What's Up Wednesday

The equine kids and I have been having all kinds of fun now that we're all back under saddle. Doc wants to keep Eros in super light work for awhile, so we're still trotting four long sides and walking ten minutes. I'm not really sure when we add more... doc just said to keep going with that for now. Which is fine with me, I'll take what I can get! 

Pammon is up to as much trotting as we'd like (we usually do 15 minutes) and three laps each direction of the gigantic outdoor at the canter. Which... is actually a lot of canter. Especially given we are not yet cleared for any kind of circles or lateral work. Just round and round we go. He's been great, though is still under the influence of meds to keep him calm. He just has so much energy, we have to be careful with that leg still. 

Shiny has been doing really well. We had a lesson on Friday, and she jumped over some scary fill as well as through a line. It was set as a four to four for horses, but I held her for the five to five since the fences were small and she's a pony. I don't want her running for the horse strides. Maybe when she's more experienced, but for now, I prefer the add. We have a A LOT of work to do, but it's been really fun to get her jumping. I'm sad I have no media though.

She was exhausted Saturday after her lesson the day before. Plus the night turnout seems to keep her especially quiet. So on Sunday, I decided to give her an easy day. We tacked up and walked around the big field, and then another boarder joined us for a short trail ride. I hadn't had her on the trails before, and she was completely perfect. 

I really love this pony. Definitely one of my best questionable decisions to date.

I've gotten the stalls set up at home, and just need to throw some shavings down. I'm planning to bring Shiny and Eros home Sunday and I am SO EXCITED to have horses at home again!

Though I will kind of miss the giant ring and access to trails at the boarding barn. Pammon is staying there for now though, so I probably could ship Shiny over sometimes to play. 

Eros and Pammon are still on small paddock day turnout, and they may miss each other too.

Took the truck out for a ride this weekend and promptly got stuck behind a car fire for 45 minutes. Always the way, right?

Hey, at least I know it's running! And hopefully it's ready to haul the kids home. I'll get it fueled and hooked up on Saturday and then Sunday once the horses are home, I can get the rest of the show stuff packed in there. Just checking things off the to do list! Love that feeling.

I also made some Chex mix this weekend and proceeded to eat all of it in like three days. Delicious. Guess I'll have to make more this weekend.

In quarantine news, CT is slowly opening things up but I really haven't gone or done anything. I'll let everyone else be the guinea pigs. BUT I did go to my dad's for Father's Day. We had hot dogs and burgers outside and my brother and his family were there also. It was nice to see everyone. We're all being very safe, so hopefully no negative consequences to gathering together! Fingers crossed.

The barn mates went to their first horse show on Sunday and said it went well. It was hot wearing masks, but they said it felt safe and was really nice to get back out there. I'll probably wait until next year. Shiny has a lot of work to do before showing anyway. 

That's about it from here! How was your week/weekend? Are things open and are you doing them? Or laying low still?

What's Up Wednesday: Running edition

This past week included a lot more running that horses, which is super weird. There are two 5K races I run every year, and much to my misfortune, they happen the same weekend. First up was Saturday's Ivoryton Pumpkin Run which is put on by that town's library. It's one town over from me, and happens to be where my brother and his family live. My two nieces did the fun run, and I did the 5K.

Let us remember that I have run a total of 4 miles in the last I dunno... six months? Two of them right after Pammon got hurt, and the other two last weekend on Nantucket. This is not what one might consider good training for a 5K race. Especially one that has a full mile in the woods on a narrow path full of rocks and roots. Fortunately, I stayed upright throughout which is more than I can say for the man in his 70's running just behind me. I stopped to make sure he was ok (of course!), and then he passed me. Lol. Hey, once you stop, it's tough to get going again, ok? Anyway, I walked a bit in the woods, mainly on the steep inclines, and then a bit more on the way back. But I crossed the finish line all in one piece. And achieved my slowest time EVER in a 5K. I'd be upset about that except for the whole not training thing. Plus I wore this outfit, so not too much could really bring me down.

After the race I headed home to feed lunch and then went to ride Eros. He was perfect of course, which was much appreciated by my tired legs. And then it was back home to ride Shiny girl and walk Mr Pammon. It was a pretty perfect day, and we all enjoyed our time outside together.

That wrinkly nose though!

