A day spent with horses is a day well spent

I can't even begin to put into words how physically exhausted I am right now. But it's not that 'sleepy' tired...just an, 'I worked hard today' tired. I love that feeling. I can rest easy knowing I got a lot done.

For some bizarre reason, I woke up two hours early this morning and putzed around like a zombie with my coffee mug in hand. By the time I was awake enough to do something productive, I had a massive case of the shakes from drinking four cups of my black liquid gold.

Early on, I ran to Wally World to buy some cheapy shampoo for a good ole' fashioned bath day (which, of course, didn't really wind up happening). I had good intentions, anyways.

I rode Bailey (who, after a day of walking was fabulous) and Bella, and gave Patrick a really good lunging workout. I really don't like flatting him much anymore. He just hates me so much, it's much easier to let someone else ride him so they can all be happy. I guess that's just part of being a professional...grrr.

Patrick went around the lunge amazingly. I don't even have words for it. He was floating on air. I wish I'd had a video camera so I could stick it on YouTube (fyi-he's now listed on Craigslist! Haha). Bella was average; a little tense, a little stiff. About what you would expect from a horse that's had two weeks off because of bad feet. However, I'm relatively happy with how they look now, so we'll see where we are in 6 weeks.

So, I was pretty proud, after all that I cleaned all my tack and gave Bella the bath of a lifetime. So I guess I didn't totally bail on the Walmart shampoo...She's seriously almost white, for the first time in a long time!

On a different note, there's a "B" show coming up on August 22nd, and they have a $1,500 Adult Am. Jumper Classic. I figure, with as well as Bella has been jumping, it could be worth it. First place gets something like $475...and we all know how poor I am. Plus, I wouldn't even need a stall because it's only 40 minutes away...Food for thought.

Also, I want to tell everyone my exciting news:) I decided to blab about this in light of Jess's recent engagement, because it's pretty exciting for me! My boyfriend of 3 years and I are looking into buying a house near my parents place. It's a little 1900's farmhouse that's been partly renovated and it sits on 5+ acres in a really great area. It already has a big, old red barn and a run-in shed with three stalls and a storage area. The entire property is fenced in and has really great pasture land. We're in the process of putting in an offer (and it's a foreclosure, so it's a great price!). It's a huge investment, financially and emotionally, but I'm so excited about it. Quinn, Fiesta, and Scooter would all have a happy little retirement farm, and Nathan and I would have a super fun project on our hands finishing up the house. Cross your fingers for us!

Hopefully it works out, because at the end of August I have a boarder horse moving to the farm!

And, one last time, congratulations to Jess, Bill, and Jimmy Choo on their new-founded, soon-to-be official family:)