Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Daily Grind

Hey, do you know what today is? Wednesday! The week is half over! Thank God, cause it's been a doozy already.... ugh. Thankfully, after my super fun chill day Saturday with Tanya, Sunday was equally as relaxed -- my brother, wife, and two nephews came out to BBQ for lunch and to let my older nephew Jack meet the baby goats! (my younger nephew is only a few months old, so he didn't care so much about them, haha). Despite the weather being absolutely disgusting (drizzly and cold after Saturday's sunny and 80), DH set up a nice little area in the barn away from the wind and we used our propane heater, which actually kept things fairly pleasant! I won't spam you with kid pictures (because personally I find that super boring, even if I like the kid, which I usually don't, lol), but I will share this one adorable shot of him feeding Cinna a carrot. She was SO GENTLE taking it from him -- he's a bit too young to really grasp the "flat hands" thing but she was so cautious and didn't nip any of his little fingers. I have it on good authority that during his evening prayers, he specifically thanked God for both horses and goats ;) although not for his awesome aunt who is going to teach him to ride as soon as he's a little bigger? Huh.... weird..... haha.
Monday I had an off-kilter sort of day at work, so I was very much looking forward to getting out to the barn to ride. I zipped home, changed, and had just walked into the barn aisle when DH called and asked if I was almost done..... *cue much annoyance and mood change haha* he spent most of the day painting at my mom's house and she was going to take us out to dinner. I grumpily tacked up and just spend half an hour working on bend at the walk and trot in the indoor -- I'm holding off on canter for a bit until I feel like she's a little more fit, as I think some of our right lead canter depart issues are fitness related (I'm sure the majority of it is due to me being an unbalanced sack of potatoes, but it will only help us both if she's more fit when I go to work on it). Because I was frustrated (with my husband, not with Ruby), I ended up not taking any photos..... if you didn't document the ride for social media, did it even happen? It was too muddy from the weekend's rain to ride outside, which also annoyed me. Basically, I had a nasty case of the Monday blahs.
Pretty clouds.
Tuesday was another rough day at work. Thankfully, while it was grossly cool, it was also very windy -- drying out the field enough that I could ride outside when I got home. We took advantage of the poles set up again (several girls are going to a big world show soon, so the trail course is semi-permanent until they leave), but Ruby remembered our "canter after we finish the poles" and got a bit strong coming out the first few times. To the right she's gotten very bracey and tends to fall in on the circle very badly, so I was struggling to keep her between the aids and moving from my inside leg into my outside rein. So every time she started to fall in, I asked for a downward transition and then immediately to leg yield out. Then we'd pick up the trot until she fell in again, and rinse, repeat. It only took about one big lap of the field before she remembered that she could in fact move off my leg at the trot as well as the walk -- funny how that works, right? :) we ended on a good note, and then I made her try on a baroque bridle for a fun scheme I'm working on. She was unsure about the curb bit, but game to try for me! Love her.
She was uncooperative about a 3/4 view so you're missing the really fun silver disc on her face. But hopefully I'll have better photos soon!
The ring got dragged at home, so maybe tonight will be Cinna's turn! Or maybe I'll get SUPER MOTIVATED and ride Ruby, then come home and work Cinna under lights! Has fall arrived in earnest where you are? Are you dealing with trying to squeeze in rides in the ever-shortening daylight hours?

20 comments:

  1. I find that this fall I am not reiding as much. I am okay with that for now. I did a lot of riding this summer so I think easing back is okay- even if it's being dictated by weather and work. I love that baroque bridle. It's lovely.

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    1. You were much more disciplined about riding this summer than I was -- maybe now we're taking turns! 😉 And thanks! I love it. One of my friends sells baroque tack and I have a few bridles and saddle pads from her and love them all!

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  2. Definitely not looking forward to the time change where we'll be stuck inside every weekday. It's giving me the "blahs" a lot.

    Also, you have a very cute nephew. I can't wait for my nephews to come out and be introduced to "country life".

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    1. Winter darkness gives me the blahs ever year, ugh.

      It's cool to be the fun aunt with a farm!!

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  3. Wheeeeeeeee what is this "employment" nonsense? :p

    I jest. I'll be back among the employed soon.

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  4. Thanks for the link to the lights - I'm still in my Monday blahs and I'm totally unable to ride because it's dark when I get home. Wishing I had an indoor!

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    1. You're welcome! They were relatively budget friendly and I'm loving them so far (even if so far they're being used far more to give me light for morning chores than riding right now lol).

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  5. Ugh. Yes. Off week at work for me too. I hope today is better. Today is a little better for me too. I am glad and jealous that you get to go do horse stuff so easily after work! Counting down the seconds over here to Friday!

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    1. Hey, at least we're even past the halfway point of the week (depending on your time zone I guess lol) so it's more than half over! Hopefully your week ends better than it started ☺️

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    2. yesssssss. Into Thursday now! ALMOST THERE!

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  6. Happy Wednesday! It's been a weird week here for sure. I hope the rest of your week goes better.

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    1. I don't want to say it can't get worse, because I don't want to give the universe ideas... But at least I have a fun weekend planned!

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  7. ooooh that bridle is pretty on her!!! love the skies too

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    1. Thank you! I'm excited to get better pics of the bridle this weekend (hopefully).

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  8. It's been close to 80 here right up until today. Not it's fifty and it's been raining for THREE DAYS. Wah.
    I'm glad you're getting lots of pony time in again though!

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    1. Yeah today was our last day in the 80s (after some gross 50s earlier this week), back down to the 40s and 50s for the forseeable future.... blech.

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  9. I hate these shorter evenings! I dream of having a lit arena one day like you do. The mere notion of the clocks turning back next weekend makes me wanna cryyyyy.

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    1. Man the lights are going to be a lifesaver, I can already tell. Well worth the investment! And yes, I'm in denial about the time changing so soon!

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