There is nothing worse than working horses in 90 degree weather. Yuck!
So my dad dragged the ring this morning, so it was nice and smooth to ride on. It's actually pretty decent footing when it's taken care of properly! I even moved all the poles out of the way, so he did a good job.
I took Bella out into the 'galloping lane', as I call it, and let her do some serious extended trots back and forth. It was a little tough to get her focused, and took about 6 trips before she stopped ripping on my arms and actually used her back. Then we went into the newly dragged arena and did some collected work. Her collected trot is still a little stiff in the neck and takes some work to get the kinks out, but her canter has really improved. It's actually to the point where it takes nothing but the occasional half-halt to keep her there. It's all seat and leg. Pretty awesome:D
I just took Patrick for a solo walk around the farm and did some walk circles in the ring today. I figured he worked pretty hard yesterday and he deserved an easy day. I put him in Bella's loose ring snaffle, thinking it was no big deal just for walking around, but he didn't seem to like it at first. He really likes double jointed bits; I think it gives him something to play with. I'll have to pull out my lvl 2 Myler and my double jointed loose ring and see if he likes them any more than the full cheek. He's to the point where he doesn't really need something so stationary. Experiment time!
Lastly, I put Bailey in the chambon (which took forever to get a hole punched into!) and put her back on the lunge-line today. This time I ventured into the ring, instead of the round pen, and with the cavesson on, she was super. I really love lunging in the chambon, rather than side reins, especially early on. I love that it lets them stretch their head down as low as they want, instead of giving them a specific area to contain themselves in. She really stretched out and seemed to enjoy the work. After quick rinses, I tossed them all back outside with their fly masks (which hopefully Patrick will not rip off today) and called it quits.
Ah, air conditioning!
This is the documented account of the mishaps, and occasional successes, of a mad horsewoman.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Here's those pictures I promised
I have sun poisoning on my legs. Complete with blisters. Ew. I look like a leper. Thank you horsehows!
Anywho, I just returned from my old boss's. He might have a horse for me to show in July. Granted, I hate this horse, but hey...it's exposure. So here are a few choice gems from this afternoon...
Bella, looking gorgeous, as always:D
TaDa! 2'9", not perfect, but close enough for me! Look at that even take-off with his hind end:D My little boy is growing up!
And this last little gem is our usual 'cool down' trot lap, but he was wayyy too excited to merely pitter around...as you can see.
Anywho, I just returned from my old boss's. He might have a horse for me to show in July. Granted, I hate this horse, but hey...it's exposure. So here are a few choice gems from this afternoon...
Bella, looking gorgeous, as always:D
TaDa! 2'9", not perfect, but close enough for me! Look at that even take-off with his hind end:D My little boy is growing up!
And this last little gem is our usual 'cool down' trot lap, but he was wayyy too excited to merely pitter around...as you can see.
Two updates in one
So yesterday I did a quick ride on Bella, who was a little spitfire, while I waited for my friend to come over.
Once she got there, we tacked up Patrick and Bailey for a little ride. We started out walking them in the hill field again so that they could warm up a little and she could get used to Patrick. Nothing special.
Then we hacked them around the ring a bit, and I must say, Patrick was a total angel for her. I was so pleased with him! He picked up his leads and everything. Bailey was super as well, being her usual little self. Then we finished up by walking them around the property again, this time Bailey was on the buckle the whole time, even when we had to walk up near the road. She's such a good girl!
Then today I had my mom and sister come out for more photo ops when I decided to push the jumps on Patrick a little higher today. I also put flower boxes in front of both jumps, which really confused him. The first and second time through, I don't think he realized he was supposed to jump over them, and saw it more as a barrier. He wasn't afraid of it, just confused. So I took him back and walked him over it (it was THAT small), and after that he had no issues with it or the other jump he hadn't seen yet. After a couple of times through both lines, I had them put up another hole in the cinderblocks, which made each jump about 2'9" or so. He whacked both jumps pretty good the first time through, not realizing that this time he actually had to rock back and use his hind end. But after hitting them once, he figured it out and actually jumped really nicely! I even pointed him to my little log jump, which was also about 2'9" and had no ground poles leading up to it. He didn't even bat an eye, and hopped right over it. Cool. Pictures coming.
Bella flatted like a superstar, and Becca got some awesome shots of her. They're coming, too, as soon as she loads them to Facebook and I can steal them.
