Rusty's Still Alive

Big, long break and I'm going to give this bloggin thing another shot...

Here's the update:

Rusty and his friend Inky have moved to a new barn. The new barn is set up for optimal pacific northwest winter time riding and horse happiness. We have a beautiful indoor arena with fantastic footing, trails that have gravel laid down for the winter rains, and sand runs attached to the stalls for the days when the turnouts just can't take the hoof abuse.

Rusty and I have been at the barn since the 1st of October and our riding has dramatically improved! Having an arena to ride in has been miraculous. Not only does it boost my confidence, but it also gives Rusty some boundaries and lessens the distractions that surround him. It was tough to move away from the other barn, the owners are incredibly kind and caring and welcomed us like family, but for Rusty and I it's been the best move we could have made.

The new barn has 13 stalls, 9 have runs attached, an indoor arena that's basically the size of a small dressage court, a huge tack room, lounge area, 50 acres of trails, and great owners. It's another private barn and this is the first winter that they will have boarders. They're really excited to have us there and instantly treated Rusty like one of their own.

Rusty's new stablemates are 4 TB's (3 OTT, 2 mares, 2 geldings), 3 QH mares, a Tennesse Walker mare, an Arabian mare, an adorable little pony, Inky (Arabian/Trakehner Gelding), and soon to be another OTTB gelding and a paint gelding. The barn owners and the trainer/manager are very dedicated to the comfort and happiness of the horses. They spend hours analyzing the best turnout patterns, who gets along with who, and what might make the horse just a little more content. I'm feeling pretty lucky to move from one fantastic barn to the next.

Our riding has improved by leaps and bounds over the past two weeks. We can focus on our work, he with better footing and less outside stimulation and me with the knowledge that we're safely within four walls and I can relax. We have entered a show on Oct 30th, a dressage schooling show, we're signed up for Intro A & B. I'm looking forward to it, we're pretty ready for it and will only be more so by then. It's sort of all falling into place right now. The arena, the trails, the good equine energy is making for one happy Rusty and rider.

We'll see how this bloggin thing goes this time around... Maybe I'll keep it up!