What's Up Wednesday

 

This past week was pretty non horsey too since most of it was spent in Florida still. But I still have things to report on, so let's do that!

First up, is Al. Al had a lot of fun today enjoying the sunshine and completely weird 60 degrees. (In January. In CT.)

He has zero regrets about this. Zero. Whilst I did not enjoy the filth, I could tell he really enjoyed the process. So I'll let him have that joy. 

He got to see the vet while I was away because if you recall, he's been a little off left hind. He wasn't terribly off for the first part of the exam, doc said maybe a .5 out of 5. MAYBE a 1 on the turns. But after flexing he was like a 2. So clearly something was bugging him. He blocked sound at the foot, so we proceeded with some x-rays to be sure there's nothing going on in there. Films looked good. So we kind of still think the problem is that dermatitis we've been fighting with. Al is zero percent stoic when it comes to having a booboo on his legs. So I feel pretty confident that's still the problem. Doc was also not happy with how compressed that left heel still is, but that's not something we can fix overnight either. My farrier thought it would drop on its own a few shoeing cycles after his gelding. Which the right one did, but the left did not. So we also thought, maybe after we pulled the hind shoes. And I think honestly thing it did drop some and that's what caused the dermatitis. Just my theory. Anyway, doc wants my farrier to try and get that heel to widen. Hopefully that will help. In the meantime, I have new materials for wrapping the wound and they seem to be doing the trick. I swear, I feel like I've been dealing with this thing for months. We're now using Manuka Honey, a 4x4, and elastowrap instead of Vetwrap since it's stickier. Seems to be working. The wound is getting smaller and it's not bleeding everyday like it was before. I'm not jumping him for the moment. I don't think it would do any damage to him, but I also don't think it's fair to ask if he's feeling less than good on that leg. So we're just flatting for the time being. I may let him canter some ground poles tomorrow to entertain him though. He is so much happier when he gets to jump, and hopefully that will simulate it for him. 

I think Shiny had a lot of fun while I was away. She got to have a lesson with one of my favorite juniors. Actually the junior rode Shiny, and junior's mom rode Eros and they had a lesson together, and I think that's the cutest thing I've heard ever. They all had a ton of fun, and I'm so excited that happened. Anyway.... Back to Shiny. She got ridden by lots of different people while I was gone which I wanted because I think she needs more variety in her life. I don't want her bucking little kids off anymore! I did hear that two of the girls who rode her fell off because they didn't tighten their girth enough... Both are older kids who SHOULD know better, but also have probably never ridden a pony with no withers before. They won't make that mistake again! In their defense, you have to make Shiny's girth pretty tight to keep the saddle in place, so I'm glad those kids aren't prone to over-tightening girths. 

She's none the worse for the wear though, and has been a good nugget since I've been back. We have a lesson tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes!

Eros also had a few different riders while I was gone. He did the lesson with the mom and I hear he was a very good boy, though I do get the impression he got a bit strong... I mean... he is who he is. She still loved him though, because everyone loves Eros. How can you not? One of my favorite fellow boarders got to ride him twice and she's madly in love with him now. Because I mean... again, everyone loves Eros. He was the least excited to see me of my herd when I got back though. I know horses aren't technically capable of emotions like humans, but I swear he was annoyed that I'd been gone. In normal everyday life he comes right over to me when I go in his stall. But Tuesday, when I went to see him the first time after being away, he ignored me completely. I can't say that didn't sting, Eros... But he made up for with some good snuggles later. So all is forgiven. 

