Beating the Heat

Thanks for all the comments! I try to reply to everyone but then they just get lost in my e-mail!

Hair is doing well. Starting to fade, but to this nice pastel color and I love it still.

And last but not least, my elbows have almost completely healed... If I'd stop picking. Ick!

I can't really say that's it been a complete heatwave but when I majority of your jobs are outdoors in the sun, it's pretty gross out. I definitely wouldn't trade it for a snow storm, I just wish they'd send a little more rain our way. The hay fields are burned and horses are losing shoes no matter how much crap we slather on there.

Not a lot of ride time unfortunately. I was able to ride once after my lesson and the weekend with L & Friends, but then things were pretty busy again. The farrier came out and hammered a couple nails in the back shoes and I mentioned how long his toes looked so he's getting a full set tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Just going to keep going for it! He's on his second week of Gastrogaurd, still off the Doxycycline, and still pretty sane. Yay!

I had a new chiropractor come out. She's a vet, chiropractor, massage therapist, acupuncturist, and also practices laser therapy and the Equi-tape stuff that I need to read up on. In one session, I LOVE HER! She's was super thorough and although I liked my other chiropractor, she was super super thorough. And took the time to really work with Brantley instaed of skipping things that made him feel uncomfortable. She read him really well which made all the difference. I'm going to have her out again sooner rather than later. He had a few days off and then I rode and he felt amazing. Now just to get the feet underway.

Blood, Wine, and a Dress

So everyone was out catching Rapidash and I was all like... I need some Rainbow Dash in my life

So far so good and I LOVE IT!

Now for the horsie stuff. I don't think I mentioned it in my last post but my client that I ride for offered me a lesson with a guy named Eric. You know me, I usually wait until the last minute to look up who these crazy horse people are and well, this is what I got.

Eric Horgan

1976 Rolex... 1990 World Equestrian Games... Coaching... Training... Course Development...

You know all that cool stuff that I'm just learning about.

Pretty friggin' awesome if I do say so myself. I felt like a total badass. Picked up the horse trailer, parked it on my own, got a good night's sleep, and loaded up my horse all by my lonesome the next morning. 10 minutes on route, I call my super awesome friend Kate in a mini panic though... I forgot my girth. Ummm... "What?" you may say? I was so busy feeling all badass about loading up my horse solo that I forgot... Luckily, I had a super awesome friend Kate.

Showed up to my lesson on time, but he was early so the girl that boards at the barn went first. No problemo! Means I had time to breathe and unload my horse (who unloaded like a pro). Oh! And wait for my girth. K & lil H showed up followed closely behind by my Dad (he came too!). We were ready to rock and roll. I even tucked in my shirt again and slipped on my favorite C4 belt. Looked pretty Pro-Fresh! if I do say so myself. Brantley even had a matching ear bonnet that is still just a tad small.

He stood next to a rock and let me hop on and we walked into the ring to warm up with a smile on our face. Trotted one way, turned, started down the long side the other way and next thing you know he pulls a duck-tuck-spin and bolts across the arena. Apparently there was some bucking and leaping as well... Me being me, as my saddle started to slide off, I picked a spot and mumbled "I'm fucked" as I pick a spot along the rail and bail... Sad to say there are no pictures though :(

Anywho, laid there for a moment as my Dad came rushing over. But of course against everyone saying, "Stay down!" I got up, brushed myself off, and walked towards my horse. Eric's first words to me were, "Okay, you need to tell me about this horse." as I fixed my saddle and got back on (like a BOSS). I gave him the run down and let him know about what we've done so far this year but you obviously could see the doubt on his face... Well, we showed him... Bloody elbows and all.

Brantley worked so hard for me, I was so impressed by him. Eric made me feel like I was definitely on the right track and was on me with every little thing like looking into my circles and using my inside rein too much. The more he pushed, the harder I worked and he didn't let up. I loved it. It was perfect. He could tell right off the bat that I had a confidence issue with myself but a crazy love and trust for my horse. "This horse just chucked you across the arena, but you still have nothing bad to say about him." Which I don't. I told him my goals for Brantley is to make him as well-rounded and versatile as I can so that if something happened to me, I'd be able to hand him off and not worry about him going back to where he was. He completely appreciated that too. Plus, he was funny and made me laugh which helped me relax.

At the end he asked if I had any questions so I asked when he was coming back. He liked that and responded in the fall. On the way out he said not only that he looked forward to seeing us again, that we'd jump. Ummm... YES! Cloud 9! Blood, sweat, and maybe some inner tears always pays off.

Totally worth it!

Saturday morning came along and Kate and I were off to see Lauren for her 

Bachelorette WEEKEND!

I met a few pretty awesome girls this past weekend and even wore a dress for an entire day while enjoying a wine tasting tour. Not really my cup o' tea but let me tell you, I had a blast anyway. We had an amazing suite to ourselves that was a small barn away from the hotel. I wanted to move in and live there forever... and ever.

Of course, Brantley pulled another shoe while I was away after having one just put on so I couldn't ride when I got home but he popped it back on yesterday and we had a really awesome ride and worked on what we had learned Friday. It took him a bit to get into the groove of things especially because homework is definitely harder to do at home than anywhere else.

Having a new chiropractor come out that a client recommended to check him out on Friday. Then have to put out feelers for another recommended saddle fitter. Second opinions are always a good thing to get right? We stopped the Doxycycline and I started him on a new all around supplement so hopefully that will help his feet. Not sure if anyway has had long term issues before but I know with people it can affect hair and nail growth... We shall see. This shoe thing just needs to stop though.