A couple of things happened on Friday that needed addressing on Saturday as well. One I couldn't fix right away, but should be done by tomorrow... The gator has a flat tire. I've taken to blaming all flat tires on my creepy neighbor now, but honestly, it's probably just flat. The other is that we've found evidence that I have a rat visiting the barn again. I had two coming around last year or the year before (who can remember) and they were terminated fairly quickly. I was pretty proud of myself for getting rid of them! But alas. Here we are again. So I did what any rational person would do and ordered a case of traps from Amazon. And set a bunch end to end where I found the entrance.

These supposedly don't require bait, but so far I've caught nothing. Fear not though, I have another case of different traps that I'm going to bait with peanut butter. So I will catch the little jerk. (Sorry for anyone who's really anti murdering rats. But I can't have filthy little animals chewing up my coolers and saddle pads and defecating all over the barn.)

Once I had gone all Home Alone on the rats and the horses were tucked in, I was pretty tuckered out. So the pugs and I had a relaxing evening with a relatively early bed time.

Sunday's race was The Run for the Cove. The Cove is a program for children who have lost a parent or sibling to help them through the grieving process. My little brother went through the program when he lost his mom, and it was really wonderful for him. So I make a point to try and run every year. My dad is a sponsor for the race as well, so we get a spot on the t-shirt which is pretty cool:

There is both a 5K run and 2 mile walk, and both are dog friendly. So it's super fun to attend. Dogs get bandanas for participating which is ADORABLE.

My friend and hair dresser runs most years too, so it was nice to have some company.

The best part about being the slowest in the group is that my friends get cool shots like these on the way to the finish:

This run is pretty much flat the entire way which is mostly nice. I managed to run the entire way through which I was pretty proud of! And I finished just about a minute faster than I did the day before. I was super tired after, but proud of myself!

From the race I headed home to feed lunch and then off to ride Eros. He was a gem as always and even offered up flying changes both directions. Normally he trots through them on the flat, but not Sunday! Not sure what's gotten into him, but I'll take it!

My friend had messaged me earlier in the day to say she could clip Shiny for me on Monday, so instead of riding her on Sunday I gave her a bath. A much needed bath I might add. She wasn't thrilled, but she stood like a good girl. And then I bundled her up in her BOT outfit and let her dry off in her stall.

Apparently she was NOT GOOD to clip. Which is surprising to me because she is so good about everything else. But I guess they all have a hole someplace. Sorry friend! Thanks for getting it done though! My allergies appreciate it!

Pammon enjoyed his walk and then the weekend was pretty much over. They go by way too fast. WAY. TOO. FAST.

Pammon, wondering where the time goes.

This week has been fairly unexciting. Shiny got ridden Monday. Pammon got his walk in, it had started raining so we cut it a little short. 15 minutes instead of 20. Last night rained again, and heavier, so they got the night off, and I was able to meet up with the book club girls. So that was fun!
And now we're here. Wednesday. Less on the agenda for the week to come, so that is nice! Hopefully I can get some things accomplished in the disaster that is my house.
How was your week/weekend? Do anything fun? Horse show? Lessons? Go for a run? Tell me all about it in the comments!

What's up Wednesday

We already touched on the big stupid news happening around here, but there were other things that happened in the past week, so I'll fill you all in!
I had a half day on Friday because the horses were getting their fall shots and boosters for EEE. There's a bit of an outbreak happening in my area. So far all of the affected horses were not vaccinated, but better safe. Especially with Rio since his immune system isn't up to snuff. I had hoped the vet would be there on the earlier side of the window so I might have time to ride Eros too, but these things rarely work out that way. It was ok though. I still had time to ride the ones at home, and was able to do a couple of things I've been putting off while I waited. So still a win! Even if I had to make up four hours of work since no one filled in for me... But I digress...
Saturday was kind of a weird day schedule wise. I had a wedding to attend at 2 pm, so that limited my horsing time quite a bit. I opted to give the horses at home the day off, and just head over to ride Eros. I was excited to see how he felt after his injections. My stepmom rode him all week, so it was my first time since that all got done. He felt FANTASTIC.

He had some body work done yesterday and that vet was worried that he has ulcers so we're going to treat him. Kind of surprising to me as he's an actual vacuum cleaner with probably the easiest life ever. But hey, these things can happen. He has been a little cranky lately, so that would explain that behavior. I'm sure he'll be feeling better asap.

