So I was just going to work on the buckle and concentrate on my position today at the barn since it was so hot out, but when the lesson student and my instructor came in leading the lesson pony Fi actually whipped around and tried to canter down to see her. Under saddle. While I was riding.

She got approximately two strides before I quit being astonished and got pissed off. I put her in a frame and in front of my leg and we then did thirty minutes of turns on the forehand, turns on the hindquarters, reinback, shoulder-in, trot-halts, and some of the nicest canter work I’ve gotten in quite a while. My instructor was pleased. I was pleased. Fi was less pleased, but she clearly, clearly was not taking me seriously today until that, so lesson learned there. Silly pony.

I think the saddle in the pic is that old cutback AP Crosby Corinthian that I was utterly in love with.  The blocks were small but it was comfy and secure, and I must have logged a thousand miles in it- it fit nearly everyone, so I put it on whomever I was riding unless Camp was in and it was assigned to Barnes there. The only one I liked better was the ancient Kiefer cross-country monoflap that took a dressage girth and had blocks so big it would have taken an 8.5 on the Richter scale to even begin to dislodge you. That was the best saddle for hacking EVAR.

Pics from yesterday (it was snowing today, not great for pics) of a very grubby and shedding Fiona and a grubby and not shedding me. :)

Actually I ran out of treats on Friday and didn’t get a chance to make it to Tractor Supply for more, so Sunday I had to give Fi the dust at the bottom of the bag for her treat and she was hugely affronted. The look she gave me was clearly “I am accustomed to a higher class of service from this establishment, ” and when she ate it, she gave the impression that she was only doing it so I wouldn’t feel bad.

Luckily I was able to scrounge a carrot today or I don’t know what she would have done :)

I am really looking forward to jumping again. I could use a refresher course on someone who isn’t Fi, since she’s pretty green yet, but once upon a time going over the biggest baddest things I could find in the field was all I wanted to do with my life.

horsesornothing:

free-on-a-horse:

musermatt:

littletrenchcoatangel:

infinitetundra:

lifewithanorwegianfjord:

this is mesmerizing. 

non equine blogs have reblogged this? Because that’s really cool because horses and stuff.

omg there are eQUINE BLOGS?

of course there are!

there are probably literally hundreds of us lmfao

now i feel like we were some sort of secret civilization…

I think you kind of are, lol.

So we’re back from the barn, and Fi was a bit of a pain since the barn owner was looking for something in the feed room and happened to move the feed buckets, so even though it was two hours early for evening feed she was convinced she was going to miss dinner and was quite irritating because of it.

Still, we got through all right; I longed again as I think the Doc and I have come down with a mild cold and I just couldn’t get warm enough or un-tired enough to think about getting on. It seemed to suit Fi all right.

So Fi is pretty much fine; even my instructor was telling me that she needed to be worked and not babied now :) I longed her in full kit rather than just on a halter and we did some good work, especially considering that we haven’t done any serious work in about a week and a half. My instructor has been after me about making her ratable on the longe as well as under saddle, so we worked on five strides of more trot, five strides of less trot, and the same at walk. Canter I just asked for and got a steady, even rhythm, since I was still just ever so slightly paranoid about the injury (the longe, since it’s on a circle, is more work on them than a ride in the whole ring with straight lines and whatnot) I’ll get on either tomorrow or Monday, and then we’ll be back on track.

In other news, Fi is very close to being paid off! I might be able to take care of it all next month, and the month or so after that will be the last of my school loans, so that is awesome.

So it turns out I can just order Spring vacs for Fi without having the vet out - apparently the standard 5/6-way and WNV aren’t prescription only in PA. Even with thirty bucks for overnight shipping I’ll still be saving about a hundred bucks versus having the vets come out and do it. As much as I love our vets I could do without the farm call and what-have-you.

I wish someone had told me about this earlier; I’d have been doing it for years.

Fi’s fetlock is on the mend; Saturday we were down to a small bit of squishiness about the size of a quarter, which is good, and so she got to go out yesterday to her considerable satisfaction. She was so tired of being in all the time; when I picked up her halter Sunday morning to adjust it on the hanger she pressed up against the door and started whickering - I  hadn’t been planning on walking her since she was going out but I couldn’t say no to her.

We checked on her this morning and unsurprisingly a little swelling came back after her (no doubt riotous) turnout, but after a bit of walking there wasn’t much - a spot in between a quarter and a nickel - so I’ve moved riding back to Friday and we’ll just continue with turnout and handwalking and icing it for the week and see how we go. She continues to be sound as a dollar on it, and our overtrack has back to its usual proportions since Friday, but joint injuries make me very very cautious. I’d rather lose a couple of weeks here and be overcautious then just launch back in and lose our whole summer (or worse!)