Too Hot for Comfort

I can deal with the heat and working in it, but when your job is walking dogs and keeping a 10 month-old menace of a golden retriever busy, the heat kind of ruins your day. I get to spend time just being a chew toy now because running this dog into sleep mode is out of the question. I think I have a few permanent tooth marks in my arm... But he's super cute.

Yeah... You agree... I know you do.

I have two dogs with diabetes this week at two separate houses, and this guy is more difficult than them. But then he gets super cuddly and misses him mom and I feel bad for getting aggravated when his razor sharp nails and puppy teeth try to tear through the leather layer of my skin... *insert emoji*

So I'd like to thank everyone for their responses for my farrier "problem". The guy I've been using came right out and fixed it without an issue like he always does. I forgot to add that he wears bell boots ($25 really good ones) 24/7. Everyone has great points and I think for right now because Brantley is going so well with the work he does, I'm going to stick with him for a while longer. I'd rather that than him not losing shoes and refusing jumps or tripping on trails again. I think that's what happened with the other guy I used. He's a workaholic like me and I think because Brantley has been so great, he kind of just let his feet go too much and I was too much of a pussy to say anything.

**I interrupt this problem to tell everyone that cute, annoying puppy is now untying my boots**

Because of the heat and my schedule, I haven't been able to ride anyway. I planned to take him out for a run at like 430 this morning but apparently the alarm on my phone didn't want to work. Whoops! We did have a nice little shoe-less ride on the 4th though with a good friend and her new horse though. I even hopped on bareback for the first time this year! He had that, "Oh man, this again?" look. Kate came by with Hannah so while she hopped on Cassie's new pony, we worked on training Brantley.

She was a natural. Threw her arms right over him and when I said, "Rub! Rub! Rub! Pat! Pat! Pat!" she did like she's been colt starting her whole life. Brantley loved it. We're getting closer and closer because I don't know about you, but I think this has "Heart Horse" written all over it:

Slowly Dying

I am slowly losing it but still making time to ride my horse which is keeping me going. I'd like to say the week is a little slower, and then the texts started rolling in. Running my own pet-sitting business without a mentor to follow? Difficult, definitely difficult. I should probably find one of those. But good news is that whatever happens on Friday for Chevy's x-rays will be able to be paid for. I'm really looking forward for Sunday though - Hunter Pace day!

If only my horse would stop losing shoes. This is the dilemma that I am trying to focus on instead of the crazy schedule I have created for myself. I love the farrier that I've been using the 8 or 9 months and he is the best of the best in New England. I'm lucky he offered to help me out after Brantley's feet got a little out of hand. The farrier I had before, who is like family, had been going through some health issues and we just couldn't get on the same page. Brantley had been tripping and falling on himself and refusing jumps, just seemed off. So I took a chance with the other farrier and Brantley has been awesome... But constantly pulls shoes.

I really want to call my original farrier who had been doing such a good job up until the switch and see if we can give it another go now that he's feeling better, but I don't want to take the chance of losing the other farrier because... I will. He's already said it. He worked really hard to get Brantley back to where he needed to be. And he has been going great... I'd love to be like, "Well he has shitty feet so no wonder he keeps losing shoes" but that is definitely not the case. Ugh... #farrierproblems

                It'll work out, it always does!

Sunday is going to be crazy because between all of the houses I have to take care of (plus a small horse farm), I have a bridal shower too. Part of me just wants to play hookie and not go. But, of course I said I would take pictures. And I'm also a bridesmaid... But I don't really want to go. Urgh, I'm a horrible person aren't I? Once again, it'll work out, it always does!

Alright, on to other things. I wanted to send a shout out to everyone who commented on my moving post. I think the plan is just to save up a bit more and pay off my credit cards... Which I'm "almost" done... And then rethink the situation. Unless something happens in the interim and I get an offer that I can't refuse right?

Question for Movers

So my question to my equestrian blogger friends is... If you have moved away from your home town... How easy was it? And do you have any tips because I'm pretty much done here. I have a select few friends I would obviously hate to leave but once again I just feel like I'm stuck in a circle and my only saving grace is that 16hh brown-eyed quarter horse. And the dog of course. I'm really not in a financial state to just take off but I feel like if I keep waiting, I'm going to miss that open door I've been waiting for. And the other question is, where should I go?

In other news, we're making up for our clinic fails and I set up my course yesterday and today with the same angle exercise we totally bombed at. First try yesterday, nailed it. So today I just went around and popped over what I had set up but mainly worked on trot sets. He's spent so much time with his head up like a giraffe that he's looking much more like a thoroughbred and less like my thick cow horse. Plus we've got a hunter pace coming up so have to make sure we have enough stamina to get through the Hunter Division! Whoop whoop! Super excited.

He's been super soft and agreeable lately which I'm really happy about because of all the crap that was going on. I haven't started the Gastrogard yet because I want to make sure we're deep into the last month of Doxy so we can nail whatever irritation we get from that. I think it's a good plan at least, the vet I talked to seemed pretty in different about it.

I've been dying to go for a gallop out in the field but the deer flies are ridiculous and I just can't deal. And then our fearless leader Chevy ended up going lame in his hind end so he's laid up at home. He'll be going in for rads on Friday, *fingers crossed it's not a cruciate* - Our vet did feel something that could be some early arthritis which he was really surprised about due to the fact Chevy is 5 and super fit and trim for a lab. Plus super active... I think it's time to look into some joint support for me, the horse, and the dog. Yay! The supplement game!

Okay, here's some pictures.

Only ONE cross-rail! Balls are growing!