What's Up Wednesday

 

It's been a fun week around here. We had first spring for a few days which was LOVELY. It's over now of course, and we're back to winter. But I'll take it as it comes. I think second spring is expected next week. Fingers crossed. Things are even trying to bloom which is lovely, though also a bit sneezy.

This plant flowers twice a year. It came with the house, and I love it.

Al wasn't particularly great for his lessons this week. With the time change, the light is different at his lesson time, and he's pretty bothered by the sunspots being in new places. Horses... They can be ridiculous! Despite our less than perfect lessons, Al has had several days of being a really great guy. So I'm happy with that. Friday was really beautiful out, and a few people even got to ride outside. I wasn't sure if I was going to take Al out because although he is a million times better outdoors, the first few rides out there can be... A lot. So I was undecided. We had the big doors open in the indoor though, so I could ride inside first and see what I was dealing with. Having the doors open made for a MUCH HAPPIER Al. He used the full ring! Politely! With zero rapid changes of direction. So after we worked indoors I took him out where two of his solid minded buddies were finishing up. We wound up just walking a couple of laps out there since I wasn't wanting to stay out there alone and the others were done. But he was relaxed and lovely. I was very proud of him. We lessoned inside Saturday and he was really sad about the doors being shut again. (It was in the 30's and windy that morning, so it was the right call even if Al didn't agree.) Sunday was nice again though. Not so nice to ride out (the wind!) but nice enough for the doors to be open. And once again he was lovely. I keep telling people it's the literal doors he's afraid of and no one believes me. But when he can't see them, he's a whole new horse. Weird horse, admittedly, but lovely nonetheless. My hope for a nice summer with him is starting to return. 

Princess Shiny pants has been pretty much the same. Still excited to jump. Still angry about the canter transitions. I'm going to finish the course of EPM meds, but I'm not sure we've solved anything for her just yet with that. We shall see. Anyway, that aside, she's still the most reliable of my herd, and she was very happy to ride outside on Friday. I think she's been pretty disappointed to be back inside again for second winter, but she's dealing with it. Because that's who she is as a pony. She's actually going really well once she's warmed up and as long as you don't stop. She just gets really offended when she thinks she's finished with work and is then asked to do more. Which makes her a bit ornery for lessons, but pretty lovely for solo rides. Hopefully real spring sticks around soon so we can just be outdoors. She does seem to like it out there. 

Big week for this guy! Eros has been trotting his 8 long sides (4 each way!) for the past two weeks and it's been going well. He saw Doc again on Saturday and was given the okay to bump up to three two minute bursts of trotting. Meaning we can trot continuously for two minutes (including corners!) and then walk for a bit, and repeat. So six minutes total of trotting. We are to do that for a week, and if all is going well we can try trotting straight for six minutes. If that goes well, we add five or six minutes each week. I like to add six so it's an even number of minutes each way. Easier to calculate than half minutes in my opinion. Anyway, I'm undecided how it's going. I don't think he feels perfect, but Eros never feels perfect. So it's hard for me to judge if it's normal imperfect or abnormal... But it's also hard to tell when you have to stop every two minutes. He's generally the type that gets more sound the longer he goes. So starting and stopping kind of interrupts that. For now, we'll just keep plugging along and see how it goes. I'm away this weekend for a wedding, so we just have one more day to feel things out. Which kind of disrupts the week of each thing pattern. But I figure, I'll ride him tomorrow. He'll have Friday through Monday off, and then we'll see what we have Tuesday. I plan to continue with this week's plan through at least Thursday, and if all is going okay we'll progress. And if not, we won't and we'll schedule doc back out. Generally, I think we're moving in the right direction. And it just feels so amazing to be back riding my boy. I really missed him these last few months. I mean, I know I saw him everyday, but it's not the same when you can't ride together. Better than nothing of course! But not the same. 

With the nice weather and the roads having been washed of the winter salt by the insane amount of rain we've been getting, Rita has been enjoying lots of long walks! She really loves to go out for her stroll. For a little dog, she can travel a decent distance, though we're easing into it since I don't want her to get hurt or overdo anything. (Remember that she was in a terrible accident before I got her and had some broken bones.) Anyway, we walk 30 minutes usually and cover about a mile and a half. Give or take depending on how much sniffing she needs to do... Sometimes that slows us down a bit. Lol!

That's about it from here. Still plugging along, getting things done as best we can. We only have a couple weeks left before the Florida group returns and the quiet barn turns back into chaos. So we're trying to soak up the calmness while it lasts. Pretty soon though, the horses will be back home, and maybe we can start planning for some summer outings!