Back In the Game!!!!!!!

You got it folks - one month and one day later, we are back in the game!!!!!!  After consulting with the farrier and the vet, we decided to try out an easyboot to see if it would help protect the frog enough to let April get back into work.  I called up a farrier who is also an Easyboot dealer, and he was right down the road and squeezed in a stop at the end of his day.

Sure enough, we got her fitted and he showed me how to make adjustments as necessary.  I was nearly bouncing up and down as the moment of truth arrived - the jog out.  Robyn stationed herself at the all-too-familiar fencepost to watch yet another jog.

Little did we know, that may be the last jog out.  She went beautifully.  I could hardly contain myself, and promptly rushed home to put on my birthday breeches for my first ride back on my girl.  We joined Robyn and Linkin for their hack day, which was perfect for April - I have been planning to start back with several nice relaxing hacks to get her mind back into work mode before going back to our typical schedule.  We hacked for a good thirty minutes, and considering the circumstances, she was fantastic.  For having been out of work for a month, she was overall pretty calm.  There are a few old rude behaviors that tried to crop up (i.e. the old habit of snatching the reins when she gets excited...) and I carefully balanced giving her a little bit of leeway due to the overall excitement, but not too much - enough is enough at some point, and then it is time to start giving a little correction.  Top off the general excitement with the fact that a thunderstorm was rolling in, and I have to say that I was extremely satisfied with her overall behavior.  Man, did I ever miss my girl!!!!!!!  I was floating on air for the rest of the night.

Of course, that is the headlining news, since it is pretty much my WORLD right now.  The weekend was pretty big too - I went down to Southern Pines to play photographer for Robyn and Ashley at the Foxtrack Horse Trials.  Robyn had a HUGE weekend - she got a 35.5 on her dressage test, and finished with an overall score of 40 on Linkin - a lifetime best for him, and at her very first event!  Ashley had a bit of a tough test because Eros was a little flustered, but they had an amazing cross country round and a solid show jumping performance.  We all had a blast, and the weekend evaporated before we knew it. 

Here is the link to my photos from the weekend.  And of course, here is my favorite overall.  Such an amazing team, and what a fancy horse!!!!  I look forward to joining them at an event SOON!!!!