We had our flat lesson yesterday which my legs are telling me today was not the best plan after a week off... We had a new instructor because the barn owner and her assistant have already left for Florida. The new girl I'm told is a really great flat rider, but it was a bit of an ego bursting lesson for me. First off, it's always a little tricky with a new trainer. That's just life. This one wants horses moving very forward right from the start, and I mean I get that train of thought. Lots of trainers like that. But my preferred method for warm up is to let the horse choose it's pace to start out. Having horses with physical limitations, I like to let them do what they need to do to loosen up. Eros moves a bit slow to start and likes a lap or two of canter before really moving forward and into the bridle. Also, for him, I prefer to keep him a slower mover since a. he's a hunter and b. he needs to stay slow when we jump to keep that stride in check. I expect impulsion and proper carriage from him of course, but I don't like him racing around the ring. That's not how hunters go. Anyway, moving on... Once we got to cantering, she wanted us to canter a serpentine, halting at the mid point of each loop and then continuing on the new lead. This exercise was a disaster for many reasons. First off, there were five of us and she wanted us all doing it together. Two of the horses can be a little pissy about these types of exercises (one likes to kick out when he's mad and the other likes to rear a little.) It was chaos. And she really wanted us sitting super deep in the saddle for the halt. Like to the point that we all seemed behind the vertical. She also tried to tell me that I was pinching with my knee, which is not something I do. I am not perfect in anyway, but I've worked REALLY hard for many years to get my leg correct. And I know that's not something I do. Especially when I don't have stirrups.... Which we didn't. She did rescind that knee statement. I was like yeah. Duh. But anyway, she really drilled us on this canter halt canter exercise, and the horses were all pretty pissed off at the end. I hate drilling horses on stuff like that. Do it a few times and leave it be. Come back another day. Or later on. I'm not saying it was a bad lesson, and absolutely my ego took a beating when I discovered I apparently don't know how to halt my horse. That's a me problem, not the instructors. But we'll see if I end up staying in this flat lesson through the winter. I, of course, want to improve but I'm a bit of a helicopter parent when it comes to Eros. He's a very genuine guy and if he hates this work, I'm not going to make him do it. I may do Al instead, but I have zero interest in riding him without stirrups at the moment with his spookiness in the indoor. 

Eros and Shiny have their Thursday lessons with our usual instructor since she doesn't go to Florida. So I'm not at all worried about how jumping will go tomorrow. I'm pretty excited actually! Having that week away really renewed my love of being in the saddle. Not that I was feeling burned out, but I think I needed the little break. I'm ready to get back to work now though!

So now you're all caught up with the ponies! As for the rest of my trip, I had lots of fun relaxing. I got to practice hitting golf balls at the driving range. Which, I will tell you, I am NOT good at golf. But it is a fun challenge. I'm mildly better at putting than driving. Mildly. I did pull off a tie with my sister in law at putt-putt. Putting us ahead of my older brother and my two nieces. No, we don't let kids win in this family. Also, I got a hole in one, and I made sure my nieces knew to tell everyone on the boat when we got back. Those kids rule. They did it just right. They got back on the boat and announced "AUNTY STACIE GOT A HOLE  IN ONE!!!" Those are my people. 

We did other stuff besides golf too. (Thank goodness. Again. Not something I'm good at.) The kids did a bunch of swimming. I think I already mentioned they had a carnival one of the nights.

Pretty sure it was at that carnival that I caught another cold. Clearly I need to start going out in public more often... And another night they had retro game night under the tent. It was basically a kids menu (chicken fingers, burgers, pizza, fries, etc) with ski ball, video games, pinball, and fake ice skating available. And guys! The dj was spinning the songs of my youth! I guess the music was for us adults. I had a blast.

The floor for the ice skating is some kind of plastic material. It seemed to simulate ice fairly well and the skates had blades on them. Lots of kids fell down, so it must have been somewhat like ice skating. I dunno. I didn't try it because no one out there appeared to be older than 10. I did however indulge in the offerings at the dessert table.

Those were in fact pop rocks on the rice krispy treat. Genius.

They did get the boat working so we got to take a dinner cruise down to Palm Beach Port and back. That was nice. Everyone still had their holiday lights up so it made for a lovely view on the way home. I did get to visit my trainer at her farm one of the days which was fun. She has a couple of new young horses that I hadn't met yet. They're really cute, I think they'll grow up to be nice ones. Then later that day my dad and stepmom took us out to visit Fefe and Bellino. And guess who else I got to see?!

HANK! You all might remember Hank. He's from the barn in CT, and I got to ride him once last year. He's the HUGE one that I couldn't reach to groom his butt. In typical small horse world fashion, he's now at the barn my stepmom rides at when she's in Florida for the winter. He was leased last year to a teeny tiny kid because he's such a good dude. But that family decided they should try something smaller because while he's a good dude, Hank was just too big for her to learn very quickly. Not that there's a rush, but his size was making everything take a lot longer. This older lady somehow wound up at the barn, perhaps was taking lessons? I'm not sure, I wasn't there for this part. But she ended up buying Hank. She has a summer home in CT, but lives in the same community in Florida where my dad and Stepmom keep our boat. So stepmom told her about the Florida barn, and now all three horses live the same life of summering up here and wintering in sunny Florida. It's nice since they can share the trailer fees. Plus, now there will always be three stalls available come fall for my herd.

New Year's Eve was our last night on the boat. We had a nice dinner and all were in bed by 10... Lol. Bunch of losers. Our flight home was delayed so we wound up with a full day to enjoy. I spent it being lazy, reading a book, and eating way too much. 

And that's it from here! How was your week/weekend?