Recovery!

Hello, everyone!

I have fabulous news. My back is better enough for me to start riding again! I'm still not feeling perfectly well, and I have to rest a lot inbetween rides so far, but I'm hoping I'll be able to build up those muscles again to the point where it won't hurt so much. I'm already seeing improvement.

More good news... Rei has stopped cribbing so much, and she only has to wear her collar at night! Hooray! She's gaining weight a lot better now - I just compared her old photos to a picture I took of her the other day, and she's looking a looooot better. I can see the progress and it's heartening!

I've started to go out more since I got a new car and my back isn't keeping me in bed, and we've started back up working on polishing her manners and teaching her new things. I've gotten to where I can walk up to her in the field and touch her shoulder and get her to walk off after me, stop when I stop, and pay attention to where I'm going without even a lead rope around her neck. It's lovely!

Lookit how cuuuuute!

So Reina shares her field with 2 ponies, and, naturally, she is the boss. Jeff owns the 2 ponies in question, Lily and Abby. They're super adorable! But Jeff is 6'2 and I am 5'1 so... he asked me to ride said ponies for him! Lily's my favorite; she's super sweet, and really super cute mover, and has a great mind. I'm going to make her into a little hunter show pony! I'm so excited!

I've ridden her twice and she's already getting better with her canter departures.

Rei cribs while I ride the ponies to cope; she needs a new coping mechanism... she's such a diva. She's just about fat enough to where I'll feel comfortable riding her again, and I can't wait! I think we'll start off in the roundpen a little bit to get her back into working and then I'll start riding maybe once a week or so. She's amazing, and I have faith that she hasn't really forgotten anything... she's really good about that.

Isn't she looking better!?

So... yes! All good news. I'm really excited about Rei's progress and she's still such a good girl, really. I'm so proud of her. She's like a completely different horse - do you know that the barn owner had to put her in a stall the other day, and Rei went in and stayed there, totally relaxed, didn't crib or anything!? When I told her she used to not be able to go into a stall without freaking out she was completely shocked.

Well! That's about it for now. I'm away for a part of winter break and made the mistake of seeing War Horse while I wasn't within driving distance of my girlie. Amazing movie; but be sure you have horse access after it!! I miss her even more now, lol.

So, yup. Back better, new car, Rei still being amazing, and I get to get myself back into riding shape to start training Rei again by riding an adorable little pony. :)

Life is good!

Unfortunate News...

Reina's fine! Just for the record. I know the title sounds ominous, but the unfortunate news doesn't involve her, except for the fact that she's being neglected. My poor baby!

I got into a car accident a few weeks ago... I would like to say that I'm fine, but the muscles in my back are pretty messed up at the moment, and I'm having trouble even getting to class without pain medication. It's pretty terrible, I won't lie! My car is totaled, too, but the good news is that means I get a brand new one. My parents can be pretty awesome.

In the interim, however, I'm hurting, and I have no way to get to Reina. I took a cab today all the way out there because I was so desperate to see her, but it cost me about $100 round trip (yikes!). It was totally worth it, but I'm not made of money, so I probably won't be able to do that very often. Can't wait 'til I get my new car!!

Anyways, I saw her today, after about a month, and she pouted at me a bit when I went to catch her. She warmed right up, though, and dropped her head for lots of snuggles and I-missed-yous. It was so sweet. I missed her so much!! She's still a very polite girl and I believe she's putting on weight (finally). She seems less sensitive over her bones when I go to groom her, so I think she's slowly but surely gaining pounds. She's also gotten considerably fuzzier... winter is coming, and Reina's coat knows this! Ha. I definitely didn't miss trying to curry a dirt-caked, fuzzy horse! She's adorable in her fuzziness, though, so it's okay.

I have to say, she was wonderfully well-mannered while being groomed. She remembers all the manners I worked so hard to teach her when I got her in January/February. She picked up her feet like a champ, super quiet, dropped her head to be brushed, stood still with very few wiggles (she mostly munched on grass, which was fine by me), and even let me clean her mare parts without fussing at me. I love my mare, really. I do.

We worked a little bit in the round pen after I groomed the snot out of her. I want to work on her leading; she stops, backs, and moves really easily when I ask, but she gets stuck sometimes when we're walking forward. We worked on forward, forward, forward! in the round pen. It was pretty silly, she would rather snuggle me than work on the rail and walk/trot when I ask. I had to get rather stern (it was really tough to turn away horse snuggles, but alas, I had to be strong!) to get her to the rail, but she picked it up fast once I started clicking/treating for her paying attention to me and moving when I asked. I think I worked so hard when I got her to make her understand that I'm a good human and she should love to come to me that when it comes time to do groundwork, she never wants to leave me! Well... at least I did a good job. ;)

In any case, she was much easier to lead back to her paddock after our short little roundpen lesson. :)

I missed my girlie. Life gets in the way of horses far, far too often!

Playing Catch Up

Hello, hello!

I know, I've been a stranger. The good news is that I've been seeing my horse more than I've been posting on here. That's a start, right!?

I'll keep it brief and just try to update you on what's happened.

We're still with Jeff. He's a fabulous caretaker and has been helping me a lot. Rei's put on a bit of weight and is happier and healthier and getting better every time I see her! She's still one of the smartest, most well-behaved horses I've ever been around and I still feel absolutely lucky to have found her.

We went on a trail ride or two with Jeff and she behaved perfectly. In fact, she was more spook-proof (albeit more energetic and less bit-wearing) than Jeff's tried-and-true trail horse he puts beginners on. I was a very, very proud mom!

We did arena work and she learned to stand still for mounting really quickly. It took only once or twice around the dressage arena for her to realize that nothing was out to eat her (we played "touch it!" with three objects, a total of 5-10 minutes, and she was totally fine after that). We had a bit of an issue leading from the barn to the ring but otherwise she was perfect.

Jeff moved to a different facility, and we followed him there. I trail rode Rei over there on the side of a country road alone (don't worry, it was only a 10-minute trail ride, I had my phone and Jeff waiting on the other end timing me). We had a few bumpy spots where she was quite certain she didn't want to go forward, but we got through them alone and with me still mounted! The little traffic we saw didn't bother her, and she was a champ! She didn't even try to take off when we got to the new barn and her friends were yelling at her; she waited and listened and was very polite (albeit vocal). So proud. :)

The new barn has tons of grass for my girlie to munch on and she's made lots of friends and is generally a very happy pony. We got her teeth floated and a vet to look at her; the vet was super impressed that she was so trusting and well-behaved and wanted to know all my secrets! She also told me I was on track with Rei and doing everything I was supposed to be doing and that it would take several months for her to make a full recovery still (6-8). But... I'm on the right track, Reina looks like she's bouncing back well and that I could call her if I had any questions.

She even made Rei the patient of the month because she was such a good girl!!! :D

Apart from that... I saw her today after a few weeks of various things keeping me away - out of the country, then the new semester started... all excuses, naturally, but true nevertheless. I gave her a bath today and loved on her and she rubbed on me and acted generally very pleased to see me after she pouted for a minute or two. She's such a prima donna... she loves baths, and getting her tail brushed. Silly.

So that's been our summer in a nutshell. No conditioning, not too much training... just fun and playing and moving barns and getting her better (and me being busy). Hopefully I'll be able to start making more time to see my baby and play with her more; she still remembers her food manners, how to back up and move sideways with a touch, and what a peppermint wrapper sounds like! Some things never change, hm? :D

Success!!

After the terribleness that was her last trailer loading, Reina responded to the trailer with an "oh-HELL-no" look as soon as she saw what we were walking towards. Some clicks and treats later, and I had her loading halfway into the traler quietly and sniffing around. Finally, we got a bit of grain and willingly bribed her into it. Not the way I wanted it to go, mind you, but she was relatively relaxed the whole time and there was no drama whatsoever. The whole thing took maybe 15-20 minutes. Once Jeff gets his new trailer, I'm going to borrow it so that we can have trailer loading practice and bribes won't be necessary anymore.

Anyways! She rode really quiet and was a very good girl on the way to Jeff's barn. She backed out a little fast but was otherwise unphased; so I walked her to her new barn and into her new stall. She was up and wide-eyed but very obedient and responsive to me. I coaxed her into the barn with little to no issues, and then I walked her into her new stall and, much to my surprise, she walked right in and settled almost immediately. Good girl!

