What's Up Wednesday

 

We last left off on New Year's Eve when I was happily in my bed by 9 pm waiting for the ball to drop. The next day my family hosted my dad's good friend and his family for a boat ride down the intracoastal. We passed by Dad's house which was fun to see from the water because it's had some renovations since I saw it last. 

And then on Friday I got to ride again! I had gone to visit with Shiny's kiddo and her mom (my trainer from years past) earlier in the week, and trainer had said if I had time to come back I could ride. I'm not one to turn down rides, especially on really nice horses! So Friday morning I headed south again and got to ride Frankie:

Looks like we jumped! But that's actually just a pole on the ground

Frankie is a cool dude. I'm not sure how tall he is, probably around 17 hands... but he's equally wide as he is tall. So I looked like a little person up there. Ha! He was really good for our ride, and then Shiny's kiddo took me for a Florida trail ride. Down in Wellington where the barns are, the roads are dirt, so you can ride pretty much all over. They call it trail riding, but really it's just riding on the roads. Definitely not out in the woods! But it was fun, and Frankie was a good brave boy. He's a hunter, so was a little more my speed than Faith and Verona the jumper mares. 

It's really validating for me to get to ride these horses who are so different from each other, and also different from my three. When you only ride your own horses, it's easy to develop a lot of bad habits that your horse just figures out or knows to ignore. But riding other horses will point them right out to you. I'm happy to report that none of them complained too much about me, and responded as I'd hoped to my aids. So while I'm definitely rusty and out of shape, I still for the most part can ride a horse. Thank goodness!

After riding we went for family mani/pedis as one does on vacation. And that was a wrap on vacation. Or should have been anyway. We were supposed to have breakfast and then head to the airport on Saturday for an early afternoon departure. Unfortunately, the best laid plans, never seem to pan out. We wound up VERY delayed, and didn't end up leaving for the airport until 4pm. The only reason it was annoying was that we didn't have any idea when it was going to happen so we couldn't really make much use of the extra day. But that's okay. Even doing nothing is lovely in warm weather. So why the delay you ask? The airport temporarily misplaced our plane. I can't make this stuff up. The airport had much more traffic than they're used to and somehow failed to make note of where they had parked us. But all's well that ends well, they eventually found it. And no one told my father, so that's for the best too. Haha. Oy. 

Anyway, we were finally in the air around 7ish. I got to my mom's house to retrieve Rita about 10 something. Came home to snuggle the horses and do night check, and was in bed about midnight. Long day! And then up at 6 for chores. 

So much for the restful vacation right? The life of a horse girl. Oh and also, along with chores, mother nature gave us more snow that no one expected. The good thing about that was it hid the mess outside. The bad thing is now that it's all melting I'm aware of the mess outside... Not knocking any of my helpers while I was gone, but no one cleans up and takes care of your place like you do. That's just a fact. Anyway, with all the snow Sunday morning, and then cold temps on Monday, the horses are still enjoying their extended vacations. Sunday once I finished chores (which was a bit late since I was trying to get reorganized and re-settled), I groomed each of the horses. Shiny and Eros enjoyed it. Al hates grooming. 

Monday I had planned to not be horsey because I needed to unpack and do laundry. I hadn't gotten around to unpacking holiday gifts from our family Chanukah party either, so it was a full day. I was kind of hoping to ride Tuesday as we're having a warrm up this week, but the ring is a sloppy mess at the moment. Mostly slush, but still some ice underneath. So instead, I spent Tuesday doing more cleaning in the barn. I had done a make it better job Sunday, but Tuesday I went a little deeper. My regular weekday worker has cleaning stall fronts, dusting, and cobwebbing on his chore list, but I gotta be honest, he hasn't been doing much of any of that. When I got back, the stall fronts had slobber stuck all over them (why? I have no idea, not common here). I hadn't gotten to that on Sunday, and was hoping my helper would Monday but alas, still gross on Tuesday. So I wiped down the stall fronts and bars. Then proceeded to spend three hours getting the floor clean. Which was all for naught because after he did chores today it was like I had never done a thing. Sigh. Oh and he left Eros' stall unlatched again. I'm so frustrated with these things. But I have a plan! I'm going to give him an end of day checklist. And require he check each thing off each day before he goes. May or may not be successful, but it's worth a shot. I don't know if I sound like an ass hole, but I've talked to him about the open door latches so many times, I don't know what else to do. That's a real safety issue.