Bailey was her usual self, only she's realizing she's a mare, which basically means now every time I tap her with a whip, she does this little half-kick/buck/squeal thing. It's purely entertaining, and not meant to dislodge me, but interesting to note none-the-less. I figured she couldn't be perfect all the time. That'd be too easy!
Anywho, I gotta run a saddle over to my old racehorse boss. I'll load those pictures as soon as I get a chance!
Once she got there, we tacked up Patrick and Bailey for a little ride. We started out walking them in the hill field again so that they could warm up a little and she could get used to Patrick. Nothing special.
Then we hacked them around the ring a bit, and I must say, Patrick was a total angel for her. I was so pleased with him! He picked up his leads and everything. Bailey was super as well, being her usual little self. Then we finished up by walking them around the property again, this time Bailey was on the buckle the whole time, even when we had to walk up near the road. She's such a good girl!
Then today I had my mom and sister come out for more photo ops when I decided to push the jumps on Patrick a little higher today. I also put flower boxes in front of both jumps, which really confused him. The first and second time through, I don't think he realized he was supposed to jump over them, and saw it more as a barrier. He wasn't afraid of it, just confused. So I took him back and walked him over it (it was THAT small), and after that he had no issues with it or the other jump he hadn't seen yet. After a couple of times through both lines, I had them put up another hole in the cinderblocks, which made each jump about 2'9" or so. He whacked both jumps pretty good the first time through, not realizing that this time he actually had to rock back and use his hind end. But after hitting them once, he figured it out and actually jumped really nicely! I even pointed him to my little log jump, which was also about 2'9" and had no ground poles leading up to it. He didn't even bat an eye, and hopped right over it. Cool. Pictures coming.
Bella flatted like a superstar, and Becca got some awesome shots of her. They're coming, too, as soon as she loads them to Facebook and I can steal them.
Bailey was her usual self, only she's realizing she's a mare, which basically means now every time I tap her with a whip, she does this little half-kick/buck/squeal thing. It's purely entertaining, and not meant to dislodge me, but interesting to note none-the-less. I figured she couldn't be perfect all the time. That'd be too easy!
Anywho, I gotta run a saddle over to my old racehorse boss. I'll load those pictures as soon as I get a chance!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Quiet days
The last couple of days have been fairly quiet around here. Monday everyone had off and took a nice long day out in the field while I recuperated from the weekend's hot, sweaty horse show.
On Tuesday, Bella had yet another day off, so the only responsibilities I had were to the babies. My little sister finally decided to make some time in her schedule to hop up on a horse, and I handed Patrick's reins over to her while I tacked up Bailey. I was reluctant to let her on him, because he's just turned into such a fun little horse to ride, but it needs to be done if I'm ever going to sell him. As some of you may know, I was a little worried that I'm making Patrick into 'too much horse' for the quality of rider he's likely to go to, but he proved my worries wrong. He was a total doll for my sister, and it provided Bailey with a buddy for some new adventures.
First, we took them out into the field and trotted them up the hill a few times. It was the first time Bailey had done this, and she handled it like she was a 30 year old school pony.
Then we took them into the ring and gave them both a good hack. Patrick slowed his trot right down for Becca, and once she figured out how to balance her body correctly, he even picked up his leads for her. It was nice to have another horse in the ring, because it gave me the opportunity to teach Bailey that it isn't follow the leader, and allowed her to experience being ridden head-on at another horse. All valuable lessons for a show horse, as most of you know!
After the sweat session, we decided to take them for a little walk around the property; something neither one of them have ever done. However, Patrick boldly lead the way around the perimeter of our 15 acres, and Bailey calmly tagged along right behind him, occasionally trotting to catch up if she stopped to sniff something for too long. It was actually pretty cute, and I'm glad they both behaved so well!
Yesterday, I finally put Bella back into work after a three day vacation. Usually she's much better after a break, but she was just kind of a pain yesterday. Her A.D.D. had her all over the place, but it wasn't altogether entirely unsuccessful. I just kind of dealt with it. Her feet are getting so long and nasty that I'm keeping it easy until the new farrier comes on Monday. I finally got someone to return my phone call, after weeks of struggling to get someone out here.
Patrick was a bit of a lazy bum yesterday. One ride with my sister and he decides he's done working hard! It took some convincing to get him moving, even with spurs (mind you, I'm against flatting horses in spurs, but for now, they just work=/).
