July 8th - 8:00pm

After dinner last night Alice and I were feeling super productive and decided to retrieve the cable from the loft that would let us hook up the TV. Which resulted in moving a bunch of other things too. I was only suppose to live in this house for a week or two so didnt move much. Its been a month though and I dont see us moving back into the loft any time soon. So decided to make some improvements to my room/bed with the addition of some more blankets and another mattress. The one on my bed was kinda thin and the one on the bed in the loft isnt super thick either but I figured theyd be super comfy together. I dont think Alice had even fully asked how we were going to get it down the stairs before I had it off the bed and headed out the loft window to the barn aisle below. She probably thinks Im a little nuts. Thats how the guys and Martin had moved everything in and out though! Got it up the spiral staircase in the house by myself as well. I think that was just due to being flat out too stubborn to admit it wasnt going to fit. I just made it. So my bed is super comfy now and sits a good 5" higher which means Im sure to crack my head on the angled/lower ceiling above my bed (instead of it just being a distinct possibility). And we did get the TV hooked up! So now there is television in Alice's room. I very rarely watch TV but at least its an option now.
Anyway, despite it being Sunday I opted to start the week early by riding with Martin. Being out of the saddle all last week was not my cup of tea. So rode Herodes, Buck, Picaro, Geologo and longed Nacar and Georgia. It was Picaro's first time under saddle after being stall rested for an injury so just walking but Im excited to see him come back to work. Schooled Herodes over fences a bit as prep for the people coming to try him tomorrow and did some cavaletti work with Buck as prep for jumping. Both were good but Martin is really starting to crack down on my riding. Not the pick your hands up, heels down, look forward type riding though. He wants my disipline and methods to improve. He said after studying riding in Europe and the US his conclusion was that good horses are made through the correct methods and proper disipline. Without that, you have nothing. He's wanting me to do a lot of evaluating of what is going on under me while paying attention to where I am going while planning what comes next. Evaluate every turn, transition, straight away, jump, whatever. And only do things the wrong way once. If a transition was bad, fix it and school the fix. If you're doing an exercise and cut the turn, don't do it again. Sounds easy but when things start coming up rapid fire I forget to sit, evaluate and deal with what I have. Still have so much to learn.
After lunch I worked Georgia and Alice and I took the later part of the afternoon to walk up the road to the store in Moreno. Which was definitely interesting. We 100% stick out as non natives. Especially laughing and talking in English. And since we got a tiny bit lost. You have to go down the second paved road which is actually the third road off the main street. After some turning around and cut throughs we got to the right street only to not be able to find the store. Eventually we realized the store was just closed (duh its late on a Sunday afternoon) and I just wasn't recognizing it without the signs and stuff. Managed to get home without getting too lost again (took a different route too!) and now know a variety of ways to get between Rancho Pampa and the store! Despite not getting to buy stuff at the store, it was fun to get out and walk around. Had never been out the gates on foot so it was a change of pace and we'll definitely have to do it again.
Headed to bed early tonight since it is likely to be a long week with us starting on Sunday. Just excited to be back riding though!