Steady On

It's been a while since I posted, which is not normal for me in the spring. Usually I'm getting back to riding and excited to figure things out.

This spring it's different.

Events I had signed up for are all ready being cancelled. I have only left the farm twice in the last two weeks. I am appreciating the irony of having gas prices at a point where towing is not a huge hit to the wallet and there's no where to go.

Ripley is happy to keep me company at home

The thing I'm missing most are the lessons. I am working away trying to not let drift happen but it's not the same. I've been thinking of trying some sort of virtual lesson but I need to have some wireless ear buds. Does anyone have a recommendation for ones that have a good range and I don't have to sell a kidney to buy? Keep in mind that I often lose one of a pair.....it's kind of my superpower (that and tangling things).

Life is definitely slower- except for work. That's been a bit hectic. I think people hear 'working from home' and picture us eating snacks and watching netflix. Let me tell you-  that is definitely not the case!

thanks Larry for this

But honestly, right now my problems are very 'first world'. I have a job, I am safe, my family is safe and our province is doing a pretty good job of keeping us safe and informed.

The weather is nice often enough that I can ride. That I need a saddle adjustment is not a pressing need. I am just aware and am careful. It's not causing Carmen distress but every spring I find that I need to get more flocking in the front.  I tell myself that making sure I am sitting back in the saddle is good for my core. 

Carmen is doing well. There are days where she's a bit more spooky but her spooks would have barely registered in the old days. Usually it's a quick correction and move on. I try to not get emotional about it and mostly I succeed. 

Yesterday I was asking her to stand so I could put my crop in the holder and she was very restless. I could have left it but thought that working on her standing was a good thing to start with. She was not so happy with me and was pawing. Mostly I ignore the pawing. This time she lifted her leg right up and it ended up hooking over the tape I use for the second 'rail' of my fence. Of course when she pulled back it was stuck and she leaned back heavily. There was little I could do and the tape broke like it was supposed to.
Carmen:  Oh my god, it's got me
Me: just wait--- *tape snaps*
Carmen: that was close. Told you it was dangerous. 
Me: you know you brought that on yourself, right? 
Carmen:  you tried to make me stand there, I'm blaming you. 
Me: ......

I dismounted, tied the tape back up and took her over to the mounting block. This time she stood while I put the whip away. In the past I would have expected this to colour the whole ride but it didn't. Not that our ride was perfect. But it was pretty good.

I joined a FB group that is all about poles. It's awesome- there are lots of exercises. It gives me ideas.

This is a fun one

The key is to deal in the moment and let it go. If I let myself get flustered we spiral into debates. the other key is to keep her in balance. When she worries she gets disconnected and off-balance. I focus not on the thing she's spooking at but getting her back in balance.  If you are in the field next door you will hear something along the lines of: if you bend you will feel better. No really, you're all off-kilter, Yes! That's it. Doesn't that feel good? I know, right? Fortunately, all that is next door is wildlife.

Not having events to go to does take some pressure off- we have time so, rather than focus on what I can't do, I'm going to keep doing what I can. It feels that she's understanding the turn on the haunches. I find her responding really well to my seat aids- it's becoming so easy to do SI/HI.

and the grass is turning green! 

Hideaway

Ed and I have been self-isolating for approximately 12 days. I've been working from home and it has been really really busy. At first it was stressful- trying to support my staff and work in these new circumstances. Not to mention the general anxiety around Covid-19 floating out there and the reported infections growing daily.

I was happy to have friday roll around. I needed to get horse feed so Ed and I got in the truck and headed to the feed store. I was looking forward to getting out. When I got to the feed store they were on full precautions. We waited in the truck until it was our turn. I went in and stood behind a line and gave my order. We had to pay by plastic (which I would have anyway), the clerk put plastic over it, stepped back and I stepped forward to pay. I then headed out to the truck to wait for it to be delivered.  Frankly, it was surreal and brought home how much things had changed.

the horses don't know that the world has changed though

More and more restrictions are in place- no gathering of more than 5 people, parks are closed and police are issuing tickets. I can only imagine how people with young children in apartments are doing. I feel profoundly grateful to have my little property.

The weather this weekend was beautiful. It allowed for a lot of chores to be done. We cleaned out the winters accumulation of poop and hay.

I know it's muddy but it makes me happy to see the poop all gone

The barns are closed to boarders and lessons and so when I dragged the ring I did it with recognition of my good fortune. 

I can go for a walk and not worry about social distancing.

willow has started to join our walks

I'm excited to be back to regular schooling. Riding is different. I miss lessons. I try to keep Shanea's voice in my head when I ride and I hope I'm not going to make too big a hash of things. Carmen is doing well. Earlier this week when I was working with her she was quite agitated. I realized that she was picking up on my stress and reacting. Once I realized it and calmed down she became more steady.

never tire of this view

I hope that things calm down and that the world can return to normal. I want people to be safe and,  selfishly,  I want to be able to go to shows, clinics and fun things. But, as places to have to stay, this little place is not too bad.

