Or our little barn, anyway. We've had a few new faces this week and Dayle and I couldn't be happier to have them! On Tuesday, a new rider Kayla was able to flat sweet Natty Beau. Today we met Natasha who worked with Strollie boy in the indoor (darn rain) and albeit a smaller space and a little dusty, they had a nice productive ride: she was able to keep him engaged and in a pretty frame without much fuss on his part. One of our regular volunteers and unofficial barn DJ Jeanine walk/trotted Natty today and did a great job as well; this horse may be only 5 and very green, but he is so trustworthy and happy to work it just makes your heart smile (a shout-out to Jeanine as well for helping with stalls and feeding this week while Dayle has been dealing with walking pneumonia <3). Two of our new helpers and grooming extraordinaires Hilary and Hannah had to skip their normal Sunday visit but we should be seeing their shining faces this coming Sunday. And our OG volunteer Joyce was able to help Addy with stalls earlier this week. All this to say THANK YOU ladies for your help and hard work, excellent horse sense and endless love for our deserving equines!!
An update on Apollo: today I threw my western saddle on him and worked on neck reining, which he seems to be picking up quickly. Since he can really only do lite flatwork, and he is incredibly sensible and happy to take you just about anywhere, we see him as a very good pleasure trail horse so that's what we're focusing on with him. He's getting front shoes tomorrow so we can continue tackling new terrain with him and keep him as comfortable as possible!
The two new boys, Glenn and Cheater (pictured) are settling in quite nicely. They are both learning to enjoy their downtime and are getting their shoes off in the morning, thus completing their transition to the chill zone. These guys both have shining personalities and it's been super fun watching those start to come through: Cheater is definitely more mature, a little more relaxed and business-like. Glenn is a giant goofball whose main goal in life is to empty his water trough dramatically and lay in all of the mud. They are both very sweet and entertaining and we can't wait to see what potential they have beyond running quickly in an oval :)
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
-Barn Manager Addy
P.S. A thank you to volunteers Dalton and Lista who also helped clean stalls and tidy up this week, however its #wcw and I love a theme - but you are still very much appreciated and we hope your garden enjoys that good good horse manure!