Tag: Eeyore

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Thoughts About Eeyore

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He has been home with me for three weeks now and between the riding and nursing his feet, I’ve logged quite a bit of time with the big guy. There is still a lot to figure out with him, but there are some things about him I’ve come to know.

  • He isn’t a dumb horse. His gears don’t turn as fast as Gem’s do, but he isn’t dumb either. In fact, he picks up on things quite quickly yet he can still handle repetition without losing his marbles. When he first got home he was an idiot in the cross ties and would try to weave, eat the ties, back up and so on. After a few days of being tied and left while I picked stalls and generally ignored him he now stands like a statue. This was repeated with mounting. The first ride he would not stand still. The second he fidgeted but let me get on. By the fourth ride he stood next to the mounting block politely and didn’t move until I asked.

  • He is a pain with his head. Bridling him is a chore. He lowers it and takes the bit just fine but actually doing all the buckles and straps is a fight as he moves his head, tries to scratch on everything, mouths you and is generally very annoying. It’s the same with his fly mask too. I’m not sure how to make this stop.

  • He cribs only when a person is around. He will stand quietly in his stall as long as he doesn’t realize you are anywhere near him. I’ve hidden in the tack room and watched as he props a hoof and goes to sleep in his stall. Once he realzies a person is around and not paying attention to him he begins cribbing or chewing or flinging stuff around. Anything for attention and to Eeyore negative attention is better than no attention.
  • He poops. A lot. In nearly 9 years of riding, Gem never once pooped in the arena. Eeyore does it every single ride. It is a little pet peeve of mine.
  • He also sweats a lot. He comes in from the pasture soaked in the evening and in the morning has a layer of salty crust. When I ride he almost immediately breaks out full body. I’m still figuring out how to know when he needs to be done. His saddle pad is always soaked through even after a 15 minute walking warm up and I think I’m going to have to buy extras to ensure a dry pad. Gem rarely sweats. Actually there was a time I worried she had anhydrosis but nope. She’s a hearty little desert Arab with astounding metabolics. This is new territory for me.

After three weeks with the big guy I’ve also decided that he needs a new name. He is way too happy and has way too much energy to be an Eeyore. I’m not sure what to change it to and I’m not in a hurry to do so, but I’m not really liking the Eeyore for him. His registered name is “Made For Fame” which is gag inducing, so no help there. I’d like to represent his true personality which is laid back yet inquisitive and friendly. He has yet to spook at anything: dogs, kiddo, toys left in the arena, tractor, birds. So I think he is brave as well though his bravery stems mostly from his generally curious nature and love of all the things. He does have a bit of a stubborn streak and prefers to put forth the least amount of effort possible but won’t put up a fight for too long as fighting is more work than behaving. Anyway…I’d like to capture that in his name as Eeyore makes him sound gloomy.

Riding/Horses

A Very Wet Lesson

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It poured all night Sunday to Monday and by morning it wasn’t looking any clearer. By 9:30am I was starting to think my morning lesson would be cancelled. I needn’t have worried though. Trainer is the best person I’ve ever met and once I verified that the footing was solid under the 3″ of standing water, she was game to come over and get drenched.

While the arena bugs me with the fight against grass, the base is solid and safe to ride on even under water. 

This is noteworthy because had it been with Gem I’d never have even thought of riding. The puddles would have made it impossible to get any actual work accomplished. But Eeyore is a different beast and after riding through a few puddles on Saturday I knew he’d be ok. Maybe not thrilled, but ok.

A very different beast. He stole the hoof pick while I was grooming him. 

I was a bit nervous going in. Trainer had come over to meet Eeyore once before and had seen him crippled but never under saddle. Would she think he moved like a camel? Would she tell me I made a mistake? There was only one way to find out!

Eeyore didn’t disappoint. He never so much as batted an eye at the puddles. He quietly squealed his disapproval of being worked in the rain a time or two but other than that he went to work happily enough. In fact, he was the most energetic I had seen to date and even dolphin leaped into the canter the first time. No worries though. If that was his worst I’ll take it! I never once felt out of control or uneasy on him.

I broke out my riding rain coat but quickly realized it was too hot for it. 80 and raining is hard weather to prepare for. 

There were three main things I wanted eyes on the ground for and Trainer was on board to see where we were at with him. She is a very hard sell when it comes to horse partners so I was interested in getting her overall judgement too.

