We had some awesome longeing sessions with the ponies tonight. I do longe frequently, as I don't always have time or energy to ride. But I don't longe for very long, and I do lots of transitions between gaits and within gaits, and I do ground poles, and I move up and down the entire arena, so at least the ponies aren't just going around in one little circle.

I got a great working trot out of my big pony tonight. Sometimes she is reluctant to use her hind end, and I think it's because she's sore in her hips. I don't know why, and it is really bothering me. Maybe she is just getting older now (I am looking into joint supplements), but I also suspect some type of injury a few years ago.

Sometimes I wish horses could talk and tell me what hurts! :D

Ugh, so the riding didn't go that well this morning. It was okay, just not as good as I'd like it to be. I'm sure part of the reason is that I just CANNOT find the time or energy to ride consistently. Sometimes the horses will have many days off, and then I feel like every ride is starting over again instead of progressing.

Then we stacked hay bales...I wish we had more room to stack them a little more loosely. I think all the hay is dry, but I always like to leave air space just to be extra sure. Luckily my hay barn has big windows and big double doors, so everything is open right now, and I've been running a fan in there.

Then we caulked cracks in my fence. There are lots of yellow jackets getting in, and they are flying around in hordes. I suppose they could just eat through the caulking, but I hope it will slow them down just a little bit.

Back to work tomorrow. Yuck. I've been pretty happy at work for most of the summer, but lately I have just been dragging. I'm just so sick of everything at this point. I'm very excited about my upcoming vacation, as I really need to reenergize myself.

The weather was PERFECT today! I got a ride in on my big pony this morning. She was AWESOME. We are just walking and doing some circles and figure eights and serpentines to help build up her strength. I wanted to do a new ground pole exercise with her, but my other pony was FREAKING OUT and racing back and forth and bucking and kicking, and I didn't want the other one (whose back I was sitting on!) to pick up on that, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. I don't know what my other pony was carrying on about, but she calmed down later and was fine.

Then I did a lot of chores around the farm, and then I went swimming with my best friend! The water was cool, and the air was kinda chilly for the middle of August. But it was tons of fun! :D There was a fish following us around the lake...ha ha ha.

Back to work tomorrow...ugh...why does the weekend go by so fast?!

I really wish weekends were three days long. I need one day to work on barn chores, one day to ride, and one day to be a couch potato. I could do with a whole lot more weekend and a whole lot less weekday! :D

I like to ride early in the morning on the weekends, as it is quieter, and I have more energy. It is almost impossible for me to motivate myself to ride in the evenings. Unfortunately, this morning was foggy and drizzly, so I opted not to ride. Then it became sunny and breezy and beautiful...go figure. At that point I had sort of convinced myself that it was going to be a chore/couch potato day. I'm starting to get things ready for winter in the barn, like making winter blankets more accessible and sweeping out the cobwebs and washing the windows and making room for hay. It sounds crazy, as it's only the middle of August, but I have so much stuff to do before the snow comes!

Tomorrow is going to be a riding day, and then I'm going swimming. I definitely need more couch potato time. :D

Yikes, it's kinda late, and I really should be going to bed, but I just can't resist blogging for a little bit.

I had good rides on both of my ponies again today. I just wish I had time to work them more consistently. My rehab pony is doing excellent...we're just walking right now, as I want to build up her back strength a little bit more and work on relaxation. My other pony is working on steering and straightness at the walk and trot...she's doing great, too. :)

I went to visit a friend and her pony today, too. It was so much fun. I really really really miss having horsey friends around. I love bouncing ideas or problems or training thoughts off other horse people, and I just haven't had that in a long time. I love reading the horse forums online, but sometimes it just isn't the same.

I don't know how to find more horsey friends, though! The horse world is so strange and so snobby sometimes. Everybody has their own ideas about how to ride and care for their horses, and it's hard to find philosophies that match. I worry about saying things about other people's horses or talking too much about mine...I fear that people will either take offense or make fun of me. :(

What a long week! I am just exhausted tonight. I didn't spend much time with my ponies this week due to daily thunderstorms, and that always makes the week harder to get through...when I'm doing chores at the speed of light to beat the storms, and I don't get any time to pet my ponies! :D

The mosquitoes have been HORRIBLE because of all the rain. I am pretty happy with the fly predator results...I just wish there were mosquito predators! I have a lot of bug bites, and I have been wearing Off! repellent, and I have been spraying the ponies every night. They hate fly spray, but it's better than getting chomped on by mosquitoes!

The Olympics start today...I can't wait to see the freestyle dressage! I am so excited!

I had awesome rides on both of my ponies today!!! I was really really really happy. I don't have much time to ride anymore, so any chance I get is very precious! :D

Luckily I also got the riding in before it rained. We got a pretty decent downpour this afternoon. It has been quite soggy lately...I hope it is helping the hay grow, but I hope it dries up when it is time to cut!

I saw a little yellow kitty outside tonight. I am not sure where this cat came from, but he (she?) has been hanging around my barn for a few months. I don't know if he gets along with my cat, so we are trying to chase him away, but he keeps coming back. Last year there was another random cat that used to chase my cat up trees, so we don't want any more nasty cat fights!

I was busy out on the farm today, and I am glad for the downtime on a quiet Saturday night. :)