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Friday, December 16, 2016

Back At It Again

OMG. You all I love you so much. Thank you for the kind words--I truly forgot how lovely people CAN be < 3

If it weren't essentially negative degrees out with the windchill, I would say it feels so good to be riding again....but in reality, you cannot wear enough clothing to make riding sub 20* comfortable.

But I really wanted to and had time, so I did.

Will not be doing that again, ha.

Generally, for everyone's sake, I try to keep mounted activities secluded to days above 25*, as a general rule. Its no fun under that, and really kind of a waste of energy because not much gets done anyways. PLUS, I know it sucks to breathe that cold ass air and I don't like forcing my horses to work in those temps.

Random too, it will be 55* tomorrow, even though its 12* today. Then sleet, then plummet back down to 20*. In 48 hours. LIKE WAT.

That being said, I will take sub zero temps over 100+ temps ANY DAY. I hate summer and hope to never live in the south. Ya'll can KEEP IT.

That also being said, I actually had a good time the other night hopping on B for a bit while V jumped a little.

B was WORLDs different than this time last year. If you've been following me long enough, you might remember how god awful he was in the winter months those first two winters. Moving to EME helped drastically last winter...but the first...I try to not remember the disaster that was trying to ride him.

My big man is all growed up. Kind of.

(TBs never really grow up :P)

I actually forced bribed a male human that I've been canoodling to come out to the barn with me in freezing temps to video for me, since V was also riding and he fuckn did it. wat. (disclosure; he actually offered before I bribed him with food, which is unbelievable).

So I actually got video of both myself and V! SCORE.


I actually find this video super entertaining all the way through. In the beginning he's a bit cold and hype and the flying change exuberance is just, on point. Then he settles and the trot work looks fantastic and the canter improves. Good boy! (don't mind the last 55 SECONDS of  man friend filming the cat)

He was a titch exuberant about the flying changes, which I find endearing and hilarious, but overall he remained rather soft and lovely. We are both wicked out of shape so the left lead felt and looked like trash, but overall it was a good refresher ride. We will be working on that canter in the next few weeks for sure. I was rather pleased with the trot work though. In the past that been his most difficult gait and I was pleasantly surprised to come back after like a month and find it still installed and rather lovely.




Also here's the video of V and Yanks trying their hand at some distance work. I am SO proud of how far they've come together as a team. V has kicked some major ass in the lat 1/3 of this year and I can't wait to see where she goes next season :)


Such a good boy he is. Love that horse to death!

So, myself and my young child are a bit out of shape, but we are back in the game now. We both need to work on some strength, which might be challenging in the winter months but I am up for it as long as the weather cooperates. My core is literally garbage at the moment and today my inner thighs are screaming. Insane how you lose everything in such a short period.

Also, kind of shitty to list him for sale then take a month break...but thats why I have yet to actually put ads out online; mostly word of mouth at the moment. Kind of asinine to sell an out of shape beasty as a jumper who hasn't jumped in about 6 weeks+ LOL

Save for the clinic I STUPIDLY took part in and failed miserably. This is a backtrack/slight recap.

In case you were wondering how it goes to not jump in like 4-ish weeks, be on your deathbed and have it be a 30* day and partake in a jumping clinic, the answer is FUCKING TERRIBLE.

A collection of fails actually captured (there were so many more).
Please note B refusing BOTH elements of the line. I can't. I rode like shit.

It was mostly me--my body literally forgot how to ride and B got sick of it and flat out quit. I do not blame him TBH. Thats about all the recap you get because it was a disaster and not worth talking about. Total waste of  my money. I don't know what I was thinking, ha.

Me: I've forgotten how to ride
Me to Me: sit there and do nothing and also haul on his face

At one point B had had enough of my flopping and jabbing him in the face he LITERALLY tried to get me off of him, with gusto. Think, crow hopping in anger. Again, I don't blame him. When he couldn't shake me he just stopped, lol. Like wouldn't move. The clinician was like, "well, he's done with you" and laughed. I was like, yeah, FML. We had a few good moments mixed in, but not really, HAHA.


Exibit A on how to duck over fences




So. Here we go on operation "rebuild" as I like to call it. Get back to healthy eating, healthy sleeping.  lifting and RIDING properly!

Its been far too long!



21 comments:

  1. LOL get it girl.

    thanks for being brave and sharing the fail photos. I really need to do a recap of one of my early jump lessons on my horse when I couldnt get my STEEPLECHASE HORSE to jump ANYTHING.

    so good at riding.

    I lived in upstate NY all through college so my lower limit is 12* (excluding windchill).

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    1. I will always share fails!! We ALL have them and I think its rather silly to pretend we don't!. GAWD horses though, why is it so hard sometimes haha

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  2. Definitely a great attitude to put forward!

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  3. lol i love how proud B is of his flying change in that video. bummer about the failtastic clinic tho... i've def been there before haha. here's to rebuilding!

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  4. Coming back to riding after being super sick is not a good time. Looks like there were still some good moments in there!

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  5. I once played a game of polo while simultaneously having pneumonia and bronchitis. I don't actually know how I didn't die. It's just really not a good idea to ride while sick, but I keep on doing it anyway because I don't learn from past mistakes. I'm glad you're feeling better now though. Have fun with the rebuilding!

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  6. Oh man, I love the audio in the V & Yankee video ahahaha. You're so supportive. The boys looks great!

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    1. Bahaha I HATE listening to my own voice! I do try to be a supportive friend and rider though to people and horses alike :)

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  7. When I first got Prince 20 degrees was my cut off for too cold to ride, but I think that went up by 5 degrees each year after that when I failed to figure out how to dress and not be miserable riding in the cold. I sure don't miss that!

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    1. In reality, I would prefer to NOT die in anything under 40* but then we would literally not be riding all winter hahah. Luckily, the new farms indoor stays relatively warm!

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  8. Glad you're feeling better - coming back after not riding awhile is always such a pain

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    1. It truly is the worst!! I hate how quickly we lose muscle tone

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  9. B looks so adulty and happy in his video! And I will forever love Yankee. How could you not? Also, let's not ride when sick again, alright woman? Looking great now though!

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    1. FINE I won't, haha. And Yankee is just...the best. Simply, and forever. B is also growing and being a good lad even in the cold!! < 3

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  10. These huge temperature swings make me so nervous!

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  11. Now that my foot is out of a boot I'm so stoked to start lifting. I see your insta/fb and just be like #liftgoals

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