In which I sort of acquire another horse ...

This morning I woke up depressed and defeated. I literally do not have a cent to my name and my truck is out of gas. This means no going to the barn today to see Hampton. It means I am going to have to pawn something to eat until Friday - payday. I work so hard and for what? The horse show I was planning on going to ... I kept thinking maybe I shouldn't go. I will be able to afford it come Friday, but gosh if I'm so poor that I can't afford to EAT - am I stupid for wanting to go to a small schooling show? Maybe I don't deserve to ... maybe I'm a fool for thinking I should even have a horse when I can't afford to eat!

Toxic, toxic thoughts.

Then early afternoon my friend (the one with the TWH) called up and offered to come pick me up! Annnd it was 45 degrees. Day = made.

February 2010 zoomins'

The small arena was wet and sloppy, but the footing was good. Hampton felt uphill and reasonably strong. I tried left lead canter and it was egg-beaterish but this may be because we had to canter on straight lines due to the mountain of snow in the middle of the ring which made circles impossible. So I said forget the canter and worked on shoulder-in, leg yield, transitions and just finding a nice rhythm in general.

There was some moments of bracing in the neck and uncharacteristic nervous chomping on the bit. Hmmm, I just sent him forward and flexed his neck a bit and he softened and then took contact back. Not sure what that was about but I need to be careful to not let it become a habit. My previous horse, T-Bone, was the KING of bracing the neck and dipping behind the contact. I want to be careful not to make the same mistakes. I sort of wonder if it's Hampton's teeth might be causing him discomfort, or if he just wanted to duck behind because it's a strength issue. Anyway, I was glad that I was able to get him back in front of vertical and taking a nice contact. Woot.

I am sure you are wondering why I named this post what I did.

Well, at the moment this is a BIG BIG maybe but ... the BO and I may be taking on a little project together. And by project I mean a certain equine who is trained through 3rd level, piaffe, passage and is a Regional Champion.

Here is a clue to who he is:

... to be continued!