Well… not when it comes to unpacking. Unpacking with Shannon in the house is akin to trying to sort paperwork on a desk with a fan blowing on it at hurricane speeds…so almost impossible. We are officially closed out of our post housing though, and it feels good not to have to worry about running back and forth any more. We get what we can unpacked during bed and naptimes!
Yesterday, Shannon and I were getting a little bit stir crazy being home (and if I had to tell her to get out of a cupboard one more time I was going to blow my top…I’ll happily admit to not being perfect) and it wasn’t AS hot as it’s been lately, so I decided to go out to the barn. I found Ms. Willow’s lunge line, bridle, and boots and off we went. The big mare has been living it up for a while now, so I figured a bit of work wouldn’t hurt.
So off we went. Shannon hung out in her stroller while I cleaned the beast and waited for the arena, then before I put her bridle on (Willow’s not Shannon’s) I moved Shannon out to the arena. There is a small ‘judges booth’ type thing in the corner that is enclosed and safe. I put my phone on airplane mode with Pandora playing and gave her some juice and a snack. She was pretty content to hang out and watch.
Willow happily trucked out to the ring and gave me some nice stretchy walk/trot. There was a slick spot that we had to work around, so I decided that we would just work on the two slower gaits, since her canter is so big and a little bit unbalanced still. We worked on transitions within the gaits, and she responded nicely. I didn’t put side reins on, just a bridle, so I didn’t quite get her working over her back like I would have liked, but the end result was a nice, stretchy, floating trot in both directions and a lovely swinging walk to the left. To the right she kept trying to pop her shoulder out, but the side reins will be a good aid in fixing that.
I kept the session light, about 20 minutes, since I was getting a bit tired and Shannon started to get bored, but I was really pleased with the results.
Watching her go though, is making me re-think my choice in farriers, as I don’t think that he’s trimming her quite the way that I would like. Nothing wrong with what he’s doing now, but after really watching her I think it can be improved upon a little bit.
After I threw her in her stall and got her bridle off, I ran back to the arena to retrieve Shannon and then quickly stripped off Willow’s boots and hosed her in the wash rack.
She said thank you to Shannon for her patience too.
And then was happy to chill out in front of her fan for the rest of the day. When I got there last night, she had totally decimated her “slow feeder” hay bag. There is a flap that goes over the top, so that the horses can’t get at it from above…
Tough-1 that was the quickest I think that I have ever seen an animal destroy a hay bag. It still serves its’ purpose of keeping her from mixing her hay into her shavings, but I think that the ‘slow feed’ option is off the table.
I’m off to drag my kid out of the cupboard (Mike… PLEASE install the child locks… PLEASE!!!) for the 800th time and figure out how to keep the dogs from killing each other. It’s a yucky, rainy day so we’re all stuck inside! Dixie is taking great offense.
Happy Monday!
