Saturday, July 24, 2010

Exhausted is only the beginning

Today was just plain tiresome.

I woke up at 5:30 to get Bailey ready for her first trip off of my farm. She loaded up great, and got off the trailer really well. I handwalked her for about 20 minutes or so, and then tacked her up.

There were your expected snorts and jumps, but nothing out of control. All things considered, she was a star!

We started out walking around the hunter ring, because it was dead quiet. The first few times someone took a jump near her, she jumped out of her skin (in a contained way), but she settled right back down. Once a kid almost jumped on top of us, I switched to the jumper/pony ring. For some reason, she loves ponies. Maybe they're her safety blanket since she gets turned out with Scooter? Strange thought...but she settled down almost immediately and let me start working her. She was even better at the show than she was at home. She was stretched out on the bit, and really paying attention. Even her bends were near perfect! Go figure, right?

So needless to say, I was THRILLED. She even stood still for a half hour or so calmly munching grass while she dried off. Getting back on the trailer was a bit of an event. She didn't want to leave all the grass and her new friends, but with the help of a friend, we managed to get her on in about 5 or 10 minutes.

After she was settled, I jumped Bella and Patrick around to school them up for tomorrow. Bella's feet look absolutely dreadful. They're infinitely too long in the toe, and one front foot has a different angle than the other. I'm going to give this farrier one more shot, but there's simply no way she should be that long after 4 weeks. I'm almost nervous to show her tomorrow, but she seems perfectly comfortable...just really long. Urgh. I really don't want to have to find yet another farrier!

So tomorrow is Patrick and Bella's day to shine. There are a whole bunch of people coming out to watch them, so I hope they keep their cool!

Oh, and Patrick officially has a sale flyer posted at the concession stand:)

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