I lunged Bailey in side reins and introduced her to the cavesson, which took some convincing to get on her head. After that, she went right into her lofty, slow warmblood gaits. Not exactly what I had in mind! She really needs to learn how to stretch her shoulders. I think it's part of her growing process still, but I don't want her to get in the habit of falling short with her reach.
Today I'm holding off on riding because a friend of mine from school is coming to join me. I've decided Patrick is not only the safest option for her, but probably the smartest as well. Not only can Bailey get another opportunity to ride outside of the arena, but Patrick gets some exposure and another different rider. We'll see how it goes!
On Tuesday, Bella had yet another day off, so the only responsibilities I had were to the babies. My little sister finally decided to make some time in her schedule to hop up on a horse, and I handed Patrick's reins over to her while I tacked up Bailey. I was reluctant to let her on him, because he's just turned into such a fun little horse to ride, but it needs to be done if I'm ever going to sell him. As some of you may know, I was a little worried that I'm making Patrick into 'too much horse' for the quality of rider he's likely to go to, but he proved my worries wrong. He was a total doll for my sister, and it provided Bailey with a buddy for some new adventures.
First, we took them out into the field and trotted them up the hill a few times. It was the first time Bailey had done this, and she handled it like she was a 30 year old school pony.
Then we took them into the ring and gave them both a good hack. Patrick slowed his trot right down for Becca, and once she figured out how to balance her body correctly, he even picked up his leads for her. It was nice to have another horse in the ring, because it gave me the opportunity to teach Bailey that it isn't follow the leader, and allowed her to experience being ridden head-on at another horse. All valuable lessons for a show horse, as most of you know!
After the sweat session, we decided to take them for a little walk around the property; something neither one of them have ever done. However, Patrick boldly lead the way around the perimeter of our 15 acres, and Bailey calmly tagged along right behind him, occasionally trotting to catch up if she stopped to sniff something for too long. It was actually pretty cute, and I'm glad they both behaved so well!
Yesterday, I finally put Bella back into work after a three day vacation. Usually she's much better after a break, but she was just kind of a pain yesterday. Her A.D.D. had her all over the place, but it wasn't altogether entirely unsuccessful. I just kind of dealt with it. Her feet are getting so long and nasty that I'm keeping it easy until the new farrier comes on Monday. I finally got someone to return my phone call, after weeks of struggling to get someone out here.
Patrick was a bit of a lazy bum yesterday. One ride with my sister and he decides he's done working hard! It took some convincing to get him moving, even with spurs (mind you, I'm against flatting horses in spurs, but for now, they just work=/).
I lunged Bailey in side reins and introduced her to the cavesson, which took some convincing to get on her head. After that, she went right into her lofty, slow warmblood gaits. Not exactly what I had in mind! She really needs to learn how to stretch her shoulders. I think it's part of her growing process still, but I don't want her to get in the habit of falling short with her reach.
Today I'm holding off on riding because a friend of mine from school is coming to join me. I've decided Patrick is not only the safest option for her, but probably the smartest as well. Not only can Bailey get another opportunity to ride outside of the arena, but Patrick gets some exposure and another different rider. We'll see how it goes!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Whew, sorry I took so long!
So Sunday wound up being a long day (by choice) and yesterday was my self-proclaimed 'day off', so I did nothing but chill out.
Anyways, I woke up super early Sunday morning to take Patrick over to the show for his first venture off the farm. He loaded like a doll and stood on the trailer for a while as I put the other horses outside. Then we shipped off 10 minutes down the road to my old barn, who was hosting the show. He came off the trailer super alert and bouncy, but minded his manners for the most part. No rearing or anything of the sort. Granted, I trailered him over with everything but his bridle on. So we hand-walked for a few minutes as he took in all the sights, but then I hopped up on him because I feel safer up there than I do on the ground, in most cases. He stood super for me to get a leg up (and he's never had one of those before). I walked around for a little while, and then ventured toward the rings.
The only time he really questioned my authority was when we had to cross between these two big boulders that were on each side of the pathway leading to the rings. He walked backwards rather swiftly, but then followed this tiny grey pony through. He didn't mind any of the tents, or the 20 ponies galloping around and jumping. There were a few times he would spook if they jumped right next to him, or cantered at him from the other direction, but it was mostly just a step sideways, and nothing scary or unmanageable.
