What's Up Wednesday

 

I'm a little pressed for time today, so going to make this as quick as I can! Things are mostly going well around these parts! I only got to have one lesson last week as trainer had to cancel Friday, so we're on a lesson break now until she gets back from Vermont in two weeks. But we're still practicing and plugging away!

I even did the bending 5 to 5 that I set up and thought I might or might not do. He went right through like a champ. 

I may change the course next week if I have the energy. (Lots of braiding the next two weekends, so we'll see.) In other Al news, I got his photos back from his photo shoot, and he looks like such a mature adult horse! (I mean obviously, but he usually has this goofiness to him that keeps him looking like a kid, and I think he doesn't look at all goofy in his photos.) Here are a few of my favorites:

Photos are by the incredibly talented Chelsea Lothrop who also happens to be a good friend. Photos are also featuring Al's new show bridle which I'm in love with. My first actual high end bridle!

Eros has been a bit strong at the fences lately. I think he may be due for a little free lunge, but I'm hoping he'll decide to get that out on his own in turnout first. I don't really like encouraging them to gallop around if I can help it. He hasn't been bad, just a little excited and draggy. He for sure is feeling a lot better in the hind end though. He's jumping me loose over everything and I've only been jumping him 2'3"! A little extra... Sheesh.

I let Pammon canter a few raised cavalletti for the first time last week. I'm not entirely clear on whether or not he should be jumping. The vet was pretty vague about jumping, but Pammon and I are both getting ridiculously bored of doing the exact same thing 6 days a week for the last many months. He was SO excited to "jump" and so I think as long as he stays sound, I'll let him do this once a week. We just popped over a few times. Nothing strenuous. But it was fun, and Pammon was happy. 

Weeeeeeeee!!!! -Pammon (probably)

My first few rides on Shiny after her time off for her maintenance were unimpressive. To the point where I really thought it didn't help at all. But on the third ride back something clicked and she's feeling MUCH better. 

Look at that trot! 

And since she's feeling better, I figured it was time to let her have a little fun too. So she also got to canter some of those raised rails too. 

She was hilarious! She was sighting in on all of the fences, even the ones we weren't jumping and trying to drag me to them. I think she's missed jumping! So over the next few weeks I'll start building her up to jumping some little courses again. I'll probably keep her at 2', but we'll see what she tells me. 

It's exciting to have everyone back doing some fun things again. The horses seem to be enjoying themselves, too, which makes me feel good.

In non horse news, it's mostly been fun and games around here:

show me a better Sunday evening... I'll wait.

But of course, life isn't all sunshine and rainbows all the time. There's also bees:

And leaks from the apartment:

Just to balance out all the fun, ya know? But such is life! The weather has been lovely around here. It's not been too hot (sorry to all of you melting in other parts of the country) and we've had just enough rain to keep the dust somewhat under control. Hope you all had a good week/weekend too! Do anything fun for the holiday (if you're in the US) or the weekend (if you're not)? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

It sure does get busy once summer hits doesn't it? All good things though! My old trainer is back from Florida for the summer which I think I mentioned already. She's home for two weeks at a time and away showing when she's not here. So we're trying to fit in as many lessons when she's home as we can. Which works out to two lessons a week because I don't like to jump more than that. 

Lessons are going great! (Pivo was being a bit challenging though, so light on media. I think I have it working again now though!) Our first lesson was an easy one for trainer to get to know Al. It was lots of fun and didn't fill me with anxiety so that's a bonus too! The second lesson the jumps went up a little and the turns got harder. And it was even more fun, and not at all scary. I like when things aren't scary! None of this means I didn't make tons of mistakes, but every time I messed something up, I was able to come back and fix it the next time. And Al never got mad at me. No matter how stupid I got. Worth his weight in gold, this horse! 

And then I changed the course for the most recent lesson. As mentioned yesterday, I hate what I set, but it's good to work on the things that are hard. And so we did. Oddly enough, I didn't mess up that line where I thought I would. Instead I messed it up the easy direction. Ha! Come on, we all knew I would at some point. But still, Al just laughs of my idiocy and tries again. We worked on some crazy hard turns, but broke them down to the point they really weren't that hard. And we also practiced doing the add stride, then the correct stride, then back again in the line. Al is really good at that game which is nice, because I'm not sure I'm always so good at it. The harder the courses get, the better Al is for them. I think he enjoys a challenge and it makes him pay attention. We really only run into trouble in two instances. The first being when I take out of the corner which is my favorite mistake to make. The second is when Al get distracted by something other than what we're doing. Both are easy enough to work on though. Just lots of practice. Trainer really likes him though, and thinks it's a perfect match. I agree wholeheartedly! 