The first thing was his trot. Of course the rain, cooler temperatures and earlier hour had him much more energetic to start than my previous rides, but he is still Eeyore and I’m still me so cooler weather didn’t make him magically more forward or me less of a nag. She was impressed with his natural rhythm and inherently steady pace. Both things that will serve us well as we progress in our training. However she noticed that he tried to ooze back to the walk and caught me nagging quite frequently. In the end she told me to be crisper with my ask, more proactive with asking for more before he starts to slow and then letting him be able to maintain it. It helped and prevented him getting annoyed. All in all though she thought the pace of his trot was just fine for the majority of our work.

Tried taking a picture of the drowned rat version of Einstein. Big headed Waggy got in the way. She is the most jealous dog I have ever met. 

The second item to cross off was his obstinate refusal to bend left when we hit the barn side of the arena and thus headed away from the gate. Which is odd since he didn’t do that going right. Again, laser eyed Trainer honed in on the issue. Me. Shocking I know.

I’ll back up a tad for this one. Gem hated my leg even thinking of touching her side. It forced me to ride with a too forward lower leg and absolutely no leg aides. Eeyore though needs those aides to keep his body in line. Thankfully Trainer never once told me I needed to bring my leg back under me so win for that! The position nazi had nothing but good things to say. However, since I’m not used to using leg aides I sorta dropped the ball.

While I was playing in the rain, the hubby built me a sliding barn door for the pantry. This part of the house was once a garage and the floor slopes. The bar at the top is level so that the door stays where we put it, but the bottom is not. Gotta love old houses. 

Eeyore is responsive to my left leg and dull to the right. This results in him blowing through my right leg aid. On a left hand circle it means his hindquarters bulge out and we lose our geometry. On a right hand bend it means he circles in making the circle teeny tiny. I really needed to be firmer with my right leg, set him up way earlier than I thought and keep that inside rein still. The moment I went to bend via the inside rein all it did was let his hind end slip out to the outside and make matters worse.

She recommended that I set up cones to mark a circle and then work on staying on the inside then the outside of them to really focus on controlling this.

The last item was his head. For the first 40 minute he was light in the bridle, offered up some really lovely low stretching and elevated his back. Then he got tired and decided that real work is hard and he couldn’t hold his head up at all. His chin was dragging on the ground.

A good sign of a great ride: muddy and wet tack. 

Having never dealt with this before, Gem is a natural giraffe, I was clueless what to do though I suspected the answer was more leg, more forward. I was right and wrong. Yes he needed a cue to move his lazy butt. He also needed me to hold my core, bring my darn elbows back to my side and loosen them and refuse to get tugged on. This was hard. Very hard. My core was yelling obscenities at me and my shoulders weren’t far off.

We livened him back up with canter both directions which worked for a while but he quickly remembered he was tired and couldn’t horse any more. It was a rough last 15 minutes but I think we both started to improve by the end. Trainer plans to hop on him on Thursday to get a good feel and figure out some tricks for me.

Her end analysis? He is mostly a good boy who wants to do the right thing. Until he gets tired and then he quits. She saw his worst behavior I’d ever seen and it was laughable. She thinks he is a good match for me and we have some work to do but it should get there in time. He isn’t going to let me get away with being lazy but won’t punish my mistakes either. Exactly what I was looking for.

If it ever stops raining, 10 day forecast says rain at above 60% chance every day, the plan is to do another flat school at her place to judge how he does away from home plus have her get on him, then do some jump schools and mid summer hit up a cross country course.

The best part? Even soaking wet and covered in mud I walked in the house with a big grin on my face and a hankering to ride again. It’s an unbeatable feeling.

Too bad our three hate each other
Riding/Horses

I Have A Problem

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When I started horse shopping I made it a point to be realistic in what I both needed and wanted in my next riding partner. The fear of getting something not suitable was strong.

One of the main characteristics on my list was the ability to have time off and not come out a lunatic. My riding life was defined by squeezing in two rides a week if I was lucky with a lesson once or twice a month. I made sure to ask every single seller if a schedule like that would be suitable for the horse I was looking at.

Thursday evening I rode Eeyore for the first time. While it had its frustrating moments, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Friday was a surgery day from the netherworld. I knew it would be going in though it was made worse by an inopportune shift change between my surgical cases resulting in me losing my A team and getting the F team. This made an already stressful and complicated revision case all the harder and I didn’t leave the OR until after 6pm resulting in me not getting home until after 7pm for the second day that week. This occurrence gave Eeyore a day off.

