...........

Ponies are fine.  My dog is doing pretty well.  Lots of snow.  Nothing interesting.

My dog is dying.

Ponies will be neglected for a while.  He probably has a few weeks left.

Plans: Foiled

So that thing about me riding last night?  jk.  Forgot I had a thing yesterday evening, so no time to ride.  I did get my new tack trunk moved in and filled, though!

Neglect...

I feel like I should say something about what happened in Sandy Hook Elementary.  There's not really anything I can say that hasn't been said before and in better words, so I'll say this:  It sucks.  Hurting children is WRONG.  Not that hurting adults or adolescents is acceptable, but hurting innocent children is a whole other level of evil.  I can't begin to imagine how the victims' families and the other teachers and children are suffering, and I hope their pain eases and they find peace.

Crap, now I feel stupid posting any of the silly frivolous crap I had thought about.

I've been neglecting River and therefore his blog..  It's just been busy and I haven't particularly felt like riding.  I probably will tonight.  I got a big Stanley tool/tack trunk that I need to move in...  since I'm going to be there tonight anyway, I should probably ride. 

Funny thing, I ordered the trunk from Home Depot online Sunday night and set it for in-store pickup.  Monday, I called my mom and asked her to pick it up for me... she was in town near Home Depot and she has a Trailblazer.  If you're not familiar with the Stanley trunks, figure your typical big plastic tack trunk, that's how big it is.  I told my mom it wouldn't fit in my car, so if she could pick it up, that would be great.  Sure, she could get it.  A few hours later, I get this text:  "you didn't tell me it was huge!"  Uh, mom?  What part of "it won't fit into my car" didn't register??  And besides, it has wheels!  It's plastic!  No one has ever thrown their back out moving an empty Stanley trunk...  Sheesh.  (I'm not being ungrateful.  I'm just making fun of my mom.  Don't worry, she's used to it.)

Weather has been gross.  So rainy.  I hate rain.  Hate hate hate hate hate rain.  Because I really really really really really really hate hate hate hate hate hate hate mud.  Hot, I can tolerate.  Freezing, I can tolerate.  Mud is the bane of my existence.  If I ruled the universe, it would only rain during the night, and only enough to keep the world going, never enough to create deep muddy slop.  If you hate mud too, vote for me for ruler of the universe!

One of my friends is home from school for Christmas break.  Hoping to drag her out to ride River soon!  (This is the friend who rode him for me the first time.  I only have, like, three friends, so it's pretty easy to keep track.)

Do you ever think about what you would do if you were rich?  Like super-foxy-mega-awesome rich?  (Gold star if you get the reference!)  Here's one of my fun plans...

If I were crazy rich, I would buy a golf course.  A really popular, fancy golf course.  I'd buy it quietly and not change anything so no one would really notice.  One nice late spring day, after a good rain when the ground is soft and the sun is shining and the sky is blue and there are tons of stuffy old golfers on the course... I'd go galloping across the greens, tearing up the turf, and watch the golfers freak out.  (This is my fantasy, so we'll pretend I'm not afraid of galloping.  In reality, I would probably have my horse shod all around with stud holes drilled and really big studs put in for maximum effect as I trot around.)

Bit of this and that.

Background to the story I'm about to tell:  Just before Thanksgiving, a friend (the one who cantered Princess for the first time) and I went out to the barn where her mare and my baby live.  They both needed feet done, so I did my baby and helped the friend with her mare.  Me being me, I rasped off a chunk of my finger and it was bleeding kind of a lot.  Friend was insisting I do something, so I was like "hang on, I think I have napkins and duck tape in my car, I'll be right back."  So I bandaged my finger with a bit of napkin and some duck tape.  Problem solved.

Now to the story...  Monday I went over to friend's house for dinner and Christmas presents.  She got me pink bell boots for River (awwww!) and pink polos with crystal tiaras (awwwww!!!!!)..... and best of all?  A first aid kit!  With Disney Princess bandaids!!!  So now I'm never going to hurt myself again, because I'm totally prepared.

I got my Mare's ulcer meds (ranitidine).  12 pills a day!  Thankfully she gobbles them right up.  She's never actually been diagnosed with ulcers, but given her behavior I figure it's more than likely.  And ranitidine is crazy cheap, so that's good.

Haven't ridden all week... just been busy and stuff.

A couple pictures from yesterday...

Gr.

Last night I was cleaning my old guy's stall when I get a call from the barn...  Person saw Riv kick The Mare and she's three-legged lame.  She got a bit better after a few minutes, but still ouchy and her leg looks funny.  Greaaaattttt.  On the way out, all I'm thinking is, if she needs a vet and x-rays, I am NOT going to be happy.

Thankfully, by the time I got there she was walking fine.  Just a little bit of warmth, but not sensitive to touch and willing to pick up the opposite foot and put full weight on it.  So she's getting bute for a few days to keep her comfy, but she'll be fine.

I shouldn't call him dumb...

but I do.

Saturday I went to the barn to make their beep/falf stuff.  While it was soaking, I free jumped them a bit.

The Mare was first.  I set up a 3 part bounce, first on the medium side of the jump blocks (15"), and then with the middle part at 2'.  She's fun to free jump because she doesn't like it.  She seems to take it as an insult.  She'll usually go over it once okay, but after that she's just like "screw you, this is stupid.  I've already proved I'm capable of jumping it, I just don't want to."  Going to the left, she kept switching to her right lead in the middle, but would she go to the right?  Of course not!  Chestnut Thoroughbred mares....

Then it was Riv's turn.  I put the middle back down to 15" for him.  Hm, no.  No, going over three very low jumps in a row is simply not possible.  It cannot be done.  So I pulled the poles so they were only on one side of the blocks.... so one end of the pole was 15" and one end was on the ground.  Still no.  Seriously, it just doesn't work!  So naturally I grabbed his halter and walked him through.  And turned around and walked through the other way.  And turned around and walked through again.  Then I sent him through.... and he trotted right through it.  He was doing a weird mixing of trotting, cantering, and jumping.  He even went through to the right!  I got ambitious and raised the middle so it was 15" straight across.  I neglected to adjust for his having a longer stride than The Mare, so he cantered and jumped and crashed through because it was too short for him.  I put it back up and pulled the ends out a bit, but I was worried he'd be afraid, but he was a very good boy and went right on through.

I make fun of him for being dumb about things, like not understanding how to go through the bounce until I walked him through.. but I really shouldn't.  He's green, what does he know about bounces?  He's actually quite wonderful... he doesn't get himself into situations he can't handle, but once he's shown what to do, he gets it and tries hard.