She got hay and got to look out her stall's back window and got fed grain as well. We turned her out with the other horses and they ran her a little bit, but settled in quite nicely without any mare drama to really speak of. She's already relaxing quite well and I'm loving the barn and its owner/manager! It's so nice and I have a really good feeling about this place. I feel spoiled already!

We have our own bridle hook in the tack room and a spot against the wall for my stuff as well as a saddle rack. Reina has the stall right next to the tack room (score!!) for when there's bad weather or during feeding time. Jeff's already working on setting up her feed schedule so that she'll put more weight on, and I simply can't wait!

Jeff and I walked to the back paddock with Reina and the other horses to watch and make sure they were getting along with one another nicely. Reina, my alpha mare, shockingly didn't put up much of a fight and was rather passive! It worked out fine, though, because the other horses seemed to accept her pretty readily. Perhaps she was just out of sorts and feeling less sassy than usual because she's in a new place and everything. The good news is that her trotting around gave Jeff a chance to see her move, and he commented (all on his own; I didn't ask!) that she was a pretty mover. Yay!! And on top of that, she was awfully adorable, loving on me and whuffling at me when she got nervous throughout the ordeal. I'm so glad she can look to me for emotional support!!

Rei had gone out to eat grass and was pretty far away while Jeff and I were talking. Suddenly, she turns and starts walking towards us, ears pricked, head low. I was like, hmm, what's she doing? There's no grass over here! She walked right up to me and off to the side a little bit, and stood there quietly until I came up and petted her shoulder. She turned her head around to look at me like "hi, Mom! Whatcha doin'? Will you stay with me just in case?" and she dropped her head in my hands and I rubbed on her for a few minutes. She's such a big baby!

She left after while, though, to go graze again and inch closer to her new herd. Jeff and I left them and I went to go home.

Did I mention that I have a great feeling about this place??

Here's to Hoping!

Yesterday I spent a bit more time with Reina doing targeting work. She caught on fast - as usual - and soon, I had her following my lunge whip in circles around me (to both sides) and walking with her following it with her nose. It was adorable.

This is all in preparation of trailer loading day... which just happens to be tomorrow! Oh my goodness, I'm nervous. I hope she walks on all right! Our last experience with the trailer was shaky at best, but our relationship was also next to nonexistent then as well. I'm hoping that her loving and trusting me now will make her less skeptical when I tell her trailers are not, in fact, scary horse-eating monsters.

Jeff (the owner of the new barn I'm going to!) will have his horse in the trailer already, so maybe that will add to her not being so scared? I hope.

Anyways, I've done all I can really do in preparation so I just have to wait and hope that it'll turn out well!

Will keep you all updated. :D

I Fail at Blog Upkeep

Hello, everyone! Sorry, I know I've been neglecting this blog. I have not, however, been neglecting my horse! Which is good.

Anyways, a few things have happened. I've mostly been keeping quiet because my plans were rather up in the air, but it's settled now. I'm moving barns! Reasons for this... I won't go into. It's not pretty, though!

So, I visited Reina on Tuesday and worked undersaddle in one of our makeshift arenas. It was like 92 freaking degrees outside (ugh!!) so we didn't last long, needless to say. The good news is that we worked in a different paddock than usual, and she was super good and didn't really spook at anything!!

Reina enjoying a drink post-ride!

Not too much to report about that, but she was a very good girl! We worked on stopping and rhythm and not rushing her gaits. She was "up," naturally, because I hadn't ridden in a while. She was responsive though and we really only had one tiff where I got impatient. We trotted around the ring like 5 times until we were both huffing and puffing from the heat and then she decided that maybe she didn't want to rush headlong around the arena, lol!

Then we worked on trail horse things and I taught her to open the gate again with me on her. She was confused, though, and got a little nervous, but she kept trying different things - back up? turn around? sideways? - until I clicked. Then she realized that I was going to help her get the right answer and that she shouldn't feel abandoned or overfaced, and she calmed right down and kept trying until she got the right answers. It was wonderful!!

Then I rinsed her off completely, and she looked like a drowned rat (and kept giving me pathetic looks about it, too!).

And then, like all wet horses, she decided to...

ROLL! Ack!!!

