Some little man love

It has been a crazy last 2.5 weeks for me which has meant that the little man has been put on the back burner. I was horse sitting about 40 minutes away for 2 weeks then have been gone at the state fair for the last 5 days. All that meant no extra Mylo time besides our quick morning/night snuggles before feeding time. He is a very social dude and I always feel bad leaving him as he tries following me out!

I headed out to Wilco this afternoon to pick him up a new fly mask (his other one was a little small) along with getting Mystic his hair supplies (aka: vet wrap and zip ties) and ended up looking around, To my surprise I found a nice fleece lined lungeing surcingle for only like $35 bucks. In the past I have always borrowed one from a friend while starting my horses or just used a saddle but I don't want to introduce a saddle just yet so I went ahead and bought the surcingle. I was worried it would be too big but it seemed pretty adjustable, luckily it just barely fits on the top holes. He also now has a horse sized fly mask. Yes, my 13.2 hh 2 year old wears a horse sized mask, crazy! We measured him tonight as it looked to me like he has sprouted a little but he hasnt grown at all. All the weight he has gained just makes him look much bigger. Here I was thinking he has grown and evened out but his butt remains a whole 2 inches higher than his front, lets hope thats a baby phase ;) Good news is that if he does even out like he should he will at least make 14 hands!

Taken tonight

Comparison picture: 2 moths ago

Not the best comparison pictures as they are different angle/sides but you can still see the difference! He has bulked up a lot! I am really happy with how he looks right now, but now we need to find a happy medium for his food intake so he doesnt get too heavy, especially since he isnt in real exercise to help keep him looking good. Tonight he did get to work though! I ground drove him for the first time with the surcingle and he was amazing. How many 2 year olds would you even try ground driving for the first time alone? Not only that but he has no concept of the "rein" pressure because he has not been lunged first. Since I have never had a 2 year old I have always first started my horses lungeing and working my way to long lining then ground driving. With him being so young I don't want to put him on circles and dont feel the need to start lungeing him so early but think ground driving would be great for him to learn now. So I threw on the surcingle and off we went! Not only did he pick up on it pretty fast but he did it all in a halter also. By the end he was turning, stopping, backing, and even did a little trotting! Have I said lately how much I LOVE this breed?!

And this is why he didnt get to go to the fair... hello awkward stage! Although he doesnt look this bad in person, promise!

Handsome dude

September is going to be a big growing up month for him. Labor day a friend and I are heading to the beach with both our riding horses and our babies. It is so nice having a friend that also has a baby, we are going to sit down and make a plan as to what are plans are and outing we want to take them to. We plan on just having a nice stroll down the beach while ponying our babies. I had an after thought that I have never ponyed Mylo before so that could be fun :) Luckily both our riding horses are super solid mounts so we are not worried. Then that next weekend there is a local schooling show we might take just the babies too. The following weekend we are scheduled to haul them down Perrydale Trails to go school some outdoor obstacles and the last two weekends are also potential schooling shows. Operation show pony is in effect! I told him he has big shoes to fill and he needs to learn to go be a big boy at shows/new places. No screaming, no dropping (ahem...), no trying to roll in the arena, learning to stand patiently, and overall being a solid baby citizen. Big brother may have spoiled me but I intend on having 2 boys that spoil me :)

Till next year...

With today comes the end of this years Gypsy show at the State Fair. I hink that weekend long shows wore me out until this show I which we have been at for 5 days! To say I'm (and Mystic too) exhausted would be an understatement. I am looking forward to returning to normal life and getting some more Mylo time in after a two week house sitting gig then this weekend.

I think these picture sum up the rest of the weekend for us :) this cute little cowgirl did her first show ever and charmed the crowd along the way as she walked in doing her princess wave on her favorite "Myst Myst" as she calls him! Right after her lead line class I hopped in bareback and went on to win our trail class after a pretty much foot perfect go by Mystic!

I made sure to wear my sticky full seats because he was so soft and slippery from all his EquiFuse baths this weekend! I have video sent I me so I'll see if I can upload it.

Musical freestyle was at night time, which brings bigger crowds. I was a little hesitant to go bridleless for the whole thing because he does sometimes get freaked out (yes, it happens!) but he had been so good and was even warming up bridleless so we went for it! Overall he improved from last year but it definitely took us a few seconds to get our steering figured out when we first entered. After that he was great and obviously won the class ;)

I do have video of this also but it was also sent to me and I have to see if I can upload it. It wasn't bad for picking out a song the day before and winging the whole performance!

How adorable are these two? She sat on him and loved on him while I re braided him.

This morning we had our final classes. We ended up staying and doing English pleasure and dressage suitability. Not only was he great but he kept our blue ribbon streak going. Not bad to end up winning 5/5 of his riding classes :) the judge also commented on our first class that "This horse has earned his spot in Heaven already". 

Even though breed shows can be super frustrating judge wise, especially in a new breed like this, it is always fun to see my Gypsy friends and get to know new ones. I love being a pair that everyone tries to come watch, that people remember is from previous years, and that people hear about and have to come meet. I am so blessed to have this horse and to be able to share him with the world!

All these horses were bred by my aunt and uncle and most of them are directly related through Mystics sire Pride <3

Mid Show Update

A quick mid show update! Mystic is doing great, as usual, and it has been super nice to have him there a couple days before we do our musical freestyle so I can get a good feel for him and his bridleless moves not at home. Rumor has it we are going to throw down to some T Swift for it tomorrow night. No bridle and T Swift? How could the old lady judge not love it?!

