WW: Got My Trail Horse Back

TC takes a few trail rides at home in the first part of the year to remember that trail riding is about relaxing and taking in nature, not snatching at grass and spooking at nature. And finally we have hit our stride where I can go out on the trails bareback and be on a loose rein the entire time. 

Already, the hills are turning brown from the lack of rain this spring. Oh well, it's still beautiful! 

Looking down on the ranch

We call this the "bowl" 

TC says "I can see my house from here"

We finally got the trails mowed so that
TC can't snatch at grass so much

Back on the Trails

TC's stifle acted up a few weeks ago as if I needed a reminder that we hadn't been able to get out on the trails in exactly two months. I gave him some time off and bute and he was fine once we got back to work and started climbing hills again. 

There is SO MUCH GRASS up there

He takes about 5 trail rides to stop being so impressed by everything up there. And this might take longer because the trails are so overgrown that both times we've been up there, he's been VERY offended that he isn't allowed to graze the whole time. Rude of me, honestly. 

He's still the best trail horse, even though I had to get off last time because seeing a family of deer and then the neighbors making noise was too much for him and he insisted that grazing was the only way he wouldn't have a meltdown. But other than that he's been amazing. I mean even then I was bareback and just annoyed at him, not afraid that anything would actually happen. 

Love this view, especially when it's green

Family of deer

I'm glad to have the trails. Honestly it's so nice to be able to give him a solid ride in like... 30 minutes. It's got a nice slow climb to the gate, then a few steep places to get him a good workout in, then a nice slow descent back down to the barn. I can do one loop in 25 minutes or two loops in like 40 minutes. Because I go out bareback, it's super quick! I think this is probably one of the major selling points of staying at the ranch for me, previously I had to haul out and even if I'm just going on a quick ride, that still adds so much time. 

Hello paradise 

Very happy to be out and about again

Hopefully it stays clear from now on so that we can keep trail riding!

WW: Morning Trail Ride

On Monday I went on a trail ride before work and for some reason it was freakishly beautiful out!

I love this view

It just felt very Halloween-y to me

Definitely need to ride in the mornings more often

Or even earlier than this to catch a
bit more of the sunrise

So pretty

Schedule Changes

As is apparent, I think, one thing I've been really considering for the last few years is what riding means to me. Like, what I love to do vs what I do because I feel like I should be doing it because I'm a Dressage Rider (TM). Honestly at this point, this is an ever evolving discussion I have with myself. I want to make sure that I'm doing what I want to do with my very time consuming and expensive hobby, not what I think I should be doing based on arbitrary rules I've given myself. I started jumping over a year ago as a way to break this cycle of me feeling stuck in dressage telling myself "this is what you're good at and who everyone sees you as, so it is what you should do." 

Now that work is picking up in the best possible (but still stressful and time consuming) way, I found myself feeling a little stretched thin riding both horses. 

But it's important to me to ride both because I really want to have my cake and eat it too, eventually. Meaning that I want to have TC as my dressage horse but I don't want to wait to retire him for me to get my jumping horse. There are a lot of reasons why: wanting to have a backup horse for clinics, wanting to jump but not wanting to give TC up, the ever looming dreaded middle age (is it weird to be planning my mid life crisis this early?) that might prevent me from wanting to jump the medium size sticks, and so on. 

But having two horses means fitting two horses into my schedule. That's tough when work is relentless and when I like riding in the middle of the day (over lunch and then right as people stop asking me questions) instead of before or after work like a normal person. I love that my company and my management chain trusts me to create a schedule that works best for me, but sometimes flexibility is so rigid! 

Accurate

I decided that I might want to do a schedule change to figure out how to get both done every day. My schedule was as such: 

Monday - off, work from the office

Tuesday - ride both horses in the arena

Wednesday - ride both horses in the arena

Thursday - off, work from the office

Friday - TC in the arena, Sunny with the kiddo

Saturday - TC on the trail, Sunny in the arena

Sunday - TC in the arena, Sunny on the trail

But what was happening is that I'd ride TC over lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday and then I'd be pressed for time with Sunny because it'd have to be after working hours or in between meetings. It was just too much and sometimes I'd just want to go home. 

