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?

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I don't have a confession. But I am REALLY happy because Al is home!!! 

That's it! That's all I have to share today. He's home, and he's settling in well. He's allowed hand walks and unlimited hand grazing. So we got started on that this afternoon. 

More to come tomorrow. For now, I'm just my kids are all together again!

What's Up Wednesday: And then this happened.

 

Man this year is quickly finding itself on the list with 2019. QUICKLY. And that's not a list you want to be on. And also, I have a good excuse for not posting yesterday. I'll jump to the big story here so as not to bury the lead. 

Yesterday afternoon, when I brought the horses in, Al was not acting right. At first just very lethargic, and then he laid down. Then up. Then down. I finished bringing the horses in, and then got him outside walking and called the vet. I didn't think we were dealing with a run of the mill colic because Al had pooped three times outside and once after I brought him in. And also two more times while we walked. But he was very clearly uncomfortable. Doc advised to give banamine and if he stayed uncomfortable keep walking until it kicked in. And I was to give a report in an hour. Well the Banamine wasn't really helping much. He wasn't horribly uncomfortable, but did want to lay down if we stopped moving, so I kept him walking. About 50 minutes after the meds, he started to have some discharge from his nose. Doc was suspecting choke but I wasn't sold on that because there had been no coughing at all. Per the vet's request I sent a video of what his nose was doing and doc got on board that this likely wasn't choke. So he came right out at that point. After taking Al's vitals, he put the tube in and drained about 2 gallons of acid from Al's stomach. He said it's a good thing he came when he did because the stomach can handle maybe 5 gallons before it ruptures. This was looking like something pretty serious, so we were sent to the hospital. I called a friend who owns a nearby show barn (the same one I was thinking about trying to get on the waitlist for) to see if there was a chance she or her husband could take Al for me. I have been dragging my feet getting the truck fixed (there's just been so much to do around here lately!) and I didn't want to risk something going wrong with my rig on the way. The vet hospital is about an hour and half away. Thankfully they were available and willing so her hubs arrived immediately, and Al was on his way. I was a few minutes behind so I could get feed made for the other two for dinner. Another friend of mine (who used to live here in my apartment before she met her hubs) was able to feed for me while I was at the clinic with Al. I also let Rita out and fed her before I left. Lots to do when you're a one woman show. 

Very unhappy boy

Al got to the hospital right around 5 and I was only maybe 10 minutes behind that. When I arrived they had two vets and a handful of vet students working on him. They took some blood and some belly fluid from him. From what I understand there are levels they can compare from the two fluids to determine the likelihood of this being surgical or medical. His initial numbers were inconclusive, so the plan was to recheck in an hour and also get some fluids in him. Unfortunately, the second draw indicated surgery would be necessary. Which I wasn't surprised because he wasn't doing great during that hour. I was sent home for the surgery because they expected it to be a minimum of four hours. At this point it was 8pm and I still had to finish cleaning up at home. I had dropped everything to get Al taken care of, so there was a huge mess. I'm sure you all know I can't leave a mess overnight in the barn. I did leave the paddocks unpicked though. A girl has limits. 

Surprisingly, I got a call just before 11. Which at first worried me, because they said they would call if things got complicated, but otherwise expect four hours before an update. Thankfully though, it was a great update. Things went as good as they could have, and Al did a great job waking up from the anesthesia. (Good boy!) 

What they found was that he had an obstruction (likely food) just about a hands length from where the small intestine meets the stomach. This explains why he was passing manure, everything behind there was able to come out. But nothing was able to empty from the stomach. Which caused inflammation and all this acid production. (They had removed a full five gallon bucket from him since he'd arrived until before the surgery.) Basically the stomach was trying to throw up even though horses can't do that. I was told it was very surprising he wasn't more painful and that he's very stoic. But that all tracks with how Al reacts to things like that. He loses his ever loving mind about things that aren't a big deal, but when he's actually in trouble he stays pretty calm. Like one time he rolled himself part way under the fence, and then just calmly shimmied himself back out. He's odd. So of course his colic was odd. 

Muzzle was just so he didn't mess with the nose tube

Anyway, they were able to break that food ball up some and massage it all the way out of the small intestine to the large, where it was in no danger of getting stuck. So he should pass that tonight if he hasn't already. We were very lucky that there were no twists or kinks, and really very little inflammation even. So I did catch it right away before any real damage was done. They didn't need to cut any intestine. 

