Driving Thursday
A big show [Show Report] leaves a big footprint.
Horse
Milton is doing so well with the latest step in our NQR random walk [Sand Colic?], that we have been talking about getting him off his special snowflake food [Feed Adventures, Part 1 of 2] and weaning him from naps [Naptime, Update]. Eventually. Someday. Maybe.
That day has arrived, sooner than we thought, at least for naps.
The trip to Lexington was a long weekend. I took the opportunity to air out the stall and do repair work. By the time the stall was ready for use, Milton had missed almost a week of naps.
Well, we decided to go with it and see what happens. So far, so good. Milton now eats all meals al fresco. No naps. We have not noticed any backsliding. Reminds me of the time when the price change forced us to stop Rodney’s meds cold turkey [Zeno’s Horse Training]. Let’s hope it has the same good effect.
We are not messing with the feed, until/if/when Milton is confirmed with driving. It’s going well enough at the moment [Hitched!] that we don’t want to make any changes that might affect his attitude.
The biggest loser in this appears to be Rodney. We think he enjoyed his Milton-free quiet time.
Driver
Greg is fired up. We came home Sunday. On Tuesday, we were at Stepping Stone to use the covered ring while the barn was quiet for the 4th holiday. (We don’t really do holidays [Feed Adventures, Part 2 of 2].) Four days later, we were back for a lesson.
The same thing used to happen to me when I’d spend the week at Rolex. Unfortunately for me, my then horse was not amused. [Aftermath].
Navigator
Over the course of the CAA Festival, the four of us hitched two horses ten times in four days. On at least one occasion, Greg and I were on our own while Coach Kate was busy with her horse. I remain aware of the safety issues, but am feeling more and more confident of our ability to git ‘er done.
I know that our multi-discipline house is not a zero-sum game. Greg’s success is not my failure. I am truly happy for him. Just ask anyone who heard me yelling when he won the reinsmanship class. Still, it is hard to go from seeing him do so well back to battling the beigeness that is my life [Recap: jumping]. I’ve only ridden handful of times in June & July, I’m still grumpy about Rodney’s future as jumping horse, and my confidence in myself is eroding once again as a result, with a generous topping of guilt for feeling overwhelmed by these non-existent “problems”.
None of this negates what I said on Monday [Mind/Body Solutions] or Wednesday [Getting a Grip, or Not]. I can feel better and worse at the same time. I can plan for progress and hopelessly decide it will never come to pass.
I am vast.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 