let's be real. Probably it will all go towards fixing the barn toilet, servicing the car and truck, and getting the furnace cleaned. Boy adulting is exciting, isn't it?

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! Al's our model this week, thought he wasn't the most willing participant as you'll see from his terrible head shot...

Bridle: Camelot RCS Gold
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

Guys, I don't really think I like this bridle on him anymore. It doesn't fit his head right. Might have to do some swapping around. Next time I'm in the shed I'll dig something else out for him. 

Boots: Premier Equine

I'm still a big fan of these though! 10/10 highly recommend these boots.

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Mattes

Half Pad: Ippico

Lol... yes my saddle is that dirty. It was pretty dusty in the ring the other day. I don't let it stay like that though, of course, since it's still the loaner. Also you may notice that the cording is messed up on this pad. It's nothing to do with the Mattes quality, it got caught between the drum and the door in the washing machine. I really don't love the front loaders because this has happened a few times with various items. Probably my fault, I bet I overloaded. Still though, when this one dies I'm getting a top load washer. Thankfully the pad is still perfectly usable. 

Anyway, here's what I wore this week:

I feel super awkward taking outfit photos at the barn, so I went with a mirror selfie from home today instead. 

Helmet: One K CCS MIPS widebrim

Recycled photo. Same helmet anyway. 

Sweater: Ariat

Yeah... it's a little wrinkled since it's been left on the shelf all summer. I don't iron clothes just to go to the barn. Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, I love these Ariat sweaters. They're perfect on their own for the 60 degree fall days, but also layer really nicely for the colder days too. I don't like to buy them full price, but they usually have decent sales on them at the end of the season. 

Belt: Mane Jane

I chose the light gray stray with the gunmetal buckle this week. It matched the elbow matches nicely!

Breeches: Dover

I'm not positive which model these are. I think maybe Dalton? They're nice though, they fit well and have gel patches. The fabric doesn't age that well and they've faded quite a bit, but the integrity of the fabric is still there. No holes or wear otherwise.

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

These crack me up. They're horses spooking at plastic bags. Lol!

Boots: Celeris

Yeah... I recycled this photo too, but I took it last week, it's still an accurate representation! These boots are breaking in nicely. I was worried when they arrived that I wouldn't be happy with them because they are a stiff dressage boot. (I didn't realize that when I ordered them.) But I really don't notice it when I'm riding. The ankle is soft. so I can get my heels down fine. I only notice when I go to squat down to put on boots or wraps. 

And that's it for today! More blues! I'm not sure what we'll do next week yet. Maybe more blues. Maybe something else. We shall see! Any favorites from this week?

What's Up Wednesday

 

We've been at the boarding barn for a week already. It's been nice seeing all my friends there and mostly everyone has been really welcoming. Which is so nice. Of course there's always the inevitable "you're not good enough" digs from certain people... But whatever. I'm choosing to ignore that stuff this year. I know what I've accomplished with horses. I know what I'm capable of. Don't need anyone else's approval. 

Why, yes, I DID qualify for and show at Devon with my junior hunter.
And also yes, he was an appendix quarter horse in a field of warmbloods. 

I'm really excited for my first lessons tomorrow! I'm doing an 8:30 with Shiny and then a 9:00 with Eros. Which will be a little tight, but I'm riding with the lady who mostly teaches the little kids and she has a break after my two lessons, so she was okay if we ran over time a little. (Obviously it takes a few minutes to pull tack off Shiny and tack up Eros.) I LOVE riding with this trainer. I've known her since I was a little kid, and she's actually semi responsible for me taking in Ducky all those years ago. (I've forgiven her for that... Lol! KIDDING!) I have several things I like about riding with her. She's known me all those years, so she knows that I can ride. She's not looking to change everything about me and my horses, but rather offers helpful advice for how to make things better. Unless I'm doing something horribly incorrectly, I'm not looking to be made over at this point in my riding. I've had wonderful trainers throughout the years and my basics are relatively solid. It's my confidence that needs support. And she's great about that. She also listens to what I have to say about what I think I'm feeling and works with me in that way too. So yeah. I'm excited! 

Ready for more of this!

Things have been going just fine with everyone so far. We had beautiful weather this weekend and got to enjoy the enormous outdoor ring. They all are feeling pretty great. We didn't jump at all last week. I wanted them to settle in and get used to the change in footing. Better to ease into things in my opinion. Al had a flat training ride today. He had his feet trimmed and the rest of his shoes pulled this weekend, and he's adjusting well to the barefoot life. The quarter crack is dormant for the time being. Not bleeding and he feels pretty sound. So fingers crossed it will grow itself out! My ride on him yesterday was his most relaxed in quite some time. We'll see what we have tomorrow. The trainer here is big on horses moving VERY forward ALL OF THE TIME so he may be a little edgy tomorrow after his ride today. It's not a bad thing for him to have that ride now and then as he can get sticky off my leg. I like a nice medium pace for general flat work, but do expect them to move off my leg when asked. Work in progress with Al. I'll probably start lessoning with him next week. I just want to ease back into jumping so we don't aggravate the foot. 

That's really about it from here this week. Hopefully more to report next week. And maybe a more positive sounding post. I am trying really hard to not get pulled into the negativity this year. WISH ME LUCK! Cause I'll need it.