What's Up Wednesday

 

We're just plugging right along over here! I still haven't had the chance to pull out my jump fill. But maybe this weekend or Monday. We've kind of been stuck on riding 5 days a week lately instead of 6 and this week was no different. But it was for a fun reason, so I'm not mad about it. We actually didn't get rained out any days this week, with our one and only rain event happening late at night. Just the way it should be, I need rain to keep the footing at it's best, and when it happens at night, it doesn't disrupt riding plans! I'm not sure if we'll get as lucky this week, but we shall see. Fingers crossed. 

This week, or skipped riding day was Sunday. Both of my nieces had voice recitals on Sunday, but of course they weren't in the same one. One was at 2 and one was at 5. So I did morning chores, went to the first one, then took out the stall windows finally, cleaned some bird poo, and finally went to the second one. Then more bird poo cleaning and fed dinner. Productive day, even if riding wasn't on the schedule. The girls both sounded fantastic too. I haven't heard them really sing before. I'm so impressed by them! I can't sing at all. The horses all look at me with disdain when I sing in the barn. 

We only got in one jump school this week. I had hoped for a second one on Saturday, but I made a terrible error Friday night and my body said light rides only Saturday. And it was persistent. I forgot to take my Omeprazole Friday night. (Yes, I know it's best taken in the morning on an empty stomach, but I have to take my thyroid meds the same way and that one is more important to get absorbed. So I take my Omeprazole at night before bed.) Anyway, my tummy was all disgruntled which made my whole body somewhat useless by the time I'd finished chores. So instead we had Sunday Funday on Saturday. The horses weren't sad. 

Of course that meant they had a very light ride followed by two days off... But ya know. Such is life sometimes. They were mostly fine yesterday when I got back on. Al was a little weird, but it was a windy day after all that break time, so I wasn't upset about it. We worked through most of the weird and got a ride in regardless. The other two were as lazy as always so clearly no harm done for them! 

But back to jumping, because that's the fun part anyway. We'll start with Al. The jumps are still small because that's where I'm at. Haha! While Al is definitely in a much better place since the changes we talked about last week. He still can have a weird day here and there. (Like yesterday!) He was a little weird for our jump day too. The neighbor has been working on something that involves what sounds to me like a staple or maybe nail gun so I think perhaps he'd been doing something weird when Al was turned out that morning. That stuff sticks with him. But despite the weird, we still managed to jump a few fences. Our former weekend helper was visiting when I was on him, so she was kind enough to grab some video. Unfortunately the sun was making it hard to see, so just this little jump came out. Better than nothing! He also jumped most of the other things in the ring, but we did skip the outside line by the neighbor that day. I call it an accommodation. We'll try again over there this week if we can.

Eros was so good for his school! He didn't turn the zoomies on until I made a mistake... I mean fair. It seems like he'll stay quiet until I mess up, and then he's like here, I'll do it myself. He probably knows better anyway. But here's what happened when I messed up. I was cantering across the diagonal to our little hurdle jump. And these geese came flying overhead honking away. I could tell his attention was on them and then MY attention was on them. And neither of us was focusing on the task at hand. So I got to the jump at a VERY long distance which he happily took, but I didn't trust and got left behind. I'm not a monster so I let the reins slip to avoid pulling on him too hard. 

Photo evidence. Still pulled on him though clearly.

After that he got a little excited. But we did finish on a nice note after trotting a few fences and then trying again. Next time I feel my attention slipping away, I will work harder to bring it back. Or make a circle. This is how we learn! 

That's better.

Shiny of course has been perfect for her jump schools. I've been using more counter canter in her warm up, and it's really helping to get her more adjustable when we jump. And also straighter. Counter canter is so useful!

She's definitely ready for the jumps to go back to her comfort zone which is still only 2'-2'3". She seems to perk up at the "bigger" ones and gets easier to ride when I point her at those. That height is still easy for the boys too, so if we get to jump twice this week, I'll probably put them up a little for the second one. 

That's about all I have to share today. Hope things are going well for you all and your horses! Are you getting time to ride and enjoy the weather? Any shows on the horizon for you?

