the dog days are here

Happy Friday everyone!! I've been completely consumed by all things moving these past few days. Complicated by my home internet service still not being fully transferred. Considering I work from home, this has been moderately problematic.

just busy over here doin our dinosaur derssage thang!

Things are good tho. They've been busy. Despite being completely exhausted, I've still been spending a lot of time with Charlie lately. I mean, let's be real, he's my rock, right?

and wanderin around the farm, where in - ooh! we've spotted the rare wild whoopie!!

Plus I had impulsively entered a twilight event at Loch Moy scheduled for this past Wednesday. These events are really great bc they're super low key - essentially glorified schooling of all three phases.

this darling shetland is basically the queen matriarch of all things OF

You go in and do your normal dressage test for a normal judge, with normal scoring and commentary etc (altho the final event is not actually scored up or placed, really). But you're encouraged to do so in your jump tack - whatever bit and leg protection is fine. This way, you can go directly to the jumping phases: stadium and cross country.

and as such she basically gets free range of the place. not a bad life!

Stadium is normal, but cross country is set up so that each jump number (1, 2, 3, etc) has all the levels lined up in a row, and you can jump whichever looks the best to you. Entered BN but wanna school N? Nbd! Or if you have a problem and need to circle? Or jump a few height variations? Totally encouraged!

The jumps are also scattered all around other features like banks and water etc and organizers tell riders to hang out and do everything they want. Obviously none of this is timed and penalties don't matter (so long as you're being safe haha).

meanwhile. curious cats.

This seems like a great idea for me and Charlie with where things are right now, so I was bummed to see the event postponed for a day due to the heavy rains we've had the past couple weeks. And I wasn't able to make the rain date.... Womp. Oh well, they moved my entry to later in August, so hopefully that'll work out eventually.

and stud plugs!!! it definitely helps that they are neon green, tho they're still hard to see sometimes when the hoof is packed full of mud and debris

Bc yea, wow, just when you thought I couldn't shut up about how hard the ground has been, suddenly things turned very very very wet. Rain every day. Pouring soaking rain. Light mists. Drizzles in full sun. It's been crazy. Not complaining - we needed the rain - but it would be nice to have something a little more middle of the road!

the rest of my stud order came through too lol.... four more road studs and mud studs, and 7 more firm ground studs, since i just ordered one the first time, whoops

Esp bc we're still on track for that pace clinic I mentioned, which is scheduled for tomorrow. It's bright and early and is gonna mean a lot of work tonight getting ready (despite, as I mentioned, already being really fucking exhausted from moving....). It should be fun tho.

and more cats. here they are getting their beauty sleep ahead of another long night of keeping me awake...

I'm really looking forward to getting some insights and guidance not only on what the appropriate pace is for Novice, but also to really focus on riding Charlie forward. And getting the feel for what that optimal cross country gallop is for catching jumps right out of stride. And don't worry, I'll take lots of notes ;)

this whole moving situation has been a whirlwind for them, apparently

In the meantime tho, I'm still just digging out of the digital black hole I've fallen into this past week. Including catching up on a lot of my reading - something I've missed fairly desperately lately. I need my fix and want to catch up with what all of y'all are up to!!

poor suffering critters....

Thank god it's the weekend tho. And not least because I still have a metric ton of work to do in clearing out the old apartment as the month nears its close. Guys. Let me be a cautionary tale to you: hoarding is bad haha. Omg. Sooo much junk it's insane.... Folks at the Baltimore City dump are starting to greet me by name lol!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel tho, phew. Soon. Maybe after this weekend, or next week lol. Here I was thinking July is usually a quiet time of year, our "Summer Recess"..... But nope. It's been jam packed. Am I the only one that gets surprised by the busyness of summer? Is anyone else out there running off your feet? Or maybe you're the opposite - you've been able to take some time off lately?

In any case, hopefully things will stabilize soon. Have a great weekend!