What's Up Wednesday

 

We've just been getting settled in back at our winter barn this week, and so far so good! We took the first week to get settled so didn't sign up for any lessons. The weather has been all over the place, so we've had the chance to ride outside some which was nice. But also indoors which is still a challenge for Al, but so far is going a little better than last year. We'll see what happens once it's full time freezing out... but I'll take the better behavior while I can. 

I have taken zero photos over the last week. Literally. Zero. So I'll be using a few shots that Chelsea Lothrop Photography took for me during our marketing shoot for filler today. 

Shiny's been feeling pretty good. She seems much happier this year than in years past. I think a lot of that is that she's feeling better now that she's lost some weight. But the other part is that she won the stall lottery this time. She's living in an end stall with a window that has a view of the med paddocks. And since she's on the end, she only has one neighbor (that's a real win for Shiny, the only thing that could be better would be zero neighbors) and all of her buckets and feed are on the side away from her neighbor. Best stall ever if you ask Shiny! Also, the horse next to her is a really lovely mare, who wouldn't play into any of Shiny's reindeer games should she try to initiate. It's pretty perfect. I still put up some kick pads though... just in case. Can't be too careful! She'll have her first jumping lesson on Saturday. I signed up to ride with a little kid that jumps crossrails because I'm all about easing into things. I'm not too proud to lesson with tiny children! 

Eros is exactly the same at the boarding barn as he is at my house, and THAT is why I love him! To be fair, he is definitely less spooky than the last couple of weeks at home, but I can't blame him for that. My ring is pretty scary come autumn. He (and Shiny too) didn't need any lunge line time or anything at the new place. They both have ridden both inside and out with zero issues what-so-ever. Eros will have a little free lunge tomorrow as he's having his first lesson in the morning. At least one of us is very excited. Hopefully we both are though.

Al is always the most challenging of the bunch. But that's fair really. He IS the youngest and the most... concerned about his surroundings. Yeah. Let's say that. But despite being who he is, he's really been a brave boy for our move. Our first ride was Friday and it was an indoor riding day due to weather. He had a free lunge in the indoor in the morning, and then I rode him late morning. He walked into the ring nicely, so I hopped on, but then he must have heard something because he suddenly started dragging breathing and was doing that whole frozen in place thing that horses do... I asked him to walk forward, but he was all kinds of tense and nervous. So I decided to hop off and take him for a little hand walk and see if he'd settle. Which he did eventually, and I got back on. We had an okay ride. It wasn't great, but nobody died, and we only spooked the other horses in the ring a couple of times... Not the worst first ride at least! The second day was a really nice day and warm. Everyone was riding outside, but I opted to stay in with Al. I wasn't sure it would be fair to introduce another ring after only one ride inside in a new (ish) place. We actually had a really nice ride and I was very happy with him. Sunday was way too nice for me to keep him in again though. It was sunny and warm, and I just had to get out there. So I threw him on the lunge line for a few minutes to see what he thought about the outdoor. He did get a little sassy a few times, but nothing too crazy. Once I got on, we had a lovely ride. No spooks! That rarely happens. I was very proud. He had Monday off since the barn's closed Mondays, and then a free lunge Tuesday before I flatted him. We were back inside and he was still nervous at the one end he hates, but otherwise was quite good. He had his first training ride today and was a total star. He really didn't do anything wrong (other than his one end of the ring anxiety, but we've all agreed to just try and deal with that as I don't think it's going away). He popped over a few jumps, and it was all very unexciting which is the goal. We'll have a lesson together on Saturday. 

So that's the update! We're settling right in and looking forward to getting back to lessons. 

What have you all been up to? Do anything fun this weekend?