What's Up Wednesday

 

It's been busy around here. I've had several of my twice yearly appointments over the last few weeks, and true to 2026 form, I now have to go to MORE appointments. Annoying. There's a wee question on my mammogram that I need to get biopsied. I'm choosing to believe it's nothing until proven otherwise because that's how I stay sane (ish). That test won't be until the end of October so that's a long time to spiral. Hence why I'm choosing not to. I also need to get my carpal tunnel checked out. It's not been bad lately, but now that I'm back to do choring more days per week (and it's colder out), I'm having some troubles again. Not sure when that will be yet, they're supposed to call me. Of course, I have very few days that I have help to go to these appointments... so that's stressful. But I'll figure it out! Cause that's what we do, right?

Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about my seemingly semi-retired horses shall we? We were able to ride every day last week, but most of the rides were pretty short. The weekend was another story! We had a bit storm that thankfully was kind to my farm. It rained for three straight days pretty much. And the winds were pretty intense. To prepare and keep the barn in good shape, I cleaned and put the windows up for the stalls. 

I put the horses out both days, but Saturday it was kind of limited turnout. I put the boys out in the walkouts behind their respective stalls and let Shiny go in the ring. (She's the smartest, if she sensed a tree falling she'd get herself out of dodge. I'm not sure the boys would.) 

I knew they wouldn't want to be out too long as it was supposed to get more and more windy and the rain was supposed to get heavier as the day went on. So I didn't rotate anyone, and just got the chores done as fast as I could. They seemed happy to come in and I kept them stuffed with hay. For these three, that's all they need really. 

Sunday actually wound up being better than expected. It still rained all morning, but there was a break in the action in the afternoon so I was able to graze them all. 

I only snapped pics of Al though. He was being so brave! He dragged me over to the side yard to graze which was interesting because he's never EVER wanted to go over there. He saw the cars go by and was happy as a clam over there. Very proud of him. 

Monday it was raining AGAIN. The entire day. Which would have been a day off anyway, so no harm there. But Rita was pretty sad we didn't get our walk in. Not that sad, because she hates rain. But still disappointed I'm sure. 

Tuesday was annoying. I originally had a dr appointment scheduled for a couple weeks ago, but I had to reschedule because their phlebotomist quit the evening before I was supposed to get bloodwork and I wouldn't have been able to get it done in time for my appointment. When I rescheduled the appointment, I did not yet know that my worker would need to immediately cut her hours from five days to three. She's no longer working on Tuesdays. But I didn't want to reschedule my appointment again. So I got up, fed the horses, showered, gave them more hay, then went to my appointment. Chores got done after that. By the time I was done with all that it was almost 4pm. I opted to just ride Al since he's the one I don't want having a million days off in a row. (We were at three after Monday as it was.) Considering all the time off, we had an okay ride, but we did very much stay on a fairly small circle. The neighbor has been quite busy next door doing who knows what. Which is not terribly helpful after all those weather days.

Today I had my follow up mammogram in the morning, but thankfully DID have help in the barn. So when I got back I was able to just start riding and I got everyone done! Well... mostly anyway. Eros and Shiny had nice full rides. Despite Bang and Clang next door. I shit you not, he was climbing on a ladder and putting some kind of sealant or stain or something on the roof of his shed. RIGHT next to the ring. That was for Shiny's ride. I forget what he was doing for Eros' but it wasn't that bad. I saved Al for last in hopes he would be done with his list of things to do over there. But alas. It only got worse. I got on Al, and walked for a few minutes. When the neighbor decided that was the exact moment he needed to rake the tree line between us. Al had already told me before I even got on that he wasn't into it today. But I insisted and promised him if we had to just walk that's what we would do. So we walked for awhile, did some standing and staring while the raking was going on, and finally did a little trotting toward the end of the ride. It was a nice trot, forward and with proper contact. So who am I to argue with that? I didn't bother cantering because I had zero faith that Bang and Clang was done torturing us for the day. Sometimes you take the win and call it a day. I wasn't sad about it, and neither was Al.

So that's about the long and the short of it over here. Life keeps lifing! Thank goodness for horses!

Not much sunshine here lately, but we did get a sunset rainbow!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Heh... so I was distracted while filling up the hay bucket with water to soak Shiny's hay. And while I definitely made note of the time once it was filled (so I would know what time to remove the hay) I promptly forgot what it was. Thankfully, I had posted something in our work group chat right when the bucket was filled, so I was able to use that timestamp to know when to pull the hay out. And that's today's confession. Distracted bucket filling. Guilty.

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! We're still being boring over here, but fun boots make it a little better. Eros is our model today, and here's what he had on:

I know he's lost some muscles, but he sure is looking pretty good otherwise. The belly isn't hanging quite so low these days. 