What's Up Wednesday

 

I don't really have much to report on this week. I spent nearly all of my awake hours in the barn, which I think we can all agree is not a bad way to spend your time! Unfortunately, the weather was not great this weekend. Friday was nice though! I gave the horses some extra time outside and then we rode afterwards. Everyone popped over a few tiny jumps. We're still keeping things low, nothing over 2' just yet. But we're plugging along. 

Friday's Stats. Many steps taken

Saturday and Sunday were both rainouts. I probably could have ridden Saturday, it wasn't raining especially hard, but I just couldn't bring myself to create more work for the already very full weekend. And by that I mean, having to clean and condition rained on tack. Which... I really need to do that anyway. But I didn't want it to have to be immediate. Sunday was gross though. Not a riding day at all. I used both days for some extra cleaning in the barn. I wiped down the back walls in the occupied stalls, which immediately made the whole place seem cleaner looking. I also dusted off the little ledges over the back doors which clearly hadn't had that happen since when I had the horses off property the winter before this past one. Gross. Sunday I cleaned up all the new bird poo around the barn, and spent some extra time grooming the horses once they dried off from turnout. 

Monday started off rainy, but cleared up to a nice day. Normally I give the horses Mondays off, but since my worker was off for the holiday and they already had two days off I rode them all. The rides were abbreviated because I was so tired from four 13 hour days in a row in the barn, and also because we only could use half the ring. The other half was a little too wet. 

Shiny's new pet snapper turtle

My original plan when I knew I had such a long weekend in the barn was to take Tuesday as my "day off" from the barn. (By that I mean I don't ride and don't clean up after my helper. But I still of course make hay bags, soak hay, and do all the feedings/night check.) Since Mother Nature was so miserable all weekend though, I decided to not take my day off. Which was probably a mistake because my body is wrecked from lack of sleep. But whatever body, we've got stuff to do! 

Everyone had a decent ride Tuesday. I figured since we rode Monday we could do some jumpies on Tuesday! Or well, I hoped. Al was first, and he was really being a good boy. We were able to use the whole ring (I mean sort of, I have jumps set on the scary side rail, so he gets to stay on the quarter line by default.) He's still really sticky off the leg, and I'm quite sure I work significantly harder than he does. But he was listening and not spooking. So I'll take that. We trotted over a couple jumps then took a walk break. Unfortunately, that was when the neighbor decided to start up his very loud lawn tractor with the little trailer attached and bang his way along the property line to his shed that's next to the back corner of my ring. Once there, he was just throwing stuff around banging and clanging like the menace he is. So I let Al be done. He'd been a good boy, and that would have been an unfair ask to try to jump him with all that noise that he can't see the source of. 

a very relaxed boy before the banging and clanging started

I'm not going to lie, it's really frustrating to constantly have my rides on him interrupted like this. I swear he does it on purpose as he's always his most disruptive when I'm on Al. He can be inside his garage all day making almost no noise, and as soon as I'm Al, he comes out and is banging away on something. I've tried mixing up the order I ride them so I'm on Al at different times of the day, and it doesn't matter. It's no wonder I can't get anywhere with this horse. 

Thankfully I have less reactive horses to ride to keep my from spiraling too far. Eros was really funny Tuesday. He started out super lazy. Even the first few jumps I was kind of kicking him out of the turns to get there. But then he woke up and Torpedo Eros made an appearance. I really shouldn't be so amused by him doing that, it's terrible behavior. But it's also so funny because he's just a good dude. Even when he's naughty. 

Nope. Don't wish to go out there. Al told me it's not safe. 

It was so late by the time I got on Shiny old bang and clang was done for the day. So that was nice, but she doesn't actually care anyway. She had the most fun jumping around. It's always funny to me how much she lights up once I point her at some jumps. Not in the torpedo way like Eros, but in a bouncy rideable way. Wish I could get her to motivate like that on the flat!

I need to remember to charge up the Pivo and start getting some video again so we can have more fun media. Plus it's nice to see what the horses look like vs what they feel like. I'm having a bit of space issue though, so I'm not sure where to store all of said media I'd like to get. I currently have the 2 TB plan both with Google and with iCloud. But both are nearly full. The next upgrade is significantly more money. What doe you all do for storage? 

