September 17, 2009

BAM!

Ian had taught me that I was not even scratching the surface of my horse's potential. I wasn't challenging him or myself, which does explain my own restlessness quite a bit.

So we kicked it up a notch. Or two. I asked a little more from our flatwork and I moved up the jump cups, focusing on forward and bold.

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I also moved up a division in our little on-farm shows and Solo didn't let me down, ending up as Reserve Champion for the year in Adult/Children's Hunter (2'3"-ish).

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Of course, we took time off to play too! One of my goals for Solo is to make him the most well-rounded horse ever and this includes trips hither and yon to explore the great outdoors. This trip was a phenomenal one to a beach at the mouth of the Neuse River.

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The view from the saddle

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Me and my boy

Is there any greater feeling of triumph than galloping your horse down a beach? 
I have no word better than "sublime."

6 comments:

  1. You're killing me lady! My dream has always been to ride on the beach with my horse (and I know he loves water...we went horse swimming once, best thing EVER)! Sigh. You both look amazing!

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  2. Come ride with us, then! We always welcome fun-loving companions! :-)

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  3. I am now all caught up with your blog and am enjoying it very much. I have to tell you how jealous I am that you got the horse, the guy, and the job at almost the same time. I managed to get the horse and the job at least. :)

    Your first few posts were like reading my OWN story of bringing my first boy home and freaking out and being madly in love all at the same time. I hope in another two years we will look as good together as you and Solo do!

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  4. Go out and take the world by storm, SP! Don't be too jealous, the guy works 1000 miles away right now because the job market SUCKS!

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  5. Geez, girl, you are truly living out my 12-year-old-girl Saddle-Club-loving fantasies!! (Actually, nothing much has changed since then...I am still that same horse-crazy 12 year old inside!)
    *Sigh* At some point in my life, my horse and I will go galloping down a sandy beach...

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  6. Well, Frizz, my theory is that even though I can't afford groceries, I am going to do it NOW while I have the horse and the access to stuff because as we all know, horses don't stay sound forever and the future is always uncertain!

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