Finally Friday

Still recovering from the productivity that was Wednesday! Getting both horses worked on a day DH also works was… dicey. He was annoyed that I left stalls for him to clean, poor guy ;) not like I don’t clean them like the other 6 days of the week, haha. Hopefully we can settle into some sort of semi-regular schedule as long as the weather is marginally cooperative. We’ll see. I am not the queen of consistency, as anyone who reads this blog regularly is well aware.

Goat King of the rock pile!

I worked Ruby first, since there aren’t lights up at the barn yet in the indoor, so I wanted to take advantage of daylight in the field (and more pole work, yay!). She came out all business as usual, and we did a lot of transitions and then trot poles. Her right lead canter depart on the lunge is fine, which further solidified my belief that the problem is me (duh, who didn’t see that coming?). I actually think I figured out the problem later in my ride with Cinna, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I got a good giggle out of the fact that the barn manager came out while we were working trot poles and pointed out that the course was set for a big world stock horse show, and what I was using as trot poles were actually their canter poles…. Oops? Nothing earth shattering about the work, just trying to get in a more consistent routine and help Ruby build fitness.

Working on those ground tying skills ;)

By the time I made it back home, we were rapidly losing light. We haven’t gotten the grooming area light installed yet (but that’s on the agenda for Sunday now that the days are getting so short!), so I had DH hold Cinna in front of the tack shed so I could use the decorative lights to see enough to brush her off and throw a saddle on her. It briefly crossed my mind that she hasn’t been ridden for anything other than trail riding in…. a very long time… but I decided to go ahead and just hop on without lunging. She came out a bit hot, but manageable, and I just asked for a nice business-like walk and let her eyeball the goats (who were grazing next to a light pole). She settled in to work right away, and we just did a brief W/T/C to knock the dust off the aids. Although funny enough, it took me about 4 tries to get her to pick up her LEFT lead canter. I’m broken. My poor horses. 

So shiny and clean after a bath last night!

I did have a revelation though while I was riding her (confirmed by the videos DH took) – Cinna is MUCH rounder than Ruby and if I don’t stay well-balanced in the saddle, I can get some slipping to the side. I noticed my saddle kept sliding slightly to the right, so clearly I was not weighting the left side of my body in an even fashion. My shoulders looked like they were in different ZIP codes when I reviewed the video…. Ugh. Hey, CR was right, your body lies to you! (not that I thought I was particularly even, but I didn’t realize it had gotten quite that bad). So, something to focus on in future rides! (and actually even at work, because I’m noticing I slump at my desk in an alarmingly similar fashion…). 

Stylin' in her new threads.

Cinna is less in shape than Ruby (and a bit hairier already), so we had a nice long walk to cool down. She’s getting a lot most trustworthy (aka I was reading emails while she hacked on a loose rein at the end) – not bad considering it’s only the second time she’s worked under lights (since June), and that she hasn’t been worked with any sort of regularity in… months. I love my horses :) they are pretty cool!

Less entertained by the fact that the belly straps are like a corset on her, even all the way out. Might have to return the pretty blankies :(

Last night was our last beautiful 80 degree day, so I tried to make the most of it! I came home and gave Cinna a thorough scrubbing (probably the last one of the year, wah), then the boys had their feet trimmed. After that I ran back up to the barn to snuggle Ruby for a second (and try on her new sheet). Hug your horses close guys -- a friend lost a dear horse yesterday to colic and I'm feeling extra obsessive over mine with the wild temperature swings Missouri is currently experiencing. 80s yesterday and 40s today make me super nervous. I do have a busy weekend planned with a haunted hunter pace and hopefully a photoshoot -- what are you up to? Anything exciting?

Slowly getting the nasty red tinge out of the tail. One bath at a time!