Getting him to settle into a working frame was an entirely different story. I think we trotted for about 45 minutes nonstop in the sweltering heat, alternating between a collected sitting trot and an extended posting trot. Eventually he just got so hot and tired that I was able to really get his attention back and do some legit work. He finished up like a little super star, cantering around the ring like a champ. A girl that knew him as a baby seemed pretty impressed with how far he's come, so that made me happy:D Then we cooled out in the hunter ring, with all the fancy jumps. I was a little nervous that it was going to be total stimulus overload, but he walked around on a loose rein, as calm and placid as the Patrick I know and love.
I'm not sure if he'll be ready to show by their July show, but they keep their jumper jumps pretty low-key, so I might be able to take him in the classes that I did Bella in on Saturday. They have a 2'0" division, but I don't think I can reduce myself to such tiny jumps :( That's hardly anything for him to even think about, let alone jump over.
Anyways, here are some pictures of Bella from Saturday. Take note on the entirely NOT 3'0" fences!
And Patrick, on the second trailer ride of his life, headed to the showgrounds:D
Off to ride the babies while Bella has another day off:D
Anyways, I woke up super early Sunday morning to take Patrick over to the show for his first venture off the farm. He loaded like a doll and stood on the trailer for a while as I put the other horses outside. Then we shipped off 10 minutes down the road to my old barn, who was hosting the show. He came off the trailer super alert and bouncy, but minded his manners for the most part. No rearing or anything of the sort. Granted, I trailered him over with everything but his bridle on. So we hand-walked for a few minutes as he took in all the sights, but then I hopped up on him because I feel safer up there than I do on the ground, in most cases. He stood super for me to get a leg up (and he's never had one of those before). I walked around for a little while, and then ventured toward the rings.
The only time he really questioned my authority was when we had to cross between these two big boulders that were on each side of the pathway leading to the rings. He walked backwards rather swiftly, but then followed this tiny grey pony through. He didn't mind any of the tents, or the 20 ponies galloping around and jumping. There were a few times he would spook if they jumped right next to him, or cantered at him from the other direction, but it was mostly just a step sideways, and nothing scary or unmanageable.
Getting him to settle into a working frame was an entirely different story. I think we trotted for about 45 minutes nonstop in the sweltering heat, alternating between a collected sitting trot and an extended posting trot. Eventually he just got so hot and tired that I was able to really get his attention back and do some legit work. He finished up like a little super star, cantering around the ring like a champ. A girl that knew him as a baby seemed pretty impressed with how far he's come, so that made me happy:D Then we cooled out in the hunter ring, with all the fancy jumps. I was a little nervous that it was going to be total stimulus overload, but he walked around on a loose rein, as calm and placid as the Patrick I know and love.
I'm not sure if he'll be ready to show by their July show, but they keep their jumper jumps pretty low-key, so I might be able to take him in the classes that I did Bella in on Saturday. They have a 2'0" division, but I don't think I can reduce myself to such tiny jumps :( That's hardly anything for him to even think about, let alone jump over.
Anyways, here are some pictures of Bella from Saturday. Take note on the entirely NOT 3'0" fences!
And Patrick, on the second trailer ride of his life, headed to the showgrounds:D
Off to ride the babies while Bella has another day off:D
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A great start to the jumper season:D
I can't even put into words how glad I am that I put Bella in the jumpers at this show. It's definitely where both of us belong these days.
So at about 10pm last night, I discovered that they switched the days. Adults and jumpers were Saturday, and juniors were Sunday. Go figure. So I had to rush to my dad and inform him that Bella was going today, instead of the Green Bean (as Patrick is now being affectionately referred to as). Thankfully I jumped Bella a little bit yesterday, so she was prepared.
So this year I opted to stick her in the 3'0" division, because two years ago the footing was terrible and I just didn't want to stress her legs out that much. Now I regret it, because not only were the jumps not set to height (2'6" at the very most, and I think that's being generous), but they also fixed their footing up decently. Oh well, there's still the July show!
Anyways, I started her off easy in the first class, which was a power and speed. I've never pushed her in any of the classes, always preferring a comfortable and confident ride over a ribbon, but at the 3'6", there were always enough *cough cough* bad riders that we usually did really well. Perks of going to local shows. Anywho, I let her get comfy with the jumps and the ring in the first class, and we wound up 5th out of a good handful of people, probably about 20.
