Spring Update

The past winter ended up being one of the coldest & certainly the snowiest I've experienced. So far early spring has been pretty wet but the temps for the most part have been really nice. Foxy had some trouble with the frozen ground & snow which caused her some lameness in one of her front feet. She's better now & ready to do some riding. I've been trying to ride her at least once a week bareback. This helps my balance & confidence! She's one of those rare creatures who doesn't change much if not ridden regularly so it's easy to not ride her as much as she deserves. Zorra is growing & almost a year old now. I'm planning to make an obstacle course of some interesting things to play with for her when the ground is a bit more dry. We'll be building up her confidence to introduce trailer loading. Kisia has spent the past few months in Hernando, MS at the MidSouth Dressage Academy in training. It was immensely difficult to leave her there. The 1st month or so was pretty rough for both of us. I spent way too much time worrying about her. She, being an expressive & extroverted type, made it clear for all that she wasn't sure about all that change. Thankfully she did settle into the little things like being stalled every night, standing in cross-ties & being in a paddock next to, but not with, a herd. I've been getting a riding lesson on her a couple of times a week. I make sure to groom her ground tied & depending on her energy level, play with her online & always do a short warm-up freestyle to keep our Parelli play in practice. She's thrown several challenges my way but as a 4 year old, I'm told (over & over) this is to be expected. I can say I've really had to learn to ride to keep up with her. Riding a school master for so many years made me think I could ride...but riding a 4 year old is a true test of patience & skill! Lots of learning! which if I recall from my time in FL at the Parelli center is not necessarily a comfortable place....the learning zone is just outside the comfort zone. I believe we've stayed in that place & not crossed the next line into the panic zone but it sure felt close a few times. Looking forward to bringing her home in a few weeks where life is a bit more relaxing but not too much....we're headed out of green-broke with the goal of her being good-as-gold!