Stretch arrived in Stillwater safe and sound early Wednesday morning. I was my first time to pull the new trailer and it was a peice of cake. The trailer pulled great and Stretch seemed to enjoy the ride. It took some coaxing to get him to load up but otherwise went well. He will definately be doing some extensive traveling before we "go show" to get him loading easier! He settled right in at the Farm and seems happy, although he is currently stuck out in the snow. I rode him Thursday after work and the ride went well. He did not regress as much as I was expecting during his extended vacation, but we do definately have some work to do before MeadowCreek!

I have not been on Stretch since that first ride, first due to rain and now snow making the arena sloppy and frozen. This leads me to my next topic. I have been reading Sally O'Connor's book, Practical Eventing, and she makes a great point about this very thing. She states that "an event horse must... perform no matter what" and that riders must "learn not to make excuses for lack of schooling." These are valid points and made me realize that myself, along with many others, tend to overprotect our horses which ultimately hurts them in the long run. Just because the arena is boggy or the grass is slick does not mean you cannot work, it just means you should proceed with caution. I really need to get better about this and vow to change it tomorrow. We have a competition to prepare for in just over a month, and he isn't going to get better just sitting in a pen because of the weather.

So far, I have made it through chapter 8, also referred to as section 1, of Sally's book. I feel like it is directed more towards riders with little to no experience in the eventing world, but she does bring attention to little details that rider's often forget. For instance, lunging is invaluable. It helps to teach a horse self-carriage and balance and can benefit any horse of any level. Also noted is the value of cavaletti work in the basis of jumping and improving flat work. I know a lot of riders that feel as though raised cavaletti work should not be done until the horse is very established in their training, but Sally's point is to use those exercises TO establish their training. This book is definately giving me some ideas and inspiration for my horses' training programs and I am excited to begin incorporating some of them.

The main point of this post is that, much like every other topic of this blog, things are not always going to work out as planned but that is not an excuse. Rain, shine, sleet, or snow "get out into every kind of weather and work."