Updates

So much has happened since our last show but things have been so busy I haven't had time to write them down.  So, as a result, here are some of the quick updates!  Mia had her 2nd ever trail ride and she did really well.  She required the bravery of the App to to first under an overpass and again to go over a bridge but she followed quite sanely and didn't lose her marbles.  Yay!  It is very obvious Mia is still super green, she probably walked 30% more than the App did because she couldn't walk a straight line to save herself.  To the left, to the right, to the left, to the middle, to the left, to the right, to the middle, to the right, she hasn't gotten it quite figured out yet but she did so well.  Very impressed!

Mia has had some pretty decent dressage days and things were looking really good for our first show on the 29th!  She still refuses to be 100% consistent in the contact but her tempo is 100% better than it was in January.  After giving me a couple of really bad rides containing canter transitions, she has now given me 2 rides with nice soft transitions that don't involve leaping, running or extreme leaning.  She still has a lot of problem keeping herself upright in the canter, she leans very heavily to the inside of the circles with a nice, low dropped shoulder but we are working on it.  I am tentatively planning on bringing her to a show on the 29th however she is currently lame on both front feet.  I think it is due to needing a trim (which is tonight), her toes were VERY long and then it all chipped off in a self trim during some road rides and I think she bruised her soles.  If she isn't sound by Friday I will not send my registration in, we will see.

TWH is doing really well, we went on a 2.5 hour trail ride last weekend and he was awesome.  We went through water that went up to his belly and over a bridge that ran over water.  We also got lost and ended up on a deer path for over 30 minutes in thick, brushy woods.  Despite being thwacked and assaulted by various limbs and leaves he was great, didn't balk or back down and went through heavy underbrush like a champ.  He is such a good horse!  His next show won't be until August so while I am riding some dressage with him, I am giving him some R&R.  No sense in beating him up any more than needed since I am not planning on riding at rated shows.

App is also doing quite well, back in September he had a huge abscess in his left front that took a month to blow out.  As it grew down, a nice 1.5 inch hole showed the history of it.  This past trim cycle started to show it's extreme weakness and finally during one of our trail rides, the one with Mia actually, the hoof self trimmed enough that the piece just broke off.  It is actually for the best because his hoof was starting to split from the stress of the crack, now it isn't splitting and is just really ugly.  Tonight the farrier should clean it up and he should be good to go.  I rode the App on the 3 mile loop last night and he did really well!  He can be bi-polar and is either really, really good or really, really bad lol.  RB4 came and didn't want to fight with anyone so I put her on TWH and I rode the App, her loss as the App decided to be really good!  We trotted and even cantered and the App just motored along.  He was a little strong in the canter, but nothing I wouldn't have expected anyway.  It was nice riding him again, with 3 horses I just don't have the time to ride him like I would prefer.

Nothing too big is going on for the next couple of weeks of the dressage show for Mia doesn't work out, just some really nice rest and relaxation as we get ready to enjoy summer.  I am looking forward to not going at 100% for a while!