What's Up Wednesday

 

This past week was a little horse light as it was a little busy around here with the holiday. It's not really as though I have a busy social life, but my dad does... and it trickles down. Lol! We have an annual 4th of July cruise we take with some friends of the family and that happened this year on Friday the 5th. Boat left at 1, so I might have had time to ride one horse, but I decided to just let them all have the day off. We all deserve a holiday now and then. The food was RIDICULOUS on the boat and I think I gained 10 lbs in one afternoon. 

It was lovely. But the extra day off messed with our schedule a little bit. I normally jump Wednesdays and Fridays. I prefer not to jump after a day off so this week it was Wednesday and Sunday. I didn't set up Pivo Sunday though, so I don't have any media from that day. My new Pivo X broke so I've been limited to the old one, and that one is being difficult... I had better luck today though AND my replacement pod arrived tonight. So hopefully next week we'll be back in business. Just a quick shout out to Pivo, when my X pod broke, I sent a short clip of what was wrong with it, and they just replaced it, no arguments. So high five for that! 

We've been pretty lucky with the weather here at the farm. We were supposed to be under a heat advisory the last couple of days, but it hasn't really been that hot. Yesterday a little bit since it was sunny. But today, it wasn't bad at all. It was overcast and it was windy. The humidity was nuts, so we were all very sweaty, but the heat really wasn't bad. I do see 90's in the forecast for next week though, so I'm not sure if we'll continue to luck out. No complaining from me though, summer is my season. I'll take the heat, even if it messes with riding occasionally. 

Anyway, you're not here to talk about the weather. Let's talk ponies! 

Why, yes that IS a blurry screen shot of Al jumping 3'

Al is wonderful. Truly. I'm not sure if it's solely because oppressive heat and humidity makes for a well behaved Al, or if he's really come around to being a very good boy. But whatever it is, I shall enjoy it while I have it! I was looking back at our daily notes, and nearly all of them say what a good boy he was that day. There was one day last week that I called him medium. He was a bit spooky, but came around and finished well that day. And that was the only "bad" day the whole week. So proud of him. 

As in the past, as I let him jump a little bigger, he gets easier and easier to ride. I'm not sure why I forget that every year, but it sure is nice to figure it out eventually. I don't really feel that comfortable jumping bigger than 3' by myself, so we'll probably stay at this height for awhile, but boy was he easy to get to the bigger fences. He's such a weird little horse. The part that's the hardest for me (jumping) is the easiest for him, and that's why I've stuck it out with him through this rough patch we had. This horse gives me wings in a way that I've never felt before. Not even Bud nor Rio made me feel like it was easy to jump high. I felt confident on them, and we put it all together pretty well, but I still wouldn't have called it easy. Al is. Most of the time. He's still a little lazy and would like to hide behind my leg on landing. But once he gets locked on to something, it's like point and shoot. 

I have a few more terrible screen shots to share of him. I didn't try to run Pivo for his ride as I didn't want to miss all of our attempts at bigger jumpies. So my apologies that the quality is terrible. But this is a personal blog, not a major publication. And therefore, these are "good enough". 

We had a lot of fun today. I hope we keep it up! 

I'm not sure what's happening with my hands. 

Eros continues to do well. I've chosen to repeat last week's rehab schedule because we were a little inconsistent between weather and the holiday. But we have started adding in some more circles, some lateral work, AND lead changes! So lots happening for him this week. 

The circles are still very large and only at the trot for now. But all seems good so far. His favorite part is still stretchy trot though.

I'm not getting a good low stretch yet though. We're overdue for the body worker so I'm thinking that's the issue. He got all that maintenance but it all happened after his last adjustment. So I think that's the final piece of the puzzle. Not that he doesn't feel good, he does. I just think he could feel even better. I try to tack our body work visits on when the other barn has their horses done. Since our places are so close together, she includes me in the split on the barn call instead of charging me a full one. For some reason, they haven't scheduled her since the last time she was out in May, so that's why we are behind. If they don't schedule soon I'll see what it will cost to have her come just for us. But I'm afraid it might be A LOT. She comes from a few hours away. 

Shiny is doing pretty well too! I finally put the spurs back on. I figured since she's wearing the belly band anyway, she shouldn't get a rub from them. So far so good on that front. I wish I could say I've trained this pony to move nicely off my leg without the spur, but I haven't and she doesn't. I've said it before and I'll it again, I am not a horse trainer. I can't work miracles. Haha! Anyway, she's listening slightly better with the spurs back on, so that's been nice. She's always been this way, but she starts out SO SLOW even when we're jumping. It's like she has to slog around and trip over herself before she'll bother with engaging her hind end and moving forward. I'm not sure why she's like that. It's just who she is as a pony I guess. Maybe it's on me too. Maybe I should just pick the fight right away and avoid the slogging around? But it feels so mean. I like to give her the opportunity to step up to the plate before I get after her. I guess as long as we get there eventually, that's the important part. 

That's about it from here. Things are good, and I'm starting to look for a little local one day show to go to. I have a few options, I just need to see if I can line up a groom and see if I can get someone to do the chores at home that day. Oh and a trainer. I need one of those too probably. Fortunately, I just got a braiding job for Friday that will pay for a one day show, so yay for that! I'll be filling in for a much better than me full time braider, so I'll be paid her rate instead of my lower one... I hope I can live up to her standards! Her braids are incredible. Mine are nice, but nothing like hers. This isn't imposter syndrome, hers look like they were produced by a machine. Every single braid is identical. It's amazing. The trainer whose horses I'll be braiding is one that I rode with my last junior year. She's very accomplished and one that I would try and train with again if our paths cross. So I'm excited for this job! I won't see her, she's already away at another show. But still. Feels kind of like a full circle moment.

Okay, that's really it from here. Enjoy this adorable photo of Rita sleeping as I sign off...