Afterwards she was half Reina, half Sawdust Monster. I tried to brush her off as best I could, but there was only so much I could do at that point! Sigh, horses.

Yesterday I went out again, and we only did groundwork with my brand new, adorable, multicolored "stock whip". It was awesome and she was amazing. She catches on so fast; seriously, she is sooo smart!!

We worked on targeting! We'll be moving soon and I want to make trailer loading as stress-free as possible, and following a target is one of the easiest ways to make a horse feel comfortable. So! We worked on targeting, and my whip made a perfect target. She caught on fast and was soon tracking it and following it a bit!

Then we worked on responsiveness and stepping forward when I asked and yielding her hindquarters. She caught on fast and was almost a pro by the end of the session. What a smart girl! We ended on a happy note and didn't do anything else that day; I wanted to give her time to really soak in those lessons because they're very basic and she needs to have them down pat before we advance to lateral work on the ground.

So! That's it! More about moving and my new barn soon; oh my goodness, I'm excited, it's going to be sooo fabulous!

SUMMER!!!

It's finally here!

I slept 14 hours last night and the only thing I had to do today was go see Reina. So I did!

Laurie met me out there and we went on a mini trail ride. It was hot, we were tired, but it was so so so good to be out again! Reina was overjoyed to see me and I groomed her til she shone! Her winter coat's about 99% gone and man does she look fabulous! :)

Even though I hadn't ridden in... gosh, I don't even want to think about how long it's been... she was perfect! She was just the same as always, except she was a bit girthier than usual (I don't really blame her though - I could barely fit her girth around her today, I don't know why! I hope it's because she's gained weight, though, haha) and a little more opinionated. But I didn't mind in the slightest. She still listened and wanted to go and stopped when I asked and loved on me like you wouldn't believe because she was so happy I was there.

Chi said she hadn't been eating as well lately, and she thinks it's probably because I haven't been out as much. My poor baby! I felt awful, but there wasn't much I could do. Since I'm done with school now, though, I'll be out all the time!

I also need to get her teeth floated... just have to find someone here I trust to be able to do it for me. Hmm!

Anyways, yup, that's about it. She was wonderful, being out there again was wonderful. Her manners were perfect, she hasn't forgotten anything I've taught her, and she was very level-headed even though we went straight out to the trail. I love my horse!!! :D

Mini Visits & a Whinny

Basically exactly what the title says.

I went out for just a few minutes yesterday because I had to drop off board (my favorite activity.. yay. lol), and I decided to see Laurie and snuggle Reina for a few minutes while I was out. Unfortunately, that's all I could really do, because of stupid finals being stupid. But soon, soon, I will be done for the summer!

Anyways, as Laurie and I were walking up to Reina's paddock, she looked at me, pricked her ears (as usual) and then... she let out a huuuuuge whinny!! I was like, "OMGosh, Rei, was that for meeee!?!" and Laurie was like "well it sure as heck wasn't for me!"

I laughed and said that's the first time she's done that to me - because it was! Laurie almost didn't believe me that Reina hadn't talked to me before. She was like, "but that horse loves you so fricken much!" I'm just glad it's mutual!!

Maybe she was feeling lonely because her buddy Comanche left to be bred to the stud, or maybe she just missed me because I hadn't been out in a few days, or maybe we've bonded enough for her to say hi whenever I come up! Whatever it was, I think it was the cutest thing ever and my heart melted right into my boots!

I stayed for about an hour, loving on Rei and talking to Laurie about boys and school and horses and God and everything inbetween. Reina just chilled, didn't move the entire time but to wiggle her lip at the fence and drop her head into my hands when she wanted rubs. It was adorable and she got 2 peppermints for hanging out with us when she was at liberty in her paddock.

Horses are awesome.
Finals are not!

Engagement Rings & New Trails

Chi's getting married!!!

She went to see her long-distance boyfriend last weekend, and he proposed! Down on one knee and everything! Her ring is giant and huge and sparkly and fabulous. She loves it, and she's so happy, and I'm so happy for her! Yay!!

Oh, and I rode today! Haha. Laurie and I went out trail riding and we adventured down two new paths we've never taken before!

But first, pictures of my adorable horse:

Awww!

