If It's Not One Thing

It's another.

I'd LOVE to be able to post that I've had regular rides for a week and things are going well, however, that's really not the case yet.

First there was the weather and it started with ice and the barn being shut down. Then we had extreme mud and my car decided to break and cost me nearly $1400 in repairs. That both depled my emergency fund that I've been pouring my heart and soul (or mostly just all my pennies) into as well as the small amount of trailer savings I'd built up. Grrrrr

No pictures of the mud but here it is with the ice.
This was when the barn opened again because it was warm enough that it wasn't a skating rink.

The car repair meant that I had a loaner for a few days and didn't feel like needing to call a tow truck to get a massive BMW, that wasn't mine, towed at the barn when I got it stuck in the mud so I didn't go out for a few days. Then I got my car back but the steering was sort of erratic and getting worse so I missed a couple more days before finally bringing it back to the shop. In addition to that Katai had spring shots this past Wednesday and I gave her that day and Thursday off before going out on Friday guessing I'd be lunging. Unfortunately pony's neck was SUPER stiff and I'm wondering if she was also running a bit of a temperature. I gave her bute, groomed her and let her be.

Today I went out and when I first saw her in her stall I was so hopeful! Her neck no longer looked so stiff and I was hoping that the bute had helped and I'd be able to do just a light ride at mostly walk to get her back into things. However, I was grooming her and went to brush her side on the left and she nearly took my face off. Clearly her tummy was bothering her and after poking around a bit more it was clear she was feeling pretty ulcery. I gave her Tums and some ulcer meds and decided that based on how reactive she was being riding was only going to set us back.

I'm over here freaking out a little since I'm signed up to ride with K's trainer in a week and it's been over a week since I had a ride on my pony. Seriously, it would be great if the universe would just cooperate and let me get out to the barn on a regular basis!

Also, the vegan soul food from this all vegan restaurant was wonderful!

Leaving this blog on a positive note, the weather is AMAZING! It was in the mid 50s today and consistently it's been in the 40s. Thank goodness! I've finally been leaving Katai naked and it's been so nice to be able to be at the barn without feeling like I'm just trying to survive :)

I'm also really excited about my lesson next week! It would just be even better if I could ride at least a couple times before I ride so fingers crossed.

I also got all my tack cleaned last night and clean tack is the best. Now I just need to wait until shedding season is closer to being over and then I'll wash my brushes. I'm also working on getting my   blankets to a place that will wash them since I can't now that I'm living in a nice apartment with my bf.

Christmas Updates

Wow, I've been a bad blogger. Between not having a car, Christmas stuff, family stuff, and personal stuff it's been a crazy few weeks. I also tend to not take much time off around the holiday so I've been fitting Christmas stuff in around a mostly full workload.

It's looking like I'll be able to pick up my car tomorrow morning, more on that later, and holiday stuff is starting to quiet down so hopefully I'll be back in the full swing of blogging very soon. However, I did want to post a few updates starting with my gift from the Blogger Gift Exchange!

I sent my gift just before the deadline of 12/19 and haven't heard anything so plan to follow up soon. However, I received my amazing gifts a week or so ago and it's just been so crazy that I didn't get it posted right away. My gifts were from Kristen at Stampy and the Brain and they are awesome! This is my first year participating and I'd mentioned that coat care or hair care items would be good.

Kristen got me a spray bottle, wonderful flicker brush, and some hair moisturizer that I'm anxious to try out! I also got an adorable note pad and a really cute card. It was so great getting a surprise for Christmas, I had a great time participating and can't wait to do this again next year :)

I also wanted to post an update about my car. I dropped it off at the shop on Thursday morning last week and they've had it ever sense. Of course Christmas delayed things and they've been great to work with. Unfortunately my car was totaled but in this case since it's very drivable and just ugly I'm going to retain it and keep driving it. I can't wait to get it back especially so that I can go to the barn.

Sadly the only times I've been to the barn in more than a week are for my lessons the Tuesday before Christmas and the Tuesday after Christmas. Understandably for my ride yesterday Katai was stiff and felt a little tight and sore especially since she was very in heat. All of the crazy weather changes we've been having lately certainly aren't helping. My goal is to make it to the barn every day through Sunday once I have my car. I'm missing my little ladybug so much!

Good Reason for a Name Change

My pony really isn’t stubborn. Yesterday started out sort of poorly after discovering in the morning that my car, which just last week got a new transmission that I paid way too much for, was doing EXACTLY the same thing it had been doing before it was “fixed”. I called the shop right away in the morning, nearly in tears and they said to bring it in after work which meant getting permission to leave early. Luckily I was able to leave early but it meant that I wouldn’t be able to ride or spend time with Katai and after my recent vacation and not really spending any time with her last week that was a huge blow.

It’s not that the repair shop was going to take that much time it is just that it doesn’t make any sense to drive all the way home (the shop is about two minutes from my house) and then drive back, past work, to get to the barn.  Unfortunately I am not rich enough to be able to not worry about the cost of gas so I try to make my trips count.

At any rate, I finished at the shop (still no answers) and then headed home to eat dinner and watch movies. I got home around 5:15 which is way earlier than normal and the internal debate began. It’s really not that late, I could totally make it back to the barn, its far away, a waste of gas, I miss my poneh!!!, seriously just be an adult!, pout, I wouldn’t get back until close to 10:00PM, but I want to RIDE, etc.

I miss my pony won.

I drove the 40 minutes back to the barn and proceeded to have one of the best, most productive rides with Katai that I’ve had. I feel like she was studying The Complete Training of Horse and Rider by Alois Podhajsky while I was on vacation. 

She was listening to my seat and paying attention to subtleties that she hasn’t in the past and she was moving back to front at a walk. Pushing off with her hind end and letting me change her balance a bit with the reins. It was glorious! She was hot and jumpy, not really abnormal with her which is really odd compared to any other pony I’ve worked with, but she listened and just like normal our riding work was better than anything on the ground. It’s not that she doesn’t have excellent ground manners, she REALLY does, it’s just that she seems to get bored and frustrated with the simple stuff really easily and as soon as I give her something to work on she goes right into the zone. Like pony Zen.

 Standing tied with hay “Gahhhh this wall is going to eats me!!!”, “I’m doing a Levade for no reason”, “What, you didn’t want me to break your grooming tote?”

Riding “Well of course I can move forward, whatever you ask”, “Oh, you want me to canter over a tarp for the first time psh no problem”, “What coyote howling, I don’t hear that I’m trotting forward with rhythm here lady, get with the program”

I actually find her extremely frustrating when I’m not riding her. I’ve never had a horse that was better behaved under saddle than when doing something simple like standing with hay to eat, or getting groomed. Again, her ground manners when she's allowed to move are impeccable but as soon as I'm asking her to stand or wait she's having a meltdown. I’ve always used those simple things as a gauge to tell how likely I am to die while mounted. With Katai that gauge doesn’t work very well. Hopefully maturity will bring a similar zen like quality to her ability to stand tied, or just be still, sooner rather than later.