What's Up Wednesday

 

Guys, I am thisclose to being on vacation and I am so ready for it! And by that I mean I still have a million things to do, but am utterly exhausted and can't wait for a week away. 

Life lately with the horses has been mostly all work and very little play, but that's the way with horses in the winter right? 

When we last left off, there was still some snow on the ground, and we were struggling with snowballs in the feet. Mother Nature has been full of jokes lately though. We were fortunate to have a warm up on Friday which unfortunately came with a ton of rain. That's Mother Nature's sense of humor. We get a day that should be lovely, but it come with something to ruin it. Friday that something was pouring rain. So the horses enjoyed a vacation day, and I took the day to pack for vacation and do some chores around the house. Saturday was really cold, but we did get some tack walking in. It was also pretty windy though, and Al struggled with that. Fortunately, Sunday was nicer. Still windy, but warmer at least. Shiny had a fun bareback ride. It was so fun to actually walk, trot, and canter again finally! Eros also got to trot and canter for the first time that week. Al only managed the trot. He really hates wind. But he kept his poo together and we had a decent ride. 

Monday is always their day off. I debated riding, but it was also the only day this week that I had barn help in the morning, and I had a TON of things to do. So I didn't ride. Instead, I stuffed and weighed 45 bags of hay for Shiny while I'm gone and pre-made all of their meals too. 

These will go in the grain bins. Temporarily hanging out here 
until just before I leave.

Shocking how many hours all of that takes! I'm away for a week and a day, so it's a lot of days. This is the longest I've been away from the horses in several years. I'm so anxious! They're in good hands. But I worry. It's just who I am as a person. 

My morning helper is on vacation all this week (except Monday), so Tuesday I was up early to feed and turnout. Except it's not really that early because it's dark out forever. (So annoying. Winter is stupid.) And since I was doing chores, Mother Nature gave us snow. Again. Already. So ridiculous. But then it turned to rain. Because of course it did. It rained most of the day, but was only about 36 degrees. I'm generally not a weenie about riding in the elements, but I draw the line at cold rain. So they enjoyed more vacation time. It worked out okay though, because I got done in time to not be late to our family Chanukah party. We had to postpone from Friday because everyone else in my family had that virus going around that's like the flu but isn't the flu. I was glad to avoid them while they were still contagious!

We had a fun celebration. I ate too many latkas, and received some fun gifts. My nieces both seemed to love their gifts I got them, which always brings me joy. I love picking out gifts for people, and when they love them, I get the warm fuzzies. I also received the highest praise. They said I'm much better at speaking teen slang than their dad. Haha! They are great kids. 

I was very excited to burn through chores this morning so I could ride today. We had what should have been the most beautiful day. Partly sunny, temps in the 40's. Unfortunately, the winds were blowing with gusts up to 40 mph. And of course, Bang and Clang next door was out and about, wandering all over his yard and running literally every piece of machinery he owns. Then he was using power tools. The horses were WILD in turnout. Once they were all back inside and I had finished chores the wind was whistling. Just absolutely insane. And Bang and Clang was still at it next door. I debated getting on for awhile, but finally admitted that it really wasn't the safest choice. I have nothing to prove at this point in my life, and decided to listen to the responsible voice in my head. Tomorrow should be better. Not as warm, but less wind. So hopefully we'll get some rides in. We have to really so we can have something to share for Thursday's Threads! Plus it's my last chance to ride before I leave since we're flying out Friday morning. 

I was stressing about trying to get chores done Friday before leaving. I have to be out the door at 9, which would be totally doable in the summer if I could start at 5. But since it's dark until 7 here now, I really didn't see how I could possibly get the horses out and stalls done before leaving. (I would definitely also need a shower.) My horse sitter works Friday mornings at another barn (last year's winter barn actually!) so she wasn't available. But then I thought maybe she could do the morning stuff in the afternoon. That way I could just feed and be on my way. But I didn't want to put that on her if it was too much after working the other job. Fortunately for me, she's young and eager and was happy to do it. She's absolutely my new favorite person. She's doing all the things I do while I'm away for a week and a day. (My weekday morning helper is back next week, so she doesn't have to do everything the whole time.) I'm really grateful she's willing to do it all. 

I had zero success getting a nice family photo...
But please enjoy this attempt to break up the wall of text.

Vacation should be fun this year. We're staying in Florida rather than island hopping this year, which truthfully I'm excited about because I want to visit my Wellington friends. Shiny's summer kid has a new horse I'm dying to meet for one. And my neighbor from home moved permanently down to Wellington so I'm hoping to visit with her too. We have lots to catch up on. But also exciting, is that my dad arranged for me to have a ride on one of his sales horses. Did I tell you guys about what he did? My dad, the non horse guy... My stepmom's trainer talked him into buying a bunch of sales horses. 3 young ones and two that are doing the 1.30M jumpers. (And I have Al... Trust me, I've had some feelings about this.) Anyway, as is typical in horse investments, none of them have sold. So Dad is letting me ride one finally. I'm very excited! But also a little nervous because these are spicy upper level horses, and I've been mostly walk/trotting. Heh. It's like riding a bike right? RIGHT?? Should be fun though. They're all mares, so don't worry, I'm not bringing one home. Shiny doesn't want to share her kingdom with another girl. 

That's the long and the short of it from here. Hopefully I can get the rest of the things done I need to before I have to leave... In the meantime, hope all of you who celebrate have a wonderful Christmas! Shiny and I will have a Christmas outfit to share with you tomorrow. Ideally we'll actually get to ride in it... but that's TBD.