Thursday, October 15, 2015

Two Rides

Yesterday afternoon
Two short rides this week, one on Sunday afternoon, one yesterday afternoon.  Ruby seems happy to be 'working' again - she has been amazing. We have trotted a few times for 2-3 minutes each time.  She must be feeling good, because she has been rather competitive with the other horses during these short trot stretches.  These rides have been very short: 2-3 laps around the pasture, maybe 30 minutes each.  I am watching her fetlock/lower leg closely and linimenting it after rides.  As we increase time in the saddle, she will start wearing her Equisleeves overnight.  I have her on MSM to help with inflammation; nothing stronger because I want her to feel it (and tell me) if we start doing too much.  I'm feeling hopeful, terrified,...and slightly obsessed. 

Saturday, October 10, 2015

New Skito


After incessantly checking my email for the last week and a half, I got a shipping notification from Skito on Thursday.  The pad wasn't supposed to arrive until Tuesday, so I put it out of my head.  However, it was waiting for me this afternoon when I returned home from a quick errand - woohoo!

I headed out to the barn as soon as I was finished with some things around the house.  Within 15 minutes of my arrival, when I was still cleaning Ruby's stall, this happened.

Total downpour
One good thing about Florida weather is that it can go from downpour to sunny in just a few minutes.


By the time I was done with Ruby's stall, it had stopped raining.  However, now that the grass was soaked (and slick), no trotting for us.  That's okay, there will be other rides.

I was a terrible blogger and didn't get pics of Ruby all tacked up in her new pad.  Suffice to say that I really like how much more wither clearance this pad has compared to the Equipedic.  I also like that the inserts are beveled, are thinner than the Equipedic's, and are firmer.  The workmanship on it is beautiful, and the color really pops.  I used a longer girth and really slathered on the Chamois Butt'r in her 'armpits', then mounted up.  Ruby seemed to be very comfortable during our 15 minute ride around the barnyard.  In fact, and I feel horrible about this, a few times it seemed she was expecting something (a pinch from the girth?) but when it didn't happen, she hesitated for a fraction of a second, then lengthened her stride.  A few weeks of building her up in the pasture and arena with some road riding, then I hope we'll be able to hit the trails again. 


Friday, October 9, 2015

Other hobbies

Well, since I'm in between horse stories for the moment (waiting on my Skito!), I thought I'd write about something else.  Hobbies.  I have many.  There are just so many things that I'm interested in, so many things that I like to do or would like to do...I always have something going on.  Part of my problem is that I hate sitting still.  Even watching TV in the evenings, winding down, I like to be doing something.  That's just me.  Horses are #1 (easily!), but here are a few other things I enjoy. 

Archery: my husband took me to a Sportsman's Warehouse about five years ago and asked me to pick out a compound bow for myself.  He'd had one for a year or so and thought I'd like it...I was skeptical.  Turns out that I really do enjoy it.  And I'm pretty good at it.  I have lots of bulls-eye pics, but I like this one best, although it is blurry.



My husband and I were at the shooting range.  Tired of shooting at flat targets, we came up with a game.  First, we shot at kitty's paw (notice it's sticking out), but that was too easy as well.  We decided to turn the cat and aim for the nose.  My husband is a good shot, but I totally whipped him that day.  I can shoot a gun as well, but much prefer my bow - it's quiet, it requires a slightly different skill set, and you can re-use your ammo - I am a bit of a cheapskate, yes, lol.  I haven't hunted yet, but plan to at some point in the future.  No trophy hunting for me, I won't shoot what I don't plan to eat.  My bow ranks up in the top three inanimate objects that I would hate to live without, the other two being my fugly, but still fabulous, truck and my saddle. 

Knitting/crochet - I taught myself to do both; knitting probably seven years ago, crochet one year ago.  It keeps me busy when I have to be inside and quiet (late in the evening when the kids are asleep, waiting for an appointment, etc.), and I truly enjoy making things for my kids that can't be bought in stores.

