What's Up Wednesday

 

Holy moly guys. What a week, huh? I made the drive every day to visit with Al. An hour and a half each way. So I would do chores at home, go see Al, then come home and ride. Long days. But it was nice to be able to see him each day. I didn't feel like my reports exactly matched the horse in front of me, so having my own eyes on him and being able to ask questions was nice. Like they kept telling me how comfortable he was, but when I saw him, he was clearly cramping in his tummy. Did they not see, or it's just expected so didn't think to tell me? Not sure, but it was nice to be able to see it and ask about it in person. 

I don't have a ton to write about today because I honestly don't remember that much of the last week. I think it's because every day was identical pretty much. Eros and Shiny have been doing pretty well. I think Shiny is due for some maintenance because she kicks out at every canter transition. But I also don't think it's really worth doing the maintenance with winter coming so soon. I'm curious too if some of that is because we haven't been working very hard nor very consistently and with the colder weather... Probably all of those things are making any discomfort more apparent for her. I'm going to try really hard to get her and Eros on a more consistent work schedule and see what we get. Should be easier now since I have one less to ride. 

Al is on stall rest for a month, then small paddock turnout for another month, then regular turnout the third month. And in that month, as long as the incision plays nice, we can start tack walking. Right now he is allowed as many hand walks as I want to give him for 5-10 minutes, and unlimited hand grazing. He's also able to go outside in his little covered walkout because it's just a little bigger than a stall. He was SO happy to get out there today! He's not allowed to be silly though. If he starts any nonsense he has to come in. But I do think the incision is still a little tender feeling because I see him being careful about how he walks. Which is kind of a good thing. Nice to see him being smart and not reactive. Fingers crossed he stays that way for awhile!

In other news, the nightmare that was getting the fence fixed has concluded. I'm not thrilled with the outcome, but I am glad it's finished. The long story short of it is that I hired my landscaper to do the job because he said it was something he's done before. But he clearly had not, and had absolutely no idea how to do it. NONE. And was not receptive to advice. I can't tell you how many times they had to redo things. And there was one Sunday where I didn't get to ride my horses because I realized that they had left screws all over the ground AND sticking out here, there, and everywhere on the fence posts. I spent three hours removing all of that. I was PISSED because we had already had a conversation about that. Sigh. Anyway, there were many conversations that went unheard. The fence is somehow lower than it used to be, but still plenty high, so whatever I guess. Maybe in ten years I'll have to replace it again anyway, right? 

My big test is tomorrow, so I'll be glad to have that over with. I won't hear any results for 4-5 days so I still won't know anything, but at least I'll be one step closer. Once I have those results I can figure out what I'll need here at the farm. I haven't been hunting that hard for additional help because it may be that I need to board while I take care of myself, ya know? Hopefully that's not the case, so once I know I can get back on the hunt for more barn help. I'd hate to hire someone then be like just kidding, don't need you anymore! 

That's about it from here. I'm hoping things will settle into a routine here soon and then I'll have more interesting things to talk about. Or maybe it will be super boring, but honesty, wouldn't that be nice too?