Yet another move....

My first ride on Dickie was back in Jan. Then I didn't do much other than just sit on him and try to help him understand the concept of not losing his mind with mom on his back instead of at his head. Three months ago I decided it was time to actually teach him go and ho. We had a great first real ride but it quickly became apparent we were going nowhere fast at the old barn. It had wonderful turnout, an amazing round pen, and a big gorgeous zero dust arena. However, I hadn't factored in how hard it would be to coexist with the hunter crew that moved in around the same time I did. They decided the round pen was too deep so they took out some sand. This resulted in an uneven round pen filled with large gravel pieces from the drainage layers. They kept jumps out five days a week and started leaving them on both rails. There were usually canter poles on the quarter line and there wasn't even a 20 meter circle. Some weeks they even left a few jumps up when the arena was supposed to be clear. It was impossible to do flat work on the broke horses I was riding let alone on a squirrely unbroke horse with the propensity to get a tad light on the front end.

I know how to work a greenie through tantrums but it was dangerous for me with all those jumps. One day I rode him and he wasn't even very bad. I needed to be able to get him moving but with all the jumps every time I did anything we almost hit one. At one point he went to rear a few feet from a jump and I was scared. It was the only day I have been white knuckle scared on this horse. I resorted to riding in the round pen but the footing was shitty and you can only ride a youngster in the round pen for so long. So with sadness I found another barn. I was sad because he had three acres and buddies. It was the perfect set up for him. So many times barns say they "daily turnout" but that ends up being only for a few hours. Either that or horses don't get turned out in the rain but it RAINS ALL THE TIME HERE!!

I found a quiet little barn not terrible far from Bre. It is a bit of a drive but so far it has been worth it. I have been able to work him every day I make it out. He has turnout and loves all the young geldings. There aren't a bunch of little out of a control kids under foot and the only obstacles in the arena are cavalettis I put there. I really miss my barn friends at the old barn but this place has been a great fit from day one. Super happy!!