And then there was one...

   Bad news today- Coco, my little grulla pony mare, is out for a couple of months with a suspensory injury. She hadn't been feeling great lately, and was noticeably funky behind, so she got a date with the vet on Monday. It doesn't seem to bad, and hopefully she'll be back up and running by Coconio in July, but until then, I'm down to one horse, Luke, to event this year. Granted, I haven't been on Luke for two weeks since I've been battling some serious back soreness due to trying to ride a 5 yr old thoroughbred in the saddle that is fit to the 12 yr old Irish Draught cross...
    The good news is, Kristen, saddle fitter extraordinaire from Schleese, comes on Saturday. The more horses I ride, and the more I learn, the more I realize the utter importance of saddle fit. We ask our horses to do so much for us, and we spend so much time trying to get them going correctly, that its silly to expect them to perform their best in ill-fitting tack. I'm hoping I can find a new (used) saddle to fit Luke, and also re-fit Cha Cha's jumping saddle to him, and we can be on our merry way.
    In the mean time, I've got a handful of nice horses in for training- a young Hannoverian cross who is one of the easiest young horses I've worked with in a long time, even if he's a bit green about things, Bob, the world's most wonderful Appy is back for a few months, and is as enjoyable as ever, and I've got a few more expected in within the next couple of weeks. Cha Cha is progressing very well (and throwing in flying changes at random times, just because he can)- he's gearing up for his first show in May, and Delilah has found a new jockey for the season- Katie rides her well, is gutsy, and is small enough to not lose her balance when Delilah unexpectedly leaps sideways... I'm heading off to California at the end of the month to coach at Galway, and I fully intend to wear shorts all weekend and come home with a tan! From then, its on to Rolex with my mom and Summer, which should be a blast and a nice little vacation. Then, its back home, and back to work- clinics, dressage shows, and events, right up until November!