Because what I need in my life right now is another barn and another discipline.

Overcoming Obstacles in Our Way

Alabama Obstacle Challenge Series
AOCS website, Facebook

This would be for Rodney. No jumping. No sand box. Done at a walk. Yes, Rodney had a melt-down over a leather halter [Life in the Slow Lane]. Oddly enough, with the weird-looking shit, he’s brave. Not police-horse, bombproof brave, but for a high-strung TB, surprisingly curious about new things, see below. Could be a good idea. Could be a non-starter. We shall see.

I have been over to the local barn for a chat. Pretty standard lesson/schooling arrangement. $X for help; $Y to go over and mess about ourselves. In our discussion, year-end awards were mentioned. Well, that doesn’t concern me (Ha). I’m just here for a fun activity with my horse (Ha!). There is zero likelihood that I will go to one show, get bitten by the bug, and find myself shipping all over the state to qualify (HA!). As with Miss Molly [Small Jump, Enough Retrospection], I will out this person once we’ve had a lesson & a chance to discuss the blog.

Milton would definitely benefit, but a) he would be deeply suspicious of the horse-eating obstacles & b) he has enough on his dance card at the moment.

First step. Keep shipping Rodney over to Stepping Stone Farm. Get us comfortable riding off the property. Then, over to the AOCS barn, either for a lesson or for a look-see on our own.

Previous Obstacle Posts
Huh. We did more of this than I remember. We sputtered to a stop because we were a victim of our own success, or of Rodney’s success. If memory serves, we’d work 45 minutes to construct something that Rodney would dismiss in moments. We were getting to the point of needing to build big, complicated things. Easier to play with obstacles built by someone else. Plus, in 2014, I wasn’t riding Rodney & Milton had arrived.
[Whole New World] Went to see a competition. 2012
[Noodling with Rodney] Shiny, weird, plastic, scary things? Meh. 2013
[Weekend Report] Trotting in hand. Walking through a ring. Which one do you think he handled? 2013
[Rodney Is Awesome: Attack of the Swimming Noodle] Equine ring toss. Who knew. 2014
[Rodney’s Week: Pool, Pen, & TENS] Wading Pool. 2014
[Rodney’s Week: Dry Pool] This horse is the weirdest combination of fear and confidence. 2014
[Rodney’s Exercises as of January 2015] Wading thru a kiddie pool, cross a “bridge”, standing on a platform. 2015
Note. All of these exercises were done in hand. Things change with a rider on board.

[Photo from Just To Put This Out There 2014]

Hooves crossed.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine