Nice Long Saturday

I spent 5 hours at the barn and would have spent more, but there was no one else there and nothing else to watch.

I turned Jr and Max out, cleaned Jr's stall really well, scrubbed his buckets, cleaned his halter, cleaned his bridle, moved a chain (that's been on his stall since I moved in) to a useful location, charged my clippers, and ate some lunch with a kittie's full attention.

When I went out to get the boys I was afraid to lead them both at once. Barn rules say you're not supposed to, so I chose to take Max in first since he does not like to be alone outside. I figured Jr would be fine..... I was wrong. In the time it took me to walk Max into his stall and walk out again Jr was running up and down the fenceline had a sweaty neck and was snorting and breathing really hard. He didn't calm down until he and Max sniffed noses back in the barn. Yeeesh.

All the mud from his rolling was dry except for his back feathers so I cleaned him all up and left the feathers to dry. I clipped his front legs and his face. I tacked him up and we went for a really good work out. He was SOOOO good. He jogged sooo slooooow and we worked on stopping and starting on the rail at a jog and keeping his frame while stopped. His preference when we stop is to pop his head up and look around, but he needs to stay focused and just wait for my next cue. He did really well at those transitions. We loped circles and the whole arena. He's getting so much better at that so quickly. I tried and failed for flying changes but I'm not going to stress over that. He does simple ones well enough and I'm not planning to do Horsemanship or Equitation this year anyway. It was really a good ride and I was very happy with him.

His feet were dry when I brought him back in so I cleaned and clipped them and now he looks less like a pasture pet and more like a show horse. Between his mane laying flat to one side and his legs being clipped he looks so much better than the mohawked raggamuffin I had this winter. Someone came by and commented on how good he was being and I didn't even think about the fact that I was clipping him while he was just ground tied. I guess he is a good boy!

I snooped over to Mighty's stall and looked for a tag on her custom halter. Kustom Kritter Fitters does not have a website but they will be at Equine Affaire next weekend..... I promise not to go crazy with the colors.... though the neon orange, fuschia and purple are kind of nice together..... yack. Kidding.