Tenacity, Barn Cleaning, and Safety Vests

 'Tenacity' title word inspo stolen from a lovely post comment by Cathryn last week...wisely foreshadowing the feel of the current week!

It's been very much a case of just putting one foot in front of the other this week. I've partly chalked it up to getting a Covid vaccine - I'm allergic to everything and we can now add that to the list. Zero regrets, but a very itchy and tired T. Work is also crazy - part of my job involves engineering and surveying work and we are in the middle of a huge development boom, plus we are very short staffed. In my free time, I've got my ponies self boarded, G is back at work so I'm doing a lot more of the day to day stuff around the house AND I remain obsessed with pony property improvements. It's just a lot right now for one person. 

Insert inspirational wolf here

Never mind that, though - in the theme of not quitting, after consulting with the vet, we think it's worth trying to get Bridget over there for breeding. So, look forward to that happening (hopefully) mid next week and cross your fingers for me!

Welcome to my nightmare. The space to the left with all the junk is going to be the hay room. Once I finish a wall and cement the floor the tack room will be directly in front (the existing stall door is being replaced with a normal locking exterior door)

I've made what feels like zero progress on the property this week, because guess who's getting a load of hay next weekend and has nowhere to put it?! Yep, me! The current demand for boarding is so high it sounds like we are losing our hay storage at the boarding barn (since it is actually a spare horse stall that could potentially be rented). It was good while it lasted, but with two horses that 10x10 area for hay and feed already felt limiting. So I have been in full on clean out mode on our 'home' property, on a mission to get my old feed room cleaned out. I've been cursing every tenant ever who thought it was a great idea to leave their old junk and furniture in the barn. Not to mention whoever smashed glass and threw paint everywhere (and stole parts of the siding?). I filled up a rubbermaid tote with broken glass, and I still find more every day. Plus rodents. Fingers crossed I've not actually given myself hantavirus ;) Fun, fun, fun. One small win is that there was some old cabinetry I can possibly repurpose in my tack room. Hopefully I'll finish the hay room up this week in time to stack hay in an organized manner. I'm motivated by only wanting to move and stack it once!

Happy Sophie out for a late evening walk to the farmer's market

I did set aside some pony time this week. I got out for a couple of really nice neighbourhood hacks on B in the early mornings. Sophie's summer field is full of grass so I got a suitable amount of that fenced for her, plus she got out a couple of times with me, once for a quick hack on the hill behind the barn, once just for a walk around the neighbourhood. I still feel like it's safest to have someone else around when I'm riding her, and it just didn't time out well this week. Silver linings - all the turnout has made her a much nicer, more relaxed pony and I am thinking I'm probably fine to take her out alone when I do.

One day she'll be like Bridget and quietly head out down the road after 2 weeks off.

Despite my slower pace, the parcel deliveries continue - the barn door slider hardware has all arrived, I've got some exterior solar/usb/battery lighting I'm interested to try, and some nice hooks and hardware for the tack room wall (once there IS a tack room wall, lol).

Continuing the randomness of this post, a quick review of the Champion Ti-22 vest:

I also got a new xc vest. I bought it as a consolation for not breeding Bridget - I was going to take Bridget xc schooling with my coach and maybe hit up a fall event. I guess Sophie's going to have to step in if Bridget is going to be otherwise occupied? We'll see if that actually happens! For now I can tell you I tried it out on a trail ride over the weekend and liked it...but I'm not quite at the comfort level of actually jumping solid obstacles on S in the big wide open ;). It's bulky feeling of course, but if you're a shorty like me (I'm 5'1") that doesn't fit child sizes it might be worth a try. It is the first one that's come anywhere near to fitting me! I bought a size medium/short one and it's perfect and very adjustable. In normal clothes I wear a M-L, in equestrian brands often a L-XL, to give you a bit of an idea. Fingers crossed I can try it 'for real' this summer.