What's Up Wednesday

 

Things have been going just fine around here, even though it is definitely getting chilly out there! We had a few more intensely windy days last week, but we're having a wind reprieve at the moment which I am VERY grateful for. We've been riding pretty consistently which makes me very happy, but we've been on a five day a week schedule instead of six lately. Last week I mentioned taking a day off to go to Equine Affair. This week I took Saturday off from riding. I was a little late starting chores which made me late FINISHING chores. I had a couple of horses to braid that evening, and I just decided I didn't feel like rushing like a mad woman to get everyone worked and groomed before shoving food in my face and racing off to work. So instead, I let the horses stay out longer and then spent a little extra time doing some cleaning in the barn. And then I ate a relaxed dinner and hung out with my dog a bit before heading off to braid. It was lovely, and worth the missed saddle time. 

The braiding was actually kind of fun for me. The horse show the horses were heading to was a breast cancer benefit and wearing pink was encouraged. So I got to braid with pink yarn, added pink ribbon charms, and even little forelock crowns. So fun! 

I won't share the photos from the show because I don't know the kiddos on the horses and don't want to share photos of stranger kids without permission, but the little crowns were ADORABLE in the photos. Very cute.

Anyway, back to the stars of this blog. My new quarter sheets arrived last week, and it's possible they are magic. I'll share a photo tomorrow for Thursday's Threads, but they're from Catago and are the Fir-Tech material. It is supposed to be similar to Back on Track. Which you all know I drank the Kool Aid with those! I've been riding in them since they arrived and while I don't see any difference in how Shiny and Eros are going, Al seems much more relaxed since we've started using it. Like we're using almost the entire ring the last few days with very little to no drama. Of course it IS Al so it's possible we're just having some good days. He is randomly good sometimes. 

We've been kind of playing around our last several rides. I have all the jumps itty bitty so we walk over them in warm up. It gives him something to focus on other than the leaves moving on the trees, and seems to keep his mind busy. I've been using them in our trot work too once he's had a chance to move around some because sometimes he trots them like cavalletti and sometimes he jumps them. So I like him to be a little warmed up for that first. And instead of trying to canter round and round with only the sad little four beated canter he's been giving me, we've been doing short canter bursts. Like five or six strides worth. And I'm asking him for a BIG canter in those few strides. Well. it's relative. But it's a real canter with the proper number of beats. And then we go back to trot or walk and pop over one of our little "jumps" or make a circle or whatever. I like that he's responding with forward movement that has impulsion even if it's just for short bursts. We'll see if all this randomness leads to some "normal" work eventually. But for now, we're actually having fun together, and the things we are doing are more proper than they've been in months. So I'll take it. Even if it's still not "normal". Maybe it's OUR normal. We've always been weird, and I'm pretty okay with that.

Eros is definitely going to earn himself a visit from Doc. He's perfect as always, but I still think he's not right, and I can't pinpoint where I think it is. So it's time to call in the professional and see what's going on. We've been riding very lightly just to check in with his soundness. So lots of walking and just a little trot and canter. Normally I wouldn't canter with a horse that's obviously NQR but I have to with Eros because sometimes a little canter fixes him. Not currently though. He's not horribly unsound still, I just don't like what I'm feeling from him and it especially bothers me that it's been going for so long. I still think it could just be the Lyme sticking around but I think we need a vet's opinion. I'll call this week to get an appointment. 

And then there's Shiny. This mare just kills me. I've never known an animal that is so 100% sure of herself the way this pony is. So the other day, I had just gotten on her when the farrier arrived for Eros. He came out to the ring to let me know he was there, and I was just walking Shiny and was up at the far end of the ring. I tried to trot over to him, and Shiny would NOT. Like literally would not trot. I kicked, I smacked her with the whip, I spurred her! Nothing. She hadn't finished her walk warm up and until she had there would be no trotting. You have to laugh. I wish I had her confidence. I wonder if it's my fault since our warm up is the same every day... but I'm also not entirely sure which one of us dictated that to begin with... Once we get passed the warm up routine she's been great lately. We've been jumping the little course a couple times a week. I think she's insulted that the jumps are so small, but she can jump higher in the spring. It's winter break now. I did leave one at 2' so she doesn't get too mad at me. 

That about catches you all up on our adventures this week. Nothing too crazy, but things are mostly good. Friday, Saturday, Sunday are a little busy this week because my nieces have all kinds of things for me to attend. A play, a music recital, another play... So we'll see how much riding gets done. My guess is Eros might get some extra vacation days. Which isn't the worst thing for him at the moment. I just need to be careful he doesn't get too bored because he starts to eat the walls and dump his water buckets. (My horses are all a bunch of characters aren't they?!) 

Sorry for the lack of media this week. I'll try to pay more attention and get some photos for next week. Hope you all had a great week!