Mario mushroom and one of the cutest kids ever.

A red one, currently in-progress for my nephew.

Sewing: another thing that I am trying to learn on my own (thank God for Youtube!).  I do this when I have to be inside, but I don't have to be quiet, lol.  This is a hand bag that my daughter and I are making together.  She picked out the colors and the pattern, and it looks beautiful in person.

Not perfect, but that makes it better imo.
Cross-stitch (is your head spinning yet?): No pictures of finished works, but I'm trying desperately to finish two beautiful stockings for my kids before Christmas. 

If we had a yard, I would have a garden.  And chickens.  I miss my chickens and goats.  Instead, I have a small patio garden.

Bertha and two of her chicks.
Sweet Pea (came with the name but it fit, so...)
Sweet Pea and Sierra - they know I'm hiding.
ETA: Fishing!  I love fishing...well, at least when the fish are biting.  I'm terrible at it, though.  This is one of those things that I should have learned from my grandfather when he was still alive, but I was a teenager with better things to do at the time *sigh*.  I can catch little fish all day long, but decent-sized fish elude me....

Case in point, this tiny little bream.  The smile is because this particular trip was the first time I'd fished in over a decade (how old does it make me feel to say 'in over a decade' - geez!).

With my beautiful daughter in the background <3


My final hobby is trying to keep this guy out of trouble.

So handsome, so accident-prone. 
This happened late last month.  He actually had to have surgery to re-attach a tendon to one of his thumb joints.  He and Ruby both love to keep me on my toes.

Well, I think that's about it.  Even when I'm not riding, I have a ton going on but I like it that way :)

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Fat jeans, skinny jeans

I'm one of those ladies who's weight tends to fluctuate with the seasons.  The reasoning, for me, is that I tend to be much less active during the winter...I hate the cold, and the holidays being during this time doesn't help either (kids mean lots of special baking, and everything has to have proper taste-testing, amiright?).  So, I have slightly different sizes of jeans to wear during the summer/fall versus winter/spring. 

My husband came out to the barn with me yesterday.  He isn't a horse guy, per se, but I'd been talking  about Ruby's recent girthing issues so he came out to give me a fresh set of eyes.  In fact, he had the idea to tack up Ruby in saddle with different girths, then slow-mo record  her while I walked her around.  He wanted to stay very close to her left side (where she rubbed most recently) so we could get a good idea of exactly what was happening.

BTW: I have mentioned a few times that Ruby isn't exactly outgoing and friendly...I am one of the few (maybe the only?) people of whom she approves, the rest are merely tolerated.  Ruby's face while Chris crouched down to walk beside her and directly behind me was a sight to behold, lol.  She did not approve of his creepy behavior at all.  In fact, when I'd tie her to change girths, she would hide her face on whatever side of the post was opposite of Chris and bug her eyes like she could not believe how much she'd just been violated (how's that for anthropomorphizing!).  A few times I had to talk her down...she seemed to be thinking of retaliation towards him a few times while we were walking.

Unfortunately, all vidoes are still on the hub's phone and he's at work, but the problem became glaringly obvious...Ruby needs a longer girth.  Duh.  I swear that sometimes I need to be hit over the head with a mini-bat.  A 'fat girth', if you will, like I sometimes need my fat jeans.  Three of the girths are 18", while I have one that is 22".  Funny how all three of the 18" girths fit differently though, so today I'm going to measure them all. 

The new Skito should be done soon.  It will have the laminated inserts (more support, less squish) and shims, which will probably cause an entirely new set of girthing circumstances so I'll measure her for a new girth when it arrives.  Maybe then we'll be able to get back to riding!

P.S.  I hope that my reference to 'fat jeans' hasn't offended anyone.  Know that while I like to laugh at myself, I am not making light of anyone who is having weight or health issues - the only person I am poking fun at is myself :)