Monday, July 10, 2017

Bumming

Last week was... obviously not a solid blogging week for me haha. Wednesday night I popped down to the barn to work Ruby, but a miscommunication with my farrier had me rushing back home. On the plus side, the boys got their feet done, so they're ready to hit the trails again, if it ever cools off to a temp less than "Hell on Earth". Ruby took advantage of some mud to liberally coat her entire body (including her face), that definitely sapped my desire to get anything done -- brushing mud off a horse when it's this sticky out basically becomes the equivalent of going out and rolling in it yourself.
Accurate. The "feels like" factoring in the humidity is even worse.
Also, who wants to try to ride this? Ick.
 
"Who me? Muddy? Noooo. It's a special clay mask, to exfoliate my skin." -- Ruby, probably.
Thursday I had really good intentions to ride (I even put on breeches), but then I walked outside into the sauna and said "fuck this noise", so we just lunged. Footing was delivered last week for the indoor, and Ruby really had fun working in a much bigger indoor space than the old barn had! Then I spent some time hosing her off and removing some of the really nice mud dreadlocks she was sporting from the previous pics -- thanks girl. Friday a bunch of the boarders met up at the local Mexican place to celebrate the new facility with tequila (because that is ALWAYS a solid plan!).
Mmmmm, tequila is the best! (j/k we don't waste tequila on dogs!)
Friday was also a banner mail day. Thanks Nicole for this recommendation!
My mailman was definitely judging me.
Although half of them were truck parts. Which is... less exciting (although I do really need the truck fixed, so there's that).
One of the boxes was a TEENY DOG LIFEJACKET.

The KYOOT. IT BURNS. (check out my insta for video lol).

Saturday morning I was determined to not be such a lazy bum, so I climbed on my bike and headed up to the barn. You know how people say "it's just like riding a bike" when they say something is easy to remember how to do? Lies. I feel like with the amount of riding I do (especially on green horses), I would be coordinated enough to manage the bike, but that was patently false. As long as I was on it and moving I did okay, but getting on and off was dicey, haha. At any rate, I made the trek out to the barn and back with no issues, and enjoyed some snuggling with Ruby in between. I'm not sure I could handle biking to the barn, riding, then biking back (yet!), so I think the plan for the near future will be to bike up there on days I plan to lunge or just groom, and then work my way up. I definitely need to get a slightly more comfortable seat for it -- even just the two miles had me a little sore in places I really don't want to be sore... lol.
Saturday afternoon we took the boat out with some of DH's friends from work and had an absolute blast -- we anchored up at a sand bar in the river and just sat in the cool water, snacking and drinking and hanging out. The new boat performed admirably (although the others were in a MUCH bigger boat and had to make allowances for us in terms of speed, haha). We installed a small bluetooth radio, and are waiting for a canopy top to come in. I'm going to have to buy stock in sunscreen -- even after reapplying it 3 or 4 times, I still managed to get lightly burned. Thankfully it's almost all faded already, which is nice.
 
 
 
 
When your day ends by eating a cheeseburger with grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun, it's a damn good day.

Sunday morning I had a photoshoot with a local acquaintance and her horses. I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out, and I hope she is too! We spent a few hours in the blazing heat, which sapped me of any desire to do anything else for the rest of the day (other than edit photos and binge watch Dr. Who). I did bike up to the barn again last night, but the horses were already turned out for the night (and I didn't really have any goals other than just more exercise lol), so I just cooled off and then came home again. I can't really feel guilty about ignoring the horses when it's this miserably hot, because most of the time they're sweating just standing in their stalls. And we have no immediate goals or plans that I am working towards, so they can bum around and we'll pick up when the weather is nicer. Last week my work hours were a little wonky, but this week I'm back on summer hours, so hopefully I can get up early and get some work done before the blazing heat!

22 comments:

  1. Maybe you'd have an easier time with bikes if you were a regulation size person.

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  2. I gotta say I don't miss the summer in the south. I've also had days where I saw my horse and said you are disgusting and left again.

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    1. Yeah it's like "oh, I'm sweating standing still? Pass." Oh well. It'll cool off eventually. And then it will be a dozen tundra and I'll be hiding inside again... Haha.

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  3. I spent the entire weekend binge watching Doctor Who 😂😂😂
    These next few weeks look brutal and summer needs to stop.

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    1. God bless Amazon Prime!
      And yes. Like I'm over summer and we're not even halfway through haha.

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  4. omg that muddy muddy mare!!!

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    1. She's a soil specialist 😋 hahaha

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    2. The NRCS could employ her a soil scientist. She can delineate wetlands and dig all the holes in the world and be muddier than muddy!

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    3. She would LOVE that. I guess I should be thankful she's not grey? And that my grey seems to be less inclined to coat herself from forelock to fetlock like this?? Hahaha

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  5. When I dove into mountain biking I said the same thing about my bike seat. But then I got used to it somehow? I'd still rather do 50 miles in the saddle than 25 on the bike. But downhills on the bike are SO MUCH MORE FUN than on the horse.

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    1. After three straight days on it I noticed the seat less, so maybe I'm acclimating? And yes, I have a few small inclines on the trip and I love rolling down them feeling the breeze! I am less in love with getting chased by the neighbors dogs, which has happened twice 😂

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  6. That's awesome that you can bike to the barn. And that is some impressive mud coverage!

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    1. I'm hoping it will help me get slightly fitter, in lieu of fitting the gym back in my schedule! ☺

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  7. Your horses look delighted about their mud outfits.

    And that sandwich looks INCREDIBLE.

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    1. zomg it was basically the best thing ever. I couldn't finish it though, DH had to help... haha.

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  8. Ruby and Mae must be mud twins because she will find it and roll in it whenever she's able to. Sigh...

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    Replies
    1. I am so glad Cinna doesn't share this mud gene 😂

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  9. Replies
    1. She won the title for Queen of Mud that day... lol

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