Looked beautiful for the overnight hours!

Today was almost 40 which is an absolute heat wave. The ring is still defrosting, but I have high hopes that it might be useable after the weekend. We went for very slow and careful hand walks in the ring today which was nothing exciting, but I think the horses enjoyed doing something other than turnout and hanging out in their stalls. They all seem to like eating slush too, which I find adorable.

It's supposed to stay in the 40's and we're going to get a lot of rain Friday through the weekend. Cold on Monday, but then back to the 40's. So while I think we probably won't get to actually ride this week nor coming weekend, I'm thinking there's a chance next week. Fingers crossed! 

I'm still mostly happy with my choice to stay home this winter, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there were moments of regret. Like having to do so much extra work before leaving for vacation. Or so much extra work upon returning from said vacation. And the fact that my horses have had so much time off now... But truthfully, I think a little break is good for them. None of them are out of their minds. A little bored maybe, but not behaving poorly. (Other than grooming for Al... but that's nothing new.) And with the bitter cold temps we had in December, it was nice having a warm barn. Definitely appreciated that! And I think there's something to be said for staying more or less in the same routine that they're used to here at home. Even if the riding part isn't happening, they're going out at the same time every day, having only one person make their meals, and it's so nice and quiet here. (Except for when the neighbor is noisy, but you know what I mean.) 

I'm hoping to get some riding in during the January thaw, and then do expect some more downtime in February probably. And then March comes and we should be getting back on track! Hopefully anyway. If not, then April! Whatever. Spring will come. It always does!

What's Up Wednesday: Vacation Edition

 

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all have a fun New Year's Eve and make safe choices tonight. They don't need to be good choices, just safe ones!

The vacation vortex is real, and boy is it confusing! I can't believe just a week ago I was at home freezing my bum off doing nothing but horse chores, prepping for vacation, and appearing cheerful and awake at various holiday events. But it was just last week. 

Christmas day I spent in the barn like normal. Did chores in the morning and I was really hoping to ride. The ring was defrosted and the weather man said it would be less windy than it was on Wednesday. (The wind Wed. was insane, with gusts higher than 40 mph.) But as it turned out, it wasn't really less windy. I did get on Shiny, determined to try to ride. But the jumps started blowing over while I was on her, and even she was a little spooky. So I opted just to ride her and took the boys for hand walks instead. They were perfectly happy with that!

I made sure to get the barn in perfect condition, so at least I knew it looked perfect when I left for vacation as it definitely will not be when I return. Which is not a reflection on my helper and horse sitter. They do a great job. But no one is going to take care of your things the way you do, ya know? Plus they've just been getting abused with bad winter weather. I left Friday, and that night 10 inches of snow fell. I was an anxious mess not being home for that. But from what I've been told, everything was fine. I'll report back when I see what the place looks like when I get home this weekend... Lol. Oy.

We arrived later than we should have Friday. There's a lot of air traffic into Florida this week, and because of a certain orange leader, less planes are allowed in this air space. We had to fly into an airport farther away than we normally do for that reason. And we were delayed four hours. But we made it! And we had a surprise waiting for us! My stepmom lost her dog not too long ago, and while it wasn't planned, she found a new puppy just before we arrived. So we get to the boat, and this face greets us:

I present to you: Buddy Finn Seidman
My new puppy brother

 Saturday we didn't do much. Got settled in, took a little tour of the community here where we are staying so we remembered where everything is, and ate a lot of food. They have a one night only carnival here that's pretty insane. It's just for members of the community and you pay a flat fee for all you can eat, ride, and play. And the food is provided by both food trucks and the restaurant here which is pretty upscale. So it's the best fair food you can imagine. I was full for two days after. 

This trip is fun because both my brothers are here; the older one with his family and my younger one with his girlfriend. We're kind of spread out for sleeping arrangements since there are so many of us. I'm staying with my younger bro and his GF at the condo which is a one minute walk from the boat where my older brother and his fam are staying. Dad and stepmom are staying at their house. But we all congregate for meals and certain adventures. 