Bridle: Pinnacle
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I'm not sure why this photo is so dark here, it looks normal on my phone... Oh well. Here is Eros modeling with his eyes closed because he's had enough of me, but also his ears are up because he likes to look nice.

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes
Baby Pad: Ogilvy

Plugging along with our love of neutrals over here! I really love these brown pads. I'm so glad they brought this color back!

We didn't jump so Eros didn't have any leg protection on today. So it's my turn! Here's what I had on:

Layers my friends. We've reached layering season. 

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Went with this helmet today because I wanted a little sparkle. 

Zip up: Aerie (I think)

I had to get my annual bloodwork done today so I had to wear short sleeves, but it is not short sleeves weather. So I added this zip up on top. Which wound up being the perfect layers for today's weather. It wasn't terribly cold, mid 60's I think, but it was pretty windy making it feel cooler. 

Belt: Tory Burch

Tory Burch has lovely belts. They wear really well. I've had this one for several years now and it looks almost new still.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I finally found a reasonably priced pair of brown TS to add to my hoard now that this fabric is discontinued. 

Boots: Celeris UK

Nothing makes a stressful week a little happier than cow print boots! Trust me. It's true. 

And that's it for today! Any favorites? Starting to feel like fall where you are yet?

What's Up Wednesday

 

Phew! Another week gone by. We are still in that somewhat inconsistent schedule in the saddle around here, but I did at least sit on my horses most of the days last week. I didn't have a ton of time. My helper is only working three days a week, and I had a few things I had to get to in the evenings so it just didn't leave a lot of time per horse for riding. And also they were back working on the fence Saturday. Sunday was a rain out. But you know? You can only do the best you can with what you have to work with. So that is what we are doing. The best you can do is all you can do, amiright?

The horses are fine though. A little under muscled. A little less fit than I'd like. But they're fine. We haven't jumped and probably won't until next week sometime. We have a crazy weather system heading this way for the weekend that I think will mean several days off for the horses followed by a very wet ring. But that might be good for getting a few things done that I haven't had time for. Last Sunday when we were rained out I cleaned all the bird poo off the barn floor and washed all the stall fronts. 

I have to tell you guys, even though it's a little exhausting, ever since I got caught up with keeping the stall walls clean, especially where they eat and drink, we have so few flies in the barn. I mean of course there ARE flies, but not like in years past. So definitely worth it. Now if only I could cure the biting gnat problem. I usually have so many dragon flies that the gnats aren't terrible, but this year not so much. It's the only reason I'm looking forward to a frost! 

We have officially entered the time of year when the horses just keep breaking stuff. I've replaced more fence rails this week than I have all summer! I've also had to reattach the hasp on Al's door, and Eros keeps pushing his door over the little stopper. They're itchy. I'm itchy. We need the gnats and mosquitos to go! 

I don't really have too much to share otherwise. We're just plugging along, trying to get all the things done before winter. I have a few calls in for quotes to get some trees taken down, but no one gets back to you. I feel like it's very hard to get things done these days. Even this fence project. It's been going on for months and should have taken a few days. I guess it's a lesson in patience and delaying gratification. 

I have someone coming to interview Friday to work here in the mornings. Sounds like she wants and needs the job so fingers crossed please! Hopefully it will work out and for the long term. She lives only about 15 minutes away so that would be convenient for her as well. 

Hope you're all doing great! 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that sometimes I let Al do things that I shouldn't because they're funny. And then I wonder why he does naughty things. For example, he likes to paw when I groom him. I do not approve of this. Sometimes I give him my busted up dressage whip to play with while I groom him so he will keep his feet still. But then today he did this:

And I really should have stopped it immediately, but it was just so silly! I had to grab a video first. And this is why I have horses and not children.

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day!! We kept it to barn colors again this week because it's starting to feel like fall, and our color palette here is very Autumn forward. Shiny is our model this week and here's what she had on:

Forgive the awkward stance, she wasn't terribly interested in posing this week.

Bridle: Pinnacle

Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I'm not sure Al likes this bridle, but Shiny goes very nicely in hers! 

Saddle: Butet

Half Pad: Stephens
Baby Pad: Ogilvy

Our go-to set up! Pink Equine had a special through August where they would pay your import fees on Mattes items. So I did finally go ahead and get Shiny her own Mattes green half pad. I can't wait for it to get here!

No boots today since it wasn't a jump day. So here's what I had on:

I almost wore my Mountain Horse boots today since I haven't in forever, but I didn't have a lot of time and they were in need of some serious attention before I could put my feet in them. Another week!

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

An obvious choice for today's look!

Shirt: Mathcat

I love this shade of tan! Wish they had this on in short sleeve too. 

