"I KNOW HIM!!"
So Soonie was awesome again today, as usual, of course. We had to navigate around a jumping lesson, but his flatwork was very good today, and I'm so excited about where he is in training. We got the right lead canter depart, from the walk, on the first try today! I think that's happened before, I just don't know if I've posted about that yet. Canter transitions are solid now in both directions, he had great trot both in the stretch and on the contact in a shorter outline. He just feels so cool, and it's so nice to have a horse with such a great professional attitude, who's always willing to work hard and please. :)
He was outside again without any rug today, because it was legitimately nice today as well. After our ride, I threw him out with his turnout sheet on since I figured it was just enough, but after wearing it for about five minutes I realized he was too warm so I yanked it. He stood by the gate cribbing until he caught my attention to remove it - not sure if that was deliberate or not, but right after I took it off, he hiked up the hill to join his buddies. So either he waited for me to figure out he didn't need clothes, or he had gotten his cribbing fix for the afternoon (which probably not true, since he went and cribbed on the round bale feeder after I took his sheet off, lol). Soonie, so smart...me, a little dumb.
He did get trace clipped in October, but he has such a good coat growing in, the clip job is almost completely negated at this point. Now I have a horse that's two shades of orange and fuzzy all over.
No, it's not. I'll have to keep a closer eye on which of his three rugs he gets and the corresponding temperatures. I love warm days this time of year and I'm happy to take them, but this warm-to-freezing-ass-cold temperature swings need to stop already.
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| Aww tired Soonie...two different colors and all fur! |
On another note, there is an avid fox hunter in our barn, and it looks like I may have the opportunity to hunt Soon this season if I want to pursue that. I just need to get details on the hunt, the fields, and trailering options. I honestly expect Soonie to be a star fox hunter, but the first couple of outings can really blow their minds. Once he understands what he needs to do and how, he settles in and thrives in that (he's shined in everything I've asked him to do thus far!), so I think after a couple of times out in the hunt field, he'll be a champ at that too. So if there's a hilltopper group or a reasonable second field to go out in, we'll start there for a short time. I'll have to make an effort to get him out on the road for more hacking (weather permitting) in order to get him legged up (fitter) for that kind of work.
I also need to find someone who's not necessarily staying out too long - my back is toast from a few years working in Virginia hunt country for hunting barns, and a near four-hour day would probably break me. The one guy is more likely to stay out the whole day - it's hard to ask someone to sponsor you to cap when you know you can't hang with them. I'd hate to have to make him come in early because my horse and I can't do much more than a solid hour or so. Something to work on for sure. I just REALLY, REALLY miss hunting. I grew up in the equitation and show hunter world, but once I caught the fox hunting bug, it was all over. It is honestly probably the most fun there is to be had on horseback, and it would be awesome if Soon took to it and enjoyed it too. There is nothing better than hounds in full flight, riding in a big field across breathtaking countryside. I stand firm that Virginia country can't be beaten, but I can imagine that this midwest country is amazingly fast and fun hunting. Fingers crossed!
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| I used to be paid to do this :) |
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| He does this all the time and it cracks me up |
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