A week in the life

A snapshot of my time this past week from 1/12 through 1/19 goes something like this:

• 40 hours at my "real" job
• 39 hours at my ski patrol jobs over 3 days time
• 1 night at the gym
• 1 night at yoga
• 1 night riding
• 1 day fully to myself to do chores and yoga and ride (1/19)

It's no wonder I'm not writing more on the blog.

Work is work. Canaan is forever beautiful. I am forever busy. And the horses are forever good.

On 1/15, I did a short ride where I rode Griffin while ponying Q. Both horses were very well behaved. It was a nice evening ride to end my day.

On my day off, I did a fair bit of yoga outside despite the cold, wind, and snow. The sun was out and the temps were slightly above freezing so I waved my "fuck it" flag and did yoga outside.

I also wore sandals. *waves flag furiously*

Griffin and I did a small jump school yesterday. Including the time spent first moving and later resetting the jumps, it was a 35 minute session. The GPS estimated we covered 2.45 miles. A moderate to moderate-heavy workout for the little grey horse.

We started with ground poles and slowly ticked our way up to a max height of 18" using the cavaletti and jump standards. I set the jumps up in what I hoped would be a very forgiving slightly bendy course. It worked very well.

Griffin presented with a lot of try and honesty throughout the exercises. He was balanced and calm and took his breaks as seriously as his work. After 3 to 4 circuits through each height, I would raise the jumps a little, until the final round when we ended after 3 circuits. Griffin had a walk break after each circuit and ground tied (and even grazed) while I would reset the jumps between heights.

During his breaks, he would relax completely, taking full advantage of the opportunity to rest. Once I signaled it was time to pay mind and work, he pepped right up and took his job seriously. I was so very impressed and praised him oodles. I think he was rather proud of himself.

It was so fun to finally let this little guy do what he's wanted to do so long: jump. In the past, when I would flat Griffin near jumps I'd been doing with Q, he would always try to head for them. It wasn't a one or two time thing either. It was an every time thing. If there was a jump up in his vicinity, he was hunting it.

Bottom line? A very busy, very fulfilling week of many things.

Yes. I do have a problem sitting still. ;-) However, it is important to note that despite all of the hours logged being busy, I still feel so very rested and ready to tackle this next round of weekly chaos.