Saturday was looking ominous however the storm blew through over night allowing the sun to shine throughout the day. By late afternoon I was itching to mount back up and had an even better second ride on the Big Goof. We did walk and trot much like the prior ride only with crisper transitions and less protests on his part. It felt so nice that I ventured to canter both directions and then much to his dismay I broke out three ground poles to work over.

Were it not for the sweat pouring down my back and a dinner that needed made, I think I never would have gotten off him.

And there in lies my “problem”. I searched high and low and focused my efforts on finding a horse that didn’t need ridden very much. A low key horse with more whoah then go. After all, that’s how my riding schedule had paned out before. But low and behold, with a horse that is inherently well behaved with bad behavior resulting in slowing down and never a single moment of anguish on my part, I find myself forcing myself to not ride instead of dreading tacking up. Instead of using anything as an excuse to put off riding another day, I find myself sneaking in time that I could use mounted up.

In other words, the Big Goof is going to find himself with a harder work load than was anticipated. I still keep the rides short and give plenty of walk breaks. Saturday I rode for about 40 minutes with at least 15 of that in the walk so it’s not like I’m on him drilling or pushing his cardiovascular limit. It is still me we are talking about here.

I never anticipated this side effect of getting a horse I am more compatible with. He seems better for the frequency having already understood what lines I drew in the sand. He was much lighter in the bridle, actually showed true bend in the circles and handled the trot poles like a pro. He still wanted to peter out a lot but I believe a big part of it was my fault.

I’m used to my high octane Gem whose trot is fast and erratic. Eeyore is much slower by nature and when we were trotting I found myself nagging him for more. I felt like we weren’t moving at all but I believe that is his speed and my nagging annoyed him as he was actually trotting. Just not at Mach 10.

I really need Trainer to help me get to know him better but for now I’m enjoying each moment spent with him. After we left the arena I was super tempted to hit the trail surrounding the property, something I had yet to brave, but he was sweaty as was I and the Dynamic Duo were eyeing me up for dinner time. Eeyore needed a post ride shower as well so instead I settled for Eeyore snuggle time and plan to hit the trail another day. It may be sooner than he thinks though. Every day I find myself excited to ride and that is a brand new feeling.

Riding/Horses

First Ride on Eeyore!

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Last night I swallowed my nerves, fiddled endlessly with tack, and eventually hopped on Eeyore for our first of hopefully many, many rides together.

And it went…..pretty good.

In 45 minutes I learned a lot about myself, him and my past experiences. There is a lot to say and a lot of thoughts to sort through, but today I just want to gush a little about my big goofy man.

He started out pretty worried about what was going on and called out to the Dynamic Duo several times. They never deemed it worthy to respond though and he quickly settled in. 

Because while he wasn’t perfect and I didn’t sit on him and magically start doing piaffes and jump around a 4* course, he never once made me feel unsafe, scared or nervous. He never once pulled a dirty move or became tense, hollow or braced. He never once spooked at anything, not even the pile of digging toys Wyatt had left in the arena that I was too lazy to pick up before mounting.

Sure he pulled hard to the gate and became a sloth going away from it.  Sure he tried to convince me he was unable to bend left while still actively bending left. Sure he put on a good show that he was exhausted after 20 minutes of walking. But even through his protestations about being asked to work after nearly two weeks of being a pasture puff and a light schedule preceding that, he did the thing. Sanely and with only minimal opinions that I suck.

Happy forward ears. I love the highlights in his mane. He is in Michelle’s PS of Sweden bridle and I like the dark brown on him but I still need to fiddle with the fit.

And that folks is a whole new experience for me.

I don’t want Eeyore’s life with me to degrade into a constant comparison with Gem. It isn’t fair to either of them as they are very different horses, but it will be inevitable in the beginning since Gem is my only experience to draw from. Where Gem’s answer to anything hard or new is to get hollow, tense and go fast, Eeyore’s response to most of life is to slow down, take it in and think about quitting. It was a refreshing new problem to find a solution to and while I didn’t cure it in one single ride there were a lot of glimpses of a lovely future admist this first ride.

Floppy donkey ears and a more relaxed neck about half way through the ride. 

