The Repurposed Horse

In central Missouri, 95% of the population forgets how to drive during weather. The combined training show tomorrow has been canceled due to excessive amounts of rain. Sherlock is probs actually ok with this. The hunter/jumper show is still on for Sunday, as of now, though - I'm taking Griffin back for a rematch with the venue.  Last time was his first show ever, and it was a complete disaster - poor Griffy went into full-on emotional saddlebred meltdown mode and we didn't make it through the warm-up because EMOTIONS.  This is my trainer, schooling us through the warmup, at the show.  This is literally the most deceptive picture of all time. HE LOOKS AMAZING. So that should be interesting.  Part of the issue was that we entered him in 2'6 - which he is FULLY CAPABLE OF DOING except his brain exploded that day.  Hence our super speedy crossrails debut at Just Cruising last month, where we got 4th out of 4 in every OF class because...well...yo...

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 ...

So. Cute.  Sherlock is a 2004 model TB something.  He's not tattooed and not papered, so I guess we can call him grade, but rumor has it he's some sort of cross. His earlier days were spent as a fox hunter.  He's approximately 16.2 hh, absolutely adorable, and owned by an equally adorable 9 year old girl.  He spends most of his time being a saintly 2 ft packer, but his little girl's mom is always wanting him to do more.  We've been working him up to potentially show at 2'6 in a couple of the late fall shows, and in April I took him cross country schooling. please don't judge my eq too much in the following photos, I am fully aware that it leaves much to be desired!!! Scope much? As far as we know, he's never evented.  He's a pretty steady eddie most of the time, but he definitely has a 'go' button!  I'm super excited to see how he does at his (and my) first jumper show next Sunday! He's a bit awkward and uncoord...

Leo has been doing really well with training so far.  After the first fateful trainer ride, he has been worked twice from the ground.  The first session was on Saturday, and Trainer K focused on flexion - getting him to accept contact and move underneath himself.  By the end, he was able to work quite well at the trot, but the directional inconsistencies that I've felt while riding were becoming very apparent.  Trainer K pointed this out - that tracking right he seemed almost physically incapable of bending and moving his hind end properly.  My first reaction - would he benefit from seeing the chiropractor? Much leaning. Strugglebus for the little dude. On Monday, Trainer K took him outside on the lunge to see how much (if anything) he had retained from Saturday's session.  She was extremely impressed.  Not only did Leo not need to spend time re-learning the exercise, but he actually seemed to show some improvement.  He was moving into the...