End of April Analysis; May Goals - and more!

*** CALLING ALL OKLAHOMA FRIENDS: I'm looking for a navigator for the Cowboy Country HDT in Stillwater OK on the 14th of June. My regular navigator can't attend this one. If you want to careen around in a wooden box behind a zoomy horse have a day of action packed fun, leave a comment or email me at eventingagogo@gmail.com! No driving experience required - all you have to do is sit on your butt, hang on, and enjoy the scenery at speed! ***

I have a lot of catching up to do. April was a super weird month - it went from GREAT to CRAPPY and then GREAT again, and floating around in some inbetween state the rest of the time. I blogged a lot this month, a lot more than I did over the winter, which I definitely want to keep up with. The horses are so far away right now that I have added another 3 hours of total drive time to my everyday activities. We're currently packing up all of our crap in preparation for the move - the closing date is the 15th, but we're still waiting to hear about the appraisal. It's a super, super stressful time, albeit a super exciting one. The day that I can look out my window and see my ponies, and stumble out my door to feed them while wearing my PJs, is going to be heaven. I really, really miss having my beasts in my backyard, and now we'll finally have that again. 

As for May's show schedule, it was supposed to be a super busy month but has dissolved into a simple one. This past weekend was supposed to be the Carriage Classic, but it was cancelled due to all the rain and tornadoes we've been having. The next show is the next Games Day, which I definitely will be attending. The third show I was supposed to go to was the Pine Hill HDT, which I was REALLY looking forward to. It's the 2nd leg in the Three Amigos Challenge, and I was really excited for it. Unfortunately, that happens to be the weekend my folks are coming in to help with the move. The show is a two-day one, and it's several hours away, so it would be a full-weekend kind of affair. There just wasn't any way for the logistics to work out this year. 

Since none of my equipment is up at L's house save for a longe line (which has only been used once since we moved), I'm just chalking this time up to a nice semi-vacation for O. When we move to the new house, she'll go back to work, but for now it's a great time for a break. A few lunges here and there is fine - she worked hard at the April 26th show, and she'll work hard at the May 16th show, but in the interim she'll have off with light lunges. She is now that horse that I can pull out of her pen after weeks off and just whisk her off to a show, and she's fine. She is still plenty fit and strong, and she'll lose minimal (if any) fitness while on this break - trust me, she's still getting PLENTY of bucking/rearing/galloping around her run whenever I turn P and the baby out. (Seriously though, it's embarrassing... she throws herself into the wall, screaming bloody murder, mowing stuff in her path down, working herself into a dripping lather. I tied her up to do her feet last time they were out, which she normally is perfect about - but she kept snatching her feet away and screaming, then set back repeatedly and cut her face up. Mares. Why did it have to be a barn full of mares. She is CRAZY obsessed with the baby.)

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O-Ren April Goals:

1) Make it successfully through out first HDT without killing anybody! Make it a positive learning experience! 

Success! It was SUCH a huge success. O was perfect all weekend, we had a great time, AND we finished 2nd!

2) Attend the first NTW Games Day of the year and hopefully whoop some booty!

Success! About 0.10 separated me from the person who ultimately took the Championship ribbon home - we were neck and neck the whole time. O and I ended up with two 1sts and three 2nds, and Reserve Champion! I'm right behind her for points for the HOTY awards - I still have a chance to catch up!

3) Practice cones more - and dressage tests, the Training level ones!

Not so much this past month, for all of the above listed reasons. We probably won't have a lot of time for this in May either, but we'll get back to it in June!

4) Continue to work on same training issues - relaxation, good transitions, quality of gaits, etc.

Same as above - just not enough time! But we'll get back to it when we move!

5) Did I mention not dying at our first HDT? 

Success, so much success! :)

Pangea April Goals:

1) With luck - have a healthy, happy baby and an easy birth!

Success! It couldn't have been smoother: 9:20AM, easy out in 5 minutes. Filly was on her feet in 1/2hr, latched on 10 minutes after that, and cantering around her stall within the hour (or well, running/flailing, anyway). Her IgG was over 800, Pmare recovered pretty immediately aside from some general post-foaling drainage (pretty normal). Everyone is doing great so far. I had a friend lose a colt this year, and another friend lose a mare, so I'm ultra grateful to have both a healthy mom and babe. 

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O-Ren May Goals:

1) Kick more booty at the 2nd NTW Games Day! 

2) Keep the beast from killing herself over the foal... seriously she's practically on suicide watch right now. It's a full time job just trying to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else while she obsesses over the baby. 

3) Once we move to the new house and settle in - redo show and workout schedule

Pangea May Goals:

1) Consider starting her back to light walking hacks once we move to the new house... no solid plans otherwise!

Filly May Goals:

1) Halter and lead

2) Pick up all 4 feet without fuss

3) Brush and flyspray

4) Be friendly with the people! 

5) Come up with a NAME!

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I have LOTS of baby pictures and baby milestones! I want to make sure I documents these better than I have been - because everything changes so fast at this age and she is growing right before my eyes. 

5 days old: Deciding that the humans were not so terrible after all, and coming over to investigate:

Still the side-eye champion of the world

6 days old: More work with haltering, leading, and picking up feet - being a good baby! And not even hating the humans after her little session was over. 

Being a good baby is super exhausting

1 week old: HUGE baby has grown 1.5 inches in a week! Now very friendly and social with the people. No longer rearing up to try and tapdance on the people, although her growth has been so rapid in a week that she is now solidly over at the knees. She'll grow out of that, but still... slow down filly!

8 days old: Looking exactly like O's mini me!

9 days old: Torrential rain and storms have FINALLY relented and P and baby can go outside. O proceeds to absolutely lose her mind and work herself into a screaming, quivering, lathered panic and will NOT calm down until the baby is back in the barn and asleep. Mortal embarrassment on my part as she tries to take the barn down with her in all of her thrashing. Sigh....

They'll all go out together at the new place, and live out 24/7. Hopefully we'll be moving on the 15th, if everything goes according to plan!

Baby spends pretty much her entire turnout screaming for O, who screams right back, nonstop. 

P says: LEAVE ME ALONE I NEED TO ROLL HERE

10 days old: Now wears her halter, leads, gets flysprayed and brushed, picks up all 4 feet (and even picked up the front two while loose in her stall, and had her feet painted with Hoof Alive!), and is easy to catch. Still a little over at the knee but getting stronger and straighter by the day. 

It's amazing to see how she has gone from a scrawny little thing to a giant beefer in a little over a week. She's huge! We're still trying to come up with the perfect name for her, but right now I am leaning towards a show name of Pyrotechnics, with the barn name Pax. I have a lot of other names floating around in there though, it's hard to say which one I like best!