So far we have only done halter classes but he came away reserve champion gypsy gelding. Of course his list of groupies is growing by the day and he has charmed several old ladies along with all the kids. My favorite comment so far was a lady who walked up and said "I dont know whose legs are better, yours or your horses". When his hair is braided everyone comments on his braid, when his hair is down everyone comments on it then. I told my brother he doesnt need a puppy he just needs to walk Mystic around :)

We have done a few bridleless rides in various arenas and he seems mostly steerable. We are at about 75 % of what we get at home, hopefully with a screaming crowd we can still maintain that! Tomorrow he does lead line, trail, and his freestyle. Then, due to change in plans, we are going to add some english classes on Tuesday since we were not originally going to still be there. He will be one tired Pony come Tuesday night!

Its Show Time

Tomorrow we head out to Salem for our once yearly breed show appearance! The State Fair offers breed shows so it brings in Gypsys from states away due to the lack of Gypsy shows in our area. This weekend I think there will be almost 10 Gypsy Elite horses there and to top that off my Aunt and Uncle (who bred them all) are here from Florida to see everyone! They have not seen Mystic since I first brought him home as a 3 year old.

Mystic has had several baths over the last two weeks so I am hoping he looks semi respectable and stays that way till Saturday since we dont even show till then! He also got his hooves trimmed today so he is all prettied up and ready to go! We are not doing any rail classes this year but figured we would just do some fun ones. In total he will do 2 halter classes, the lead line class, trail, and musical freestyle. I still have no idea what song I am going to use or what we are going to do, but I didnt last year either :) Maybe this year we can show off some controlled bridleless moves and he doesnt put on his scared pony eyes (although he still won last year!). Pictures and updates will come at the end of the weekend :)

NQR

Pony and I have had some rough dressage rides recently and I am not sure whats up. He isnt lame, acts the same on the ground, is fine when we just plunk around, etc he just doesnt feel 'right' when I try to put him together. The hard part about it is that there is literally nothing wrong from the outside but to me he just hasnt been the same horse. After a frustrating ride yesterday I decided to tone it way down and just have some fun, easy rides through the State Fair next weekend and see how he comes back after that. I am not sure if he is body sore or just needs a break and some r & r from harder dressage work but its not worth pushing it to me. It has also been really hot here recently and he does not do well in the heat, he turn into a princess! Hopefully with a little rest and lower temperatures we can resume work and find our happy place again but until then we will enjoy some trail rides, bareback, field hacks, and basic arena work.

I have been house sitting about 40 minutes away so Mylo has gotten the shaft this week besides a little time here and there. A friend gave me three huge bags of apples and he has thoroughly enjoyed devouring them. Sadly we have to miss our show this month (same that he went to last month) because Alanna and I will be at a country music festival but he will get to go again next month. I had plans to take him to Perrydale Trails, outside trail obstacle place, on Sunday but I got this job after we made the plans and I am not sure if we will make it. If we do, I am sure it will be quite exciting with two babies!

Birthday Boy

Saturday marked the first day of Mystics 7 year old year. Ummmm.... where did time go?! It feels like yesterday that we were driving back from Bend in the rain/snow bringing him home. 7 just feels so old and official! I liked it better when I could still call him my young horse.

I am happy to report that we are starting his 7 year old year with what I would argue is his best weight ever! I think the combination of the grazing muzzle (sorry Pony), taking him off grain and switching to just Platinum, and consistent work is working really good for him. Since everyone needs a 'cheat' day he got to spend the afternoon of him birthday muzzle free, and loved it! Normally he is like a pygmy goat and ballons up immediately but he didn't. It will be interesting to see if that Gypsy judges like him better this year with his new and improved body :)

Birthday Love <3

Im not sure if I have mentioned it, but a little 2 year old girl is going to do her first show on Mystic at the state fair in a couple weeks. Obviously because she is so little she will just be doing the leadline class but we wanted to practice before hand to make sure she was comfortable on Mystic and that her saddle would work. It was seriously adorable.

We got some with his ears up but she wasnt smiling at camera. Kids and ponies!

As you can tell, she had a blast! We had to keep telling her to hold onto the horn because she kept letting go! Alanna was also riding and this little girl kept wanting to play follow the leader and would try to tell Mystic to trot. We finished our pony ride and went back to the barn so she could brush him, which was equally adorable.

Hugging him and telling him "I love you too boy"

Pony then got his hair did and let loose muzzle free. Not a bad birthday! Here is to MANY, MANY more together :)

Plugging along

Not much new has been going on recently. I was out of town last weekend at a family camping/boating trip so Pony got ridden by one I my friends from the barn whose horse is currently lame. Last night I hopped on bareback and we jumped a little in the field just for a change in our routine and he was great! He is at a point where he saves me over some fences which is a really nice quality to have :) I try not to leave him hanging but sometimes it's easier to just say "I'm not sure what is going to happen but please get me out of this awful distance alive!". Being barebck also helped me get a good feel of the canter I need to get from him for a nice jump. I could feel everything so when a distance was off it was a super ugly fence. By the end I knew exactly hat canter I needed and we ha some really nice, adjustable rides. Tomorrow is Mystics SEVENTH birthday... Where has time gone?! Seriously, he was just 4 and plunking around at training level. What a ride we have been on!

Mylo continues to hang out and pig out :) I swear that horse eats enough for a horse twice his size! On the 15th I will have had him for 2 months already. I'm totally ready for him to be 3 and ready to start under saddle. 

Check out that face though... How adorable?!