Okay, so, we trotted a lot on this trail because it's fun! And Reina was oh-so-good, she was moving off my leg and sometimes I didn't even have to squeeze. It was so lovely! She was so responsive and in tune with me, it was amazing. Totally different from riding Apollo; even if she doesn't know as much, I soooo appreciate her trying! She tries so fricken hard to please me, she's such a good girl.

So both of the trails we took were total dead ends... but it didn't matter, because it was mad fun and we got to explore a little bit! Reina was absolutely perfect and acted just like we were on our regular trail. She didn't look or spook or get nervous at all. I was very impressed with her! I was wondering how she'd be on a new trail, and, well, now I know!

Lookit those cute little ears!

Those are of the second adventure we took, at the end. It's a road! We have no idea what road or what it is, but it was very pretty and Reina was totally unconcerned. In fact, she got impatient when I asked her to stand for pictures!

Did I mention that she was amazingly good? :)

I gave her the second round of wormer today and put on more fly stuff (will discuss that in a later post, but it lasts 2 weeks and it's freaking amazing, I've noticed a huge difference!!)... she's still much thinner than I would like, but would you look at that coat!? Good God is she shiny! At least she's looking much healthier apart from her weight. I'll give myself credit for that, at least!

So yeah! That was about it. I mean, she listened super well. And we got to work on patience, as Rei had to stop and wait for things a few times. She's so silly, she starts yawning as soon as we stop and she'll reach around to bump my boot with her nose. "MOM! MOM! I'm BORED! Can I go yet!?" We'll have to work on that... but it's a far cry from her hopping, head-tossing, pawing, impatient self when I first got her! If that's not progress, I don't know what is!

Hopefully I'll get to go out again tomorrow. The semester is trickling to an end, so all I have to do is study. I'm praying that means I'll get more saddle time!!

Oh, more good news? Totally lost 10 pounds. Reason #5376184789513416 why I love horses: it's great exercise!! ;)

Of Dressage Lessons, Moss, and Fire-Breathing Dog Crates

Is that not the most exciting title you've ever read!?

So, sorry, I know I usually post once whenever I go out, but... I've been busy, blah blah blah, excuse, excuse. Bottom line is I haven't posted even though I've had three horse-related experiences since I last posted and I fail and for that I apologize. The good news is that I have some very exciting developments!

First, Thursday: I rode Rei bareback again for the first time in, like, forever. I think she was a little confused at first: "Mom? Why are you up there without tack? I don't understand." She bumped my foot a few times with her nose so I petted her and reassured her and she seemed satisfied after that.

I was noticing an ugly lack of responsiveness in her turning abilities so I decided to break it back down to the basics that day. We turned, trotted a little (man, she gets bouncy when she really steps out and I'm on bareback! I had to grab mane once, I won't lie!), and turned some more. Within a few minutes she was working off suggestions again, and she felt great! I barely had to twitch a rein to get her to turn, and she was even bending like a real horse instead of throwing herself around like a breathing motorcycle! It was fabulous.

Then comes the fire-breathing dog crate. She's been snorty and puffy at it ever since it made its appearance near Chi's house, so I decided that enough was enough and we were going to work through that little bit of silliness today.

So yes. I despooked my horse bareback and bitless. Jealous? Nothing bad happened, either. No falls, take-offs, nothing. Just some snorting, backing up, and lots of treats, pets, and praise.

A few amazing things happened here:

