Today did not go how it was planned. And even my plans were kind of wrong. I don't know, maybe my brain has melted into a slimy goo. I tried to make my day make sense... I had the saddle fitter coming at 4:30 ish... maybe 5. Then Sharon wanted to ride mid morning with me. And I really wanted to take Dan to the covered arena at Ashland and practice our test for tomorrow. So in my brain.. since the saddle fitter was coming for Lyric... I decided to ride Funny with Sharon and Savannah. And in my brain, if I rode with them at 10:30, I could be home and ready to leave for Ashland with Dan at 1, and get home in time for the saddle fitter. Perfect! Except... not so much.
It was a comedy really. And nothing crazy.. just minor silly inconveniences. I stayed up too late. Then didn't want to get up, but wanted to snuggle with Mike. Mission accomplished.. and still had time to get to Ashland on time. Except, I was sort of stalling and then for whatever reason got worried so I messaged Sharon. She didn't get back to me immediately and then I decided to pack some breakfast. So I made my egg quiches thing (just microwaved them) and stuck them in the car with my waters and went to catch Funny. I wasn't postponing, but I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get to Ashland. Of course they were in the far corner because Jean was riding. So when we got back to the trailer and I got her loaded, my eggs had been found by the ants that apparently live in the truck. Luckily there was only one or two on the egg carton and not yet the eggs themselves but there were a ton all over my truck console. So I put the eggs on the door rest and went to grab fly spray to kill the ants. Well, the stupid eggs fell off and landed in the m10 driveway. ugh. I managed to get the ants sprayed and then I just said "eff it" and brushed the debris off the eggs. So then we were on our way. I still hadn't heard from Sharon so I decided to stop and get gas as I was pretty low. (I think in my brain I was thinking she had overslept or something). I pulled in and the easy diesel pump was flagged as not working/empty. Sigh. So I drove around to the other end and there was a car at the pump and then another diesel truck waiting in line. So I waited. Luckily they were all quick. So I pulled in. And then realized I didn't have my purse. Oh man! So then I had to just leave without getting gas. Luckily I was able to maneuver out past the giant pepsi truck blocking my exit. By then Sharon had messaged that her and Savannah were already on the way. Doh! Whoops. Now it's looking like it'll be 10:30 before I get there. Oh well. So then I got to Walnut Grove and just before the boarding barn entry traffic was stopped. I guess they had blocked lanes for the roundabout construction so we sat there for a good 5-10 minutes. And a bunch of people were turning around. So... I panicked and texted Lucy to see if I could park at the gray barn. She said yes, so I just pulled in there and avoided the wait. Although in retrospect, the traffic started moving right after. Although who knows if I would have made that cut. So I texted Sharon that I would tack up and hack over. Well.. she didn't get my text because she was hanging with Savannah, so... they were stalling and waiting on me and then I showed up tacked up and ready to ride. So then I had to wait for them to finish tacking up. At this point, it was almost 11 am and I had to leave by noon/12:15 at the very latest. Which.. is fine, but... I was just antsy. Which meant Funny was antsy.
So while they were getting bridles on, peeing, and putting helmets on, Funny and I walked around. I played with turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches and she was pretty responsive. Finally we were all on and ready to go so we headed to the hills behind XC. Funny was motoring so she led. We went up the backside of the big hills and then tried to take "Turkey Trot". But man alive the deer flies were horrible! Funny was getting attacked. I don't know if it's because I didn't use the deep woods Off or she just tasted good or that section was particularly bad... but bless her. She was kicking and dancing and jumping about but not trying to launch me. I kept swatting with my whip but couldn't reach it. I finally got the really bad one off, but then more kept coming. We finally got away from the swarm and headed for the open fields trying to avoid bugs.
We had a good ride after that. We did some trotting and ended up by Halfshire. I told them I probably needed to head back. I had wanted to do some more "work" and pop over a few XC jumps even. I was intending to leave them and go canter our way back to the XC field but they offered to come with me. So... they did agree to trot and even canter some. We did make a pit stop at the lake because... Funny wanted to. She almost rolled but I kept her up. But then Mystic rolled. Hee hee. Whoops. Been there! So, I did leave them at the lake because I was running out of time. I headed out and Funny didn't want to leave so she was a little "drunkely" trotting to XC. But she settled and we popped over a couple of jumps, including the sharkstooth. We did that into the water and then the up bank but yep.. she is definitely taking way too long of a spot at the up banks. So we walked it and then trotted it and I held her to the base. We'll be doing lots of that I think. Because I'm terrified she's doing to leave too long and miss the top and face plant. We popped over a few other jumps and she was great. Then we walked back to the gray barn. And I realized... I didn't know where to hose her off. Luckily I had enough water left in my tank to sponge her off. I'm sure I could have used any of the hoses or maybe even the washrack in the barn, but I didn't want to be rude. I was feeling kind of guilty already. So the sponge worked. Oh, but in the meantime, while we were riding Patrick texted asking if I was going to be home this afternoon. Yes... Please come put hind shoes on Dan!! But he didn't know exactly when. So... by the time I untacked and was on the way home, he messaged saying he could meet me at the house around 1:45. GREAT! Except.. argh.. because that means I can't ride Dan at Ashland which means I could have stayed out on Funny longer. Doh. Oh well. It's fine. I'm just grateful Dan's gonna get shoes. And grateful Patrick was willing to fit us in rather than making us wait.
Once I got home and got Funny unloaded I grabbed my purse and filled up the truck because we're showing tomorrow and my luck we'll be running late and I won't have fuel. Then I ate lunch. And then I just rode Dan at home.. .except it started to thunder and then I saw about 8 streaks of lightning. So... I just turned him back out and hung out with Mike for 20 minutes. The storm passed around us and I was able to ride Dan and finish in time before the saddle fitter came. Even though she was late. But it's all fine. Just minor inconveniences. And I still had fun. My ride with Sharon and Savannah turned my frustrations into laughs and we had fun.
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