The thing is, trail riding takes me half the time arena work does. I get on bareback in my tennis shoes, I go up the hills for 30-45 minutes, then I come back down, toss the bareback pad into the barn, hose the horse down real quick, and throw back in the stall. 

I love these trees!

With the arena work, I have to put on boots, put on a saddle, walk down the road to do a full warm up, ride for 30-45 minutes in the arena, cool down, untack, take my boots off, hose down, and then put back in stall. It takes way longer, an hour and a half for TC at least and an hour and fifteen for the pony (who I can ride bareback if I'm pressed for time vs TC absolutely not).

In addition, I found that I looked forward to trail riding so much on the weekends. All week I'd be glancing up into the hills waiting to go up there. I realized that I should change the schedule to allow me to trail ride during the week at the very least, but then I also decided to double my trail riding and see what happened.

So, this is what I changed to: 

Monday - off, work from the office

Tuesday - TC on the trail, Sunny in the arena

Wednesday - TC in the arena, Sunny on the trail

Thursday - off, work from the office

Friday - TC in the arena, Sunny with the kiddo

Saturday - TC on the trail, Sunny in the arena

Sunday - TC in the arena, Sunny on the trail

I love this view!

It feels kind of weird to only be doing dressage 3x per week with TC, but he's honestly thriving physically right now with less dressage and more hill climbing. I mean, I do put him in his good posture on the trails, I don't think he'd be as happy physically if I let him climb up and down the hills with his underneck rock hard and his back tight. I'm also having a GREAT time and feeling way less stressed with this schedule. 

First, it is SO FUN to be able to trail ride 4x per week. I adore the hills above the ranch so much. Trail riding up there gives me so many like... magical childhood feelings. Sometimes I bring a popsicle from the fridge! I listen to podcasts or music or a book and I just spend some time appreciating how amazing the ranch is and how lucky I feel to be able to have my horse there. It's the perfect way to destress in the middle of the day. 

Second, it's been way easier to get both horses out! Or on days like Tuesday of this week, where Sunny had to be booted out of my schedule, it allowed me to still get TC out despite the entire trail ride me having to be on my phone answering questions from stakeholders and writing code into Teams for my coworkers who needed help. Normally a day like Tuesday would have been stressful trying to fit an arena ride into, but now that I'm giving myself permission to trail ride more, I was able to appreciate the break from work, rather than feeling like I was pressed for time and "wasting" a ride by not getting enough done in the arena because we would have been starting and stopping so much.  

Best trail horse (Sunny is also great)

Hopefully this project is going to smooth out a bit so I can prioritize riding a bit more. The crazy part of it is now over, but I now have to catch up on all of my other work, so I'm expecting the rest of this week to be nuts! But luckily I am going to trail ride Sunny today, then I'll do as much as I can at the office tomorrow so that I can *actually* take our half day Friday half off and get both out. 

Free Jumping the Pony

The pony has been feeling great lately! Between the bitless bridle and clicker training, he really feels good. Over the winter with his anxiety spiking and him dumping me a bit, I was kind of getting done with trying to do anything with him. My priority for him right now is to use him as a stand-in for my future second horse and to have something going so that if a friend comes to ride with me, we can go into the hills together. But he's doing much better now! 

He's a really good trail pony

We kind of got into this odd little routine in our work where he'd be super lazy for a bit and then he'd wake up and immediately get anxious. Like his body needed some time to loosen up but then his brain couldn't handle being loose/forward/whatever? I don't know what was going on. When that would happen, after about fifteen minutes, I'd spend about five minutes having him do something basic (like turns on the forehand or something easy) and then we'd be done with the ride. 

Over the last few weeks though, he's been having this really pleasant time in between the laziness and the anxiety where he'd feel really damn good. But he'd still worry, so we'd end with some basic stuff and be done. Last week though, we had a really good ride where instead of worrying, he just got very ON. There was a confidence about the energy and looseness that hadn't been there before. I had to kind of talk myself into doing more given that every time he's felt like this, I've either fallen off or come close to it (not like he's far from the ground lol but he's quick!). But I was feeling really good about my ability to breathe and visualize him staying with me and he did. 

We saw a snake recently!

Last week, I decided to longe him and see if he wanted to do a little bit of jumping. I turned him loose in the ring while I put up the world's tiniest cross rail. Normally I don't work with him at liberty because he thinks that eating leaves is way more interesting than anything I want to do with him. But this time he was super into hanging out with me! 

