I rode and I love my barn

I rode two nights in a row!  For a relatively long time, too.  It was nice and cool Monday, so great riding weather.  Riv spooked at the beginning, but then he was fine, even when he could see horses running around like idiots outside waiting to come in.  It was a pretty good ride, especially considering I haven't ridden him in *checks blog* over 2 weeks.  We didn't really accomplish much, just getting back to some semblance of work.  Yesterday was pretty warm and I surprised myself by actually riding.  Nothing very special, just a lot of transitions, including trot-halt-trot.  It's amazing how quickly a couple of those get him to lighten up and stop leaning on my hands!  He's been pretty nice and forward, too.  Last night he lost the forward a couple times, which just makes me appreciate how much better he is.  You don't realize how important forward is until you're riding around and it feels like the horse just dropped out from under you because there's no energy there.  To think that used to be his normal!

He's such a good boy... I couldn't have asked for a horse with more try in him.  He gets a little annoyed if I'm getting after him about something (usually either popping through his shoulder when circling to the right, or responding promptly to leg/whip), but he pretty much says "geez, woman, I'm working on it, stop nagging!" and that's it... he doesn't get an attitude about it.


I also just wanted to take a minute to say how much I love my barn.

I love my barn.   I feel like my horses and I hit the jackpot.  Let me count the ways.

1.  BO is young and therefore doesn't hold the standards from 30 years ago as the ideal (you know, things like "oats are a great horse feed!").  She's up to date on what the current recommendations are and is very knowledgeable (especially with feeding!).
2.  She's around all the time, so she's easy to talk to when you need to, and she's in the barn to see what's going on.  Not in the barn?  Call or text, expect a reply quickly.
3.  Number one priority:  Care of the horses.  Period.  No nickle-and-diming for anything "extra".  The horses get what they need to thrive, and that's that.  (Obviously there's a limit, but I have yet to actually see it.)
4.  Open to suggestions and easy to talk to.  Ever have one of those BOs who do things one way and that's it, and the thought of asking for something different makes you want to wet yourself?  Yeah, that's totally not how my barn is.  BO is happy to discuss options and ideas, and there's never a worry that she'll dismiss what the horse owner has to say or get annoyed.
5. BO is on top of things.  A while back, BO asked if I would be okay with switching Princess to a different grain.  I said sure, as long as he keeps weight on, so she switched him over.  Before I could mention that I felt he was losing weight, she had already changed his grain back.  How cool is that?
6.  No drama.
7.  It's small.  Only 14 stalls, so there's never a ton of people.
8.  I know that my horses will be taken care of.


The Mare:

Princess: