Barn Rat

This was the first weekend in a while where I've had nothing on the agenda except barn time., so obviously I spent pretty much the entire weekend, including Friday night, there.

B is like a dog and will not make direct eye contact when she thinks she's in trouble...so we get pictures like this, where I tell her to 'stay!' so I can take a pic...and she's like "hide and maybe she'll give me the treats?'

Summer at this particular barn is the best time of year.  The kids are off school so their schedule less resembles mine,and a lot of people tend to be away either on vacation or at competitions during summer. I really enjoy the quieter, more laid back vibe. I find it quite easy to spend more time there without feeling rushed.

In no particular order, here's all the things I got up to this weekend (often with Best Barn Rat's company):

Bridget:

- Jump school on Bridget. We had a couple of sticky moments due to me getting a funky distance and freezing, but overall it was forward and positive and just fun!

- Spa day! Bath time for Bridget, also a quick trim of her bridle path, lady beard, and tail to get her looking presentable for our upcoming adventures.

Clean!

- Flat rides x2. She was great in both warmups until I picked up a more solid contact, then the wheels fell off because she cannot possibly go forward at trot into any true connection at the moment. Weird. I wish I could see inside that pony mind! Second best option, I have a lesson tonite and will pick EC'S.

- Hill/neighbourhood hack. She was forward and feisty, and her feet still felt ok on the summertime packed gravel and rocks. Yay for tough cob feet and cheap farrier bills.

General barn stuff:

-Cleaned and conditioned all my tack, washed saddle pads, and generally got things organized for the next two weekends away.

- Built courses and set jumps for others. I need to do this more often. Super helpful to see how things actually rode for others, and watching and absorbing tips and tricks from more experienced horses and riders was a bonus!

-Finalized show entries for later in the month and walked my dressage tests  without Bridget's help,  lol

-Crept the live scores for the weekend's event. Ginger finished on her dressage score, 8th in a huge pre-entry class and more importantly,  looked after her young rider well. So proud.

And...B did not stay clean for long

Other horses:

-Warmed up a lovely mare for Best Barn Rat to school over fences. I've said it before, but I do think sometimes I learn far more about riding from other people's horses than my own. I really ended up liking her and would like to try to schedule some more rides on her - she reminds me a lot of Ginger, but without my mental baggage riding along!


-And, not done yet! There are "baby" horses at the barn right now learning about life! I know I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE working with babies. It's been far too long. There is one cutie who has a serious case of stranger danger (luckily not to the extent Ginger used to)! I felt really rusty with the groundwork, but got her tacked up and just did some light lunging and a bit of the usual putting weight in the stirrups and standing on the mounting block over top of her, generally making noise and touching her all over. She's had one ride so far, but don't worry, I had no plans on being the second!

Approx 30min post bath. At least I tried :)

-Cute little mare got to hang out with me and be my jump setting assistant, as best barn rat schooled yet another horse. Good practice for baby, because jumps falling and horses cantering around her are still new and interesting things.

-There's also a baby TB who has the attention span of a teenage boy. He just got some grooming and handling. He's a cutie, but oh my,  I forgot what a pain in the butt 3 year old geldings can be...everything is a game! I preferred the mare to Mr Play Biteyface, lol.

Definitely the most barn rat type weekend I've had in years, and still so much fun!