Gus' Great Adventure

apologies for falling into baby-land again.... I have not been great at updating the blog as of late...eek.

First - Prair is good.  her face has a few scratches and it looks like she really bit her lip.. BUT that seems to be the worst of it, so WHEW.  I have some good rides to update on so hopefully I'll get to that shortly.

But GUS.  Oh sweet Gus. Last Friday Brookledge picked him up and he started his big journey East again.  Lucky for Gus the truck was mostly empty and he got upgraded to a Box Stall for the journey.  I spent Friday morning loving on him and trying to clean him up and shoving treats in his big beak. 

Byeeeeeeeee Gussie

One thing I enjoy about Brookledge is they are very on time and extremely courteous.  They showed up about 20 min before they said they would and happily go the van ready while I finished wrapping Gus up and getting him all ready.  They asked good questions like when I would like him blanketed as they went through cold weather and also if I had any concerns about anything or reason to suspect him getting upset or anxious.  I said he was a good boy and an easy hauler, but the driver still gave me his cell in case I wanted to call and check on him along the way.

True to Gus form he walked eagerly on the truck, stopping only to swipe a bite of hay on his way in.  he was thrilled to find a stall, deeply bedded with multiple flakes waiting for him and he set about munching happily. 

We chatted for a few more minutes before I gave him one last kiss and sent him on his way.

I knew I would be sad to say bye to Gus, but it was harder than I expected.  Mostly because this is one of the few times I've had to say bye to a horse and know that they weren't coming back.  Usually someone gets sent off on trial and in my head I'm trying not to jinx things and think that more it's more than likely that I'll see them again in a couple weeks (cough cough, Pia, cough). 

Fortunately I feel great about his new home and got the report that Gus landed safe and sound on Sunday afternoon.  I was impressed that Gus was able to basically get there in 48 hours even with all the craptastic weather crisscrossing the country.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the big guy's arrival when I get them.  But knowing that he's happy and settled and "home" is enough for now. 

"there's food in here"

Looking for one last treat
 

Cast.

I got an email from a fellow boarder last night that Prairie got herself cast around 6pm.

She couldn't have been there more than 20minutes, but 20 minutes is definitely long enough to do some damage.

Our head groom and his brother got her up by pulling her neck and getting enough leverage to roll her away from the wall... Which makes me cringe even though I know that's one of the safest ways to scooch a big, prone, horse.

Initially it sounds like she walked it off fine and fellow-boarder says she was eating and drinking when she finally left for home - but I'm still nervous.

Having the vet out today as a precaution just to take a peek and make sure nothing is festering under the radar... Ugh.

And here I was all excited to post about our last couple of lessons, but they aren't feeling very significant at the moment.

Fingers crossed. (Again.)


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A New Home for Gus!

I haven't been broadcasting it on the blog yet, but behind the scenes we've been working on me admitting that two horses 90 min from each other is not a good accessory to baby.  (wah). 

(A good testament to that fact is that I'm hammering out this post while watching a slightly fussy, slightly annoyed baby squirm around in her crib.... )

So we've been quietly looking for the perfect option for Gus man, and true to blog-land fashion, this incredible little community seems to have provided the answer!

Meet Jessica.  She's a reader, mom to two (adorable) kiddos, one OTTB named Chance and a bulldog - on top of working her way toward being a vet.  

(and here I am wondering how to feed one baby, ride one horse and maybe get some laundry done....maybe.  oof)

It's Jess!

Much like myself, Jessica's horse addiction can be blamed on a grandmother who gifted well intentioned riding lessons not knowing (or maybe knowing) that years down the road some poor fool of a man would have to deal with the consequences. 

After growing up in the H/J world, Jessica stumbled back into horses as an adult when she started leasing an OOTB named Chance.  As is often the case in these lease-first-love-affairs, it wasn't long before Chance was all hers (for better or worse).

They've learned a lot together and have forged a great partnership, complete with the appropriate number of treats (and kids to dispense said treats.

Love an OTTB face

<3 td="">

Good guy that he is, Chance still isn't totally husband (or kiddo) safe, which is where Gus comes in.  Jessica's daughter has been taking lessons and starting her own horse addiction, just, without an actual horse of her own. 

(Cannot WAIT for our little girl to be holding her own lead rope, I mean CUTE)

Plus the whole family is moving to a small farm of their own in the spring (jealous) - so having a Gus to haul a husband, or a daughter (or herself!) around without a second thought is perfect.  I'm sure Chance will appreciate another old man pasture buddy too.

So that's the next adventure for Gus.  Brookledge should be picking him up sometime this week, and he should be walking off the trailer ready to surprise the kids 3 days after that.

I'm really going to miss having Mr Gus around to ride, play with and enjoy loving on - and I know M2 will miss him even more.  But knowing that he'll have kids to call his own, another old man to enjoy his pasture time with and a burgeoning vet to keep an eye on him?  well that's just better than any horse mom can hope for.  And I've learned that if you can find a better home for a horse then you can provide yourself - that there is joy in watching your horse enjoy that new home and new job (and lots and lots and lots of treats). 

We will, of course, be expecting regular updates, especially the always adorable new-horse-delivery photos.

Gus is going to be *great* at this

Right Down the (very small) Line

Prair continues to work well, and I'm doing my best to catch up.  This week's lessons were good ones for me and confidence building for us as a pair (read: no faceplants, freakouts or general disasters).

Tuesday had us focusing on cantering some cavaletti on a circle, and later on a line in either five or six strides.  Prair was good.  I still want to brace a bit before she goes over anything (poles, jumps, leaves..) but it turns out, when I don't, she's much more responsive (who knew).

Down the line it became very obvious that adding six was easy (EASY!) to the left, but a tad trickier to the right.  She feels a bit stronger in my left rein to the right, and less.... squishy... in her back.  It's subtle, but it's there and it has my "don't-be-hurt-again" antenna up.

Saturday we cantered some cavaletti again to warm up (again, easier to the left than right..) and it became apparent that my go-to strategy of "hold, hold, hold, ADD!" is not working for us.  To the left I can feel her hind leg easier and am much more comfortable stepping up, but to the right I don't feel as connected and we end up leaving long or chipping regardless of how clever I think I'm being.

Then we moved to a (small) line trotting in and cantering out in 5.  I got a little nervous, but I shouldn't have - N told me to "trust her to make a good decision" (LOL) and believe that she'd be good, rather than prepare for potential naughtiness. I tried, and even though I felt myself really wanting to brace my knee, Prair was a star and calmly loped down the line softer than I've ever felt her between fences. 

I still asked her to halt in a straight line after each jump so we didn't even play the lead-change game or worry too much about rebalancing, so I don't want to hang too many victory banners yet but I can feel were we maybe might be someday when all this rehabbing is over. 

And I like it.

We did the line both directions, the difference between the left and right leads were nonexistent (though we were traveling straight) and then we finished with a long canter across the diagonal to a small gate (very small), again halting in a straight line after.

snuggle

All in all a good week and one that makes me feel like the 18" division at Thermal is doable... who knows, we might even flirt with 2' and 2'3" again!

It is nice to feel like we're riding again and I can get back to not being so paranoid about every little step.