We're really not sure why this happened, but his teeth are a little sharp. (We are on the schedule for a couple weeks out for that already, but they'll do his teeth while he's there recovering instead just in case there's something going on in there that might have contributed to this.) The next steps after surgery are for his stomach to stop refluxing, and for his vitals to stabilize. His heart rate was a little elevated post surgery, but that's not unusual. Today he got a scope to just do a check of the stomach and the esophagus to make sure everything looked good. They also checked the opening to the intestine from the stomach side to make sure there wasn't anything going on there. He does still have that one pesky ulcer that we weren't able to resolve when we treated him last year, but otherwise his stomach was "pristine" (vets words). Not sure why that thing is so persistent. But no one seemed concerned about it. He lives on sucralfate anyway, so we are to just keep up with that. It is right near that opening too. But it doesn't sound like it's problematic beyond being an ulcer.

I went to see him today and he really looks pretty good! He was hanging out when I arrived, just kind of snoozing. But he perked right up when he heard my voice. I was happy to see that. The vets even commented that his energy was different once he saw his momma. He seemed fairly bright, and very annoyed that he couldn't have snacks. Which is all good things! He did get a little uncomfortable after they gave him his penicillin, but I was warned that is common. I stayed for about an hour. I was going to groom him a little but he said no thank you, so maybe tomorrow for that. He's allowed very short walks today, but he had already had one and wasn't due for a little bit so I didn't take him out. He is still on an IV, so I think that's why they do it at certain times. I got an update tonight that his heart rate is back to normal, and he's not refluxing anymore which is the best news! So he was going to start getting water tonight and as long as he handles that well, he'll start getting tiny amounts of food tomorrow. Which will delight him, I'm certain! I believe he'll stay about a week and then should be able to come home. I had been told before surgery that it's usually a month of stall rest after, then small paddock for a month, then regular turnout and tack walking can start in that third month too. I'm not sure if the timeline is still as long since he didn't have a resection, but I'll find that out in the coming days. For now, I just am holding my breath that the re feeding process goes smoothly! 

It's weird at home without him. Eros and Shiny both are a little unsettled. When I saw them this morning Eros was staring at Al's stall with his eyes bugging out of his head. I let them both smell me when I got back from my visit with Al though and I think that was helpful for them. It's kind of funny because they both seem pretty annoyed by Al most of the time, but I'm glad they do care about him. 

I finally got to ride them both tonight too which was so much needed for all of us. We haven't ridden since Thursday for many reasons that I was going to talk about today, but Al's story is priority. We can catch up on the other ridiculousness around here next week. I do still have an outfit for tomorrow. I actually pre-photographed this one last week, and I'm glad I did! 

One thing that I really had a hard time with yesterday, was so silly, but also so frustrating. I'm here by myself most of the time. And most of the time it's fine. But when I couldn't leave Al unattended yesterday I was in a tough spot for a couple of moments. Before bringing the horses in and finding Al NQR, I had gotten Shiny's hay soaking. And then everything was happening with Al and that hay was getting to be in the water for too long. Which if it goes too long, it goes bad. I sent a few texts to some horsey friends that I know either work from home or have weird hours, but no one was nearby. So I did for a moment have to abandon Al out in the ring while I pulled the hay out and fed the other two lunch. Of course he went down, but he didn't thrash around or anything, so no harm, no foul. But still. It was a moment that I was really struggling to figure out. All in, I think Al ad I walked for about two hours. And at about 1.5 I really had to pee! But alas, no one around. So I had to wait until the vet came. I couldn't abandon him a second time. Like I said, small things. But incredibly frustrating. It all worked out though. Something to maybe figure out a plan for in case this type of thing happens again. 

So yeah. That's what's up here the last two days. I still can't believe my life right now... But I'm glad things are going as well as they can for Al. And I'm also really thankful for my dad who's helping me afford this. And my amazing friends that jumped up to help me when I needed it. It takes a village, and I'm so glad to have such caring people around me. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Turns out, my week isn't quite as exhausting as I had expected so that was a nice change. My part time helper realized that taking a week off meant she wouldn't get paid and decided to come to work after all. So at least I have a couple mornings to get things done around here. The weather continues to shorten our riding week, but what can you do? It's also effecting getting the fence finished. 

One rotten post, one not rotten post, and Al

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I hired my lawn mower guy to replace the rest of the rotten fence posts here. But what I wasn't informed of when I hired him was that he could only work on this project on the weekends. And also that he doesn't seem to have much experience with this type of work despite saying he did... And we've had a LOT of rainy weekends. So this project has been ongoing pretty much all summer. It's disruptive because I can't turn out in whichever area they are working, so there's been a lot of shuffling. They've also spent a LOT of time redoing things that they aren't doing correctly because he didn't believe me that using a string is important... But anyway. The fence will hopefully be done this coming weekend so long as the weather cooperates. Say a little something to mother nature on my behalf please!