Belt: Silver... something

Yep, looks like I'm wearing this belt one hole looser these days... Let's just blame the Prednisone shall we? We shall. Also, sorry I can't remember the rest of this brand... I'm too unmotivated to go look. 

Breeches: RJ Classics Harper

These are the ones with the defective pockets, but I still like the breeches a lot. They discontinued them, I think due to the pocket issues, but I'm sure one of the new styles is pretty similar. 

Boots: Horka

Back in these again! They're so comfy. The soles are thinner than the Celeris boots though, and my stirrups always feel a little long when I wear them. I imagine that's a little princess and the pea of me!

That's it for today! Any favorites? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Ugh. Guys. I'm sorry. I feel like all I write about is being overwhelmed. And I don't even have a full time job. I shouldn't be so overwhelmed! But here we are. I think being on prednisone is amplifying my angst. 

The latest source of stress is that my current helper who is very good at the job, just informed me that she needs to cut back to two days a week. Which doesn't really provide me what I need so I can do my part time job, take care of my house and barn, and still work my horses appropriately. I'm already not working my horses appropriately. Maybe I have too many horses. Maybe I'm just getting too old to do all the things. But I don't want to give all this up. I love my barn and my horses. I just need help. And it's so hard to find! Back on the hunt I guess. I think I'd be less worked up if my stupid old lady body would cooperate. I mean really. I'm trying to do all the things, but also having carpal tunnel. tennis elbow, a bruised tailbone (thanks Eros), messed up knee, and ALL THE ITCHING. (I'm not sure the prednisone is working.) 

Anyway. That's what I'm up to this evening. Well that, and when I go out to do night check I also have to go out to the back of the property and spray a wasps nest. All in a days work! But this is What's Up Wednesday and not What's Up Wednesday Night. So let's look back at the week!

I brought Pivo out last Wednesday because I miss having media, and I wanted to see my horses go. It worked really well which was a relief, so hopefully I'll start using it more. I haven't really jumped since the day I busted my butt because well... my butt hurts! So I just have a few screen shots from Pivo that day. I also didn't record Shiny because it was threatening to rain by the time it was her turn. But here are a couple screen shots of E and Al:

One of them is more willing to engage than the other... Just kidding, the Al photo was just during warm up. We didn't really get much accomplished last week. Wednesday was a good riding day. Thursday was fine, but I had a hay delivery which is kind of distracting to ride with. 

Then Friday I was a bit rushed because I had to go to Rosh Hashana services. Saturday was similarly disorganized. I thought the fence people were coming, but then they didn't. Chores took a little longer because I had to clean up from our hay delivery (before the rain the next day) and I had to be at a family dinner at 6:30. So I wound up just hand grazing everyone. There's only so many hours in a day. Sunday was an absolute deluge of rain, so I did chores and groomed the horses. I also made a couple of videos for TurnoutHQ. One was a training braid tutorial and the other how to hang a fake tail.

This week I should be able to ride everyday. Today was short because of family dinner at 6, but everyone had a decent ride. Well. Al was terrible, but the other two had good rides. Al is generally terrible when I am feeling rushed and I know this. I should probably just lunge him on the days I don't have a lot of time. I don't know why that lesson doesn't stick with me ever. Tomorrow will also be a little tight because I have my annual mammogram in the evening. (They have such weird scheduling, but it's convenient for me!) Friday though, Friday I have ALL day. My worker was already scheduled off, so I'll have chores then riding. Which lately, chores seem to zap all my energy and the rides are then short. But I'm going to try and be a better person and just push through that and get something done with the horses. Fence guys WILL be here Saturday, so those rides will be distracted. And Sunday it's looking like more rain. 

For the moment, going forward, I'm hoping my helper will stay on for Mondays and Wednesdays so I can have my Monday off and then have help for our Wednesday morning staff meeting. I'm also going to bring up my lack of energy to my doctor at my next appointment which is the end of the month to see if there's a reason for it that we can fix or if I'm just incredibly lazy. If there's something I can do to have more energy, it might be fine to have help only a couple days a week. But as is now, it's not going to be sustainable. Especially as it gets colder and more of my body starts complaining again. 

Anyway. Sorry to be such a debbie downer. Thanks for sticking with me even if I am an Eeyore. Hopefully I'll figure things out and start having fun things to talk about again soon. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Sooo... I've had REALLY itchy arms for weeks. It started with a reaction to the straps I was wearing for tennis elbow. Which was really sad because they really helped with that! Maybe once long sleeve weather is here to stay I can try them again. But anyway, the itchy arms spread from my lower arm to my upper arm. Then my legs. Then my back. I was putting off calling the doc about it because I have an upcoming appointment anyway. But finally I couldn't take it anymore. The itching was keeping me up at night! And I think we all know by now how well I function with poor sleep... (Not well.) 

