I'm Alive!

I haven’t been feeling the whole blogging thing for a few days, so I apologize! It’s been very busy here in SoPines; I had the most amazing four days with my best friend Katie (also known as www.jrsrenaissance.blogspot.com) and then shipped straight down to Chatt Hills for Monkee’s first two star event since we bought him. Ardy and Benny also came along to do Training level. It was quite a new experience for me…we not only had to deal with Monkee’s passport, but had two horse inspections to prepare for as well as adhering to strict FEI rules for this type of event. We made it through the weekend by God’s grace and a lot of hard work, and the Monkee was a total rockstar. He was sitting in 10th after dressage, moved up to 9th with a clean and fast cross-country (3.2 time penalties incurred because he entered the start box late) and ended up 10th after 3 rails in stadium. The hills are always tiring for our horses and we feel he also hadn’t really schooled at that height at home so it took him by surprise, but for the most part he jumped very well and best of all, ate at least 4 meals a day the whole time we were there. This is the same horse who literally used to fast when we went on the road. He looks fantastic and his attitude is so much more confident. You can check out the amazing photos of him at www.hoofclix.com (click on Events, Chatt Hills, May 22, Revere Road).

Ardy and Benny were also superstars and were clean on cross-county and stadium. They arrived home yesterday afternoon and were quite happy to go outside and play. So proud of them and looking forward to our next outing!

Champ is doing fantastic…I round penned him yesterday after he had the previous week off. He was very good to tack up, stood quietly for the fly spray and led to the round pen nicely. After he warmed up a bit I started to ask him to really move forward and not let up until I asked. He enjoys tilting his head to me and questioning me so driving him forward before he can even think about slowing up is very important. I’m learning to read his body signals and anticipate him a bit. He was SO good…it took a few tries of really making him move forward (off my “leg”, the whip) before he was willing to stay at whatever speed I asked him to stay in for as long as I wanted. I felt like it was a very productive session and I ended it with leaning over his back a few times just to feel my weight. He acted nonchalant and I look forward to getting on him again tomorrow with H’s help!

And for fun...a couple of pictures of Flaggy from his new and improved sales ad. What a handsome man!



That’s all for now. May be trying a potential lease horse this week, but details will come later…I’m determined to not get excited about anything until it actually happens! Stay safe and God Bless!