He immediately walked over the jump and got clicks for that, then turned around and did it again for more clicks. I wanted him to warm up for real though, so I sent him around the arena a few times before actually pointing him at the jump.

He warmed up fairly quickly and got clicks for moving forward and releasing his under neck. Once he was warmed up, I sent him over the jump and he happily hunted it down for a click. We did that several times each way and he was so game that I decided to put the jump up to the second tiniest cross rail that has ever existed. 

I love these trails, it rained this weekend
so they are not usable for a bit

He did jump that one a few times, but I noticed that his jumping arc was starting to change. He'd fling himself over it and then land heavily, tossing his head. I can't adequately explain how tiny this jump is. We have those white cavalletti blocks and I made a crossrail out of them with them on their side (not standing up). The poles are actually pretty crappy (going to replace those) so they were sagging a bit. It was SO small. He was giving it more effort than required and I think it was because the actual apex of his jump was well after the jump. He was cutting down right after it too. 

One too many hard landings and he was super over it. He galloped by it kicking out at the jump, then started to spin hard away from it. 

Now, I don't care about jumping this horse. It'd be convenient to be able to jump tiny cross rails like I did last summer on him so that I could practice what I'm learning in my jumping lessons in between. But I also feel more confident jumping now so I don't think I necessarily need that. I've tried my best to emphasize to the pony that he is no longer expected to do anything. He is on an R+ ONLY training plan. Good things get rewarded and bad things get ignored. 

So instead of pushing the issue, I put the jump down to poles and had him end on a good note trotting over the poles. It definitely got me thinking about the jumping issue though. 

And a deer!

I'd like to try to clicker train him to jump a bit softer. He seems super into the jumps until he lands hard and then he's not as excited about it. I'm curious as to whether I could teach him to jump in a better way that has him rocking back and jumping rather than just flinging himself over his shoulder to do it. If I could teach him to land softer, would he enjoy jumping more?

So the plan is to have him jump at liberty once a week and to shape him with clicker training. I'm going to start with canter poles and slowly build him up into the world's tiniest grid with the world's tiniest cross rails. 

We'll stick with the R+ only training so if he decides that he'd rather not jump, oh well, we will stop. But I figure it'd be a fun project for me given that I'll probably want to free jump my next horse a bit and shape the way he jumps. Kate did that a ton with Flounder and I think that's a huge part of why I love riding him so much. 

Always game for trails

As much fun as I'm having with the pony, it's definitely showing me that I really want another horse with TC's personality. The pony is a bit on the quirky side personality-wise. He's kind of hot and cold. Super into what I'm doing and then not that interested. Standing super toned staring at me aggressively with his happy pony eyes and then totally ignoring me. 

I don't know how much of that is nature vs nurture, but I appreciate TC's constant happy-go-lucky attitude and how personable he is. The pony has pretty good conformation, like I think in his youth and mine, I could have done something pretty spectacular with him. Whereas TC's conformation makes him more challenging to ride. But he's always super game, which I really appreciate. 

I still love the pony, I just think that I'll be after a Flounder/TC type for my next horse! 

One Year at the Ranch

A year ago today, I moved TC to the ranch! And while it was a move of desperation, it's turned into one of the best things that has happened to TC and I in our time together. 

He took a little bit to settle in, but now he is all about living the ranch. Mostly because of his pasture I think. He loves his pasture enough where I can't actually get enough hay into him because he wants to be out in it for so much of the day, so he's also earned himself some more grain. Lucky horse! 

Looking down on the ranch

Love these trails

And the feeling is mutual. I think Sunny is the only one who wouldn't be a little bit bummed if TC left the ranch and never came back. 

But TC has weaseled his way into everyone else's good books. He handled the construction on the house perfectly last summer, he handled the helicopters this winter really well, and he's totally chill about any activities happening at the ranch. He's easy to handle, he knows to stand outside the stall when he gets his grain, and he's only done some minor redecorating in the form of moving his mats around when he gallops out to his pasture. He's definitely got some quirks, like not liking his stall (so he eats his hay on the porch), only drinking out of one water bucket (he'll drink out of his second one if he HAS to but won't if there's water in his favorite bucket... they are the same color/shape/size by the way), and pouncing on butterflies in the arena, but he's mostly just a solid citizen. 

