Growing up: Mystic edition

I have seen some others do this and thought it would be fun to see some pictures of how Mystic has progresed over the years. It is crazy to think that one day, not that long ago, I could barely get him to canter! I could dig up pictures from birth on but that would take way longer being I dont have them on this computer, so you will have to settle for 3 year old on :) Here is the basic comparison though. He looks so different!

Then:

February 2011: Figuring out this riding stuff

End of 2010: First time with english saddle on (not riding)!

September 2011: First jump!

Now:

December 2013: Christmas picture. That mane though :)

June 2014: First XC school of the year

May 2014: Heart of the Valley dressage show (2nd level!)

Exceeding expectations

Mylo has by far exceeded any of my expectations and it has only been two days. I definitely expected to get a half naughty little guy that didn't tolerate much, boy am I happy I say how wrong I was! The little dude is seriously awesome! Not only does he come running to the gate to meet me but he seems to truely love being with me over anything else. He is such a ham and has the whole great thing down. If I am in his pasture he is right by me, if I run away he comes trotting after me. If that isn't enough to make you fall in love already than his super mind will. I brought the clippers out this morning and even though he has never seen them before I was able to do his bridle path, goat hairs, and whiskers. Not only that but I took his halter off to do his goat hairs!

Later in the afternoon I brought him out again and washed his tail. Once again, the hose/water was a total non issue. His tail will take a few washes to get totally white but it was already worlds better. He really needs a full bath, his mane is awful, but it was pretty rainy today so he got lucky. Before putting him away I threw a saddle pad all over him and he couldn't have cared any less. Seriously good baby brain!

Tomorrow we will play with a tarp and maybe some more fun toys depending on how he does. I will work on getting good confirmation pictures once he gets all cleaned up.

Mystic was great tonight also, not that it is unusual :) now that the hay is off the fields we are able to do our walking warm up out there before hitting the arena for some real work. A few days ago was our first time jumping outside since the course got set up and he was awesome! Grids, planks, flowers, etc. he really is a whole different horse to jump and is a total go getter, very fun to ride! June has been crazy busy so we have sadly fallen off the lesson wagon. Once we get back up to speed we will need a thorough butt kicking :)

The big day

This morning was finally the day the little man was scheduled to arrive! It changed from Saturday to Monday to Tuesday to Wednesday at 6am to 8 am to 9am. Whew! That being said he arrived safe, sound, and calm! He settled right in and was happy to walk around with me. He is a little "pulley" and likes to just take you places but what can you expect from a new 2 year old that hasn't had much handling? The hauler really liked him and said he loaded and hauled great.

Right when he went in his paddock he went straight to eating (typical Gypsy!). He would lift his head for big sounds but never reacted besides that. I made a run to the feed store to pick him up some stuff and he was just chillin when I go back. I tied him up, brushed him, and braided him without issues! He got a little antsy by the end but I am sure he has never been braided before. He is so sweet and personable! He definitely loves his treats and gets a little over enthused about them (umm... Sound like Mystic at all?!) so I will have to make sure I dont encourage that normal baby mouthiness that leads to biting.

Over all I am already totally loving him! He definitely needs some weight (how do you have a skinny Gypsy?!) and serious muscle but that will all come with one and food. He will also be getting a bath on the next warm day. I might even pull the clippers out and see what he has to think about those :)

Updating to add... I just found out his birthday and wouldn't you know, its today! So happy 2 years little man :) Your life is about to seriously change

Playing catch up

I am finally back from my trip to Chicago and Indiana after being gone for a week. One thing people take for granted when they have horses that do not have almost 5 foot long manes is that when you leave your horse for a week they tend to look homeless on your return. Since I couldn't wait till tonight to visit I made a stop this morning and washed his mane/tail and rebraided him so he could look respectable again! I heard that the girls that were taking care if him ride him almost everyday I was gone which was so nice! I am glad he didn't just sit. Sadly, he got tossed out of his diet pasture and thrown right back into the big one and gained a solid chunk of weight back. It was bad timing in general with me being gone, so he wasn't worked hard, and then the added extra grass. On that note he has to go back in a grazing muzzle. I was really hoping he could still have a diet pasture but it isn't looking like that is the case.

Tonight, after work, I headed out because we had an acupuncture appointment for him. He has never had it done before but one of our good barn friends was having her mare done and since it was a a vet friend from her work she did it for super cheap. So I figured why not? He was a little weirded out to start and did his usual twitchy thing but by the end he was licking, chewing, and getting all sleepy. His lip was droopy and overall he was super relaxed, it seemed like he really liked it!

