I don't know what to think of this place.

My mom and I found a lesson barn about fifteen minutes away from our house. They breed Paints and do mostly roping, WP, and HUS. The trainer said there are about 100 horses on the property. The facility is very nice and most of the horses looked really good, but I did see a couple of skinny broodmares and one horse that was a bag of bones and had clumps of fur falling out. I have no idea what the story is behind those few horses. I don't know if she's rehabbing them or what. The stalls were kept immaculate and all the horses had food in front of them. The owner/trainer seems to really know what she's doing.

I had a lesson with her today on her $30,000 Paint gelding, which was the most expensive horse I've ever ridden! The lesson went well and it was a whole new experience learning to ride a WP/HUS horse. He was trained to respond completely off of leg aids, which was really cool. My legs are going to hate me tomorrow, but it was worth it. I have another lesson scheduled for the same time next week.

The barn isn't as laid-back as my old boarding barn. Maybe that's why it feels so weird to me. And I get the impression that the people there are strictly riders, not horsemen. The horse was saddled for me and she didn't even want me to rub him down afterward. Which is okay for me because I already know how to do those things, but what about beginners? I get the impression that she only teaches people how to ride, and not how to take care of a horse.

I don't know. I'm interested to see what happens with the skinny horses. I don't know how you can have dozens of horses that look like they're ready for a show, and then have ones that look like poop. If things don't improve, I'm going to quit. I'll just have to wait and see.

A few photos

These are some old photos of the new farmette, taken before we moved in. These are all I have until I can figure out what's wrong with my computer.

Here's the barn:
The pasture:


Part of the back area, which would be great for another pasture if my parents would let me fence it off. I'm still working on that...

Alas, the best pictures are on my camera. We've been doing tons of landscaping and whatnot.

On another note, having only two horses has presented a problem: they're herd bound. I've never had that issue with them before. It doesn't help that they're a pair bond. Even before we moved, they were always side-by-side. I've only ridden three times since we moved. I rode once with my mom and they did fine as long as they were together. But if I take Victor out of sight, Norman goes nuts. That's why I really want to fence off another turnout area, so I can separate them for a few hours a day. I'm pretty sure I can break them of it if I can just make another pasture. Victor isn't too bad, he only gets upset when Norman starts running the fence line.

I rode him a couple nights ago and he threw a fit when I took him too far away from the pasture. It didn't bother me (I'm used to his tantrums), but it scared the bejeebers out of my mother. Now she wants to get me a new horse. *facepalm* Like Victor's hissy fits are anything new? He'll calm down with more riding. He was the same way when I first bought him and tried to take him out trail riding at the old barn. He eventually just gave up and settled down to the point where we could hack out alone without any drama. It just takes a lot of time and patience with him.

Other than that, not much is going on. *sigh*

I miss Reba so much. :'(

For some odd reason...

My computer isn't letting me upload photos from my camera. I'll post pics as soon as I figure out what the problem is.

I have a gazillion photos that refuse to get onto my computer and it might drive me insane. *twitch*