I don't think we'll have anything terribly exciting going on over here over the next week/weekend. I need to be a little quick in the barn on Thursday, but Wednesday and Friday we should be able to get solid works in. And the weekend too. All weather permitting of course. But should be good! Fingers crossed.

Next week they'll get the rest of their shots and have their teeth checked. Of course the vet is coming Monday because I was SO looking forward to getting a day off... Sigh. My house is so dirty and the laundry pile is just silly. But it will still be that way the following week. What can you do? It's a good thing I live by myself, so it's just my mess/dirt. 

Hope you all had a great weekend! Hopefully drier where you are than it was here!

What's Up Wednesday

 

You know how some weeks feel like nothing happened, but others feel like a whole lifetime happened in seven days? It was one of those lifetime weeks for sure. 

So Wednesday, the horses got shod/trimmed, then I rode them all, and somehow got finished in time for my niece's school chorus/band concert. Al was a nitwit but I didn't have time to argue about it, and thankfully it didn't carry over to the next day. Thursday was a nice normal day with just horses to ride and no other random commitments. (I could use a few more of these days!) I did have some extra barn tasks to do that haven't been getting done and I needed to have finished before the vet came. So I was still out there very late doing that. You know what they say. If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself! So I did. 

Not the thing I was referring to...
But always something that needs fixing around here.

Friday wound up going really well. I was the first appointment for my vet (he comes from a few hours away though, so it was around 11 AM). It was perfect because he came just after the horses were back in from turnout so they weren't shorted any outside time. Doc was pretty happy with how everyone came out of winter. They all needed some maintenance, but nothing crazy. He was particularly happy with Eros' front end which was better than he's been in awhile. 

I'm really interested to see how Al feels after his visit. He was pretty stuck in his neck so we addressed that and also his stifles. I'm curious to see if when those things feel better maybe his emotions will too. One can hope right? Eros had his hocks and stifles done. He was a little back sore, but we're thinking it's secondary to what we decided to inject. For Shiny we opted for just hocks and then a shockwave on her neck. I'm going to ride everyone for a few weeks to a month and then see if we need to address anything else. Since the vet was out so early, I actually got done a little early which was lovely! I had a very long day ahead for Saturday so it was much appreciated. The timing of this vet appointment was so perfect because the horses all would have the weekend off, allowing me to feel less guilt not being able to ride Saturday anyway. 

Speaking of Saturday... THAT was a long day. I got up at 5 to get the barn done. The horses weren't allowed turnout that day, which was actually really helpful to get me out the door on time. I had a Bar Mitzvah to attend in NewJersey at 4:30. I managed to get stalls done, buckets scrubbed, and everyone hand walked for 15 minutes each before 11. Which gave me enough time to shower, do hair and makeup, and feed lunch before I left. 

When you're dressed half fancy but need to feed horses... 
I promise I wore nice shoes to the party.

In fact, I got on the road a half hour ahead of schedule! Which thank goodness. Because the 3 hour 40 minute estimated time turned into 4 hours 15 minutes. I made it there with just enough time to use the ladies room before things got started. PHEW!

The Bar Mitzvah boy did a great job, and the party was tons of fun. I got to see a very good friend that I haven't seen in person in probably 15 years. Much too long! And I of course got to see the mom of the Bar Mitzvah boy who was my very first friend in college. I haven't seen her in 12 years either. The party wrapped up at 10pm, and I was back on the road! The return trip was only about 3 hours, so that was nice. Got me home just a little after 1AM. I still had to do night check and soak hay for Shiny for the morning. But I was snuggled in my bed by 2 am. And so grateful that I had the horse sitter coming to feed in the morning! 21 hour days are harder at 46 than they were when I was 20! That is for sure. (In case you're worried, I had our former weekend helper stop in to feed dinner and let Rita out on Saturday.)

Sunday the horses were still enjoying some time off from their vet work, but they were allowed turnout. I pitched in with the morning chores once I got my tired bum out of bed, and then spent the day giving everyone a good grooming and some hand grazing too. It was actually a really nice day. The horses were happy and relaxed which in turn made me that way too!

Monday was their last vacation day. I spent the morning cleaning the house and walking the dog. Then the afternoon was dedicated to dragging the ring and changing the jump course. I wanted to pull all the fill back out too, but I ran out of time for that. I got done right at dinner time for the horses, so I fed them, then went in to feed myself and Rita before settling down in front of the lap top to do some work for my paying job. 