After 45 minutes of a lot of walking and some trotting mixed in with a few “oops, this horse knows how to do a walk-canter transition when I accidentally pull my leg too far back” moments, I called it a night. He was sweaty, a storm was rolling in and it was 8 pm with dinner still needing made (of side note, if you haven’t made flat bread pizzas at home you really must. They are quick, easy and delicious!!! A hearty, filling home made dinner in 15 minutes) yet I didn’t actually want to get off him. On Tuesday evening, with my hot mess of a Gem, I had to force myself to stay on her and work through the tantrums keeping an eye on my phone until it was at least 30 minutes of ride time. last night though, I had to force myself to get off the horse. It wasn’t a perfect ride by any stretch and we weren’t making any ground breaking improvements, but it was fun. And safe. And everything I was wanting in my next horse.

I’m dying. And you suck. But please give me head cuddles and face scratches now. 

I have more thoughts on how it went and what all I learned about myself and Eeyore that will help me in the future, plus tack questions/issues and a plan for the near future with him but all that is going to wait until another day. It poured this morning and the weather says rain all weekend, but maybe I can squeak in another ride. I have a saddle fitter scheduled for June 2nd and a lesson with Trainer May 31 and a head full of dreams to start making reality. Eeyore may not be perfect, but he sure is perfect for me.

Riding/Horses

Crippled

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Ugh.

(Trying to take a selfie generally ends up with a big spotted nose taking up the entire field)

Tuesday was the first time Eeyore was out in the big pasture with our other two and he came in that evening for dinner sans right hind shoe. I already talked about my farrier coming out Wednesday evening to trim and reset but that right hind shoe had pulled off most of the hoof wall with it and a shoe wasn’t able to be put back on. That led to my decision to go barefoot on the back and see how he did.

Well, turns out he didn’t do so well.

(Licking my shirt. He is the most mouthy horse I’ve ever met though he never tries to bite. He licks. And uses his lips. And plays.)

Thursday morning he came in crippled. He would have been three legged lame had it not been for the fact that both hinds were killing him and he couldn’t walk on the front legs only. It took a very long time to get him in his stall. Dusty ran to work and got bute for the big guy and I changed his 3pm chiro appointment with Trainer’s vet to a regular appointment to see what could be done for him.

By the time the bute hit he was doing somewhat better but was still barely able to walk and don’t even think about trotting. I felt terrible for him. The vet examined him the best she could and noted that his right hind had the lamina exposed. She kept blaming the farrier but honestly that damage was done when the shoe was lost and the farrier barely touched that hoof as there wasn’t much to do beyond trimming some rough edges left behind.

(Better. He tried to eat my phone though)

She wrapped him with cotton padding and elasticon, recommended hoof boots as there isn’t enough hoof to attach a shoe to, and to use farriers barrier or the like on the hoof and sole.

Of course it was 7pm when we finished and the tack store closes at 6 so the big guy kept his wraps on overnight in his stall until I could get out at 10 am the next day when they re opened. I picked up some Cavallo boots, farriers barrier, treats and a fly mask to protect his pink third eye lids from the sun.

Once back home he got the wraps off, barrier applied and I re wrapped the hoof with cotton and vet wrap before putting on the boots. By Saturday morning he was walking a little high stepped in the back, but at a normal pace and was even standing normally to graze again instead both hinds tucked under him.

(His new kicks. New horse is expensive but worth it. Thankfully the legs have remained cold and tight)

Saturday night he came in for dinner with only a few bad steps here and there and walked back out to the pasture after just fine. I threw him out first because I’m tired of cleaning up his water mess as he plays with his bucket as soon as he finishes eating. It took Gem and Pete a bit to finish and when I went to take her out I caught Eeyore cantering a big circle by the gate looking for his friends. It made me so happy to see him cantering again and looking like he was on the mend.

I can’t tell you all how worried I was about him. He was so crippled I thought I’d killed him. Once he grows out enough hoof to attach a shoe he will return to them permanently. Big guy needs his foot wear apparently.

(Saturday morning. He was starting to stand more normal when grazing but he still looked tucked up and tight in the back end)

By Sunday night he came trotting happily over to be brought in for dinner so I think it’s safe to maybe say he is mostly over this. I cut his bute in half and pulled the boots to see how he does barefoot. The ground is super soft right now after a week of rain every single day so I’m not worried about hard ground. If he goes back to showing some soreness I’ll throw the boots back on him again.