The wedding was at a venue just 5 miles from my farm. It's actually a town owned park, and so beautiful for a wedding! The extra nice thing about it being so close and outdoors, was that the bride was able to include her horse and dog in the wedding party! In fact... they were the wedding party!

You may recognize the horse. I got to flat him once (maybe twice?) last winter. His name is Rodeo, and he's a jumper.

 I figured since the wedding started at 2 it would all be over by 6 or 7 so I didn't call the horse sitter to feed. You guys, the party just kept going! I finally left at 7:30 because I figured the horses would be tearing the barn down. They were actually pretty content when I got there. But I felt bad for being late. It was a great time though. And nice to be home fairly early for the night! (I'm so old.)

Sunday is normally my lesson day, but the assistant trainer was getting married that day and barn owner/head trainer was in the wedding party. So no one there to teach. That was fine though. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, so I had a nice flat on Eros, and took a little walk on him after. I rode Pammon and Shiny after, both lightly. Pammon was a spooky pumpkin the whole ride, but nobody died so that was nice. Shiny was pretty sore. She needed the most vaccinations on Friday and her little pony body wasn't too happy about getting them. Maybe next time I'll ask about giving her a little banamine after shots. She's doing better now though, not to worry!

"Hold dis for me please hooman"-Shiny probably

Monday the lameness vet came out for Pammon. It was kind of funny, Pammon was already out on the crossties but doc went right to visit with Rio first. Doc hasn't been out in awhile since I didn't have anything in work for so long, and I think he's missed Rio. I had this vet go over the pre-purchase before I bought him (he was vetted in Holland), so that's how long they've known each other. This vet helped get us through a lot over the years between his torn SI, his 3 suspensory injuries, and eventually the epm too. (Rio was a bit accident prone.) Anyway, doc said he looks great which was nice to hear. (I agree.)

I mean... just look at him!

I had to go back to work for a couple hours after the appointment, but was home early enough to ride Shiny and hand walk Pammon. In the dark.

I can do it myself, Mom.

He wasn't so sure about the shadows and dogs barking in the distance, but he held it together. Last night everyone stayed in because I had a family dinner I needed to attend.

And for the saddest thing you'll read all day... I actually got myself up and went running yesterday morning. I figure if Pammon is out of commission I should still do my part to stay fit. To be honest, the run actually felt pretty great. I was shocked because I hate running and it's always hard for me. Maybe it was easier because I let myself go slow as a turtle and I didn't go that far. But whatever the reason, it was encouraging that I didn't feel like dying the entire time.

I wasn't joking when I said I went slow!

 I'm hoping I can make myself stick with it a few days a week. We'll see how it goes. I have a few 5K races I run participate in every year coming up, so it might be nice to actually feel trained for them. Maybe I can dip back down closer to my old running times. Ha. Probably not.

How was your week? Did you get much riding in? Any EEE scares in your area? How do you stay fit when you're not able to ride as much?

What's Up Wednesday

What. A. Week. Our parent company has decided they need to keep better tabs on us so they switched our email from a google based platform to Outlook. That's going about as well as you'd imagine. It was such a disaster Monday morning, they bought us donuts. Cause that's how they "fix" things I guess? I mean, they DID help. (Donuts are never the wrong answer.) But yeah. Work. Anyway, you're not here to read about my job, so let's revisit last week!
It was actually pretty uneventful really. The weather has been pretty perfect (sorry everyone else, this is when New England shines!) so we have had pretty consistent riding all week. I didn't really jump much, I need trainer to come tune us up and I'd rather wait for her than mess things up. I'm sure Pammon appreciates that.

I have noticed the days are getting shorter much faster than I'm really ok with. I was a little late getting on one day after work last week, and Shiny had to ride in the dark. I got new motion lights put up, but the eyes aren't directed quite right, so after ten minutes we were pretty literally in the dark. She's a good girl though, so she went around and did her thing.

And I mean, I got this photo from between her ears, so that was pretty worth it.