I almost never see her napping. But caught her this time!

Tuesday was back to normal! It randomly was summer out, mid to high 80's all day, so they had short rides. We're not used to that heat just yet! But they wouldn't have had hard rides regardless for the first day back. Everyone was good. Al was, of course, a little skeptical about life because the jumps were in new places, but he kept his poo together for the most part. The other two just seemed a little disappointed that they hadn't in fact retired like they thought. 

Then it was off to another concert that my niece was a part of. These kids have a lot of performances! They are both very talented though, and I love that I get to see them do what they enjoy so regularly. 

My worker has a four day weekend this weekend, so I'll be super busy in the barn the next several days. Next week looks to be less hectic though, so I am looking forward to that! Hopefully get these horses back to jumping! And get the fill out too!

Hope you all had a great week/weekend!

What's Up Wednesday

 

It's truly amazing what a few nice days can do for a person. And for horses. But especially me. We've been enjoying some BEAUTIFUL days here in CT. We've even seen 50 degrees! It's glorious. It's not going to last, but I've been sure to enjoy it while it's here. Tomorrow is rainy and in the upper 40's, similar Friday but dry, and mid 50's Saturday before winter returns that night. Then a couple stupidly cold days but back to the 40's and 50's after that for awhile! I'll take it! Come on Spring, you can do it! No one will be mad if you come early.

The horses all had a nice week. Especially once the nice weather arrived. It's definitely mud season outside but they're not sad about it. All of the ice finished melting in the outdoor ring yesterday, so now we just need it to dry out a little so we can get back out there!

Let's start with Al's week. He got a really special treat this week. The stalls at the winter barn have stall gates for doors, but the top opening is pretty high so the horses have to stand pretty awkwardly to look out. There are two gates that have yokes though. One of the horses who had one of those special gates lost his privilege after biting one too many people. So Al gets to have a gate he can comfortably hang his head out of. They asked if I wanted it for Shiny first, but she's not nice to other horses so asked for Al to get it since he spends the most time trying to see out. He's so happy now!

Interestingly, ever since getting his fancy new gate, he's been a happier boy to ride too. We made it six rides in a row before we had a less than stellar day, and honestly, I'm not sure we've ever gone that long before. Today was his less than great day, but he had lots of reasons to be distracted. And honestly, all he did wrong was be distracted. He didn't spook at all. And that's a pretty big deal. I'm really proud of him. And now I guess I might have to see about changing the door on his stall at home. Or maybe I can put a stall guard up during the day or something, and just close him in when there isn't a human in the barn. We'll see. I'll have to think about it. We played with some little raised cavalletti height "jumps" a couple of times last week. We were planning to today also, but it didn't work out with his lack of attention. Tomorrow is another day though! I'm not (yet) discouraged. 

I just noticed that the top of his star kind of looks like a unicorn.
(Can you see it?) And that's the most perfect thing ever.

Eros has been feeling really good lately! He's starting to lift his big belly and use his hind end again. We've been able to really do some fun flatwork which I've missed with him. The last couple of days he's been a bit spooky, and I think he's getting a little wild. Well, "Eros wild" which isn't actually that cuckoo. It just means he'd REALLY like to have a gallop. Unfortunately with mud season here, he's not going to get that chance for awhile. We can't free lunge in the indoor here, and he really can't be galloping on a lunge circle because his legs will implode. So we'll just have a spooky Eros for a bit. And that's okay. Hopefully we'll be outside soon, that should help. 

I let him play today over our little "jumps" and he was a little silly but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoy that he gets just as excited for these little things as he does for real jumps. 

Shine's doing well too. The extensive tripping has resolved since they've been dragging the ring more frequently so that's a relief! We got her bloodwork back yesterday and it was all good news! For the first time probably ever her leptin is in a normal range which is miraculous and wonderful. Her insulin was 27 which "normal" is between 10 and 40, so that looks good, but ideal is under 20. So we're a little high, but it wasn't fasting bloodwork, so no one is concerned there. It's also lower than it's ever been so I think that's good. The plan is to start stepping down the Thryo-L which we started last week. And she's going to have one of her hay portions per day unsoaked. We haven't started that yet, but will in the next day or so. I'm thinking we'll do her night check hay dry since I think that will cause the least confusion. I worry that staff might get mixed up and mistakenly give her more than one dry meal in a day. The staff here is some part time and some full time, but the shifts are kind of all over the place. The fewest amount of people do the night check shift so I figure that's the best chance to not have an error. I've had a few days were she seemed to have more energy, but it's kind of intermittent. I'm hoping getting a few more calories in the dry hay might help. 