So the next class was a speed round, and I figured what the heck? The jumps were so little that I could jump them from a standstill. So I gave Bells some slack and let her do her thing, without doing the stupid turns that some of the little kids did (I wanted to maintain some dignity!). She was sooo excited! She tore through that course and left a stride out of every line, taking some insanely huge distances without my permission. We wound up 4th in that class:D
The last one was a timed first jump-off, and I decided I wanted to let her go quick in the jump off, but since they didnt have a TA in the first round, I was going to back her off a little bit and ride her like I would have to if they fences were bigger. She had the best round yet, mostly because I finally relaxed and started thinking instead of being nervous. We made the jump-off, and she hunkered down and booked it, taking us to 3rd place. She got better and better each time!
I'm just really glad that we've fixed some of the training bumps that came around in the last few years. She's really turning into a solid little horse. My sister took photos and video. I'll load them up as soon as she emails them to me!
The Green Bean goes tomorrow at 7:30am sharp:D
So at about 10pm last night, I discovered that they switched the days. Adults and jumpers were Saturday, and juniors were Sunday. Go figure. So I had to rush to my dad and inform him that Bella was going today, instead of the Green Bean (as Patrick is now being affectionately referred to as). Thankfully I jumped Bella a little bit yesterday, so she was prepared.
So this year I opted to stick her in the 3'0" division, because two years ago the footing was terrible and I just didn't want to stress her legs out that much. Now I regret it, because not only were the jumps not set to height (2'6" at the very most, and I think that's being generous), but they also fixed their footing up decently. Oh well, there's still the July show!
Anyways, I started her off easy in the first class, which was a power and speed. I've never pushed her in any of the classes, always preferring a comfortable and confident ride over a ribbon, but at the 3'6", there were always enough *cough cough* bad riders that we usually did really well. Perks of going to local shows. Anywho, I let her get comfy with the jumps and the ring in the first class, and we wound up 5th out of a good handful of people, probably about 20.
So the next class was a speed round, and I figured what the heck? The jumps were so little that I could jump them from a standstill. So I gave Bells some slack and let her do her thing, without doing the stupid turns that some of the little kids did (I wanted to maintain some dignity!). She was sooo excited! She tore through that course and left a stride out of every line, taking some insanely huge distances without my permission. We wound up 4th in that class:D
The last one was a timed first jump-off, and I decided I wanted to let her go quick in the jump off, but since they didnt have a TA in the first round, I was going to back her off a little bit and ride her like I would have to if they fences were bigger. She had the best round yet, mostly because I finally relaxed and started thinking instead of being nervous. We made the jump-off, and she hunkered down and booked it, taking us to 3rd place. She got better and better each time!
I'm just really glad that we've fixed some of the training bumps that came around in the last few years. She's really turning into a solid little horse. My sister took photos and video. I'll load them up as soon as she emails them to me!
The Green Bean goes tomorrow at 7:30am sharp:D
Friday, June 11, 2010
Such a successful day:D
So let's see...
Today I jumped both Bella and Patrick, and both of them were stellar! Bella was actually much better than I thought, considering I didn't lower the fences, so she warmed up over 3'0" and 3'3". Awesome:D I've decided we're doing the jumpers this weekend. Screw equitation! I'm done with that political nonsense (unless of course one of the shows doesn't have jumpers, which happens frequently. Then I guess I have no options). However, I'm only putting her in the 3'0" instead of our usual 3'6". The footing there is terrible, and the course designs always look like they came out of the imagination of a chimpanzee. No need to get cocky on my part!
I set up another little ground pole grid off the right lead for Patrick today. When I jumped him last weekend, it was all off the left lead because I didn't have enough poles for another line. However, I moved some stuff around this morning and made up another line for him. I left everything at his finishing 2'0" height, one line had a little oxer, the other had a vertical. The new line had the poles set at 3m instead of 2.80m, but I left the one stride to the jump at 6m. This forced him to open his stride a little bit coming into the jump, but encouraged him to rock back a little since it put him in a little closer than the other line. It was a little confusing for him at first. He opened his stride right up when I asked him to, but it took one kind of messy attempt before he figured out how to respond to my lifting half halt in front of the jump. Then it went great! We did each lead 4 or 5 times, and he's so fun to jump! It's this nice, smooth little glide over the fences:D Hooray Patty!
Bailey finally had no hives today! They started going down yesterday afternoon (of course, right after I called the vet) so I didn't give her the medicine, hoping they were going away on their own. And they did! So today I threw her in a chambon and surcingle and lunged her for about 10 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow the hive situation stays static and I can ride her again. I'm thinking some trot poles to play with?
