The State of the Union

I mean, it’s that time of year, right?

Last year, Whiskey and I didn’t accomplish a whole lot. We did a bunch of trails and lessons before and during the beginning of my pregnancy, but once he became a giant jackass, I opted to stop riding him. Then shit hit the fan, and I made the decision to stop his training rides as well.

So for about five months, the big guy sat and worked on getting fat and feral. Honestly, a good part of him will always be choncky and feral. He’ll always be a horse you have to watch.

During the summer months, I was better able to ride him and get him back into conditioning work. For safety reasons, I made sure someone was at the barn when I rode him for the first time again. Surprisingly, the tubster came back better after the mental and physical break, which I think might be understandable for his situation: being pulled from a pasture with very little training and thrown into dressage. Unfortunately, when I returned to work, opportunities to ride started to diminish. I’m hopeful for the time change.

Since getting back on him, we’ve had a couple of tune up lessons, but most of our rides have been basic dressage work with a little bit of trail riding and jumping. Most of the quirks that he had before he still has, but he’s also achieved a little bit more bravery and self-confidence.