The plan is to stop the bute today or tomorrow and see how he does. If it ever stops raining I’d like to get a short ride on him the middle of this week to see how he feels under saddle. If that goes well then I’ll start getting him conditioned to his new riding life.

Riding/Horses

He Is My Doofus. Find Your Own.

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Eeyore has been a pleasure to get to know so far. He is now out all day with the others and in at night. He is handling the big pasture fairly well though he has yet to figure out his feet when he goes trotting up or down the hill. I know the last place was a flat paddock and who knows what he lived in before but ours is hilly and undulating so he will have to figure it out eventually.

(I still can’t figure out captions on my phone so instead you get this. Eeyore tried to trot around and ends up nearly face planting a lot. I think some trail time is in our future)

He has also stopped being so ADD about all the space. At first he would not stop moving. He would begin to settle but then notice an interesting rock and go investigate. Then notice the arena and check that out. The Old Farts put an end to that real quick as they got over following him on his mini quests and began to ignore his movements. He decided staying with them was more important.

(Waiting for the farrier is boring. Making funny faces helps to pass the time)

His only flaw so far is when the others come in first for dinner. He doesn’t mind coming in when they remain out or staying in when they go out. In fact if he sees me enter the pasture he comes trotting over to say hello every time. But when he is the last one out he freaks and begins cantering around all idiotic like. I could take him in first but he needs to learn to chill about that. Also I give deference to Gem and Pete due to seniority. He can wait and come in for dinner last.

(But this is taking forever! I’m bored.)

He lost a hind shoe almost immediately after being out in the big pasture. I’m sure I’ll find it with the bush hog. Thankfully my farrier is awesome and had already agreed to squeeze me in Wednesday evening at the end of his day. Eeyore was at the end of his shoe life anyway and his foot balance was all sorts of wonky. Low heel left, high heel right and medial to laterally imbalanced as well.

(I heard a bunch of banging and went to see what on earth he was up to. He was playing with his water bucket so hard that water was splashing out between the wood boards. )

He wasn’t that well behaved for the farrier which is always embarrassing to me. Gem and Pete pick their feet up for him and nearly fall asleep during their trims. He can do both horses in about 25 minutes. When we had Nash he reared, struck out, bolted and tried to bite which was another reason he got sold. Eeyore wasn’t that bad but he did continually rip his legs away and that was very frustrating for all involved. I’m going to start doing stretches twice daily when he comes in for feed and see if I can’t get him behaving for the farrier better.

(He also crosses his front legs to scratch. I’ve never seen a horse do this before and didn’t quite catch it in the pic fully but it is so odd)

I did decide to pull his hinds and will see how he handles that. The farrier was complimentary on his feet noting that he has great frogs and nice soles all around. I know the vet wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of him being barefoot but she was a bit weird and I think I may try barefoot all around eventually. I didn’t want to change everything all at once on the guy so he got a nicely balanced trim and front shoes this time and we will see where we go from there.

(Wyatt didn’t like the banging of the anvil and Eeyore kept wuffling his neck to let him know it was ok)

I have one more thing to check of the list of his general care before hopping on up and starting the fun part!

Riding/Horses

The Dynamic Duo Becomes the Three Muskateers

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The original plan was the give it about 3 days of passing each other in the barn at feeding time before throwing Eeyore out with the Dynamic Duo. However, one look at the forecast calling for t-storms every day until Sunday and I decided that wasn’t going to work. I don’t want to introduce them in a storm and have poor Eeyore begging to be let under the trees.

Gemmie enjoyed rolling in the freshly mowed pasture after her breakfast

Monday morning I put them in separate pastures while I mowed then pulled Eeyore off the grass for the heat of the afternoon. Around 330 he was due to go back out until evening and it seemed like as good a time as any.

Gem and Pete were in their afternoon shade spot in the back corner under the big maple trees when I brought Eeyore in. He stood right by me and looked around at his new pasture. Then he wandered off a ways oblivious to the other two.

The other two were not oblivious to him though and soon called out and started coming down the hill. Eeyore…well he was a bit mystified. He kept looking over the fence back to his old pasture thinking maybe that’s where they were and not realizing he was in the same pasture as them. He didn’t figure it out until they were on top of him.

