When your life resumes (sort of)

At least my riding lessons are back on! Yes!

I ran my shoulder into a telephone pole a few weeks ago. Totally an accident but ouch! 

But with the resuming of some ‘normal’ activities comes roaring back all of my previous concerns/issues. Footing in the indoor.  Horses not being turned out enough. The outdoor is kaput, at least for this season? UGH.

I told my husband that I want to just buy a farm and deal with all this myself, dammit!

Ian made bagels and they were great! 

Otherwise…Address what I can, and then see what I can manage or not manage. Oats has been great otherwise, we had a return to lessons last week (jumping and dressage!) and I was really able to address our warm-up issues in a way that felt both calming, and productive. Go us! Phew!

I felt rusty as all hell but otherwise? Pretty darned good. Oats is moving great, I’m very pleased with that. I missed my trainers like crazy too. All the drama, angst, moving, rude and horrible boarders and COVID 19 and just…Man. My trip to Argentina  (haaaaaaaaa) not a thing anymore, summer holidays..?? Just. ARGH.

Oats has enjoyed lots of hand grazing, now that I work from home during this time and I have no commute! 

It still feels like some of my life is on hold, and will remain so.

Ian and I are able to get a lot of cool runs done throughout areas locally, and in the Cowichan Valley and I feel extremely grateful that we are able to do so with ease. Same with riding- at least I can do it? Despite all the ‘should I stay or go’ angst that continues to plague us?

I miss horse shows, friends, races, travel…Happy hours are coming back, and so are hair cuts, but the other stuff? Nope.

Ian and I are forced to be creative with our time, so we do a lot of running, food projects, and some creative projects too- like water colours.

This is a long and strange time, and I didn’t want to blog about it because all I felt was gloom and doom. I don’t really feel that anymore, but I do feel like I’m in this strange limbo where everyone is acting like normal, but behind the act is a lot of anxiety and uncertainty.

But since it’s going to be awhile, I might as well come back for now.

Take a bite out of me

Back to the grind, part 2. This felt like a strange week- work Monday and Tuesday, run a night time race (the Run through Time fun run on NYE at UVic), ride during the day Wednesday, and then back to work Thur/Fri??? My mind is confused, ha. I am not sure I would do the Run through Time again…It was fun, but the rain sucked, and I’m not really into the ‘fun runs’ per se…I was lapping people and that was annoying to me.

Oats says, take time this year to smell or eat the flowers! 

I did have my regular jump lesson on Thursday, and we were under winter storm conditions all day leading to Fri/the weekend, so I did feel kind of anxious and apprehensive about how bad the storm was going to be during my lesson! (again!). I didn’t even have to worry though- it was misting rain the whole time but on the whole not too windy or anything. Phew!

We worked on a fun exercise too- poles in a gymnastic, and then a middle jump, and then a few jumps on an angle. Everything was really low- so low that Oats got really lazy and decided he could just trot them, or maybe knock them down? UGH! Have you tried, Oats?? Ha. I wanted to focus on not pinching with my knees. Easier said than done…

I always look like a 12-year-old on Oats

I can now feel *when* I am pinching, but I am not consistent in NOT doing it. Oh well?!

It was fun though! We finished by jumping a small oxer like 10 times, ha. It got boring! Oats jumped it perfectly each time. I know why my trainer made me do it over and over…I get anxious with oxers. Very anxious. Even if they are really tiny! hahah. Well rest assured that the one got ‘old hat’ very soon for us. Oats wanted to start trotting instead, wondering ‘why’ we had to keep doing this…

yawn!

Sometimes the boring jumps are fun too!

Merry Holidays~

Our gingerbread train! Sweet eh?

From me, while I am back at work! Boo! But don’t feel too bad for me, I certainly enjoyed a big chunk of time off. I got to sleep in!! (yes!), go running! (and hurt my knee again!), lots of riding lessons- good and bad, and eat a ton of good food, drink some great wine, cider and tequila, and spend time with family.

Merry Christmas from the critters! 

I am a bit sad that Xmas – and let’s face it, my time off- is over, but I did make the most of my time off and got in a lot of fun activities, so I can’t get too bummed now, can I? I think Oats prefers when I am at work, because then he gets days off too! Hahah.

Gidget looking polite, even though she had a meltdown too. 

My jump lessons were both ok and not great- like, not terrible, he was still a good boy, but I felt a little jumbled and all over the place. My first lesson in my time off was NOT great- it was a dramatic windstorm complete with pouring rain. Honestly it felt like a tornado! Oats lost his ever-loving mind. He was bolting, trembling and freaking the eff out. Strange for him…. The vibes were clearly not to his favour. I 100% was sure I didn’t want to have a lesson, get on my horse who is having a panic attack and jump, but by the end of my lesson guess what I was doing? Jumping a small course of smaller fences! Hah! Never say never I guess? We still couldn’t get near the side of the arena that he was afraid of though…

My sister in law got this for me- isn’t it adorable?

