Leading things off

I think a great way to get things started is with a few updates.

As of the week between Christmas and New Years- Mondo was gelded. He was a good boy for everything and even the vet and vet techs were impressed with how laid back he was before the surgery. Part of their recovery is encouraging movement to help keep the swelling down. We went for some long walks around the neighborhood and he is working his way towards being a great little all around gelding. Yay!  I have been riding him and he is coming along. 

Yes I am leaning into the turn and that is one of my bad habits. I don't often feel I am doing it until I see a picture and there is no denying it.

Click on the pics for a bigger image and yes, GL some of us do use the shoulder, hip, heel rule no matter which tack we sit in. And like BEC's said some of us also 'tent' our western pads too...

Last weekend I took Aruba to a horse show.  It was kind of a last minute leap of faith and we did manage to bring home one ribbon... 3rd out of 3 in the sport horse mares in hand class. 


No biggie since my other two mares had each brought home a third place ribbon at their first shows, just means she is fitting right in.  I looked up the show dates on Thursday and figured Why not? Let's see how she does and have fun at it. Talk about last minute...


She was the biggest horse in the class if not at the show.  She was a bit wound and we could have done better in a few areas, but the main thing is she was there and she behaved. 

Last night I had to put my dog Abby down. Strange turn of events and 3 hours at the vet later...  She was fine on Saturday and Sunday went downhill in a hurry. Last night I took her to the vet since she wasn't standing, walking, eating or drinking. Kind of a major "Oh Crap!!!" moment.  Some of you may remember her from when she was on the cover of Tack & Togs back in November of 2007 with our pony Pi. 

On the way home there was an accident on the main road and traffic was stopped. As if things couldn't get any worse- someone had hit a horse and it was lying dead on the side of the road.  At least it looked like the horse was killed upon impact. I would hate to think the poor boy had suffered.  That just sucks.  Bits of plastic and glass from the car or truck were scattered all over the road and there were a couple bales of hay sitting there as well as a bunch (a flake or two worth) scattered around.  The hay bales was a weird thing and nobody could quite figure that one out.  Plus there was a bunch of scattered glass and plastic a bit further back up the road.  

On a happier note, our bay mare Solis will be leaving soon to head over to the neighbors place. They have a therapeutic riding program and often times the siblings of the kids riding for therapy want to ride too. They are starting a small program for the those kids and Solis will be used in this part of their program.  One of their program directors came over to evaluate her for their intentions and thinks Solis is a great candidate for the job.  She was kind of surprised that at 24, the mare is not a special needs case requiring medications, supplements or added care.  I will get pics and updates as this moves along.  I am excited that she will be bringing happiness to others.  The therapeutic riding program is also sponsoring a hunter jumper charity show in the fall. We hope to take a couple of ours and show them, while the proceeds are going to a great cause. Win-Win!

So what has everyone else been up to?  What is your upcoming show schedule looking like?  Anything that needs to be addressed right away?

*I will be adding all of the links and add on's over the next few days and I will also be adding tags to the posts this time so that anyone searching for a particular topic can find it much easier and faster.