Um...hi again?

Have I really not posted anything since the end of January? Blog hop? What?

...oops?

I don't even have a good excuse. My laptop has been living in a wicker box I use as a cheap coffee table/storage for random crap, and I just haven't had a reason to pull it out aside from one day when it snowed and I worked from home. Frankly I'm surprised it booted up since I had a sneaking suspicion a 5-year-old computer would jump at the opportunity to be left for dead.

But nope. Way to go, Apple!

Anyway. My days have been filled with work, riding 2x/week, watching Parks and Rec, reading a really long book about AIDS for my book club, and taking Beckett for walks. He just has SO MUCH energy and it's a good way to tire him out. It does kind of make me wish I had a yard, though, so I could look like a crazy person walking her cat in private.

But there are some exciting things on the horizon...in the form of new members of the family!

Byron and I had been batting around the idea of getting Beckett a playmate, and he'd been dropping not-so-subtle hints like, "If we did get another kitten, where would we put another litter box?" so when he said he had a surprise that would BLOW MY MIND, I immediately knew it was a kitten.

Specifically, a Siamese. His family has owned applehead or "old-style" Siamese for his entire life, so I knew getting one eventually was somewhat inevitable.

We're picking up one of the three seal point males (the three on the left) next weekend from a breeder his family has known for years. Apparently in real life, they're not as cross-eyed and derpy as they are in the photo, but we shall see.

And....drumroll please....
I've been looking for a lease! A half-lease, to be specific. I've already tried out one, a 20-year-old OTTB owned by one of my trainer's friends. 

When relaxed under saddle, he sticks his tongue out too! A hilarious OTTB habit, apparently.

I LOVED his personality, and his name was Carlo...how perfect would that have been--Carla and Carlo? He had a very impressive "resume"--former steeplechaser and eventer. But he was definitely a jumper who could maaaaybe  (with a lot of work) do some dressage, and I'm looking for more of the opposite--a dressage horse that could do some jumping.

Martingale+giraffe impression does not equal easy dressage mount. He's 20 years old, so I don't anticipate being able to change him much...

I figure it is better for the horse to be more experienced where I am green, and it's OK for him to be a bit of a green jumper since I've been doing that for so long.

So that is where Midnight comes in. I'm trying him tomorrow.

I like that he looks like he's reaching for the bit in a relaxed way.

He's a 12 y/o TB named Midnight. Apparently he has mostly been used for dressage and trail riding, and has very balanced gaits, but his owner wants to start doing jumping gymnastics. I could do that, and it seems like he would be a good teacher as I learn more about dressage. And the facility where he's boarded, based on their website, looks TO DIE for--two outdoor arenas, an indoor, a small XC course and trails. Did I mention that it's only 30 min away?

Ideally I would like to use him to teach Byron too--but I'm not sure if his owner will agree. I can certainly see it from the owner's perspective--letting a totally unknown beginner ride your horse is not the most attractive prospect, and I'm not sure if Midnight is quiet enough anyway. Sigh...this is why I was initially leaning toward buying rather than leasing, but financially I am just too afraid of some kind of expensive accident on top of already-expensive regular costs.

But I'll find out tomorrow and let you all know how it goes! Wish me luck!