Dehydrated Horse Treats

Today I used my new Ninja Foodi to make horse treats. To be honest I had no idea if it would work but I figured that the worst that would happen is that I was out of a few items form the cupboard. It also satisfied my need to bake without me having the need to eat.


Note: I totally made up this recipe.  I didn't measure anything. At all. I did it all by feel.

Ingredients: 
3 medium carrots
1 large apple
handful of dried cranberries

1. Cut up the carrots and apples. I thought about peeling the apples but decided not to. I did cut the core out though.

2. Put in food processor. I put the carrots in first and then the apples and cranberries. pulse until they are the size of large crumbs.

3. Put into a bowl and add the rolled oats. I would guess it was about a 1 1/2 cup. 

4. add in molasses. Just enough to make it stick together. I would guess about 1/2 cup.  Mix it so that it sticks together. If it's too dry add more molasses, if too wet add more oats.

5. Form into balls and then squash into patties. I didn't work at making them pretty. I found that at first they were quite loose but as I worked them they became more 'clumpy'. Next time I'd let the mix 'sit' for a few minutes to let the oats absorb the liquid. Put the patties on the rack.

6. Put the rack in the foodi and set it to dehydrate for 8 hours. That was a total guess but I figured to do it similar to beef jerky because of it's thickness. That seemed to be right. It could tolerate a little longer too.

I was thrilled to see that it worked. They didn't fall apart and were crunchy. But what would the critics think?

I'm calling this a hit. I like that they will last a little longer and are just natural ingredients.

delicious! 

more please

Coping Mechanisms

Like all of you Covid-19 is affecting our daily life. I have started working from home this week.

Working from home has it's attractions. The commute for one. But I'm working harder than I have in a long time. I am connecting with my people and colleagues. I have vacation that I need to use before the end of March but I strongly suspect I will lose it. My plan had been to take some afternoons off to ride. I had planned to have a lesson on Tuesday afternoon. But with the move towards our staff working from home there was no way I could take off. So I had to cancel it.

There is a general worry and stress from this pandemic. The news does not help but it is also necessary. So I try to ration it.

The dogs are happy I'm home and it does allow for me to take walks with them at lunch time.

Ripley loves to take the biggest sticks on our walk

Yesterday Guinness was not himself in the morning. As the day went on he became worse and mid-afternoon, when he didn't want to go for a walk I called the vet. They said to bring him right away so we did. This meant I had to cancel a lesson I had booked for 4:30. 

poor Guinness still wanting to supervise despite feeling so lousy

 The vet took some x-rays. He had a lot of gas in his stomach and intestine but not enough for it to be bloat. No temperature, heart normal. It was possible that he was having some early bloat or he ate something that disagreed with him. The vet gave him some barium mixed with food, some drugs to calm his stomach and we took him home. If he wasn't better in the morning we would bring him back, do another x-ray to see if the barium showed any blockage. About an hour after getting home he threw up a bunch of barium so I don't know how much was left in his system. He slept with us all night so we could watch him. This morning he was much better and now he's completely normal.

spiky green ball helps him feel better

We had a slow feed bowl for Guinness but he broke it. And then bit and broke the next one. So recently we had switched him to a regular bowl. Ed has ordered a metal slow feed bowl from Amazon and in the meantime he's being fed in small amounts. I was so relieved this morning- I was really worried. 

Today is technically my day off but there was work to do so I did a few hours. But I also really needed to do something to de-stress. This morning I baked some cookies. I find baking to be relaxing. 

ginger molasses cookies

Later in the afternoon Julia came over and we tacked up the horses (don't worry, we maintained our social distancing and made use of the hand sanitizer). I really really needed to sit in a saddle and do something physical. 

The ride was awesome. Carmen was pretty relaxed despite my cat hunting in the next field. We were albeit work on our shoulder-in/haunches-in and counter canter. For being so early back to work she felt pretty good. Of course I have no media so you just have to believe me. At the end I was walking her out on a long rein. When we walked down by the brush she gave a sudden start. I just sat there and spoke to her and she gave a breath and then carried on. 

In my happy place

After I hosed off her legs while she stood ground tied. Which made me realize how far we've come. it's the first time I've hosed her this year. 

The world seems to be going to hell these days and it seems that no relief is in sight. But everything is temporary. As long as I have my family (4 and 2-legged) and get to spend some time in the saddle I will be okay. 

I found this advice from Skint Dressage Daddy. It looks like great advice to me. 

How are you coping with all this?