in a class of our own (literally)

Phew what a busy weekend! Thank you everyone for your kind words about Milagro. He is dearly missed, tho there is some relief in knowing it was the right decision.

There's no rest for the weary tho, and this weekend was jam packed with all sorts of stuff - most of it actually very fun. Per usual I have some media catch-up to do before I can provide the full details... but here are some fun spoiler pics.

i had to drag Bali away from his lunch for this pic. he was not amused!

Our farm hosted a schooling CT this weekend and I entered Bali for the hell of it. Isabel has been otherwise occupied for every single home event so far this year (for one reason or another, and this weekend was no exception - details to follow later).

seriously haha - just bc we are CONSTANTLY feeding this beast doesn't make him any less intent on his meals!

But they are fun events and I've kinda missed participating. Plus it seemed like a great schooling opportunity for Bali, since he's previously had some fairly negative experiences at these events.

blue is a good color for him :)

Don't take this ribbon too seriously tho - we were the only riders in the BN division (our farm lesson program is very beginner friendly and offers divisions from 12" through to Novice... but most students top out around 2'3") so it was a de facto placing provided I kept the horse between me and the ground.

bali enjoys the sweet smell of success

Plus, had there been other actual competitors I would have just been riding HC for a variety of reasons (not limited to the fact that I set the jump course myself). But whatever. Bali doesn't need to know that - homeboy could maybe use a little bit of that 'winning feeling' considering he really was quite quite good. I have tons of media tho so stay tuned for the details!

And because there's so much media to catch up on, I'm just gonna plop these pics of the *angriest* mare evar right here. 

Dressage trainer C came through with a recommendation for an equine dentist, since Izzy was a bit over due. Her owner continues to be quite overbooked with work so I offered to get it done - and was especially motivated in hopes that we'd see improvement in Isabel's acceptance of the bridle. 

The dentist had a nice touch with the mare - whistled and sang to her, and was quite gentle but also, ya know, got it done. He said Izzy's mouth wasn't as bad as he had expected - tho there were quite a few sharp points. 

He said arabs notoriously have very soft, fleshy mouths - something like the consistency of jello (ew) - so it's really easy for them to get pinched in there. I'm not sure I totally understand what that means.... but have to say that her mouth HAS felt incredibly soft (I would say pudding, not jello, lol) since then and she's less resistant. Still resistant tho - bc obvi she's a red arab mare - but there's a degree of softness there that wasn't around before.

So I was pretty happy to get that checked off the list. But I gotta admit - I had serious flashbacks to the jawbreaker from Saw while he was working on her. Am I the only one that sees this?!? Lol.... Poor Isabel... no wonder she hates me ;)

Just kidding - she doesn't really hate me (at least I don't think so!). We kept busy this weekend tho - with lessons at OF (stadium) and TM (dressage), plus a saddle fitting that I will write more extensively about bc I'm not quite sure what the outcome will be yet...

Ooh and we will also have a cross country schooling tomorrow before spending the last couple days of the week trail riding and conditioning and lightly schooling in anticipation of the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Fall Starter. Exciting stuff!!