Mid-summer review ...

As the summer progresses, I'm taking a moment to review all my equine charge's progress.

First up we have Moosetracks. The big appy is still going through a bit of a rough patch. His jumping keeps getting better and better, but he's decided that dressage is for the birds. *sigh* One thing I'm learning about this appy/draft-cross is that he has a stubborn streak a mile long. Lucky for Moosetracks though, my stubborn streak is 2 miles long. So after a marathon session in the wretched humidity last night, I think we have progress. He's scheduled to compete at Waredaca next weekend, and after that will probably take a break from competing to re-focus a little.

Next up is Lissell (aka Mythical, aka Pretty Princess, aka Queen B*tch). I won't get into Lissell's full history, but here's the brief version: I got her when she was 11, evented her for a few years, then she hurt herself so I leased her out as a broodmare, that went sour after a few years, and now I have her back at the age of 18). Lucky for Lissell, she's my only horse right now, so she gets to re-enter the world of the working. Lucky for me, she doesn't seem to mind and actually seems to enjoy the attention. The rest of the summer will be spent trail riding, and then we'll see what happens. To say I missed this mare is an understatement. People keep asking me how she's doing, and my standard response is "perfect."

Finally, The Ponies! Once or twice a week you'll find me at a neighbor's farm exercising their ponies. The ponies are meant to be for the family's children, but thus far the kids don't have much interest in riding (I'm hoping that will change this fall!). In any case, Pony #1 is named Swift (paint pictured). Swift was a champion games pony and I'm guessing his age to be at 30+. Naughty is his middle name, and I approach every ride with him expecting to fall off. Thus far, I haven't actually fallen, but I figure I should keep my expectations low with this one. His latest trick was flipping his tongue over the bit, resulting in the addition of a flash to his little bridle. Pony #2 is named Snowflake (grey pictured). Snowflake is 90% lovely. But she is a pony mare, so if she's having a bad day, WATCH OUT! I could go on and on about these little guys, but work is calling. More later!