Jump ALL THE THINGS!!

I lifted this from Eventing Nation. 

The "all the things" and the image originally is part of this here by Allie Brosh. Just crediting the funny. ;)

Ok, so it's Mother's Day here in the US. And Travis had already said he didn't really plan anything, and he asked if I wanted to go to brunch at my favorite brunch-place, but I kinda didn't want to eat that much, and I didn't want to take the kids out. They had a tough day yesterday (well, it was a tough parenting day yesterday), and I wasn't up for more shenanigans. So I opted for four pieces of toast with lots of butter, and a great cup of coffee (which I made myself, since I let Travis sleep in). Wren had to go to her lesson in the afternoon anyway, so I didn't want to have to rush home and get barn stuff ready and blah blah blah, you get the idea.

Travis took the kids out in the morning for grocery shopping and left me here, alone. 

In the quiet. 

All by myself. 

It was a glorious hour and a half.

I cut out a new dress pattern (it's been forever since I sewed a garment for myself that was of the current modern time period). Actually, what I cut was the muslin for the bodice fitting I am going to have to do to this dress in order to make it actually, you know, FIT me, but that's beside the point. [insert grumbling about commercial pattern sizing here]

I thought, hey, I will cut this and stitch it together real quick and get started on the fitting, so that maybe by the end of the week, I can have a new dress. And then I realized I would have to move all five of the bicycles that were currently in front of my sewing machines in order to do any stitching. I would put the bikes in the shed, and shift some stuff from the shed to the garage, or someplace. And by the time I shifted the bikes to the shed, everyone would be back home from the store, and I would not be able to do what I had planned. And I gave up and put my stuff away. Bummer.

Yes. My sewing machines are in there someplace. Behind the bikes.

But they came home with a bouquet of roses!

And then we went out to the barn for Wren's lesson. I thought about riding Champ after the lesson, but I opted not to, mostly because I was being grumpy about not being able to sew. 

Wren rode Gabby. Champ was kind of annoying to the little girl who was riding him. I decided to hop on him after the lessons, and while I was completely NOT dressed for the occasion (shorts, sneakers, no sports bra), I found my half chaps and off I went. The ring was a no-go, he was not having any of that, so I took him out back of the barn to the mares' pasture (empty, because everyone was in the barn). I was just going to ride him around the pasture and go back in, but the sun was shining, the breeze was fantastic, and the field was FULL to brimming with bright and happy yellow buttercups. I couldn't resist some trotting, and then I saw the cross-country fences and I thought....hmmm....I wonder if I could just hop him over those teeny Intro level logs. 

Of course I can! Kathy says so. I put my legs on him, and away we went.

Not a moment's hesitation on his part AT ALL. Canter down the little hill, turn left, hop in, hop out, canter up the hill.

Huh. What do you know? Let's do that again!

Trot over, canter downhill, turn left, hop, hop canter....woo! AGAIN!! And let's add the woodpile in the trees at the top of the hill while we're at it!

SO instead we had....canter over, canter downhill (sit back, sit up), turn left (left rein up, relax), hophop, BLAST up the hill to the woodpile and (leglegleg, let the reins slide a little)...JUMP! Canter away!

OMG.   

One more time! Yay! (the last one he kind of jumped me out of the tack a bit, because he took that woodpile with the biggest, roundest jump I have ever felt him do).

Travis saw me jump, but didn't get it on video. Darn.

I did this IN MY SNEAKERS! And shorts! I looked like hell, with my fish-belly-white legs, and beat up old half chaps, but it was SO. MUCH. FUN.

I had to stop so we could get home so Travis could go pick up Kira, and because the saddle fittings were pinching my bare legs, otherwise I'd have jumped more things! I was eyeing the jump made of tires, and the one made of wire spools.....and the little ditch, and the blue barrels.....

Next time. Maybe Tuesday. :)