But it's more fun to tease him.

Wild and Crazy Thoroughbreds

River was still being an up-down butthead last night.  He was able to relax and go forward here and there, but not consistently.  I also had some poles out...  3 trot poles (set close) and an elevated pole at a different spot in the ring.  He was actually able to trot through the poles!!  First time doing it without being totally goofy and hitting them!  He did not want anything to do with the elevated pole, though.  Which.....  wtf?  He free jumped ~2'9" from a trot a couple days ago, he seriously can't step over a 9" high pole?  Dork.

I didn't ride long because I wasn't feeling good..  Finished and sat in the middle for a few minutes..

Yes, those are the reins sitting on his neck, my feet out of the stirrups, and both hands on my phone.  Crazy Thoroughbred!


Also, I would recommend NOT purchasing a Wintec standing martingale attachment.  After two uses, the snap broke and now it's useless.  Yeah, it was less than $15, but still!  Breaking after less than an hour in use?  Give me a break!  I emailed the place I bought it from, so maybe they'll offer me a refund or replacement.  Worst case scenario, I'll cut off the broken snap and replace it with this thing.

The "can he jump" question answered

A while back I posted about my friend riding Riv and jumping him.  It was only like a 1'9" vertical, but he kept knocking into it.  He'd basically just go *through* it rather than putting in any sort of effort.  I had to wonder, does this mean he's talented enough to be totally careless about little things that aren't worth his effort?  Or is he just completely useless as a jumper?

I free jumped him last night.

 (Those are 4' standards.)

Can he jump?  Yes.  Yes, he can.


Sadly, I didn't get any of the more, er, interesting attempts on video.  He doesn't quite understand that jumping to the right is pretty much the same as jumping to the left.  Going to the right, it mostly went like this:  gitgitgit, cantercanter, zomgwtf?!, waaaaalk up, try to step over the 2'9"(ish) jump, step/jump over from a standstill, knock it over, be traumatized at how scary it is.  I ended up having to put it down to a crossrail so he could go over it without stopping or hesitating.  Twit.  So as long as we never have to jump anything on the right lead, we'll be fine!

Also, I was so glad I didn't ride last night.  He was being a nut!  Running and bucking and being silly..  It's been rainy and muddy, so he can't really run around in turnout, so I think he had some pent up energy.

Crappy Anniversary and Awesome Barn

Our anniversary ride was kinda crappy.  He was just... blegh.  Same with on Friday.  Actually, on Friday I got off and had him moving loose because he almost felt off.  He's not off, just being weird.  He's being too up-and-down and not enough forward.  (The Mare, however, was quite delightful.  I updated my facebook status:  "I get nervous when the mare is pleasant. What is she planning?!?!!"  A (married male) friend commented that that applies to the females of most species.  I lol'ed.)

On the bright side... I got to the barn on Sunday to do chores, and what do I see when I walk in?

Yes!!!!!  When you work a 12+ hour day, surprise banana muffins (with chocolate chips!!!!) are a Really Big Deal.

And I was doing stalls and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when I happened to look up at my horses' stalls...

Awwww!!!  They got their nameplates!!  The BO makes everyone nice wood nameplates...  I've been wondering when Princess and The Mare would get theirs.  I figured she'd want to wait until we'd been there a while before she made them.  How annoying would it be to make nameplates and have the horse move out the next day?  So I've been looking and waiting, and on then when the nameplates are up it takes 45 minutes for me to notice.  Dumb me.

My barn is so awesome.

Happy Anniversary!

River came home with me one year ago today!

Here is Riv's listing photo, which is pretty much the entire reason I got him:

Here's Princess on the trailer ready to go:

I don't have any of him from *today* yet.

Let's see what's happened in the past year...
-various injuries/maladies
-bucking me off
-getting grossly underweight
-moving to a new barn
-lesson with a pro dressage trainer
-first jump
-first canter
-gaining lots of weight!!

Happy anniversary, Princess River!

Pretty in Pink

Saturday Princess got to wear his new blanket for the first time....

Heh heh heh.  Pictures don't really show how pink it is.  Think day-glo, florescent, glow-in-the-dark.

Interesting

I rode Riv yesterday.  He was okay.  Then we cantered.  As we went by the gate, a dog scrambled down the aisle playing with a ball and Riv spooked hard and threw some bucks.  By some miracle I didn't fall off and managed to get him cantering again.  We went past the gate without issue and immediately stopped and I got off.  My nerves were shot.

Today, I had a friend come out and ride him.  We were outside and he was pretty good.  A little scatterbrained, but that's typical Riv.  I put out a cavaletti on the medium side (so like 12" high) and he was SO good.  Going to the right, he trotted up to it and landed in a nice pleasant canter.  Going to the left, the first time he launched it and landed bucking.  After a minute to walk and settle, they did it a couple more times and each one was better.  The last time was so so good.  He clearly wanted to get excited approaching it, but he stayed calm, hopped over it, and settled right down afterward.

 And video...  not from the silly time or the best time, one of the middle ones.

My friend liked him a lot.  She felt the same way I do, that he's so pleasant and agreeable, even if he is a little dumb sometimes.  He tries hard to be a good boy and do what he's supposed to.

And like I told her when she was walking him out...  he did really well for his first time being ridden outside.

:D

River's Last Race

Riv's last race was one year ago today!  He finished 6 out of 10, so...  But all but one horse were at least 5 years younger than him, and the one horse who was the same age finished after Riv.  So really he did pretty darn well considering it was like grandpa racing the grandkids.

Last night I had one of the best rides on him ever.  He was SO good.  He's really getting what I want from him.  He's relaxing forward into the contact right from the start and listening to what I tell him.  Sometimes I'll be asking for something and he's not doing it, so I'll tap him with the whip or something and he swishes his tail angrily, like dude, woman, I'm trying, stop nagging!  Silly boy.

We trotted over poles some more.  Most horses I've ridden, when trotting poles, tend to tense their necks and stick their noses up.  Not River.  He stretches and reaches with his head and neck.

Speaking of stretching... we tried a stretchy trot for the first time.  And he did it!!  It wasn't consistent and it wasn't perfect, but he got it.  I asked him to follow the contact and stretch, and he did.  If he lost it and came back up, I'd ask again for a stretch and he did it.  Ah!  Such a good boy!

 Tacked up and ready to go:

Showing off his equipment:

Pole!

 All done!

Dumb boy.

