Thoughts for the past week

 Monday - It snowed a little overnight!  Felt like we went from summer to rain to freezing winter in a couple of weeks and a look at the calendar tells me I'm not wrong. Ponies are just in rainsheets, but are unclipped and seem fine. Ordered Sophie a new blanket anyway because shes a princess. Hopped on Sophie for the first time in months and did not die. Felt like I might but told myself I was being silly and she's fine. Once I untacked her she ran around pulling rodeo moves, so trust your gut - and thanks for saving it for later, Sophie.

Learned my lesson and just longed on Tuesday (although pic is from Wednesday…I might not be a fashion icon but I do put on clean clothes each morning ;)

Tuesday - Rain, so cold. Was supposed to finish a gate for the property on my lunch break but brought the wrong drill bit home with me. Felt dumb, watched horse videos on youtube instead and pondered life with a career change. Am ruling out youtube influencing and/or professional horse person as options ;) Didn't get to the horses til 5 and it's the time of year where that means it's nearly dark. Longed Sophie, then organized hay and feed. Had a mini panic attack over amount I've gone through. It's costing about $500 a month just to feed two ponies local hay, a ration balancer, and a bit of alfalfa cubes (last year I budgeted $250). I'm wondering if the sky high feed prices will hold, or go back down again.

Wednesday - How much money have I wasted on nice things when I just end up dressing myself in whatever is comfortable or using whatever blanket or saddle pad is closest? I think I like the idea of looking put together but the reality is it only happens by accident. Note to self: Stop buying nice riding apparel, I promise you're not going to bother to change out of your Old Navy leggings and the stretched out T shirt you worked from home in today.

Glad you’re not here for the fashion. My top tip, just buy it in blues, greys or black then whatever you put on at least has a higher chance of matching (although I do have the odd day I’m accidentally a blueberry/Violet Beauregarde)

Thursday - Took a much needed day off work and did all things barn cleanup related. My house is a disaster, but I get twitchy when the barn/property is untidy…you can imagine the angst I’ve been feeling as everything is a work in progress and we’ve got burn piles and stock piles of construction material still cluttering things. Been feeling a bit meh about clinics, etc lately so I’m trialing a couple of different subscription services and taking in knowledge at my own pace. I’ll let you know how it goes. (I have RideIQ, Miri Hackett’s patreon, and Noelle Floyd masterclasses atm)

Friday - Remembrance Day holiday. I feel guilty for doing fun things or scheduling necessary tasks on these long weekends we get for memorial holidays. Normally it's a grim, rainy day, but the sun was out and the day was beautiful, so after paying my respects I went to the barn and had a nice ride and felt grateful to live where I do.

Sophie enjoying some afternoon sunshine

Set this up later in the day. Poles to keep her thinking more about where her feet are and less about zooming off into the distance. Still pinching myself that I can ride at home and do stuff like this. 

Saturday - Sophie’s been incredibly annoyed by the girth on my jump saddle. At first I thought it was because she’s just not had a long girth on before (previous was a mono flap using a short girth), but it persisted. So, back we go to the dressage saddle/girth that in theory does not currently fit her as well. Instant happy pony, really good ride and all the anxiety was gone. Now, to find a rainsheet she’ll tolerate. She’s very annoyed by things touching her in certain places. Blankets with less obtrusive hardware on the front generally seem to meet approval. I have a sheepskin girth liner on order to see if that helps the jump saddle issue, but I almost think it’s the buckle location she objects to. Ponies! 

Bridget proof of life ;) She’s had a good week too - two easy rides just to keep her moving and a lot of grazing time.

Sunday - One week back in work and 4 short rides for Sophie and she’s been a good girl. Thanks to rock crunching pony feet, riding on the arena base is totally a non issue. Obviously without the cushion of footing we’re not going to get up to anything that’s going to pound on her joints repetitively. I will speed up completion of the ring if it starts to be too much of a hindrance (I’m still on the plan of trying to let it settle over winter before adding footing in spring, but we could hire a compactor any time to hurry it along) . For now though, it’s working great. I love it, and I’m super happy to be back riding Sophie. It’s a different feeling riding at home, so much more relaxed in all aspects. Just hop on and ride whenever I want and do whatever I want!