Lean Spring

I've reached a point where my drafts outnumber my number of published posts for the year. I get so close to publishing a post, only to have something change that makes the post a moot point so I drop it in favor of another. It's a negative feedback loop that really doesn't benefit much and it's high time I pull myself out of it.

The high elevation areas of West Virginia have finally emerged into spring weather. It appears, for now, that we may even be skipping out on our typical big April snowstorm. There's still time, but it certainly isn't looking likely with the extended forecasts. Can't say I'm too upset.

Catching snowballs.

Winter, despite being mild all things considered, was hard on my horses. I've never been more excited for spring grass and the impending certainty of having complete control over their diets.

The hay at our boarding facility was of a dreadful quality this year. I've done what I can to mitigate, but to no great avail. Each horse is a solid 75lbs underweight this spring, though each has gained a considerable amount from my efforts!

This past weekend I took all three to the annual vaccine clinic. Each horse received a clean bill of health with a note that each needed 50-75lbs. Definitely not a surprise to hear!

Originally, I had hoped to take Q to No Frills later this month for our first competition since August 2016. Her conditioning has been going well and her body condition looks better by the week, though I will admit she's still a bit leaner than I've come to prefer. Ultimately, I decided that I'd see what the vet had to say at the clinic before making a decision on the ride.

While my vet agreed Q looked great fitness-wise, she didn't think that her weight was where it needed to be to tackle 55 miles in 2 weeks time. She said the 30 would be a better option. However, with a limited budget for horse competitions, I would rather reallocate the money toward a different 50 in the future. If I want to ride an LD distance, I can easily plan one on similar terrain on my own time.

So for now, I'll continue to pump Q (and the boys) full of as many calories as I can and maintain their fitness. Or, haha, in the case of Stanley, bring him back into some semblance of fitness!

Fitness?! 

Stan, who celebrated his 18th birthday Sunday, has had a very lovely winter of nothing more than a few toodling rides here and there. This suits him just perfectly, if you ask him! A life of grooming, feeding, and cuddles is his definition of Best Life. He's trying to make sure I don't forget this either by increasing his cuddles daily and doing his best to keep Grif and Q away from me so he gets All of the Love. It's sort of adorable. But sadly for Stanley, his life of bliss is about to disappear in favor of legging him back up to trail fitness. Definitely not a hard life.

Ribby with struggling topline = the state of all of my horses coming out of winter this year. Sigh.

Grif has been in light work most of the winter. I haven't been putting him under too much pressure since we don't have any competition goals in the near future. We're still going through the paces though and have been practicing a lot of dressage tests lately. I like that they help me to structure my rides better and he seems to appreciate me riding with so much purpose and direction (I don't blame him)!

Our biggest winter homework was to get him moving off my leg better. He's a lot better than he was a few months ago, though we certainly need more practice. Hopefully we get a lesson scheduled before barn building begins to get more feedback & homework.

As for barn construction, I closed on the land March 28th and am now in a waiting period until mid-late May when we're slated to break ground! It's both wonderful and horrible. Wonderful because it's nice to have this time to relax and not fuss over anything. Horrible because I'm eager and excited to bring the horses HOME, haha.

Bring me home. Put me in my fancy barn. Feed me the things. Make me pretty. -Q, probably
Soooo excited for a dry lot so her socks don't get so dreadfully mud stained next winter!

I do still need to submit my plans to the HOA architectural committee, and I hope to get this taken care of within a week's time. My HOA president assured me it wouldn't take the allotted 30 days to review it, so I'm not too stressed about it all. Once my husband finalizes the drawings, I'll have everything I need to submit. Though this is easier said than done because in some regards, Dave is being more nit-picky about the building than I am! Which makes me giggle a bit.

Currently, he's trying to decide how he wants the siding to be. Originally, we were going to go with a hardyplank-type material, but now he thinks he'd rather do white oak board and batten like our house so the structures can match. (Yes, we're very lucky to live in an area where white oak is so easy to come by!) I honestly don't give a damn what is selected as long as it looks nice! Fortunately, Dave's attention to detail guarantees it will look nice no matter what, so I don't have much to worry about.

King on his throne 

It's going to be a summer full of big changes in the best way. I'm eager for more warm days and nights into the future to facilitate these happenings. And I dunno, maybe also a summer of normal rainfall instead of another record breaking year? That would be nice. Fingers crossed!