Eros wound up just having one jump day last week. I forget why exactly... I think it was mostly weather related. He was a good boy though the day we did jump. He's feeling pretty good with his maintenance done, definitely jumping a lot harder! Which makes me giggle because we're only jumping 2'3" and yet I'm getting tossed out of the saddle a little. Glad he's feeling good! 

I popped him over a few jumps today and he was a wee bit spicy! Watching the video back, it doesn't look as difficult as it felt, so I guess that part is good. I didn't even attempt any related distances though. I know Torpedo Eros would have made an appearance, and I wasn't here for that today. Despite his excitement, we got a couple of cute photos at least!

Could he be any cuter?! I don't think so. 

In a shocking turn of events, my vet had a cancellation on Friday and was able to come out to recheck Pammon and do Shiny's treatments. It wasn't the best of news for either of them, but nothing too terrible. 

Pammon's injury looks fantastic (the good news!) but he was quite back sore again when the vet was there. I had noticed it some that week as well. I honestly think it was from getting off the ace. That was his first full week completely sober, and I think it was caused mostly by tension than anything else. Pammon is a worrier. He startles easily and is always kind of ready for anything. When he was having some ace mid day, I think that tension went away and his back stayed relaxed. I've been working really hard this week to get him working stronger. More through his back and really making him lift his belly. And he already feels better. He's also been more relaxed in general even in the barn. So I think he just needed to detox a little. Hopefully this hypothesis is correct. Because of the soreness in his back, doc suggested it might be best for him to consider a lower level dressage job rather than a low level hunter job. The thought being that a low level dressage rider will be focused on having him travel correctly through his back with his belly up. A low level hunter rider will not be able to do that. So for the sake of his longevity and comfort dressage might be the better job for him. I don't have a ton of connections in that world, but I do have a few so I'll need to start reaching out. He's ready for that job now, but would definitely need some training to fully convert of course. I can flat pretty well, but I'm not trained in dressage so I'm sure there are differences in how he should be going. My vet's tech did all the young rider dressage stuff as a junior, so I let her hop on and see what she thought about him. She thinks he can absolutely go through second level and possibly even third. I think there's probably someone out there who would love him for that job. Hopefully. It was nice to see him go! I don't think I've watched any one ride him... ever actually. My trainer went and tried him for me initially before I bought him, so when I went to try him myself she didn't get on first. I don't think I've ever seen him ridden other than a couple of jumping videos from his sales ad. 

Earlier last week I let Shiny pop over a couple of these little raised cavalletti. They were the first "jumps" she has seen since last fall! She was really excited and took me right to them, so I think it's time we start jumping again. We'll go slow and keep the fences small. 

As for her vet appointment, it was interesting. We already did her evaluation last time doc was out, so we just planned to do the injections we talked about. We did the alpha-2 in her hocks and did use steroid for her SI. SI went smoothly, but the hocks were where we got the less than stellar news. Her hocks were very painful to inject and the joints were pretty dry. Meaning her hocks are in terrible shape. It's hard to tell with her, because her flexions are always perfect. Doc says this is pretty common with quarter horses. They just don't tell you when they need help. So we did the Alpha-2 this time, but next time we need to switch to steroid. Which ugh. Ponies and steroids gives me anxiety. I asked if there was anything I could do to help her and also if I should or shouldn't allow her to jump anymore. Doc said jumping is fine, the hocks are what they are and we don't jump very high with her. Plus, Shiny isn't shy about telling me she can't do something. So I just have to listen to her. As for helping her... He just said pray. So... not the best news. But since Shiny doesn't really have a job or goals, it's fine. I'll make sure she's happy and as comfortable as possible. And if she has to stop jumping at some point, we will. And if someday all she can do is plod around bareback, I'll still enjoy her for that job. She's the most level headed of the bunch, so her real job is to keep the peace here at the farm. She can certainly do that even with bad hocks. 

So you might be wondering why I'll keep Shiny no matter what but not Pammon. And the thing is, I just can't keep them all.  I'm happy to lease Pammon out and get him back when he's done. Or sell him to a wonderful home if someone wants him enough with all of his baggage. But he's kind of the disruptor of the group. The breaker of the peace if you will... Plus. he's broken my heart so many times in the few years I've had him. I will make absolutely sure that he goes someplace he's well cared for, and will do my best to take him back if that home is no longer appropriate for him. But I think he'd like to have a real job with someone who loves him so why should I deprive him of that? Ideally, a lease would be perfect. I could get a little money for the lease that I can put toward his retirement so he'll at least help pay his way some. We'll just have to see what happens. Chances are he'll still be here awhile. I'm terrible at moving horses. In the meantime, we'll keep plugging along! And probably start popping over those little cavalletti that Shiny's doing. 

Now that you're all caught up with the horses... I spent Monday this week catching up on some crafts I've been wanting to get done. It took way longer than I expected, so I still have a few to do. The most important (and already very late) one was my dad's Father's Day gift. I had planned to have it done in time, but some of my supplies arrived late. It happens these days, what can you do?! I made him a belt out of beta biothane and used the Cricut to put his boat image and name on it. I also put the image on a polo shirt for him. They came out great!

