Productive day and leg improvement.

I actually accomplished a lot today.

I did two of three bulletin boards (well, technically two of four) at the barn - the update was quite needed. Not sure I'm happy with one of them, on which I had to use like, 4 different colors of construction paper. Light pink, light blue, white and black. I think I'm going to cover the black with orange or something...it just doesn't mix. The letters are hot pink and bright blue. It looks like this, minus the dots.

....G
....O
....L....C
....D....E
EQUESTRIAN
....B....T
....O....E
....R....R
....O

Pretty freakin' cool I think. I plan on taking pictures of everyone riding and posting them up there around it, and I hope it will make the wonky colors look a little better.

That's on the outside bulletin board that's right in front of the outdoor arena. The one on the inside where the drink machine area is I did in purple and yellow with a neon yellow and green boarder. It actually looks good. I made that the announcements board. Stuck some cute little shapes I bought up there.

The other side is going to have a foam board on which I made a map of the barn and all the pastures, including numbering the pastures and stalls. Then I have tags with all the horses and little velcro strips on them so they can be moved from pasture to pasture. Casey does a lot of resales, so there are always new horses coming and old horses leaving, which makes the velcro strips rather convenient.

That will be on the bulletin board right beside the announcements board. I actually think I may have misspelled announcements which makes me very unhappy, but I was rushing because it was getting late and for some reason, my ability to spell is lost when I'm trying to staple brightly colored letters to a piece of cork-board.

Anyway...the map will take half of the other board, and the other half will be a nice little place to post show related things - mainly the schedule for 2012 when that comes up.

The last one is in the observatory area at the covered arena. Not sure if I'm going to do anything with it or not. Nobody ever goes over there. Probably because it was disgusting before I cleaned it up, but nobody ever really rides in the covered except in extended periods of gross weather. It's only the size of a small dressage arena. I'm pretty sure it used to be a full size dressage arena back in the day, before it became a covered arena.

I was thinking of just posting emergency information? But then again, that would probably be better suited for the board at the front. It's like, who's even going to look at this board, why bother?

I took a break from that and rode. I punched new holes in my leathers. It felt weird but they're actually a correct length for hunter/jumpers now. It really helped steady my leg and get my heels down. I let her hop over the xrail a couple of times, and it was all pretty consistent and balanced. I think I could have had more release. One time we just didn't have enough impulsion up to it, and her hind end got a little left behind.

She's trying the canter steps in her trot again, but it isn't bad. A half-halt usually gets her steady again.

She's just doing well. I think my back soreness may just be sore muscles because I'm starting to use different muscles in my back. Hopefully that's all it is. I noticed my legs are sore and usually, unless I've been off for a couple of weeks plus, they don't get sore no matter how long I ride.

It was warm today so after I rode I gave Amber a well needed bath. She's been in heat and she had stains from gunk running down her legs where she peed and acted like a strumpet. You know you love your horse when you are washing dried pee and vaginal discharge from between and on their legs. Sigh...

I also washed her tail and her mane. Put some of my oil sheen stuff on them, as well as her body to make her soft and shiny. Her tail was absolutely gleaming it was so clean. The MTG is really making it grow!

I also clipped her ears/bridlepath/muzzle/leg fuzzies. Her legs look kind of retarded because she kept fidgeting because the kids were throwing hay into the empty stalls before feeding time. Felt very satisfied to have her sparkling clean again. I can't stand it to have her looking like crap. She also got the last of the liniment rubbed on her back, which also reminds me the chiropractor is coming in about a week!

On yet another note...I feel totally spacey in this post...Friday I went out. I had her double blanketed because it got in the 20s the previous night. I knew she'd done something even from a distance because her sheet was askew. About the time I got to her, Zeus started to harass her and she galloped off. He kept trying to mount her, uhg! I so wish she could be out with all mares sometimes. I ran him off and caught her, and it was then my heart stopped. The butt straps were wrapped several times around her right hind leg in a knot. Tight. I just knew her leg was toast. I put the pieces together and decided that Zeus had probably been harassing her for a while, either that and/or she rolled and did something - they were adjusted tight as they could go though. They were ripped off the sheet and the blanket entirely on the left side. One of the belly straps had come undone. I carefully untangled her and she walked and jogged out perfectly sound, no heat or swelling. And she has been fine. It's really a miracle.

I fixed the blanket with some twine and just made an under the tail strap in the back. That held up well that night, since it was also in the 20s again, although I didn't throw the sheet on out of paranoia. Eesh. Way to give me a heart attack, horsies.

I was considering moving her up to one of the front pastures, just because at least someone would know she was in trouble if it ever happened again. She is so far out in the back pasture, even when someone goes back there they can't really see what she's doing if she's not near the gate. I decided not to in the end, and just try to do something different with her blankets. I feel her constantly moving out there is extremely beneficial for her joints and muscles. I just wish certain horses could be removed from that pasture!