The Repurposed Horse

Most important things first - LILY HAS COME HOME!!! I found her this morning - my neighbor's cat actually led me to her.  She was gone for two days, and they have been a very stressful two days.  The main focus of life for the last two days has been trying to find my cat.   However, I was able to pull it together for my second ever and Sherlock's first ever DRESSAGE LESSON on Monday afternoon!  I don't have any pictures, but word on the street is he was starting to look (almost) fancy by the end.  We did a lot of directional transitions and a lot of work on corners - he has a tendency to cut them.  And a LOT (x132984093750487) of turning straight down the centerline. The biggest challenge I expected to have was actually making my circles correctly - at my last (and only) dressage lesson, most of it was spent with Dressage Trainer L sternly reminding me not to turn my head to the center whilst circling, a concept that is basically unheard of in ...

Guys.  Guys.  The magic (hehe) boots fit my pony!!!! I was seriously worried that they wouldn't.  Horse size Eskadrons were a smidge too big, and cob size professional's choice were a smidge too small, and most manufacturers don't make cob size boots anyways, and pony size was TINY, but these boots totally actually work! and they look good with the bell boots Leo didn't seem to mind them at all, and actually stood still while I put them on - something that never happens when I try to strap him into the SMB's that I've been using. Don't worry, the lead rope was secure, this angle is just very, very strange. I absolutely LOVE them, and am probably going to use them on whatever horse I end up showing this month/next month.  If they fit.  Because I want to use them.  Because they are beautiful.  Also, I can't review them if I don't try them out. Speaking of showing, I (hopefully) will be going to my first jumpers show next Sunday!  ...

Serious question - should I change my blog name to "Adventures of a Prancing Giraffe?"  Except the goal is to not be that any more, so maybe not. So.  Leo and I had a great lesson last week.  There was video evidence.  Then MY BRIDLE came and that was super exciting and wonderful - I researched bridles for ages when I first realized how incredibly sensitive my pony's cute little face is, and decided that the Dream Bridle was a PS of Sweden High Jump.  And then promptly decided that I would never in a million years buy one because they're crazy expensive and I need a lot of Things for my horse and buying a cheaper bridle would clearly allow me to also invest in other important items like tendon boots and saddle pads and bits and all that jazz.  As a joke, I sent a link to the bridle to my parents, suggesting they purchase me a 'horse-warming' present.  And because they are the most wonderful humans ever, they actually agreed to buy me one - with the a...

Guys.  I had my lesson today, and we jumped an oxer.  AN OXER!!!! Okay, it was a 2-2'3 baby oxer, and we had a refusal at one point at a different jump earlier in the lesson that was mostly  entirely my fault, but seriously today was the best lesson/ride that I have had on my horse so far.  He was incredible.  He was jumping 2' like he'd been doing it for years (he started jumping 2 months ago, and until today we've pretty much only done crossrails and nothing more complicated than a diagonal line), but today we jumped all of the things, and for my baby birdbrained pony, 2' is a pretty big deal at this point in his life. We started off outside, and I was a little leery because I haven't ridden out there since before my vacation due to the weather - even though we lunged outside yesterday, he was kind of an ass towards the end and I don't entirely trust him to not be a dick.  But to my delight, he was being really good.  Tense and giraffe-like, b...

After spending a blissful week in Michigan with my family, I have returned to the world of ponies, barn life, and work.  Michigan was awesome. Minus the lack of ponies. But I did get to check out a sweet tack store in Grand Rapids. Saturday was a horse show day! Leo doesn't go to shows yet because he doesn't know very much about the show life, but I got to take two of my favorite greenies! Griffin (show name Lofty Dreams) is an 11 year old ASB.  Physically, he is more than capable of jumping 2'6+, but mentally he doesn't do great at shows.  We tried a 2'6 show about a month ago and didn't make it through the warmup without a full-on meltdown, so this time my trainer had us go back to basics.  And we survived! We had some of the fastest crossrails rounds ever (maybe someday he'll make it as a jumper!) but aside from the speed we did really well.  No meltdowns occurred this time around, and hopefully after another show at the crossrails level we...