1. She started anticipating my treat-giving. I think this is due to her nervousness. She'd bump my boot on either side of her if I was too slow in getting her treat and she got nervous in the interim. It was cute, because...
2. This led to her really realizing that Mom's sitting up on her back and my attention/love can be accessed by being adorable and reaching her nose around to bump my boot. She was always very polite about it, but it got to be very obvious that she wanted reassurance. Once I petted her face and told her she was the prettiest, bravest, best horse ever, she settled and went back to looking where we were going. And this, in turn, led to...
3. She'd very obviously try something to get a treat and, when I wouldn't click her, she'd turn around bump me - indignantly, this time! She was clearly saying "MOOOOM, what I just did there was FABULOUS and you KNOW it. Treat plz? Kthx." This is awesome because it shows me (even more) that clicker training really is working!
4. After lots of rewarding her for being brave, I was chilling on top of her and we were a few short steps away from the crate. She, OF HER OWN ACCORD, DECIDED - hardcore decided! - to walk forward on her own, stretch her neck down and out, and snort at/sniff the dog crate. I didn't have to nudge her like I had before! It was amazing! She got a peppermint for that, which pleased her greatly. I was very proud that she chose treat, praise, and bravery!
5. And this is the best of all (as if it could get better?): once she touched and inspected the crate for a few seconds, she seemed satisfied that it was not, in fact, a fire-breathing sharp-tooth-having horse-eating monster of an object. Thus, we start to walk away when... her hoof kicks dirt towards the crate and causes it to clang. She gets scared, jumps, and then... promptly reaches her nose out TO TOUCH THE CRATE AGAIN! Like she was saying "oh my goodness, new buddy, you scared me!! Are you still a vegetarian? Are you sure? Okay then." Once she touched it, she was totally fine. She comforted herself! I swear I was still reacting (or trying not to react) from my horse jumping out of her skin while I was on her bareback. By the time I got myself together, she was sniffing the crate on her own and comforting herself.

It was the most amazing ever. I love my horse, and I love clicker training!!

Okay, so there's the fire-breathing dog crate story.

Now... on Friday...

Moss!!!

My horse loves to eat moss. It is absolutely hilarious.

Laurie and I went on a trail ride on Friday, and while we were walking along, suddenly Reina's face does a nose dive and she comes up with that giant mess of a moss ball. And she chews. And chews. And chews. And ends up eating the whole thing while we're walking along the trail. It was hilarious. Talk about on-the-go meals, lol!

Once she'd finished her giant bundle of moss, I thought that would be it. But no - she kept inspecting the gray spots on the ground to make sure they weren't another moss bundle! Bahaha. She finally found another one that was even bigger than the last one:

My horse is a dork. It was so big she kept nodding her head to try to drop some of it - it was trailing on the ground and she ended up stepping on it and pulling half of it off. Somehow, the other half disappeared into her. How is she still skinny? Seriously.

The only other notable thing about this trail ride was when I showed Laurie the pond. There's a little part of the trail that's covered in a tiny bit of water, and Laurie's mount Louise did NOT want anything to do with that water. Reina loves water, but seeing the seasoned trail horse balk, she decided she didn't really want to go over it after all.

I whipped out my clicker skills (I don't use an actual clicker anymore.. I just click with my tongue) and Rei and I were on the other side, Reina relaxed and grazing, within a minute or two. Louise still didn't go, though, so Reina and I headed back over the water (she didn't even look at it at all on the way over... what a good girl!) and we went around the other way. Best horse ever.

And... dressage lesson! I actually had that today, because last week my back was acting up and I had to cancel. I rode my new trainer's horse, Apollo, who's also a Thoroughbred. He's 4 years older than Reina, though, and much better trained (hopefully Reina will be that good in 4 years!!). He also looks and rides like a Warmblood, which isn't necessarily true of my slip of a horse, but I don't care - I love her!

My trainer's place!

Anyways, I worked on keeping Apollo working round and in a nice frame with light contact. I worked on making my hands quieter (hello, lightbulb moment!) and remembered what having a horse ride off my seat felt like (ie, great!! haha). My trainer gave me some tips about how to start with Reina, taught me how to ask for a leg yield properly (I'm not very good at it, though, according to Apollo), and had me practice long and low on her horse. I'm excited to teach Reina about that one; I think she'll really like it.

I have so much to think about now with her! I'm going to start lateral work on the ground soon, and work on her listening to my seat and legs more than my hands and voice now. I think that'd be a great place to start so we can have some really awesome communication going on between us. I taught her to work off my seat at the trot a little bit, but I'll expound on what I've already got and teach her to steer without me having to rely on reins so much.

Also, if she doesn't start gaining weight soon (I'll give the dewormer some time to do its thing - a few weeks, maybe), I'm going to have to call out the vet and find some way to pay for testing her for stomach ulcers. I hear they're common in TBs, especially high-stressed ones, and, considering Reina cribs already, I don't think it'd be much of a mental stretch to imagine that the stress that caused her to crib (I assume) also may have caused ulcers. I would do it sooner, except for the fact that I'm completely broke already. I'm really hoping the deworming will do it, but somehow I doubt it!

Sigh!

