it's all new

The cool thing about having a new horse is that literally everything surrounding the horse is new. Basically everything we are doing is a "first" in some way or another. And especially for a horse this green, it's all a first for him too.

feeling good about life

More than just riding tho, there's all the 'new' stuff associated with moving into this barn. It's organized a bit differently than Isabel's farm and space is a higher premium. Meaning I just get one single saddle rack, and it happens to be pretty darn close to the ceiling so stacking my two saddles on one rack isn't really an option.

this'll do!

Plus it really is about time I got myself a proper trunk, and this lockable Husky on wheels with a handle (for $54 from Home Depot) looks perfect for the job. It ought to hold my dressage saddle with no problem, too. Hopefully. Tho now that I think about it, I might need to go ahead and get a second one to store in the trailer bc damn I have a lot of shit... ugh. lol

not our first selfie tho

For Charlie, I'm trying to simultaneously establish a consistent routine while also introducing new things and subtle changes. So everything feels familiar, even as we do new things. We do at least some hand walking just about every day for introductory purposes - for instance, you already saw the photos of him investigating the outdoor arena before a ride in the indoor earlier this week.

note the busy athletic field in top left corner

Then the next day (Wednesday, ride #4 post-track) we did our usual hand walk around the indoor, but this time while four other horses were riding - another first. Then I hopped on and carried on with our normal riding routine (mostly trotting) with the added complexity of steering around the lesson horses.

Charlie was foot perfect - there was zero difference in him between all of the previous rides where we were alone in the indoor to this ride with company. Plus he continues to feel better in his body every day. Yesss.

not the first bug bite either. Charlie really hates those flies tho

And since he was so quiet, I decided to hop off to lead him out to the outdoor (he doesn't need to know that we can ride out the gate yet lol) as another lesson was starting out there. We did some more hand walking (bc routine is my happy place) and then I climbed back aboard for our first outdoor ride.

surprise new treats and a special embroidered navy saddle pad from Allison bc she is the absolute nicest ever. i maybe cried a little when i opened this up. thank you so much Alli!!!! <3

And whadya know - the horse was just as business-like in the outdoor. He napped a little bit and got stuck in slo-mo reverse when I first hopped on (will be carrying a crop from now on to nip that habit in the bud) but once we got going he happily trotted right on around without concern for the other horses or the kids playing soccer in the field or anything.

new shoes!!!! finally out of the racing plates!!! much excitement about this

And bc he felt so good and so quiet and so relaxed with what we were doing, I pushed him right on up into canter - our first canter!!!!! Guys he just kinda ambled into a big rolling quiet canter that moderated itself while not needing pushing to keep going.

It felt pretty darned balanced too. To the point where I called out to the instructor in the ring "Look at this cute little canter!!" bc yea I'm kinda a child lol. We only did about half a lap but I was elated. Somehow the first canter was kinda looming in my mind.

Well. A lot of these "firsts" loom large. Like I don't know what I'm going to find and am afraid it'll be a challenge. So far so good tho.

recovering from first health scare!

As another first that same day - we played a little bit with trailer loading. I think I made progress maybe, and I think he understood what I was asking. We got the fronts up a couple times quietly before I would back him out again (the method I learned is very slow and involves lots of back and forth - helpful bc it teaches them both the up and down of the step simultaneously). But... all the same I think I'll bring in the pro who helped get Isabel and Wick started.

new facial expressions

Yesterday was supposed to be more of the same - I even finished up work a little early to get out to the barn. But I think Charlie heard me talking about carrying a crop with him and decided a brief but forceful bout of colic was the better option. This included much nose pointing to the ouchy spot, loootttssss of stretching out like a cat (big horse can go LOW apparently) and some dramatic attempts to throw himself on the ground (was thwarted once we realized what was up).

His gums weren't particularly terrible looking, and his temperature was only slightly elevated. Guts were definitely on the quiet side but not entirely silent. Respiration was maybe a tad high too - but could also be attributable to the stuffy weather. A quick hose down followed by a dose of oral banamine and hand walking did the trick tho and he brightened up quickly.

new stall!

All the same tho, I opted not to ride even tho he seemed totally back to 100% (including a nice healthy looking poop in the cross ties, good boy Charlie). A shame bc I really wanted to see how he felt in the shoes but that's ok. There's all the time ahead of us.

same adorable star face :)

In the meantime tho I was quite happy to see how nicely settled Charlie is in his new larger stall inside the indoor. It's bars on three sides instead of solid walls and just generally more spacious. He can be quite the expressive weaver (not disclosed at adoption, le sigh) but the new stall has either resolved that issue or majorly reduced it. This pleases me (and obvi Charlie too haha).

Plus he's started getting turnout with friends!! Not the herd mates of his eventual pasture but it's a start. And it's definitely a relief that he's quickly graduating through this barn's somewhat conservative (but appropriately careful) introduction program.

So I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic about things. There are definite moments where I think, holy shit what am I doing with this horse? Am I actually crazy? Am I in way over my head? But then I go see him. And ride him. And it's good. Charlie is good.

We have an awful lot of work ahead of us but I'm really enjoying these small steps forward and my confidence in facing potential new challenges grows with each day spent with him.