As with many of the good horse things in my life, it was through Lisa that I finally met a driving instructor. Lisa's been telling me about her for years, but our paths have never been closer at the moment, since she's about to take Eva on a trial to see if she wants to be a driving pony. I'm tickled that Eva brought both Disco's saddle and a driving instructor into my life. She lives about a half hour north of me, and while her passion is combined driving, she's led a life full of interesting driving experiences as both a professional and an amateur. Think things like being the trainer for a ..read more

I'm turning out after breakfast. Disco opens his mouth to grab the halter when I go to put it over his nose. It's such a minor thing, I could have easily gotten it on anyway and ignored his open mouth in favor of getting turnout over more quickly, but I won't. I drop the halter and walk into his shoulder, pushing him around his stall without touching him. I stop. He stops second. He drops his head and stands still.  We try again, and this time his mouth stays closed. We've been working on this in our (virtual) Kate lessons, and he understands that he got moved because opening his mouth wa ..read more

Now that Disco is home, we are figuring out winter turnouts. Last winter, we kept our 3 horses drylotted all winter because we seeded the pastures in October (which worked out beautifully). This winter, we have 6 horses, and so we had to choose which of the paddocks and pastures we wanted to sacrifice and which we wanted to grow grass in and rest. It's no easy choice. We have 3 bigger pastures that grow a lot of grass well, two paddocks that don't grow grass well despite getting the same treatment as the others, one drylot and one drylot around the barn. We also have a stallion to keep separa ..read more

I'm feeling extra grateful and thankful this Thanksgiving. Both in that I have more to be grateful for than usual, and in that I'm (I know, I know, common theme) feeling feelings like gratitude in ways I never have before. I am, first and foremost, grateful for my SO. I never knew love could be like this, and never knew how powerful it is to have a partner like this. Without him, I would not have the confidence to do so many things, from the little things to the biggest things. My SO helping my longtime career mentor unload the tiller I borrowed to redo the indoor arena footing this mont ..read more

We are settling into a routine here. Best baby stallion chilling in his "I'm about to have a Kate lesson, aren't I" rope halter. And the crossties that we shortened to the point that it's no longer fun for him to try to eat them. #winning Not quite two weeks into his return, we have hit a lot of milestones. All of the co-op members can handle him safely. He walks like a good boy down the driveway to and from his turn out, both two-at-a-time with Connor and alone. He continues to be turned out with Connor no problem, although Connor would prefer he play a little less rough sometimes ..read more

On Tuesday night, I ground drove Disco, which marked the first time I really worked him since he's been here. I couldn't replicate everything about Maude's setup, not even close, but I did my best to telegraph "driving" to him by putting him in his new driving bridle, which I also hoped would help keep his focus as we walked him past the mirrors for the first time.   Maude told me months ago that she thought he had the best work ethic of any horse she had ever worked with, and as I walked him out into the arena, I could already feel what she meant. He's not a particularly busy horse for ..read more

I need to put a coda on the Eva story. It's interesting. I have had the opportunity to work with three very different, wonderfully bred Welsh Cobs on a loan basis over the past few years, Aeres, Encore and Eva. Two of them taught me a lot about training and riding. but Eva taught me a lot about myself. Eva taught me that I can, but I don't want to, bounce like I used to. It had been well over fifteen years since I fell off a horse when I fell off of her in August. It was a "good" fall, but I'm still dealing with some lingering (and thankfully, slowly subsiding) pain a few months later from m ..read more

As you all know, a few months ago I gambled that Eva and Disco might be the same tree size and shape when I bought a saddle for Eva by way of a blogger. Drumroll please... Wow, did THAT ever pay off. It sits beautifully on him. And in a stroke of perfect timing, the original panels just got back from my fitter, who I paid $145+shipping to add the missing feature to them to ensure that that didn't cause pressure points. Mmmmm, the way the panel follows the shoulder is so delicious. While I was trying that on him, I also tried a couple of Connor's other saddles on him, even though I ..read more

You know, I actually thought I might sell Disco to Maude a couple of times. As late as a few months ago, even. It was on the table. And one of the big reasons was that I wasn't sure I could give him as good of a life as he had up there. It was not a guarantee that he would be able to be turned out with Connor again when he got home, and he was really living the good life with Maude, turned out with his pregnant harem. I couldn't - wouldn't and won't - keep him in solitary confinement just for the sake of one or two foals a year.   It was weighing on me more than I thought, because when ..read more

It's interesting - looking back on it, I was never in love with baby Disco.  Possibly one of the best photos I've ever taken, lol. May 2021. I mean, I liked him a lot. But whether it was being totally unsure of what I was doing raising a baby, or having no ability to read what kind of horse he would grow up into, I never felt the warm fuzzies I feel when I look at Connor. The best old man charming his new bodyworker to pieces yesterday. I think she would have taken him home for her grandkids if I was interested in selling him. I fully recognize that I'm still in the ho ..read more