Where Have I Been????

Jesus, Where have you been?!?!?!?

I swear, I have a great excuse for being MIA for nearly half a month!

It had better be... otherwise I'm going to unfollow this trainwreck.

Harsh. 

And I don't really have a great excuse. I have lots of little pathetic excuses. I had an interview. I've really upped my lesson schedule. My life has been boring and grey. All I do is work in an indoor.... Nothing post worthy has happened in two weeks. 

Annnnnd.... that's really it. Sorry 'bout that. 

Oh yeah, and I haven't gotten any decent pictures and- let's face it- the pictures are the only redeeming features of this blog. 

Can you spot the poodle?

Well, it's been grey and hinting at spring. Until this past week, when it got grey and cold again. We even added a foot of fresh new snow to my front yard.  Tempi immediately let me know that this was unacceptable when she went to hop up onto a previously firm snow bank, and sank out of sight. Just so everyone knows, I'm pretty sure that I got flipped off by a 9 pound dog for laughing.

In related news, I might have lost a tennis ball.

 Today, she's decided to forgive me long enough for a game of fetch (which could be hours long with this dog) because the driveway was plowed and it was sunny outside. In my effort to placate Tempi, I gently tossed the ball off the driveway so that Bacon wouldn't get the ball and ruin her fun. Bacon's version of fetch is catch-the-ball-and-run-around-randomly-making-growly-noises. Tempi hates this version of fetch.
Good news is that Bacon was thwarted.
Bad news is that so was Tempi.
Lord knows how many tennis balls I'll find out there come spring. Whoops.

So I was off to the barn!

Tilly has a new saddle.Dapper, no?
(there is a bridle on the way too...
don't worry we'll do a photo shoot)

I had a few carrots left over from my Chili concoction that I made over the weekend, so I was a good owner and brought the herd a few snacks. Of course feeding one pony is impossibly because the subtle snap of a carrot is a pony catalyst. I attempted to shoo Delight off, armed only with a carrot.
*Chop*
It didn't work... But while Deli was chewing, Tilly and I made our escape, and off to work we went.
Today wasn't her finest day. After two days off, Tilly was distracted and let's just say that the 'submission' and 'harmony between horse and rider' scores would have both been lacking, had this been a show. I bought the Tillner a new saddle at the local tack swap that I attended recently. It's an aged brown dressage saddle, but I recognized the brand (which, of course I am now drawing a blank on), and for $100, it's now mine.
And luckily, it fits the Tillner like a glove! Finally I can ride her without a half pad.

'get this sweat OFF of me!'

 Because it was nearly 30 and the sun was shining, I opted to let the girls go blanket free. A choice that the Tillner wholeheartedly agreed with.

'You can't see me....' Says the Lurker Pony

 Next up was Delight- who was shockingly good. Usually after two days, I know that I should probably lunge first to help minimize the size of the scoots that I  know that I'll have to ride through anyway. But no. Not today. She was a nice, calm happy pony. Of course when she's calm and happy like this, she's less inclined to really sit, so we had a million and a half transitions in our ride... But still, I'll accept.
Bravo Pony, Bravo.

Immediately after this shot, Delight rolled all the way over.
And kicked Tilly.
Both mares were shocked.
Squealing ensued. 

 Now, both of my mares are predicting spring, evidently. Delight is shedding like she's preparing for a heat wave. I half-filled a manure bucket with mats of black horse hair from my curry comb. And I have little black hairs all over me... Tilly is just in heat. A raging, icky heat. Why do I love mares, again?

So have I mentioned that it was sunny outside?
And I've been stuck in the indoor for way too long?
Well, even though it was less than ideal, I was bound and determined that I was going to take RC outside on a trailride. I mean, I rode Delight out through the snow in January, right? And RC is a calm aged cow pony. We should be able to hang...

 Well, remember how I said that Tempi fell through the snow drift?
So did RC an I. We went from belly deep to shoulder deep in one stride.. then had to use London's trademark porpoise leap to get us back to solid ground.
Whoops, sorry there buddy.

So we continued our trail ride out on the road. We didn't meet another horse, car, dog or person... so it was great! And I got my vitamin D for the day. 

Win?