Helpful Advice

Well, the change has happened. It’s closing in on winter- a fact that I’m reminded of every morning when I find my slippers to take the poodles outside in the dark. 23 degrees this morning at 9 am (when it gets light). I’ve had to chip ice off my truck for the last few mornings… But my new automatic garage door is nearly complete (along with my stalls-but those pictures will come later), so there is hope from when it’s snowing and blowing and just being miserable. But for now, it’s just chilly.

As for my new barn… Let’s just say that there’s an adjustment period. RC’s still off from the last horrid trimming job. He’ sound at the walk now, with the help of neat purple runner pads and size 000 shoes. To give you an idea on how much foot was taken off, he usually wears a size 0. That’s two sizes smaller than ideal! Not happy…. Where’s Jessie when you need him?

Other than the feet, RC’s fitting in. He’s the only horse on the property who wears a blanket at all times. I tried to turn him out sans blanket yesterday (it was 50 degrees and sunny, with a light breeze); He had to be brought in because he was shivering so badly. I guess he’ll be in blankets/sheets for the next six months. What a wimp. The other bad thing about him being lame for so long (going on three weeks now) is that he’d made the transition into Red Fury. He actually went so far as to bite me the other day while I was picking his feet! Me! I have a bruise on my butt from that horse! Turns out the only cure is about an hour of hand walking and working on showmanship.

Delight, on the other hand, loves having a stall of her own. She could not be happier. She gets to go outside (unfortunately with Red Fury, who is even less of a benevolent leader now with his time off), and come back in to ‘her space’. And the girls at the barn think she’s hot stuff (though they are calling her “Black Velvet”, which I think it worse than Irish Delight, in my opinion). She’s even progressing in the indoor arena- First level, here I come.

Side note: Funny how much more I ask from her in a proper arena than out in the field. All of a sudden I care about bend through the corners and maintaining a proper circle.

The down side of all this is that I am getting all kinds of unsolicited advice…

One ‘trainer’ started telling me that horses can actually wear blankets outside (I know, RC's is hanging in front of his stall and I am paying for full care board).

A lesson kid’s mom knows a woman with a first level school master who could teach me so much.

A boarder knows someone who did dressage and can help me fix my pony (ok, so we had a few explosive transitions. It was cold, she was fresh… these things happen). And obviously a martingale would fix her head set.

I shouldn’t be afraid to ride with other people – There were 5 lesson kids on ponies in there. I think Delight and I needed to wait them out. Safety first.



But really. This boarding thing might work out. Either I've lost all talent in the saddle or I just have to get through this overly helpful initial period. (Though I am really excited about my new stalls in my barn. Spring can’t come soon enough!)