What's Up Wednesday

It was a fun weekend over here! Thursday and Friday were fairly uneventful. I had a few horses to braid Friday evening, so that was productive at least. The bottom guy you've seen a few times, but the other two were new manes to me. They were lovely horses. Very polite with great manes!

I slept in a little on Saturday (till 9!) because I didn't get home until well after 1 am. But then it was a pretty busy day! I had a bunch of errands I had to run in the morning. Once those were completed, I got to ride Bradley!

You guys. He was SO GOOD! We just flatted, but we really took our time. I let him warm up however he wanted. Head in the air, short stride, long clumsy stride, whatever. And then I went back to walk and started asking him to pay attention to his body. A little shoulder in, a little haunches in, then both out, etc. Once he was on all my aids at the walk we moved on to trot. Normally as soon as you go to an upward transition he wants to disconnect, get above the bit, and lock up through his whole topline. But this time he stayed right between my aids. It was lovely! I had a little less success at the canter, but we had some nice moments there too. Good boy Bradley!

We got to see some lovely sky writing while we were riding too. Of course it was just an ad... but still kinda fun!

The whole thing said Summer Fun at Mohegan Sun. It's pretty cool how they do this now. Back in the day it was just one plane. But now it's 5 planes and it's like the old dot matrix printers. Seems kind of like a waste to me... but still I was entertained watching it.
After Bradley, it was back home to get my boys out and grab a quick shower before Lobster Fest! I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I had a theme appropriate outfit to wear:

Seen here with a similarly appropriately clad neighbor. Why yes, my shoes, bag and dress are all lobster themed! (And my arm party and phone case of course.) This dress even has pockets. Total win.
As mentioned yesterday, we had plenty of lobster for all, as well as steaks for the non shellfish eaters. And other salads and things for sides and/or anyone who doesn't eat the main dishes. While we do Lobster Fest every year, this year we made it kind of a duel purpose party by including a little retirement party flair for my dad to celebrate with his friends. That came in the form of dessert:

But there was also a little surprise lurking behind this island:

Do you know what it is? Here's a hint...

Fireworks! I don't know how she even thought of it, but my stepmom hired a company to put on a fireworks show for my dad. It was an awesome surprise, and he had no idea. My brother made a really neat video from drone footage of the show. He got permission to fly his drone into the fireworks. Don't try this at home, and especially not at a public display! But it is pretty amazing. Check it out here if you have time:
https://youtu.be/0aGDAD8eE5I

So yeah, Saturday was a lot of fun. And Sunday? Well that was possibly one of my laziest days ever. It happens!
I got up and got the horse laundry started, then headed down to the lake for some breakfast. (Yes! They don't JUST do lobster rolls... haha.) I took it to go though, and sat at the end of the barn listening to some music while I ate it. Next the boys had good groomies and their walks. Rio got to have some grass.

I finished the horse laundry. I had so many dirty wraps it took me 45 minutes to roll them all. Such a slacker.
The short kids didn't do too much. It's been pretty hot which isn't great for Pugs. The asphalt is WAY too hot to walk them on. But we've played in the yard some at least.

The rest of Sunday was spent doing human laundry and attempting to straighten up my disgusting house. This week is fairly quiet. Hand walks for the boys, and I have a few nights of braiding ahead too. No riding on the schedule just yet, but hopefully soon.
Oh and I almost forgot! I wound up getting some photos after all from the Alumni Division at the Skidmore show! Look how cute Sochi is! I think he's a LITTLE annoyed with my general floundering... but he's adorable nonetheless.

 (all photos used with purchase and credited to Shawn McMillen Photography)

I love the candid of us talking with the judge. (They always have a q&a portion during the flat class. Years past have been a bit raunchy, but everyone's a little afraid to push any boundaries these days, so the questions were pretty tame.)

Well, that's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? Do anything fun this weekend? Horse show? Lesson? Something non-horsey?

What's Up Wednesday

This week was MUCH quieter than last! Thankfully. I don't think I could survive multiple crazy weeks like that! We've been having a heat wave up here in New England. It's been in the mid 90's with the heat index well over 100 for a few days. I'm not complaining. This is my weather! But I will acknowledge that it is hot. And sweaty.

Our parent company hosts a nationwide BBQ as a fundraiser every summer, and that happened this past Friday. It took place just during our lunch break, which meant that I didn't really have time to hang out and enjoy it since I had to run home for the dogs and horses. But I made sure to take a moment to grab a terrible selfie with my dad. It was his very last work event since that was his last day.

I had ZERO plans for the weekend,  which I was pretty happy about. No horses to braid, and no events to attend! But it was still a full weekend of fun things. The ponies got their walks, but the pups did not. It was much too hot for smoosh noses to be outside for too long, and no way could any pup walk safely on the asphalt in these temps. They were pretty content to stay home.
Saturday was super hot, and I decided it was a good day to do a gross job.

Yep. Both boys had their sheaths cleaned. They're both very good for that fortunately. But ick. Not my favorite equine task. I spent a lot of time to trying to get them shed out the rest of the way. Rio was almost all shed out back in April, and for some reason he grew his coat back. It's shedding, but not that quickly. I may have to clip him if this heat wave continues much longer.

Jampy had a vet appointment last week, and we're able to cut back on his icing. I'm pretty excited to start sleeping more than six hours a night! Still waiting on his blood work results, but fingers crossed we may be able to cut back on soaking the hay soon too. Hopefully, but not definitely. We'll have to wait and see!
Since it's been so hot and I had no plans, I've actually gotten to use my pool this year!

And may or may not have had ice cream for dinner a few times...

I let the pups come out while I swim, but I leave the door open so they can go inside if they get too hot. Artie is from the south and that dog just loves baking in the sun. It's so odd!

Monday and Tuesday were busy at work, but it was worth it to have today off. I spent the morning with the boys doing barn chores, walking them, and giving them both nice cool baths. Jampy got to have a nice roll during his walk:

And Rio got to graze in the shade under the big pine trees. 

I got to ride Bradley today too! I had hoped to go early, but it took me longer than I thought to do chores at home, so by the time I got there it was the heat of the day. Bradley didn't seem to mind, but we kept it an easy workout anyway. I haven't ridden in awhile either, so no need to get crazy!

I spent a long time at the walk with him, really working on getting him to bend his whole body and get his hind end working independently of the front end. Next I let him trot and canter more or less however he wanted. After that, I started asking for some shape at the trot. And he really gave me some fantastic moments. Funny how asking the right way gets the right answer, ins't it?

Bradley was rewarded with a cool bath and some shady grazing.

I had enough time when I got home to jump in the pool for a half hour. Much needed! I was soaked with sweat which is gross, but true. I followed that up with a shower, and feeding all the kids before heading over to my dad's for some 4th of July fun. He lives at the beach, so there were bound to be some fireworks to see. And my stepmom's family is in town (we have lobster fest this weekend!) so it was great to see everyone.

The fireworks were pretty impressive at the beach this year. They were all just random people lighting them off as the town doesn't sponsor any anymore. But boy, those people were pretty serious about it! 

And that's about it. Did you do anything fun for the holiday today (if you live in the US anyway)?