Here's to a well deserved update. Irish has been going GREAT. Yes, we have fits of "do you remember who's boss here?" and "please get over your little tantrum" but I can tell he is becoming my little one as he is doing so much better in "scary" situations. On Saturday I took him down to Southern Pines for some trail riding. I'm not going to lie, I was totally freaking out about taking him someplace "new" and expecting to get on and ride right after. When we first brought him home I think I gave him a week to settle in, when we moved him to Apex I gave him about 3 days to settle in, so the thought of getting him off the trailer and tacking him up made me nervous quite honestly! Thankfully, I went with the owner of the barn where we keep Irish and she has a dead quiet Quarter Horse named Panama who she just recently got from the Biltmore's riding program. Pan is so laid back and this helped Irish stay quiet throughout the trailering, saddling, etc. I was actually able to tie him to the trailer to saddle which completely blew me away!
Moss Foundation occupies over 4000 acres in Southern Pines, lined with little private barns that are BEAUTIFUL. We went through streams, played in creeks, and definitely made our way around all 4000 acres it felt like! We planned to ride for a couple of hours (just walking) however 2 hours quickly became 4 hours as they ran out of maps at the welcome station. We were talking and not really paying attention to where we were so quickly we lost track of where we were! It was all good though and the boys were such troopers. It got pretty warm but there are so many streams that we crossed they were able to hydrate frequently. Two days after this and I'm STILL sore, so I know Irish must still be a bit sore... I'll give him today off again and see where we stand tomorrow. Tania and Panama have tons of trail experience and now I understand why people don't ride in dressage saddles for that long of a period! Here are some pictures of the boy - I will take some of us working at home soon!!
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