Brother reunited! Its adorable how excited they seemed to see each other
What does a horse person do on their only day off? They spend the entire day at the barn for dressage lessons! Mylo also got to come play, along with "his" girls other pony, and spend the day showing us what a perfect show pony he is going to be. Since our barn is overfull with horses Mylo had to stand in the cross ties while waiting his turn. Besides a little impatient pawing he was great. He was super chill and none of the big barn atmosphere got to him. He was just like he is at home. When it was his turn he went right to work was a super good boy for his whole lesson! He is just learning baby things like how to move off your leg, changing his bend, etc but I was super pleased with how he responded to everything and I think his kid got some good exercises to work on. After his lesson I grabbed the other pony and we went on a nice cool down out on the trails where Mylo continued his super pony ways. I am very excited to see how this season goes with him.
This picture sums them up perfectly. Wally is always licking and Mylo is always smiling.
Mystic and I also had a super lesson. He really has been feeling amazing and one of the first things that our trainer mentioned was how much his outline has changed, for the good, even since she last saw us a month ago. It seems like all of the sudden he looks and feels like a big boy dressage pony! The biggest take away from today is that when push comes to shove and things are not going great that I can not resort to holding him up with my hands. If things fall apart before I can save them I tend to use too much rein. Instead we working on bringing him back, loosening him up, and really driving him with my legs. I also need to be more light with my outside rein especially in our half passes. I also voiced my concerns about our extended trot and how it gets strung out, fast, on the forehand, and I cannot sit it. She broke it down for us and we started piecing together just a few strides together at a time. I will continue to work on the exercises to help build his strength in it so that he can physically maintain it for the length he needs to during a test. Our days of winging it across the diagonal fast and on the forehand are over if we want to score well at 3rd! Overall we got some really nice work throughout our ride and I was very pleased. The best part is that due to scheduling our trainer comes back next weekend so I get another lesson in a week. Nothing motivates me more then a solid dressage lesson!
Is anyone else this excited and ready for summer/show season?! On one hand it feels like the months are flying by and on the other it feels like May is so far away.
Mystic is continuing to work super well! He is very sensitive to changes in weather so I have noticed him sweating more and taking longer to cool out with the warmer weather. Hopefully as we get back to jumping and in better all around condition it won't be so noticeable. He still works super well he just gets hot fast. The downside of a thick and hairy horse ;)
This weekend both Mystic and Mylo get a lesson with our favorite dressage trainer. She usually comes once a month but the weekends that worked for Feb and March happen to be back to back so we will get 2 lessons in a row which will be super helpful. Then the last weekend of March Pony and I are going to a Jessica Wisdom clinic for 2 days which will be super fun! We have only ridden with her one weekend in May last year but it was very helpful and encouraging.
I am super excited to get more lessons and once I find Pony a new jump saddle (in progress!) we are also going to begin some jump lessons! The last time I had consistent jump lessons I was in Pony Club a solid 12 years ago.
Slowly, but surely, my boys are getting ready to take the eventing world by storm together :) Everyone will want a jumping Gypsy after this season!
What do you do when you're single on Valentine's Day? Drive 1.5 hours to a tack store that is having a Valentines Day sale and spend all your money on yourself :)
I got new show breeches, everyday full seat breeches, a XC shirt, a show shirt, a Micklem bridle for Mylo, a new bit for Mylo, and restocked on some EquiFuse products. Best part? I got 20% off my total purchase! And that is after already getting half of it out of clearance bins. Serious score. I could have easily spent more but I am on the hunt for a jump saddle for Pony and I so I had to reel myself in.
Mylo is beyond adorable in his Micklem and seems to go really well in it. He is SO much quieter with his mouth since he got his dental work done and I think this bridle will make it even better. He is looking so adorable under saddle. T minus 2 weeks until he gets his first big boy dressage lesson!
The hairy boys both got their teeth done today. The nice part about big barns is that there is always a farrier or vet coming out sometime during the week. So not only do I not have to worry about paying an arm and a leg for the farm call it also makes it easier for me to have them out to do teeth now and again later in spring for vaccines, health cert., etc. Also it made for a good transition in the vet I use. Their new vet works for the university and also does acupuncture and chiro work which is super awesome! So not only did they get their teeth done but they got some chiro work also.
I had been meaning to get Mylos teeth done for a long time and since he is going under saddle now I really needed to make a point to have them done. He got his wolf teeth pulled along with 7 baby teeth (just the caps that were already coming out). Poor guy must have had a super sore mouth recently! His 4 year old molars are also already starting to come in. Chiro wise he wasn't bad just needed some minor adjustment in his back and withers. The vet did mention how free he was in the shoulder! Of course all of the students loved him and he was a good patient.
Mylos baby teeth!
Mystic just had his routine once a year dental but had some decently sharp points already so his mouth should be feeling better also! He also gets some gunk in his eyes and will they will start draining and getting crusty. Nothing horrible but since he was already sedated we went ahead and flushed his tear ducts to make sure he didn't get too much build up. He has had it done once before and it really helped. Chiro wise he was good through his back and hind end and just had minor adjustment in the left side of his neck and his right scapula which could all explain his stiffness to the right. It hasn't been worse, in fact it has been better, but it will be interesting to see if it helps at all!
I was actually at work for most of it, my friend who has Mylo at her house was supervising for me, and I made sure to have her tell the vet that Mystic is a light weight and doesn't need as much sedation as you would think if you just went by his weight. She sent me a text back saying that the vet had already been lecturing his students on this breed not needing much and that Mylo was also a super light weight. The best part was the Mystic (14.3hh and roughly 1200lbs) took less sedation then Mylo (13.3hh and roughly 900 lbs)! Even the vet was laughing about it! We were joking that they are both cheap dates. Too bad it wont actually be a cheap date for me by the end of it...
Just over 1.5 years ago (time flies!) I agreed to take a Gypsy gelding sight unseen. These are the first pictures I got of him after I agreed to take him but before his trek across the country:
Not going to lie, I was a little nervous after seeing what he looked like! I then got this picture from the hauler at one of their pit stops. At least I knew that with his breeding he would have a good temperament!:
Im really not sure how anyone gets a Gypsy in that condition, after all they get fat on air, but there is no doubt that he looked homeless, hungry, and down right awkward!
1.5 years later he is turning into a gorgeous boy! He is finally bulking up, has gained a bunch of muscle, and has even continued to slowly grow taller. I have listed him for sale twice.... and I have pulled his ad twice. The more rides he get under his belt the more potential he shows. I tell the kid who rides him that I am jealous of her all of the time!
What it all comes down to is that I seriously love this horse. He is the exact ride that I want. So even if I can't ride him (except for the occasional bareback ride) he is still mine and I can help make sure he gets the best chance of becoming the horse I know he can. So I am going to live by the "no regrets" statement and keep him :) I am as excited to watch him at shows as I am to ride Mystic in them. He also got signed up for his very first dressage lesson this month! Time for my cute little baby to grow up into a cute little show pony!
