Windsor Welcome Spam

I was surprised by a big envelope of photos in my tack trunk when I got to the barn yesterday.  I can't remember the last time I actually had prints made of digital photos I took, let alone had prints made promptly...

But it was awesome to see some fun snaps from last Saturday.  I thanked my barn friend profusely cycled through them about 400 times. 

Forgive the quality here, it's the classic "picture of a picture" but it lends them a nice vintage vibe, doncha think??   (#nofilter #ghettoedit)

Fresh off the truck

It's cool.  Just grazing my amazing unicorn

She even managed a couple shots when Mr. Man decided to stretch his legs a bit and "make friends" with his neighbor.

(he's pretty light on his front end)

like, really light...

showing off his pony face

Yesterday I had another great day with him.  So far he's still a unicorn. 

It took me longer than normal to tack up because I was busy poking and prodding.  Figuring out where he liked his curry brush and how excessively I could clean eye goo out of his eye without pissing him off... you know.. the "Getting to Know You" stuff. 

He was pretty chill about it all.  I am figuring out that he is a bit... um... vocal.  And since his neighbor is too, they sound like a bunch of gossipy schoolgirls chatting through a dorm wall...

Tack wise, we are right where I thought we were.  Prair's bridle fits (thank god), he saddle doesn't (duh) and her girths all hang well below his belly even on the last hole (lol).  So we might be in the market for one of those...

I let him stand tied in his stall (all tacked up) since that tends to happen on trainer days when the horses are waiting for their turn. Different horses handle that differently the first few times, but Windsor was unimpressed. 

He was rather entertained when he realized that while tied he can bang on the metal stall dividers and make quite a noise.  So put that on the list of "manners to work on."

Also on that list is mugging for treats. 

This horse has definitely been spoiled.  There were times I thought he was going to crawl into my groom box/jacket/pants trying to get nibbles.  Mostly it's sorta cute.  But if he doesn't find anything he nibbles with his teeth. 

Not hard, not mean, but there are teeth and I refuse to have my Gersemi-Clearance-Finds torn by a greedy moose. 

When it was time for N to hop on him, she suggested hand walking him around the ring once and maybe a quick lunge, just in case. 

A prudent decision given his 10 days off and acrobatic displays in turn out. 

Prudent... but as it turns out, totally unnecessary. 

Hand walking seemed to confuse him.  I even "showed" him the spooky door at the end (that everyone hates, even horses who were born on the farm..) and the potentially horse-eating piles of jumps... and... nothing.  I think he thought that when I walked up to these things I was just bad at steering.  I got a quizzical "um, should I walked through/over/around this?"

On the lunge he was just as nonchalant.  I actually had to tighten up my tied up reins because he was just dragging his nose on the ground and I thought he could stick a hoof through them.  And I actually had to chase him into the canter. 

Zero bucks, zero concerns.  Just a too-cool-for-school attitude and apparently a total disregard for a "kissing" cue for canter...

He was just as chill under saddle, though apparently a tad out of shape.  He was gassed after about 20 minutes of trot and canter work - nothing too crazy just some suppling lateral work and stretching.

He even got a tad foamy between the legs so we were pretty sure he wasn't just faking it. :)

After a big snuggle sesh, some (more) curry love and some grazing, he got tucked back into his stall and I headed home to dream about my first lesson on him this Thursday!

Love that new Unicorn Smell.....