And for my dressage lesson the next day, he was perfect! Go figure eh?

Christmas was good, lots of family time (which is good and bad…), and we did some family activities, and made a gingerbread train too! Both Gidget and my husband had meltdowns though, ahhh. I managed to really rack up my knee running, how I did it is anyone’s guess but I had this really sharp and intense pain under my knee cap. I managed to limp home, and now over a week later I have trouble going down the stairs. FML. AGAIN!

My friend from Ottawa sent this to me- it’s a chocolate postcard! So cool eh??

I had another jump lesson on Boxing Day, and it was ok- but I couldn’t like, get my knee to stop pinching….And our straightness was an issue too, unfortunately. I had a dressage lesson the next day and it was definitely not quite as lovely as our lesson the week previous. Why is it that when I have a FABULOUS lesson, the one immediately after it, the one were I am actually expecting to be great, sucks?? Riddle me this!

We played a game with balloons- these were the balloons I bought. Funny eh?

Oh well! I did my trot fence practice yesterday too, and while the arena was bizarrely busy (5 horses on a Sunday? WTF??) It went really well! Good Oaty! Bareback ride tonight, he gets tomorrow off because I have NYE plans, and then lesson on Thursday again like normal. I guess returning to the routine has it’s benefits.

My secret Santa NAILED IT! This weighed about 10lbs, and was so good I almost died eating it! 

Some of the amazing gifts I received this year! 

 

Celebrating Apple Day

My favourite day of fall- Sea Cider’s Apple Day!

The whole gang mostly came! 

We gathered up the gang and went to enjoy ourselves on Sunday. And we had a great time! The ciders were great (I prefer the Witch’s Broom, Ruby Rose, and Bramble Bubbly!) and the food selections, while limited, were tasty. Standouts included the apple shortcake with caramel and whipped cream- I had TWO portions and they sold out!! As well as the pork pot pie *so good! And as well the cream puff stuffed with apple whipping cream and covered in white chocolate, and the mini chicken sausage in a bun with sauerkraut.

Isn’t it lovely? 

YUM! My favourite time of fall. I hope they do a winter one again too! I missed it last year.

A great time with my horse girls. 🙂

Won’t let you down

Riding this week has been in the distinctly ‘ok’ camp- nothing amazing, but nothing bad either. Rode lightly Monday (FREEZING), worked on no-stirrups on Tuesday (much more reasonable temperatures), had a jump lesson last night where we worked on adjustability by my request over poles/small x-rails (it kind of sucked, but yeah that’s clearly where I need to improve haha), and have a dressage lesson tonight.

Where I will likely be working on…canter adjustability. Hah.

Oats wasn’t even sweating last night, and the work is tiring for him. I guess since he is clipped and in pretty good shape, he just doesn’t sweat? He has had a recurring poopy butt though, UGHHH that is a lot of fun to deal with every day. The hay is too rich for him, and he’s been having gastrointestinal effects for about two weeks now. I had hopes that it was improving this week, until I got to the barn on Thursday and nope…Still gross. Poor pony!

He was also kind of in slugville, ha. I am putting him back on Previcox this winter, to see if it helps him move more freely when it gets cold. On Monday, he moved like the Tin Man. Stiff, uncomfortable and just awful! My husband joked that it’s like me starting a race- stiff, awkward, slow and super uncomfortable. Takes me a good 10-20 minutes to warm up into it…As for Oats I guess?

I am hoping the Previcox helps him when it gets colder out. As it is, the weather has been very mild! 🙂 Since the deep freeze on Monday. Also it’s raining a lot, sooooo yeah. Otherwise I’m just trying to put the training in on Oats, but still maintaining good perspective with a mix of easy rides, beach rides and the girls are trying to get him out on a trail ride with them one day…We’ll see about that.

I am also still focusing on rehabbing my ligament injury, which is kind of a back-and-forth journey most weeks- I can barely feel the injury anymore, except when I run too much or too fast, then it swells back up into a lump of scar tissue on my lower hip/groin. Lovely.

So many things! Horse update

So, in between my crazy schedule lately of holiday- work trip up North- music festival in Vancouver I had a jump lesson! And I wasn’t 100% pleased with Oats (his effort to my effort ratio does NOT always match up) I was pleased with how it rode in the end, and in my anxiety levels.

I was riding in a semi-private with another young rider – just for the month of Sept- but I’m really enjoying it! It’s fun to watch another rider negotiate the same course and see what challenges they face, and how their horse jumps as well.

