The good, the great, and the... not so good

I like to think that I am a positive person, so we will start with the great :) Baby Mylo went to his 2nd show today and I am proud to say that he is slowly losing his "Baby" title! This boy is SO smart and willing it is insane, just like his big brother.

A brief reminder of how his 1st show went:
-loaded/hauled great
-stood tied to trailer with occasional screaming/pawing
-antsy in classes but well behaved beyond that
-tried to roll his entire time in line for showmanship
-still had a little too much testosterone in him and thought that mares were pretty (especially chestnut paints!)

Overall he had still exceeded my expectations but there was definite work to do. Honestly, between then and now I havent done much with him. He has ground driven 2 times and we have done a day or two a week of basic ground work. Nothing special, right? This show he improved so, so much and was a very solid baby citizen. He practically runs into the trailer then unloaded and stood great once we arrived.  While waiting for the show to start he quietly grazed outside the arena, after all he is a Gypsy! In the show ring he improved the most, he stood almost completely still the entire class and even 'set up' for inspection. Horses came trotting in behind him, it was a decently scary arena, and he had to be decently patient while the judge looked the horses over. We ended up going into 3 halter classes then ended with a showmanship class. I never thought I would be saying those words but, when you have a baby, there are somethings you got to suck up just to get them the show experience! 

Considering we still havent practiced our haunch turns he did great. Obviously we didnt win but we did get a ribbon and the judge did comment on how well behaved he was (along with how adorable his head is!). Overall I was SUPER happy with him and all the progress he has made in this short time with limited work. A true testament to my aunt and uncles breeding program  :)

One thing he does do that is ummm... strange, is that he is almost always dropped while in his classes. He was not study at all and I would not even know he was doing it if I didnt see my mom in the stands pointing (and the other competitors saying "wow he really likes to hang all out" haha) but I dont know how to break that habit. Im hoping with time it will get better. Otherwise I will be that person with a million pictures of her horse hanging loose, hes got to keep it interesting!

Now the not so good news. Mystic continues to be on stall rest. I have been cold hosing, hand walking, hand grazing and wrapping him daily or 2x daily in hopes of keeping him a little more sane. The good news about all this is that I have gotten someone decent at putting standing wraps on him which is not an easy feat with all the feather. Tonight was the first time I have trotted him since discovering his lameness on Wednesday. I only needed to trot him 1/4 of a circle to know he was still lame. It does appear that he has popped a splint but for the life of me I cant remember if it is new or not, bad mommy moment for sure. The swelling is all gone and now it is just a splint like bump. I will continue my current plan and see how he progresses. I am not sure if the cold hosing/wrapping really helps, especially if it is a splint, but I figure it cant hurt. Heres to hoping he doesnt lose his mind in his stall and we can get back to riding soon, he has been on his best behavior so far :)