2014 Recap and Wrap Up

It is amazing to me that I am finishing my 3rd year writing this blog. Where has time gone? This year was fairly quiet for us with some exciting points.

January: Ah, this was my hell month of inventory at work. Lack of sleep and cold weather did not bring about much riding. What this month brought was the revelation that Comrade was Born Crooked. He received his first chiropractic visit and we finally got answers to past training issues. Some barn drama started during this month too. Who knew how big that snow ball would get in the end?

February: This month I found an emu egg in the field with the girls and even better, I found new confidence dealing with Roscoe. Clinton Anderson methods helped deal with his 3yr old moments and stallion stunts. Plus we got enough snow for me to take Rosemary out for a ride. Snow can be a pain, but it does make for a fun ride. Then my parents made the choice to start looking for a place to buy where we could bring he horses to.

March: This month started off with Rosemary showing off her Amish roots by helping us pull a wheelbarrow shell full of manure or hay through the snow. Then it was time for the blog hops: 7  deadly, name, bucket. Comrade and I worked on our shoulder in which came easier after his chiropractic visits.

April: I tried my hand at a blog hop about pony personality. Comrade turned 9 yrs old and I learned to let him go under saddle. We also we frustrated by people's reaction to Roscoe's weight loss. His hormones just burned away calories faster than we could feed them. The month ended on a high when Rosemary pulled our lawn mower out of the mud. She did something extreme because we asked it, our super star pony.

May: This month brought about the infamous "Good Boarder" comment and increased tension at the barn. Winston turned 18 yrs old and showed great recovery from his laminitis. Dottie completed her Mud Fever trial and I shared my observations. We dealt with stallion and cob antics, fun and annoying.

June: Well, this was a hard month starting with the unexpected death of Addie. Her loss cast a pall over us all and made our first show of the year rough.The Red boys showed well though. Comrade and I jumped at the show despite our lack of preparation. We discovered Comrade's need for ground poles. My baby turned 3yrs old, starting to look more mature. Then I started my memorial series: A Trail of Painted Ponies.

July: My show souvenir from last month was identified this month. It was probably my worst injury to date. This caused me to get creative in order to keep riding. During my healing came the decision to move the horses to Peggy's on a trial basis. 7 horses all in one small farm, let the adventure begin. DaVinci started it with a colic scare from stressing.

August: Quickly the decision to stay at Peggy's was made. It was more emotional for me than I expected, but the benefits were vast. We definitely enjoyed the trails.

September: We benefited from a foreign exchange. I got a lesson on Rosemary and we learned about a therapeutic riding program in Israel's connection to CPEAP in Virginia. The Red Boys ran me around the Welsh show and then became turn out buddies. Then came my red letter day of firsts where I drove Rosemary solo by myself and I rode Roscoe. Finally compliments of CPEAP, I hosted a trivia contest.

October: Roscoe's rides continue and we find he enjoys trails. Comrade gets back between the shafts, prepping for a red boy pair in the future. Everyone gets trivia answers and prizes. Then I shared an article about vaccinations. At a bonus show, the boys were Welsh ambassadors to some tourists. Roscoe showed he could strut his stuff in the arena and then let kids pet him.

November: This month brought more firsts. I did some clip art on Rosemary's butt, felt an awesome trot from Roscoe and ended the month with him cantering. We winterized the barn and I did the second Painted Pony memorial. Rain and holidays slowed everything down.

December: More rain, more mud and later hours at work all kept riding at a minimum. We had to change up turn out patterns to keep horses off muddy spots and the studly boys separate. I shared our observations about various slow feed bags and we got a ton of rock to help with the mud. Christmas brought the gift exchange, presents and pictures. We had a great holiday which included me getting back on some horses. My parents gave me a really fancy camera with zoom lenses that I need to learn to use. Hopefully I will get even better pictures in the future.

The new year will bring news about a big decision we made. I really want to get Roscoe to some ridden shows and possibly get Rosemary and Comrade to driven shows. And speaking of driving, I hope we get Roscoe hooked to the cart this year. One step closer to having a Red Boy pair. Friday starts my hell month again doing inventory. Fingers crossed the weather cooperates and I am awake enough to keep riding consistently.

Happy New Year!!!