Miscellany

As is my new normal, the remainder of last week and the weekend was jam packed full of things to do, far more things to do than one person could probably do in a month. One of the things I wanted to do was to get the real camera out, but sadly for you, my cell phone was easier to grab and carry around with me this week, so excuse the photo quality.

Anyway, I’m really good at prioritizing (yes, I’m kidding!)

My decision tree is as follows:

Is it fun? Fun things move up the list first. Non fun things get demoted.

Ponies = fun

Interesting? As above.

Realistically, how quickly does this HAVE to be done? Hello, mid list procrastination space. 

Do I want to? I’m stubborn. Even if it’s necessary (or fun) - if I don’t want to, I just won’t and off the list it goes.

Did someone tell me I can’t do it? The evil flip side to being super stubborn. Even if it’s not necessary or fun, telling me I’ll never be able to do it essentially guarantees I will make it my priority to prove you wrong so back on the list it goes.

Will I stay awake at night worrying about it? This is the very bottom tier of the to do list....the stuff I don’t want to do but eventually gets done anyways because I need to sleep. 

So what did I do this week? 

Built the rest of the barn doors. Because last week neighbour guy saw me with a cordless drill in hand and mansplained it all just in case I need help, then later made sure my husband knew I was using power tools while he wasn’t home. I think he means well, but dude, you overstepped. Girls can do math and use power tools too. So BAM, doors...done, because that point needed to be made. 

A stack of doors from repurposed lumber.

First coat of stain. This one is going to be the new tack room door. Feel free to judge the state of this carport. Tidying it is decidedly on the list of non fun/interesting things to do.

I got in lots of riding and pony time. Because fun, right? Or it was all the way up until Bridget got way overexcited to be jumping again and decked me when she took offence to my request to slow down and wait between jumps. I somehow took the bridle and one stirrup leather/stirrup with me. She’s got that stop/buck/spin move down pat. Thank goodness I’m never selling her because we had an audience and they were in awe - we're locally famous in all the wrong ways. The kids wanted it to happen again so they could get it on video, I was less enthusiastic about that idea lol. Despite that, I’d say her reintroduction to small fences was successful -she was super keen and happy and of course that makes me smile. 

Kind of do wish I had video though - she was over jumping this little grid like a crazy thing and having a party at the end almost every time.

Tiny course. There is probably a permanent crater from my impact somewhere over by the red building.

It’s forever funny that so far Sophie has zero dirty moves and is as honest as they come, yet I am always so much more careful/cautious with her. I guess it goes to show how the miles add up. Bridget is not always to be trusted and can be downright rotten, yet she’s my go to because I’ve done so much more with her and I’m not too fussed by her occasional lapses into full on pony ‘tude. I feel like I know her so well, Sophie still feels a bit unknown. I'm well aware I need to remedy that.

Sophie's been getting some field time. The vet said she could lose a little weight, which is a first, normally she eats whatever she wants and stays fairly lean. So, welcome to the adult pony life, Sophie, where you spend nights in a diet paddock.

Diet paddock. I was OK with Bridget's weight, but vet gave her a BCS of 7. No pasture at all for you right now, little pony :(

I’ve been wearing my new xc vest the remainder of the week because I’m too old for getting pancaked - it hurts! I love the vest though. It’s short enough I can use it comfortably even in my dressage saddle (because despite my amusement and forgiveness, B earned herself some flat work boot camp before we tackled little jumps again). 

Look at their field! I've sectioned off a tiny bit for Sophie, at this rate it's going to last for months.

Sophie just got out for some quiet trail hacks. I’m going to start lunging her over crossrails this week, just to see what she thinks. Doing little courses this weekend with B, I was reminded of how helpful I find little x’s or even poles on the ground to make me pay attention to how accurately I ride. It's also apparent I've let Bridget's canter slide a bit - we couldn't quite find the nice bouncy one we needed and adjustments were on a delay timer.  It’s time to get Sophie back in the arena either way - we’ve got clinics coming up and perhaps this whole going-to-an-event-with-Bridget-again thing wasn’t super well thought out? Can’t hurt to have a backup at the ready one day, at any rate. 

I picked up a trailer full of hay on a rainy day mid week - horse trailer coming in handy once again! Maybe next week I’ll unload it?

I did organize the trailer tack room, at least.

The remainder of my free time was spent at our little property. I’ve got the tack room and hay room walls sorted and just need to hang the new doors. The floor in that part was gravel with rubber matting, and that’s the next rainy day upgrade - I’m going to put in a wooden floor so the tack/tool area is fully sealed. Hopefully the before and after is worth it!

Fencing is one of those necessary things that I find boring, so I’ve made a deal with myself to dig two posts every time I’m there. Progress is proceeding at a snails pace, I may need to up it to 3 or 4 if I ever want to put horses there. A smart person would just pay someone with a tractor. Too bad I’m so cheap :)