Rico loves TC, they spend all day together. TC walks back and forth from his pasture, Rico right behind him, all day long, so Rico is fit and strong from all the moving around. He looks great, thanks TC! 

TC is also amazing with my parents' dog and any other dogs who come around. We had ranch day last weekend and my aunts' dog, who wasn't sure what a horse even was, barked at us while we were riding and then accidentally got loose in the pastures. Undersaddle, TC didn't care about the dog and when the dog ran around him barking at him in the pasture, TC just stood quietly, watching sweetly. 

He's really good with my niece too. Sunny is the best kid's horse in the world, but TC is learning! He lets her brush him and even gave her pony rides (now she wants to trot all the time and I don't want to scare her, so she won't be riding him any time soon). I can't wait until she's riding on her own, I think he'll be a great horse to teach her dressage when he's like... 20 and she's 11. 

Another pro of being at the ranch:
popsicles in the freezer

Having him at the ranch has also been amazing for my mental health. With the new job, I can work easily from down there and ride TC at lunch time, which helps break up my days really well. I also don't have to deal with any boarding facility issues, from not having to share the arena for Pivo lessons to being able to lock down the barn while EHV-1 is raging all over the bay area. 

The arena is small, there are no mirrors, and I do miss riding with my friends, but the benefits far outweigh the costs of being there. Plus, I take a weekly jumping lesson with Kate, which has allowed me to feel like I have a barn family! 

Having trails right out the back of the barn has been so good for my and TC's mental health, as well as his stifle. Between living in pasture and climbing hills every week, TC's stifle has never felt better. And I'm loving being able to ride him bareback on the trails too, it's so relaxing and fun. 

Most amazing trails

We wander down the road every day

The best part of having him there is probably that I get to spend Fridays with my niece, who comes down once a week for babysitting (along with either my brother or SIL, so I get to have a coworker for the day). Before TC was there, I'd stop in sometimes and we'd hang out for a little bit. Now, I get to see her on all of my breaks, get to ride with her over lunch, and have started to go to the brewery with my family on Friday evenings where I play with her (she's been exercising me by running around the brewery lol thanks kiddo). This has made us so much closer! 

She now wakes up at 6am on Friday mornings screaming "AUNT MIMI DAY" and she's way more into horses now that it's a consistent thing. She drags her crafty pony around the house clucking at him, cleans his tack with a sponge, wants to watch videos of me riding every day, and knows more about ponies than my brother or SIL do at this point (she knows a bunch of bridle parts, saddle parts, pony parts, knows what all the brushes do, and so on). 

I love spending Fridays with her and was so excited when my company announced that we'd get some wellness days this year, all of which are on Fridays! 

Her current obsession: playing in the
horse trailer with me and telling me
that my shoes are yucky after she
piles shavings on them.

I'm not sure if we'll stay there somewhat permanently or if we may find ourselves into another boarding barn eventually, but for now (especially with EHV-1 all over), I have no intention on leaving. Plus, I think TC might try to disown me if I moved him out of his pasture. 

Rain Rain Rain

Right when the horses are doing well, we have another rain storm to deal with! I was lucky to be able to drag the arena right before it started raining. The rain started on Sunday and it's still going strong. I think it goes away officially on Thursday and then I have to wait for the arena to dry. 

As much as I'm eager to continue this work with the horses, I'm also kind of enjoying having a winter like this. I might need to do winters like this from now on. The horses still have large paddocks (they get locked in off the pastures to preserve the ground/grass) and I'm heading down today to do some massage work and maybe take them down the road and back. 

It's so beautiful, even when it's rainy! This was
before the rain though, ponies still on pasture

I think the hardest part about the storms is not the actual rain, but the days where it's dry but I still can't ride because the arena is wet. I don't mind not riding when it's raining, I actually love that he's got such a big paddock and such good care that I don't have to go out there when it's raining. It was also excellent timing because I had four interviews yesterday, so I actually managed to look nice for them and not take any of them from my car or the barn. 

But I am not looking forward to later this week when the weather is excellent but the arena is a swamp. 

