Where we’ve been

Well, it’s been a while. So much for goals to blog more this year. Tristan and I are still here and still kicking along. I’d very badly like to write more (my brain needs an outlet that is just about ME) so I’ll give it a try.

In the meantime, some bullet points?

• Tris is going great, we’re lessoning once a week and settled firmly into our “keep the old man limber and learning” pattern. Right now I’m fitting in 2-3 rides a week of ~30-40 minutes, and another grooming session or so. I expect & hope that to pick up in later November.
• Healthwise, Tris is also still good! He’s had a couple of typical-for-him dumb scares that I may blog about in catchup mode, like the time he went three-legged lame overnight and then back to totally sound three days later, just in time for the vet. Or the time I spent $$$ to figure out he’s allergic to sheep & palm trees.
• He is, however, 27 now and starting to show some old horse tendencies. Most recently around food; we’re using pill pockets to get his Prascend into him, and when I tell you I have tried every single horse pill pocket on the market I really mean every single one. He’s also getting picky about his grain in totally unpredictable ways. (Two days ago he quit eating his grain, and the barn manager tried a handful of the grain he refused to go near nine months ago and he demolished it?!) Just, stuff like that.
• My life outside of the barn has spiraled out of control as I’ve been very deeply involved in local & statewide politics, working to get good candidates elected so we can get good policies that do things like fix the climate crisis and respect individual human beings’ dignity and autonomy and reset expectations about how everyone should work until they die but still not live comfortably. As you can imagine, it’s stressful and feels like rolling boulders uphill but it is also deeply invigorating and challenging and I seem to be good at it. I recently got a big fancy award and everything.
• Work life is also nuts, with a promotion and a big federally-funded project and a partnership with a local university that has me teaching classes and oh also all of the other baseline stuff.
• The house is…mostly just sitting there. We’ve done some small projects. But one room where we stripped wallpaper and then discovered it needed to be skim-coated is…still just sitting there half done. After nine months. Sigh. Maybe after the elections?

Anyway. Here’s hoping for more regular writing going forward!