My little brother talked my dad into a side excursion to the other coast for an overnight. My older brother and I opted to stay put but everyone else went, leaving me with a free day and a half to do whatever I wanted. I had hoped to head south to Wellington for the day to see all my friends, but most of them weren't back yet from holiday travel. Instead I did a little shopping and spent some time at the pool. It was lovely! And still was also fed more than enough food. 

Tuesday is where it gets fun from a horsey perspective. My dad has some investment horses, two of which are down in Wellington getting ready for show season. Dad arranged for me to have a lesson on Faith, so I got to do that on Tuesday. 

I wasn't sure it would be my ride because I'm not usually a mare person for one thing, but also she's a pretty spicy jumper. I have seen videos of her and she always looked like a little rocket ship. But turns out, she doesn't really ride that way. She is sensitive, but a really good listener. She doesn't bid at the jumps, and she doesn't land and take over either. I think if you really fired the turbo boosters you'd have a lot of horse, but I also think she'd come back to you if you asked. 

I didn't realize how terribly out of shape I am, but jumping her was took a lot more strength than I had apparently... I mean it went fine, and was SO FUN! But I was getting jumped a little loose and I'm definitely sore today! Totally worth it though. It was nice to know that even though I'm weak and definitely rusty, I'm still semi capable! It was really fun to ride something with her own motor and that paid attention to the job at hand. The only thing I had to think about was what we were doing. Not if the leaves moving or if someone was walking around outside the ring. She didn't care about any of that stuff. 

Just casually getting launched out of the saddle here... 
As one does.

Then the trainer was like okay we'll get Verona ready next, you can ride another one right? SURE! (But guys I was so pooped!) Verona is the big jumper. Faith, the first one, has experience to the 1.3M and I think that's about her max. But Verona is expected to be a real 1.6M Grand Prix horse. And she is definitely the hotter one. She's not so good in the mouth, and all she wants to do is get moving! The trainer had me serpentining through the ring at a trot with a walk transition at the change direction point, then back to trot. And it definitely took a few times through to realize just how little leg I needed. Then we cantered, and it was actually adjustable, but there was for sure a lot of power in there. I wasn't planning to jump her, because my legs were spent, but I generally cave to peer pressure and we popped over a couple cross rails. She was a hard ride for me, because she was taking a good look at the jump, but if I legged too much in response to that, I had too much horse. Fortunately, someone wanted to come try a pony right away (Florida is so weird guys) so I got to be done with just those exciting cross rails. I liked Verona, she's definitely a quality big jumper, but also definitely more horse than I like to ride. Faith though? I'm a big fan of that one. If only I could collect horses.... And had more help. Ha. If any of you know anyone looking for a jumper, send them my way! She needs her own human,

Today I went back down to Wellington to visit my trainer and Shiny's kid. And also another friend of mine. The family all dispersed in different directions so I had the whole day to play. My trainer has another rider helping her do some riding, and he had a puppy too! Puppies everywhere! This one is a CORGI!

Not much cuter than a corgi puppy

Shiny's kid has a new lease for the winter, and it's a large pony! He's so cute, and ridiculously scopey. She was jumping him around at 3'6" and it was so easy for him. Even if the distance wasn't perfect, he just popped right over with no shenanigans or opinions. I'm excited for this pair, he's exactly what she should have to learn on. I'm hoping to go back down to see them again Friday and my trainer said I could ride her horses, so that would be super fun. She mostly has hunters right now but she prefers jumpers, so she's happy to hand them off. Ha! I love a hunter. 

I also got to visit with a good friend, and watched her have a lesson. She's been with this trainer for a few years now, but I haven't been out to their barn. Her new trainer is LOVELY. She's stern, but never mean. Even if someone makes a big mistake or worse, repeatedly makes the same one, she never insulted anyone. She didn't even get mad. She actually asked the rider why that was happening, like maybe there was a good reason that she couldn't see from where she was standing. And then she just explained what wasn't working and how to fix it. It as very refreshing to see. My friend and her horse are doing so great, and I'm so happy for them! 

I'm here until Saturday, which I'm really enjoying such a long trip. But I miss my horses and Rita, and can't wait to see them soon! The cold weather I'm less enthused to get back to. That and having to deep clean the barn aisle. I know that's going to be a thing. But all good. Definitely very lucky to have an aisle to clean! 

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday and enjoy New Year's Eve!