Benny, Rummy and Solo have all arrived safely in Florida and are decompressing after their journey. They did the straight through run and they were in the trailer for 24 hours. I did all my worrying for nothing, they all drank well, took their RegenerEQ and carrots on the way down, and they are in the stalls.
Rumshaker was a bit wound up when he got out, but if you remember, he got a bit wound up when he first got here. Anne Marie says he was not as excited as when he arrived at Balsam Hall. It must be dawning on him that he is not going racing. Solo is an old hand and Benny, the one I was most worried about, took the whole thing in stride. Drank the most and is totally relaxed about finding himself in Florida. He just takes it all in, and smiles out at the world. The photo is Benny and Rummy taking it easy in the sun this evening.
Today is the last day here at Balsam Hall for Jacline Gnidec as a working student. She has been with us for nearly 18 months and we are going to miss her as she moves forward into the next part of her life’s adventure. We wish her well. She has been a fun, hard-working member of the team.
Today is ‘pole work’ at Balsam Hall. We have always done poles on a fairly regular basis, but after reading an Ingrid Klimke article we have been trying to do them twice a week. We were very good about it during the summer when you can leave your pole pattern where it is for a couple of days (huge outdoor arenas), but less keen now that we are indoors and have to lay and pick up our poles each time we use them (small indoor arena). In addition to being inspired by Ingrid Klimke, we have also been inspired by various series of videos available on the internet, most especially Facebook and Instagram. The net really is a bottomless source of pole work, jumping and dressage exercises. You could probably pick a new one every day for a few years without running low. I love the internet.
While Selena was up here collecting the other three horses, Bruce Davidson rode Woody for her. I can remember getting on my horse when Bruce had ridden it for a few days. It was like smooth creamy butter instantly. Selena can’t wait to get on today and feel the new and improved Woody.
