What's Up Wednesday

 

This time of year just feels kind of stagnant around here in the northeast. We're just kind of plugging along waiting for the nice weather to return. It's been a mild winter so we really can't complain, but still, the gray days are getting old that's for sure! And we actually got SNOW yesterday which I've already whined about. You know what accumulating snow brings? That is correct, it brings the dreaded snow coming off the roof adventure in the indoor. Oddly (and thankfully!) today there wasn't any crashing. It seemed like the snow was just melting away up there and dripping off in the form of water. Which is very baffling. But much appreciated. I thought for sure the place would be crashing away since I had a lesson on Al today. I mean, we've had the tsunami, then the earthquake, an avalanche seemed to fitting to follow. I'm so grateful it didn't! Though in true the universe has a dark sense of humor fashion, there was a small snow drop while I was on Shiny that she felt the need to run away from. Since it was Shiny, it lasted about 1/4 of the long side and just caused some giggles. She's just not very intimidating. (Unless you're a horse, she will kick the crap out of you if that's the case.)

Despite all that, things are just fine around here! I've been lessoning twice weekly with Al, and each one brings slightly less angst despite all the universal challenges coming our way. Though we still have not ventured to the very end of the ring... Baby steps my friends. Today we jumped a little course, complete with a three stride line, and I only almost died once. So that's pretty good! And my response to the near death experience was to dig in and ride better, so I think we're actually getting somewhere. And by we, I mean me and my ridiculous fears. You're probably wondering what went wrong... It wasn't really much of anything really. The jumps have stayed small like 2'3" ish? Maybe 2'6"? Not sure. The height is of zero consequence with Al, our struggles are solely about things unrelated to the jumps themselves. But in this instance, I was glad the jump was small! So I was jumping a little vertical on the diagonal off the right lead. I was jumping away from the lounge area, heading toward the dreaded end of the ring. But the fence was set so I was really only about two thirds of the way up the ring upon landing. No where near the "scary end" really. But for some reason, on the way to the jump, Al had is eye on something to the left. And just as we left the ground to jump the fence, he shifted HARD to the right, like to the point that I thought he was just going to launch himself through the standard. I have no idea how we didn't demolish that standard. My instructor thought I was going to hook my foot on it, we were that close, but I scrunched my leg up and closed it around him as hard as I could and somehow just brushed the standard. It was kind of horrifying from my viewpoint. But we didn't die. I went back and tried again, and though he was still kind of a turd about whatever he was seeing on the left, he jumped the center that time without any real antics. The rest of the course rode nicely, and I'm looking forward to Friday when we can try again. I'm feeling optimistic that things are going to be fine. 

In other exciting Al news, his saddle finally came!

It is so pretty. And I love it. Al seems to love it too so far. We're only two rides in, and being that I've never had a saddle that actually fits him, I don't think he's especially picky. It kept me safe during our near death experience today, so I'm thinking it's pretty great. I also decided to purchase the demo that Eros has been using. I asked the rep if she would do anything differently if we ordered a custom one for him, and she said no, it's as good of a fit as we can get for him due to his difficult shape. (Noted above but also with giant withers.) The chiropractor was happy with his back last time she was out, so he's comfortable in it. He had been using it for several weeks already at that point, so any problems would have shown themselves by then. I could save almost $1000 versus ordering a new one, and it's already in my possession. A new one would take 16 weeks. So I figured it was a no brainer. And with that, I am hopefully done with saddles for a very long time. Though I do believe I've said that before... Famous last words. 

Speaking of Eros... I have switched him from his two ring leather bit to a D ring with the same mouth. So far so good with the flatwork, but we'll see what happens tomorrow when we jump. He's just been getting a little upset with the two ring on the occasion that I have to actually touch the reins. So while I may have to pull a little harder with the D, I think he'll be happier with it. Or I'll get very run away with. We shall see tomorrow! He's been pretty perfect otherwise though. Vet comes Friday just to check in and see if he's due for any maintenance. Figured we should do as much vet stuff as we might need while at the boarding barn because it's harder to get him out to my place. And now that it's March, we're getting closer to time to bring to them home!

Things are about the same with Shiny. She's doing fine, but I think she'll be much better after her vet visit Friday. Hopefully anyway. It's been a year since we last did her neck. She has some impingement of the spine in there, and I think she's due to have that worked on. She's tripping a fair amount which is indicator 1, and indicator 2 is that she just can't seem to unlock the left side. As I've mentioned, I've been taking her lessons jump by jump depending on how she feels. And last week she was super into jumping and was great. We didn't do a ton, but enough to keep her happy and for us both to have some fun. We'll see what she thinks tomorrow. 

That's about it from here. How's things with all of you guys?