2016 In Review

2016 started out very differently than other years.  For the first time in 16 years I didn't have a horse.  McKenna left right after Christmas and I was horseless come the new year.  That lasted about three weeks.  I looked at Peebs Jan 8 and brought him home 10 days later.  He was the first horse I looked at when I started the pony search, and it felt like coming home when I rode him.

Our first meeting

We spent February getting to know each other, figuring out tack, and going jump schooling with friends.  I also got to escape the winter weather in Oregon for a trip down to Thermal and Mexico, but while my BO and I were gone we lost one of the donkeys in the barn.

Demonstrating a not fitting saddle

March brought the return of my jumping fears and the start of saddle shopping.

Favorite pic ever

April was a much better month.  We started finding our groove over fences,  and went to our first show.  We did the trot a course crossrails and came home tied for division champion.  The day after the show was my 30th birthday so it was a great present!!

May was spent trying to find a used saddle that worked for us. I finally said screw it and had us fitted for a new custom County.  We also signed up for a clinic with a "sports psychologist" trainer that ended up being the clinic from hell.

June started with Peebs having a mild heat stress colic.  Fun times!!  He also got to see the vet the week after that when his sheath swelled up.  Some happy drugs and a sheath cleaning later he was all fine. We had a couple lack luster lessons and another crappy clinic. But he redeemed himself with an awesome first field ride of the season.

In July Peebs kept proving he is the best pony and we went to our second show!  Day one ended with us earning two fourths, a sixth, and a seventh.  Day two saw improvements with a third and two fourths.  Peebs then got a break while my parents were visiting and I went to Vancouver, BC.

August was full of heat and meeting new people.  The temps were in the 90-100s and Peebs was fired up.  He started getting trainer riders, which helped immensely!  Peeb's breeder found me on Facebook and shared his background and baby pictures with me. I learned he is a QH/Morgan cross, not an appendix QH like I thought.  I also had a quick trip down to San Diego and got to meet L from Viva Carlos.  

September started off pretty badly, my BO had to put down her 27yr old mare and there was quite the barn drama about it.  The person who had the biggest issue with it has left the barn which has made life so much better. But my saddle came in and both Peebs and I fell in love with a gorgeous 3yr stallion.

October saw the return to riding inside and the end of show season. We also spent the last part of the month and a good part of November dealing with Peeb's poop issue.  While it's not fully gone away, and some days he has more liquid farts than others, he's happy and healthy otherwise so I've learned to live with it.  I am going to try one last digestive supplement after the holidays, but I'm not holding out hope.

I didn't post much in November, but I did blog about our struggles cantering fences and about the barn in Mexico I'm moving too if the US goes to shit.

December has been pretty quite on the riding front, we've had some fun field trips.  I went and watched the first day of the George Morris clinic.  Peebs played dress up for the first time.  And then we went to spread Christmas cheer at the Veterans Home.

I had no expectations for 2016 when it started.  I just wanted a safe, sane, and sound pony to play with and relearn that riding is supposed to be fun.  While we haven't progressed as far as I thought we would in terms of how high we're jumping or showing, I know a lot of that is my mental issues and Peebs learning how to really carry himself and use his body correctly.  We'll get there, and I'm not in a hurry.  This point last year I never would have considered doing half of what I've done with him with McKenna.  I've had so much fun with Peebs and am so thankful for him.