I'm still considering what to do during that time. My options include: 

- Go over to the local covered arena that is literally right around the corner (can't ride to it though). I can pay $10 per horse to ride over there. The only issue is that the footing is SUPER hit or miss. I might take Sunny over there first and if the footing is good, I'll take him home and then bring TC over. 

- Message the neighbors and see if their arena is usable before mine (they have better footing and I assume it drains better, but it's not a covered ring). 

- Message this barn up the road that has a covered arena, I rode there with Rico a long time ago but fell out of touch with the owner. Problem is that she might require lessons with her and I'm not interested in taking dressage lessons right now. 

- Wait until Kate's arena dries and go there. I assume her arena will dry faster than mine. Even if it doesn't, I really want her to do some bodywork on my horses and help me with them, so I might just do a lesson with her to use the covered arena.

- Take the horses to the trail facility and do the bottom paved loop. This would be great for Sunny, but TC has been feeling way too good lately (and he's been locked off his pasture which he utilizes for galloping at least once a day) for me to willingly take him off the property on a trail ride where there are going to be TONS of people wandering and cycling and pushing strollers and running and skateboarding and riding scooters... I dunno, I trust him but I also value my life. 

- Learn to just chillax and stop caring about getting back on ASAP after a rain storm. 

I hope it warms up enough to bathe this dirty
creature, he is living his best muddy pasture life

So we'll see what ends up happening! I have a lot going on this week outside of horses (Christmas party, interviewing, work, Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, etc), so it's really not the end of the world if they hang for a bit. This is *literally* why I kept TC at the ranch. But I'm just so eager to continue working with him on this stuff! He's doing so well and I'm getting so excited about the future. 

Biomechanics Lesson

Yesterday I had my first biomechanics lesson in a while. With both horses going so well and Kate lending me her butterfly saddle and the weather being good (cold, but not raining), I figured it was high time to get some lessons in. 

I decided to ride the pony because TC is on his clicker training and mostly walking/trotting protocol. That ended up being a good thing because as per usual in biomechanics lessons, there was a lot of starting and stopping. I think TC would have been weird about that. 

Such a cute pony

Unfortunately the pony didn't feel great. I took his temp but it was normal, if a little low. Everything else was normal, he was just a bit quieter than usual, who knows why. Maybe I was being paranoid, he is normally pretty chill in the cross ties so maybe I was just nervous about having a lesson. I let the instructor know that he was a little iffy. The ride wasn't hard on him at all (mostly standing and walking) so it was okay. Plus, spoiler alert, he was fine.

The two big things I wanted to deal with were: I wanted to figure out my twisty thing that causes me to *occasionally* feel like I'm falling off the side of horses (I think I just need to catch this on video since it didn't happen yesterday so it was hard to explain) and I wanted to deal with me losing a lot of my organization when horses get behind my leg. 

We didn't quite get to those things necessarily, but I still got some good things to take away. 

So cute

The realignment went well! She said that I had nice internal rotation, tone, and alignment. She only had to change my pelvis a little bit because I was slightly hollow backed. Apparently based on watching me ride, she couldn't tell I was hollow backed until she got her hands on my seat bones. I think I tend to be more hollow backed on the pony than TC, but either way, my core was not engaged enough to hold my pelvis in the correct alignment.

From there, we worked on my bear down. It definitely needs some work so I relayed that to her, but she said that pretty much all riders need to work on their bear down. She put her hands on my stomach and really had me work on it and she was very picky. She said that I tended to push down instead of out. This was brand new for me so I want to think about this more.  

She also said that my breathing wasn't very good. I know this but it's always good to have a reminder! I could NOT make the noises she wanted me to make. She thought I might be shy or resistant to shouting, but I pointed out that we were all alone in the little valley and that I've always had problems projecting my voice. I started to think a little bit more about that. Could it be that these were all related? I'll explore that later. 

He's gotten so fancy

From there, we played with my leg alignment. Again, the internal rotation was not an issue, which was good to hear! I have always been told that I had a bit of a "hunter jumper leg" with my toe out. I've been working hard on that. The biggest issue was that I struggled to engage my abductors, necessary for suction. She had me hold my lower leg away from his side and then resist her push to push them back in. My left side was weak but my right side downright HURT me. So that's something I need to work on! Interesting that TC's harder abduction side is mine too... damn those mirror neurons! 

