Chillin'

I've been having a weird couple of weeks and feeling not quite myself. Random strange unlucky occurences seem to be the name of the game lately, so when my lesson this had to be cancelled due to some (legit) unforeseen circumstances I was almost a little relieved as I've been a little overwhelmed with coping with the rest of life.  That makes it three weeks without a lesson, though, so hopefully we'll get back in the swing of things soon. No one's fault, it's just how life goes sometimes!

Sophie side eye. I will need those riding skills for this one, I think.

I did ride anyway this week during my normal ride time, but as I warmed up I was noticing I was really losing Audrey to the right. Since the right side of my back and right hip has been giving me all sorts of grief lately, connecting the dots it made sense she was only trying to go where she thought I wanted her. (This is sounding so moan-y, I promise things here are good!) So, rather than hop on the struggle bus over a non issue completely caused by my tight, sore body, I took my barnmates up on the invitation for a trail ride and Audrey and I just chilled at a walk on a loose rein for the next hour. Maybe not productive in the "learning-to-ride-better" sense, but completely helpful in loosening those muscles and keeping us both in a happy headspace!

Older pic of Audrey

Closer to home, I haven't been doing anything too meaningful with Bridget. She's pretty uninterested in ringwork no matter how I approach it of late, so we've been continuing on with hacking a little, jumping a little, and playing babysitter to Sophie a lot. I feel a little like a quitter still as far as she's concerned, but she really is happier being the backyard pony doing a little bit of everything and she's a very good girl who deserves that. I do take home the odd thing I've learned on Audrey and apply it to Bridget, but mostly she just gets to toodle around and be a mobile couch running on treat power :)

I organized my pictures and now have an entire folder titled "Bridget sitting" LOL

I've been having a lot of fun taking Sophie for hikes and generally attempting to teach her the ways and responsibilities of grown up horses, but mostly things have been pretty chill, and I think will remain so until Sophie grows up a little. Depending on the day, I waffle between appreciating saving my money and not having any big show plans or goals, and being all "Life is short!YOLO!" And wishing I had another horse to ride to bridge the gap to help me really continue to progress as a rider and make dents in the bucket list. That's just silly though, because I'm lucky to have Audrey to ride once a week, Bridget always has more to teach me, and Sophie will be grown up probably before I know it! Best to just enjoy all the good things the present holds!

Bridget actually loves playing babysitter to the little Banana pest.