What's Up Wednesday

 

We finally had a somewhat more normal week last week. We got to ride every day except Saturday which was pretty good! Saturday was miserable here. It was one of those days that got colder as the day wore on. It ranged from 47 to 43, there was rain off and on all day, and the wind was gusting over 40mph. I heard a tree fall down a couple of houses over while I was dumping poo buckets. 

At first I thought it was one of my neighbor's trash heaps treasure piles falling over, so I was a little disappointed to see it was just a tree. But anyway...that's how windy it was. The horses were quite happy to not go back out in the elements after turnout. And I spent the day tackling the bird poop in the barn. That's a never ending task.

But Sunday! Sunday was lovely! Despite having Saturday off I opted for a Sunday Funday anyway. I had to take a few hour break in then middle of the day to retrieve my dad from the airport, so shorter rides seemed like the best plan. Everyone had a light ride in the snackamore and then some grass in the backyard. I love days like that. No pressure. Simply enjoying my horses. I love doing work in the saddle and achieving goals and all that. But sometimes it's really nice to just relax and have some fun. 

I haven't had my non horsey Monday in awhile, and this week was kind of the same. The horses were scheduled for their second round of shots and a dental check/possible float. So I was a little bummed I scheduled that because I haven't gotten anything done in the house in weeks. It's dirty, the laundry pile is huge... Adulting, ya know? But I got lucky! Teeth were all in good shape, so the appointment was super quick. I had plenty of time to catch up on the laundry (4 loads!), vacuum the downstairs, walk the dog, and do my PT. Didn't make it to the grocery store but I'll get there eventually. 

I could tell on Tuesday that everyone was feeling a little blah from their shots. I knew because I had to run into town to vote for our school budget which made me a little late getting lunch for them, and no one was yelling at me. So we enjoyed a Sunday Funday on a Tuesday.

While we have had a few easy days around here, we also have been getting back to some jumping. The fences are still teeny since things have been a little inconsistent, but you gotta start somewhere!

I haven't pulled the Pivo out yet, so enjoy these screen shots from a poorly placed phone. Someday I'll get my act together there... I also want to get the fill back out for the jumps, but just haven't had the free time to get that done. Maybe next week! 

Shiny's been so excited about getting back to jumping. I think she's feeling good after her maintenance. We've been working on some harder flat work, especially counter canter. I've touched on it with her here and there, but never really spent much time on it. I love introducing new things to her because she really engages and wants to figure out the right answer. Especially something that's difficult like counter canter. She figured it out pretty quickly and I had a much more balanced pony after we worked on that. I always forget how helpful counter canter can be for their balance and straightness. Definitely will be doing more of it with all of them. Eros is a pro at it, but Al really has a hard time with it. Probably because he's so behind the leg. Isn't that the root of all issues??

Eros has been in full on torpedo mode when we jump lately... I don't think anything is wrong, I think he's just a little excited. Probably he needs to get some zoomies out in turnout, but I want him to do that on his own volition rather than encouraging it. Hopefully he does that soon. In the meantime, I'll just be getting run off with on the regular. I should probably stop giggling every time so he doesn't know how funny it is...

Okay guys, I'm terrified to put this out there because every time I do it comes to a quick end... But Al is a changed man. He had several things change at once so I'm not positive what brought this result. First, after his vet visit, we took him off the pentox he was getting for his weird foot. Second, he had his neck injected. Neither of these things produced an immediate result. About a week later, I accidentally ran out of this Chinese herb he and Eros get per my vet's recommendation. It's called Body Sore and is meant to help with inflammation. It was when I ran out of this that the change happened in Al. So the most likely explanation is the injections, but who knows for sure. With the timing I can't help but think it could have been the herb. Or the pentox... Anyway.  Here's what's different. He's more focused. He still notices the birds and the neighbor and all the things he's always noticed, but he's not overreacting about them. He's just... riding around the ring. Almost like a normal horse. I have a six stride line of tiny cross rails on the rail closest to the neighbor, and he just goes right over them. Like it's never been an issue over there. I mean not completely. He might still stare out there. But he's not tense. It's been a full week of rides with the same outcome. I'm not sure if it will last. In the past it never does. But maybe this time? We shall see. In the meantime, I'm enjoying it very much. I hope so hard it lasts forever. 

So now that I've said that, forget you read it, and no one tell Al. I don't want to jinx anything. I do feel super guilty that it may be that he had terrible neck pain for the last several years. Or that I was giving him something that made him want to jump out of his skin. But that's what so hard about horses. They can't tell you with words and it's just a lot of guessing until you find "the thing". And obviously, I might not have found it. It could be a temporary thing. Oof. Horses. Wish us luck.