I have about 6 drafts that I decided not to post for whatever reason. Who knows why? I’ve ridden, I just haven’t had anything interesting to say.

I recently switch the boys to overnight turnout. No one is thrilled, I’m not sure it’ll stick, but I’m trying it anyway. They’re not really out any longer than during the day, but it’s something new to try. Plus, it makes it a lot easier when we have daytime appointments like the farrier, dentist, and vet.

This past week, the dentist was out for the boys’ annual visit. Yep, that’s right, they’ve officially graduated to annual visits. No more every 6 months. Nay was very good, but that was to be expected. He LOVES having his mouth played with. He’s a weirdo, what can I say? And Jiminy? He had one quick fight in him where he hit is butt against his water bucket, got splashed with water, and then was an angel the rest of the time. Truly the best he’s ever been. We didn’t sedate. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but I prefer not to if we don’t need to. Nay thinks it’s all fun and games and Jiminy is just as likely to fight with drugs as he is without. Minis are fun. But, they’re both actually very good for their teeth.

This week? Farrier. We’re having some issues with Jiminy thanks to an over consumption of grass. He’s feeling pretty good now, but I’ve pulled them both off grass for the past couple of weeks, I’m soaking his stall hay, and just double dosing his supplements plus bute as needed. Last thing I needed was another founder. But, James broke the fence, helped himself to the lower field of grass, and well, yeah. Too much for him even muzzled. But, he’s not fat and probably doesn’t even need to lose weight. When my dentist saw him, her first comment was, “I wish my minis were as thin as he is!” He just struggles with sugars even when muzzled. Meanwhile, Nay Nay follows rules and would never walk onto the grass through a broken fence. He’ll only step foot into the lower field when the gate is open for him… Someone has to balance out Jiminy. Anyway, I need to figure out a way to give Nay Nay some grass time now that I’ve revoked Jiminy’s privileges.

Riding wise, we’ve been getting out, but less than I’d like. Jiminy is NOT appreciative of being left alone, but he survives. He just screams a lot. Hopefully he doesn’t annoy the neighbors.

Nay Nay though has been good. Generally quiet though he’s had his days where he’s feeling spicier. It just depends. He’s not necessarily into flatwork and prefers we don’t drill flatwork two days in a row. Me too, Nay, me too. This past weekend, I really worked on the flat on Saturday. I haven’t pulled out the draw reins (I know, I know, but I do use them VERY loosely) in about a month so I tossed them on so try and sort out some leaning issues we’ve been having. The goal was they were there if I needed them (aka a tool), but not a crutch. The past few rides I felt like I was driving a 2×4 and while I could get him to soften, it was a lot of work and we were both frustrated at times. So, with the reins, I was able to make a couple of light corrections early on, help him get rebalanced, and then pretty much not touch them and leave them loopy (I mean, they’re long anyway, but they were loopy when I wasn’t actively using them). This served the purpose I needed, showed me what I needed to work on (left leg, OMG left leg), and we had a fabulous ride. We actually worked on a bunch of figure 8s at the canter, trotting the diagonal (so not quite a simple change), but he was fabulous at waiting for me to ask, getting the lead (sometimes we circled instead), and getting sharp transitions. Overall, it was a great ride.

Sunday was jump day. I tried to do some flat work and we did, but neither of our hearts were in it. I started off with adding the left spur and ended up feeling off balance so I added in the right as well. We also had a million motorcycles fly by and thankfully we didn’t car. We spooked hard at a motor bike on Saturday so this was huge. Then the jumps. We worked on a cross rail and Nay just would not try. I tried to canter and nope. It was pathetic. From here I did a small flower box and we put a touch more effort, but again, boring. We socialized for a while with another horse, rider, and owner that joined us before trying some straw bales. We did just one before going the other way. My plan was to just do one and circle, but we landed and Nay locked in on the second so I made him trot and we continued down to that fence. He was perfect. We did it a second time holding the canter in between and then the other way. Still trotting in, but whatever.

So the landing the second direction…. There was some interesting happenings across the street. There was a sign with Live Crabs 4 Sale. But they were also steaming crabs. And the air smelled like crustaceans. So, Nay was pretty convinced that the corner was death. He wasn’t exactly wrong…

All in all, a good weekend. Hopefully more to come!