They all said hello, he trotted around expecting a fight (he is also low man in a herd which now makes for a herd of three wimps) which never came so he settled in to graze. My two make introductions super easy.

I went back to bush hogging the pasture before the week of rain hits and watched them out of the corner of my eye to make sure nothing happened.

Nothing did. Well, except one incident.

Eeyore found the water tub in the pasture and wandered over. It was hot, another day hovering around 90F, and with the impending storms the humidity decided to come for a visit too. When he got to the water tub he was hot and sweaty and like the bigger than life boy he is proving to be, he decided it looked like a good place to play. He promptly shoved his entire head under water and began splashing it back and forth having the time of his life.

Well, the no fun police didn’t approve and Gem stomped her way over to tell him a thing or two about being a respectable horse. She stood by him and squealed. He ignored her. She then, I swear to whatever deity you prefer, stomped her front foot at him! It was a total Mom move. Dusty and I just about died laughing.

Eeyore completely ignored her attempts to ruin his fun and just kept on splashing and splashing until he was finished and then he walked away to joint Pete grazing. I wish I had it on camera or video. It was hilarious to not only watch Eeyore play but to have no fun Gem get so angry about it. She doesn’t know what she is in for having a young whipper snapper around.

Eeyore will spend his days out with them and nights back in the barn for a few more days until I’m comfortable having him on grass 24/7. We have been slowly introducing the ration balancer to his diet as well. He may need to be put on the Calm and EZ line of Tribute when in work if he doesn’t keep weight with just the balancer but we will see. He was on a high fat diet before so he may need the extra boost that a true grain gives versus just the balancer.

So far all is good though and everyone is settling in just fine!

Riding/Horses

Welcome to the Insanity Eeyore!!!

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He is home!!!! I’m so so so excited to start this new chapter in my riding life. I owe so much to Gem and she has a forever home with me chilling in the pasture, hiding behind trees and/or Pete when the trailer gets hooked up and carrying me down the trail, but it is long past time to start seeing the world between a different set of ears. Um…a rather large set of ears.

(Side note: I’m on vacation all the week and can’t figure out how to add captions on the mobile app so this is what you get 🙂

Eeyore passed his PPE with sound flexions however there were some concerns on his front feet xrays that dashed my hopes for another barefoot wonder horse and may have an impact on his longevity, but weren’t enough to preclude low level eventing and hanging out with me for a good long time.

He was a saint for the very long process of waiting for the vet to show up (nearly two hours late) and all the prodding, trotting and X-ray-ing that followed. His personality is just the best. A nice combination of inquisitive and people oriented without being pushy.

The best part though? Well, obviously besides having an awesome new horse to get to know?

I was due to arrive an hour early so I pulled over in a Walmart parking lot about 15 minutes away and texted KC remembering that she lived up that way. Being the perfect friend any horse loving woman needs in her life, she responded that she was only 25 minutes away and would be right over! The two hours waiting for the vet plus the time with the vet and the stress of deciding what to do with the information I had received was all made much more enjoyable bu her company. Thanks KC for coming out!

When I went to get him Sunday, he loaded right up although I could tell he wasn’t sure about how to use the ramp and unloaded at home a little worried but none the worse for wear. It didn’t help that it was nearing 100F.

I put him out in the back pasture by himself to stretch his legs and get some time on the grass. He was in a dirt paddock at his last place so I want to introduce him slowly to the grass.

Of course I immediately texted Trainer to set up our first lesson together. I’m giving him some days off to get acquainted with his new digs before asking anything of him.

I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to catch him again, but he put those fears to rest very quickly. As soon as I got near the pasture his ears perked up and he came running to meet me. I put him inside for a few hours to cool off and relax off the grass.

He then got to go back out for a while before coming in for the night. I’m hoping to get him out with Gem and Pete 24/7 by the weekend since then I’ll be back to work and he will either be stalled all day or out all day. I can’t get home to move him.

He continues to be super easy to be around. He is a little mouthy but not in a mean biting sort of way. More in the steal your hat, grab your phone out of your pocket and dump and mouthful of water down your back silly kind of way. Having had aloof Gem and scared Pete for the last near decade, this is all new territory for me. It’s fun! And a bit annoying. But mostly fun!

We will see how he settles in over the next couple of days and then I’ll hop on him in a lesson to see where we are starting from. More on my thoughts about that later.

For now I’m just so excited to be starting this next chapter with a really cool horse !