She had a really fun Sunday this week. One of the other boarders set some little jumps up to play with, so Shiny and I joined in on the fun, along with one other boarder. It was so fun to have a little group to jump with. I think the jumps were the same height we've been doing with the blocks, but these had standards and apparently, according to Shiny, that makes it more fun and more worthy of her interest. 

It was an unplanned fun day, but I would love to do this again but with Al one of these weekends. Hopefully it can happen again soon! We're definitely all feeling that itch to get our horses ready for fun spring adventures. My bank account is zero perfect ready for such things, but it never hurts to be prepared anyway!

They'll all three have their recheck with our performance vet on Friday the 7th, so I'm looking forward to that. I think Shiny's neck will definitely get a shockwave. I know Eros is needing his hocks done soonish, but I think we can wait a bit on that. I'd rather have them fresh for summer as long as he's comfortable to wait. Al is feeling pretty good, though the canter still needs work. I'm not sure if it's a physical issue or an emotional one though. You just never know with him! But I do feel it's improved, so I'm leaning toward emotional. 

In non horse news, my truck windshield got cracked by a rock last week, so I'm waiting to hear back from insurance to get that fixed. 

I know it's not the truck's fault, but this truck is such a money pit in general I'm blaming it. Thankfully I have full glass coverage so it shouldn't cost me anything other than aggravation. Oddly enough, my insurance agent seemed to try to discourage me from making a claim. Windshield damage like this is comprehensive so shouldn't be a reason to raise my premium. And why would you bother having insurance for stuff like this if you didn't use it? It was very odd. I called my dad for his opinion because I was worried I was missing something and he also thought that was silly. Suggested finding a new agent too. When I told the agent I did indeed want to move forward with a claim, rather than submitting it for me (which is how it's always been handled in the past) she sent me a link to do it myself. So I kind of think she's just lazy and dad might be right. In the meantime, I submitted it myself so we'll see how it goes!

That's it from here! If you need me, I'll be enjoying the weather until Saturday when it turns arctic again. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Oh you guys! Last week was so lovely. SO LOVELY. It was warm all week, and on Saturday it was EIGHTY DEGREES OUT! Glorious. I loved it. Al loved it. Everyone loved it! Today? Today the high was 42. My horses are wearing blankets. BLANKETS. They aren't heavy ones, but still.

BLANKETS. Ugh. Gross. 

Anyway, back to last week. We got to do jumpies twice last week like normal riding people. It was great fun. Everyone was so good, especially on Saturday.

Well, I didn't say they were perfect... 

I FULLY embraced it, because I knew what was coming. So Saturday after jumpies, each horse got a scrubby tubby bubble bath. They looked beautiful and shiny and clean for approximately 10 hours. Because obviously it rained on Sunday. I rode at the other barn, but not at home. Instead we pulled manes and conditioned tails. At least we did productive things on the one millionth rain day of the season.

It also rained Monday. But Rita was able to get her walk in because it was more of a mist by late afternoon. She tried out her new rain jacket, and it was great. Rita approved!

Yesterday was Halloween. It was chilly but not as awful as today so everyone worked. Al spent more time on the lunge line than he did under saddle, but some days are like that. Especially Tuesdays after a two day vacation. His lunge line work was mostly at the trot, exploring different areas of the ring. He was all worked up about pretty much everything. It's not his fault. He hates the cold more than I do. And that's a lot. Everyone else was fine though. We were stuck on half the ring because of all the rain from the previous days. That far side gets squishy when there's too much water. 