Admittedly, if I ever want her to be less green, I really need to be a better rider for her. Since Pammon is kind of the focus right now, she often gets a "happy hack" and really hasn't learned a thing since I first got her... She is less grumpy though. I can't remember the last time she kicked out at my leg, and she lets me wear spurs now. She doesn't listen to them, but I can wear them without the Shiny Hulk appearing. So I guess that's something?
The weekend was super busy with lots of pony time, but my whole schedule was thrown off on Saturday. I had planned to ride Eros relatively early, but when I got to the barn I found he had just been crosstied by the farrier for his new shoes. That's how it rolls sometimes.
Fefe is on full care this month because my dad and stepmom are spending much of August on Nantucket. They come back Tues-Thurs so she can ride, but it works out cheaper for full care than to just pay for training rides the other days. All that to say, she's not my responsibility right now. Fortunately, she was heading out for a ride while I was waiting for Eros, so I got to see her jump a little. She's VERY looky when she starts, but once she sees everything, she levels out, and actually has a pretty cute little jump.

Eros was done about the same time as Fefe, so I at least I was occupied while I waited! He was perfect for our ride, as he usually is. I rode in the ring, but afterwards walked over to watch the teenagers finishing a lesson out on the grass. We're not usually allowed to ride out there. The farm is built over the site of an old quarry, so it takes until about now for the fields to really be dry after all the spring rain. I didn't ride out there, but it was a nice little walk anyway.

Of course, when I got home, my farrier was now at my house. Lol. New shoes for all! He had helpers there though, so it went pretty quickly, and I wasn't delayed too much more. I don't like to work them super hard the first day on new shoes, so everyone had a nice flat. I did trot over a couple raised cavaletti with Pammon though. He was a good boy.

I really love this little pumpkin spice pony

And then Shiny had a ride, and Rio went out for some grass. Poor Rio is a bit sore. He's been wearing flip flop shoes for awhile now, but they do not provide enough structure and his feet are getting really wonky. So we're trying him in regular shoes again. The trouble is that his soles are pretty thin due to aging and so he's very sensitive to having a full shoe on. The first day I thought it wasn't going to work. Poor kid was so tentative moving around. But he seems to be doing better each day. My farrier started of as basic as can be with just steel shoes, so we have options to keep trying if this doesn't work. We could add pads, or worst case maybe glue ons. But I'm not bringing that up yet since they are stupid expensive. If that's what he needs we'll do it of course, but let's exhaust the other options first.

And by the time I was done with everybody in the barn it was 100 o'clock and I don't think I did anything at all productive the rest of the evening except snuggle the pugs.

Sunday, you all know already about my lesson with Eros. It was scheduled for 9:30 but didn't actually start until almost 10. And I forgot to wear gloves.

Someday I will learn from these mistakes. Sunday was not that day though. I finally finished up at the barn around noon and headed home. I couldn't put it off any longer. I HAD to move my jumps. The "course" wasn't really useful for what I need right now. Also, I set it like two years ago, so yeah. Time to move the jumps. Unfortunately, I didn't start with a plan, so it took longer than it should have. Normally I plan out the course ahead of time on paper. Right down to which standards, rails, and fill will go where. But this time I just wandered out there and started moving stuff around. Trainer had suggested maybe one related distance and everything else single jumps. So at least that made it easier. I don't have a lot of jumps left. Pretty much all of the wooden ones have rotted. But I had enough to get me going for now. Probably next spring I'll add a few more, and get rid of the last of the wood stuff. What's left is not in good shape! The Burlingham jumps are holding up pretty well so far for me. I had heard otherwise about them, and I could see them not working in a busy boarding facility. But they seem just right for my little place. Here's what I wound up with:

Kind of hard to see... but the outside is a three (I think... I need to walk that again) and everything else is single jumps. Oxer on the far outside, and a couple options on each diagonal. I left the roll top up at the other end and have some cavelletti down at this end. I haven't actually jumped the course yet because I need to drag the ring. And I had to wait for some rain or it would have been a dust bowl. Fortunately, it rained all day yesterday, so my helper is dragging today for me. You can see on the right side where GRASS was growing around my jumps. I should be ashamed! I'm not. But I should be.

Anyway, by the time I finished re-setting the course, it was four o'clock. So the horses were flatted, and Rio had grass, and then it was dinner time! For the horses. Once they were fed, I boogied myself down to the lake to try and catch the band for a bit. I could hear them from home, and they sounded great! I got my lobster roll, sat down, and they were done. Womp womp. But I sat and enjoyed my food while the parking lot cleared out anyway.

I'm not sure where the time goes, but it sure flew by this weekend! This week, on the other hand...

