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Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...

Spring legging up

As it is every spring, I have to spend time thoughtfully legging up my horses who pretty much have the winter off.  Without access to an indoor, this can be highly frustrating to me, but I have also found that patience and perseverance does pay off eventually.  This year was even harder to me, as my horses and I had the entire past YEAR off because I was pregnant.  Yeah, I did not plan that out very well (haha), but I figured in the large scheme of life it really wasn't a huge problem.

Well, cue the month of March.

Snappy was crazy.  I mean, I expected her to be a bit skittish and jumpy, but I figured that she had been going SO well in the late fall of 2014 when I stopped riding for the winter (and then got pregnant that January...), that I thought after a couple of rides to get the winter sillies out, all would be fine and we would progress as normal.

Ummmm yeah, about that...

I honestly almost gave up.  She was nervous, scared of everything, forgot how to bend or halt or do anything I had taught her.  I was also out of shape and having a hard time engaging my core (haha, what core?  In March, I was only six months post c-section!) to effectively ride her.  The footing everywhere was atrocious and all I had was my long and hilly driveway to ride on.    We had a super cold spring and there were days I just didn't want to get bundled up to go ride.  It wasn't fun.  She wasn't fun to ride. 

I think I partly missed having Dreamy to ride.  Yes, I can still trail ride her around here and there, but at 25 years old, she is retired and if I cannot ride her for a week, so be it.  I knew that being able to ride and show one horse (Snappy) with all the other family and work obligations in my life would be plenty.  But Snappy was not Dreamy.  I forgot the YEARS I spent struggling with Dreamy, but in blustery March I guess my expectations of what this year would bring for Snappy and I came crashing down.  Spring is cruel in Maine.

April arrived and I kept plugging along because I am just stubborn enough.  And let's face it, I had no other options besides selling her.  And I really WANTED to like her LOL.  I decided to treat Snappy for ulcers again (which helped immensely with her attitude and spookiness!) and started her on daily aloe vera juice.  She has been on Smart Gut Ultra for years and I have treated her ulcers with both Gastrogard and Ulcergard, as well as Oxy Gen Ulcer paste. However, treating her again this spring helped immensely.  Each ride started to feel less and less like I was going to die.

We were finally able to get out into the fields, instead of having to only ride on the driveway.  Some rides were decent, some rides were horrible, and I had a sinking feeling my hopes of trying a dressage show would be a disaster.  April 15 arrived as the opening date for the first dressage show of the year (May 22) and I sent my entry, only half believing that we would actually make it.  This mare had never seen a tiny white dressage ring and FREAKED out at rocks!  Yes!  ROCKS!  

Rock piles are incredibly scary!  Many close encounters with the ground this spring because of a certain sideways spooking mare.  Apparently I have not lost my Velcro butt.

Singular rocks are also super scary.

Christmas trees are almost certain death, according to crazy brown mares!



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