I mentioned before that River is being a butthead.  He's still being a butthead.

Sunday I brought horses in.  I had River in one hand and The Mare in the other.  We're walking up to the barn and I can't see River on my side.  Turn my head to look over, and there's a cat running away and River flipping out and rearing at the end of the lead rope.  WTF?  Moron spooked at a CAT.  The Mare, however, never so much as blinked at Riv's antics.

Yesterday, River apparently walked the entire way back to the barn backwards/sideways because he was being a pain in the butt.  Gr.

He did it!

He trotted poles without falling over them and messing them up!!!

The first time through, he jumped the first one crooked and half jumped the second before ending up in the middle of the ring.  LOL.  After a couple tries, he was going through SO well--forward and careful.  Yay pony!!  He wasn't as good to the right.  He tends to get tense that way and sticks his head up and gets all jerky and annoying.

So I was getting tacked up last night and I decided to finally use my standing attachment.  I get the saddle on with the breastplate and was about to put my bridle on when I remembered...  Drop Noseband + Standing Martingale = NO!!!  Because I'm too lazy to change nosebands and I put all that effort into putting on the breastplate, I did it the easy way... put the plain caveson on first, almost like a grooming halter, and then put the bridle on top.  Used the drop like normal, put the standing on the caveson.  Success!  Looked a little ridiculous with all that equipment on his head, but it worked.

I would have gotten a picture, except when I got off at the end, my stupid phone battery died :(.  Which also meant I couldn't ride the mare :( :(.  After the whole broken leg thing, I won't ride without my phone or someone else in the barn.  Gr.  But at least it was a really good ride on Princess.

Progress

I rode River on Wednesday.  He's definitely making progress, each ride is better than the one before.  Nothing major, we didn't do anything new, but it was a good ride.

Pink polos courtesy of the BO, who found them while cleaning the barn and gave them to me.  Yay!

His neck is gross, but the rest of him looks good!

Peek-a-boo!!

Little of this, little of that.

I've been so neglectful lately...  Let me see.

Rode River last night.  He is such a good darn boy.  Had a week off, got on, picked up where we left off.  We even cantered!!  I was a little nervous because it had been a while, but he was very good.  As much as he's kind of a dumb boy, he picks stuff up fast and remembers it.

I also rode my old guy for pretty much the first time in almost two months.  (I got on him once bareback for like 5 minutes, but that doesn't really count.)  Oh dear...  I spent the entire time trying to get him under control.  You'd think a 25 1/2 year old would be slowing down... oh no, not my boy.  He is, however, the best frickin' horse in the world.  I got on and we were walking around.  He was kind of wandering around doing his thing while I was getting my riding playlist started.  I set it on shuffle, and the first song that came on was Pour Some Sugar On Me.  Immediately, my horse took off trotting.  BEST.  HORSE.  EVER.

Also re: my old guy...  yesterday I had my FB status about how "my boy has been really loud whenever he sees me and he's been molesting me more than usual.  I think he wants to be ridden."  Heh heh heh.

Oh, so River has been a big fat butthead lately.  He's been being stupid about coming in... trying to run people over and then running backward if they use a chain over his nose.  Just being a royal jerk..  we're thinking it's because he's finally getting to a good weight and he's feeling good.  But even so, he was very good being ridden.


On a completely different note...

I'm trying to avoid being one of *those* horse owners.  You know the ones.  The neurotic ones who have 18 different supplements to give and mixing their horse's feed is only slightly less complicated than making meth.

River gets a SmartPak (SmartFlex Maintenance, SmartDigest, half dose Tri-Amino) at dinner, The Mare gets U-Gard.

Then there's what I give them...

River:  1.5 scoops beep, 1.5 scoops falf.  Source, Accel, fake Omega Horseshine, and an RB (leftover for my baby who no longer gets grain).
The Mare:  1 scoop beep, 1 scoop falf.  Source, Accel, MSM, fake Omega Horseshine, and the RB.

(Scoops aren't full grain scoops... it's a plastic drinking glass, so probably a bit over 2 cups.)

Soak the beep/falf in hot water for an hour or so.  Dig out a hole in the middle, add Source, Accel, and The Mare's MSM.  Lightly cover with beep/falf.  Sprinkle with fake OH.  Add RB to top.  Oh, and their BOSS when I remember to get it out of the car.  Press down.  Add more hot water if it seems a bit dry.  Dump into feeder. 

My barn is quite wonderful, but I'm pretty sure they'd smack me if I suddenly added half a dozen different supplements, even without the beep/falf.  I considered having them feed The Mare's MSM, but that AND the U-Gard just seems like an awful lot of trouble.

On the bright side, giving them their extra meals makes them like me more.  Otherwise they'd see me coming and be like "oh crap, here she comes, I don't want to have to work!"  At least this way they're more like "crap, I don't want to work, but at least she feeds us afterward..."

Super-awesome farrier is coming tomorrow.  The Mare doesn't have much, but Princess needs things neatened up after having his shoes pulled.

Blah blah blah

No River Wednesday--barn is closed for part of the evening for a dog thing, so I just went home and stayed there.

No River yesterday--was at the barn for over an hour and a half watering the indoor, but didn't get around to doing anything with him.

No River today--probably.  My sister and her family got a new puppy yesterday, so naturally I have to go see him.  He's an adorable yellow Lab, probably 8 weeks old.  Puppy!!!!!!!  Given the choice between Princess and a puppy, the puppy is going to win every time.

I'm trying to think of anything interesting to say.... not really coming up with much.

Stuff

Princess got cranky with me last night.  He tends to bulge out through his shoulder on a circle between the quarterline and the rail.  So I've been tapping him on the shoulder with my whip to remind him not to do that.  Last night he decided he didn't appreciate that gentle reminder and threw a tiny tantrum.  I'm not entirely sure what he actually did... it was like a jump/kick/wiggle.  Not a big deal at all, though.  After that, he was much better.  He didn't bulge out nearly as much.  I guess he just needed to let me know that he has his own ideas about things, even if he gives in to my way eventually. 

He's really figuring out that leg means something, even if he's not entirely sure what that something is.  We leg yielded both ways at a walk quite respectably.  He trotted a leg yield to the left nicely, and one to the right decently. 

I'm very very happy with my boy :).

The Mare was okay.  She wasn't really bad, she just wasn't putting any effort into being good.  Ah well, she's a chestnut Thoroughbred mare.  Not bad is really the best that I can hope for.

I had posted before about my horses' condition when we moved...

