Barn Rat

In a strange twist of events, spending more days at work did eventually lead to more barn time. I'm still putting in more hours in order to get a project to the next level, it's no more than nine in one day (as opposed to, like, 12 several days in a row). My free time got extended even more due to the fact that it's now too damn hot to ride (seriously Florida??? It's hurricane season! Give me a threatening cloud and a nice breeze!). To be quite honest, I haven't ridden that much this month at all, so June's vlog is going to be a lot of talking heads.

Big mare says "Leave me alone"

Yesterday, I decided to try for my first ride in a while. When I got there, the weather wasn't bad, and there was a slight breeze, so I started to tack up. I had a plan to do real work, and considered doing some low cross rails but nixed the idea because my muscle tone likely isn't there right now. As I was tacking up, one of the younger boarders was out and mentioned that the heat index was about 100 degrees. Now, I'm no idiot, but I also appreciate hospitality, so I took him at his word and decided to do a walk only ride. It wasn't until later that I remembered the same kiddo chasing his horse in the round pen as I was driving in.

She also has this weird rub/mold/sore thing??

I hopped on and head out with a dropped rein and no stirrups. I had some poles set in the middle of the ring too. The ride started with focusing on using my legs and seat more so than my hands. Based on the pain in my side and Lucie's lack of response, my right leg is really lacking right now. I haven't been working out, and when I finally did push myself to exercise earlier this week, my leg lifts were very difficult. Ugh, this is why I said I need a routine!! Despite my short comings, Lucie is very understanding, and we walked around happily doing circles and going over the poles. I then picked up my reins and asked for soft contact while we practiced leg yielding in both directions. I *think* I wasn't straight, but I'm also realizing that my vision and spatial perception is not what it should be for a 22 year old. After a bit, I tried half a lap of sitting trot in each direction, and she felt great. Super put together and right in my hands. Afterwards, I went on a short trail ride with one of the boarders.

When we got back, my trainer had arrived to feed. Since I've been helping her out lately, she asked if I could take a look at everyone's water whenever while she's traveling for a few days. Of course I said yes because I need any excuse to hang out at the barn. I've been feeling a little bit more comfortable lately in light of everything going on, but I still have my guard up. The same woman who told me Lucie was lame made a comment about Paw Patrol . . . yeah, not going to go there.

I got to the barn and saw that the evening feeder was there, so watering helped her out a ton, and we had some time to sit down and chat. She's Liberty's owner and is hoping to breed Liberty next year. If anyone has recs for nice all around stock horse stallions, drop them below! I felt bad not having any to offer lol.

I checked in on Miss Lucie to see how her weird rub is doing. It was clear that she scratched it a bit overnight, but the medication only says to apply every three days, so I let her be. Then I went and sprayed Levi down because he doesn't sweat and was breathing very hard. Finished the night out sitting by the ring and watching an old Thoroughbred run around. This is summer.