It's too bad the vet is moving away because it would be interesting to see if there were changes in him after a few sessions!

On the new little man front he has officially left NC and is on his way home! News is he has been gaining weight and is very sweet. I can't wait till he is home and I can play with him. A spa day is definitely one of the first items on the to do list :)

So much to do, so little time

The next few weeks are going to be so busy and I am sure they will fly by. With finals next week the last few have been filled with homework and projects and now it is crunch time to get ready for finals. Along with that I am leaving for Indiana, the morning after my final on Wednesday, for a week to celebrate my great grandmothers 100th birthday with a bunch of family (many of which I havent seen since I was around 10). We return on the 17th which is also the day that Mylo starts this journey home to me so it will be a mad scramble to get everything ready for his arrival. Not only that but two days after I get back from Indiana I start house sitting for a week for someone that boards at Mystics barn.

Thankfully I found someone to take care of Pony while I am gone so he still gets some love and exercise. There are two beginner girls who currently ride the BO old Arab while their aunt rides her mare and they came out today to take a test ride on him. They are definitely beginner beginner riders so Mystic thought he should be with me the whole time and kept trying to come back to me. Once they got him going they did pretty good! They struggled a little with some of their aids but he was super tolerant and tried really hard for them! Because he has so many more buttons now he gets confused with such vague aids and really was trying to do what they wanted but just didnt understand. They got a little side passing, trot lengthenings, etc :) He is also the only other horse they have ridden on their own beside the Arab gelding. They are super excited to take care of him and are even more excited to play with his hair.

Sadly he is getting kicked out of his diet pasture due to barn construction :/

Depending on the hauler Mylo will potentially be here by the 21st. I am getting super excited to meet him! I have been getting almost daily texts about him and he has returned to the ladies house from the vets. He is healing really well from his gelding procedure with no swelling, yay! He got his hooves trimmed, all his vaccines, dewormed, health cert, and coggins done and is now all ready for his trip home. Rumor has it he is a pretty flashy boy! I just cant wait to get him home, give him a bath, braid his hair, and treat him like the prince he is. All Gypsys need to be pampered and have their hair did. Currently my horse pasture/paddock area if covered in 5 foot tall grass due to a broken lawn mower that we let go way to far! Needless to say I spend this afternoon weed whacking the paddock area so I can lock him up and slowly work his way up to being on pasture all day. Tomorrow the fencing starts going up and hopefully I will have his whole area ready before I leave for Indiana so I dont have to rush to finish before he arrives. I am already thinking of some fun stuff I can do with him :)

Holy Moly!

SO much has happened, especially in the last couple of days. Mystic is doing really good and before I left for the weekend to visit my dad we were schooling some half pass and just a tiny bit of flying changes every few rides. I think we are finally starting to put it together and he knows what I am asking now. He has always been fun to ride but with all these new fun buttons he is just that much more fun! Makes me super excited to hopefully be ready to show 3rd level next year, I totally think we can rock it.

When I was out of town for the weekend I handed over pony duties to Alanna. I got a great report from their ride on Saturday and a nice text on Sunday telling me she did his hair and took him on a bareback walk. Due to massive amount of homework (yay dead week) I didnt make it out last night but headed out tonight to find a homeless looking horse! Instead of riding He got a deep wash/soak where his pee stains were and got his hair re braided and put up. Then we went on a nice bareback walk down the road. Back to real work tomorrow :)

While I was out of town I got to visit Tolo! I am super happy to report that he is going great and is happy and healthy. He was having some bucking issues so I suggested getting a chiropractor out and his owner did that last week, he was uneven in his hips so he got that all fixed. Apparently he loved the guy working on him! I then got a nice follow up text on Monday saying he got his teeth done. I couldnt be happier with his home and was super happy to see him. I think he remembered me and was his normal cuddly self!

As for the fun new news... we have a new addition that will be making an appearance here in a couple of weeks! I will spare you all the details but a newly gelded (as in today!) 2 year old Gypsy will be making his way from NC to Oregon in the next few weeks! Both his dam and sire were owned by my aunt and uncle before he was sold inutero with his momma to a great lady. Sadly after being sold after birth he ended up in a sticky situation and the previous owner actually got him back without intending to. The best part? He has the same daddy as Mystic! It has all happened very fast and was very unexpected but I am really looking forward to getting him home and getting him all fixed up and pretty. If he grows up to be half as nice as his big brother Mystic he is going to be one fun little guy. Name suggestions welcome as he doesnt really have one (sad, I know!). Right now my favorite is Mylo but obviously it could all change after I meet him. For now I will leave you with his adorable baby picture :)

Those ears!