Here is The Mare when we moved to the new barn:

This is The Mare after one month:

This is The Mare after 2.5 months:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's not gross!!!  She needs muscle on her topline, but she's actually at a healthy weight now!  Yay!!!!!  Love love love my new barn!

Long time, no post

Well, a week.  Whatever.

Rode Princess for the first time in almost two weeks... such a good boy.   Even when he's being giraffe-y, he's so darn pleasant and agreeable.  He doesn't get snotty, he hasn't been spooky or nutty even after time off (knock on wood!!!!), and he doesn't really regress.  I can pretty much pick up where I left off.  It kind of amazes me, really..  I rode The Mare, too, and she was surprisingly good.

I have some very exciting news...

I can no longer count River's ribs.

Woohoo!!!!!  I haven't ridden him in a while and he's been wearing clothes, so I really had no idea what was going on underneath...  apparently, what's been going on is some darn good weight gain!  The Mare is at a pretty good weight, too.  Princess does still need to gain weight, but he's not gross anymore.  Thank goodness..  It's getting closer to winter and I didn't fancy trying to put weight on him during the colder months.  It was 28 degrees out this morning when I went to do chores.  Princess is finally getting up to a decent weight.

No pictures, because my phone doesn't like taking pictures in the barn at night, and I wasn't about to undress them this morning for a photo shoot.  Some day...

Hurricane.... yeah, right

So much for that hurricane we were getting all these warnings about turned into a big fat nothing.... big surprise.  It rained.  That was it.

Horses have been in for a few days because of all the rain.  Princess is fine, but I'm sure The Mare is displeased.  She doesn't like being stalled.

I was going to make Riv a pretty big batch of beep/falf pellets.  I filled a tupperware thing at home and added some hot water to presoak on the way to the barn.  You know, it's hard to judge volume with differently shaped containers..  The tupperware thing was full to the top by the time I got to the barn, and that was with not-much water.  Dumped it into two 8qt pails and added more water.  By the time it was done-ish, both pails were almost completely full to the top.  Plus grain.  So River's breakfast consisted of about 2 gallons of feed.  Probably about 3/4 of that is beep/falf, the remainder grain.  Yeah... kinda made more than I was planning...

Haven't ridden in a few days, just been too busy.  Maybe tonight, but not sure.  I think I'm kind of sick.. I keep getting lightheaded and just feel out of sorts.  Probably not ideal conditions for riding...

O. M. G.

Rode Princess Wednesday.

He was being fairly good at the trot, so I said what the heck, we'll try a canter, even though I hadn't really planned on it.

He picked up a left lead canter promptly.  He held it around the ring, on THREE 20 meterish circles, and around the ring again.  What!!!!  Once he settles into the canter, I feel very comfortable and secure.  The first couple strides aren't great, but after that it's good.  I feel, as my beloved George Morris would say, tight as a tick.

Because he was being so very good, we changed direction and asked for a right lead canter.  He did it.  Yes, River/Riv/Princess/Mr. Rd./River Mountain Rd. successfully picked up a right lead canter.  On the first attempt, no less!  It was crooked and unbalanced and uncomfortable and only lasted down the long side (he broke as soon as we got to the corner), but he did it!!!

Then we went back to trotting and being good, which he did.  He's really getting it, but mostly on a circle.  Straight lines are apparently tricky.  *shrug*

I worked the poor boy half to death....

He was very very sweaty.  And yes, he's wandering loose in the indoor.  He was supposed to stand quietly while I took a picture of his sweaty self, but he was not cooperating.

I untacked him and let him wander about in the indoor for a few minutes while I put my things away.

He doesn't really get the point.

Also Wednesday:  Pulled him out of the stall, and what do I find?

I know it's a bad picture.  For some reason, pictures at the barn taken with the flash never turn out well.  Anyway.  He's missing a bell boot.  And I kid you not, on the way to the barn I was thinking "wow, he's been wearing those bell boots nonstop since May and they're still holding on great!"  Hah!  Dumb boy.

Super-awesome farrier came yesterday.  I brought Princess and The Mare in to wait and went back out to find the missing bell boot.

In the round bale pile.  (That's the remains of the old round bales.  Not the stuff they're expected to eat.  Although I'm sure they do eat it because they're dumb like that.)  Silly me, looking in the mud by the gate and water!  Obviously he'd pull his bell boot off on dry, level ground!

Super-awesome farrier arrived without his trailer... he kinda forgot that Princess has shoes.  It worked out perfectly, though, because I was going to ask about pulling his shoes and having him barefoot for the winter.  Neither of them were long enough to really trim, so I got a shoe-pulling lesson.  Super-awesome farrier will be back in a couple weeks to trim them up, unless Princess has problems without the shoes.  Not only did I not I have a write a big fat check, I got some trimming advice, and Riv gets a couple week trial without shoes to see how things go.

Eh.

Rode Princess last night.  It was so-so.  He wasn't really bad.... but he wasn't really good, either.  I tried him in a drop noseband, so maybe he didn't care for it.  I've never actually used a drop before and may not have adjusted it correctly.  Probably should have taken a picture for input.... ah well.  I never claimed to be all that smart.  He also hadn't been ridden in a few days, so maybe he just needs a ride or two to get back into it..  Yeah, we'll go with that excuse.  He does seem to be getting a little more supple, so that's something.  We didn't canter, just walked and trotted.

I think he's putting weight on.  I hadn't seen him without a sheet on since Thursday, and he seemed to be a bit fuller across his ribs and topline.

Another boarder had bought beep shreds for her horse, and then decided he was too fat and gave the beep to me.  So Princess and The Mare got extra beep last night, AND beep this morning.  (I do morning chores on Tuesdays.  It's yucky and rainy, so I left the horses in.  I wouldn't normally give them beep in the morning because it takes too long to eat, but they have all day to finish it.)  The nice thing about shreds is that the soak in no time in hot water.  They each got a 2 gallon bucket about 2/3 full of soaked beep this morning, plus grain and oil.  They'll get more beep and falf and BOSS and oil tonight.  Porky ponies!  The Mare is looking good, so I'll probably start cutting her back soon.

Things That Annoy Me

I don't have much to say about Princess.  He didn't get ridden Friday because someone was taking a lesson and I didn't want to intrude or hang around for them to finish.  I didn't see him at all on Saturday.  Sunday, I brought him in and fed him, and that was it.  Actually, Sunday was a pretty horrible day.  I work 6AM - 12 at the gas station/convenience store.  Then I have a 30 minute drive to a barn to do 14 stalls... and of course there was almost no bedding, so that sucked.  Then popped over to the baby's barn to pick out a couple of stalls and put those horses out.  Then 30 minutes driving to Riv's barn to do stalls and night chores there.  On the bright side, two people had already done their own stalls, so I only had 10!!  But still, night chores take me a good 2.5 hours.. and I watered the indoor, so that's another hour or more.  It was about a 15 hour day, and it sucked.