Other than that, my leg was pretty good I guess! The resistances for keeping my toe up and my lower leg back were quite easy for me. 

We did some riding and worked a bit on my fencing lunge for steering. She thought this might be my issue when it came to me falling off a bit to the side. I'm not sure how much it's going to help me with my falling off feeling, but I'm going to run with it and see what happens!

Glad he was feeling better

Overall I felt like the biomechanics help was great! I got some really specific things to work on in the gym and a few things to think about while riding. My day was all biomechanics all the time because we got word that Mary is potentially coming in February!!!! First time in two years! I'm so excited. I'm definitely going to do the workshop again and might end up doing the clinic with Mary. I'm not sure what horse I'd ride, but that's a problem for future Megan. 

The pony was totally normal by dinner time last night. He was apparently "perky and demanding dinner" according to my mom. Either way, both horses are going to get some time off next week. They each get tomorrow off and then it's going to start raining on Monday and not stop for a while (boo, but we need the rain). 

WW: Turkey Interruption

It rained on Monday night so on Tuesday, we only had a tiny part of the arena to use. Unfortunately, right in the corner with the best footing, there were thirteen turkeys. I'm pleased to say that TC handled it super well. No spooking, just curiosity. And yes I did let him go chase them off the fence after our ride!

We stopped and stared a lot during this ride

I don't know why, TC

These three were up on the fence the whole time
and at random they'd spread their wings and flap
them around

Walked over to see them after our ride, which he
appreciated!

WW: Trail Riding

One of the main reasons why I got the helmet camera is for trail riding. So here are some pictures from TC and my trail ride up the hill this weekend. I didn't have to take out my phone at all! Just had to look at what I wanted to see later. 

Unfortunately the air quality must have gotten worse as we rode, it was in the 50s when I checked but was definitely almost 100 by the time I got back. It came on really slowly so I didn't notice until I looked at the video. Ugh. So excuse the smogginess, TC got the next day off and I am now checking purple air right before I get on! 

The road up the hill

We went on the small trail out to the bowl and
actually went all the way around it! It's a very
narrow trail at some places with a big dropoff
but TC was happy to do it

That trail leads to this view, which again, how did
I not realize how bad it was outside? It really did
sneak up on me! Ugh!

On our way back to the main area of the trails

My dad built this bench for my parents to go sit at
in the evenings to look down at the ranch from!

Bonus gif: A deer!

WW: More Hill Climbing

TC and I hit the trails at the ranch last weekend and it was really fun! I love having these trails right out the back of the barn and my only complaint is that there just aren't that many of them. But that's fine, it's a solid 30 minutes of riding you can do before it gets repetitive and that's good enough to keep his stifle happy and to give us some time to breathe when we're in a rush. Hopefully we'll hit the real trails this weekend. 

Looking down on the ranch, the little bay speck in
the pasture to TC's left is Rico!

There's so much climbing up there! 

The first time he saw that bench he was very
concerned but now he's used to it! 

We went on this newish trail! A bit
narrow for him but it was fun to go
on some other trails

Sudden Changes

This last week everything absolutely exploded at my boarding barn and I brought TC home to the ranch early on Thursday morning. I'm sure I'll expand later but for right now, my coping mechanism is to put the last six months at that barn behind me and focus on recovering from some things I didn't even know were affecting me until I took a breath after setting up his paddock at the ranch. I took the weekend off from social media and interacting with anyone except my family/SO and I'm now feeling like this is an absolute blessing in disguise. 

I have some amazing news too, so let's flip this post to some really positive things!

A different view!

On Thursday, I finally got my first vaccine!! It was a long time coming because I've been eligible (I work in education in my non-horse life) for a while and finally got an appointment. I had no side effects except a bruised arm, my second shot is on April 15th! 

My dad and sister-in-law are now fully vaccinated and my brother, mom, and myself are half way there. It's just the SO who needs his vaccine, but he's last on the list as he works in tech and has no preexisting conditions. Hopefully he'll get his in mid April and we are all looking forward to the end of May/early June for things to start looking more normal. Most of my friends are at least half vaccinated too! 

