New Barn, First Ride

Soonie and I went for a hack around the property today.  It's lovely and going to allow us to do a lot in the way of introducing cross-country obstacles and general hacking awesomeness.

Lots of space and lots of jumps to play on!

So handsome looking up the hill

Trail head!  We have woods for the hot days!

BANKS! COFFINS! ARROWHEADS!

We got to play on the baby banks a little bit, just at the walk, and we started at the smallest section.  He was a little unsure going up and down the first time, but he answered the question correctly and I praised the snot out of him.  After a couple of ups and downs off the most baby bank, we walked up and down the next larger one with zero hesitation and we left it at that.  I don't expect those will be an issue once he grasps the concept and gets confident.  The GREAT part about both the bank complex and the little coffin jumps is that I can bring him out there and lunge him over them to help him figure it out before we ride it.

Walking around with all the different XC jumps around, including little farm stands and log cabins, tire jumps and Trakehners, I could hardly contain myself.  These are fantastic introductions and will set him up well for future XC schools.  We found something new and fun around every corner.  I haven't been able to jump out of the ring in years, so I was like a kid in a candy store walking around and looking at all the fun surprises! 

 While emotionally I was bouncing around at all the cool new jumping toys, Soonie was strolling along like it was no big deal.  Which is great, because he was relaxed while I was freaking out...

He was about this excited the whole time

SO. HANDSOME.

More baby jumps

"This is mine, and this is mine..."

The owner and the staff already seem to love him, they're showering him with treats and compliments about how great looking and what a gentleman he is (horsey is well behaved, check one off the "want to be a good boarder" checklist!).  He went out in his new field last night, with three other geldings.  The other guys appear to be more of the quiet/laid-back, submissive types and that's how Soon was before any mare drama, so we were all hoping this would be a good fit.  The report from last night was positive, and when I helped turn the group out this evening, everybody looked like they were getting along famously.  Happy, relaxed, all over each other with zero drama.  We're only 24 hours into this new chapter, but I could not be happier.  :)

New digs!

Saying hello to Fellow

Bubba and Fellow

Fellow, Soonie, and Reggie