Moving Day, Riding, Etc

I had a long, long weekend, and it was fantastic!

Thursday evening ride to the arena on B. While the days are getting noticably shorter, I do appreciate that I can still fit outdoor daylight rides in after work.

Thursday night: Took Bridget to the ring for some flat work, then came back and picked paddocks. So.much.poo, since I was away Tues/Wed - it's going to be a relief to have Sophie on full board! Particularly with my schedule and the days getting shorter, it's starting to feel like any daylight hours are filled with my day job and wheelbarrows of poop...

Friday: Took Bridget for a long hack around the neighbourhood. She was super spicy, which is nice considering I've been worried about her energy levels and condition. Also, I re-evaluated diets and made a stop at the feed store to try her on a new feed. She's been off pasture about 3 weeks now and her shiny summer coat is shedding out. Her winter coat is growing in looking a little rough, rather than the nice dark shiny coat I'm used to. I'm switching her to a high energy/hi fat grain and upping her protein (alfalfa) a little. The vet is coming to visit us mid month.

Winter fuzzy pony on Friday

Saturday: We took Sophie on an epic walk to her new barn. It was a gorgeous day, and Google said it was about a 2.5 hour walk on the trails, so we thought that might be fun instead of trailering.

Sunshine breakfast

Actually, it took closer to 4 hours because Google didn't realize that the trails aren't straight lines, plus there were diversions due to winter puddles and trail flooding. It's pretty flat the whole way though, and nice trails and gravel roads so it wasn't exhausting...just long! Sophie was a superstar, she's really solid with traffic these days, plus all the miscellaneous people, animals, obstacles, and vehicles you meet on the trails. I was quite proud of her!

"I'm a very girl girl, yes?"

She settled in to the new barn without a peep, very much looking like she owns the place and has been there forever. Her new friends were very interested in meeting her, but she was more interested in lunch, lol. I'm really happy with my decision to give her a few months there to grow up and run around with their herd.

24 hours later, pony has settled in and is now interested in having new friends. She's also ridiculously bum high again! 

Sunday: Monsoon rains. I checked in on Sophie, who had now decided she wanted to be friends and go out with the rest of the herd. Maybe in a day or two, little one! I remain impressed with her brain. She was pretty wound up looking for her new friends when I arrived, but I took her into the barn and groomed her and aside from maneuvering so she could peek out the door a couple of times, she was not fussy at all in her new environment and minded her manners. I can't wait to start her under saddle, I really think she's going to be quite special.

I'm fairly certain she thought I was there to take her back home to Bridget, lol. 

When hinting for me to open the gate and take her with me didn't work, she decided to stick to plan B and make other friends.

I then went and gave Bridget some love and mucked her paddock, but beyond that it wasn't much of a horse day because I had to catch a ferry back to the lower coast.

Bridget got her lady beard clipped, how exciting for her, lol. Sophie got introduced to clippers this weekend as well and was a very good girl.

Monday: A much needed sleep in after all the holiday family and horse commitments. Then, back at EC's barn to exercise Audrey. Typing that, I just realized I now have horses to see at three different barns in two different cities...busy, busy! But, this post is long enough,I'll recap the rest later!