Day 14 – 30 Day Horse Challenge – Your Dream Barn

Another bleh ride today :( I'm just having trouble getting Midnight as responsive and on the aids as he was when I tried him out. I'm sure his owner warming him up was a big part of that--in the video she is obviously more able to get his whole body working and round than I am. I haven't been able to coordinate a time for my old trainer to come out on the weekend yet so I may end up switching over to one of the trainers at the new place (the fact that they are cheaper doesn't hurt either!).

And aside from our not-very-connected ride, Midnight had quite the little snit fit on the ground today.  I've been pulling his mane for the past week and he has been pretty good about it, but today he was all over the place--practically running me over in the cross ties and in the stall, and forget letting me even touch  his mane while he was grazing. Hopefully he was just having a day because I've only gotten about a third of it done and that would be a very strange style for the dressage clinic.

In other news I picked this up from Great Falls Saddlery:

It's a little big on my bony wrist but I like the roller thing on the clasp.

So Midnight and I better work it out because I like wearing it!

My dream barn would be:

• in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic
• owned and maintained by top-level eventers who could teach me everything about riding and horsemanship via osmosis
• magically free

No, just kidding (kind of). Obviously we shall see how it plays out but it seems like I am AT my dream barn right now. It's not too expensive, the grounds are beautiful, there are a bajillion arenas (well, 3), the horses are well-kept and well-trained, they host clinics and shows, and the people are nice. Unless they are secretly judging me which you never know. I have been doing my best to do good-barn-citizen things like picking up after Midnight, cleaning his tack, and sticking around to watch lessons rather than just leaving immediately.

Oh--and in other, other news--I bought a white dressage pad and white Legacy boots for Midnight. I figure  plain things will give a better impression at the clinic than his neon green Legacy boots with a purple, pink plaid, or blue flamingo saddle pad.

And I think I'm putting the saddle search to rest, at least for now. I really like riding in his owner's Berney Brothers AP saddle, and another boarder has offered to let me use her dressage saddle. So why fix it if it ain't broke? I can just save that money for when I want to buy a horse (maybe Midnight, and then I'd see if I could buy his tack with him).