Exhaustion

I. Am Exhausted. I've just worked two 16-hour days in a row... with pretty much no breaks. And tomorrow is going to be just as horrible! And then Thursday.... is my birthday! And Friday is show prep, and Saturday is SHOW!

This is going to be a pretty short update I think, because I'm going to crash pretty soon, but I at least wanted to say that Gogo's chest looks a MILLION AND ONE times better, and that I got on her today for the first time since last Wednesday. Since she had such major chiro work, I wanted to just take it easy, and started the ride with a 20-minute walk hack outside with Anne and her horse Salute. Back in the ring, we did mostly walk - which was good, because she was wiiiiiiired for sound at first - and then moved up into a tiny bit of trot, then back down to walk, then back up to trot, then back to walk, doing circles of varying sizes and changes of direction, feeling her slowly relax beneath me. I tried a KK Ultra on her today (I have a knock-off KK Ultra which she's been going in since last February or so) which was a 16mm instead of her regular 14mm, and I dunno if it was the Aurigan or the fact that the chiro majorly unlocked her jaw, but she was foaming like crazy, in a very good way! She normally doesn't do that! She definitely felt very different in her neck and withers, that's for sure. Behind the saddle, it took a little longer for her to stop feeling so defensive still. But finally, she stretched down into the contact at the trot and off we went, just getting in some consistant, relaxed, quiet work in a longer and lower frame, and Vicki said she could really see her hips swinging (remember how locked up they were). At the end, I quietly halted, and she was PERFECTLY balanced and square. I mean textbook, amazing, wonderful, flawless. And I dropped the reins, gave her a huge hug and was done with that! It feels to me like tomorrow she's going to start at this place where we left off. I certainly hope that's the case. So good news, good news! Goobers, relaxation, swinging back, cheerful attitude. That's the way we like it!

In other news, my Mudbeast continues to be muddy and beasty. She must have rolled like 85 times out in the mud today, and came in crusted in it, as usual. I love spring everywhere in the entire world EXCEPT AT THE BARN. Everywhere else, there are blooming flowers, bright sunshine, freshly melting snow and crisp new growth. At the barn, there's mud, hair, filth, sweatiness, and did I mention the mud? XD And now of course, it's pouring. Which is going to make the turnouts WAY more exciting and muddy tomorrow!

We'll be dressage-ing from today until Friday, and then jumping our guts out on Saturday, if all goes well. Sweet!!!