Oats was stuck off my leg, sulky and kind of rude about it for oh, the first 2 or 3 jumps in the course but we figured it out and he got with the program. AND the jumps went a little higher and we didn’t wig out (Oats knocked a rail off one, dammit!). That will cost us in the hunter/jumper ring…

Weather was great, and we had some nice jump vibes. Bonus- the other rider’s mom was there and took some photos. YES! I never get media, so I am just loving it. 🙂 It started raining this weekend (and basically didn’t stop in Vancouver) so our time in the outdoor is sadly limited. I will enjoy it while I can.

Another busy week coming right up!

Is it too much to ask? Dressage recap!

So my dressage semi-private lessons with Oats have been pretty good, suspiciously good lately in fact. So it was only a matter of time before Oats had a big throw-down hissyfit ‘I don’t wanna’ lesson, and last night was kind of it!

Oats gets a haircut…

Luckily, he is also 17 and can’t buck as hard as he used to! Phew!

We worked a fairly difficult exercise- turn off the short end, and leg-yield at the trot. This will eventually turn into leg-yield and transition within the leg yield, and back to the gait. So we did trot-walk-trot (HARD), and then trot-canter and then canter-trot. Oats was fairly amenable on one rein- left rein to right leg yield and was kind of a disaster on the other!

Oh Oats!

He was like, umm…no. Instead of our regularly scheduled transition, he would LEAP instead of moving sideways. Like, actually just jumping in the air. Greeeat….

This escalated a bit into a leap-buck, but like I said he is getting older so his bucks didn’t really unseat me, thank god. Ha.

This lesson is one that we had done last year, but without the transitions. And the leg-yield was enough of a brain-melter for both horses! We could barely even get the leg-yielding so being able to ask just a ‘little bit more’ was a stretch for Oats, and he was learning (slowly and kind of nastily) but learning.

So there is progress, albeit very slow and kind of unpleasant for me when Oats really gets going. Oh well, I can manage! And it is nice to see how the exercise develops from one year to the next. Oats is also clipped, so I didn’t have to spend forever and a day cooling him out. YESSSS!

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

A quote I’ve always loved, partially because I kind of hate winter, partially because it exemplifies that ‘never give up’ ethos that I try hard to live!

Frosty days

It has been FREEZING here. Yeah yeah I’m sure people who live in actually cold climates are laughing their butts off, but yeeesh, I am not used to it.

These below-seasonal temps have made riding kind of a pain, my hands and toes are freezing, my breath catches in my throat and my eyes water. My quarter sheet does not want to stay on my dear pony’s butt! It flies off him at every opportunity, and it makes me laugh so hard when that happens! Thank GOD he is pretty bombproof and couldn’t care less about a blanket sliding off his butt when we’re cantering! HAHA though I think it has happened enough now that he is used to it.

And how has dear Oaty pony been? Pretty good actually (part of me wants to say I’m surprised! ha). Good ride on him on Tuesday, and Wednesday actually. I tried some no-stirrup work at the trot (two point again, for my pathetic 2-laps of the ring) and was dying. Just dying. Canter two-point no stirrups was MUCH easier, though a bit of a slacker’s move.

I was still freezing though, despite the ‘intensive’ two point no-stirrups work.

Thursday was my lesson with Nicole and I always start off feeling very apprehensive. But you know what? It went really well! True- not perfect- but I’m getting glimmerings of what I normally ride like back…And I like it! We worked on bounce gymnastics (HATE!) but they were riding better than they normally do, so yeah!! And then we worked up to a small course- bounce gymnastics, small x-rail liverpool, x-rail one-stride combination (that we didn’t make at first, but then did!), to a x-rail on the diagonal.

I know, I know- what’s with all these x-rails? Truth is, I haven’t really felt like jumping higher lately?!

I feel like I am beginning to master something (eyes? better jumping position?) and I want to stay at a height (well, lack of height really), where I feel safer.

Though I do think Oats would sometimes like to jump higher! He gets bored sometimes, haha.

Octopus stew and other handicrafts

Well not technically octopus stew- we braised it in wine, and then grilled it and then served it over salad. Delicious! Very beefy texture.

Octopus stew?

We made this awhile ago and I never had the chance to showcase it, haha.

Also sparked my mind because we were very handmade this weekend, making an apple crumble and apple chips in the dehydrator. Yum! Love them!

And how did other things go? Oats was good, got a big clip (hahaha) and so did Gidget. Haircuts for all! So no ride for Oats Saturday, because he had to stay dry and clean for the clip and tranq.

Sleepy clipped Oats- photo courtesy of Nicole

He rode really nicely on Sunday, I schooled a few small fences outdoors and was quite pleased with his ride. Kept it short because I was so happy!

Gidget also gets a haircut

I went on a ok run on Saturday and a better run on Sunday- after getting my knee checked out by professionals on Friday, I feel like I have a better idea how to manage my knee pain- starting with a better running brace to hold my kneecap in place. Getting that tomorrow, yes! And I am also getting my knee x-rayed- hope to get that done next week.

All in all, a more productive, less stressful and happier weekend.