Settling In

Finally I can take all the horrible
mirror selfies I desire!

Well the Pony has settled in really well to her new home. I am unbelievably happy with the choice I made. I had (well still have but I'm working on) confidence issues after the stress of my last job which transferred over to my riding. My first ride at the new barn was... interesting. After I stopped having a mild anxiety attack and actually got on her Pony was a rock star, though any one would be after being round penned and lunged twice before you anxiety riddled mom hopped on. I learned just how much I love mirrors in the arena. I couldn't stop watching how well we were doing and Pony was very interested in her new mirror friend as well.

Once I decided we wouldn't die if we rode outside we tried the outdoor dressage arena the next day. And we didn't die! Or buck, or do anything insane. We even went by a man with a chainsaw cutting logs like five feet away with naught but a tiny ear twitch. She then spooked at a dog, but that's fine it was black, small, and quite possibly vicious. The rubber in the footing was interesting, but didn't make any huge differences, not that I really expected one. What does seem to make a difference is putting some Vaseline on the corners of her lips. After reading reviews of Effol mouth butter I decided I was too cheap to actually order that and pay just as much in shipping as the product costs but I have Vaseline so that would have to do. She was soft in the mouth and didn't do any of her hideous chomping we sometimes do when we tried it! So that's a win.

So much room to run away!
(can you spot her?)

I finally rode out on the cross country course and we had a blast cantering around. Today I went out and we almost got up to a proper gallop, though she still is taking it slow and not quite opening up the way she can. Maybe she just needs someone to race. I forgot the Vaseline and she was a spooky, chompy mess. Maybe it was a coincidence and maybe not. I do know I'll keep up with the Vaseline though.

The other thing I've noticed is that she no longer tries to run away from me when I go to catch her. She did walk away the first day, but after that every time she's turned to face me and actually taken a couple steps towards me! Which is huge, since she used to run away when given a lot of space. It was a five minute walk to get her from pasture, and that might get annoying but right now I'm just so thrilled she isn't standing in mud or running when I come up to her.

Over all I'm really happy at the new barn and I can't wait to get into lessons and show this summer. We probably won't do great, but its really just about having fun and getting out there. As a bonus everyone thinks she's just the cutest thing. Which is, of course, true.

That New Barn Smell

So I decided that when I was no longer going to work at the barn where I used to have Pony I needed to move her. I've been to three, now four, different barns in three years. Which sounds kinda crazy, but there was a good reason for each move. I started keeping her at the first barn I worked at and when the stress of work and the judging eyes of my ex-coworkers got to be a little much I moved her to a barn nearby for the summer. It was cheap, had a good outdoor, a closet sized indoor, and a round pen. So I was happy for a summer, but as winter approached I knew I needed to change. I couldn't survive the winter without an arena I could actually ride in. So in the fall I moved to the barn I stayed at for a year and a half. They have a heated indoor (a must have for terrible Minnesota winters), and I could work off their frankly overpriced board. Then I got a job offer there, decided to give it a try and the vicious cycle of stress from work bleeding into my riding began again. So I decided to quit and here I am. Barn number four.

Settling In

This barn has an indoor (unheated, but I can bundle up), a grass jumping field, a dressage outdoor with special rubber footing, and a sand outdoor, along with a huge cross country course. Ponykins will be in the mare pasture with is in total 50 acres divided out so they don't over graze. Plus it has trailer parking! So no more parking my trailer half an hour away! And last but definitely not least, I have a tack locker of my very own!!!! No more putting my saddle on a rack in the arena! Pics to come once I get it all organized and looking pretty. 

First solo parking job!

So over all its super awesome and I'm excited to be here! I've decided I will not let myself get sucked into working here and ruin it for myself! 

Pony says it would be better with more treats

Moving On

Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't. I thought I wanted to work with horses, as it turns out I do not. I find that when I work at barns I get stressed from work and it ruins riding for me. I've worked at two barns and its happened both times so I feel like I need to try something else. I still want to ride, there's no way I could completely quit horses, but working with them isn't what I need to be doing right now. So I gave my two weeks notice and will be switching barns as soon as possible. The new barn has three outdoor arenas, an indoor, a full cross country course, trailer parking, and fifty acres of pasture Pony will be rotated through. All of this is considerably less than what I'm paying now for half the amenities. I think we'll both love it. I plan on getting a regular person job and hopefully I'll be able to enjoy riding more when it can actually be an escape instead of a chore. So now I'm moving on, hopefully to bigger and better things.