- Q has begun her taper for our race at the end of the month. She's in a really good place, I feel. She's been in heat the last week which has been heinous. She gets exceptionally spooky on trail when she's in heat. Barnyard work - jumping - goes well, but trail work? Forget about it. I came off last Thursday when she slammed to a stop during our training ride with a local junior endurance rider. The worst part about the evening was that I could NOT predict or figure out WHAT or WHY she was spooking. It was awful.
- My ankle is still screwed up from Griffin broncing me off nearly 3 weeks ago. Its no bueno because of my race in 2 weeks. I'm hoping it'll be better by then...but who knows.
- As a result of the ankle incident with Griffin, I haven't ridden him or worked much with him since outside of trimming his hooves. He still comes to the fence each time I'm out there asking to be let in - begging for a job. But I just don't even want to tempt myself. I've been putting so much work toward this race - I don't want to blow it.
- I have been greatly enjoying the brisker and brisker fall weather at home. This is the time of year I love my home the most (okay, I love all the seasons, I love West Virginia), but autumn is exceptionally beautiful. I think I enjoy it more just because it is so brief.
- Kenai is much much better. Every day he does something minor that I recognize as a step
forward into normalcy. Its so great to see him so happy and increasingly mobile. The surgery was a big expense for us, but it was so worth it. I can't wait to get him out on the snow where he's happiest this winter.
- I'm so excited every time that I go to ride in my new saddle. Its just so wonderful. Its so freaking comfortable. Love. Love. Love. Additionally, Q moves out so much freer in this saddle as a whole. While the Wintec fits her well, it did impede some freeness of motion through the shoulder. Its so fun to get that swinging trot from her more and more. <3 her 10 mph trot!
- I finally got out with my BO's husband to clear our trails. I'd wanted to do this in April/May, but training for No Frills and then Q's injury stalled it. We hadn't cleared them since Sandy/Frankenstorm happened last October. It was so good to finally get out there and open up some areas to ride again. I took Saiph out in July, but we did have to deal with a lot of spindly sapling branches up in our business. No bueno. We spent 4 hours clearing the big stuff one afternoon. I got to learn to use a chainsaw finally, too! I've got another few hours worth of clearing smaller
branches with tree loppers/my hands, but overall, the trails are in a much more passable condition than they were originally. It feels good to finally have that complete. - In line with completing things that have been long in the process of getting accomplished - on the same day we cleared trail (really making the most of this being furloughed thing...) I bought a gun. I practiced shooting with it some and am very pleased with my decision to get it.
- And - because things come in threes - another long standing thing I also accomplished AFTER purchasing a gun AND clearing trail - Q finally did bounces! I started by lunging her through them, expecting her to hate it. Imagine my surprise when she lunged through like a champ! I moved them closer together, as she was really having to stretch, and put her through again. Then I raised what had begun as slants to verticals and lunged her again. Perfection! It only seemed like the next best thing to do to mount up and try it riding. I'd never ridden a bounce before...
Such a good mare! Next time I'll either up the height and/or move them a little closer yet.
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