The horses worked five out of six days last week which was pretty good. Eros and Shiny were ridden all of the days, but Al had a couple of lunge line days. Sometimes I can get more done with him from the ground than I can in the tack, so I think we might go back to incorporating some lunging into our weekly schedule. 

Sunset photo to break up text

The neighbor continues to be extremely challenging. Literally every time I'm on Al he does something awful. It really is starting to feel targeted. Since I'm still struggling to find a worker, combined with the troublesome neighbor, I am contemplating reaching out to a local trainer that I like a lot to see about joining her program with Al. She generally has a wait list, so it wouldn't be immediate. But it might be a good solution to my struggles over here. It would lighten the workload here, and I would be able to get not only lessons, but hopefully also training rides with Al. It's still just in the thinking about it stage. So we'll see what I end up deciding. It also kind of depends on how my test goes at the end of the month. I will need to get him in a program for sure if the test doesn't go well as he doesn't need to sit around. The other two can handle vacation time better. 

Big Dee's had a sale on the giant jolly balls so I finally decided to get one. I used our rain day Sunday to get it blown up in its cover and then I introduced the boys to it in turnout on Tuesday. They both had mixed feelings.

I think Eros played with it more than Al did which surprised me. I thought Al would have a ball with it (literally), but maybe he just needs to figure it out. I'll put it out again tomorrow and see what happens. I don't think Shiny would have much interest in it, but I'll have to see what she thinks one of these days too. 

That's about it from here. Nothing too exciting, but things are plugging along okay for now! 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I imagine you're pretty well caught up on life at Winthrop Corner these days. Not a whole lot going on other than chores and occasionally getting to ride my horses. Last week was a little crazy since I only had help two days. I didn't get to ride all of the horses all of the days because I did have to do some work for my job and also the days are getting shorter fast! We also got rained out Sunday. It wasn't a hard rain, and if it had been warmer I probably would have ridden. But it wasn't so I didn't! 

Al particularly has had a lighter work regiment the past week because Bang and Clang next door seems to have a personal vendetta against him. I forget what day, but I think it was Friday or Saturday. Bang and Clang was suspiciously quiet all day and I was very much enjoying it. But mere moments after I got on Al, he comes out with a blue tarp that he needed to shake out, then drag behind him, and cover something with about as close to my ring as he could get. Then he just kept walking the tree line messing with branches. Needless to say, Al wasn't especially cool with that. We did a walk trot ride on a circle and called it a day. He's come a long way, but he still doesn't trust that guy. Which is fair because neither do I. Then yesterday, I decided to lunge Al with tack before my ride to see what I had, because he was quite riled up in turn out thanks again to Bang and Clang. Now, the dude had been in his garage making noise all day but he'd stayed in there which I can work with just fine. But as soon as I had Al working on the lunge? Out came the hedge trimmer. Guys. It's October. What could POSSIBLY need to hedge trimming? Apparently the entire perimeter of his yard. So we just lunged and called it a day. Of course when I got on the other two he was back in his garage. That guy. I may be committed soon because I really think the people around me are driving me insane. I like to reflect to see if I'm the problem, but in both scenarios of people who have triggered me this week, I just don't see that I am. Which I could be, of course. But I'm not seeing it. 

Eros has been a little spooky too, I think the change in sun angle gets to them a little. The shadows look different. And they aren't working especially hard so I imagine the energy levels are a little high too. But we're still plugging away. No intense work, just making sure all the buttons are still installed and trying to get them to keep their bellies up and engaged. We haven't jumped since I fell off a few weeks ago. Not because I'm worried about it, just because we haven't had consistent enough work. I'm sure we will again before winter arrives. But not right now. 

That's really about all that's happening here. Doing the things, and loving my horses. Wishing they would be just a touch neater in their stalls... Lol! 

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!

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! 

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? 

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!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Oh man, guys, it's SEPTEMBER. I feel like this summer just passed me right by. But we still have a few more weeks of summer technically, so I'm hoping to make the most of them. And getting things done around the property is certainly productive, so even if that messes with my riding time, it's for the greater good of the farm. Or so I'm trying to convince myself anyway. This coming weekend they'll be (hopefully) finishing up the fences, so I'm not sure how much productive riding will happen. Probably none with Al if I'm being honest with myself. But for that reason, I'm making sure to make the most out of our weekday rides this week. 

Anyway, when we left off last week, Rita had gone in for her dental and had to have THREE teeth pulled. Poor baby. She was pretty swollen for a few days, but she's pretty much back to her old self now a week later. One more week until she can have her favorite chew sticks though. She's been having cream cheese on a lick pad instead which she seems to enjoy just as much. 