So since I don't have much to say about Princess except that he's alive, I'm going to talk about things that annoy me at work.

Things That Annoy Me at the Gas Station/Convenience Store

1.  "I'd like $10 on pump... uh, that one over there." Seriously?  You can't take 2 seconds to look at the really big number on your pump, and then retain that information for another 15 seconds?  I don't know what pump you're on.  I don't know what car you're driving.  And when it's 6AM and still dark outside, I can't see out the window to guess.  Know what pump you're on, or risk being punched in the face.

2.  People who throw money at me/people who ignore my outstretched hand to put their pennies on the counter so I have to pry them up.  It's incredibly rude.  Don't do it.  I don't throw things at you, please return the courtesy.

3.  People who are talking on their phone or to another person in the store and therefore completely ignoring me.  Hi, see me here, waiting to help you?  Guess what?  I have other things to do!  When you stand there ignoring me, I can't leave to go do one of the other 18 things I have to do, nor can I take care of you.  Please don't be rude.  Don't waste my time.  If you're too engrossed in your conversation, wait until you're finished to approach my register.  If you're on your cell phone, hang up.  You're not that important.  The person you're talking to is not that important.  Don't be a douche.

4.  People who paw through the stack of newspapers.  What's wrong with the one on top???  There's one guy who does this EVERY SINGLE TIME, and I'm about ready to ask him what makes the paper he selects so much better than the one on top.  Thanks for making a mess of my carefully arranged stack, I appreciate it!

5.  People who insist on filling their coffee to the very top, and then refuse to use a lid so they walk through the store trailing drips of coffee all over the floor.  Jerk.

6.  When people put their purchases on the counter as far away from me as humanly possible, so I have to crawl across it to scan them.  I usually respond by picking up said item(s), scanning them, and putting them on the counter as far from the customer as possible.  How do you like it?!

Double Negatives

-5 x -5 = +25
I don't have no horses = I have horses
Unbalanced River + Unbalanced River = Balanced River

We tried cantering last night.  Actually, I'm going to take a quick detour...

I made my rule about no horses unless I do work.  So Tuesday I skipped the barn and got some stuff done.  Wednesday, I decided I would cheat and do the barn first really really fast and then do work.  Except I got to the barn just before 7 to find out that every other Wednesday, starting that Wednesday, the arena will be in use by the 4-H dog club from 7-8.  So my cheating totally didn't work!  On the bright side, I got a lot done on my schoolwork.

So back to last night.  To recap, friend cantered and jumped him Sunday, I cantered him Monday, then he had two days off.  I wasn't sure if we were going to try cantering or not, but I figured, why not.  He picked up a nice canter to the left, we circled a couple times, went all the way around the ring, and came back to the trot like a good boy.

Because he picked it up so well, I decided to try the depart from the walk.  Well, he almost got it!  He took a couple trot steps and settled nicely into a canter.  Cantered a bit, came back to trot for a while, asked for the canter again.  He picked up the right lead, aka the wrong lead.  Sorted that out, then I decided, hey, since he's already cantered on the right lead, let's change directions and actually ask for it!

Um, no.  We tried from the trot.... left lead, every time.  Tried from the walk... got several nice (albeit green) left lead canter departs.

Apparently, River can only canter on the right lead if we're going to the left.  He can only do nice left lead departs if we're going to the right.

Talking to a friend, we decided that River is so unbalanced that when he unbalances himself further, he magically becomes balanced.  Like a double negative.

Dumb boy.


Also, the antibiotic ointment + diaper rash cream is working on the yucky scabby patch on his fetlock.  I don't know if it's treating the cause of the yucky scabbies, but it's at least softening the scabs so they come off, and it's not spreading.  It's progress.

OH.  I almost forgot the most exciting piece of news.....


RIVER UNDERSTANDS CARROTS.

Thus far, the only treats he's been able to eat have been peppermints.  *Maybe* candy canes.  I pulled a bunch of carrots out of our garden and decided to try a couple of the little ones on River, not expecting him to actually eat them.. he did!!  Without hesitating!  My goodness, he's such a smart boy!


And last, but certainly not least....  River's SmartPaks

 They can fit his whole name on them now!!!  He's no longer Princess Rive!

No Princess tonight

Unless I decide to work on my stupid IRB proposal and make enough progress that I can get to the barn before it's too late.  Which totally isn't going to happen.  But I am seriously considering making that my new rule.... no riding until AFTER I work on the proposal...

Today's interaction with Riv consisted of putting stuff on his leg and turning him out.  His leg... he's got this yucky patch of scabby skin on the outside of his RH fetlock.  It's very strange.  I tried treating it with MTG, but it didn't help.. if anything, the patch got bigger.  This morning, I put on triple antibiotic ointment and topped with diaper cream.  I'll see how that works...  No clue what it is, though.  If not for the location, I'd say scratches, but why would he only have scratches on his fetlock?  That doesn't make sense to me.  The patch is very dense--the area is entirely scabby and gross.  It's not very big, maybe 3" in diameter?  Maybe less...  It doesn't seem to bother him, except when I pick at it.  No idea what it is or where it came from..

And this, my friends, is why he is Princess.

A screw fell out of my saddle at some point.  It's a Collegiate convertible, the Diploma.  No words for how much I love this saddle.  If I won the lottery, I wouldn't upgrade.  But one of the outermost screws fell out, so the panels and bottom flap of my saddle is only attached to the seat and top flap with one screw and the stitching around the back of the seat.  And of course the easy-change gullet set doesn't come with replacements for THOSE screws, only the inside ones that hold the gullet plate in place.  How likely are you to really need a replacement for those?  Can they really come out when the saddle is together?  Doesn't seem likely to me.  Also:  who decided to call it the easy change gullet system?  Anyone who's tried to change the gullet knows it is anything but easy.  Very funny, Wintec/Weatherbeeta.  Well, anyway, I ordered the replacement screw pack.  Sadly, SmartPak doesn't carry it, nor are they willing/able to start carrying it, so I went to Victory Canter instead.  Bonus there is you get 5% cashback on your purchases and free shipping on orders over $40.

