Home Sweet Home

I'm happy to report that the move went off without a hitch on Saturday. Kwik walked right onto the trailer, traveled well, and walked right off- no problems. The barn owner, L, led us to his temporary paddock (no friends just yet), and he walked right in, sniffed the water trough, took a bite of hay, and proceeded to roll- both sides!

I went out on Sunday planning to work Kwik in the round pen and then have a short flat school in the arena. As I was finishing up in the round pen, 3 of the gals were headed out onto the trails, and they asked if I wanted to join them. We rode for about an hour, and Kwik walked right over the bridges and through the water crossings like he had been there a million times, and we had a great time getting to know some of the boarders and their horses. I've got another trail ride scheduled for Saturday afternoon and a dressage lesson with P on Sunday morning. So far, I'm absolutely loving our new home, and I'm pretty sure Kwik does too!




New Friends!



This Just In

I absolutely love the folks at my current barn. They are friendly, helpful, excellent horsemen and women who truly enjoy their horses and riding. I have had an awesome time with them over the past several months. The only downside is that the barn is located about 45 minutes mileage wise from my house and workplace. I usually encounter heavy traffic on the routes I take to the barn making it a 1.5 hour trip (sometimes longer), 3 hours round-trip. This is usually okay on the weekends, but it really does make it difficult to ride during the week, and I find myself having to psyche myself up to go to the barn. I always enjoy my time when I finally get there, but the trip makes me want to pull my hair out. I've been considering a move for a while now, but I've been reluctant because Kwik and I are doing so well under the instruction and management at my current barn.

An instructor I worked with briefly while I had Finn suggested one farm out my way where one of her students boards, so I took a look at their website. I was absolutely blown away! Never ever in my wildest dreams could I imagine boarding at a place like this! This farm has 400 acres of trails (fields, wooded trails, 3 lakes), grows their own hay, a beautiful barn for the boarders, a large, lit sand arena for the boarders, a grass dressage arena for the boarders, a round pen, a laundry facility, a guest barn, a schooling show facility with 2 dressage arenas, a show jumping arena, and a cross country course designed by Roger Haller (designed the 1996 Olympic XC course!)!! Um, I called to schedule a tour.

The guilt was already starting to eat away at me. Not even an hour after I scheduled the tour, H called to explain that she is planning to relocate the horses to a smaller barn down the street with more grass and wanted to know if Kwik and I wanted to join. The new barn will not have a lit sand footing arena but does have a nice grass area for schooling/jumping.

I toured the new barn today, and it was everything the website promised and more! The barn owner is very nice and knowledgeable, and she took an entire hour giving me a tour of the barn, paddocks and pastures, and driving me around the farm to show me the schooling facilities and trails. I also met several friendly boarders, a farrier, and the farm's vet. The horses were turned out when I arrived, but the two waiting for shoes looked healthy, happy, and well cared-for. The stalls were roomy and clean, the tack room was secure and tidy, the bathroom was nice and clean, and a handful of good instructors come out weekly to teach. I was even invited to their upcoming Christmas party!

I owe so much to my friends at my current barn. I will miss them dearly, but I feel like this new farm offers a lot of great opportunities for Kwik and I. I don't own a trailer so the opportunity to show, school xc, and trail ride onsite is huge. My board will be the same/possibly slightly less, and it took me 45 minutes. The drive was pleasant, and there was NO TRAFFIC. Spending more time caring for and riding my horse is my ultimate concern, so I've all but made up my mind. Come Jan. 1st we will have a new home. I sure hope I'm making the right decision!

Water complex on the xc course.
This could be us someday!

Home Again

I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon cleaning out my tack trunk, soaking my brushes, cleaning my tack, measuring out feed, packing my car, and bathing Finn. I wanted to be ready to go first thing in the morning since Mr. Man's ride was scheduled to arrive at 7:30. I had no clue how Finn would load so I was ready for anything. Much to my surprise, Finn stood on the ramp, stared into the trailer for a few minutes, and walked right in. Stinker :-)

Everyone was so happy to see him and remarked over and over about how good he looks. I was so proud! We got him settled into his new (huge!!!) stall and had a nice long chat about our plan for him. A is planning to ride him on Friday, and Dr. Bob is slated to come take a looksie next Wednesday. After all this was said and done, A asked if I wanted to ride. Um, HECK YEAH! She put me up on one of the kids (H's name for all of the OTTB adoption hopefuls) named Kwik. I'll be honest- my fall off Finn the other day really shook my confidence so I was a bit nervous hopping on another BIG OTTB. Kwik was an absolute SAINT! He has a sweet face, was a perfect gentleman on the ground, and was super fun to ride. He got a little forward when I asked for the canter, but all I had to do was sit back and ask him to settle in. See! I'm not crazy- there are sane, uncomplicated, fun OTTBs out there!

The crew asked me if I wanted to come along for lunch, and I hung around a bit afterwards to help with evening feeding and turnout. I'm so happy at this barn already! Finn just fits in here, and I feel like everyone is truly invested in our cause and wants us to succeed. This barn also reminds me of my barn growing up. People would just come and hang out for the day, everyone helped out with the chores, and people just enjoyed being with their horses. This barn is much farther and I may not be able to go out as much during the week, but I think I will enjoy my horse and my sport to the max here. I'm headed out there this afternoon to play with Finn- hopefully I'll get to ride one of the kids too!