What's Up Wednesday

 

Big happenings this week! Al is back to jumping! And let me tell you, that big dingus is so much happier. He had a training ride Wednesday which I didn't actually see because I got to the barn a little late that day. But I heard he was great, and jumped right around. Then on Friday I got to have a lesson on him. I was lucky enough to grab a lesson slot with just one other person so it was perfect. Low key, and catered to our just starting back needs. Al was great. We might have used our lesson partner to help him get around the ring without spooking... If he follows behind a brave horse, he just doesn't spook at anything. It's like he figures that horse will get eaten first so he doesn't have to worry anymore. But as always, he was brave and perfect to the jumps (without a leader). Very proud of him, and very excited to get back to doing things!

I was surprised to discover that he was happy and relaxed all weekend long after having done some fun jumps during the week. I really do think most of his antics were due to boredom. Hopefully we'll stay on this track. 

Eros has been a perfect little angel as always. He's still doing the flat lesson on Tuesdays and then a jumping lesson Thursdays. Consensus is that the wider saddle is making most of his back much happier, it is bugging him at the base of the withers. He's letting me know by not wanting to pick his withers up and carry himself. I should have one of my old saddles paid for on Friday, so I've reached out to my Butet rep to see if we can get something moving for Eros. Unfortunately... she's not getting back to me. Annoying. I'm sure she's busy with the holidays and all. But you'd think she'd want to get another saddle sale on the books before year end? 

Anyway, he's been super despite his mild discomfort. Or maybe because of it? Hard to say. But he's not been a torpedo for jumping, so I'm happy about that! Time will tell if listening Eros sticks around, but I'm here for it while it lasts!

Princess here is doing pretty well. She got clipped last week which has been wonderful because she was a legit woolly mammoth. I had said to not bother doing her ears since she's pretty terrible about them. But then they tried anyway and just like last year, only got one done. 

She looked pretty ridiculous, but it made me giggle every time I looked at her, so said not to worry about it. Fortunately for Shiny, the dentist came this week and we got the other ear done while she was still sleepy from her dental. She looks more civilized now. She's still waiting for her joint maintenance as the blood work results STILL haven't come back. Hopefully they do before Friday when the vet is back out. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, we're just plugging along and taking our rides day by day. If she feels good, we work. If she doesn't, we take it easy. We did our lesson last week, but stuck to just cross rails. She was great, and I figured why push it? 

She was feeling a bit sassy this week so I let her have a free lunge Tuesday. She was pretty wild and let out a lot of great big bucks. Then she felt amazing when I rode her. But back to less amazing today. Perhaps she overdid it... Silly pony! She didn't feel lame today, just was tripping a bunch and thought bending was stupid. 

In non riding news, I finally got my act together to take holiday photos for our annual card. If you want one, send me your address! I don't have them yet, but the mock up looks cute. 

And in news that I should probably have saved for a Truthful Tuesday post... I've dropped lots of things I shouldn't have this past week. First, my dinner on Friday night:

It wasn't a good healthy meal fortunately, and there was more of it in the freezer. So all was not lost. But I was pretty annoyed. Especially about the broken plate. But the real annoying drop? My phone. It fell out of my pocket, onto my foot, and bounced into the dogs' very full water bowl. What are the odds? It still works for the most part... But I no longer have face ID. Guess new iphone needs to go on the want list soon. Talk about insult to injury. You should see the bruise on my foot. Lol! 

The best part of the week though? I actually got to ride some extra horses at the barn this week! I rarely get asked for varying reasons, so I was really excited. And had loads of fun! Hope it happens again sometime. Obviously, I have plenty to ride on the daily, but it's nice to sit on something that doesn't know me so well so I can see where my holes are. My horses are used to any stupid things I do on the regular, so they don't always tattle on me. New ones though? They share their confusion immediately. I like that kind of feedback.

That's about it from here. Hope you all had a great week/weekend! Do anything fun? Anything coming up?