Girl Interrupted....

I feel like that has been the story of my life for the past two weeks.  First we had the fall, which thankfully didn't take any longer than a day to recover from, and that was seriously only a hair bit of whiplash.  Then came Thanksgiving, and the inevitable interruptions.  The day after Thanksgiving was great.  I took Miss April over to Kelsey's to see what she thought of some of the issues we had been having.  She had a great ride overall.  April pulled out all of her little tricks, which was a good thing.  First, it affirmed that I am not doing anything wrong for it to crop up.  Second, it gave me a chance to see how Kelsey worked through it.  It ended up being a great ride.  I had to laugh, because Kelsey commented that this is the third time she has been on April, and it has been a totally different ride every time...that's a chestnut mare for you!!!  I have video I am uploading of her ride that day...hopefully will get it posted soon!

Saturday was a gorgeous day, and I pulled April up to go for a ride with the other girls.  I groomed her carefully, and as I went to pick her feet, I discovered a minor issue...she had pulled a nail from her front shoe, and bent up the edge of the shoe.  Thank god for one of our boarders' friends that was there, whose grandfather was a farrier.  He was able to piece together enough tools to maneuver removing the shoe.  Problem solved.  However, being that it was Thanksgiving weekend, my farrier was out of town.  So it took til Wednesday to get the shoe tacked back on.  Half a week lost....sigh. 

I used the weekend to focus on getting Samson back into shape.  He has enjoyed a lot of down time since his suspensory injury, and I ended up taking the approach of putting him out to pasture for a few months to just see what happened.  He has gone back into light work over the last month, but it has been somewhat sporadic.  After April's shoe debacle on Saturday, I pulled Samson out and tacked up for a ride.  We ended up having an absolute blast.  We did some conditioning work through the trails on the property, and ended up cantering over a few little fallen logs.  I had almost forgotten how fun he is out the open!  My new goal for Samson is to get him into shape to go try some foxhunting.  I really think that is his calling in life, if he stays sound.  Ring work is NOT for him.  He is slow, sluggish, and cranky.  So that eliminates eventing and dressage.  The suspensory injury combined with his feet issues have ruled out serious jumping and the hunter ring, at least in my mind.  He could be fully recovered, but I can never justify jumping him extensively.  However, he LOVES to be out in the open.  He is forward, his ears perk forward with a look of excitement, and he is as steady as a rock.  So I have decided to try my hand at a little foxhunting, and see how it goes.  So on Sunday, I hit the roads outside the farm for a little more conditioning work, and had a blast yet again.

Then came the rain.  And more rain.  And again....you guessed it.  Rain. 

The farm has become a soggy pit of mud, more or less, which puts a serious damper on riding.  So even though April's shoe was finally back on by Wednesday night, last night was pretty much a loss for riding without the risk of really tearing up the ground.  I am desperately hoping to find a dry enough spot to get SOME kind of work in this evening.  We have a lesson on Sunday, and I am feeling seriously unprepared for it.

So that is the current state of affairs.  Day by day fading by, and I try to squeeze in as much as I can.  I am hoping to go look at a horse trailer tomorrow, which is very exciting!  I am waiting to hear back on whether or not they will entertain an offer.  It would be nice to have a little freedom to pack up and go at a moment's notice!

Life is good.  I am so grateful for everything I have been given, everything I've worked for, and the people I have to share it with.  It is winter, and it can be frustrating to have goals skewed by the weather, but we will get through it.  I always do!

Hacking home on April the day after Thanksgiving