cash makes the horse world go round

Back from the brink of insanity/poverty thanks to my new job, I am now able to afford some extra bonuses for Lucy the Princess. The chiropractor is coming out tomorrow to give her an adjustment and also check the fit of both saddles (Lauren's and mine), and I have gone and signed myself up for a rather pricey lesson with Niall Quirke. I think we learned so much from the Eric Smiley clinic, and it completely changed the way I ride (for the better!) and I hope to gain as much knowledge from this lesson with Niall.

We've been going on lots of hacks, doing some ring work, and finishing every ride with a nice hop over one of the smaller XC jumps. She has been going so well, and she seems very content.

out exploring, bug free

Today we had a really nice, really long trail ride with Maddy and Pretty (an Arabian mare). We walked through the trails to a nice park that we visit sometimes. This particular park has some softball/baseball fields and today they were having a game. No problem for Lucy, but Pretty went into insta-Arab mode, tail flagged, eyes bugged out of her head, ears on high alert. We didn't have any problems until we were past the softball field, because three little girls apparently really wanted to pet the ponies, but instead of asking us, they stalked us through one of the fields, trailing about 50' behind us. It was like a game of red light/green light because when I'd turn around and look at them, they'd be walking, but when I would return to looking forward, they started running toward us. Understandably, Pretty could not handle that nonsense. I turned around quickly and caught them running toward the horses, and I ended up taking Lucy over to them and giving them a gentle lecture on safety around horses (i.e. DON'T RUN UP FROM BEHIND THEM!) and then let them all pet Lucy's shoulder.

After the three girls went back to their parents and left us alone, Pretty relaxed considerably and the rest of the ride went smoothly. When we got back to the barn, I pulled Lucy's mane. It was right on the edge of out-of-control but I pulled it really short, so I hopefully will not have to pull it for another few months.

almost done, giving my hands and her neck a break!

In other horse-related news, Kenny's dad got us these awesome aftermarket mirrors for the truck that are specially designed for trailering. They come standard on most of the bigger trucks but Kenny's Silverado 1500 had regular mirrors on it that made seeing around the trailer very difficult. The new mirrors are much bigger in size, have a fish-eye mirror on the bottom, and telescope outward to allow the driver to see as much as possible even while towing a trailer.

Cairo likes them, too.

Now we just need a trailer...ahhh.