The screw set is about $11.  I also ordered a standing attachment (to try on Riv), a leather hole punch, a new pulling comb, and halter fleeces to cover up the buckle on Princess' halter that keeps rubbing him.  Grand total:  $40.05.  Am I good or what???

The only downside of Victory Canter is they are sooooooo sloowwwwwww.  I doubt I'll get my order before the end of next week.  Ah well, if I stick to my resolution, I probably won't be getting much use out of my saddle anyway.


Lastly, my baby has been being a brat.  Not for me, of course, but for other people.  Galloping by in the pasture and kicking out at them, that sort of thing.  She hasn't tried that stuff with me in a long time, now she knows attitude on her part is met with a solid whack from a crop or whatever I happen to have handy.  I've told the other people to carry a whip and use it, but I'm not sure that'll happen, so I'm trying to remind her of boundaries and manners.. she's already good for me, but maybe the lessons will stick with her with other people, too. 

Today, I took her for a walk down the road.  There's a pretty quiet side street that goes along one side of the barn, so we went down that.  It wasn't a long walk, probably no more than half a mile round trip, but it was her first time doing it.  There were quite a few cars... she was nervous but reasonably good.  I had her halt and stood between her and the car, keeping one hand at her head and one on her rump so she wouldn't swing into the middle of the road.  Thankfully, all the drivers were very good about slowing way down or even stopping and waiting for me to gesture them on.  On the way back, we jogged a little, especially practicing going from jogging to whoa.  I mostly want her to move on a hard surface, as what I've read indicates that that can help increase bone density.  A short walk with a bit of jogging on asphalt certainly won't hurt her, anyway.  Also, she's fat and needs exercise.  We're a good pair!  It must have looked silly, me jogging along the road with my horse in tow.

Hm, I suppose that's all for now..

Impending Apocalypse

Be warned!

I cantered River last night.  And survived.  Without fearing for my life at all.

I also rode The Mare.  She was... pleasant.  She didn't have any bitchy moments.  I can't even say how strange that is.  She's normally a complete, total, absolute bitch.  (Please note that I say this with love.  I wouldn't change her if I could.)

Obviously, this means the world will be ending.  Y'all should probably take care of anything you need to.  (Is it wrong that I'm from Buffalo and I use "y'all"?)

Back to Princess..  he doesn't really get the whole canter aids thing.  It goes like this:  trottrottrot, sit, ask for canter, TROTTROTTROT, steady, trottrottrot, sit, ask for canter,  TROTTROTTROT, steady, sit, ask for canter, TROTTROTCANTER.

We get there eventually, but it's not pretty.  I didn't use my whip, which is probably what we need... but I wasn't sure enough of him or me to do it.  Call me a wimp, but I didn't want to risk him doing something stupid.  Once we've cantered a couple more times I'll probably feel safer.  But we cantered I think 4 times, each going about once around the ring.  I must say, I really like his canter.  It feels big and forward without feeling out of control.  It's pretty comfy, too, which will only improve with better balance and when he learns to use himself properly.  We managed to canter a circle!  I wasn't sure he'd be able to balance on a fairly small circle--the arena is only 50' wide--but he did fine.  Thankfully, he's very easy to bring back to the trot.  Probably too easy, to be honest, but right now I'm happy with a horse who isn't inclined to run off on me.

I'd also like to note that my lovely ride on my mare--who I have ridden for ~5 years and owned for over 3 years and have jumped 3' on--did not include any cantering.  So we've got Princess, who I've had for less than a year and have only been seriously riding for less than two months.  And then we've got The Mare.  How is it my green OTTB is quieter, easier, and more sensible than my aged, broke mare?  Okay, yes, she is a chestnut Thoroughbred mare, but still...

Also, I finally got pictures from a show I took The Mare to about three years ago....

(Note how The Mare completely matches the horses on the standards.)
(Yes, I've gained a ton of weight since then... switching from barn work to a desk job and then being unable to walk for months sucks.  Granted, I've been as good as I'm going to get for like a year, so I can't use the cripple excuse anymore.)

See, I used to be able to ride!  Gosh I love my mare...

Cantering and jumping

(But not at the same time.)

First, River cantered under saddle on purpose for the first time today!  It took some work to get him into it, but once he got going it looked pretty nice.  Obviously he needs balance and muscle and all that, but I think we've got pretty decent raw material.

Because he was being good and I had a willing victim... I mean, rider... who is far braver than I am, Riv did some jumping..

I hadn't planned on putting it up that high... and by "that high" I mean "still under 2 foot"....  but he wasn't putting any effort into it lower.  He just trotted blandly over it..  which is a good thing, I guess, considering my horses usually see jumping as an excuse to run around like crazy.

He really was SUCH a good boy.  He didn't stop at the jump at all, nor did he rush it.  He did knock it repeatedly...  I don't know how to interpret that.  Is he sufficiently talented that little speedbumps like this don't even phase him, or is he so completely untalented that even a tiny jump is beyond his capabilities?  Time will tell, I guess..

OMG! How perfect!

A few posts ago, I said it was my 100th post.  Looking at my account, I realize that the total post count includes unpublished drafts.  So my *actual* 100th post was our first jump!  Is that perfect or what??

Why do I bother?

Sometimes I set up trot poles.  As in multiple poles precisely spaced for trotting.  It never fails, we manage to trot through once, maybe twice before he crashes through them and renders them unusable.  So I can either dismount and fix them or stay on and not go over the poles.  I prefer option B.  That's what happened last night..  He could really use the trot pole work, but we can't use them because he's a clod.  I suppose if I get my cavaletti, that would work--they're solid and heavy enough he'd have a hard time messing them up.  But they're solid and heavy enough that I don't fancy moving them into the indoor to ride and then taking them back out when I'm done.  So he gets a stay of execution.

Besides being a dumb boy, he was good yesterday and today.  Nothing special, just working on relaxing and giving.  Today he tried to stop by the gate, I whacked him, and he came very close to throwing a tantrum, but we managed to get through it without fireworks.  The next time he didn't stop, so he learned his lesson.

Pretty new halter got passed on to my baby today.

She's not quite 18 months old.  She wears the halter one hole smaller than River.  And, okay, it was a bit small on him, so she's like 2 holes smaller.  She's a half-pony yearling.  Riv is a 16.1hh Thoroughbred.  What??  In case you're interested, her withers are just under 15hh, her butt is 15.1 1/2".  *sigh*

I got braided her tail for fun.  I think it turned out okay considering I've never actually braided a tail before.  She's got the pony tail.  It is ridiculously full and thick.  She also has the pony metabolism.  No grain in months, just grass, and she's FAT.  I'm looking forward to winter so she can slim down.  She may get a grazing muzzle come spring...

Okie doke, that's all for tonight.  River is being cantered tomorrow for the first time!

We jumped again!!

See??!?!?!?!!

Sorry for the big chunk of dead space in the middle, youtube didn't seem to have a way to get rid of it.

Isn't he a good pony????  He cantered several times after the jump, but he wasn't stupid about it and he came back to the trot when I asked.

He was also REALLY good about relaxing and giving at the trot, though obviously it doesn't show in the jumping videos.  So so proud of the Princess!

Speaking of which....  funny story.  So I was at the barn and some people showed up.  I went out to get Riv and they were down by the paddocks looking at the horses.  A boy, maybe 8 or 10 years old, is talking to me, saying he rides, asking what horse I'm getting... very sweet kid.  I call for Princess and he comes over, I talk to him and the kid, and we head up to the barn to get tacked up.  Kid runs up to his dad and says "Dad, this is Princess!"  So I'm giggling to myself because the kid thinks Riv's name is actually Princess..  I clarified that he's really River, but I call him Princess because he's a wimp.

Bad news is, his pretty new halter isn't going to work.  His old halter was too big and rubbing the pointy bone above his eye, whatever that's called.  The new halter is too small and is rubbing the point of his cheekbone pretty badly.  Maybe his new name should be Goldilocks...  So pretty new halter will go to my baby instead, and maybe I'll just wrap the rubbing buckle on the big halter with fleece or something and call it good.

Really hoping to have time to ride tomorrow!

We jumped!!

Okay, so it's not much of a jump, but I don't care!  He jumped it and I didn't die!!  He was a very good boy about it, too.  The first time, he broke to a walk and awkwardly hopped over it.  The second time, I didn't really ride and so he was like "ummmmm.... let's go over here instead" but was good when I steered him back.  He got better every time until he was happily trotting forward over it without hesitating or making a big deal about it.

Then we worked on being forward and relaxed and giving.  He was okay.

Last, I decided to try halting and asking him to flex and soften his jaw.  He was confused at first, so there was lots of backing up and going sideways while he tried to figure it out, but after a few minutes, he got it.  He actually softened his jaw and relaxed into the bit, AND we were able to flex from one side to the other without fuss!  Such a good princess!

Because he was good about flexing, even if he was confused and wiggling around, I asked him to trot, which he did (while relaxing and giving!!).  We just went halfway around the ring--just enough to end on a forward note.

We had a very very good ride!

Oh dear.

Princess got longed in side reins yesterday so we could practice cantering.

He's gotten better about longeing.

Which is not to say that he's gotten good about longeing.  He's just less bad.

He's starting to understand that he must go FORWARD.  Stopping to face me and backing up are not acceptable responses.  On the bright side, he got a good butt workout when he did decide to back up... he'd backbackback, and then when I cracked the whip good and made him go, he'd spring off his hindquarters and move smoothly forward.  Or he'd spring off his hindquarters and buck to let me know he doesn't appreciate having a whip cracked at his rump.  I did end up closing the sliding door back into the barn so he couldn't see in.. otherwise he gets too distracted and hopes he can quit and go home.

Going to the left, he ended up being pretty good about going around and not stopping.  Asking to canter was tricky..  I don't think he really knows what "canter" means, so we'll work on that. 

The right wasn't so good.  Partly because he's an OTTB, partly I think because we spent a while going to the left and he was tired.  But he was a reasonably good boy.

I wrote on my friend's wall, the one who is willing to canter River...

Me:  So, cantering River this weekend probably won't work... we practiced cantering on the longe and there was lots of running around and bucking..

Her:  Let me know if he is still stupid later this week 
Me:  Just to clarify... you want me to let you know if my horse who injured himself bucking me off and has lumps of bone on his head from repeatedly walking into walls is still stupid in a few days.  Right. Will do

Tuesday morning is my AM chores day... walking my guys out to their turnout:

 Princess in his new halter.  Stupid weirdly sized head.  I suppose the horse size would have worked after all, but his previous horse sized halter was too big, so I went with cob. 

My 100th post!

Too bad it's not really exciting enough for such a momentous occasion....

I rode him Friday and Saturday.  It takes a while to get him figuring out contact and giving, but he was better the second day.

Saturday was pretty entertaining...  there was a lesson going on when I rode.  A western lesson.  The type of western where the horse moves as slooowwwllllyyyyyy as possible, and then a little bit slower.  Meanwhile, I had to dismount and ask the instructor to hold River so I could go get my whip because Princess was not moving forward or off my leg.  So you've got Mr. Slow Poke western horse jogging... and then me and River, probably looking like we were careening wildly out of control in comparison.  And me clucking and growling and smacking Riv to make him go MORE!  It's not a very big indoor, so it went like this:  Start trotting around, circle at A to avoid running up on western horse, trot on, circle at C to avoid running up on western horse, trot on, circle at A......

It was the first time I've ridden him with another horse since we moved and he was a very good boy.  At the end, I let him walk around and we practiced not stopping at the gate going back into the barn.  He really likes to stall there, apparently hoping I'll get the hint and put him away.  The first time he stopped, I popped him with my whip a couple times, and he tried to kick out!  Which got him a good kick back from me.  We circled past the gate a few times, with me carefully not touching him so he would be free to stop if he wanted to, but he was smart and didn't try to stop again.


Hanging out in the aisle waiting to go back in his stall:

Unicorn boy!

His enormous stall:

The pictures don't adequately show it, but this stall is huge.

Oh, and good news!  I have a volunteer to canter him for the first time!  Which means I'll have to longe him a few times and work on canter departs...

Hmm

I haven't posted in a few days, so I can't remember what's happened..

I rode at some point this week.  Tuesday, I think?  He was pretty good.  He's getting better about moving off leg.  We even attempted a leg yield at the trot.  It looked more like a drunken elephant trying to dance, but hey, he tried.  Not every horse can be smart or graceful..  Unfortunately, at the end of the ride, he turned up lame.  Not horribly lame, I think he just tweaked something being a silly clod.  Last night I took him out in the indoor to see him move and he was fine, so apparently whatever he did was no big deal.  He was trotting so nice and forward... he really has a lovely trot.

The ponies have actually worn clothes a couple times!  Just sheets so they don't get wet if it rains.  I'm almost looking forward to it getting cold so I can stop checking the forecast to see when the weather will call for clothes and when I'll be able to stop out and get them dressed.  They'll just have clothes on all the time, and that'll be that.  Much simpler.