Once all of that was said and done, Dad hooked up his truck to the trailer and I loaded up Scooter, my rock solid champion worth his weight in gold, through Patrick in next to him and closed the trailer up. Now, this was the first time Patrick had been closed in there since I bought him almost 4 years ago. He handled like a true rockstar, and we proceeded to drive him and Scoots around for about 15 minutes before returning home. He continued to wait patiently while we opened the trailer, and stood like an angel until I slowly backed him out. At one point, he put a hind foot off the ramp, wiggled it around in the air for a minute, then calmly relocated it back on the ramp, straightened out, and continued on his way. What a gentleman! I'm so glad he handled himself, and I can't wait to see how he does in schooling tomorrow morning! Hopefully someone notices him, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Not many people go to the schooling at these things. Oh well. I'm actually starting to think it might be worth the money to take him to Culpeper this summer and do the little lvl 0 and 1 jumper classes, just to get him some more exposure. He's just so damn cute!
Now, for my opinion of the day, I'm really starting to dislike Dover Saddlery. I guess they're okay for little things if you have a store location nearby, but these days I'm ordering everything from SmartPak. Their shipping is cheaper, their generic brands are cheaper and they have a wider variety of them, and even their catalogs are nicer to flip through. Just my little soapbox:D Plus, they have Antares...*drool.
So here's my weird picture of the day. Anybody know what could make a black pony's buttcheek bleach out randomly?
Today I jumped both Bella and Patrick, and both of them were stellar! Bella was actually much better than I thought, considering I didn't lower the fences, so she warmed up over 3'0" and 3'3". Awesome:D I've decided we're doing the jumpers this weekend. Screw equitation! I'm done with that political nonsense (unless of course one of the shows doesn't have jumpers, which happens frequently. Then I guess I have no options). However, I'm only putting her in the 3'0" instead of our usual 3'6". The footing there is terrible, and the course designs always look like they came out of the imagination of a chimpanzee. No need to get cocky on my part!
I set up another little ground pole grid off the right lead for Patrick today. When I jumped him last weekend, it was all off the left lead because I didn't have enough poles for another line. However, I moved some stuff around this morning and made up another line for him. I left everything at his finishing 2'0" height, one line had a little oxer, the other had a vertical. The new line had the poles set at 3m instead of 2.80m, but I left the one stride to the jump at 6m. This forced him to open his stride a little bit coming into the jump, but encouraged him to rock back a little since it put him in a little closer than the other line. It was a little confusing for him at first. He opened his stride right up when I asked him to, but it took one kind of messy attempt before he figured out how to respond to my lifting half halt in front of the jump. Then it went great! We did each lead 4 or 5 times, and he's so fun to jump! It's this nice, smooth little glide over the fences:D Hooray Patty!
Bailey finally had no hives today! They started going down yesterday afternoon (of course, right after I called the vet) so I didn't give her the medicine, hoping they were going away on their own. And they did! So today I threw her in a chambon and surcingle and lunged her for about 10 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow the hive situation stays static and I can ride her again. I'm thinking some trot poles to play with?
Once all of that was said and done, Dad hooked up his truck to the trailer and I loaded up Scooter, my rock solid champion worth his weight in gold, through Patrick in next to him and closed the trailer up. Now, this was the first time Patrick had been closed in there since I bought him almost 4 years ago. He handled like a true rockstar, and we proceeded to drive him and Scoots around for about 15 minutes before returning home. He continued to wait patiently while we opened the trailer, and stood like an angel until I slowly backed him out. At one point, he put a hind foot off the ramp, wiggled it around in the air for a minute, then calmly relocated it back on the ramp, straightened out, and continued on his way. What a gentleman! I'm so glad he handled himself, and I can't wait to see how he does in schooling tomorrow morning! Hopefully someone notices him, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Not many people go to the schooling at these things. Oh well. I'm actually starting to think it might be worth the money to take him to Culpeper this summer and do the little lvl 0 and 1 jumper classes, just to get him some more exposure. He's just so damn cute!
Now, for my opinion of the day, I'm really starting to dislike Dover Saddlery. I guess they're okay for little things if you have a store location nearby, but these days I'm ordering everything from SmartPak. Their shipping is cheaper, their generic brands are cheaper and they have a wider variety of them, and even their catalogs are nicer to flip through. Just my little soapbox:D Plus, they have Antares...*drool.
So here's my weird picture of the day. Anybody know what could make a black pony's buttcheek bleach out randomly?
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