I had planned to ride everyone again today. The weather was awful, low 40's, WIND, and some rain. But it wasn't really raining, just spitting a little, so my plan was to proceed as normal. I picked Shiny to go first though, because on days like today she's a good barometer for the how the rest will behave. If she's spicy, then the others will definitely be awful. If she's good, it's a 50/50 chance on the others behaving... Ha! Anyway, I got on Shiny and she was kind of a psycho. Well psycho for her anyway. She was really spooky, which is not at all like her. She kept contemplating bolting. It was silly. But it was also a good warning that perhaps the others should have a day on the lunge instead of under saddle. It was a good choice. Al wasn't terrible... but definitely SPOOKY and Eros was pretty wild. I think everyone's ready for an indoor option on bad weather days. (Okay, maybe not Al. He hates the indoor. But the rest of us are ready!) 

And speaking of that, tomorrow is moving day! Hopefully. As long as the trailer shows up as planned for my stepmom's horses. My plan is to definitely move Al tomorrow, and then Eros and Shiny will either move later in the day or Friday morning. We'll see how late the day gets. The other horses are supposed to leave between one and two in the afternoon. I would love to bring everyone at once, but with all my show stuff living in the trailer tack room, I don't have enough space for all three plus their stuff in one trip. Because they have a lot of stuff:

Tack (saddles not pictured) but not those trunks.
They're just acting as tables.

They each have a tub for indoor blankets,
a tub for turnout blankets, and a tub of locker stuff.
(Locker stuff is grooming items, wraps, boots, that sort of thing)
Also pictured are Shiny's kick pads. We don't need them at home.

I haven't packed feed and supplements yet, but that will be quick. Plus I have most of the day to do that anyway since we won't leave the house before 2 at the earliest. I figure I'll take Al and all the stuff the first trip. (Excluding feed and supplement things for the other two since they may stay one more night.) Then the other two. It's nice that the boarding barn is so close that it's not a big deal to make two trips. Though I suppose I could unpack some of the show things and get it all done at once too... Just seems like a lot of extra work. It's less than a ten minute drive and I don't think Shiny particularly enjoys being in the front stall. It's a little awkward. My trailer is a 2+1, but not quite because I had it made a little short. I didn't plan to actually have three horses to haul around when I ordered it. Anyway. I'm rambling. Big move starts tomorrow for the winter! 

In other news, the tall kids all wore cute Halloween outfits yesterday which I'll share tomorrow for Thursday's threads, though you may have already gotten a sneak peak if you follow me on Instagram. And Rita got dressed up as a taco:

We didn't actually do anything except take a photo though. Maybe next year we'll do something fun for Halloween. Though to be real, I had plenty of fun taking pictures with Rita. Because I am who I am, I donned a hot sauce costume with a spicy pepper headband.

Yes, I wore it for all of five minutes to take photos with my dog. I'm a total weirdo. But honestly, I'm pretty comfortable in my weirdness. Hopefully others enjoy it too... Hahaha!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Phew. It's been a busy week here. It's like summer showed up and so did my social life apparently? Which is great, but I am TIRED! It's a good tired though. Anyway, let's talk about horses!

The vet was out Friday for Eros and Shiny which I have been looking forward to. Turns out, we think Eros' issue was mostly due to his feet. Doc watched him go and then flexed him. He noted that while E is starting out unsound, once he canters, it all but disappears. He did see the little bit of not quite rightness that I was feeling even after cantering, but felt it was because of where his feet were. He has one more upright foot and one foot that has a low heel. He's always been this way. But this cycle for some reason that upright foot grew sort of a lot, and it mostly grew straight up. Meanwhile, the low heel foot grew out. So his right leg was about a full inch taller than the left one. As luck would have it, my farrier came out the next day to fix him up. Unfortunately, he found a little white line happening. 

We think we caught it early so hopefully we'll have it under control asap. He didn't want to dig too much until we get an x-ray, but he dug out what he was comfortable with and packed it with some medication. Eros wears pads (which is why neither the vet nor I had any idea about this issue) so the medication should work it's magic. With his feet evened out, he's feeling much better already. I even let him jump a few fences today. 

He was perfect as usual. We were a little off schedule this week because Sunday I didn't have time to ride the horses at home, due to Father's Day commitments. And while I COULD have ridden Monday, I had a lot of things to get done that day. So I elected to let everyone have a free lunge instead. Eros really needed it. And he showed me his big trot because that's his favorite thing to do.

