New Farrier. Baby Horse Growing Up!

So my farrier is a wonderful person.  I really like him and he's been doing my guys for years.  Granted, they've been pasturey pets that I'm reworking so having performance feet hasn't been a priority.  Mango has her summer white line issues but lately they've been bruising too and I'm like uh no.  I've asked about shoes and I always get the run around.  This is a thing from the past 2+ years and I was like :/

When I got Jade I didn't want to mess HER feet up and she was used to being shod exclusively.  I mentioned it to my farrier and he just kinda mehed me when I mentioned it.  This indifference led me to check out other people's horses and I had always heard great things about the farrier up at the TAMU clinic but I didn't realize we can just see him.  But you can!  Plus its up at my work PLUS employee discount!!!! And the clinic's prices are already lower than what I'm paying AND I can schedule appointments!  No more, how about an hour from now?  Oh, hey, your guys are 2 weeks over due...

Now that I'm riding Katy in her epic saddle, her foot soreness that was really only on rocks in 2014 became more of an issue.  If I helped her back... would shoes help her feet?  I'm not an eager person to do shoes but at this point her feet were hurting on the nice MMwhatever footing at the covered arena so that wouldn't do.  Also, she and Mango were having a hard time walking on the hard sand in the pasture so yeah.  SHOES FOR ALL!

The new farrier LOVED Jade and was honestly excited to be doing a "weird" breed's feet.  He took his time and did an excellent job.  With Katy, the first thing he did was just hack off her "long toe" that Old Farrier had been tip toeing around for years.  Mango apparently DOESN'T have white line disease, she just needs some support as her hoof was separating from her laminae.  Cripes.  The second she had shoes on, she strutted right across the concrete and was toe flicking her way back to the trailer.

Jade's "I'm getting new shoes" face

Piper and Edison came a week after that for just trims and they looked great.  Edison was a little rock star as we held him and his feet and he got the footsies trimmed up nicely.

Imma big kid!

Oh speaking of Edison!  He's sooo cool and losing his baby coat.  There is a seriously red hot smexy colt under all that dying fluff.  He's got plenty of sass but is super thoughtful.  I can see him starting to drift away from mom, but we'll worry about all that stuff in the upcoming months.  I pulled him out and started working on lunging (more like wild rearing baby horse) but he figured it out fast and all was good.  I also worked on hind leg picking up alone and it wasn't.. great.  He started hopping and my shoulder is toast so he decided I wanted him to lay down and so he did that.  I laughed and just lightly straddled him and sat on his back while I pet his ears and everything.  He was happy and I guess that counts as my first time sitting on him!  He's also HUGE(ish).  He'll never be super substantial (which we knew) but he's about 80% of his mom's height already and up to my chest with his back so yeah.  COME ON HIT 16 hands please!

 Video from when we got Piper preg checked at the OTHER clinic.  Edison gets around (y)

I also took some rather hasty pictures and registered him with APHA while at the clinic.

Introducing CS Logical Conclusion.  

July In Short. Or Semi-Short

As alluded to in the previous post, July was action packed for us.  We went on a family trip July 4th to test out the RV and then we were at a dog event for an entire week in the mid month.  I might have ridden Katy once but that was about it.  The event was a smashing success and I was pretty stoked that we pulled it off sooo well and I was truly humbled by our volunteers and the amount of people that believe in me.  I've always been on my own for so long, forging my own way, that its a shock when you have a group of people that are looking to you for leadership and just totally get what you're saying.  I'm feeling pretty fulfilled right now but also nervous a little.  Dun want to let them down! to some degree but we're all doing awesome and it was a week of being badasses basically.   We so rocked, go us.

So riding off that and the realization that I could now do MY things, I booked lessons.  After a lesson with dressage trainer in early July, I decided that while I love her as a person, I might need someone with more... unno oomph for me?  Its hard to word it really but I'm not sure my goals align with her teaching style although her lessons are quite nice and have been very welcome.  I feel like I need more focus and direction.  I like learning the process not just doing it so yeah.

I had managed to set up two lessons with Lurena Bell in Willis, TX.  She was shrot listed for the Olympics twice and her scores on Centerline Scores are great.  More importantly to me, she has loads of students (like me!) that are real people and have managed to show to and beyond their goals.  I'd only briefly met her when I was a teenager and trying to watch another boarder's kids at Windy Knoll so I couldn't recall how she was as a person.  Oh and she herds sheep with her dogs so I was all uh, yes please?

The lesson was perfect for me, Katy and Jade.  We all worked our asses off and while they're totally different horses, the exercises we did were similar with tweaks for each horse.  Easy to recall homework basically.  I told her I wanted to go home with homework and boy did we.  I also went home with a major confidence/ego boost as she told me soo many times during the lesson how great my position was and so on and so forth.  I finally was like stahhppp its embarassing about teh compliments to which she replied they weren't compliments, they were observations.  That shut me up but I was still glowing.

I've never had that many compliments/good things said about my riding in all the years I've ridden.  Like, if you add them all up, it would still be less than this lesson.  A little sad, but omg I felt validated that I'm not a flailing idiot either.  Most trainers I  ride with are like ok, do it better.  OK, that's better, but do it better.  Its all push push push not reward the little pieces.  No wonder I'm an anxious hot mess that second guesses herself.  Geez.

I floated home on Satruday with my mares who rock and then I headed out for dog herding the next morning.  No rest for the wicked!  We did soo well chasing sheep and then Monday PM I went to agility practice.  All the things man!

So in short, I'm exhausted, physically in pain (yay shoulder rehab), and mentally toast.  And I feel pretty freaking good about myself.  Now to get stronger and work out a schedule that works as the kiddo is starting serious football practices, hubs wants to hit the gym, and I have been dabbling with doing some things with Piper as well as Edison.

Oh speaking of Edison!  He's sooo cool and losing his baby coat.  There is a seriously red hot smexy colt under all that dying fluff.  He's got plenty of sass but is super thoughtful.  I can see him starting to drift away from mom, but we'll worry about all that stuff in the upcoming months.  I pulled him out and started working on lunging (more like wild rearing baby horse) but he figured it out fast and all was good.  I also worked on hind leg picking up alone and it wasn't.. great.  He started hopping and my shoulder is toast so he decided I wanted him to lay down and so he did that.  I laughed and just lightly straddled him and sat on his back while I pet his ears and everything.  He was happy and I guess that counts as my first time sitting on him!  He's also HUGE.  He'll never be super substantial (which we knew) but he's about 80% of his mom's height already and up to my chest with his back so yeah.  COME ON HIT 16 hands please!