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by quickly to say hi.

My poor, abused, overworked horses.

I ended up going to Tractor Supply and picking up some things, so they'll be getting an extra meal most nights.  I got beet pulp pellets, alfalfa pellets, and a cheap version of Omega Horseshine.  I have baggies made up...  1 cup each of beep and falf, and about a half cup of Horseshine.  Then I just have to dump the baggie into a little bucket, add hot water, and wait.  When it's ready, I add in about 2 cups of BOSS and a bunch of the extra grain I have in my car (Purina Omolene 500...  yeah yeah, NSC!!!  But it's 12% protein and 8% fat... they'll live).  Mix it all together, add in a generous splash or two of oil, and you have a yummy meal!  Well, yummy if you're a horse...  Last night I made one baggie and split it between them.  Princess can be a picky eater and I didn't want him overwhelmed with new(ish) food.  I may increase the amount of beep and falf they get, I haven't decided yet.  Hopefully a month or two of this will help get their weight where I want it and then we can go back to a maintenance level.  By the way, I have the hardest time spelling "maintenance".  I never get it right.

Also, my mare is a disgusting pig in her stall.  By morning, it looks like her stall was bedded down with nothing but poop and urine.  It's nasty.  I contacted the BO earlier in the week to see if I could put up a hay net--the mare isn't crazy about being stalled, so she fusses and paces and makes a mess.  I was thinking a hay net might slow down her eating and give her less time to be upset about being stalled.  My main concern wasn't really for her happiness, I just don't want the BO getting annoyed that my horse is a slob and is wasting bedding.... yeah, I'm not very nice.  BO responded that they'd noticed it too and were thinking about switching stalls, which is totally fine with me.  So now the mare is in River's previous stall, right next to a wee pony.  River is across the aisle in the biggest stall in the barn... seriously, it's got to be like 12 x 18 or something ridiculous like that.  They seem pretty happy.

So that's about it, I think..

I did trim a horse on Wednesday... Yikes.  It's going to take a few trims to get her feet in order.  I have to wonder if the farrier who's been doing her is purposely doing the worst possible job.  I'm not sure how it's possible to get feet so out of balance without really trying to do it..

Here are a couple before/afters.

Left front:

Right front:

That's all for now!

The Horrors of Blanket Washing

Yesterday, the package containing Princess' new winter blanket and a bottle of blanket wash arrived.

First, the new blanket is hot pink.  I mean HOT.  PINK.  I might need sunglasses to look at him.  I should feel bad.... but I don't.  At all.  I was at the feed store talking to a girl who works at the barn, and she said she was so confused for a while about River/Princess and Irish and trying to figure out which is the mare and which is the gelding.  She feels bad for Riv's pink blanket.  Oh well.  Besides, we're at a mostly-western barn where silver and bling and crystals and bright colors are normal.

Now on to the main portion of today's post...

I know I'd talked about going to a laundromat to wash blankets.  I gave it up and decided I wasn't going to make it there, so yesterday I washed the light stuff.

Sheet One:  River's Rambo Wug.  Found a dead bug in the washer.  Ewwww.

Sheet Three:  Irish's 100g Rambo.  Nothing scary here.

Now for the gross one...

Sheet Two:  Irish's Schneider's sheet.  Found a dead caterpillar in a cocoon, with its head and big eyes sticking out of the top.  I know it doesn't really sound all that icky, but trust me.  It was that icky.   *shudder*

I still have a sheet that's MIA, and frankly if it does turn up I may well be too afraid to touch it.  (BO who didn't feed my horses borrowed it and never returned it.  Gr.)

Blankets remaining to be washed:  Irish's heavyweight Rambo (which cost me $75 brand new!!!!  Deal of the century!) and Striker's midweight Schneider's.

Haven't seen Princess or the mare since Tuesday morning.  Pretty sure they're still alive.  I did see my baby Tuesday.. she's alive and well.  I'm almost looking forward to winter.. she's gotten fat on grass.  Not horribly obese, but too fat for a yearling.  Hopefully the cold and hay will slim her down a little..  she hasn't had grain in about 3 months!

Busy :(

Riv has been ignored for a while. 

Friday I worked all day, then did night chores at Riv's barn and went to bed.

Saturday I worked until noon, chilled out at home for a little while, went to the barn to water the ring (which took a good 2 hours), then went to my old guy's barn.  I trimmed two wee ponies' feet and did my stall.  Contemplated doing something useful, but decided to go to bed instead.  Here's one pony with one foot not done and one foot done:

Sunday I worked until 1 or so, took a nap (oops), went to a friend's house to get petsitting instructions, went to Riv's barn to do chores (stalls and feeding), went to the old guy's barn, cleaned 14 stalls, went home and went to bed.

Monday I got up at 3:30 in the morning.  Eeeeek!!!!!!  Took aforementioned friend to the airport, got home around 5:30, went back to bed for a couple hours, got up, went to old guy's barn, got 5 stalls done, went to work, got out of work, finished stalls and fed dinner, ran errands, took care of dogs and cats, went to bed.

This morning I got up, took care of the critters, did morning chores at Riv's barn (grain the few horses who get AM grain, put everyone out and throw hay), now I'm at work.  I need to do my old guy's stall.  I need to visit my baby.  I haven't seen her in over a week (!!!!!) and should probably verify that she is still alive.  I also have one more wee pony to trim.  Then petsitting duties.  I have no idea if I'll have time to ride today..

Tomorrow is going to be a long day at work.  Thursday and Saturday I'm working 6am to 2pm.  Ew.

I hate being too busy to do anything!!  Oh, and did I mention that my part-time job is going to SUCK for the next few weeks because the store is being converted into something else and the construction is ridiculous?  Yeah.  Gonna be super fun.

And it's starting to get cold.  I finally ordered blanket wash, so at some point I need to find time to go to a laundromat to wash all my horse blankets.  Anyone know how much pay washing machines cost?  I'll probably need a roll of quarters....

On the bright side, I ordered Princess a new winter blanket!  He has a purple Rambo Wug sheet, and soon he'll have a hot pink midweight turnout from Schneider's!  I also have a couple liners/underlayers, so I can adjust warmth as needed.  I'll err on the side of more warm, as he's still needing to gain weight and I don't want him burning calories to stay warm.  The mare will need her clothes, too..

So that's the story.  Sadly, not at all exciting...  just busy with stupid stuff.