98.75
amywink November 27th, 2011
After Friday’s drive, I hit 98.75 hours in my quest to hit the 100 Hour milestone for the ADS Hours to Drive Program. And then, rain and winter arrived. Saturday, a cold front blew in with heavy morning rains (yay!!!!) and piercing northerly winds (boooo!) in the afternoon. Temps overnight dropped and we are steady in the upper 50s with winds creating a windchill somewhere around 43. So. Too cold to drive today, which means I probably won’t make the November 30 deadline to submit my 100 hours for the year. I will be e-mailing ADS though to see how late I might be able to send that info in. It may take a few days….because this is what the pasture and Will look like after an inch of rain:
Those are actual balls of mud on Will’s back. He clearly rolled around in ecstatic enthusiasm for the rain. His own little rain dance.
But if I had to trade driving for anything at this moment, I’d happily trade it for rain. It’s good to see mud again.
Blessing, however, is nicely clean and dry since she’s tucked safely inside for her training. I went to visit her again Saturday to see her progress. She was, this time, more enthusiastic about seeing me and did seem to really enjoy her Only Horse time with me yesterday. She doesn’t get much of that with her pesky brother around at home but now we can spend some quality time bonding.
She’s progressed very nicely this week and has learned a great deal, including learning to have a bit in her mouth:
And to wear a surcingle and crupper!
Malen reports no issues with the crupper, which surprised me–pleasantly!–because there had been some reports of her temper and I suspected that the crupper would be the trigger for a big nasty temper tantrum.
She also exhibited a very good stop and stand, which might seem dull but is probably the most important gait for any horse.
But she also has a pretty nice “go” as well. Here she is cantering for a bit and doing a nice job of it.
She stands very nicely as well, patiently getting her tack straightened, also an important skill for a driving horse.
And she can still go in both directions!
I’m very pleased with her progress and glad her calm demeanor is coming out well in her training. We’ll see how she progresses next week when I visit again for her 3rd week in training.
