4 Years

Today is Ponys and my 4th year anniversary since he became mine! Its amazing how both short and long it feels looking back on it now. I am so incredibly blessed to have this horse in my life and it is still hard to believe that he is mine sometimes. He has far exceeded my expectations in these last 4 years and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the next 4 years (and much longer). As long as he is game we will keep on keeping on and showing all these people what this awesome breed can do :)

Here are some pictures from the beginning:

We had just got home (3.5 hour drive)

His first time with an english saddle on! He looks SO different now!

Still at my aunt and uncles before we left

That mane has grown just a little bit

New digs

Mylo gets to be more of a grown up baby starting tomorrow! He is moving across the road to the barn that I work at 3 mornings a week. Although he wont get as much pasture time once come late winter/spring (hay fields are the pasture) he will have a paddock on his stall. Here are some pictures of his new digs! His paddock is covered in grass right now as it hasnt had a horse in it all summer, im sure he wont mind cleaning it up!

The stall

From mid paddock with stall over hang!

He can hang his head out!

Added sawdust to arena!

He currently looks homeless as he doesnt have a rain sheet yet and apparently enjoys standing in the rain, over being under shelter, so he is a big mud ball! I am going to be a super mean mom and bathe him tomorrow (with warm water of course) once he gets to the barn. I really wish that he was moving to the same barn as Mystic, especially since my schedule just got even more busy (added hours at work) but this is our second best option. I also work 2 horses at that barn once a week and one could be a good ponying horse!

No more hair!

In other news.... Mystic got clipped! I had been trying to hold out till November to help keep this year to 2 clip jobs but I couldnt wait any longer, and I am glad I did it! Between his sweating a lot, having thick hair, and the weather going down hill it was making for long cool outs or not hard rides. There is nothing I love more than a clipped horse in the winter! We have also had some nice hard but rewarding rides recently. He is definitely getting me in better shape!

:)

Is my dressage horse back?!

I have been taking it slow in bringing Mystic back into work. There is nothing to rush as we come into winter and we have the next 4 months to train before we have our show season to think about. He is working really well but is still getting back into shape so our rides have been on the shorter side with a harder ride every few days. I am so happy to say I finally feel like I have my dressage horse back! Bye, bye dumpy plow horse, hello fat dressage pony :)

We have also been making it a point to try to get up on the trails while we still can. A friend and I have been up the mountain once a week for the last few weeks and it has been so nice. Sadly, our weeknight trail rides are ending as by the time we get off work and get the ponies ready it is pretty much dark, or will be in a short amount of time. It is very nice to have a relaxing trail ride to get out of the arena every once in a while. Especially since our field riding time is also ending soon once the weather really hits.

Mylo continues to hang out! Im pretty sure he gets to move to a big boy stall at a barn soon. It doesnt get as much turnout in the winter as I would like but he will have a stall with attached run 24/7. If he gets unhappy with less turnout I will just bring him back home I think but he will LOVE to be with other horses and it will be really nice to have him at a barn (as much as it pains me to think about $ wise!). The only thing I worry about is not getting much time with him over there due because of my life getting busy but I figure even 3-4 days a week should cut it, even if some are just brushing/beauty days.

Babies are so helpful

This is what happens when you try to wash your car while your horse is out and about.

Yes, he dipped his nose in my soapy water then proceeded to run his nose all over my car like he was trying to help! Although it was hysterical it was not so fun to have to go re wash all the spots he visited. After no success with rubbing my car he decided that eating my windshield wipers would be a good second option. This horse has enough personality for 5 others! Even my non horsey (but still like them) brother loves Mylo and gets a kick out of making him smile all the time.

Jurys out

A couple months ago, before Mystic had his little 3 week 'vacation' I applied to be a demo rider for the end of year ODS Fall Festival. Being selected would mean a lesson on both Saturday and Sunday with either Debbie Mcdonald and/or Janet Foy! I didnt really expect to get picked as I knew there would be a ton of applicants so I kind of forgot about it, especially with our recent time off. This morning I got an email saying that we were selected as a 1st alternate! Obviously my hopes are not high as far as actually getting to ride, between the 2 riders already selected and us not being up to that level of work yet so should we not be ready I wouldnt go even if someone dropped out, but I still think it is super cool we got selected. There were like 5 different committees that were selecting riders based on a application/video submission and I think I read there were over 60 applicants.

I forgot to add these pro pictures (Mammamo Photography) from the state fair!

Along with that fun piece of news another fun piece is that if you open up your Dressage Today magazine there is an awesome article on Gypys in dressage and there might be a pictures of us in there :) Kind of cool!

He is back in work but we are taking it slow. Today was the first day that I have really asked him much of anything past training level work/frame. It is amazing how out of practice we both are, so glad no one was there to watch me ride. It did not feel pretty, but it felt so nice to be back on him and actually working instead of plunking (which we are very good at doing). I tried to be really conscious of the fact that we are out of practice/shape so would only ask for small amount of the harder work before giving him a break. There is no sense in rushing it now. Overall he is feeling great, we definitely have a lot to work on to get to where we left off but we are slowly chipping away.