He really is that uphill. When I ask for canter, sometimes I slide back in my saddle.

Al's been... mostly good. He still is feeling rather spooky here at the house, but for the most part, he's at least spooking in a straight trajectory. I much prefer that. I think he just needs to jump more. I don't love jumping him by myself so I've popped over a few things here or there, but was waiting for my trainer to come out. She was here today, and it was an okay lesson. At my request, we kept the fences small. We haven't done a lot lately, and I've been struggling a bit to get him in front of my leg. It's a lot harder in my small ring than it was at the boarding barn with their enormous arena. Plus, when he's feeling spooky, he also gets sulky to my leg. It's the only time I have any inkling he was a stallion for most of his life. Anyway, we worked through his feelings pretty well, and by the end I felt like I had a lot more of his attention than we started with. I'll call it a win. We're going to try to do another lesson this weekend so I'm hopeful we can jump a little bigger next time. Weather is looking iffy though. We'll have to see how it goes. 

The ears are still the same. In case you were curious.

I think we'll get back into a groove soon enough, and now that the truck is back, I'm hoping to get him to a one day show soon. I think we're ready to get out there. My plan for now is to start really small. Like a .8m or something and just see what it's like. If it's easy and all goes well, then we can try the low adult division which is around 1 meter. He's honestly easier the bigger the jumps get. My goal for this year is to do a few small shows in the lows. And then maybe next year move up to the highs. We've jumped plenty of 1.10-1.15 courses already in lessons, so I'm not concerned about the height. My biggest concern is if I'll be successful at keeping his attention. Which is why I want to start small. So I can focus on riding and not on the fence height. I'm all about setting up for success! 

Shiny saw the vet Friday also. We did a shockwave treatment which always helps her a ton. But otherwise, doc thinks the problems we're having/seeing are likely due to her weight. Her bloodwork hasn't been great, related to her size... And obviously carrying all those extra pounds around is hard on the joints. 

She is a full figured lady at the moment.

So he increased her Thyro-L and prescribed her twice daily rides. Well really he said I should get a treadmill, but that's not really a possibility for me, so we're doing a second ride per day. She is 0% happy about that, I can assure you. She's been a good sport though. And I try to do different things in each ride. Like the first one we usually do some real flatwork with collection and extensions, lots of circles, maybe some lateral work. The second ride we focus more on just going forward. I let her have her head and pretty much just have her moving forward and getting that heart rate up. She seems to enjoy those kinds of rides. 

My trainers daughter did Shiny's first ride for me today, and I'm so proud of them both! Last year, she could barely get Shine to do anything, and REALLY struggled with getting the canter. I think she only did it once and then got bucked off... So yeah. That wasn't ideal. But kiddo has been riding a lot this winter and even has a lease pony of her own now. So she's much stronger, and understands how to ask for things more effectively. (Her pony is still in Florida for a couple more weeks, so she was very excited to ride Shiny, and they will hopefully do a few more rides before her pony arrives. Anyway, she had Shiny trotting and cantering right around the ring, and even popped her over some teeny jumps. She had a couple of drive-bys, but to be fair, the little things she was popping over didn't have standards. Shiny didn't run out or anything, she just casually went around if kiddo didn't tell her otherwise. Once she really focused and held that right rein a little, they met the middle of everything. So fun to watch! They're a really cute pair.

That catches you all up on the horses! As for me? I got to have dinner in a rose garden on Saturday with a bunch of friends which was super fun. It stormed just before we were supposed to arrive, but cleared up and stayed dry until we were finishing dessert when it started sprinkling a little. All in all, a lovely evening! Wish I snapped some photos! You'll just have to trust me. Sunday was Father's Day brunch on the boat which was also lovely. And then Monday I met a friend I haven't seen in AGES for dinner. She's showing at Fairfield this week which is about an hour and a half from where I live, so we met in the middle for a nice meal. Honestly, this is the most I've socialized in a very long time! But then, we had family dinner tonight, I'm attending a wedding Friday evening, and a graduation party this Saturday. I'm very much looking forward to having fewer plans next week! I've still been riding some extra horses most days too. Tuesday was pretty much a record day according to my apple watch:

How are all of you? Doing fun things? Feeling over-socialized like me? Showing? Tell me how things are going for you!