Anyone who knows me well, knows I haven't always been very good at going with the flow. I haven't always been the most patient, laid back person either, but I've gotten a lot better as of the last year or so (thanks Snoop!) I'm very good at turning small setbacks into catastrophic events! So when we were asked to leave our very nice facility at the end of October (owner basically wanted the place dusted with Pledge once a week and aisles power washed every 3 days, etc.. Uhh, don't think so), I have to admit I panicked a little bit. We kind of saw it coming and it was definitely for the best, but relocating horses is just plain stressful no matter how you look at it. There are very few places in this area that are suitable for training upper level event horses, but I was lucky enough to find a nice work-in-progress 10 miles from my house!
The only real downfall at the moment is my lack of indoor arena, but construction is set to begin on a 100x150 indoor with a new barn in Dec. or Jan. The outdoor is huge, but the footing was bad so the wonderful owner had new footing hauled in for me last week. Now the only problem is getting it from the driveway to the arena with all the rain we've had! The bobcat is too heavy and will destroy the arena before we fix it, so he's going to wait until the ground freezes this week to haul it in. I've bought a new rain suit and a waterproof quarter sheet for Snoops, so like true eventers, we WILL make it work this winter! I've got my horses all set up to get snow pads for the winter so we can ride in the snow and will be purchasing a very large quantity of calcium or magnesium chloride to keep my arena from freezing as best I can! I'm learning all sorts of new things in my quest to ensure that I can ride all winter long!
With that being said, the horses are noticeably happier in their new home. I think they like being around other horses and all the barn kitties. Never a dull moment! I also think they're enjoying being trained outside more. I have to admit that with an indoor like I had before, it's hard to want to ride anywhere else, but the horses get quite bored. We have a very nice round pen and miles of cleared paths for hacking and galloping, as well as a gallop field and a crazy hill across the street that I'd like to get permission to use in the spring! Spending so much time just trotting and cantering out on the trials and in the fields and making Snoop go really forward into his bridle has done wonders for developing his medium gaits! We shipped to an indoor to ride over Thanksgiving and I was very pleasantly surprised by the lengthenings I was getting. He felt a lot less like a chihuahua/hackney pony cross and more like a real dressage horse! I've just been trying to maximize what I do have at my disposal and not dwell on what I don't have right now. I've just had to get a little creative, but everything will be okay. I got a little bent out of shape when my footing wasn't actually in my arena by yesterday and my mom said, "Seriously, what's 3 or 4 more days in the grand scheme of things?" She's right. It's not the end of the world.
I will get some pics up when it stops raining, but until then.....GO EVENTING!
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