But in any case, we're making great strides and I'm very excited about working with my new trainer. She's going to help me be a better rider for Reina and I so appreciate that! I can't wait until summer comes so I can start spending all my time at the barn instead of studying!!

Videos!!!

So! Today I visited the baby foal, and she was adorable. I was just watching her, but when I squatted down, she moseyed on over to the fence and stuck her little nose out! Oh gosh, it was adorable. I petted her and loved on her and snapped some pictures of her being fricken adorable.

Investigating.. me! Cute!!

As I walked away, she put her little nose through the gate to watch me go!

Chi had to leave for work, but Laurie was there. Unfortunately, she was too sick to ride, but she agreed to video tape me riding Reina! So, without further adieu (they get better towards the end in case you want to skip to the best ones!):

Sorry there's so many... but, well, these are the best of the bunch! There are more on my youtube channel if you care to see the rest, but there's not much I left out.

We look so amazing together! I'm so proud of us. We've come so far!!! Oh, and this is the first time I asked her to do figure eights, circles, etc., so she behaved really well for never being asked to do those things before! What a good girl.

Apart from that, I contacted an eventing trainer, and I'm going to go take my first dressage lesson on her Thoroughbred tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes! She sounds great on the phone, and if it works out, I'll probably continue taking some lessons on her horse so I can learn. She also said she'd be willing to come out and work with me on Reina as well.

AND she's affordable! I'm so excited!

Dinner and a Show

And by show, I mean trail ride!

I went out today to get Reina, and she was allllllllllll the way on the other side of her paddock. But when I waved and said "Hi, Reina!", she pricked her ears at me and... came walking up to me! Yes!!

She walked right up to me and was all "hi, Mom!" It was adorable. She wandered off shortly after saying hi, but I caught up to her quickly (she was only walking) and brought her in.

I asked Chi if she wanted to go trail riding, but she had so much work to do and was so tired that she said she couldn't. But Laurie (Chi's friend who's staying with her for now) wanted to go, so I went to tack up Rei!

My horse is adorable.

Anyways, we head out on the trail and the first part, Reina feeds off Laurie's horse's nervousness and it's slow going at first. Also, the wild hogs in the field to the left took off running, all the little babies flying around and squealing. Luckily, my horse is sane and didn't freak out. She did stop and look, though!

She proved yet again that clicker training is the best policy with her - she got nervous and I got annoyed, and, of course, that didn't help matters whatsoever. So I chilled and started clicking her for good behavior. She calmed down almost immediately!

A few minutes into the trail ride, both horses calmed down and Reina starts taking the lead as usual. She just needed to find her stride is all! Soon, Laurie and her horse were struggling to keep up with Reina's walk. (Reina is big; Laurie's horse was a little Arab mix, haha.)

Oh, and Laurie was nice enough to take pictures of Rei and I while we were out!! Warning: picture overload incoming!

I don't know what's up with her tail frizz, as I brush it all the time and stuff, but I guess it had a mind of its own today. I think she's looking pretty good, minus the weight problem. Chi's been having trouble getting weight on a few of the horses, Reina included, and she thinks the last bunch of hay she'd gotten might've been bad. Luckily, spring is here and grass is growing, so hopefully that'll fix the deficit in Reina's diet and she'll get back to a healthy weight.

Otherwise, though, she's perfectly happy! She was very excited to be out on the trail today and was a total pro. There was even a bunch of wild turkeys out on the road towards the end of the ride, and they up and flew off right in front of us! Reina watched, but she didn't stop or even flinch! I was so proud.

Such a smart girl! (Yes, she nicked her eye... somehow. I don't know how, but it was new today. She also had a rub on her butt; I think she was getting feisty before I came out today! lol!)

Laurie and I had a blast out on our ride and talked a bunch. She was great company.

When we got back, we washed off our horses and gave them their dinner. Reina practically vacuumed hers up, haha!

I helped Chi and Laurie bring in the new baby and her momma tonight, too, since there are going to be thunderstorms the next few days and Chi was worried about the little baby. She was so cute!! I got to love on her and help lead her into her new stall. Gosh, she's fricken adorable.

Then, Chi was nice enough to invite me to dinner! It was tons of fun and she's an excellent cook.

Could a better day exist? Hm, I think not!