Counting Down

I only have about 4 weeks until I leave for Tennessee, and I'm starting to panic because no one seems interested in either leasing or buying Dee baby. I don't actually want to sell her, so I guess I'm glad no one wants to buy her, but I desperately need to find someone interested in a free lease. I mean, she's such a good girl now! Who wouldn't want to play with her for 3 years!? Anyway, I'm not sure who reads this blog, but if anyone reading happens to know anyone who might be interested, please please please pass the info along! My e-mail is amy.bergamo@gmail.com, and I'd be happy to address specific details through that (where exactly she's living, my cell # to discuss her further, etc) To be vague, she's currently in Woodbury, CT.

Anyway. We had a fabulous jump school yesterday. We did lots of different gymnastic-esque exercises. One strides galore, a double bounce to a one stride, etc etc. The first time she did the bounce to one stride, we had the out set up as a little cross rail. Well, that's not very challenging, mom! So I'm just going to flatten out and skid over the top of it, dragging my toes and not even bothering to acknowledge that it's there. Solution? Crank up the height. With the bigger vertical, she actually bothered to look and balance and jump nicely. I have to say, when the fences get higher, she's got a big, fun jump to her. It sort of reminds me of Tango, but a little less of the back-cracking, jump you totally out of the tack style that he did so well. With her, you can feel the power, and it is a big effort, but I don't feel like I need to hang on for dear life like I did a lot of the time with Tango. She's a bit more comfortable in that department. The only downer of the day was that by the end of the school, my back was so exhausted that over the last combination, the most I could do was bury my hands in her mane to keep myself propped up. I mean, we did do a lot of jumping, but it was still frustrating.

On the flat work front, she's been doing fairly well. The canter work has been especially promising. These days, she's actually been coming up in front and carrying herself a bit instead of trying to pile drive her withers into the dirt. Can she hold it for long? No. She can make one trip around the whole arena, and maybe a circle afterward before she starts falling forward. But it's progress! I can only assume as she gets stronger that will get easier.

On the not-my-horse front, we got two new stallions in at B's this week. They are drop-dead gorgeous. I also had my first solo baby handling yesterday, and he was a very good little guy. I was especially impressed since as I was moving him from one pasture to another, I had Rascal screaming and freaking out that I was taking his baby friend away and I had the new stallions inside sqwaking about who knows what. He didn't even bat a little eyelash at the commotion... just ambled along to the other paddock. Very cute.

Ok, now that it's raining, I suppose I should get away from the computer and go ride before it starts really pouring.

Mogwai or Gremlin?

Spring is definitely in the air. The boys have been a bit full of themselves lately, though Taz's "happy juice" (ECP Matrix) seems to be kicking in, because he was incredibly polite on Sunday. I got the latest news from Steph on Sunday, too. Dee has been pretty good. There have been a few tantrums, mostly over the right leg, but I was assured that they weren't big crazy tantrums, just cow kicking or backing up... all of which Steph was able to cure with a quick spanking. Sunday she was planning to do a little jump school, and I think yesterday she was going to go hacking. Steph teaches away Monday night - Tuesday morning, so I haven't called to harass her about how all that went yet, since I'm sure she's busy. I suppose if it went terribly wrong, I would have gotten a call.
I miss my girl! I'm actually thinking I'll go up there next weekend, if Steph is around. I want to take some video of her jumping and flatting.
Here she is at Windhorse... looking very grown-up!


I can't even believe how much she's grown-up this year... both in body and in personality. HOWEVER, that witchiness is still bubbling underneath the surface and probably always will. Bettina likened her to one of the Mogwai in the movie Gremlins. She looks VERY sweet. This horse has the NICEST eye... no one ever believes that she could be nasty sometimes. The Mogwai would transform into the Gremlin if it was fed after midnight. Dee seems to turn into a Gremlin when you do something like tell her she MUST do something. "Move my feet? I'll show you!"


In non-horsey news, I've just signed the lease for an apartment, moving into it in the fall! I don't think I mentioned it on here, but I will be moving to Knoxville, TN in the fall to attend the University of Tennessee College of Law. I'm excited about it, but unfortunately, it's going to be three horseless years. I just won't have time to give her the attention she deserves. I'm hoping to find a lease situation for her while I'm down there, because I want to pick back up with her when I'm finished with school.

Fall

Wow, we're already into fall, and I'm still stuck with my very handsome, very useless boy. He's finally getting turnout in a very small paddock, so I guess that's a plus. The leg actually looks great - no swelling, no heat and he's jogging sound on it. Next step? GET RID OF HIM!
In other news, I've begun working evenings for an accomplished dressage rider up in Washington. She deals mainly in spanish horses, and has 5 stallions and 3 geldings. They're all lovely and nice to handle, and I'm really enjoying the job so far. I've got some pictures of the boys here:


Novador


Taz


Amado


Amado


Taz


Rascal


Kiko


Novy


Novy


Ilyad