Mud

There's a lot of it around this time of year. The ground isn't even close to freezing; instead, we've been getting rain for days in a row the past few weeks, and it's making my motivation to ride or do any type of training with LBM and Ernie go by the wayside.

Story of my life: I just haven't had the time to get these two into consistent work. We have one indoor arena, a coverall with a round pen and a large rectangular outdoor(ish) ring that's being used as a pasture for the co-op barn boarders. College lessons and classes are held in the arena during (what it seems like) all the times I'm free to ride or work horses, so unless I want to go out late at night or wicked early in the AM, I don't get to work them. It'd be easier if soccer wasn't still going, but practices fall right in the middle of my otherwise open evenings.

I've tried to be a better mom. They've been getting turned out every day into a big pasture, all day, with plenty of grass left (which is weird for this time of year...we don't do too much pasture maintenance: these pastures get brush hogged once in the late spring and a couple times during the summer to keep weeds down and encourage grass growth, and it works pretty well. There's plenty of mixed grass for all to eat). I turn out before 8AM every morning (hey, I gotta sleep, too) and they get brought in between 3 and 4 and fed around 4PM. I'm trying to make everything as consistent as possible to eliminate reasons for naughtiness. LBM is notoriously known for getting stupid-goofy when she's not in consistent work. Ernie just gets depressed and a little bitter. I think he's got in it him to be a bit self-loathing, because when he's not giving attention on the daily, he gets all emo and sulks in the doorway of his walk-out stall, ignoring me completely.

Other than that, little has changed or probably will change for the next week and a half or so. The sport's season ends after next weekend, and then it's Go Time for Ernie and LBM. I won't feel guilty about staying all night at the barn when I could be doing homework, I'll have full weekends to fiddle around with them, I can FINALLY find the time to clean my saddle (not looking forward to this, PS...it's a synthetic Wintec Pro dressage saddle, and while I love it to pieces, it's dirty as all getout...) and do all the other horse related things I have been putting on the back burner...