I finally went yesterday and got some prednisone. I don't love being on steroids, but man! I didn't realize how much my regular allergies were bothering me until that first dose kicked in! I'm looking forward to eight days of clear sinuses and hopefully no itching. (The itching is improved but not yet gone... I hope this does it!)

Anyway, my confession is that I wait way too long to get things fixed sometimes. Which is really silly when it's causing such distress. Maybe I'll learn from this. Probably not though. Anyone else? 

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day!! We kept it neutral today because I do love my barn colors outfits! Al is our model, and since I was trying to get Pivo back in our routine, I have a photo of us trotting to show off what we wore. Also Pivo worked perfectly for the test rides yesterday. I didn't jump so we'll have to see how that goes some other day. Still, I'm excited to get back to using it. Anyway, here is what Al and I had on yesterday:

Warm-up loose but slow trot

It looks like he was rolling his roller bit in that photo. Also yes, it was a dreary day yesterday. But it didn't rain!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Dark Jewel Designs

I would have used our other bridle with the ribbon browband, but I have a hunch that Al prefers this bridle. So I didn't. 

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes
Baby Pad: Ogilvy

The usual set up. I'm really sad about our situation with our country's leadership for many, many reasons. But one of the more frivolous reasons is that Ogilvy pads are now 50% more expensive. Counting down the days until this era might be behind us. 

No boots today since we weren't jumping. Here's what I had on:

Not to exciting, but comfy and classy!

Helmet: One K 

I really need to dust off my helmets... It's amazing there can be dust when it seems like it never stops raining. 

Tee: Brit.NY

I picked this cute tee up at Marshalls last year around St Patty's day. It says So Very Lucky by the collar with a little clover. It's my favorite color green, and the sentiment is true. 

Belt: Dapple Bay

They had a deal on these awhile back and I had bought one to try and fix a pair of jeans that weren't working for me (still haven't gotten around to that project) and got this one too. I think they were a bogo deal or something? Can't remember. I don't usually love elastic belts, but this one is really cute. 

Breeches: RJ Classics Gulf

You guys have seen these a bunch.

Boots: Horka

You've seen these a ton too. They are the most comfy of my brown boots, and I've been seeking out comfort this week. 

That's it for this week! Nothing too exciting, but a nice outfit none-the-less. Any favorites?

What's Up Wednesday

 

So for once, my week actually went almost to plan! I mean, right up until the squirrel incident anyway. 

Little reminder of the squirrel incident I shared yesterday...

The horses all got exactly the rides I had planned until Friday. I was pretty sore after my unexpected dismount. I still rode Shiny and popped her over a few jumps, but I opted out of riding Al just in case. I've learned that with him, if I'm not at least 85% of normal, I shouldn't get on him. Instead he had a nice lunge. And I don't think he minded that. Here are a couple of screen shots from my short jump schools with Eros and Shiny though:

Saturday and Sunday they were supposed to be working on my fence again, so I had planned for easy riding days anyway. My sore tailbone was grateful for that! Of course, nothing truly goes to plan. The guy doing the work wasn't feeling well so he only wound up working for an hour before calling it a day. Which is totally understandable, but I wish he hadn't come at all because it disrupted Shiny's turnout and feeding schedule for not much reward. (I think they only got two posts done that day.) Fortunately, Shiny doesn't really care that much. On the plus side, it was quiet for riding time! I wound up only riding Eros though. I figured he'd be a good test for what my body was up for since he's big like Al, but mostly trustworthy (save for any weird squirrel encounters). It REALLY hurt to get on. Trotting wasn't too bad, but canter was pretty miserable. So I figured I'd call it a riding day with just the one. I took the other two out for grass though. Suited them just fine. 

Sunday they were back to work on the fence so things went more to my original plan. My body was improving but still pretty sore. After chores, I opted to test ride with Shiny first this time. It was okay. And they were wrapping up with the yard as I finished with her, so I decided to give Al a ride too. I kept him to half the ring out of caution (I wasn't really interested in any spinning spooks this weekend) and he was good. And I opted to be done after him. Eros got to hand graze still, which is all he really wants anyway. 

We all enjoyed a day off Monday and then Tuesday we were back to normal. My body is mostly recovered, just a little soreness in the tailbone area still but much improved! They all had nice rides Tuesday, Al even used the full ring like a normal horse with almost no dragon breathing! It helps so much when Bang and Clang stays in his garage. 

And that's really all that's happening around here. How are you guys?? I'm a little behind in reading your blogs, but I'm getting caught up slowly but surely!