Speaking of the SO, we got notified that he got his green card! He says he does not recommend immigrating to the United States under Trump's presidency OR a global pandemic, let alone both at the same time (well, he came a year before the pandemic but the pandemic slowed the processing of the card way down). That was such a massive relief for both of us! It's been an absolute shit show getting everything together for it. 

This is probably a bit early to post about, but we are closing on our new house at the end of next week. Obviously things could still get derailed, but a lot of the things that we thought would derail it have been resolved. The house backs onto a bike trail that leads all around the bay and the house is centrally located so I can basically keep my horse in three separate areas without increasing my commute time, allowing me a lot of flexibility while I figure out where to go from here. We took our bikes (he got a new bike and fit me to his old one, which is now mine) up to the new house this weekend and had SO much fun out on the trail. We're super excited to move into it in May and start making it our own. 

Hanging out in his new paddock

And then there's the absolute light of my life, TC. Wow do I adore this horse. While things were going down, I briefly considered selling him and taking a break from horses. He's worth a lot right now and I know so many people would love to have him. It'd let me get away from some of the toxicity that having horses inevitably brings into one's life. But he's my rock and my best friend and the SO would not hear of it and reminded me that while some of the personalities in the horse world can be challenging, at the end of the day, what is important is the horse, and I have a great one. 

The ranch is not TC's favorite place, but I think I underestimated him, both how much my mental state was affecting him at our old barn (I would often get in the car and immediately start crying with relief that I was going home) and how much he's matured and become more confident in himself. I've ridden him three times there and have done a TON of clicker training for relaxation both undersaddle and in the barn, so he's feeling much better now. 

In addition, he and Riot are absolute best friends. I described them as two nerds realizing they were into the same nerdy stuff to my SO. On the first day, they were playing bitey face over the fence and TC would charge Riot and Riot would snatch at him. It was the cutest thing given that TC hasn't been able to play with another horse in about a year and a half. If TC stays there, I might see if they can be turned out together to play, although TC has back shoes (but he's never kicked anyone ever sooo we'll see). 

So far, TC has just the stall, porch, and paddock, but today we are expanding his area to be out into the pasture a bit more. He still doesn't love it that the horses all get to go out while he has to be in his paddock. The reason for that is that my parents use cable fencing and TC is a little difficult to house. He is respectful of hot wire though, so we can electrify the cable and potentially give him a big pasture as well. That will happen later when I make a decision on whether to keep him there somewhat permanently. 

Scrounging for grass blades!

Whether the move is permanent or just a stopover while I learn to breathe again and figure out where we go, who knows. On the one hand, my SO LOVES that TC is at the ranch now because he, my dad, and my brother (who is there frequently with my niece for babysitting and pony rides) get along super well and he loves the idea that he can come to the barn with me and ride his bike with my brother or hike up the hill with my dad or get put to work by my mom (dunno if he likes that, but my mom certainly does). The other great thing about TC being there permanently is that my parents have not been able to ride as much since Stretch died because they can't haul both of their horses out due to Rico being left all alone. 

But obviously, four horses is a lot and while my schedule currently allows for me to do a lot of the barn chores to "work off" board (I'm also filling the barn with hay and grain and riding my mom's pony for her so she will get back to riding him), my goal is to move into a new line of work in the fall where I won't have nearly the flexibility I have now (but will pay better, not need me to scramble to teach, and be a little more predictable I hope). 

I'm also a dressage rider and while I was able to earn my USDF Gold medal on Rico at that barn while I was in grad school, TC and I really benefit from a larger arena with mirrors, and a covered arena in the winter. He's a little tight and nervous there (though again with clicker training it's getting way better), so unless he gets back to normal there, it's probably best if we move to another boarding barn. But I'm happy to hunker down at the ranch for a bit, get my mom's pony going for her, get moved into our new house, and reset my brain a little bit. 

Retraining at the ranch, there's a lot to do

So, while Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week were some of the worst days I've had in quite a while, things are now so much improved that I'm almost grateful that it went down the way that it did. If I hadn't had to move out 12 hours after I made the decision, I would have not brought him to the ranch and probably would have barn hopped for a while trying to find the right place. Who knows, really. 

This blog has always brought me comfort, more so than social media has, so I'm considering extending my social media break and just writing about how things are going here. So thanks for reading along and being part of the big deep breaths I'm finally able to take now!