dancinghorse | This, That, and the Other

All of the horses I own are now under the same (new!) roof. Tia arrived from Washington today. She's so teeny! She's not even six months yet, and everybody else is two and older, so she really does look like a baby.

The driver had the biggest damn van I've ever seen--70 feet with a superlong wheelbase, so he couldn't make the turn onto my road. That's never happened before. I had to go up and unload and lead the baby in. Thank goodness for the wonderful training she's had; she led perfectly. Driver was very good, very nice, and very apologetic. I'd use him again (but be prepared to hike a quarter-mile with the horse). The baby arrived in pristine condition, well hydrated and well fed, with minimal trauma. He had many good things to say about her. Perfect manners all the way, he said.

Tia has been eating, drinking, and pooping but is very agitated. She wants BADLY to be in with the herd. Unfortunately the herd is, at smallest, three times her size, and would stomp her to a pulp. It takes them a few days to get used to a newcomer, even a baby newcomer. She'll be in the buffer zone between Pook and the herd during the day meanwhile, and she has the foaling stall at night.

Pictures when the light and the space cooperate. Tonight the sun was in the wrong spot and she was zipping around too fast for my old, slow digital to catch.

She has serious Boingity, as is to be expected from her heredity. Her half-sister was top mare of 2003, one of the highest-scoring mares ever, with 10's for her gaits. Tia has the gaits.

And no, she's not a Pooklet. She's a Bride of Pooka. Her daddy is Marita's brother, for them as knows the dramatis personae from 'way back. Her mom is Gabriella--same mom as Ephiny and Gaudia. I had a three-foal lease, and the Divine Miss G, bless her heart, gave me fillies all the way.

Meanwhile, life on the farm continues in its usual vein. Lessons Sunday went nicely. Keed is working on collection (schooling a decent second level, though his canter leads are still Opinionated) and looks lovely. I rode Pandora, a short lesson but very interesting. She's been making dramatic progress from ride to ride, and was very supple and moving nicely, though she was cranky about the instructor being there. She wants us to just work one on one. I hope I convinced her that the interloper could actually help me to ride better. Homework is to keep her moving evenly into both reins, do lots of changes of direction, and gradually build up her strength and relaxation.

At the end, while I was sitting on her and being talked through my homework, she did a peculiarly Lipizzan thing: she started shifting from foot to foot. She was balancing herself under me until she was perfect. When she was square, everything just so, she stopped and waited for us to finish talking.

Ah, Lipizzans.

No rides since. Monday was rained out. Yesterday I fell over and woke up too late. Today was Tia'ed out. Tomorrow I have to work five horses. Urg.

And in other news: Welcome to new readers and friends. Enjoy the scenery!

I'm still a bit crazed with Life In General, so not keeping up as well with the flist or the comments as I should. Am reading as much as I can, is all I can say. I am striving for greater focus. So far, with only partial success.

But we persevere.