Other than that...it's pretty much the greatest place on earth. Suffice it to say that college is good for me in all the ways Houlton and high school were bad for me: horses, stress, coffee, academics, sleep (okay, well, maybe today was not a prime example of that), bullshit, mental health... the list goes on. I feel a desperate need to get to know everyone because I have yet to meet a person who was not worth getting to know. And that's just the incoming fresh.
But y'all are here to read about my horses! Starting with the trip down:
Friday Caitlin lessons: Yes, you read right, lessonS. As in, Aly is totally back in work, feeling great, sound and started JUMPING again a week ago. Needless to say exciting. The only downside is that I sold the saddle I had that fit her, so I have to ride her bareback all the time, which she (oddly) prefers. Neil showed off how reformed and awesome he is after a little being an asshole on the ground and subsequent practice of newly learned Parelli tricks (thanks Cathy Hogan for the bright purple Parelli halter of my very own!!). I'm not a One True Way Parelli follower, but when it works, it works, you know? Neil and Aly are back in sibling love despite being completely incompatible without a fence between them.
Sunday Charlotte Pony Club Horse Trials: I have a new pony club and it is awesome. About the size of a MeCTA event, CPC puts on an annual schooling trials at Triple Combination Farm in Ferrisburgh, VT- about 20 minutes up Rt. 7 from the campus. Someone obviously put a ton of work into creating a beautiful cross country course, because it aside from a slightly (and we'll be generous with our use of the word slightly) soggy dressage warmup, the place was one notch down from Snowfields. Baby horse was really good on cross country but stadium was immediately after = fried by jump #3. But he got around the course, albeit a little more Luna-esquely than might have been desired, and earned a lot of cookies for being totally awesome.
Monday Oakley Lesson: Monday I got a lesson with Oakley, who teaches at Twitchell Hill.... and I got to ride Wimbledon, the most trained horse I have been on since I rode the very dear-to-my-heart Benjamin Moore back in April. Except Wimbledon has about three and a half hands on the 14 something Ben. The greatest thing was getting to do some coursework for MY benefit instead of for green horse X Y or Z. Revelation: there is a lot of room for improvement.
Today: Green Mountain Hounds Hunter Trials. AKA two rounds of cross country with no dressage or stadium. Oh, and also a gymkhana race. Ahem, Green Mountain Challenge Team Relay. No, I am not leaving the dark side to be a hunter. But doing courses is really good for Neil and he held up mentally better than last weekend. His first round was really good (possibly did not look like a hunter round but was nice and balanced, jumping everything happily etc. etc.) and the second was not quite as awesome, but I was glad he did it anyway- just the right amount of mental pressure and building confidence. The team challenge...well...that wasn't terribly hunteresque either.
But yeah, this is the GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH and totally worth the student loans.
That's all.
