Fall has officially arrived!

I love fall. In fact, it might be my favorite season, despite the fact that my allergies are bad enough to make me want to shoot myself! I've been taking NyQuil, DayQuil, and Zyrtec D all day everyday since last weekend and still have not stopped sniffling, much to the annoyance of my roommate/anyone who has to spend more than five minutes in my presence. None of this is helped by the fact that I am at a farm, filled with pollen and other allergy-aggravators, whenever I get a free couple of hours, or by the fact that I work at a vet's office, where I have dog and cat hair basically shoved up my nose for five hours straight, but I digress. Today was equally as fabulous as the past week has been, so of course I high-tailed it to the farm, though much later than yesterday... college students need sleep when they can get it! However, I first had to attend a lovely brunch with one of my best friends and her family for my friend's 20th birthday. It was great to spend time with them and to meet her siblings, though it made me miss my parents and sister quite a bit. 

Left to Right: Me, the birthday girl, KT, and BB

Afterwards, I went straight to the farm, where I got to love on Limerick and went for a great ride. I've been struggling recently with keeping his attention during feeding time and at first, he was a brat. He didn't want to walk away from the barn and was very sticky about moving forward. I came to the brilliant, and very obvious, conclusion that pulling on his mouth does not help in situations like these. I simply need to squeeze the crap out of him with my legs and use a little spur encouragement if necessary, and he (grudgingly) walks forward. After that, he was great! We're still just walking, with a little bit of trot work and lots of going up and down hills, as he had a chiro visit last week and was abnormally sore :( Tomorrow is his first real day back, and I unfortunately work at the vet all day, so I set up a training ride for him. That's probably best anyway, because I've been the only one riding him the past couple of weeks and sometimes he just needs a refresher course from a pro (who will kick his butt if necessary!). My trainer, J, is a total badass and not afraid to put him in his place if he steps a toe out of line. I often wish I was more like her, but sadly I'm quite timid in real life and in riding, though I'm making progress in leaps and bounds in this regard. It'll come with time, and I need to remember to remind myself that I've only been back at this for a year, though I certainly miss the days when I was a fearless little pony clubber. I'll update tomorrow on Lim's training ride, and I also have a County saddle fitting later this week, which I am beyond excited for!! 

Really, mom... again?!

My farm

perfection.

And I was wondering why Limerick's back hurts... P.S. Panda was not hurt in the taking of this picture!