Doozy's 90 Day Performance Review

Mondeuse officially came home on August 9. That's exactly, er, 92 days ago, oops, but also basically 3 months. So we'll roll with it being good timing for a routine examination and evaluation of how it's going! 

Bc... ya know.... it's normal and healthy to do check-ins, right? Buying a new horse is kinda a big leap of faith. Honestly, spending any amount of money in horses is marginally irrational. So, eh, it's worthwhile to occasionally step back and ask whether it's working out or not. 

officially permanent mares move into officially permanent stalls <3 <3

Recall we did a similar check-in at the 30 Day mark (more or less). And at that point, I basically had two key conclusions:

• "With 8 rides in the first ~30 days.... That's not quite good enough. The short story is.... Doozy flunked her 30 day review. Bc... Well, soundness. Recall her left hind limb exploded into cellulitis about 2wks after coming home. And now, even as that issue subsides, she appears to be working thru a run-of-the-mill abscess in the same leg."

And,

• "At this moment in time, my idea is to have another check in around the 90 day mark in November. Ideally, I'll forget all about it bc we'll be too deep into all the things of young horse development. But ya know. If we're only at ride 16 or 17 by that point.... This a reminder to my future self to stay focused on what we're really trying to do here."

neigh-bors lol --- we're gonna need some sort of pun-fun name for this starry constellation!

Here we are, now, two months later!! And?? Obvi I didn't forget all about it (bc, obviously here I am writing about it), but I also definitely lost track of Doozy's post-track ride count. 

SO..... today's big conclusion?? We've decided to extend Doozy's contract indefinitely -- she passes!! Yay, partayyyy!! 

fresh views of the barnyard

At the end of the day, I'm at a place in my riding life where.... Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but... I want to ride. 

Some of you already know this, but a few years ago, after thinking about my long term goals in the horse world, I ended up pursuing certification as a licensed official. And it's been really cool. And really educational. And something I'm definitely interested in doing more of. 

Except, especially with Charlie's somewhat shocking dive off the unsoundness cliff starting last summer and getting really real, really fast this past winter/spring, I kinda started to get some nagging feelings. 

charles!! one of our farm's talented juniors agreed to a babysitting mission aimed at helping doozy have a successful ride despite having to leave her new big pasture  <3

Honestly, I know equestrians are maybe uniquely susceptible to imposter syndrome. But I started feeling like if I really wanted this LO gig in the future, I have a LOT more work to do in the saddle now. I need more experience as a rider, more miles. 

So that was another big contributing factor to deciding to get a second horse. I need to keep learning, I want to keep growing and developing. 

And thus, basically Doozy's #1 job requirement is: Be Rideable. Which, hallelujah and praise be -- she's been hale and hearty lately!

both of 'em in one dusty mirror selfie lol

It feels like we're finding a nice balance of systematically progressing through all the various key mile stones and inch pebbles. Sometimes more inch pebble, LOL, let's be real. But that's ok too. Because I really like the feeling I get from working with her. 

Mondeuse makes me think. Whether I'm leading her from one place to another, tacking her up, trying to ride a corner in anything even resembling correct bend... All of it. Any of it, it's so nice to feel like I'm working on the details again. 

d'awww

She's also remarkably honest and "easy" in a kinda unexpected way. Like, not "easy" in its purest form, like Charlie was. But in the sense that... She's extremely obedient and always colors inside the lines --- if you can forgive the hotness, tension and general vibes of "might try to leave at any moment!" or "can't always cope tho!"

And slowly but surely, we've managed to develop a really solid "standard ride" package, wherein we correctly and pleasantly go through all our gaits in both directions, execute all the general figures you'd expect to see through training level dressage, and we're starting to get something pretty close to true bend at walk. 

honestly feeling pretty lucky

She is also a ground pole expert: She recently trotted a line of three poles with alternating raised ends with an absolute aplomb that shocked the f*ing pants off me. And Doozy can consistently canter lines of ground poles beautifully out of stride.

We have also now survived trotting among other trotting horses, and we've not yet died while other horses cantered in our company. Inch pebbles, y'all. It's a mantra.

lol derp

So ya know. We're 90 days in. The whole winter stretches ahead of us. I feel increasingly confident about Doozy being able to cope with various lesson formats. And am eager to start the work of replicating the 'standard ride' we've developed in new and different riding locations. 

Feels good, y'all.