I only had time to ride one horse last Wednesday since I had to pick Rita up at 3:30 and then had family dinner that evening. I did Al since I always feel like he benefits most from less days off. He was awful that day though, so I think I made a poor choice! In his defense, they had a lot of days off the week before due to my being on my own and having a lot of braiding to do. Took him a few days to regulate I think. 

I wound up also giving the horses Sunday off. My town's country fair was this weekend, and I really wanted to spend some time there Sunday afternoon. So I did! Though I almost didn't. 

Saturday morning, at 7:45 the people who had been working on my fence said they would be at the farm at 8:30. But the problem with that was we didn't schedule that. And since I wasn't aware anyone would be working at the farm, I didn't get the horses out until 7:30 since I didn't think we were in any sort of rush. Which meant Shiny would have to come in after less than hour. I really wasn't okay with that. So I told him I hadn't expected him, and that he'd need to start later, after 10:30. And then I realized he would be expecting to work Sunday too which is when I had planned to just turn horses out and do chores early, then leave for the fair for the afternoon. I wouldn't do that if they were working. First because I can't turn out where they're working, and second because while these guys are very nice to work with, they can't be left unattended. And at first I just resigned myself to not getting to do what I wanted. But the more I stewed on it, the more I decided I was pretty tired of always acquiescing to other people dictating my time without consulting me at all. And also, I literally have done nothing this summer but stuff around the farm and braiding. I deserved to get to do one fun thing! So I let him know we could make Saturday work but not Sunday. He then tried to guilt me into changing my mind but I stood my ground. So they're coming this weekend instead. Hopefully they'll get it all done this weekend. Fingers crossed. 

The fair wound up being fun. I ate a baked potato and ice cream (not at the same time) and got the most delicious lime rickey with cherries. The previous lime rickey people had stopped coming several years back and this new one was here for the first time. I was so happy!

Also it was enormous.

I watched the horse pulls, saw some bunnies (I love bunnies so much!). and walked through the exhibits. It was a nice day. I even brought home some treats!

Caramel corn, a chocolate/caramel apple, some treats for Rita (which are in the freezer until she can chew again), a crocheted potato and resin unicorn. Did I need a potato and unicorn tchochke? Yes. Yes I did. The potato is cheering me on! 

Honestly, what's better than a hype potato? 
Nothing. Nothing is better than that.

Sorry. You're not really here for country fair content. Let's get back to the horses. They had Sunday and Monday off. Part of me felt like I should have ridden Monday, but I had a ton of things to do and that was really the only day to do it all. So I stuck to the plan. And then Tuesday I was really excited to ride them all. I felt so refreshed! And weirdly (ok, not at all weirdly) the horses were all great too! Even though it was raining all day. It was light, and I was determined. And it was great. 

Then, today, they were all great again! Today we warmed up as briefly as is fair to them, and then just popped over a few jumps. Eros was so perfect! He never got the zoomies, even when I made a mistake and he had to pop chip one. Usually that's what triggers the turbo boosters. But not today! He just loped right around like a perfect happy boy. Al was next, and he was just as good! I didn't quite do everything I had wanted with him, because bang and clang started clanging away about half way through the ride. Instead of quitting then though, we stayed to the other side of the ring and jumped a few more things. He was really good! Shiny was great too. She loves jumping, and the more complicated I make the courses, the more she gets invested in it. It's pretty cute. 

My plan for the rest of the week is flat rides tomorrow and then possibly another jump day Friday. Saturday and Sunday we'll just play by ear. I'm expecting a hay delivery sometimes in the next week or so too. I also met with a tree guy, so we'll be having tree work done here soon too. (Al's going to HATE that.) So much going on, I'm just going to need to be okay with not riding every day. The horses don't seem much worse for the wear with our somewhat light riding summer. Though I can see they've all lost a lot of fitness and muscle. I'm sure that bothers me a lot more than them. We'll get back at it eventually. Hopefully. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I spent almost all of my braiding money on new blankets for the horses. And I don't even feel badly about it. I think I finally have exactly what I want for weights. Hopefully. We shall see how they work out over the winter. Our previous turnout gear had almost all lost it's water proofing and some of them had holes. So it was time. And I wasn't happy with my stable wardrobe last year. The 100 grams didn't fit the horses properly, the drop was too short and they shifted a lot. I'd come in to them kind of hanging off one side. And the heavies, while lovely and warm and cozy actually weighed A LOT. As I'm aging, I have a lot more aches and pains in the cold weather, and those very heavy blankets were pretty difficult for me to get up on the bigger horses. So I ordered the Amigo's for inside. I had similar ones from Amigo at the old boarding barn, and I really liked them other than the color. So hopefully I will like these too. 

Anyone else getting ready for the dark season? I dislike winter so much, that I'm hoping having new outfits for the horses will at least bring a little joy.