(Yes, my dad's boat is ridiculous. But he earned every inch of that 
boat all on his own. He's the son of immigrants and worked ridiculously 
hard to build his successful business. PPE! It's lucrative.)

I also had a couple coffee cups waiting for decals, but only was able to do one. The other one I need to try again. Another day. The one is cute though!

I also made myself a fake nameplate belt with biothane and the Cricut. It's hard to take photos of because it doesn't lay flat nicely, but it's cute once on. I'll wear it soon for Thursday's Threads so you can see. 

That's mostly it from here. I have a few more crafts to do for a future Thursday's Threads outfit and some braiding jobs coming up. All kinds of things on the calendar! ALSO, trainer and I talked about finding some one day shows to attend when she's back from Vermont. So things are happening! 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I spent most of last week attempting to recover from my braiding marathon weekend the week prior. Guys, I'm still tired! I don't know how people work the night shift regularly. My first few rides of the week were pretty light since I was dealing with a very sore knee from tumble off the ladder. So annoying. 

I did have my Bellino lesson on Thursday though! He was a little strong, and while it wasn't the smoothest lesson I've had on him, it was a good one. I felt like I actually was riding him instead of just being a passenger and hoping things worked out. He's a little tough to try and ride because he likes to make his own decisions. So it's a bit of a balancing act. He's the most mare-ish gelding I've ridden! 

I got to have a second lesson with on Sunday which was great. He had a free lunge in the morning so was much more rideable. We even did some hard things and they worked out pretty well. A little clip here:

My horses at home only jumped once this past week. But they were both fantastic! Shiny has developed this swap off though... She only does it coming out of the diagonal line so I think she's just anticipating landing the correct lead. But it's something to work on. Otherwise though, she was great and was MUCH straighter after the jumps. I think a few light weeks were good for her. 

Eros was absolutely perfect. I spoke to my vet the other day and he said Eros can absolutely start jumping a little bigger, I just have to be really careful about footing when we do it. So that's pretty exciting! Hopefully the weather keeps my ring nice this week and we can jump a few 2'9" jumps. 

I have clips of both below too:

In other news, my basement flooded (as it typically does) from the remnants of Ida the other day:

AND I have to replace my well pump (and possibly the sump pump based on the above photo) soon. Ah the joys of home ownership... Sheesh. Always something to deal with! 

That's about it from here though. To summarize, the horses were great despite some easy days and the house is expensive. How was your week? Do anything fun and exciting? Have some lessons? Go to a show?

What's Up Wednesday

 

Nothing terribly exciting to report over here. The horses are all doing horse stuff. Eros is jumping 2'6" now, though not a full course because I'm too lazy to get off and on. 

So I set a few at 2'6" and a few that are smaller to warm up over. 

We've also added a four stride line into the course which I think I mentioned last week. For both horses we did it first trotting in, and then moved on to cantering through. I have it set for a horse stride, so Shiny is doing the add. This past week I kept it low (2') but I think I'll make it 2'3" for this week's jump schools. Shiny is consistently jumping 2'3" now, so that's exciting! I don't think we're ready for higher yet, but I do think she's capable of more. 

Back to Eros though... As I suspected, adding in a related distance has brought out a mild torpedo reaction. I can get him back pretty quickly with a very big half halt, but I want that behavior to go away. This week I plan to jump in the Pletcher bit and see if that will soften him. 

I'll report back next week if it works. In the past, he is much lighter with this bit, so hopefully it will work again. 

I tried Shiny in a figure 8 this week since I've decided maybe we'll do baby jumpers instead of the hunters (given our lack of a lead change). 

It doesn't fit her great, I have another one
coming that will hopefully work better.

It was an interesting experiment. She's much more rideable to the jumps, but she doesn't jump very well in it. I think likely it's just a learning curve issue. She needs to figure out how to use her parts while not fighting with me. I dunno... But here's how she jumped:

Head up, knees down, and sometimes a little twisty... Although to be fair I found the long weak one at that oxer, so that one's not really her fault. Always stuff to work on! I'm confident she'll level back out. 

It's been beautiful around here with the only rainy day happening on Monday which is the horses' day off anyway. It's allowed for our fun Sunday bareback day:

And daily visits with Pammony:

The pups are enjoying the weather too!

I had a small braiding job this weekend:

And lastly, I made my Unsupervised Amateur shirts available in both a jumping 

and a flat version. 

For now they are on Teespring, and you can find them here if you're interested:

Jumping
Flat

They'll be on Zazzle soon too at this link: Unsupervised Amateur

And that's about it from here! How was your week? Do anything fun? Are you guys showing?