I rode the home horses Monday, and they had last night off. Normally on rain days I'll go ride Eros, but I had to run some errands that I didn't get to over the weekend. So I took a night off from horsing. I did stop by the barn to schedule my lesson for next weekend since I forgot to do that. I'm thinking about trying to get to the barn a few mornings a week before work to see if I can get him a little stronger. My step mom hasn't gotten to the point where she knows how to really make him work. She still rides mostly on a loose rein so he's getting some fitness from her rides, but not much strength training. (I can relate Eros...) However, this week I have braiding jobs Thursday through Saturday on the plate as well, so I'm can't be completely exhausting myself before that. Maybe next week we can start the before work sessions. (Have I mentioned I'm NOT a morning person?)

I guess that brings us right up to now. As mentioned, I have braiding on the calendar later this week, and a lesson Thursday on Pammon. So lots coming up!

How was your week/weekend? Do anything super fun? Lessons, horse shows, something else entirely? Tell me about it in the comments!

What's Up Wednesday

Ugh Wednesdays. I might need a big ol' Ben & Jerry's cone as a reward for today.... Anyway, you're not here to listen to me whine about work... Let's look back at the past week!
Life is pretty unexciting during the week with stepmom home and riding Eros those days. But I've spent lots of quality time with Rio which is nice.

He, in turn, has hung out with his neighbor's pups (my friend who rents the apartment next to the barn, her pup and a foster puppy):

Yes! She has a pug too!

Foster puppy Jax, he's available if you live anywhere near here!

Rio and I mostly enjoy groomies and grassy snacks. Or he does, and I'm just there to help. It's nice to hang with him though. We've even had a little bit of sun the last couple days which has been wonderful! (Not so much over the weekend, sadly. Take what we can get though!)

Saturday I flatted Eros outside, and he was wonderful. He likes it out there in the huge ring. But Sunday, we had our first lesson since December(indoors sadly due to rain)! I'm not sure the instructor over there is as well versed as I am in the fine art of rehabbing a horse, but she definitely wanted more out of us than I really thought we were ready for. I let him get pushed a bit on the flat since really that's just fitness, and we're both out of shape. If I wasn't dead, he shouldn't be either since he works more than I do. But I did cut things a little short over fences. I really want to be safe and take things slow with him. I would hate to regress, we've done so well so far. So we jumped maybe 15 jumps, nothing higher than 2' I don't think. He was great! We were in a group, so we jumped a few fences, then watched the other riders, then a few more, etc. I could tell by the end he was tired though as he was being rude about picking up the canter. Once he was aimed at a jump though, he was excited to do his job. Such a good boy! It was so fun to be back at it with him. Also, I was completely sore from head to toe on Monday. I can't imagine what he felt like. Good thing he has Mondays off!

The weekend was somewhat busy outside of horses, too. A friend hosts a Derby party every year, which is always a great time.

Derby attire

And she surprised me with a belated birthday cake! They came out singing and I was looking around to see who's birthday it was... Haha! Oops!

It was funfetti!  Yum!

What a derby though, huh? I've seen a lot of opinions on both sides, but I don't really want to get into it here. I think it was the right call personally. But what do I know? Regardless, we all had a good time!

Sunday after horsing, I headed over to my brother's house to celebrate lots more birthdays! My nieces' birthdays are May 6th and 7th so we celebrated both together. My stepmom is also on the 7th! And I hadn't seen my brothers family nor my dad since my birthday yet, so I got to celebrate some too. It was lovely, except my younger niece did NOT like the candle on her cake...

Kids are so funny, aren't they? Such dramatics. She was happy again once she discovered the chocolate cake inside there. Also, can you guess what Aunty brought them?

Unicorns! And some other stuff. But the unicorns were definitely fan favorites.

Shiny's clothes and things are slowly trickling in, so hopefully she'll be all set when she finally arrives (looks like Saturday!!!). I ordered Rio a new turnout fly sheet along with hers since his is past its prime. I got these cute hunter and tan plaid ones from Big D, but I HATE the closures on them. So I spent last night changing them around a bit. It's not ideal since there's a gap in the middle, but it's a lot better in my opinion. And the sheet actually fits him a bit better this way anyway. So I'll keep it as is unless a problem arises.

That's about it from here really. I shall leave you with some sleeping pugs.

How was your week? Get any riding in? Anything exciting to share?